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Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of muscle control, which causes trembling of the limbs and head as well as impaired balance. L-DOPA (L-3,4-dihydroxy phenylalanine) is the major ingredient of several prescription drugs used to treat PD. Faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) is one of the few plant species that is known to produce L-DOPA and has the potential to be developed as a functional food crop for people suffering with PD. Objective: Aimed to provide needed information for people who want to use faba bean as a natural remedy or functional food to relieve PD symptoms, this study analyzed the variation of L-DOPA concentration in the leaf and flower tissues of six faba bean lines with common and rare flower colors. Methods: Leaf and flower samples were taken from field grown plants with different flower colors, namely, pink with purple lines and black dots, pure white, brown, and crimson. Samples were freeze-dried and L-DOPA was quantified by a LC-MS system consisting of an ACQUITY UPLC in line with a Synapt G2 HDMS quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer. This experiment was carried out in two consecutive years (2012 and 2013) and the plants used in the second year were grown from the seeds harvested from the plants used in the first year. Results and Discussion: Our two-year study revealed a high level of variation in L-DOPA concentration for leaf and flower tissues among the six faba bean lines studied. The average L-DOPA concentration based on dry weight (DW) in flowers ranged from 27.8 to 63.5 mg/g and 18.2 to 48.7 mg/g for leaf tissues. There was no significant correlation between L-DOPA concentrations in flowers and leaves. The L-DOPA concentration in flowers and in leaves of the same line varied but were not statistically significant between the two years. Ideally, the genotype with the highest average L-DOPA concentration in both flowers and leaves would be grown as a natural source of this medicinally important molecule. When developing faba bean as a functional food crop for PD patients, a careful selection of genotype seems necessary for exploiting the full potential of this natural remedy. Conclusion : Consumption of young pods and leaves is the most practical means for direct intake or processing of L-DOPA. Lastly, favorable environmental conditions for growth will optimize L-DOPA yield (Landry, et al., 2015). Further analysis of the genetic control of L-DOPA synthesis and metabolism will be valuable, with the possibility of developing environmentally resilient cultivars that can produce desirable amounts of L-DOPA for pharmaceutical use. Key words: Faba bean, L-DOPA, Parkinson’s disease

A coordination compound of HgI(2)(pyridine)(2) can be successfully intercalated into a single crystalline Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(y) high-T(c) superconductor through an interlayer complexation reaction between pyridine molecules and bismuth cuprate pre-intercalated with mercuric iodide. X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopic results clearly demonstrate that the single crystalline nature of the pristine bismuth cuprate remains unchanged even after the intercalation of organic complex as well as those of iodine and mercuric iodide. According to the angle-dependent dc magnetization measurements, the intercalation of bulky organic molecules completely blocks superconductive currents along the c-axis, whereas a superconducting transition along the in-plane direction still occurs in the organic intercalate. In the case of the iodine or mercuric iodide intercalates with smaller lattice expansions, an out-of-plane diamagnetic transition is not wholly quenched but significantly depressed by the intercalation, confirming the reduction of interlayer interaction. The present finding can provide straightforward evidence of the two-dimensionality of high temperature superconductivity in the present cuprate-based nanohybrid material.

CACTA is a class 2 transposon, that is very abundantly present in plant genomes. Using Rim2/Hipa CACTA transposon display (hereafter Rim2/Hipa-TD), we analyzed several A-genome diploid Oryza species that have a high distribution of the CACTA motifs. High levels of polymorphism were detected within and between the Oryza species. The African taxa, O. glaberrima and O. barthii, both showed lower levels of polymorphism than the Asian taxa, O. sativa, O. rufipogon, and O. nivara. However, O. longistaminata, another African taxon, showed levels of polymorphism that were similar to the Asian taxa. The Latin American taxon, O. glumaepatula, and the Australian taxon, O. meridionalis, exhibited intermediate levels of polymorphism between those of the Asian and African taxa. The lowest level of polymorphism was observed in O. glaberrima (32.1%) and the highest level of polymorphism was observed in O. rufipogon (95.7%). The phylogenetic tree revealed three major groups at the genetic similarity level of 0.409. The first group consisted of three Asian taxa, O. sativa, O. rufipogon and O. nivara. The second group consisted of three African taxa, O. glaberrima, O. barthii, O. longistaminata, and an American taxon, O. glumaepatula. The third group contained an Australian taxon, O. meridionalis. The clustering patterns of these species matched well with their geographical origins. Rim2/Hipa-TD appears to be a useful marker system for studying the genetic diversity and species relationships among the AA diploid Oryza species.

