Fractal dimension assessment of brain white matter structural complexity post stroke in relation to upper-extremity motor function.

Little is known about the association between brain white matter (WM) structure and motor function in humans. This study investigated complexity of brain WM interior shape as determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its relationship with upper-extremity (UE) motor function in patients post stroke. We hypothesized that (1) the WM complexity would decrease following stroke, and (2) higher WM complexity in non-affected cortical areas would be related to greater UE motor function.

Eleven polymorphic microsatellites isolated from red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii.

Eleven microsatellites were isolated from a genomic DNA library enriched for CA- and GA-repeats, and were characterized in 48 individuals of red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. All 11 microsatellites were polymorphic with an average of allele number of 6.6 per locus.

Comparative studies on the immunomodulatory and antitumor activities of the different parts of fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma spores.

Ganoderma lucidum (GL, Lingzhi) has been suggested as a candidate for immunomodulation and cancer treatment. The present study aimed at comparing the different parts of the fruiting body (whole fruiting body, pileus and stipe) of GL as well as Ganoderma spores (sporoderm-broken and -unbroken), with regard to their antitumor and immunomodulatory activities in S-180 sarcoma-bearing mice. The hot water extracts of different parts of GL or the Ganoderma spores were orally administered to the sarcoma-bearing mice.

Finite-size effect on magnetic properties in iron sulfide nanowire arrays.

We report the size effect on the magnetic properties in Fe(7)S(8) nanowire arrays. Samples with diameters in the range of 50-200 nm have been prepared by electrodeposition with AAO films. The Mössbauer measurement results show that four parameters (hyperfine fields, isomer shift, quadrupole splitting, full width at half-maximum) increased with decreasing the diameter of the nanowires.

EMG and MMG activities of agonist and antagonist muscles in Parkinson's disease patients during absolute submaximal load holding.

The purpose of the study was (1) to assess changes in electromyographical (EMG) and mechanomyographical (MMG) signals of the biceps and triceps brachii muscles during absolute submaximal load holding in Parkinson's disease patients tested during their medication "ON-phase" and in age-matched controls, and (2) to check whether mechanomyography can be useful in evaluation of neuromuscular system activity in Parkinson's disease patients. The data analysis was performed on nine females with Parkinson's disease and six healthy, age-matched females. The EMG and MMG signals were recorded from the short head of the biceps brachii (BB) and the lateral head of the triceps brachii (TB) muscles.

[Expression of AMPA receptors and related protein in immobilization stressed rats and effect of Xiaoyaosan].

Aim: To observe protein expression changes of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor and related regulatory protein in the hippocampus and amygdala in chronic immobilization stressed rat and Xiaoyaosan's regulatory effect.

Methods: Rats were tied 3 h per day to establish immobilization stress condition and treatment with Xiaoyaosan. After 7 days and 21 days stress, the protein expression of AMPA receptor subunit (GluR2/3), N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor (NSF) and protein interacting with C-kinase 1 (PICK1) in hippocampus and amygdala were detected by using Western blot techniques.

Differential gene expression analysis of maize leaf at heading stage in response to water-deficit stress.

The whole-genomic gene-expression changes of maize (Zea mays L.) plants in response to water-deficit stress at the heading stage have not been previously studied. The present work utilized a maize oligonucleotide array ('57K', approximately 57000 sequences; http://www.

Construction of a BAC library and mapping BAC clones to the linkage map of Barramundi, Lates calcarifer.

Background: Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is an important farmed marine food fish species. Its first generation linkage map has been applied to map QTL for growth traits. To identify genes located in QTL responsible for specific traits, genomic large insert libraries are of crucial importance.

Effects of Cordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps militaris and their isolated compounds on ion transport in Calu-3 human airway epithelial cells.

Aim Of The Study: The traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis (CS) (Clavicipitaceae) improves pulmonary function and is used to treat respiratory disease. Here, we compare the efficacy and mechanisms of action of Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris (CM) (Clavicipitaceae) in Calu-3 human airway epithelial monolayer model.

Material And Methods: The extracts of Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris, as well as their isolated compounds, cordycepin and adenosine, stimulated ion transport in a dose-dependent manner in Calu-3 monolayers.

Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size distributions and integral properties from simulated lidar backscatter measurements.

A new approach for retrieving aerosol properties from extinction spectra is extended to retrieve aerosol properties from lidar backscatter measurements. In this method it is assumed that aerosol properties are expressed as a linear combination of backscatters at three or fewer wavelengths commonly used in lidar measurements. The coefficients in the weighted linear combination are obtained by minimization of the retrieval error averaged for a set of testing size distributions.

Enhanced expression of phospholipase C 1 (ZmPLC1) improves drought tolerance in transgenic maize.

Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) plays an important role in a variety of physiological processes in plants, including drought tolerance. It has been reported that the ZmPLC1 gene cloned from maize (Zea mays L.) encoded a PI-PLC and up-regulated the expression in maize roots under dehydration conditions (Zhai SM, Sui ZH, Yang AF, Zhang JR in Biotechnol Lett 27:799-804, 2005).

[Changes of central AMPA receptor subunits and related protein mRNA expression in immobilization stressed rats and effect of Xiaoyaosan on them].

Objective: To observe the changes of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunit and related regulatory protein mRNA expression in the hippocampus and amygdala in immobilization stressed rats and effect of Xiaoyaosan (XYS) on them.

