bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
[123I]‐FP/CIT SPECT imaging for distinguishing drug‐induced parkinsonism from Parkinson's disease
Authors: Lorberboym Mordechai , Treves Therese A. , Melamed Eldad , Lampl Yair , Hellmann Mark , Djaldetti Ruth
Published: October 2005

Parkinsonism in patients taking neuroleptic medications might be induced by dopamine receptor blockade alone or by dopamine blockade with nigrostriatal dysfunction. The differentiation between Parkinson's disease (PD) and drug‐induced parkinsonism (DIP) is difficult to assess on clinical grounds alone. In this study, we have evaluated the clinical characteristics and striatal binding of 123I‐FP‐CIT (N‐ω‐fluoropropyl‐2β‐carboxymethoxy‐3β‐{4‐iodophenyl}tropane) in patients who developed DIP. A total of 20 patients (mean age, 62 ± 13 years) who developed parkinsonism while on neuroleptic agents and 10 age‐matched controls were enrolled. [123]‐FP‐CIT single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in all subjects. Neurological assessment was performed with the Motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. [123]‐FP‐CIT binding of the entire striatum, caudate, and putamen was calculated. Patients were divided into two subgroups according to SPECT results for comparison of clinical characteristics. There were 9 patients who had normal scans and 11 who showed significantly diminished striatal binding, suggesting degeneration of the nigrostriatal system. Subanalyses of abnormal scans revealed significantly diminished binding in the caudate (P < 0.001 for right and left caudate) and putamen (P = 0.002 and P < 0.05 for right and left putamen, respectively). There were no differences in clinical features between patients with normal and abnormal scans. Symptoms included asymmetric tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity in both groups. Freezing gait was present in two patients with normal scans. These results indicate that DIP is clinically indistinguishable from PD. Brain imaging with FP‐CIT helps to determine whether DIP is entirely drug‐induced or an exacerbation of subclinical PD. © 2005 Movement Disorder Society
Association of α‐synuclein Rep1 polymorphism and Parkinson's disease: Influence of Rep1 on age at onset
Authors: Hadjigeorgiou Georgios M. , Xiromerisiou Georgia , Gourbali Vanessa , Aggelakis Kostantinos , Scarmeas Nikolaos , Papadimitriou Alexandros , Singleton Andrew
Published: October 2005

The α‐synuclein Rep1 polymorphism was studied in patients and controls in an ethnic Greek population. There was an association of allele 2 with risk of Parkinson's disease (PD; adjusted odd ratio = 3.25; 95% CI = 1.80–5.87). Survival analyses (Cox proportional hazards models) were employed to explore the influence of genotypes on age at onset of PD. Age at onset of carriers of at least one Rep1 allele 2 was earlier (3.6 years) compared to noncarriers (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.21; 95% CI = 1.58–3.10). Kaplan–Meier analysis also supported a dosage effect of Rep1 allele 2 on age at onset. For Rep1 allele 1, there was neither association with risk of PD nor influence on age at onset. This is the first study showing an influence of Rep1 polymorphism on age at onset of PD. © 2005 Movement Disorder Society
Parkinsonism, dysautonomia, and intranuclear inclusions in a fragile X carrier: A clinical–pathological study
Authors: Louis Elan , Moskowitz Carol , Friez Michael , Amaya Maria , Vonsattel Jean Paul G.
Published: October 2005

A new tremor–ataxia syndrome, fragile X–associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), has been described among carriers of premutation expansions (55–200 CGG repeats) of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. The prevalence of FMR1 premutation alleles has been reported to be 1 in 813 among men. Patients with FXTAS may also have features of parkinsonism. Postmortem findings have been described in eight patients with FXTAS and detailed descriptions of the pathological features of this syndrome have been published in two of these. We present a detailed description of the postmortem findings in a third patient. The patient had parkinsonism and was a carrier of a premutation expansion in the FMR1 gene. As in previous reports, the most prominent finding was the presence of eosinophilic nuclear inclusions in neurons and astrocytes, loss of Purkinje cells, and regional vacuolation of the cerebral white matter. As in one previous report, nuclear inclusions were also present in ependymal and choroid plexus cells. A new finding is that of nuclear inclusions in both the adeno‐ and neurohypophysis. These findings confirm the diffuse nature of this pathology. Further studies of clinical–pathological correlation in a larger sample of brains would provide additional insight into the mechanisms of the tremor, ataxia, and parkinsonism in these patients. © 2005 Movement Disorder Society
Design of an integrated antenna for automotive systems
Authors: Azaro R. , Boato G. , De Natale F. , Franceschini G. , Martini A. , Massa A.
Published: October 2005

This paper describes the design process of an integrated antenna for an automotive rescue system. In order to fulfill the antenna‐design requirements in different frequency bands and minimize the interference phenomena arising from the integration of different classes of antennas in a single device, a two‐phases stochastic‐optimization approach is used. The experimental validation carried out on the developed prototype confirms the effectiveness of the proposed approach. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 513–515, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21214
Phase‐noise reduction of voltage‐controlled dielectric resonator oscillator for the X‐band
Authors: Yom In‐Bok , Shin Dong‐Hwan , Ryu Keun‐Kwan , Oh Seung‐Hyeub , Lee Moon‐Que
Published: October 2005

