Objective(s): Recent progress in understanding the pathogenesis of premature ventricular contraction (PVC)-induced cardiomyopathy (PIC) has suggested a key role for inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and the protein production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (...

The role of grass tussocks in supporting soil microbial biomass (SMB) in grazed ecosystems is not fully understood, nor is the spatial distribution of SMB in response to different grass species. We undertook a study in 1997 that examined ®ne-scale distributions of SMB in grazed experimental paddocks located in the eucalypt woodlands of northern Queensland, Australia. Levels of SMB were determin...

Classification of fiber tracts is an important problem in brain tractography.We propose a supervised algorithm which learns features for anatomically meaningful fiber clusters, from labeled DTI white matter data. The classification is performed at two levels: a) Grey vs White matter (macro level) and b) White matter clusters (micro level). Our approach focuses on high curvature points in the fi...

Despite the potential of micro-payment systems very few systems have been successful. Micro-payment markets exhibit twosided network externalities and the business models for these markets are not very well understood. By using a parsimonious game theoretic model, this paper studies factors affecting the existence of a market for micro-payment systems, how the users and merchants choose their a...

One of the key components of a chemical gas sensor is a MEMS micro-heater. Micro-heaters are used in both semiconductor gas sensors and NDIR gas sensors; however they each require different heat dissipation characteristics. For the semiconductor gas sensors, a uniform temperature is required over a wide area of the heater. On the other hand, for the NDIR gas sensor, the micro-heater needs high ...

We present in this paper the findings of a study on the role of macroadaptation in conversational intelligent tutoring. Macro-adaptivity refers to a system’s capability to select appropriate instructional tasks for the learner to work on. Micro-adaptivity refers to a system’s capability to adapt its scaffolding while the learner is working on a particular task. We compared an intelligent tutori...

Inflammation and complement activation via the mannose-binding lectin (MBL) pathway have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetic microvascular complications. The association between the complement-activating protein MBL and the development of persistent microalbuminuria was evaluated in an inception cohort of 286 newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic patients consecutively admit...

Skeletal muscle regenerates after injury. Tissue remodelling, which takes place during muscle regeneration, is a complex process involving proteolytic enzymes. It is inferred that micro and milli calpains are involved in the protein turnover and structural adaptation associated with muscle myolysis and reconstruction. Using a whole-crush injured skeletal muscle, we previously have shown that in...