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Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 8 weeks of resistance circuit training in people with paraplegia due to spinal cord injury.Methods Participants were randomized into experimental and control groups. Although the intensity and sequence of movements of the exercise programs were identical in both groups, the resting time between sets was limited to 1 minute in the experimental group. In the control group, the participants were allowed to rest until they were comfortable. Both groups received 8 weeks of training twice per week. Before and after the program, muscle mass, body fat percentage, fat mass, blood pressure, heart rate, muscle strength and muscular endurance were evaluated, and 6-minute propulsion test was conducted. Additionally, the safety of the program was assessed.Results Twenty-two individuals with paraplegia were enrolled (11 in each group). After the training program, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in the resting blood pressure and improvement in the upper extremity muscle mass, strength, and endurance (p

Literatures on the influences of missile defense (MD) on the existing nuclear deterrence are divided into negative and positive perspectives. However, both sides seem to make contradictory arguments. Skeptics argue that it is not feasible that MD influences deterrence stability but that it causes security dilemma and arms race, while proponents suggest that MD does not have to be perfect to reinforce deterrence stability but that it does not cause security dilemma and arms race. To fix this logical inconsistency, we identify an additional variable which is crucial in understanding the security dilemma mechanism in addition to Jervis’s (1978) two variables. By adding another variable, a minimum MD effectiveness level required for deterrence success suggested by Quackenbush (2006), to Jervis’s framework, we develop three hypotheses, two of which are novel on MD and its potential influences on deterrence stability and arms race. We then introduce a probabilistic model of the MD effectiveness by modifying Wilkening’s (2000) and conduct simulation analysis to see if MD is more likely to incur security dilemma and arms race. Our simulation results show that MD influence is likely to be different depending on a potential challenger’s national capability. Against a great power challenger, MD is least likely to meet the minimum MD effectiveness level required for deterrence success, so that the challenger is more likely to respond flexibly to the defender’s buildup of MD. Against a newly nuclear-armed state, however, a defender’s MD is more likely to satisfy the minimum MD effectiveness level, so that the defender is highly likely to respond flexibly to the potential challenger’s reinforcement effort of its nuclear force. In either case, our simulation results indicate that arms races concerning MD among them are not likely to occur.

Video sensor data has been widely used in automatic surveillance applications. In this study, we present a method that automatically detects pigs in a pig room by using depth information obtained from a Kinect sensor. For a real-time implementation, we propose a means of reducing the execution time by applying parallel processing techniques. In general, most parallel processing techniques have been used to parallelize a specific task. In this study, we consider parallelization of an entire system that consists of several tasks. By applying a scheduling strategy to identify a computing device for each task and implementing it with OpenCL, we can reduce the total execution time efficiently. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can automatically detect pigs using a CPU-GPU hybrid system in real time, regardless of the relative performance between the CPU and GPU.

The catalytic enantioselective synthesis of (+)-curcuphenol is described herein. This approach involves the use of an organocatalytic alkylation of m-anisidine, a diazotation/Sandmeyer reaction of the amine and a Negishi-type coupling with dimethylzinc. This versatile strategy allows for the rapid synthesis of other members of this class of natural products.

Pharmacopuncture, or herbal acupuncture, is a new form of therapy derived from combinations of two traditional therapeutic methods, herbal medicine and acupuncture therapy. To compare the efficacy between dexamethasone-pharmacopuncture (DP) and dexamethasone-oral administration (DO), the effect of DP was investigated in murine models. Anti-anaphylactic effects of dexamethasone treatments were investigated in compound 48/80-induced systemic anaphylactic reaction, ear swelling response, and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA). DP treatment significantly inhibited the compound 48/80-induced systemic anaphylactic reaction, ear swelling response, and PCA. The effects between DP and DO were on a similar level. These results indicate that DP can be used as an alternative method for DO in case of emergency.