p-i-n heterostructured quantum-dot electroluminescence (QD-EL) device was fabricated by soft-chemical process, which shows a low turn-on voltage comparable to OLEDs. To construct the multilayered device structure, p-type polymer semiconductor was deposited on the ITO glass by sequential process of coating and thermal curing, thereupon a few monolayers of QD was spin-coated. n-type metal-oxide film was deposited on top of the QD luminescence layer by sol-gel method, providing a facile and low-cost route for the ETL fabrication. Prior to solution-processed ETL construction, a post-treatment is performed using cross-linking agent, in order to chemically-immobilize the QDs. As a cathodic electrode, relatively air-stable aluminum was deposited. The constituent material as well as the electronic band structure of the integrated device guarantees operating stability in air and low turn-on voltage.

We constructed a genetic linkage map with Isaac-TD, SSR, and SNAP markers in a RIL population which had been derived from a cross of waxy corn (KW7) and dent corn (Mo17). A total of 368 markers, including 241 Isaac-TD, 121 SSR, and 6 SNAP markers, were assigned to 10 linkage groups, encompassing 1687.0 cM, with an average genetic distance of 4.6 cM between markers. SSR markers were utilized as chromosome anchors, in order to assign the Isaac-TD markers to the chromosomes, and the number of markers in each of the linkage groups ranged between 22 and 49. The majority of the Isaac-TD markers were determined to have been distributed throughout the ten maize chromosomes. In linkage analysis of the Isaac-TD markers with genes of agronomic interest, six genes related with maize kernel starch biosynthesis, ae1, bt2, sh1, sh2, su1, and wx1, were analyzed and shown that they were closely linked with either the Isaac-TD or SSR markers on chromosomes of 3, 4, 5, and 9. We observed and mapped segregation-distorted markers on chromosomes 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10, where these markers were clustered. The Isaac-TD or SSR markers which were closely linked with starch synthesis genes may prove useful in marker-assisted breeding programs.

We used cDNA-AFLP to analyze gene expression profiles during somatic embryogenesis and to isolate stage-specific genes in Pimpinella brachycarpa. Ninety-six combinations of AFLP primers produced 3,785 fragments, of which 478, 403, and 436 were specific to calli, somatic embryos, and plants, respectively. 262 fragments were shared by callus and somatic embryo, 324 by somatic embryo and plant, and 222 by callus and plant. The number of fragments common to all three stages was 1,660. Seventy-five of the 478 callus-specific fragments were cloned and sequenced and their functions sought in the GenBank database. Thirty-three of them showed significant homology to GenBank data base entries and twelve of these were homologous to genes with products of known function such as ATPases, tubulins, kinases, transcription factors, ubiquitins, and ankyrin. Callus-specific expression was confirmed by performing RT-PCR with six of the twelve fragments. Since the somatic embryo is induced by auxin (Thidiazuron), possible down regulation of these genes by auxin is also discussed.

It is known that the two types of FK506-binding proteins FKBP12 and FKBP12.6 are tightly associated with the skeletal (RyR1) and cardiac ryanodine receptors (RyR2), respectively, and their interactions are important for channel functions of the RyR. In the case of cardiac muscle, three amino acid residues (Gln-31, Asn-32, and Phe-59) of FKBP12.6 could be essential for the selective binding to RyR2 (Xin, H. B., Rogers, K., Qi, Y., Kanematsu, T., and Fleischer, S. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 15315-15319). In this study to identify amino acid residues of FKBP12 that are important for the selective binding to RyR1, we mutated 9 amino acid residues of FKBP12 that differ from the counterparts of FKBP12.6 (Q3E, R18A, E31Q, D32N, M49R, R57A, W59F, H94A, and K105A), and we examined binding properties of these mutants to RyR1 by in vitro binding assay by using glutathione S-transferase-fused proteins of the mutants and Triton X-100-solubilized, FKBP12-depleted rabbit skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. Among the nine mutants tested, only Q3E and R18A lost their selective binding ability to RyR1. Furthermore, co-immunoprecipitation of RyR1 with 33 various mutants for the 9 positions produced by introducing different size, charge, and hydrophobicity revealed that an integration of the hydrogen bonds by the irreplaceable Gln-3 and the hydrophobic interactions by the residues Arg-18 and Met-49 could be a possible mechanism for the binding of FKBP12 to RyR1. Therefore, these results suggest that the N-terminal regions of FKBP12 (Gln-3 and Arg-18) and Met-49 are essential and unique for binding of FKBP12 to RyR1 in skeletal muscle.

