Fractionation of carbon isotopes by plants during CO(2) uptake and fixation (Delta(leaf)) varies with environmental conditions, but quantitative patterns of Delta(leaf) across environmental gradients at the global scale are lacking. This impedes interpretation of variability in ancient terrestrial organic matter, which encodes climatic and ecological signals. To address this problem, we convert...

q-Space diffusion MRI (QSI) provides a means of obtaining microstructural information about porous materials and neuronal tissues from diffusion data. However, the accuracy of this structural information depends on experimental parameters used to collect the MR data. q-Space diffusion MR performed on clinical scanners is generally collected with relatively long diffusion gradient pulses, in whi...

To assess the effect of exercise on the plasma concentration of cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) and its possible influence in mediating the exercise-associated redistribution of cholesterol among plasma lipoproteins, we measured plasma CETP in 57 healthy normolipidemic men and women before and after 9 to 12 months of exercise training. The training protocol resulted in significant cha...

This study was performed to characterize the transport of the endogenous photosensitizer delta-aminolevulinic acid in tumor cells of the extrahepatic biliary duct. Uptake of [(3)H]delta-aminolevulinic acid into human cholangiocarcinoma SK-ChA-1 cells was linear for up to 10 min, independent of a Na(+) gradient, but stimulated 3- to 4-fold by an inwardly directed H(+) gradient. Uptake of delta-a...

BACKGROUND This study evaluates the effect of eradicating Helicobacter pylori on basal and bombesin-stimulated gastric acid secretion and serum gastrin in non-ulcer dyspepsia. METHODS Before and 1 month after an attempt to eradicate H. pylori basal and bombesin-stimulated gastric acid outputs were measured in 23 patients. H. pylori was eradicated in 15 patients (group A) but not in the other ...

Recent studies have revealed that diverse compounds lacking peptide bonds, such as valacyclovir and delta-aminolevulinic acid (delta-ALA), can be recognized by H+-coupled peptide transporters (PEPT1 and PEPT2). In the present study, recognition and transport characteristics of nonpeptidic compounds by the basolateral peptide transporter, which is distinct from PEPTs, were compared with those by...

The effect of the protein matrix on the standard potential of a buried redox center has been investigated by using a selection of mutants and chemical derivatives in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome c isoform 1. Assuming only local structural perturbation and no alteration of the iron-ligation chemistry, Delta E(m)(0)' can be regarded as a measure of the difference in polypeptide solvation o...

The effects of imposed proton motive force on the kinetic properties of the alkalophilic Bacillus sp. strain N-6 Na+/H+ antiport system have been studied by looking at the effect of delta psi (membrane potential, interior negative) and/or delta pH (proton gradient, interior alkaline) on Na+ efflux or H+ influx in right-side-out membrane vesicles. Imposed delta psi increased the Na+ efflux rate ...

Antimicrobial peptides play an important role in host defense against pathogens. Recently, phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) from Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) were shown to interact with lipid membranes, form complexes, and exert antimicrobial activity. Based on the abundance and innocuity of the cutaneous resident S. epidermidis, we hypothesized that their PSMs contribute to host d...

‎let $mathcal{a}$ be a unital banach algebra‎, ‎$mathcal{m}$ be a left $mathcal{a}$-module‎, ‎and $w$ in $mathcal{z}(mathcal{a})$ be a left separating point of $mathcal{m}$‎. ‎we show that if $mathcal{m}$ is a unital left $mathcal{a}$-module and $delta$ is a linear mapping from $mathcal{a}$ into $mathcal{m}$‎, ‎then the following four conditions are equivalent‎: ‎(i) $delta$ is a jordan left de...