Motor Task Processing After Constraint- Induced Movement Therapy in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Case Series

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) has shown positive results in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP). However, studies on neural basis of such functional gains are limited. This study reports the event-related potential (ERP) changes in two children with hemiplegic CP after receiving CIMT for three weeks. Both cases were nine years old, had a diagnosis of left hemiplegic CP, had normal intelligence, and were able to extend the wrist at least 20° and the metacarpophalangeal joint at least 10° from full flexion. Before and after the three-week intervention, the children participated in ERP sessions with a choice reaction task to capture the changes in neural mechanism after intervention. Both children exhibited improvement in reaction time (RT) in both hand tasks after the intervention. The improvement was larger in the affected hand than the unaffected hand. Improved accuracy rate (AC) and shortened P300 latencies in the affected hand were also demonstrated in both cases. Topographical maps showed that in centro-parietal regions, patterns shifted from central and left-lateralized to more central and right-lateralized. CMIT was a useful method in improving upper limb function in our cases

Control of ionic selectivity by a pore helix residue in the Kv1.2 channel

Interaction between the selectivity filter and the adjacent pore helix of voltage-gated K+ (Kv) channels controls pore stability during K+ conduction. Kv channels, having their selectivity filter destabilized during depolarization, are said to undergo C-type inactivation. We examined the functionality of a residue at the pore helix of the Kv1.2 channel (V370), which reportedly affects C-type inactivation. A mutation into glycine (V370G) caused a shift in reversal potential from around -72 to -9 mV. The permeability ratios (P-Na/P-K) of the wild type and V370G mutant are 0.04 and 0.76, respectively. In the wild-type, P-Rb/P-K, P-Cs/P-K and P-Li/P-K are 0.78, 0.10 and 0.05, respectively. Kv1.2 V370G channels had enhanced permeability to Rb+ and Cs+ (P-Rb/P-K and P-Cs/P-K are 1.63 and 1.18, respectively); however, Li+ permeability was not significantly augmented (P-Li/P-K is 0.13). Therefore, in addition to its known effect on pore stability, V370 of Kv1.2 is also crucial in controlling ion selectivity

Solubilization of inorganic phosphates and plant growth promotion by Aspergillus niger

Two of 187 fungal isolates (Aspergillus niger 1B and 6A) displaying superior phosphate (P) solubilization and hydrolytic enzyme secretion were studied using P forms of calcium (Ca-P), iron (Fe-P), and aluminum (Al-P). Phosphate solubilization in a sucrose-basal salt (SB) broth was increased and pH decreased by both isolates. In Ca-P medium, solubilization for 6A was approximately 322 mu g P mL(-1) and pH decreased by 4.2 units to 2.3 in 72 h. However, when pH value of the SB broth was lowered to 2.5 using HCl, 65.3 +/- 0.4 mu g mL(-1) of P was released from Ca-P, whereas trace amounts of P were released from Fe-P and Al-P. Both isolates displayed enhanced Al-P solubilization using NH4Cl rather than KNO3 as the N source; final pH values were not significantly different. With Ca-P, gluconic acid was predominantly produced by 1B and 6A, whereas oxalic acid predominated with Fe-P and Al-P. Addition of gluconic acid (final concentration of 8.5 mu mol mL(-1)) to Ca-P-supplemented SB lowered pH (2.9) and solubilized phosphate (146.0 +/- 1.0 mu g mL(-1)). Similarly, addition of oxalic acid (final concentration 6.6 mu mol mL(-1)) to Ca-P- and Fe-P-amended media solubilized P (60.2 +/- 0.9 and 21.6 +/- 2.1 mu g mL(-1), respectively), although these quantities were significantly lower than those detected in unamended SB. The presence of unidentified P solubilized compound(s) in the dialyzed (MW > 500) supernatant warrants further study. In pot experiments, significant increases in plant (Brassica chinensis Linn.) dry weight and N and P contents were observed with the addition of isolate 6A, when a small amount of organic fertilizer together with either rock phosphate (South African apatite) or Ca-P served as the main P sources

Analytical and experimental bearing capacities of system scaffolds

We investigated the structural behavior and bearing capacity of system scaffolds. The research showed that the critical load of a system scaffold structure without diagonal braces is similar to that of a door-shaped steel scaffold structure. Joint stiffness between vertical props in system scaffolds can be defined based on a comparison between analytical and experimental results. When the number of scaffold stories increases, the critical loads of system scaffolds decrease. Diagonal braces markedly enhance the critical load of system scaffolds. The coupling joint position between vertical props should be kept away from story-to-story joints to prevent a reduction in critical loads. The critical load of a system scaffold decreases as the quantity of extended vertical props at the bottom of the structure increases. A large Christmas tree set up by system scaffolds under various loads was used as an example for analysis and to check the design of system scaffolds

From Network Structure to Dynamics and Back Again: Relating dynamical stability and connection topology in biological complex systems

The recent discovery of universal principles underlying many complex networks occurring across a wide range of length scales in the biological world has spurred physicists in trying to understand such features using techniques from statistical physics and non-linear dynamics. In this paper, we look at a few examples of biological networks to see how similar questions can come up in very different contexts. We review some of our recent work that looks at how network structure (e.g., its connection topology) can dictate the nature of its dynamics, and conversely, how dynamical considerations constrain the network structure. We also see how networks occurring in nature can evolve to modular configurations as a result of simultaneously trying to satisfy multiple structural and dynamical constraints. The resulting optimal networks possess hubs and have heterogeneous degree distribution similar to those seen in biological systems.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Proceedings of "Dynamics On and Of Complex Networks", ECSS'07 Satellite Workshop, Dresden, Oct 1-5, 200

H-Ras oncogene counteracts the growth-inhibitory effect of genistein in T24 bladder carcinoma cells

