Parcel plus marketing plan : targeting student move-out's

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96919/1/BBA_LinW_1998Final.pd

New Insight into the Anti-liver Fibrosis Effect of Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors: From Molecular Target to Clinical Trials

Tyrosine kinases (TKs) is a family of tyrosine protein kinases with important functions in the regulation of a broad variety of physiological cell processes. Overactivity of TK disturbs cellular homeostasis and has been linked to the development of certain diseases, including various fibrotic diseases. In regard to liver fibrosis, several TKs, such as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinases, have been identified as central mediators in collagen production and potential targets for anti-liver fibrosis therapies. Given the essential role of TKs during liver fibrogenesis, multitargeted inhibitors of aberrant TK activity, including sorafenib, erlotinib, imatinib, sunitinib, nilotinib, brivanib and vatalanib, have been shown to have potential for treating liver fibrosis. Beneficial effects are observed by researchers of this field using these multitargeted TK inhibitors in preclinical animal models and in patients with liver fibrosis. The present review will briefly summarize the anti-liver fibrosis effects of multitargeted TK inhibitors and molecular mechanisms

Sodium vanadate combined with l-ascorbic acid delays disease progression, enhances motor performance, and ameliorates muscle atrophy and weakness in mice with spinal muscular atrophy

BACKGROUND: Proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurodegenerative disorder that causes infant mortality, has no effective treatment. Sodium vanadate has shown potential for the treatment of SMA; however, vanadate-induced toxicity in vivo remains an obstacle for its clinical application. We evaluated the therapeutic potential of sodium vanadate combined with a vanadium detoxification agent, L-ascorbic acid, in a SMA mouse model. METHODS: Sodium vanadate (200 μM), L-ascorbic acid (400 μM), or sodium vanadate combined with L-ascorbic acid (combined treatment) were applied to motor neuron-like NSC34 cells and fibroblasts derived from a healthy donor and a type II SMA patient to evaluate the cellular viability and the efficacy of each treatment in vitro. For the in vivo studies, sodium vanadate (20 mg/kg once daily) and L-ascorbic acid (40 mg/kg once daily) alone or in combination were orally administered daily on postnatal days 1 to 30. Motor performance, pathological studies, and the effects of each treatment (vehicle, L-ascorbic acid, sodium vanadate, and combined treatment) were assessed and compared on postnatal days (PNDs) 30 and 90. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate the survival rate, with P < 0.05 indicating significance. For other studies, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student's t test for paired variables were used to measure significant differences (P < 0.05) between values. RESULTS: Combined treatment protected cells against vanadate-induced cell death with decreasing B cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein (Bax) levels. A month of combined treatment in mice with late-onset SMA beginning on postnatal day 1 delayed disease progression, improved motor performance in adulthood, enhanced survival motor neuron (SMN) levels and motor neuron numbers, reduced muscle atrophy, and decreased Bax levels in the spinal cord. Most importantly, combined treatment preserved hepatic and renal function and substantially decreased vanadium accumulation in these organs. CONCLUSIONS: Combined treatment beginning at birth and continuing for 1 month conferred protection against neuromuscular damage in mice with milder types of SMA. Further, these mice exhibited enhanced motor performance in adulthood. Therefore, combined treatment could present a feasible treatment option for patients with late-onset SMA

KCNN2 polymorphisms and cardiac tachyarrhythmias

Potassium calcium-activated channel subfamily N member 2 (KCNN2) encodes an integral membrane protein that forms small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels. Recent studies in animal models show that SK channels are important in atrial and ventricular repolarization and arrhythmogenesis. However, the importance of SK channels in human arrhythmia remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to test the association between genetic polymorphism of the SK2 channel and the occurrence of cardiac tachyarrhythmias in humans. We enrolled 327 Han Chinese, including 72 with clinically significant ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTa) who had a history of aborted sudden cardiac death (SCD) or unexplained syncope, 98 with a history of atrial fibrillation (AF), and 144 normal controls. We genotyped 12 representative tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across a 141-kb genetic region containing the KCNN2 gene; these captured the full haplotype information. The rs13184658 and rs10076582 variants of KCNN2 were associated with VTa in both the additive and dominant models (odds ratio [OR] 2.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.505-5.545, P = 0.001; and OR 2.55, 95% CI = 1.428-4.566, P = 0.002, respectively). After adjustment for potential risk factors, the association remained significant. The population attributable risks of these 2 variants of VTa were 17.3% and 10.6%, respectively. One variant (rs13184658) showed weak but significant association with AF in a dominant model (OR 1.91, CI = 1.025-3.570], P = 0.042). There was a significant association between the KCNN2 variants and clinically significant VTa. These findings suggest an association between KCNN2 and VTa; it also appears that KCNN2 variants may be adjunctive markers for risk stratification in patients susceptible to SCD

