Changes in trigonelline content and in biosynthetic activity were determined in the cotyledons and embryonic axes of etiolated mungbean (Phaseolus aureus) seedlings during germination. Accumulation of trigonelline (c. 240 nmol per pair of cotyledons) was observed in the cotyledons of dry seeds; trigonelline content decreased 2 d after imbibition. Trigonelline content in the embryonic axes incre...

Comparative and evaluative question answering (QA) requires a detailed semantic analysis of comparative expressions and complex processing. Semantics of predicates from questions have to be translated to quantifiable criteria before extraction of information can be done. This paper presents some challenges faced in answering comparative and evaluative questions. An application on the domain of ...

The asymmetric unit of the title salt, C(4)H(12)N(2) (2+)·2C(7)H(4)NO(4) (-) or pipzH(2) (2+)·2(py-2,3-dcH(-)), prepared by a reaction between pyridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (py-2,3-dcH(2)) and piperazine (pipz), contains a monoanion and half of a centrosymmetric dication. The anionic fragment individually has two intra-molecular hydrogen bonds, an almost linear O-H⋯O bond between two carboxyl-...

Common approaches to evaluate Question Answering (QA) systems consider exclusively the accuracy of the answers. It ignores an essential feature of all the computational procedures: the efficiency. In this note, we explore new evaluation measures that take into account, in addition to the accuracy, the efficiency, which is incorporated through the magnitude of the answer time of QA systems. In p...

Cutaneous sclerosis, resembling that seen in subcutaneous morphea, is a feature of eosinophilic fasciitis and eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, two conditions in which the kynurenine pathway is known to be activated. To investigate the possibility of activation of the kynurenine pathway in morphea, skin biopsies were taken from involved and non-involved sites in a series of three patients with mor...

Excitotoxic cell death stimulated by quinolinic acid injection into the striatum has a long history of "mimicking" many aspects of motor, behavioral, and neurochemical changes observed in Huntington's disease patients. In this issue of Neuron, provide insight into the role of NMDA receptors in the cell-specific excitotoxic death observed in Huntington's disease (HD) using a HD mouse model expre...

Quinolinic acid (QA) is an endogenous excitotoxin present in mammalian brain that reproduces many of the histologic and neurochemical features of Huntington's disease (HD). In the present study we have examined the ability of a variety of systemically administered compounds to modify striatal QA neurotoxicity. Lesions were assessed by measurements of the intrinsic striatal neurotransmitters sub...

Bilateral electrolytic pallidal lesion ameliorated the deleterious effects of bilateral quinolinic acid (QA) lesion to the striatum on post-surgery weight, activity level, and performance in a water maze task, and reduced the extent of striatal damage. Given that the neurodegenerative and behavioral effects of QA striatal lesion are thought to mimic those seen in Huntington's disease, these res...

SIR: Recently, Klockgether and Turski proposed that antagonists of excitatory amino acids may be beneficial in the treatment of Parkinson's disease 1. This suggestion , previously put torward by others 2-4, is supported by recent findings of animal experiments as weil as by clinical data. On the basis of these findings, a somewhat different conclusion can be drawn about the role of gluta-mate i...

Tryptophan injected in large quantities (500-1000 mg/kg) causes a statistically significant rise in the pyridine nucleotide content of livers from animals bearing Ehrlich ascites tumor but there is no corresponding rise in tumor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). Similarly, incorporation of isotope from ring-labeled tryptophan into the nicotinamide moiety of NAD occurs rapidly in host liv...