Multidimensional 0-1 Knapsack Problem (MKP) is a well-known integer programming problems. The objective of MKP is to find a subset of items with maximum value satisfying the capacity constraints. A Memetic algorithm on the basis of Design and Implementation Methodology for Metaheuristic Algorithms (DIMMA) is proposed to solve MKP. DIMMA is a new methodology to develop a metaheuristic algorithm....

Statement of Purpose: This article will report the study on a new generation bioactive ceramic, based on MgKPO4 (Magnesium Potassium Phosphate, abbreviated as MKP) for biomedical applications. A series of heat treatment experiments on the slip cast silica (SiO2) containing MKP ceramics were carried out at 900, 1,000 and 1,100C for 4 h in air. The density of the slip cast ceramic increased to 2....

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) induces oxidative damage to cellular constituents, ultimately leading to induction of apoptotic cell death and the pathogenesis of various diseases. The molecular mechanisms for the action of ROS in intestinal diseases remain poorly defined. Here, we reported that 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) treatment led to capses-3-dependent apoptosis accompanied by inc...

BACKGROUND About 5-10% of patients with asthma suffer from poorly controlled disease despite corticosteroid (CS) treatment, which may indicate the presence of CS insensitivity. A study was undertaken to determine whether relative CS insensitivity is present in alveolar macrophages from patients with severe asthma and its association with p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation an...

Our laboratory has recently demonstrated a role for the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-mediated inducible NO synthase (iNOS) signaling pathway in acute regulation of insulin-induced mitogen-activated protein phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) expression in primary cultures of rat aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) (N. Begum, L. Ragolia, M. McCarthy, and N. Duddy. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 25164-25170, 199...

Activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) results in diverse physiological effects depending on cell type. For example, glucocorticoids (GC) cause apoptosis in lymphocytes but can rescue mammary epithelial cells from growth factor withdrawal-induced death. However, the molecular mechanisms of GR-mediated survival remain poorly understood. In this study, a large-scale oligonucleotide screen...

PURPOSE This study was designed to determine in human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) whether the balance between epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced increases in proliferation and migration is dependent on the duration and magnitude of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk)1/2 activation. METHODS Western blot analysis evaluated the phosphorylation status of Erk1/2 and phosphoinositide...

The atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is a cardiovascular hormone possessing antiinflammatory potential due to its inhibitory action on the production of inflammatory mediators, such as tumor necrosis factor(TNF). The aim of this study was to determine whether ANP is able to attenuate inflammatory effects of TNFon target cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with TN...

Integer programming-based local search (IPbLS) is a metaheuristic recently proposed for solving linear combinatorial optimization problems. IPbLS is basically the same as the first-choice hillclimbing except for using integer programming for neighbor generation. Meanwhile, the multidimensional knapsack problem (MKP) is one of the most well-known linear combinatorial optimization problems and ha...

Phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitors have recently been introduced to the treatment of COPD and psoriatic arthritis. Microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) is an inducible enzyme synthesizing PGE2 , the most abundant prostanoid related to inflammation and inflammatory pain. mPGES-1 is a potential drug target for novel anti-inflammatory treatments aiming at an improved safety profile a...