A different approach for phase‐noise reduction of a HEMT VCDRO (voltage‐controlled dielectric resonator oscillator) with coupled microstriplines to tune the oscillating frequency is investigated. Two HEMT VCDROs of 9.8 GHz are manufactured in the same configuration, except for the frequency‐control circuit, in order to empirically demonstrate the phase‐noise reduction. The experimental results show that the phase‐noise reduction can be enhanced 8 dBc/Hz at 100‐KHz offset frequency by using a frequency‐controlled circuit with coupled microstriplines, as compared to the conventional VCDRO. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 515–518, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21215
Dual‐polarized corner‐fed patch antenna array with high isolation
Authors: Liang Xian‐Ling , Zhong Shun‐Shi , Wang Wei
Published: October 2005

A 16 × 1‐element microstrip antenna array with dual‐polarized stacked corner‐fed square patches as its elements is presented. This linear array fed by the coplanar feed and the slot‐coupled feed for dual polarization, respectively, together with the pair‐wise anti‐phase feeding technique, achieves measured port isolation better than 33 dB with the maximum reaching 43 dB in the bandwidth of 9.375–9.825 GHz. The measured bandwidths of VSWR ≤ 1.5 reach 15% and 13.5% for the two ports, respectively, and the measured gain is better than 16.7 dB in the operating bandwidth, which are suitable for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) application. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 520–522, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21217
A solution expressed in terms of UTD coefficients for the analysis of the multiple diffraction in urban areas with shadowing caused by terrain effects
Authors: Rodríguez José‐Víctor , Molina‐García‐Pardo José‐María , Juan‐Llácer Leandro
Published: October 2005

A function expressed in terms of uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) coefficients for the analysis of multiple diffraction in urban areas where a bare wedge‐shaped hill causes shadowing of the transmitter from the receiver (a non‐line‐of‐sight situation) is presented. The solution, validated by numerical results from the technical literature, has a good computational efficiency and increases the versatility over existing formulation, thus allowing study of the abovementioned environment when a small number of buildings is considered as well as when a spherical‐wave incidence over these latter is assumed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 523–525, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21218
Enhancements to the FDTD method for steady‐state power‐deposition analysis in microwave‐heating cavities
Authors: George Jacob , Muktoyuk Mark , Bergman Richard
Published: October 2005

We describe two enhancements to the finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) method for the steady‐state power‐dissipation analysis of microwave‐heating cavities. The first enhancement accounts for the accumulated numerical errors in the simulation due to nonphysical reflection effects from the absorbing boundary condition (ABC). The second enhancement is a new convergence metric for the determination of steady state, using the variance of the power‐balance error in the system over a number of excitation periods. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 530–534, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21220
A broadband printed bow‐tie antenna with a simplified balanced feed
Authors: Zheng Guiping , Kishk Ahmed A. , Glisson Allen W. , Yakovlev Alexander B.
Published: October 2005

A broadband printed bow‐tie antenna with a simplified balanced feeding network and modified tapering is presented. Microstrip and parallel‐strip transmission lines printed on the substrate with high dielectric permittivity realize the proposed feeding network. The ground‐plane transition between the microstrip line and the parallel‐strip line is exponentially tapered so as to reduce the reflection losses and produce a balanced feed for the antenna. This printed bow‐tie antenna achieves a 68% measured bandwidth and a stable radiation pattern within the X‐band. Commercial FEM software is used for optimization of the bow‐tie antenna and the simulation results agree very well with the experiment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 534–536, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21221
Microwave imaging of concealed metal objects using a novel indirect holographic method
Authors: Elsdon M. , Smith D. , Leach M. , Foti S.
Published: October 2005

A novel, inexpensive technique for the detection of concealed metal objects is presented and discussed. It is shown that an indirect holographic method, usually employed at optical frequencies, can be adapted to image objects at microwave frequencies. The practical results successfully demonstrate that this technique can be used to determine the location and shape of the concealed object. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 536–537, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21222
Coplanar‐patch transition between coplanar line and rectangular waveguide at 60 GHz
Authors: Hallbjörner Paul
Published: October 2005

A type of transition between coplanar line and rectangular waveguide is presented. In this paper, which consists of a resonant patch in the broad wall of the waveguide. Etching the transition gives high accuracy, thereby making the transition suitable for millimeter‐wave applications. A 60‐GHz design is presented with the measured results. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 537–539, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21223
New multiband printed meander antenna for wireless applications
Authors: Liu Yu‐Seng , Sun Jwo‐Shiun , Lu Rui‐Han , Lee Yi‐Jay
Published: October 2005

