We have previously shown that the C-glycoside analog of alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), alpha-C-GalCer, displays a superior inhibitory activity against the liver stages of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii than its parental glycolipid, alpha-GalCer. In this study, we demonstrate that NK cells, as well as IL-12, are a key contributor for the superior activity displayed by al...

Telomerase activity is primarily determined by transcriptional regulation of the catalytic subunit, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Several mRNA splice variants for hTERT have been identified, but it is not clear if telomerase activity is determined by the absolute or relative levels of full-length (functional) and variant hTERT transcripts. We have developed an SYBR green-based...

When food was removed from young rats in the early morning, adipose tissue tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha activity increased 50% and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity decreased 70% in 6 h. There was a strong negative correlation between the TNF-alpha and LPL activities. Exogenous TNF-alpha further decreased LPL activity. Pentoxifylline, known to decrease production of TNF-alpha, had no effec...

the objective of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the farsi version of the perceived benefits/barriers scale of physical activity in iranian elderly.overall, 388 elderly subjects (60 yr and over) completed the demographic characteristics questionnaire, the exercise benefits/barriers scale (ebbs) and the yale physical activity scale. data were analyzed through of exp...

In studies of perceptual learning (PL), subjects are typically highly trained across many sessions to achieve perceptual benefits on the stimuli in those tasks. There is currently significant debate regarding what sources of brain plasticity underlie these PL-based learning improvements. Here we investigate the hypothesis that PL, among other mechanisms, leads to task automaticity, especially i...

Objective: Electrophysiological studies have identified abnormal oscillatory activities in the cerebral cortex in schizophrenia and mood disorders. Biological and pathophysiological evidence suggests specific deficits in serotonin (5-HT) receptor function in schizoaffective disorder (SA), a clinical syndrome with characteristics of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This study investigate...