Utility of EMG to Quantify Activity Levels in Small Muscles

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-112
Author(s):  
Gongbing Shan ◽  
Peter W Visentin ◽  
Peter Iltis
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
The Body ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Reliable Tool ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Face

The article EMG Characterization of Embouchure Muscle Activity, by Iltis and Givens, published in the March 2005 issue [MPPA 2005;20(1):25-34], adds significantly to the body of knowledge attempting to relate muscle activity to pathologies that appear to arise from it. In their study of embouchure dystonia, the authors focused on small/tiny muscles in the face, a goal that challenges the limits of EMG as a reliable tool. In this regard, we would appreciate the authors addressing two concerns that arise from use of a surface EMG technique.

scholarly journals Effect of Using Ergobrass Ergonomic Supports on Postural Muscles in Trumpet, Trombone, and French Horn Players

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Price ◽  
Alan HD Watson
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Musculoskeletal Injury ◽  
Pectoralis Major ◽  
The Body ◽  
French Horn ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Brass Instruments ◽  
Postural Muscle ◽  
The Right ◽  
Postural Muscles

AIMS: Though ergonomic supports are widely used for many groups of instruments, they are rare for brass instruments, despite the instruments’ considerable weight. Musculoskeletal injury and postural problems are common among this group, and so, both adult and young players are likely to benefit from supports that reduce the load placed on the body. This study assessed the effects on postural muscle activity of a recently developed range of supports (Ergobrass) that use a rod to transfer the weight of the instrument to a harness or to the chair or floor. METHODS: Twenty conservatoire students (mean age [SD], 20.9 ± 0.5 yrs) of the trumpet, french horn, or trombone used the supports while playing short brass studies, either sitting or standing. Surface electromyography recordings were made from key postural muscles, and their activity levels were compared with and without the support. RESULTS: Statistically significant reductions (typically 15–30%) were present in many of the muscles when using the supports, though in some players they were much larger. The number of muscles affected was least with the lightest instruments (the trumpet), with the effects mainly in the left deltoid and trapezius muscles. Reductions for the horn were bilateral, principally in biceps, pectoralis major, and deltoid; while in the trombone, they were confined to the left side (pectoralis major, posterior deltoid, and trapezius), as the right arm is in constant use to move the slide. CONCLUSIONS: The supports are effective in reducing postural muscle activity and may be of particular benefit to injured or young players.

scholarly journals PRASH: A Framework for Privacy Risk Analysis of Smart Homes

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 6399
Author(s):  
Joseph Bugeja ◽  
Andreas Jacobsson ◽  
Paul Davidsson
Keyword(s):  
Formal Specification ◽  
Smart Home ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
The Body ◽  
Privacy Risk ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Face ◽  
Privacy Risks

Smart homes promise to improve the quality of life of residents. However, they collect vasts amounts of personal and sensitive data, making privacy protection critically important. We propose a framework, called PRASH, for modeling and analyzing the privacy risks of smart homes. It is composed of three modules: a system model, a threat model, and a set of privacy metrics, which together are used for calculating the privacy risk exposure of a smart home system. By representing a smart home through a formal specification, PRASH allows for early identification of threats, better planning for risk management scenarios, and mitigation of potential impacts caused by attacks before they compromise the lives of residents. To demonstrate the capabilities of PRASH, an executable version of the smart home system configuration was generated using the proposed formal specification, which was then analyzed to find potential attack paths while also mitigating the impacts of those attacks. Thereby, we add important contributions to the body of knowledge on the mitigations of threat agents violating the privacy of users in their homes. Overall, the use of PRASH will help residents to preserve their right to privacy in the face of the emerging challenges affecting smart homes.

scholarly journals E183K Mutation in Chalcone Synthase C2 Causes Protein Aggregation and Maize Colorless

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixiao Dong ◽  
He Li ◽  
Yingjie Xue ◽  
Shengzhong Su ◽  
Shipeng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Aggregation ◽  
Prokaryotic Expression ◽  
Chalcone Synthase ◽  
The Body ◽  
Ems Mutagenesis ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Complete Protein ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Flavonoids give plants their rich colors and play roles in a number of physiological processes. In this study, we identified a novel colorless maize mutant showing reduced pigmentation throughout the whole life cycle by EMS mutagenesis. E183K mutation in maize chalcone synthase C2 (ZmC2) was mapped using MutMap strategy as the causal for colorless, which was further validated by transformation in Arabidopsis. We evaluated transcriptomic and metabolic changes in maize first sheaths caused by the mutation. The downstream biosynthesis was blocked while very few genes changed their expression pattern. ZmC2-E183 site is highly conserved in chalcone synthase among Plantae kingdom and within species’ different varieties. Through prokaryotic expression, transient expression in maize leaf protoplasts and stable expression in Arabidopsis, we observed that E183K and other mutations on E183 could cause almost complete protein aggregation of chalcone synthase. Our findings will benefit the characterization of flavonoid biosynthesis and contribute to the body of knowledge on protein aggregation in plants.

