Many mathematical models for gene regulatory networks have been proposed. In this study, the authors study attractors in probabilistic Boolean networks (PBNs). They study the expected number of singleton attractors in a PBN and show that it is (2 - (1/2)(L-1))(n), where n is the number of nodes in a PBN and L is the number of Boolean functions assigned to each node. In the case of L=2, this num...

AIM To examine the potential correlation between urethral function and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS Thirty-one patients with clinical BPH, who were confirmed to have benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) of 20 ml or more, were enrolled into the study. A mark-sheet questionnaire was used for obtaining the LUTS history. Multichannel pr...

The primary site of lesion induced by noise exposure is the hair cells in the organ of Corti and the primary neural degeneration occurs in synaptic terminals of cochlear nerve fibers and spiral ganglion cells. The cellular basis of noise-induced hearing loss is oxidative stress, which refers to a severe disruption in the balance between the production of free radicals and antioxidant defense sy...

Probabilistic Boolean Network (PBN) is widely used to model genetic regulatory networks. Evolution of the PBN is according to the transition probability matrix. Steady-state (long-run behaviour) analysis is a key aspect in studying the dynamics of genetic regulatory networks. In this paper, an efficient method to construct the sparse transition probability matrix is proposed, and the power meth...

Intracellular redox potential of skeletal muscle becomes progressively more oxidized with aging, negatively impacting regenerative ability. We examined the effects of oxidizing redox potential on terminal differentiation of cultured C2C12 myoblasts. Redox potentials were manipulated by changing the culture O(2) environment, by free radical scavenging, or addition of H(2)O(2.) Intracellular reac...

Taste information in rodents is carried to the rostral portion of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) by axons of the VIIth, IXth and Xth cranial nerves (Beckstead and Norgren, 1979). From the NST, ascending gustatory fibers project to third-order cells within the parabrachial nuclei (PbN) of the pons (Norgren, 1978), and in turn to multiple forebrain nuclei, including the thalamus, insular...

Pontine parabrachial nucleus (PBN) neurons integrate visceral, oral, and other sensory information, playing an integral role in the neural control of feeding. Current experiments probed whether lateral PBN (lPBN) leptin receptor (LepRb) signaling contributes to this function. Intra-lPBN leptin microinjection significantly reduced cumulative chow intake, average meal size, and body weight in rat...

Probabilistic Boolean Networks (PBNs) comprise a graphical model based on uncertain rule-based dependencies between nodes and have been proposed as a model for genetic regulatory networks. As with any algebraic structure, the characterization of important mappings between PBNs is critical for both theory and application. This paper treats the construction of mappings to alter PBN structure whil...

The addition of hydralazine (1-hydrazinophthalazine) to rat liver mitochondria metabolizing malate/glutamate causes formation of a carbon-centered free radical which was spin-trapped with phenyl-t-butylnitrone (PBN) or dimethylpyrrolidine-N-oxide (DMPO). The coupling constants of the spin-trapped free radical were AN = 16.1, AH beta = 4.6 G for PBN and AN = 15.9, AH beta = 18.9 G for DMPO-trapp...