Two different geometries of antennas are proposed to satisfy the applications for WLAN/HIPERLAN/ISM triple band. The designed antenna with a meander‐line antenna and one or two inverted planar L‐shaped antennas used to excite three distinct resonant modes is proposed. The experimental results show fairly good agreement with those of the simulation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 539–543, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21224
Antenna‐coupled microbolometers on a silicon‐nitride membrane
Authors: González F. J. , Ilic B. , Boreman G. D.
Published: October 2005

Square‐spiral antenna‐coupled microbolometers made of gold and chrome are fabricated on a silicon‐nitride membrane. The membrane gives mechanical stability and thermal isolation to the detectors so that they can be used as picture elements in commercial infrared‐imaging systems. The fabricated devices are measured under room pressure and under vacuum, giving D* values of 3 × 106 cm$\sqrt{Hz}$/W and 1.7 × 107 cm$\sqrt{Hz}$/W, respectively. By using vanadium‐oxide, values well above 1 × 108 cm$\sqrt{Hz}$/W for D* can be obtained. Variations to the fabrication process that will allow the use of vanadium oxide are suggested. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 246–248, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21226
Extension of the analytical modelling of resistive loaded thin‐wire antennas to Gaussian derivatives excitations
Authors: Sagnard F. , Vignat C.
Published: October 2005

The transient electric field radiated from a thin‐wire dipole antenna resistively loaded and excited by a voltage signal in the shape of the Gaussian derivatives is analyzed. The modelling presented in this paper is formulated in the time domain using an inverse Fourier transform of the analytical expressions obtained by Wu and King in the frequency domain. Such a modelling appears as an extension of previous developments, as it allows us to consider any Gaussian derivatives as excitation signals as well as the presence of a nonnegligible impedance in the feeding circuit. Parameter studies are presented to analyze the waveforms and the energy radiated in the far‐field zone. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 548–553, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21227
Artificial neural network for computing the resonant frequency of circular patch antennas
Authors: Ouchar A. , Aksas R. , Baudrand H.
Published: October 2005

In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) model for computing the resonant frequency of circular patch antennas (CPA) based on the feed‐forward network and back‐propagation algorithm is presented. The network is trained with the data obtained from CPA measurements. The network is trained by varying the patch radius, the height of the substrate, and the dielectric permittivity. The parameters of the proposed ANN model are the learning rate (0.0125), the number of epochs for training (399), the performance goal (1 × 10−5) and the parameters for the network, the number of hidden layers (two), with 20 neurons for each hidden layer, three neurons for the input layer, and a single neuron in the output layer. the results obtained from the trained neural network are compared with the values obtained from mathematical computations and from measurements presented in other works. The proposed ANN with two hidden layers gives accurate results and requires no additional training epochs. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 564–566, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21230
Characteristics of superstrate‐loaded circular polarization square‐ring microstrip antennas on thick substrate
Authors: Sim Chow‐Yen‐Desmond , Row Jeen‐Sheen , Chen Ming‐Yu
Published: October 2005

The characteristics of circular‐polarization (CP) square‐ring microstrip antennas loaded with superstrate are studied in this paper. Firstly, several CP antenna prototypes with various substrate thicknesses and inner‐slot sizes are designed, and they are excited by a coupling‐strip feed in order to overcome the high‐impedance problem of the square‐ring microstrip antenna. Then, superstrates with different thicknesses and permittivities are attached to the antenna prototypes in order to evaluate their effects on the CP performances. The experimental results show that the effects are more obvious for the square‐ring microstrip antenna with a larger inner‐slot size. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 567–570, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21231
Microstrip parallel‐line coupler to perform broadband optically controlled phase‐shifting
Authors: El Khaldi M. , Podevin F. , Vilcot A.
Published: October 2005

This paper presents an optically controlled broadband phase‐shifter using a parallel‐line coupler, that takes advantage of high‐resistivity silicon photo‐absorption at 840 nm. A continuously variable phase‐shifting of 120° is achieved at 11 GHz with Δ|S21| < 5 dB and with |S11| < −15 dB in a large frequency band (6–15 GHz). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 570–573, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21232
A multifrequency coaxial‐fed metal coated dielectric resonator antenna
Authors: Hamsakutty V. , Praveen Kumar A. V. , Bindu G. , Thomas Vinu , Lonappan Anil , Yohannan Jaimon , Mathew K. T.
Published: October 2005

A simple metal‐coated dielectric resonator antenna with a coaxial feed producing multiple frequencies with similar polarization is reported. The characteristics of the antenna at all these frequencies are measured. The experimental results show that, the antenna produces broad patterns at all the operating frequencies. This antenna finds applications in frequency‐agile systems. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 573–575, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21233
An efficient method for measuring the parameters of single‐mode anisotropic slab waveguides using the prism‐coupling technique
Authors: Gao Fubin , Du Guotong , Vannadeth  , Zhang Ping , Lun Fengyan
Published: October 2005

An efficient method for measuring the parameters of anisotropic slab waveguides is presented in this paper. This method can be used to measure the parameters of single‐mode anisotropic slab waveguides. The measured results show that the errors of the refractive indices are within 4.2 × 10−4. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 575–580, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21234
CPW‐fed triangular monopole antenna for ultra‐wideband operation
Authors: Liu Wen‐Chung , Kao Ping‐Chi
Published: October 2005

