We first characterize a two-person, zero-sum game. 1. There are two players, P1 and P2. 2. P1 has a set A = {a1, a2, . . . , am} of m pure strategies (actions). 3. P2 has a set B = {b1, b2, . . . , bn} of n pure strategies (actions). 4. Each player has a utility for each (ai, bj) pair of actions. The utility for P1 is denoted U1(ai, bj) and the utility for P2 is denoted U2(ai, bj). Since this i...

The Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem (DCOP) is a powerful framework for modeling and solving applications in multi-agent coordination. Asynchronous Forward Bounding (AFB BJ) is one of the best algorithms to solve DCOPs. We propose AFB BJ, a revisited version of AFB BJ in which we refine the lower bound computations. We also propose to compute lower bounds for the whole domain of the ...

Hepatitis B virus genotype B (HBV/B) has been classified into 5 subgenotypes. Except for Bj/B1 in Japan, the subgenotypes (Ba/B2-B5) have undergone recombination with HBV/C in the core promoter/precore/core genomic region. Phylogenetic analyses of complete sequences show that the Arctic strains belong to a novel subgenotype (HBV/B6) without the recombination, analogous to what is seen with Bj/B...

Preeclampsia, a pregnancy-specific syndrome characterized by hypertension, proteinuria and edema, is a major cause of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Bj-PRO-10c, a proline-rich peptide isolated from Bothrops jararaca venom, has been attributed with potent anti-hypertensive effects. Recently, we have shown that Bj-PRO-10c-induced anti-hypertensive a...

The diversity of T-cell populations is determined by the spectrum of antigen-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) that are heterodimers of alpha and beta subunits encoded by rearranged combinations of variable (AV and BV), joining (AJ and BJ), and constant region genes (AC and BC). We have developed a novel approach for analysis of beta transcript diversity in mice with a real-time PCR-based method...

Blueberry is a plant with a number of nutritional and biomedical capabilities. In the present study we initially evaluated the capacity of its juice (BJ) to inhibit the number of aberrant crypts (AC) induced with azoxymethane (AOM) in mouse. BJ was administered daily by the oral route to three groups of animals during four weeks (1.6, 4.1, and 15.0 μL/g), respectively, while AOM (10 mg/kg) was ...

BJ-B11 is a selective heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor that has been reported to possess significant antitumor activity in multiple types of cancer cells; however, the mechanism of action needs to be further clarified. We investigated, for the first time, the antitumor activity and the molecular mechanism underlying growth inhibition in Eca-109 cells. The results revealed that BJ-B11 inh...

Being effective and relatively safe, the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Brucea javanica (BJ) has been valuable in curing patients in East Asia and its nearby regions for years. Recent reports suggested that the medicinal herb possesses broad antitumor activity against various cancer cells. This study evaluated whether low concentrations of BJ aqueous extract inhibited the growth of liver ca...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to clarify the influence of sensitization to Bjerkandera adusta (B. adusta) on the clinical manifestation in patients with fungus-associated chronic cough (FACC). METHODS Seventeen patients with FACC who underwent bronchoprovocation tests using an antigenic solution of B. adusta were selected from among 21 FACC patients. We compared the allergologica...