Hypertension, the most frequently diagnosed clinical condition world-wide, predisposes individuals to morbidity and mortality, yet its underlying pathological etiologies are poorly understood. So far, a large number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified in both humans and animal models, but how they function together in determining overall blood pressure (BP) in physiological s...

Abstract Background Prediabetes is characterized by a hemoglobin A1c of 5.7–6.4% and fasting blood glucose 100–125 mg/dl. A high percentage prediabetes subjects develop type 2 diabetes mellitus in the next years. The effects opioid peptides their receptors, addition to immunological cytokines, on are not well understood. Therefore, molecular, physiological, clinical studies required link system...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Accurate conformal radiotherapy treatment requires manual delineation of target volumes and organs at risk (OAR) that is both time-consuming and subject to large inter-user variability. One solution is atlas-based automatic segmentation (ABAS) where a priori information is used to delineate various organs of interest. The aim of the present study is to establish the accur...

Although the development of semen cryopreservation in the African elephants (Loxodonta africana) has been accomplished, effective procedures for cryopreservation of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) spermatozoa have not been established. In the present study, we investigate the freezing methods for conservation of Asian elephant spermatozoa under field conditions and identify the most suitable f...

We present a method for "inverse coarse graining," rebuilding a higher resolution model from a lower resolution one, in order to rebuild protein coats for remodeled membranes of complex topology. The specific case of membrane remodeling by N-BAR domain containing proteins is considered here, although the overall method is general and thus applicable to other membrane remodeling phenomena. Our a...

Maslinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene extracted from olives that has been systematically reported to exert several therapeutic effects, such as antitumoral, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, and antiviral properties. Recently, new derivatives of maslinic acid have been obtained and expanded the spectrum of biological activities and improved the existing ones. The ...

This is the third paper in our Wrinkling saga (see [EM1], [EM2]). The first paper [EM1] was devoted to the foundations of the method. The second paper [EM2], as well as the current one are devoted to the applications of the wrinkling process. In [EM2] we proved, among other results, a generalized Igusa’s theorem about functions with moderate singularities. The current paper is devoted to applic...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of correcting myocardial signal saturation on the accuracy of absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF) measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed 15 dual bolus first-pass perfusion studies in 7 dogs during global coronary vasodilation and variable degrees of coronary artery stenosis. We compared microsphere MBF to MBF calculated from uncorrected and correct...

The endomorphins are potent and selective endogenous agonists at the mu opioid receptor. We describe here the postnatal ontogeny of endomorphin-2 like immunoreactivity (EM2-LI) in the dorsal horn of the rat medulla and spinal cord. EM2-LI is dense in the superficial lamina of the dorsal horn of the adolescent and adult rat, with fibers also present in skin and dorsal root ganglia. No staining w...

Abstract We present major and trace element data on clinopyroxene‐hosted, glassy melt inclusions (MIs) from a highly enriched (high 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.71856) lava (ALIA‐D115‐18) the Samoan hot spot. Following correction for post‐entrapment crystallization, MIs are trachytic (62.6–65.4 wt% SiO 2 , 1.5–3.0 MgO, 7.2–10.6 total alkalis (Na O + K O)) ALIA‐D115 lavas dredged off submarine flanks of Sav...