A novel ultra‐wideband design of a single‐layer coplanar waveguide (CPW)‐fed triangular planar monopole antenna is proposed. The proposed antenna, which includes two notched ground planes only 24 mm in width and 31 mm in height, experimentally reaches a measured −10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 9.8 GHz (from 3.05 to 12.85 GHz), covering the WPAN standard. Good monopolelike radiation patterns and antenna gains are also obtained. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 580–582, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21235
Compact microstrip lowpass filter with wide stop‐band integrating a bandstop structure in an open‐loop resonator
Authors: Shi Jin , Chen Jian‐Xin , Xue Quan
Published: October 2005

A novel compact microstrip lowpass filter integrating a bandstop structure in an open‐loop resonator is proposed. The lowpass filter has the advantages of compact size, wide rejection in the stop‐band, and three transmission zeros in the stop‐band for suppressing the harmonics. A demonstration filter is designed, fabricated, and tested. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 582–584, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21236
CAD formula of a microstrip on a grounded substrate of two layers by synthetic asymptote
Authors: Tang Wanchun , Pan Tingshan , Chow Y. Leonard
Published: October 2005

This paper gives simple CAD formulas of the characteristic impedance and propagation constant for a microstrip on a grounded substrate of two layers by synthetic asymptote. Similar to the one‐layer case, based on the derived formula, the equivalent circuit is a fringe capacitor in parallel with an ideal parallel‐plate capacitor of the two‐layer substrate. The average error is less than 2%. The top layer is assumed thin, at 30% or less of the width W of the microstrip. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 584–588, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21237
An experimental study on the multiscaling iterative reconstruction of inhomogeneous targets
Authors: Franceschini D. , Donelli M. , Azaro R. , Massa A.
Published: October 2005

This paper presents an experimental assessment of the iterative multiscaling approach (IMSA) in imaging inhomogeneous dielectric targets. The IMSA is used to address the inversion of scattering data provided by theInstitute Fresnelin Marseille, France, in order to effectively exploit the available information. Since inversion methods based on the use of the “state” equation, as with the IMSA, require knowledge of the radiated field in the investigation area, different numerical models of the illuminating setup will be considered to evaluate the robustness of the inversion algorithm in case of an approximate knowledge of the incident field arising from a limited set of measured samples. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 588–594, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21238
An application of the T‐chart for solving problems associated with terminated finite lossless periodic structures
Authors: Torrungrueng D. , Thimaporn C. , Chamnandechakun N.
Published: October 2005

Periodic structures of transmission lines have several applications in microwave technology. Due to complicated equations involved with terminated finite lossless periodic structures, a graphical solution assisting in the analysis and design of these structures is necessary. In this study, the T‐chart is employed to solve problems associated with these structures, operating in the passband, readily and effectively, especially for unsymmetrical unit cells associated with periodic structures. Only the periodic structures with passive effective characteristic impedances are considered in this paper. It is found that the T‐chart provides accurate solutions, compared to analytical solutions of terminated finite lossless periodic structures. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 594–597, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21239
Investigation of the near‐field behaviour and SAR for the resonant loop antenna operating at 434 MHz for medical applications
Authors: Gerbaux N. A. X. , Glowacki J. , Ammann M. J. , Thorne V. P.
Published: October 2005

The resonant loop antenna is examined in terms of its near‐field behaviour. It is shown that the near‐field wave‐impedance varies considerably across the loop diameter. This has a significant effect on the matching to the human body and specific absorption rate. An uneven SAR distribution is observed in a body model. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 597–599, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21240
Compact broadband gap‐coupled shorted L‐shaped microstrip antennas
Authors: Deshmukh Amit A. , Kumar Girish
Published: October 2005

A compact variation of a C‐shaped microstrip antenna, that is, a shorted L‐shaped microstrip antenna, is proposed. Several suspended multiresonator gap‐coupled shorted L‐shaped configurations have been proposed to obtain wide bandwidth and high gain. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 599–605, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21241
Reconfigurable microstrip‐patch antenna with frequency and polarization‐diversity functions
Authors: Chung Kyungho , Nam Yongsik , Yun Taeyeoul , Choi Jaehoon
Published: October 2005

The design of a novel reconfigurable microstrip‐patch antenna with frequency‐ and polarization‐diversity functions is presented. A U‐slot inserted into the square patch and a PIN diode are utilized to realize frequency‐diversity operation. Polarization diversity between linear polarization (LP) and right‐hand circular polarization (RHCP) is also provided by switching the two PIN diodes on the truncating corners of a square patch on and off. The designed antenna is implemented and the antenna characteristics are measured. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 47: 605–607, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21242
Factors affecting the efficiency and reversibility of roscovitine (ROS) block on the meiotic resumption of goat oocytes
Authors: Han Dong , Lan Guo‐Cheng , Wu Yan‐Guang , Han Zheng‐Bin , Wang Hui‐Li , Tan Jing‐He
Published: October 2005