In this paper an optimal switching angle control of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive system is investigated for achieving maximum energy conversion ratio. A new magnetizing method is proposed with a low switching frequency. The proposed algorithm maximizes the positive energy conversion region, which is directly related to the mechanical output, and reduces the reactive power region with the same field energy region. As a consequence, a torque ripple is also sufficiently reduced compared with that of the conventional switching angle magnetizing method. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme provides a high efficiency and a low ripple drive.

In this paper we propose some novel techniques for fast simulation of mixed-signal IC and RF package design. The effectiveness of these techniques is demonstrated via several examples, and their suitability for implementation in electromagnetic (EM) software is discussed.

Molecular complex HgI2Py2 (Py = pyridine) was intercalated into the Bi-based high-Tc cuprate by intercalative complexation. The intercalation method adopted in this work is based on the new concept, where a neutral ligating agent is diffused into the preintercalated HgI2 layer leading to a charge transfer-type complex formation between the Bi2O2 double layers of Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy.

The MoM formulation of Maxwell's equations leads to a large dense system of complex equations. An efficient approach is presented for the solution of large dense systems of linear equations arising in the integral equation formulation of electromagnetic problems. A three-step process is introduced in which the condition number of the matrix is first improved by equilibration, and then further enhanced by preconditioning. The initial guess for the iterative solution is generated by using an extrapolation technique. It is shown that the proposed approach considerably improves the computational efficiency of iterative solvers, e.g., CGNR and GMRES, even for poorly conditioned MoM matrices with a relatively small number of unknowns.

We have developed a type of nanohybrid high-$T$ superconductor with periodic stacking of the organic-salt layer and the superconducting cuprate one. Such a hybrid is realized by intercalative complexation, which means that complex formation proceeds in the interlayer space of two-dimensional solid lattice by reacting trimethylsulfonium iodide with the ${\mathrm{HgI}}_{2}$-intercalated bismuth cuprate. The present organic-salt intercalate provides a clue to understand the high-${T}_{c}$ superconductivity in the layered cuprate and, at the same time, the synthetic strategy gives an interesting route to a different class of high-${T}_{c}$ superconducting nanohybrid. The powder x-ray-diffraction pattern shows that the organic-inorganic hybrid material features a stage-I intercalation compound with a basal increment of 12.6 \AA{} compared to the pristine. The micro-Raman analysis reveals that the intercalated ionic sublattice consists of tetrahedral complex anion $({\mathrm{HgI}}_{4}^{2\ensuremath{-}})$ and organic cation ${(Me}_{3}{S}^{+}),$ which is also cross confirmed by the extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure fitting results. In spite of large layer separation, the onset ${T}_{c}$ of the nanohybrid is comparable to that of the pristine compound, unusual phenomena when compared with ${T}_{c}$ depressions in the iodine-, AgI-, and $\mathrm{Hg}{X}_{2}$ $(X=\mathrm{Br}$ and I)-intercalated Bi-based cuprates.

In this paper, a sliding mode observer is applied to eliminate the shaft position encoder of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive. The sliding mode observer estimates rotor position and velocity to control the speed of the motor by means of controlling the current level. The position and speed estimations are derived from a sliding mode observer that requires terminal measurements of phase voltages and currents. The proposed sliding mode observer has an important feature that the observer along with PI controller are highly robust to the errors in position and speed or change in load torque. The results show that position and speed sensorless observers can be reliably used for control of an SRM. Experimental results using a four phase, 8/6 SRM and the fixed-point digital signal processor (DSP) are presented.

Summary form only given. The paper presents a novel approach for calculating the time delay along interconnects by using a technique that departs from the traditional method for estimating the "slack" in digital circuits. It employs instead, a direct time domain calculation, or a frequency domain S-parameter technique, in conjunction with a domain decomposition scheme.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has many advantages for studying gene function at the organism level. In particular, completion of the genome sequencing has made it feasible to study gene structure and function of both known and novel proteins. As a result of a database search for muscle-specific genes, a gene F43D9.1 was found which showed muscle-specific expression as revealed by the in situ hybridization pattern from the Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) database. A homology search of F43D9.1 protein sequences showed no significant homology with other known proteins, except that it showed very weak sequence similarity with the band 4.1 protein superfamily. Northern blot analysis reveals a single transcript 3.7 kb in size which is consistent with the predicted gene structure. The expression pattern of F43D9.1 was investigated using the gfp reporter gene, and it has shown to be expressed in neuronal cells including sensory neurons and interneurons in the head region. To further characterize F43D9.1, whole-mount immunostaining was performed with anti-F43D9.1 antibody, which showed specific signals in head neurons, body-wall muscle cells, some other unidentified neuronal cells, and centrosomes of the dividing cells during embryogenesis. Taken together with its predicted membrane topology, we speculate that the F43D9.1 gene, which encodes a novel transmembrane protein and contains a band 4.1-like domain, may function in neuromuscular cells, and may play an important role during cell division in C. elegans. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We report an unusual case of unilateral frosted branch angiitis associated with Behçet's disease, including a review of previously reported cases. A 39-year-old male with history of recurrent oral and genital ulcers presented with visual loss in his left eye. Fundus findings demonstrated occlusive retinal vasculitis resembling acute frosted branch angiitis. Laboratory examinations including viral markers revealed no abnormal findings except positive HLA-B51. The patient was treated with systemic steroid and cyclosporine. Six months after presentation, new oral ulcers and pseudofolliculitis appeared, and he was diagnosed with Behçet's disease following rheumatology consultation. During follow-up, there was no change in visual acuity of hand movement, and disc neovascularization developed even after complete panretinal photocoagulation. Ocular manifestations of Behçet's disease can present as unilateral frosted branch angiitis, and may consecutively involve in both eyes. Early immunosuppressive treatment is recommended.

