Long-term treatment with the dopamine precursor levodopa (L-DOPA) induces dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. We divided hemiparkinsonian rats treated chronically with L-DOPA into two groups: one showed motor improvement without dyskinesia, and the other developed debilitating dyskinesias in response to the treatment. We then compared the plasticity of corticostriatal synapses between

The standard method used for tagging b-hadrons in the DELPHI experiment at the CERN LEP Collider is discussed in detail. The main ingredient of b-tagging is the impact parameters of tracks, which relies mostly on the vertex detector. Additional information, such as the mass of particles associated to a secondary vertex, significantly improves the selection efficiency and the background suppression

Background Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been suggested to be overrepresented in anorexia nervosa. This study aimed to explore the comorbidity of ASD and other childhood onset neuropsychiatric disorders (COND) [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and tic disorders] in a group of severe eating disorder (ED) patients. Method Thirty female ED patients from a specialist hospital c

The O 1s photoelectron satellite spectrum of water has been recorded with high resolution and some vibrational structures were detected. The electronic and vibrational structures observed in the experimental spectrum are well interpreted with the aid of the molecular ab initio calculations based on the symmetry adapted cluster-configuration interaction (SAC-CI) method. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All r

The effects of boiling (10 min) and how differences in cultivars (n = 6), maturity (n = 2), and storage (n = 3) may affect dietary fiber in white cabbage were studied. A great variation in total dietary fiber content between boiled cabbage samples was seen (17.7 to 31.7 g/100 g dry weight basis). Total and insoluble dietary fiber following boiling could be predicted from the initial amount. Averag

Using the HERA-B detector, the b (b) over bar production cross section has been measured in 920 GeV proton collisions on carbon and titanium targets. The b (b) over bar production was tagged via inclusive bottom quark decays into J/psi by exploiting the longitudinal separation of J/psi --> l(+)l(-) decay vertices from the primary proton-nucleus interaction. Both e(+)e(-) and mu(+)mu(-) channels ha

An experimental and numerical study on mechanical properties, such as strength, elastic modulus, creep and shrinkage, of Self-Compacting Concrete, SCC, and the corresponding properties of Normal Compacting concrete, NC, is outlined in this article. The study included eight mix proportions of sealed or air-cured specimens with water-binder ratio, w/b, varying between 0.24 and 0.80. Half of the mixe

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qq disintegrations of the Z(0) were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E-y < I GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction P-T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected fo

The insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 is an important component of the insulin signal transduction cascade. Several reports suggest that a Gly-->Arg change in codon 972 is associated with type 2 diabetes and related traits, and a recent meta-analysis reported a modest but nominally significant association with type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.25 in favor of carriers of the Arg allele [95% CI 1.

We report the first attempt to estimate fungal biomass production in soil by correlating relative fungal growth rates (i.e., acetate incorporation into ergosterol) with fungal biomass increase (i.e., ergosterol) following amendments with dried alfalfa or barley straw in soil. The conversion factor obtained was then used in unamended soil, resulting in fungal biomass productions of 10–12 μg C g−1 s

Context: Androgens are associated with metabolic risk factors in men. However, the independent impact of androgens and androgen metabolites on metabolic risk factors in men is unclear. Objective: Our objective was to determine the predictive value of serum levels of androgens and glucuronidated androgen metabolites for metabolic risk factors. Design and Study Subjects: We conducted a population-ba

Fungal (acetate-in-ergosterol incorporation) and bacterial (leucine/thymidine incorporation) growth resulting from alfalfa (C/N = 15) and barley straw (C/N = 75) addition was studied in soil microcosms for 64 days. Nitrogen amendments were used to compensate for the C/N difference between the substrates. Fungal growth increased to a maximum after 3–7 days, at five to eight times the controls, foll

Searches for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption of non-conservation of R-parity with a dominant LL (E) over bar or (U) over bar(D) over bar(D) over bar term have been performed using the data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP in e(+)e(-) collisions at centre-of-mass energies from 192 up to 208 GeV. No excess of data above Standard Model expectations was observ

Beside agricultural soils, tropical rainforest soils are the main source of atmospheric N2O. Current estimates of the global N2O source strength of tropical rainforest soils are still based on rather simplistic upscaling approaches and do have a large range of uncertainty. In this study, the biogeochemical ForestDNDC-tropica model was recalibrated and intensively tested on the site scale prior to

Objective. To investigate the effect of a moderate to high intensive exercise program on two primary outcomes (aerobic capacity, fatigue), and three secondary outcomes [anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life (HRQoL)] in women with primary Sjögren's syndrome (primary SS). Methods. Twenty-one women with primary SS were ranked according to degree of fatigue and allocated to an exerci

1. We investigated the individual and combined effects of two predators (the climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, and the wetland crab, Esanthelphusa nimoafi) indigenous to wetlands in Laos, on the behaviour and survival of the invasive South American golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata). The snail is considered a pest, consuming large amounts of rice and other aquatic vegetation in the region