Goat oocytes from 2 to 4 and 0.8 to 1.2‐mm follicles were freed (DOs) or not (COCs) of cumulus cells and cultured for different times in an inhibition medium supplemented with different concentrations of roscovitine (ROS). At the end of culture, oocytes were either cultured in a maturation medium for 24 hr and activated chemically for embryo development, or examined for GV chromatin configurations. Nuclear status was checked at different time points during maturation culture. Although both 200 and 250 µM ROS maintained 78–85% of oocytes at the GV stage for 24 hr, only oocytes blocked with 200 µM ROS developed to MII stage at a high rate after maturation culture. While few oocytes blocked with 200 µM ROS for 24 hr developed into morulae and none into blastocysts after activation, percentages of oocytes developing into morulae and blastocysts increased to the level of the control oocytes when the block time was reduced to 8 hr. While the GV and pMI stages were shortened with MI, and A/TI unaffected after oocytes were blocked for 8 hr, all the stages but A/TI were shortened after 24 hr of block. The sizes of nucleoli diminished with time and the GV chromatin configuration changed during ROS block. Significantly more DOs than COCs were blocked with 200 µM ROS, but none of the blocked DOs matured after drug withdrawal. However, maturation of the DOs improved significantly when ROS concentration was reduced to 150 µM or DOs were co‐inhibited with COCs. The GV intact percentages of DOs did not differ after ROS inhibition with or without eCG, but those of COCs decreased significantly after ROS inhibited in the presence of eCG. When MII‐incompetent oocytes from 0.8 to 1.2‐mm follicles were inhibited with ROS for 8 and 24 hr prior to maturation culture, nuclear maturation improved significantly, activation rates were as high as that of the control oocytes, and some of the activated developed to 4‐ or 8‐cell stages. It is concluded that (i) the efficiency and reversibility of ROS block was both drug concentration and exposure‐time dependent; (ii) cumulus cells alleviated the toxicity of ROS on goat oocytes; (iii) eCG released goat oocytes from ROS block through the mediation of cumulus cells; (iv) ROS block quickened the nuclear maturation of goat oocytes and improved the developmental competence of meiosis‐incompetent oocytes, possibly due to a sustained nuclear activity during inhibition culture; (v) oocyte nuclear maturation and activation did not depend upon cumulus expansion, but the embryo development occurred in association with cumulus expansion. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Murine Spam1 mRNA: Involvement of AU‐rich elements in the 3′UTR and antisense RNA in its tight post‐transcriptional regulation in spermatids
Authors: Zhang Hong , Barnoski Barry L. , Sol‐Church Katia , Stabley Deborah L. , Martin‐DeLeon Patricia A.
Published: October 2005

Sperm adhesion molecule1 (SPAM1), the best characterized hyaluronidase gene, is abundantly expressed in the testis. We attempted to overexpress mouse Spam1 via transgenesis using either the endogenous promoter in a BAC or a heterologous Protamine1 promoter for a Spam1 cDNA transgene. Although transgene‐copy numbers ranged from 2 to 15 and transgenic transcripts were expressed, there was a general failure of overexpression of the RNA and protein in the testis of all seven founders. Also, three transgenic lines showed a modest downregulation or co‐suppression of the RNA for Spam1 and Hyal5, present on the BAC. We provide evidence for the potential involvement of two co‐ordinating post‐transcriptional regulatory processes in the failure of overexpression: abundant endogenous antisense RNA and adenosine‐uridine (AU)‐rich element‐mediated regulation of RNA turnover. We demonstrate that AU‐rich elements (AREs) in the 3′UTR of mRNAs, well‐known to interact with trans‐acting proteins to target the RNA for (in)stability, are present in Spam1 RNA and specifically bind to six testicular cytoplasmic proteins. These AU‐binding proteins (AUBPs) were virtually absent from the kidney where transcripts are rare, and were shown to interact with the cytoskeleton, which modulates mRNA turnover. In addition to a role in the RNAi pathway, antisense RNA can also modulate ARE‐mediated regulation of mRNA by hybridizing to the AREs and specifically silencing their function. This potentially links the two processes in the regulation of Spam1 expression. We hypothesize that testicular Spam1 RNA is regulated post‐transcriptionally by cis‐acting ARE(s) in the 3′UTR which recognize AUBPs and which are modulated by antisense transcripts. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Targeted suppression of E‐cadherin gene expression in bovine preimplantation embryo by RNA interference technology using double‐stranded RNA
Authors: Nganvongpanit Korakot , Müller Heike , Rings Franca , Gilles Markus , Jennen Danyel , Hölker Michael , Tholen Ernst , Schellander Karl , Tesfaye Dawit
Published: October 2005