not Available.

Junctate is a newly identified sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum (SR/ER) associated Ca2+ binding protein, which is an alternative splicing form of the same gene generating aspartyl β-hydroxylase and junctin. Recently, we showed evidence that junctate over-expressing transgenic mice led to altered SR functions and development of severe hypertrophy (J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 44:672-682, 2008). The present study was undertaken to investigate the direct interaction of junctate with SERCA by various molecular methods. The studies of co-immunoprecipitation and immunolocalization using anti-SERCA2a and anti-junctate antibodies showed that junctate and SERCA2a were co-localized in the SR of mouse cardiomyocytes. GST- pull down assay also showed the direct interaction between junctate and SERCA2a. By deletion mutation experiments, we have found that the C-terminal region of junctate (79-278 aa) is the site for the interaction with SERCA2a and the interaction is inhibited by millimolar Ca2+ concentration. Furthermore, transiently over-expressed junctate in cardiomyocytes by Adenovirus system for 24hrs resulted in decreased decay time of Ca2+ transients (Ad-LacZ: 0.329 + 0.009 vs. Ad-Junctate: 0.271 + 0.012 sec, n=4, p < 0.05) under the condition where there was no significant alterations of protein expression or phosphorylation of major SR Ca2+ cycling proteins. Our data suggest that junctate plays an important role in the regulation of SR Ca2+ cycling through the interaction with SERCA2a in the mammalian heart.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the clinical effect of intravitreal (IVT) and posterior subtenon (PSTT) triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injection in diabetic macular edema. Methods: Fifty eyes of 43 patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) were included. Twenty-two eyes in the IVT group received 4 mg/0.1 ml intravitreal TA injections and 26 eyes in the PSTT group received 40 mg/1.0 ml subtenon TA injections. LogMAR visual acuity and intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured and, using OCT, central macular thickness (CMT) and total macular volume (TMV) were also measured before and 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. Results: Both groups showed significant decreases in the mean CMT and TMV. The mean CMT in the IVT group was significantly thinner than that of the PSTT group 1 month postoperatively. The percentage reduction in CMT and TMV were also greater in the IVT group than the PSTT group 1 month postoperatively. Both groups showed significant improvements in mean visual acuity, with no significant difference between the two groups. However, at 1-month postoperative improvement in visual acuity was significantly greater in the IVT group than the PSTT group. The mean IOP in the IVT group was also greater than that in the PSTT 1 month postoperatively. Conclusions: Both injections caused a significant increase in visual acuity and a decrease in CMT and TMV. The effect was more pronounced in the IVT group. However, the PSTT injection also appeared to be a safe and effective technique for the treatment of DME.

Purpose: To prospectively investigate the change of clinical manifestations after 1 year of administration of anthocyanoside (Tagen-F®) to patients with NPDR-associated macular edema. Methods: One hundred seventy-five eyes in 88 patients were enrolled in this study, at 5 centers, from March, 2005 to October, 2005. Patients took 3 capsules of Vaccinium myrtillus extract (170 mg/capsule, Tagen-F®, Kukje pharmaceutical) per day. The primary endpoints were corrected visual acuity and contrast sensitivity which were checked at 2 months following the beginning of treatment [East 1]. The secondary endpoints were the number of hard exudates, microaneurysms, leaking points and the changes of foveal thickness. These were examined at the beginning of, 6 months after, and 12 months after treatment. Results: Corrected visual acuity showed no significant changes during 12 months. Contrast sensitivity improved gradually, especially in 12, 16 cycles per degree [East 2]. There was no statistically significant changes in the numbers of hard exudates, microaneurysms, and leaking points. Foveal thickness measured by OCT was maintained and there was no aggravation of macular edema. Conclusions: There was marked improvement of contrast sensitivity in patients with NPDR after 1 year of administration of anthocyanoside (Tagen-F®), and it might contribute to the quality of vision and the satisfaction of patients. Visual acuity and macular edema were maintained without aggravation.

