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General Similarity (general + similarity)
Selected AbstractsOptical spectra and covalent chemistry of fulleropyrrolidinesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 14 2007B. S. Razbirin Abstract Low-temperature vibronic spectra of two fulleropyrrolidines (1-methyl-3,4-FP and 1-methyl-2(4-pyridine)-3,4-FP) embedded in crystalline toluene matrix have been studied. Two-component composition of the spectra has been established and charge-transfer-excitation origin of the structureless component has been suggested. Fine-structured Shpol'skii spectra were observed for 1-methyl-3,4-FP, which made possible to perform the vibrational analysis of its vibronic spectra. General similarities of the absorption spectra of fulleropyrrolidines and C60 molecules along with significant difference in their details have been discussed. A detailed interpretation of the C60 spectra serves as a basis for analyzing the spectra of the derivatives. Quantum-chemical study is based on the effectively-unpaired-electron concept for the fullerene molecule. Computations have been performed for the singlet states of the molecules in unrestricted Hartree,Fock approximation implemented in AM1 semiempirical quantum chemical codes of the CLUSTER-Z1 software. The population of the HOMO and LUMO of the molecules under study alongside with the lowering of the molecules symmetry have been proposed to explain the spectral features observed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007 [source] The regulation and function of mammalian AMPK-related kinasesACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 1 2009N. J. Bright Abstract AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key regulator of cellular and whole-body energy homeostasis. Recently, 12 AMPK-related kinases (BRSK1, BRSK2, NUAK1, NUAK2, QIK, QSK, SIK, MARK1, MARK2, MARK3, MARK4 and MELK) were identified that are closely related by sequence homology to the catalytic domain of AMPK. The protein kinase LKB1 acts as a master upstream kinase activating AMPK and 11 of the AMPK-related kinases by phosphorylation of a conserved threonine residue in their T-loop region. Further sequence analyses have identified the eight-member SNRK kinase family as distant relatives of AMPK. However, only one of these is phosphorylated and activated by LKB1. Although much is known about AMPK, many of the AMPK-related kinases remain largely uncharacterized. This review outlines the general similarities in structure and function of the AMPK-related kinases before examining the specific characteristics of each, including a brief discussion of the SNRK family. [source] Diversity and abundance patterns of phytophagous insect communities on alien and native host plants in the BrassicaceaeECOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2003Mark Frenzel The herbivore load (abundance and species richness of herbivores) on alien plants is supposed to be one of the keys to understand the invasiveness of species. We investigate the phytophagous insect communities on cabbage plants (Brassicaceae) in Europe. We compare the communities of endophagous and ectophagous insects as well as of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera on native and alien cabbage plant species. Contrary to many other reports, we found no differences in the herbivore load between native and alien hosts. The majority of insect species attacked alien as well as native hosts. Across insect species, there was no difference in the patterns of host range on native and on alien hosts. Likewise the similarity of insect communities across pairs of host species was not different between natives and aliens. We conclude that the general similarity in the community patterns between native and alien cabbage plant species are due to the chemical characteristics of this plant family. All cabbage plants share glucosinolates. This may facilitate host switches from natives to aliens. Hence the presence of native congeners may influence invasiveness of alien plants. [source] Ischemia-induced modifications in hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum excitatory synapsesHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 10 2006Tatiana Kovalenko Abstract Relatively mild ischemic episode can initiate a chain of events resulting in delayed cell death and significant lesions in the affected brain regions. We studied early synaptic modifications after brief ischemia modeled in rats by transient vessels' occlusion in vivo or oxygen,glucose deprivation in vitro and resulting in delayed death of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells. Electron microscopic analysis of excitatory spine synapses in CA1 stratum radiatum revealed a rapid increase of the postsynaptic density (PSD) thickness and length, as well as formation of concave synapses with perforated PSD during the first 24 h after ischemic episode, followed at the long term by degeneration of 80% of synaptic contacts. In presynaptic terminals, ischemia induced a depletion of synaptic vesicles and changes in their spatial arrangement: they became more distant from active zones and had larger intervesicle spacing compared to controls. These rapid structural synaptic changes could be implicated in the mechanisms of cell death or adaptive plasticity. Comparison of the in vivo and in vitro model systems used in the study demonstrated a general similarity of these early morphological changes, confirming the validity of the in vitro model for studying synaptic structural plasticity. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||