scholarly journals Nexus between Product Innovation and Enterprise Survival: Impact of Competitive Intensity and Competitive Advantage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Lu Zhou ◽  
James Onuche Ayegba ◽  
Peace Maina James ◽  
Emmanuel Onu Ayegba ◽  
Xin jie Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Competitive Intensity ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
The Face

Product innovation is a crucial factor in enterprise survival. Even though there are sources from strategic theory that guides the clear comprehension towards appreciating the nexus between these two variables (product innovation and enterprise survival), there are still many lacunas that should be addressed and filled. Consequently, the need for additional empirical corroboration or support is pertinent. This study aimed at verifying the nexus between product innovation and enterprise survival, and how they are affected by the existence of antecedent variables such as competitive intensity and competitive advantage. In the methodology, this study adopts the conduct of explanatory and cross-sectional investigations through the use of structural equation modelling (SEM) to a sample of selected food and beverages enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. Regarding the food and beverage enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria, this study discovered that competitive intensity has huge positive implication on product innovation at (0.39; t = 5.69, p < 0.05). This gives numerical evidence that, in the face of more market competition, enterprises will be pressured to adopt the model of costs reduction on products which will enhance the reduction of product prices, and will have significant impact on profit. However, the findings reveal that there is no significance between competitive advantage and product innovation at (0.002; t = 0.203, p > 0.05), and there is no significance between product innovation and enterprise survival at (-0.035; t = -1.583, p > .05). As a result, the food and beverage enterprises should concentrate more on product innovation so that they will be able to stand the intensity of competition. The results emanated from the study is germane as it make significant contribution to literature and the body of knowledge and on strategic management by enlightening that competitive intensity is a necessary inducement for product innovation.

Branding dilemma: the case of branding Hyderabad city

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-564
Author(s):  
Rhulia Nukhu ◽  
Sapna Singh
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
City Branding ◽  
City Image ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Face ◽  
Hospitality Managers ◽  
Destination Management Organizations ◽  
The City

Purpose Hyderabad City today is a blend of metro and heritage causing much dilemma to what it offers the visitors. A mixture of the “Nawabi – the good old days city” and “information technology hub – a new metropolitan city,” has changed the perception of the city. This has blurred the vision of positioning the city. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing city image and the execution of a clear brand message in the face of ambiguous essence of the place. Design/methodology/approach The exploratory case study was divided into two parts. In the first stage of the study, an in-depth interview was conducted on tour operators, hotels and hospitality managers, tourists and residents. In the second stage of the study, the review text was scrapped from TripAdvisor. Further text collocate, linked analysis and word trees were done on reviews of Hyderabad city using Voyant tools to find the core attributes of the city image. Findings The finding indicates that the city branding is diluted with a blended essence of heritage and metropolis, making the positioning of the city ambiguous. Moreover, the findings reveal that the blend of the two dichotomous characteristics of the city can study out through the implementation of the dual branding and story narration of the city. Research limitations/implications The study is no short of limitations, as it is a case-based, subjectivity is inevitable, the selection of the respondents for the interviews was on convenience-based. The number of interviewees for the study is limited thus cannot be generalized. In addition, another limitation of the study is that only few reviews on Hyderabad city were found on TripAdvisor not enough to sustain more elaborated results and, as the reviews were basically from tourists, further there may be some elimination of other important aspects of the city. Text analysis has its own limitation such as it cannot track sarcasm or identify the spelling errors or synonymous. Despite the limitations, the study attempts to shed some light on the city’s needs to rebranding. Practical implications One of the important contributions of the study is its implications, for tour operators and policymakers. For the former, the need to communicate and position the brand and develop a strategy that bridges the gap between heritage image and metropolis. In addition, for the later, for setting the national urban policies that conserve the heritage sites and improvise the management. Social implications To conserve the culture, tradition and heritage sites in the impetus of the city’s phenomenal urbanization and development. Originality/value City as a brand is complex, the present research brings out the complexity based on the essence of the city bridging the gap through an insightful approach. Expanding the body of knowledge, at the same time providing insightful implications for destination stakeholders such as managers, policymakers and destination management organizations.

The glycomes of Caenorhabditis elegans and other model organisms

2002 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart M. Haslam ◽  
David Gems ◽  
Howard R. Morris ◽  
Anne Dell
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Entire Genome ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
The Face ◽  
Area Of Concern ◽  
Nematode Worm

There is no doubt that the immense amount of information that is being generated by the initial sequencing and secondary interrogation of various genomes will change the face of glycobiological research. However, a major area of concern is that detailed structural knowledge of the ultimate products of genes that are identified as being involved in glycoconjugate biosynthesis is still limited. This is illustrated clearly by the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, which was the first multicellular organism to have its entire genome sequenced. To date, only limited structural data on the glycosylated molecules of this organism have been reported. Our laboratory is addressing this problem by performing detailed MS structural characterization of the N-linked glycans of C. elegans; high-mannose structures dominate, with only minor amounts of complex-type structures. Novel, highly fucosylated truncated structures are also present which are difucosylated on the proximal N-acetylglucosamine of the chitobiose core as well as containing unusual Fucα1–2Gal1–2Man as peripheral structures. The implications of these results in terms of the identification of ligands for genomically predicted lectins and potential glycosyltransferases are discussed in this chapter. Current knowledge on the glycomes of other model organisms such as Dictyostelium discoideum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Drosophila melanogaster is also discussed briefly.

