Calf massager: Intervention for body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing

Many occupations require workers to stand for long periods of time without proper interventions, which causes discomfort in the back and lower limbs. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effectiveness in alleviating body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing through the use of a calf massager. This study was conducted among male workers at a manufacturer with production line workers and the list was obtained from the HR Department and simple random sampling was done by number categorization. A total of 100 respondents (50 respondents for both the control and the experimental groups) participated in this study. The experiment took place in a room with a similar setup for the production line. Each respondent was requested to perform the simulated task for 2 hr. For the experimental group, the calf massager was turned on every 15 min. At every 15‐min interval after turning on the calf massager, respondents from both groups were required to evaluate their discomfort level on a Borg's scale CR‐10 questionnaire. The results showed that the level of body discomfort among respondents in the experimental group reduced (20–30%) compared with that of the control group. Multivariate analysis results revealed that the discomfort rating for the lower back, knees, thighs, calves, and feet was significantly lower (p < .05) among the experimental group compared with the control group. For lower body parts, the lower back region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 90th, 105th, and 120th min; the thigh region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 120th min; the knee region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 105th and 120th min; the calf region was statistically significant (p < .05) at all minute intervals except the 15th and 45th min, while the feet region, was statistically significant at the 105th and 120th min. Therefore, this study indicates that calf massage treatment is capable of reducing body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing and highlights the significance of calf massage.     

随心所欲组建SLI英特尔芯片组破解SLI指南

一直以来，英特尔芯片组的主板只能支持AMD交炎技术，无法支持NVIDIA SLI技术。不过，在X58主板上这个定律被打破，X58主析也可以支持SLI。那么其它项特尔主板是否也可以通过相同或者其它破解方式支持SLI呢？为此，笔者做了详细测试。     

Oxidation of rapeseed oil in waste activated bleaching earth and its effect on riboflavin production in culture of Ashbya gossypii

Long-term behavior of rapeseed oil in waste activated bleaching earth (ABE) and the effect of this oil on riboflavin production in the culture of Ashbya gossypii were investigated. Waste ABE with 40% (w/w) rapeseed oil was stored for 80 d, and the extent of oxidation of rapeseed oil was measured by several analytical methods to determine the chemical properties of the oil at different stages of the oil deterioration process:peroxide value, acid value, concentrations of organic acids, acetaldehyde and unsaturated fatty acid, and content of polymerized triglycerides. Peroxide value, acid value, and concentrations of organic acids and acetaldehyde did not affect riboflavin production. However, the content of polymerized triglycerides markedly increased the viscosity of rapeseed oil and was the main reason for the exponential decrease in riboflavin production. A good correlation between the polymerized triglyceride content or viscosity and riboflavin production in the culture of A. gossypii using rapeseed oil as the sole carbon source was found.     

Liz1p, a novel fission yeast membrane protein, is required for normal cell division when ribonucleotide reductase is inhibited

Ribonucleotide reductase activity is required for generating deoxyribonucleotides for DNA replication. Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells lacking ribonucleotide reductase activity arrest during S phase of the cell cycle. In a screen for hydroxyurea-sensitive mutants in S. pombe, we have identified a gene, liz1(+), which when mutated reveals an additional, previously undescribed role for ribonucleotide reductase activity during mitosis. Inactivation of ribonucleotide reductase, by either hydroxyurea or a cdc22-M45 mutation, causes liz1(-) cells in G2 to undergo an aberrant mitosis, resulting in chromosome missegregation and late mitotic arrest. liz1(+) encodes a 514-amino acid protein with strong similarity to a family of transmembrane transporters, and localizes to the plasma membrane of the cell. These results reveal an unexpected G2/M function of ribonucleotide reductase and establish that defects in a transmembrane protein can affect cell cycle progression.