RNA interference (RNAi) has become acknowledged as an effective and useful tool to study gene function in diverse groups of cells. We aimed to suppress the expression of the E‐cadherin gene during in vitro development of bovine preimplantation embryos using RNAi approach. In this experiment the effect of microinjection of E‐cadherin and Oct‐4 (as control) double‐stranded (ds) RNA on the mRNA and protein expression level of the target E‐cadherin gene was investigated. For this, a 496 bp long bovine E‐cadherin and 341 bp long Oct‐4 dsRNA sample were prepared using in vitro transcription. In vitro produced bovine zygotes were categorized into four treatment groups including those injected with E‐cadherin dsRNA, Oct‐4 dsRNA, RNase‐free water, and uninjected controls. While the injection of E‐cadherin dsRNA resulted in the reduction of E‐cadherin mRNA and protein levels at the morula and blastocyst stage, the transcript and protein product remained unaffected in the Oct‐4 dsRNA, water injected and uninjected control groups. The relative abundance of E‐cadherin mRNA in the E‐cadherin dsRNA injected morula stage embryos was reduced by 80% compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The Western blot analysis also showed a significant decrease in the E‐cadherin protein (119 kDa) in E‐cadherin dsRNA injected embryos compared to the other three groups. Microinjection of E‐cadherin dsRNA has resulted only 22% blastocyst rate compared to 38%–40% in water injected and uninjected controls. In conclusion, our results indicated the suppression of E‐cadherin mRNA and protein has resulted in lower blastocyst rate and the RNAi technology is a promising approach to study the function of genes in early bovine embryogenesis. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Metabolism, protein content, and in vitro embryonic development of goat cumulus–oocyte complexes matured with physiological concentrations of glucose and L‐lactate
Authors: Herrick Jason R. , Lane Michelle , Gardner David K. , Behboodi Esmail , Memili Erdogan , Blash Stephen , Echelard Yann , Krisher Rebecca L.
Published: October 2005

No information is available concerning how the maturation environment controls the metabolism of goat oocytes. The objectives of this experiment were to: (1) Determine the concentrations of glucose, lactate, and pyruvate in caprine follicular fluid; and (2) Investigate the effects of physiological concentrations of glucose and lactate in the in vitro maturation (IVM) medium on the metabolism (glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation), protein content, and developmental competence of caprine oocytes and cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs). Abattoir‐derived COCs were matured for 18–20 hr in a defined, SOF‐based medium containing 0.75, 1.5 (follicular fluid = 1.4 mM), or 3.0 mM glucose, and 3.0, 6.0 (follicular fluid = 7.1 mM), or 12.0 mM L‐lactate. The protein content of oocytes and COCs was not affected (P > 0.05) by the concentration of glucose and lactate in the maturation medium. Increasing glucose and lactate decreased (P ≤ 0.05) glycolytic activity of oocytes, without affecting (P > 0.05) pyruvate oxidation. In COCs, increasing glucose concentrations tended (P = 0.07) to decrease glycolysis. When metabolic activity was corrected for protein content (pmol/µg protein/3 hr), increasing glucose or lactate concentrations in the medium decreased (P ≤ 0.05) pyruvate oxidation in oocytes, but increased (P ≤ 0.05) pyruvate oxidation in COCs. Embryonic development (cleavage and blastocyst development, hatching, and cell number) was not affected (P > 0.05) by the glucose and lactate concentrations tested. These results indicate that concentrations of glucose and lactate in the medium have cell type‐specific effects on metabolism of oocytes and COCs, but do not affect developmental competence within the range of concentrations tested. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Crystal nucleation of polymers confined to droplets: Memory effects
Authors: Massa M. V. , Lee M. S. M. , Dalnoki‐Veress K.
Published: October 2005

We study crystal nucleation within an ensemble of polyethylene droplets created through the dewetting of a thin film on an unfavorable substrate. In particular, we employ standard thermal treatment procedures to induce self‐nucleation in samples to gain some insight into the nature of this enhanced crystallization. The novel sample‐geometry enables the monitoring of each droplet throughout successive experiments, and hence the changes in their nucleation mechanism for various thermal treatments. We find a consistent self‐nucleated crystallization temperature of ∼101 °C under all conditions, suggesting uniformity in the centers which facilitate nucleation. Using correlation plots, we demonstrate that the observed melt‐memory effects have a stochastic rather than deterministic nature; self‐nucleation is a random process. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3438–3443, 2005
Compact reduced thioredoxin structure from the thermophilic bacteria Thermus thermophilus
Authors: Rehse Peter H. , Kumei Maki , Tahirov Tahir H.
Published: October 2005

The X‐ray crystallographic structure of a thioredoxin from Thermus thermophilus was solved to 1.8 Å resolution by molecular replacement. The crystals' space group was C2 with cell dimensions of a = 40.91, b = 95.44, c = 56.68 Å, β =91.41°, with two molecules in the asymmetric unit. Unlike the reported thioredoxin structures, the biological unit of T. thermophilus thioredoxin is a dimer both in solution and in the crystal. The fold conforms to the “thioredoxin fold” that is common over a class of nine protein families including thioredoxin; however, the folded portion of this protein is much more compact than other thioredoxins previously solved by X‐ray crystallography being reduced by one α‐helix and one β‐strand. As with other thioredoxins, the active site is highly conserved even though the variation in sequence can be quite large. The T. thermophilus thioredoxin has some variability at the active site, especially compared with previously solved structures from bacterial sources. Proteins 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Defense characteristics of seral deciduous broad‐leaved tree seedlings grown under differing levels of CO2 and nitrogen
Authors: Koike Takayoshi , Tobita Hiroyuki , Shibata Takanori , Matsuki Sawako , Konno Kotaro , Kitao Mitsutoshi , Yamashita Naoko , Maruyama Yutaka
Published: October 2005

