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Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) is a kind of therapeutic ultrasound. It can help improve bone fracture repair and soft tissue healing. Our previous study found that LIPUS treatment could halt the chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in mice; unexpectedly, we observed the improvement of CKD-reduced muscle weights by LIPUS treatment. Here, we further tested the protective potential of LIPUS on CKD-associated muscle wasting/sarcopenia using the CKD mouse models. Mouse models of both unilateral renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) with nephrectomy and adenine administration were used to induce CKD. LIPUS with condition of 3MHz, 100mW/cm², 20 min/day was applied to the kidney of CKD mice. LIPUS treatment significantly reversed the increased serum BUN/creatinine levels in CKD mice. LIPUS effectively prevented the decrease in grip strength, muscle weight (soleus, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius muscles), cross-section areas of muscle fibres, and muscular phosphorylated Akt protein expression by immunohistochemistry, and the increase in muscular atrogenes Atrogin1 and MuRF1 protein expression by immunohistochemistry in CKD mice. These results indicated that LIPUS could help improve weak muscle strength, muscle mass loss, muscle atrophy-related protein expression, and Akt inactivation. LIPUS application may be an alternative non-invasive therapeutic intervention on the management of CKD-associated muscle wasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon social learning theory, this study explores turnover intention from learning perspectives by taking into account psychological safety as a mediator and inclusive leadership as a moderator. In the proposed model of this study, job self-efficacy, appreciation learning climate, and learning goal orientation have direct and positive relationships with psychological safety which in turn reduces turnover intention. At the same time, the relationships are hypothetically moderated by inclusive leadership. Empirical analyses are performed using the data of workers across a wide variety of industries in Taiwan. Research findings and implications about training and education based on this study's statistical analyses are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to synthesise new tyrosinase inhibitors, we designed and synthesised a series of chalcone-hydroxypyridinone hybrids as potential tyrosinase inhibitors adopting strategic modifications of kojic acid. All the newly synthesised compounds were characterised by NMR and mass spectrometry. Initial screening of the target compounds demonstrated that compounds 1a, 1d, and 1n had relatively strong inhibitory activities against tyrosinase monophenolase, with IC50 values of 3.07 ± 0.85, 2.25 ± 0.8 and 2.75 ± 1.19 μM, respectively. The inhibitory activity against monophenolase was 6- to 8-fold higher than that of kojic acid. Compounds 1a, 1d, and 1n also showed inhibition of diphenolase, with IC50 values of 17.05 ± 0.07, 11.70 ± 0.03 and 19.3 ± 0.28 μM, respectively. The inhibition kinetics of diphenolase indicates that compounds 1a and 1d induce reversible inhibition on tyrosinase. Finally, we found that copper coordination should be one of the important inhibitory mechanism of these compounds in tyrosinase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of microstructure and loading mode on the mechanical properties of Au nanowires (NWs) are studied using molecular dynamics simulations based on the many-body embedded-atom potential. The effects are investigated in terms of common neighbour analysis, shear strain distribution, and stress-strain curves. The microstructure effect is examined using single-crystalline (SC), nanocrystalline (NC), and amorphous (AC) structures. The simulation results show that during tension, SC, NC, and AC NWs have visually similar deformations and similar ultimate strains, but completely different deformation mechanisms. For all loading modes, the SC NWs have the highest tensile and shear strength values and the NC NWs have the highest compressive strength. The AC NWs have poor strength under tensile, compressive, and shear loadings. The presence of grain boundaries increases the geometric instability of the NC NWs under compression and shear loadings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new indole alkaloid N′-formylserotonin (1), along with five known indole alkaloids N′-methylserotonin (2), 5-hydroxy-1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde (3), N-acetylserotonin (4), 6-hydroxy-1-oxo-3,4-dihydro-β-carboline (5), and bufoserotoin C (6), were isolated from the water extract of traditional Chinese medicine Chansu. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral analyses. The cytotoxicities of 1-6 against human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells A549 were tested using the MTT method. Compound 6 exhibited stronger cytotoxic effect than 5-FU, and 1-5 showed no cytotoxic effects. Bufoserotonin C is one of the cytotoxic components in water-soluble extract of Chansu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:School physical education (PE) programs provide a prime environment for interventions that attempt to develop school-aged children’s motor competence and overall physical fitness, while also stimulating competence motivation to engage in physical activity during childhood. It is generally recognized that a pedometer-based intervention strategy combined with a goal-setting strategy may be effective in increasing physical activity participation among school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an 8-week pedometer-based goal-setting intervention on children’s motivation in PE, motor competence, and physical activity. Methods:A pretest–posttest comparison group design was used with the 8-week intervention (3 days/week for 24 sessions). Participants were 273 (boys = 136, girls = 137) students recruited from 3 elementary schools in the US. Classes in each school were randomly allocated to three experimental conditions: (1) an intervention group with a personalized pedometer weekly target