Among eight human bladder cancer cell lines we examined, only T24 cells were resistant to the growth inhibition effect of genistein, an isoflavone and potent anticancer drug. Since the T24 cell line was the only cell line known to overexpress oncogenic H-Ras(val12), we investigated the role of H-Ras(val 12) in mediating drug resistance. Herein, we demonstrate that the phenotype of T24 cells could be dramatically reversed and became relatively susceptible to growth inhibition by genistein if the synthesis of H- Ras(val 12) or its downstream effector c-Fos had been suppressed. The inhibition of Ras-mediated signalling with protein kinase inhibitors, such as PD58059 and U0126 which inhibited MEK and ERK, in T24 cells also rendered the identical phenotypic reversion. However, this reversion was not observed when an inhibitor was used to suppress the protein phosphorylation function of PI3 K or PKC. These results suggest that the signal mediated by H-Ras(val 12) is predominantly responsible for the resistance of the cells to the anticancer drug genistein

Green and efficient production of octyl hydroxyphenylpropionate using an ultrasound-assisted packed-bed bioreactor

A solvent-free system to produce octyl hydroxyphenylpropionate (OHPP) from p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid (HPPA) and octanol using immobilized lipase (Novozym(A (R)) 435) as a catalyst in an ultrasound-assisted packed-bed bioreactor was investigated. Response-surface methodology (RSM) and a three-level-three-factor Box-Behnken design were employed to evaluate the effects of reaction temperature (x (1)), flow rate (x (2)) and ultrasonic power (x (3)) on the percentage of molar production of OHPP. The results indicate that the reaction temperature and flow rate were the most important variables in optimizing the production of OHPP. Based on a ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions for OHPP synthesis were predicted to consist of a reaction temperature of 65A degrees C, a flow rate of 0.05 ml/min and an ultrasonic power of 1.74 W/cm(2) with a yield of 99.25%. A reaction was performed under these optimal conditions, and a yield of 99.33 +/- A 0.1% was obtained

The synthesized 2-(2-fluorophenyl)-6,7-methylenedioxyquinolin-4-one (CHM-1) promoted G2/M arrest through inhibition of CDK1 and induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial-dependent pathway in CT-26 murine colorectal adenocarcinoma cells

In this study, we investigated the effects of 2-(2-fluorophenyl)-6,7-methylenedioxyquinolin-4-one (CHM-1) on cell viability, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CT-26 murine colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. For determining cell viability, the MTT assay was used. CHM-1 promoted G2/M arrest by PI staining and flow cytometric analysis. Apoptotic cells were evaluated by DAPI staining. We used CDK1 kinase assay, Western blot analysis and caspase activity assays for examining the CDK1 activity and proteins correlated with apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The in vivo anti-tumor effects of CHM-1-P were evaluated in BALB/c mice inoculated with CT-26 cells orthotopic model. CHM-1 induced CT-26 cell viability inhibition and morphologic changes in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner and the approximate IC(50) was 742.36 nM. CHM-1 induced significant G2/M arrest and apoptosis in CT-26 cells. CHM-1 inhibited the CDK1 activity and decreased CDK1, Cyclin A, Cyclin B protein levels. CHM-1 induced apoptosis in CT-26 cells and promoted increasing of cytosolic cytochrome c, AIF, Bax, BAD, cleavage of pro-caspase-9, and -3. The significant reduction of caspase-9 and -3 activity and increasing the viable CT-26 cells after pretreated with caspase-9 and -3 inhibitor indicated that CHM-1-induced apoptosis was mainly mediated a mitochondria-dependent pathway. CHM-1-P improved mice survival rate, and enlargement of the spleen and liver metastasis were significantly reduced in groups treated with either 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg of CHM-1-P and 5-FU in comparison to these of CT-26/BALB/c mice. Taken together, CHM-1 acted against colorectal adenocarcinoma cells in vitro via G2/M arrest and apoptosis, and CHM-1-P inhibited tumor growth in vivo

Search for \bar{B}^0\to\Lambda_c^+\bar{\Lambda}_c^- decay at Belle

We search for the doubly charmed baryonic decay $\bar{B}^0\to\Lambda_c^+\bar{\Lambda}_c^-$, in a data sample of $520\times10^6$ $B{\bar B}$ events accumulated at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^- collider. We find no significant signal and set an upper limit of ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^0\to\Lambda_c^+\bar{\Lambda}_c^-)<6.2\times10^{-5}$ at 90% confidence level. The result is significantly below a naive extrapolation from ${\cal B}(B^-\to\Xi_c^0\bar{\Lambda}_c^)$ assuming a simple Cabibbo-suppression factor of $|V_{cd}/V_{cs}|^2$. The small branching fraction could be attributed to a suppression due to the large momentum of the baryonic decay products, which has been observed in other charmed baryonic two-body B decays. trend observed in other charmed baryonic two-body B decays.Comment: 12 page, 5 figures. Contribution paper for conferences EPS2007 and Lepton Photon 2007, Belle-Conference-070

Search for B -> h(*) nu nubar Decays at Belle

We present a search for the rare decays B -> h(*) nu nubar, where h(*) stands for a light meson. A data sample of 535 million BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider is used. Signal candidates are required to have an accompanying B meson fully reconstructed in a hadronic mode and signal-side particles consistent with a single h(*) meson. No significant signal is observed and we set upper limits on the branching fractions at 90% confidence level. The limits on B0 -> K*0 nu nubar and B+ -> K+ nu nubar decays are more stringent than the previous constraints, while the first searches for B0 -> K0 nu nubar, pi0 nu nubar, rho0 nu nubar, phi nu nubar and B+ -> K*+ nu nubar, rho+ nu nubar are reported.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submit to PR