The ISCIP Analyst, Volume XIII, Issue 6

This repository item contains a single issue of The ISCIP Analyst, an analytical review journal published from 1996 to 2010 by the Boston University Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy

The ISCIP Analyst, Volume XIII, Issue 2

This repository item contains a single issue of The ISCIP Analyst, an analytical review journal published from 1996 to 2010 by the Boston University Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy

The calpain—calpastatin system is regulated differently during human neuroblastoma cell differentiation to Schwannian and neuronal cells

AbstractChanges in expression of calpains and calpastatin during differentiation in GOTO cells were examined using antibodies specific to calpains and calpastatin. Neuronal differentiation induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP elicited a remarkable decrease in m-calpain. No marked changes in the levels of calpains were found in bromodeoxyuridine-induced Schwannian differentiation. Calpastatin was detected as a single band of 110k in undifferentiated and in neuronally differentiated cells by Western blot analysis. However, the appearance of a 120k species was detected in Schwannian differentiation associated with morphological change. The data show that marked changes in m-calpain and calpastatin occur in a differentiation-specific manner

Physiological responses of Brassica napus to fulvic acid under water stress: Chlorophyll a fluorescence and antioxidant enzyme activity

AbstractThe ameliorative effect of fulvic acid (0, 300, and 600mgL−1) on photosystem II and antioxidant enzyme activity of the rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) plant under water stress (60, 100, and 140mm evaporation from class A pan) was studied using split plots in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results indicated that application of fulvic acid (FA) improved the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) and performance index (PI) of plants under both well-watered and limited-water conditions. The time span from Fo to Fm and the energy necessary for the closure of all reaction centers was significantly increased, but the size of the plastoquinone pool was reduced with increasing water stress levels. Plants treated with FA had higher peroxidase and catalase activities under all irrigation conditions. Activities of ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in plants increased with increasing water stress. Malondialdehyde increased under severe water stress, but application of FA significantly decreased lipid peroxidation. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a common phenomenon in plants under stress. Under this condition, the balance between the production of ROS and the quenching activity of antioxidants is upset, often resulting in oxidative damage. In this study, application of FA significantly increased fluorescence of chlorophyll a, inhibiting ROS production and enhancing antioxidant enzymes activity that destroyed ROS. Thus, ROS in plant cells was reduced under water stress by application of FA and consequently lipid peroxidation was reduced