to reach in their PE class (N = 110), (2) an intervention group with the fixed pedometer target range to reach in each PE class based on the recommended criteria (N = 90), or (3) a control group without intervention (N = 73). Analysis/results:The factorial repeated measures MANOVA indicated significant multivariate effects for the group [F(6, 528) = 12.954,p < .001].Post hocanalyzes showed that both experimental groups had significantly higher expectancy-value beliefs, motor competence, and physical activity compared to the control group (p < .001). Conclusions:Health practitioners should be aware that goal-directed action can contribute to school students’ PE-related achievement motivation, motor competence, and achieving the recommended 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on the notion ofguanxi,which is obligation-bound, in Confucian cultures, this study investigates whether rating leniency and rating compression in performance evaluation are based on supervisor–subordinate acquaintanceship, alma mater ties, and subordinates' physical proximity to their supervisor. After controlling for supervisor–subordinate gender similarity and age difference, this study first finds that public sector supervisors are willing to provide relatively lenient ratings and compressed ratings for their subordinates when their personal acquaintanceship with them is strong, and when there is close physical proximity between them. Second, an alma mater connection with a subordinate leads to rating leniency by the supervisor. Finally, it is worth noting where this study differs from Bol's research (from Western cultures). In particular, while Bol, J.C. [2011. The determinants and performance effects of managers’ performance evaluation biases.The Accounting Review, 86 (5), 1549–1575] demonstrates that age differences between supervisors and subordinates decrease rating leniency, this study documents insignificant results for similar demographic characteristics in age and gender. Bol, J.C. [2011. The determinants and performance effects of managers’ performance evaluation biases.The Accounting Review, 86 (5), 1549–1575] also demonstrates that if a private sector supervisor sharing a work location with subordinates faces relatively lower information-gathering costs, he or she will give less lenient and less compressed ratings. However, this study shows opposite findings for theguanxinorm in Confucian societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a member of the four subtypes of receptors for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), prostaglandin E receptor 2 (PTGER2) is in the family of G-protein coupled receptors and has been characterized to be involved in the development and growth of hair follicles. In this study, we cloned and characterized the full-length coding sequence (CDS) of PTGER2 gene from cashmere goat skin. The entire open reading frame (ORF) of PTGER2 gene was 1047 bp and encoded 348 amino acid residues. The deduced protein contained one G-protein coupled receptors family 1 signature, seven transmembrane domains, and other potential sites. Tissue expression analysis showed that PTGER2 gene was expressed strongly in the skin. The general expression tendency of PTGER2 gene at different hair follicle developmental stages in the skin was gradually decreased from anagen to catagen to telogen. After comparing with the expression of BMP4 gene and related reports, we further presume that it seems to have a relationship between the hair follicle cycle and the expression level of PTGER2 gene in cashmere goat skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene in identification of goat cashmere and sheep wool samples was evaluated. The specific fragments of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, which were about 440 bp, were obtained using the PCR. Restriction enzyme digestion of the PCR products with endonucleases BspT I and Hinf I revealed species-specific RFLP patterns. Application of this technique on mixed samples could identify goat cashmere and sheep wool from each other within the proportion of 8:1. The technique, however, could detect only one species when the proportion of mixture was more than 9:1. The PCR-RFLP technique was demonstrated to possess potential value in precise identification of goat cashmere and sheep wool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of transition metal complexes [Mn(HL)2](ClO4)2· 0.25 H2O (1), [Fe(L)2](ClO4)·H2O (2), [Fe(L)2](BF4)·C7H8N4 (3), [Co(HL)(L)](ClO4)·H2O (4), [Co(HL)(L)](ClO4) · 1.5C2H5OH (5), and [Ni(L)2] · H2O (6), where HL = 2-acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazone, C7H8N4 = bis(pyrazolyl)methane, have been synthesized and their structures were determined. All the metal centers are six-coordinate with 4 nitrogen atoms and 2 sulfur atoms from 2 ligands. Complexes 1-3 and 5 are mononuclear complexes while complexes 4 and 6 contain hydrogen bonds that separately connect the molecule units into multi-dimensional structure and aggregation. These complexes are potential molecular bricks of the multi-dimensional or heterometallic complexes containing sulfur atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the different ground reaction force (GRF) characteristics from different stride types. This study included 30 Taiwanese elite college and professional baseball pitchers. Each pitcher was classified into one of the following stride types: tall and fall (TF), dip and drive (DD), or mixed (MX). Our findings indicated that DD pitchers pressed their bodies forward earlier than TF pitchers. In contrast, the GRF of the pivot leg of TF pitchers increased slowly in the first half of the stride phase and continued to increase even after the stride leg touched the ground. This type of continuous pressing in TF was different from that in DD and MX pitchers, which decreased rapidly into the arm-cocking & acceleration phases. We conclude that the lower extremities were used differently by TF, DD and MX pitchers. This information could serve as a training guideline for coaches and pitchers to enhance training effectiveness, while simultaneously lowering injury risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]