Mixed broad‐leaved forests are abundantly populated by several kinds of herbivore species in northern Japan. The life of herbivores depends strongly on the quality of food leaves. Leaf quality is changing with increasing atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen deposition. Four seral species of deciduous broad‐leaved tree seedlings (alder, birch, oak and maple) were raised in all four combinations of two levels of CO2 and two levels of nutrient, to examine foliar defense traits. To evaluate the relative defense capacity of the four tree species, we used wild silkworms (Erisan; a generalist herbivore) as a bioassay material. Except with alder, the survival rate and longevity (ML50) of the silkworms were least when they were fed with leaves of seedlings raised under high CO2 and infertile soil conditions, and longest on a diet of leaves grown in ambient CO2 and fertile soil, especially in birch and maple. The longevity of Erisan decreased in the order birch, oak, and maple. The longevity of Erisan fed with alder leaves was independent of CO2 levels and was longer on alder seedlings grown in infertile soil conditions. Alder is an actinorhizal plant that can fix atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules formed by the actinomycetes Frankia sp. The activity of symbiotic microbes would have been enhanced by the greater amount of photosynthates received from the host plants at high CO2, improving the food quality for the silkworms. It was concluded that in all but alder, leaf chemical traits, especially C/N ratio, affect the ML50 of Erisan larvae.
Ecophysiological observations onDrosophyllum lusitanicum
Authors: Adlassnig Wolfram , Peroutka Marianne , Eder Gregor , Pois Walter , Lichtscheidl Irene K.
Published: October 2005

The carnivorous plantDrosophyllum lusitanicuminhabits heathland and ruderal sites in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. In the literature, various theories have been discussed concerning the ability ofDrosophyllumto survive the annual dry period in summer. In August 2004, we examined: (1) the microclimate, (2) soil parameters and (3) the physiological conditions of the plants on two sites in Portugal and Spain. First, during the day, plants are exposed to very high air and soil temperatures and very low air humidity. The climatic extremes are not significantly softened by the population, only the wind speed is drastically decreased. During the night, on the other hand, very high air humidity and dew formation could be observed. The harsh climate is accompanied by stressful soil conditions. Second, the soil is completely dry, poor in fine earth, calcium and nutrients and more or less acid. Third, in spite of these climatic and edaphic extremes, all plants were green, produced trapping mucilage and caught numerous animals. Far from being affected by these conditions,Drosophyllumshowed even better growth and reproduction on more extreme sites. We analysed the root system and found living fine roots missing. The osmotic value of the plants is rather low and water storage organs are absent. Therefore we conclude that in summerDrosophyllumis nourished by the dew at night.
Hindgut microbes, fermentation and their seasonal variations in Hokkaido native horses compared to light horses
Authors: Kobayashi Yasuo , Koike Satoshi , Miyaji Makoto , Hata Hiroshi , Tanaka Keiichi
Published: October 2005

Fecal bacteria and protozoa of Hokkaido native horses and light horses were enumerated to compare seasonal variation in hindgut microbes and fermentation between the two breeds. Fecal samples were collected in winter and summer from eight horses (four for each breed) that had been reared together under the same conditions after birth (on woodland pasture in winter and on grassland pasture for the rest of the year). Total fecal bacteria counts for both breeds showed temporal variation, with the highest levels occurring in summer (P<0.05). For both breeds, Gram‐negative rods were the major constituents (58–69%) and showed higher counts in winter (P<0.05) than in summer. Total protozoa counts in both breeds were lower in winter than in summer (P<0.05). The proportion of large cellulolytic protozoa such as Cochliatoxum periachtum was increased (P<0.05) in winter, and this tended to be more pronounced in native horses. Although total volatile fatty acids (VFA) in feces were lower in winter (P<0.05), the reduction was smaller in native horses (P<0.05). Fecal VFA pattern showed a shift toward more acetate and less propionate production in winter regardless of the horse breed. Evaluation of digestive tract organs in 12 animals showed that the relative weight of the colon in body weight or total digestive tract weight is larger in native horses than in light horses (P<0.05). The present results suggest that hindgut microbial adaptation to winter diets occurs to a greater extent in native horses, as partly characterized by advantages in anatomy.
Effect of long‐term neck muscle training on pressure pain threshold: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Ylinen Jari , Takala Esa‐Pekka , Kautiainen Hannu , Nykänen Matti , Häkkinen Arja , Pohjolainen Timo , Karppi Sirkka‐Liisa , Airaksinen Olavi
Published: October 2005

Muscle tenderness has been measured in several studies to evaluate effectiveness of treatment methods, but only short‐term results have been reported so far. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long‐term effects of two different muscle training methods on the pressure pain threshold of neck muscles in women with neck pain.