Characterization of the Original Christmas Disease Mutation (Cysteine 206 → Serine): From Clinical Recognition to Molecular Pathogenesis

1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (01) ◽  
pp. 063-065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherryl A M Taylor ◽  
Jacalyn Duffin ◽  
Cherie Cameron ◽  
Jerome Teitel ◽  
Bernadette Garvey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleotide Substitution ◽  
Novel Mutation ◽  
Factor Ix ◽  
Causative Mutation ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Splice Junctions

SummaryChristmas disease was first reported as a distinct clinical entity in two manuscripts published in 1952 (1, 2). The eponym associated with this disorder, is the surname of the first patient examined in detail and reported by Biggs and colleagues in a paper describing the clinical and laboratory features of seven affected individuals (3). This patient has severe factor IX coagulant deficiency (less than 0.01 units/ml) and no detectable circulating factor IX antigen (less than 0.01 units/ml). Coding sequence and splice junctions of the factor IX gene from this patient have been amplified in vitro through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One nucleotide substitution was identified at nucleotide 30,070 where a guanine was replaced by a cytosine. This mutation alters the amino acid encoded at position 206 in the factor IX protein from cysteine to serine. The non conservative nature of this substitution, the absence of this change in more than 200 previously sequenced factor IX genes and the fact that the remainder of the coding region of this gene was normal, all provide strong circumstantial evidence in favour of this change being the causative mutation in this patient. The molecular characterization of this novel mutation in the index case of Christmas disease, contributes to the rapidly expanding body of knowledge pertaining to Christmas disease pathogenesis.

Studies on the Characterization of Factor VIII and a Co-factor VIII

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (02) ◽  
pp. 328-338
Author(s):  
M. M. P Paulssen ◽  
H. L. M. A Vandenbussche-Scheffers ◽  
P. B Spaan ◽  
T de Jong ◽  
M. C Planje
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Factor Viii ◽  
The Body ◽  
Haemophilia A ◽  
Von Willebrand's Disease ◽  
Von Willebrand’S Disease ◽  
Polysaccharide Content ◽  
Plasma Factor ◽  
Two Factors

SummaryFactor VIII occurs in the body in two different forms. In lymph factor VIII is bound to chylomicra. In plasma, factor VIII is bound to a protein.After delipidation of chylomicra we obtained a glycoprotein with a high polysaccharide content and a molecular weight of approx. 160,000.In plasma, factor VIII is attached to a protein which is present in normal concentrations in plasma of patients with haemophilia A and in serum (co-factor VIII).This factor is deficient in both the plasma and the serum of patients with von Willebrand’s disease.The binding between factor VIII and co-factor VIII is reversible.Some properties of these two factors are described.

Questions on the role of biofilms for the adaptation of microorganisms to unfavorable environmental factors by the example of P. aeruginosa

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-383
Author(s):  
Vasily N. Afonyushkin ◽  
N. A. Donchenko ◽  
Ju. N. Kozlova ◽  
N. A. Davidova ◽  
V. Yu. Koptev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Barrier Function ◽  
Infectious Agent ◽  
Antagonistic Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Pathogenic Potential ◽  
The Face

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a widely represented species of bacteria possessing of a pathogenic potential. This infectious agent is causing wound infections, fibrotic cystitis, fibrosing pneumonia, bacterial sepsis, etc. The microorganism is highly resistant to antiseptics, disinfectants, immune system responses of the body. The responses of a quorum sense of this kind of bacteria ensure the inclusion of many pathogenicity factors. The analysis of the scientific literature made it possible to formulate four questions concerning the role of biofilms for the adaptation of P. aeruginosa to adverse environmental factors: Is another person appears to be predominantly of a source an etiological agent or the source of P. aeruginosa infection in the environment? Does the formation of biofilms influence on the antibiotic resistance? How the antagonistic activity of microorganisms is realized in biofilm form? What is the main function of biofilms in the functioning of bacteria? A hypothesis has been put forward the effect of biofilms on the increase of antibiotic resistance of bacteria and, in particular, P. aeruginosa to be secondary in charcter. It is more likely a biofilmboth to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and provide topical competition in the face of food scarcity. In connection with the incompatibility of the molecular radii of most antibiotics and pores in biofilm, biofilm is doubtful to be capable of performing a barrier function for protecting against antibiotics. However, with respect to antibodies and immunocompetent cells, the barrier function is beyond doubt. The biofilm is more likely to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and providing topical competition in conditions of scarcity of food resources.

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