Enumerasi Total Populasi Mikroba Tanah Gambut Di Teluk Meranti Kabupaten Riau

Teluk Meranti is one of the peatland area in Riau province. Most of these lands have beenchanged into palm oil plantation, timber plantation, agricultural area and settlement. Theaim of this research was to analyze the impact of land use changes on soil physical-chemical characteristics and microbial cell number. Soil samples were taken from eightdifferent locations, namely primary forest as control, secondary forest, rubber plantation(15 monthsyears old), rubber forest (40-60 years old), palm oil plantation (7-8 years old),acacia plantation (2-3 years old), corn field, and cassava field. Microbial cell number wasdetermined by spread plate method, employing appropriate media for the growth ofbacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. The results showed that the soil humidity, soiltemperature, percentage of soil dry weight, water content, soil bulk density and pH rangedfrom 29,63-55,88%, 27-31,5 o C, 14,9-35,5%, 64,9-85,1%, 0,16-0,39 g/cm 3 and 3,63-4,00,respectively. The copiotrophic bacterial cell number ranged from 0,6x10 5 -1,8x10 5 CFU/gsoil where the highest population was at the palm oil plantation,whereas the oligotrophicbacterial cell number ranged from 0,5x10 5 -1,4x10 5 CFU/g soil where the highest populationwas at the palm oil plantation. The population of fungi ranged from 0,4x10 5 -1,0x10 5 CFU/gsoil where the highest population was at the corn field. The population of actinomycetesranged from 0,4x10 5 -10,7x10 5 CFU/g soil where the highest population was at the palm oilplantation. Land use changes caused microbial cell number increased. The results indicatedthat land use changes influenced the microbial cell numbers

A Social Referral Mechanism for Job Reference Recommendation

Recently, with the popularity of various social media, this new trend of information technologies has impacted our lives, redefined the way we interact with each other, and facilitated the communication and influence cross different social groups, such as enhancing the power of social search and appraisal. _x000D_ In this research, we mainly focus on this mystery process of information exchanges existing long ago on the base of sociology and apply this power in the field of job seeking. Considering the factors of both willingness and influence, we generate the list of proper reference candidates to desired job for job seekers to provide more job-related information or to be referrals. Integrating the knowledge of human resources management, we implement this social referral application with the support of information technologies and strive to enrich the service of social media, turning the passively searching for job seeking to actively consulting for exclusively job information._x000D

First-generation Science Cases for Ground-based Terahertz Telescopes

Ground-based observations at terahertz (THz) frequencies are a newly explorable area of astronomy for the next ten years. We discuss science cases for a first-generation 10-m class THz telescope, focusing on the Greenland Telescope as an example of such a facility. We propose science cases and provide quantitative estimates for each case. The largest advantage of ground-based THz telescopes is their higher angular resolution (~ 4 arcsec for a 10-m dish), as compared to space or airborne THz telescopes. Thus, high-resolution mapping is an important scientific argument. In particular, we can isolate zones of interest for Galactic and extragalactic star-forming regions. The THz windows are suitable for observations of high-excitation CO lines and [N II] 205 um lines, which are scientifically relevant tracers of star formation and stellar feedback. Those lines are the brightest lines in the THz windows, so that they are suitable for the initiation of ground-based THz observations. THz polarization of star-forming regions can also be explored since it traces the dust population contributing to the THz spectral peak. For survey-type observations, we focus on ``sub-THz'' extragalactic surveys, whose uniqueness is to detect galaxies at redshifts z ~ 1--2, where the dust emission per comoving volume is the largest in the history of the Universe. Finally we explore possibilities of flexible time scheduling, which enables us to monitor active galactic nuclei, and to target gamma-ray burst afterglows. For these objects, THz and submillimeter wavelength ranges have not yet been explored.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ (as a review paper