An empirical investigation of safety climate in container terminal operators.

Introduction: This study empirically evaluates the crucial dimensions of safety climate from a container terminal operator's perspective, specifically in the Port of Kaohsiung.

Method: Seven safety climate dimensions are identified based on factor analysis: (a) supervisor safety, (b) job safety, (c) coworkers' safety, (d) safety management, (e) safety training, (f) safety rules and special safety training, and (g) job pressure. Cluster analysis is subsequently performed to form worker groups.

Cadmium activates a mitogen-activated protein kinase gene and MBP kinases in rice.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways are modules involved in the transduction of extracellular signals to intracellular targets in all eukaryotes. In plants, it has been evidenced that MAPKs play a role in the signaling of biotic and abiotic stresses, plant hormones, and cell cycle cues. However, the effect of heavy metals on plant MAPKs has not been well examined.

Rap1-induced p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation facilitates AMPA receptor trafficking via the GDI.Rab5 complex. Potential role in (S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycene-induced long term depression.

Recent evidence has emphasized the importance of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the induction of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-dependent long term depression (LTD) at hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapses. However, the cascade responsible of mGluR to activate p38 MAPK and the signaling pathway immediately downstream from it to induce synaptic depression is poorly understood. Here, we show that transient activation of group I mGluR with the selective agonist (S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) activates p38 MAPK through G protein betagamma-subunit, small GTPase Rap1, and MAPK kinase 3/6 (MKK3/6), thus resulting in mGluR5-dependent LTD.

Host gastric Lewis expression determines the bacterial density of Helicobacter pylori in babA2 genopositive infection.

Background And Aims: We tested if host gastric Lewis antigens and the babA2 genotype of Helicobacter pylori correlated with clinicohistological outcome.

Methods: We enrolled 188 dyspeptic patients (45 with duodenal ulcer, 45 with gastric ulcer, and 98 with chronic gastritis) with H pylori infection, proved by culture and gastric histology, reviewed by the updated Sydney system. Gastric expression of Lewis (Le) antigens Le(a), Le(b), Le(x), and Le(y) was determined immunochemically to determine intensity (range 0-3).

Voxel-based texture mapping for medical data.

In computerized image and graphic applications, texture mapping is one of the most commonly used methods to improve the realism or to enhance the visual effect of object rendering without too much increase in computational complexity. The conventional method usually has to transfer three-dimensional (3D) object to the polygonal structure, and is computationally expensive. As the medical data are mostly in voxel format, the polygonal structure is not efficient or requires more complicated mechanism in retrieving the internal information of medical data.

Metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates in a university hospital in Taiwan: prevalence of IMP-8 in Enterobacter cloacae and first identification of VIM-2 in Citrobacter freundii.

A total of 9082 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae other than Klebsiella spp. collected in 1999 and 2000 at a university hospital in Taiwan were investigated for the production of metallo- beta-lactamases (MBLs). Thirty-six (2.

Transcriptional regulation of a rice mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, OsMAPK4, in response to environmental stresses.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play important roles in signal transduction of extracellular stimuli in eukaryotes. However, stimulatory signals for plant MAPKs have not been well elucidated. Here, a cDNA clone, termed Oryza sativa MAPK4 (OsMAPK4), from rice encoding a protein that showed homology with the eukaryotic MAPKs was isolated.