Altogether 180 woman with chronic, non‐specific neck pain were randomized into three groups: neck muscle endurance training, neck muscle strength training and control groups.

The main outcome measures included pressure pain threshold measurement at six muscle sites and on the sternum. Neck pain was assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS).

At the 12‐month follow‐up statistically significantly higher pressure pain threshold values were obtained in both training groups at all muscle sites compared to the baseline, while no significant change occurred in the controls. Significantly higher changes in pressure pain threshold were detected at all six sites in the strength training group and at four out of six sites in the endurance training group compared to the control group.

This is the first study to show an increase in pressure pain thresholds as a result of long‐term muscle training. A decrease in neck pain was associated with reduced pressure pain sensitivity in neck muscles, showing that the pressure pain threshold may be a useful outcome measure of the effectiveness of neck muscle rehabilitation.
Plasma membrane and lysosomal localization of CB1 cannabinoid receptor are dependent on lipid rafts and regulated by anandamide in human breast cancer cells
Authors: Sarnataro Daniela , Grimaldi Claudia , Pisanti Simona , Gazzerro Patrizia , Laezza Chiara , Zurzolo Chiara , Bifulco Maurizio
Published: October 2005

In this report we show, by confocal analysis of indirect immunofluorescence, that the type‐1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R), which belongs to the family of G‐protein‐coupled receptors, is expressed on the plasma membrane in human breast cancer MDA‐MB‐231 cells. However, a substantial proportion of the receptor is present in lysosomes. We found that CB1R is associated with cholesterol‐ and sphyngolipid‐enriched membrane domains (rafts). Cholesterol depletion by methyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (MCD) treatment strongly reduces the flotation of the protein on the raft‐fractions (DRM) of sucrose density gradients suggesting that CB1 raft‐association is cholesterol dependent. Interestingly binding of the agonist, anandamide (AEA) also impairs DRM‐association of the receptor suggesting that the membrane distribution of the receptor is dependent on rafts and is possibly regulated by the agonist binding. Indeed MCD completely blocked the clustering of CB1R at the plasma membrane. On the contrary the lysosomal localization of CB1R was impaired by this treatment only after AEA binding.
CD45 expression on rat acinar cells: Involvement in pro‐inflammatory cytokine production
Authors: De Dios Isabel , Ramudo Laura , Alonso José R. , Recio Javier S. , Garcia-Montero Andrés C. , Manso Manuel A.
Published: October 2005

CD45 transduces activation signals in inflammatory cells. We investigate CD45 expression on pancreatic acinar cells and examine its role in the inflammatory response which these cells have also shown under certain circumstances. Similar CD45 mRNA levels were found in acinar cells and leukocytes (positive control). Flowcytometric and immunohistochemical analysis showed a heterogeneous CD45 distribution on acinar cells. Activation of acinar cells by incubation with pancreatitis‐associated ascitic fluid as evidencied by TNF‐〈alpha〉 production resulted in a decreased CD45 expression, suggesting that CD45 acts as a negative regulator of cytokine production. As a validation of this finding in vivo, a decrease in the acinar CD45 expression in parallel with an increased ability to produce TNF‐〈alpha〉 was found in rats with acute pancreatitis. Our data show that CD45 is constitutively expressed in acinar cells and suggest that it plays an important role in negatively regulating cytokine production.
Structural characterization of the PCO/O2 compound of cytochrome c oxidase
Authors: Ji Hong , Yeh Syun-Ru , Rousseau Denis L.
Published: October 2005

The structural properties of a key transient oxygen intermediate of cytochrome c oxidase, PR, remain an enigma, although inferences have been drawn from its equilibrium analogues,PCO/O2 PH and PM. With resonance Raman spectroscopy, an oxygen isotope‐sensitive band at 806 cm−1 was observed in PCO/O2 produced by adding CO and O2 to the resting enzyme. The vibrational band shifted to 771 cm−1 upon isotopic substitution of 16O2 with 18O2. The same modes at 806 and 771 cm−1 were present simultaneously when the mixed isotope, 18O16O, was employed, indicating that in PCO/O2 the O–O bond is cleaved, resulting in a Fe4+ O2− structure. This result unifies the nature of the three equilibrium analogues of the PR intermediate.
A proteomic snapshot of the human heat shock protein 90 interactome
Authors: Falsone S. Fabio , Gesslbauer Bernd , Tirk Florian , Piccinini Anna-Maria , Kungl Andreas J.
Published: October 2005

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone which modulates several signalling pathways within a cell. By applying co‐immunoprecipitation with endogeneous Hsp90, we were able to identify 39 novel protein interaction partners of this chaperone in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293). Interestingly, levels of DNA‐activated protein kinase catalytic subunit, an Hsp90 interaction partner found in this study, were found to be sensitive to Hsp90 inhibitor treatment only in HeLa cells but not in HEK293 cells referring to the tumorgenicity of this chaperone.