The major excreted protein (MEP) of mouse fibroblasts is the precursor to a lysosomal acid protease (cathepsin L) whose synthesis is induced by malignant transformation, growth factors, tumor promoters, and cyclic AMP. We have previously cloned a functional gene for MEP from NIH 3T3 cells. When subcloned into chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) expression vectors, both 4-kilobase and 300 b...

Positioning combined with coughing and huffing is frequently used to promote secretion clearance. Maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) have been used as surrogate measures of cough and huff strength. This study investigated the effect of body position on MEP and PEFR. Repeated measures of MEP and PEFR were performed across seven randomised positions (standing, ...

The proteins of the ammonium transporter/methylammonium permease/Rhesus factor family (AMT/MEP/Rh family) are responsible for the movement of ammonia or ammonium ions across the cell membrane. Although it has been established that the Rh proteins are distantly related to the other members of the family, the evolutionary history of the AMT/MEP/Rh family remains unclear. Here, we use phylogenetic...

BACKGROUND Volatile anesthetics produce surgical immobility by suppressing the motor system. The anesthetic action site in the motor pathway is unclear. Anesthetic effects on the whole and the lower portion of motor pathway can be studied by measuring the motor evoked potentials (MEP) and the F wave. This study measured the effect of isoflurane on the MEP and the F wave. METHODS With institut...

A systolic motion estimation processor (MEP) core architecture implementing the full-search block-matching (FSBM) algorithm is presented. A unique feature of this MEP architecture is its support of frame-level pipelined operation. As such, it is possible to process pixels from consecutive frames without any processor idle time. It is designed so that no data broadcasting operations are required...

OBJECTIVE To standardize the characterization of motor evoked potential (MEP) and cortical silent period (CSP) recordings elicited with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). METHODS A computer-based, automated-parameterization program (APP) was developed and tested which provides a comprehensive set of electromyography (EMG) magnitude and temporal measures. The APP was tested using MEP, CS...

Minimizing the energy consumption of battery powered systems is a key focus in integrated circuit design. Switching energy of digital circuits reduces quadratically as VDD is decreased below VT (i.e. sub-threshold operation), while the leakage energy increases exponentially. These opposing trends result in a minimum energy point (MEP), defined as the operating voltage at which the total energy ...

Due to the high interindividual response variability following transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), it is apparent that further research of the long-lasting effects of the stimulation technique is required. We aimed to investigate interindividual variability following anodal tDCS and cathodal tDCS in a large-scale prospective cross-over study. Motor cortex physiology measurements wer...

The presence of pan-cadherin and the MEP-I antigen in normal and diseased rat lung was established by employing immunoperoxidase and double label fluorescence techniques. The binding of a mouse monoclonal antibody (MEP-1) reacting specifically with type I pneumocytes was assessed on paraffin sections of normal specimens as well as those with pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin or radiation ...

INTRODUCTION Respiratory muscle training is the most commonly used method to revert respiratory muscle weakness; however, the effect of protocols based on non-respiratory maneuvers has not been adequately studied in the pediatric population. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of abdominal muscle training on respiratory muscle strength and forced expiratory flows in healthy ...