Methods: Immobilization model rats were established by binding for 3 h per day and intervened with XYS, the expression of AMPA receptor subunit (GluR1-4), N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor (NSF) and protein interacting with C-kinase 1 (PICK1) mRNA expression in model rats' CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus, dentate gyrus and amygdala were detected on day 7 and day 21 after modeling.

Results: On day 7, expression of GluR1 mRNA was significantly decreased in CA1 region (P < 0.

A highly sensitive and specific system for large-scale gene expression profiling.

Background: Rapid progress in the field of gene expression-based molecular network integration has generated strong demand on enhancing the sensitivity and data accuracy of experimental systems. To meet the need, a high-throughput gene profiling system of high specificity and sensitivity has been developed.

Results: By using specially designed primers, the new system amplifies sequences in neighboring exons separated by big introns so that mRNA sequences may be effectively discriminated from other highly related sequences including their genes, unprocessed transcripts, pseudogenes and pseudogene transcripts.

[Characteristics of Caragana microphylla sap flow and water consumption under different weather conditions on Horqin sandy land of northeast China].

Employing heat balance Dynamax packaged sap flow measuring system and automatic weather recording system, the sap flow of artificial Caragana microphylla community on Horqin sandy land of northeast China was monitored consecutively in 2006, and the photosynthetically effective radiation, air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity were measured synchronously. According to the manual records of weather conditions, four most representative weather conditions were gathered up to analyze the relationships of C. microphylla sap flow and its single branch water consumption with test meteorological factors.

Identification and verification of QTL associated with growth traits in two genetic backgrounds of Barramundi (Lates calcarifer).

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting growth traits have previously been mapped in linkage groups (LG) 2, 3 and 23 of Barramundi (Lates carcalifer), but these QTL have not been verified in different genetic backgrounds and environments. Here, we report the identification and verification of QTL for growth traits on LG2, 3, 10 and 23 in F(1) families constructed using brooders from the Singapore Marine Aquaculture Center (MAC) and from wild stocks collected in Thailand (THAI). The previously detected QTL for body weight and length linked to marker Lca371 on LG2 were confirmed in both the MAC and THAI families, whereas other QTL previously mapped to LG3 and 23 were only detected in one of the two families.

Effect of Scutellariae Radix extract on experimental dextran-sulfate sodium-induced colitis in rats.

Aim: To investigate the effect of Scutellariae Radix extract (SRE) on ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats induced by dextran-sulfate sodium (DSS).

Methods: Colitis was induced in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (170-180 g) by 4% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS, wt/v; MW 54000) in drinking water for 8 d. The treated rats received 4% DSS and SRE orally (100 mg/kg per day).

Hypocellularity in myelodysplastic syndrome is an independent factor which predicts a favorable outcome.

Hypocellular myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) represents only a small portion of MDS, of which, the clinical significance has not been well-defined. By using currently accepted age-adjusted criteria to define hypocellularity as <30% in patients <70 years old, and <20% in >70 years old, we identified 163 (15.5%) hypocelluar MDS from 1049 consecutive adult MDS patients over an 11-year period (1995-2006).

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel H+-translocating pyrophosphatase gene in Zea mays.

A cDNA encoding a putative H+-translocating pyrophosphatase (H+-PPase) has been cloned from Zea mays by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) coupled with in silico cloning approach. The isolated 2974 bp full-length cDNA named ZmGPP contains a single 2400 bp open reading frame encoding a putative protein of 799 amino acids. The predicted protein has 16 transmembrane domains and is significantly similar to Golgi apparatus resident type-II H+-PPase from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Protein digestion and phosphopeptide enrichment on a glass microchip.

This work describes an integrated glass microdevice for proteomics, which directly couples proteolysis with affinity selection. Initial results with standard phosphopeptide fragments from beta-casein in peptide mixtures showed selective capture of the phosphorylated fragments using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) beads packed into a microchannel. Complete selectivity was seen with angiotensin, with capture of only the phosphorylated form.

Effects of water-deficit stress on the transcriptomes of developing immature ear and tassel in maize.

Water-deficit stress during meiosis is one of the most serious threats to crop production. To elucidate the mechanisms of the response to water-deficit stress in the reproductive organs of maize, we have characterized the changes in transcription that occur during meiosis in the tassels and floret formation in the ears following water deficit stress. We used oligo microarray analysis, which included 57,452 transcripts representing more than 30,000 identifiable unique maize genes, and combined this with reverse Northern blot analysis.

On-line 1D and 2D porous layer open tubular/LC-ESI-MS using 10-microm-i.d. poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) columns for ultrasensitive proteomic analysis.

Following on our recent work, on-line one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) porous layer open tubular/liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (PLOT/LC-ESI-MS) platforms using 3.2 mx10 microm i.d.

A second Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans autotransporter adhesin exhibits specificity for buccal epithelial cells in humans and Old World primates.

Previous work showed that the Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans adhesin Aae demonstrated species specificity and tissue tropism to buccal epithelial cells (BECs) derived from humans and Old World primates, but a second, lower-affinity adhesin was noted. This study was designed to determine if Omp100 (also known as ApiA), a surface-expressed A. actinomycetemcomitans adhesin, is that second adhesin and if so to investigate its tissue tropism and species specificity.

Modeling heterogeneity and dependence for analysis of neuronal data.

In this paper, we describe two types of neuroscience problems which challenge the typical statistical models assumed for analyzing neuronal data. This offers an opportunity for new modeling and statistical inference. In the first problem, the data are spatial neural counts which are often over-dispersed and spatially correlated so that a standard Poisson regression model is inadequate.