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  • 1
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    The journal of Fourier analysis and applications 5 (1999), S. 105-125 
    ISSN: 1531-5851
    Keywords: 26B05 ; 42B10 ; 42C99 ; frame ; Gabor system ; Riesz basis ; stability ; wavelet
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract If the sequence of functions ϕj, k is a wavelet frame (Riesz basis) or Gabor frame (Riesz basis), we obtain its perturbation system ψj,k which is still a frame (Riesz basis) under very mild conditions. For example, we do not need to know that the support of ϕ or ψ $$(\hat \phi or\hat \psi )$$ is compact as in [14]. We also discuss the stability of irregular sampling problems. In order to arrive at some of our results, we set up a general multivariate version of Littlewood-Paley type inequality which was originally considered by Lemarié and Meyer [17], then by Chui and Shi [9], and Long [16].
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  • 2
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    Risk analysis 19 (1999), S. 585-598 
    ISSN: 1539-6924
    Keywords: uncertainty ; threatened plants ; risk ; conservation ; rule sets ; IUCN
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
    Notes: Abstract Australian state and federal agencies use a broad range of methods for setting conservation priorities for species at risk. Some of these are based on rule sets developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, while others use point scoring protocols to assess threat. All of them ignore uncertainty in the data. In this study, we assessed the conservation status of 29 threatened vascular plants from Tasmania and New South Wales using a variety of methods including point scoring and rule-based approaches. In addition, several methods for dealing with uncertainty in the data were applied to each of the priority-setting schemes. The results indicate that the choice of a protocol for setting priorities and the choice of the way in which uncertainty is treated may make important differences to the resulting assessments of risk. The choice among methods needs to be rationalized within the management context in which it is to be applied. These methods are not a substitute for more formal risk assessment.
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    Circuits, systems and signal processing 19 (2000), S. 423-435 
    ISSN: 1531-5878
    Keywords: Time-varying autoregressive models ; stability ; smoothness priors ; Tihkonov regularization ; constrained optimization
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
    Notes: Abstract The stability of time-varying autoregressive (AR) models is an important issue in such applications as time-varying spectrum estimation and electroencephalography simulation and estimation. In some cases, such as time-varying spectrum estimation, the models that exhibit roots near unit moduli are difficult to use. Thus a tighter stability condition such as stability with a positive margin is needed. A time-varying AR model is stable with a positive margin if the moduli of the roots of the time-varying characteristic polynomial are somewhat less than unity for every time instant. Recently, a new method for the estimation of the time-varying AR models was introduced. This method is based on the interpretation of the underdetermined time-varying prediction equations as an ill-posed inverse problem that is solved by Tikhonov regularization. The method is referred to as the deterministic regression smoothness priors (DRSP) scheme. In this paper, a stabilization method in which the DRSP scheme is augmented with nonlinear stability constrainst is proposed. The problem is formulated so that stability with a positive margin can also be achieved. The problem is solved iteratively with an exterior point algorithm. The performance of the algorithm is studied with a simulation. It is shown that the proposed approach is well suited to stable modeling of signals containing narrowband transitions.
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    Circuits, systems and signal processing 19 (2000), S. 13-25 
    ISSN: 1531-5878
    Keywords: Singular systems ; delay ; consistency condition ; stability ; instability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Electrical Engineering, Measurement and Control Technology
    Notes: Abstract In this paper, the general class of singular systems with delay and linear constant coefficient singular systems with delay are discussed. First, several definitions of stability are presented for singular systems with delay, and general sufficient stability conditions and instability conditions are obtained. Second, stability and instability are analyzed for linear constant coefficient singular systems with delay.