An esotropia is partially accommodative when accommodative factors contribute to but do not account for the entire deviation.1 In most instances the deviation is probably congenital with an accommodative element becoming superimposed as the child grows older, but in other cases a nonaccommodative element develops after initial alignment of the eyes with glasses as form of decompensated accommodative esotropia if the treatment is delayed. The mainstay of treatment is a full correction of hypermetropic refractive error and a surgery for the residual deviation. And the initiation of amblyopia treatment before surgical correction of strabismus is recommended in current clinical guidelines.2 However, there has been considerable disagreement regarding the effect of occlusion therapy on the amount of preexisting esodeviation. If there is the possibility of changes in the deviation with the occlusion therapy, this raise important question about the proper timing and the amount of surgery of partially accommodative esotropic patients with amblyopia. The aim of the present study is to evaluate changes of ocular alignment in partially accommodative esotropic patients with moderate amblyopia during occlusion therapy.

Transposons constitute the major fractions of repetitive sequences in eukaryotes, and have been crucial in the shaping of current genomes. Transposons are generally divided into two classes according to the mechanism underlying their transposition: RNA intermediate class 1 and DNA intermediate class 2. CACTA is a class 2 transposon superfamily, which is found exclusively in plants. As some transposons, including the CACTA superfamily, are highly abundant in plant species, and their nucleotide sequences are highly conserved within a family, they can be utilized as genetic markers, using a slightly modified version of the conventional AFLP protocol. Rim2 /Hipa is a CACTA transposon family having 16 bp consensus TIR sequences to be present in high copy numbers in rice genome. This research was carried out in order to develop a Rim2/Hipa CACTA-AFLP or Rim2/Hipa CACTA-TD (transposon display, hereafter Rim2/Hipa-TD) protocol for the study of genetic markers in map construction and the study of genetic diversity in rice. Rim2/Hipa-TD generated ample polymorphic profiles among the different rice accessions, and the amplification profiles were highly reproducible between different thermocyclers and Taq polymerases. These amplification profiles allowed for clear distinction between two different ecotypes, Japonica and Indica, of Oryza sativa. In the analysis of RIL populations, the Rim2/Hipa-TD markers were found to be segregated largely in a dominant manner, although in a few cases, non-parental bands were observed in the segregating populations. Upon linkage analysis, the Rim2/Hipa-TD markers were found to be distributed in the regions proximal to the centromeres of the chromosomes. The distribution of the Rim2/Hipa CACTA elements was surveyed in 15 different Oryza species via Rim2/Hipa-TD. While Rim2/Hipa-TD yielded ample amplification profiles between 100 to 700 bp in the AA diploid Oryza species, other species having BB, CC, EE, BBCC and CCDD, profiles demonstrated that most of the amplified fragments were larger than 400 bp, and that our methods were insufficient to clearly distinguish between these fragments. However, the overall amplification profiles between species in the Oryza genus were fully distinct. Phenetic relationships among the AA diploid Oryza species, as evidenced by the Rim2/Hipa-TD markers, were matched with their geographical distributions. The abundance of the Rim2/Hipa TIR sequences is very informative since the Rim2/Hipa-TD produced high polymorphic profiles with ample reproducibility within a species as well as between species in the Oryza genus. Therefore, Rim2/Hipa-TD markers can be useful in the development of high-density of genetic map around the centromeric regions. Rim2/Hipa-TD may also prove useful in evaluations of genetic variation and species relationships in the Oryza species.

The SRN1 reaction between sterically hindered p-nitrobenzylic substrates and tertiary carbanions gives C-alkylated products whose yields depend on the steric bulk of both the benzylic substrate and the carbanion, and on the nature of the groups in the carbanion.

Calumenin is a Ca2+ binding protein localizing at the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although it has been implicated in various diseases, the in vivo functions of calumenin are largely unknown. Here, we report that calumenin has pleiotropic roles in muscle and cuticle function in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutant analysis revealed that the calu-1 is required for regulating fertility, locomotion and body size. In addition, calu-1 is important for two behaviors, defecation and pharyngeal pumping, consistent with its ability to bind Ca2+. The genetic analysis further suggested the possibility that calu-1 regulates the pharyngeal pumping together with the inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) receptor encoded by itr-1. Taken together, our data suggest that calumenin is important for calcium signaling pathways in C. elegans.