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    Journal of ornithology 140 (1999), S. 87-91 
    ISSN: 1439-0361
    Keywords: arable land ; conservation ; micro-structures ; stunted growth ; traditional land-use
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Description / Table of Contents: Zusammenfassung Für die Feldlerche (Alauda arvensis) sind Kleinstrukturen des Ackerlandes offenbar von großer Bedeutung. In zwei Untersuchungsgebieten (U1, U2) in SW-Deutschland bevorzugte die Feldlerche im Frühsommer Felder mit noch niedrigen Feldfrucht-Sorten, mit 88% (58%) der Reviere auf 35% (33%) der Gesamtfläche von U1 (U2), und mit 3,0–3,8 (4,1–4,3) R./10 ha. Im Vergleich mit Zufallsverteilungen zeigte die Verteilung der Feldlerchen-Reviere eine starke Bevorzugung von „Störstellen“ mit Kümmerwuchs, die durch traditionelle Bewirtschaftungsformen (kleinräumige Häufung von Richtungswechseln im Verlauf der Flurstücksgrenzen, Kleinsenken an den Längsseiten von Wölbäckern) oder mikrotopographisch-geologisch (Dolinen, staunasse oder steinige Stellen) bedingt waren; und eine starke Meidung von beliebigen Stellen frei im Feld; umgekehrt wurden durch moderne Bewirtschaftung bedingte Störstellen (aktuelle Schlaggrenzen, Erdwege) signifikant seltener genutzt als zu erwarten war (Abb. 1). Die bevorzugten traditionellen Störstellen entstanden ursprünglich oftmals an Grenzen von kleinräumiger traditioneller Bewirtschaftung, liegen aber heute meistens innerhalb der jetzigen Bewirtschaftungseinheiten und werden überackert. Aus Sicht des Naturschutzes ist zu fordern, daß solche Störstellen als Mosaik von Kleinstrukturen über Acker-Flächen möglichst gleichmäßig verteilt sein sollten.
    Notes: Summary Micro-structures in arable fields are apparently of great importance for the Skylark, a species which has declined over vast areas of Europe. In two study areas (U1, U2) in SW-Germany, in early summer the Skylark showed a preference for arable fields with low emergent crops, with 88% (58%) of the territories on 35% (33%) of the total area of U1 (U2), and with 3.0–3.8 (4.1–4.3) territories per 10 ha. The distribution of Skylark territories showed a strong preference for "places with stunted growth" caused by traditional cultivation practices (clumping of abrupt changes in the direction of the edges of plots, shallow depressions along the longer margins of plots with elevated central parts, i.e. furrow and ridge), or by microtopographical-geological conditions (doline over karst, wet or stony places); and a marked avoidance of arbitrary places anywhere in the fields; on the other hand, places with stunted growth caused by modern cultivation (edges of stands, clay- or grass-covered country-lanes) were used less frequently than expected (Fig. 1). The preferred places with stunted growth often originated around edges of plots in traditional small-scale cultivation, but are nowadays mostly situated within actual stands, the former edges having been tilled over. With respect to conservation, preferred places like these should be evenly dispersed over the arable fields, thus building up a mosaic of micro-structures.
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    Acta biotheoretica 48 (2000), S. 207-218 
    ISSN: 1572-8358
    Keywords: Dynamical population ; fishing efforts ; metapopulation ; time scales ; aggregation method ; equilibrium ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract This work presents a specific stock-effort dynamical model. The stocks correspond to two populations of fish moving and growing between two fishery zones. They are harvested by two different fleets. The effort represents the number of fishing boats of the two fleets that operate in the two fishing zones. The bioeconomical model is a set of four ODE's governing the fishing efforts and the stocks in the two fishing areas. Furthermore, the migration of the fish between the two patches is assumed to be faster than the growth of the harvested stock. The displacement of the fleets is also faster than the variation in the number of fishing boats resulting from the investment of the fishing income. So, there are two time scales: a fast one corresponding to the migration between the two patches, and a slow time scale corresponding to growth. We use aggregation methods that allow us to reduce the dimension of the model and to obtain an aggregated model for the total fishing effort and fish stock of the two fishing zones. The mathematical analysis of the model is shown. Under some conditions, we obtain a stable equilibrium, which is a desired situation, as it leads to a sustainable harvesting equilibrium, keeping the stock at exploitable densities.
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    Queueing systems 32 (1999), S. 131-168 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: stability ; positive recurrence ; fluid limit ; polling system ; exhaustive service policy
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract We introduce a generalized criterion for the stability of Markovian queueing systems in terms of stochastic fluid limits. We consider an example in which this criterion may be applied: a polling system with two stations and two heterogeneous servers.
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  • 8
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    Queueing systems 34 (2000), S. 1-35 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: multiple access ; CDMA ; rates of convergence ; stability ; functional limit theorems ; transient analysis ; Markov-modulated capture channel
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract We consider the slotted ALOHA protocol on a channel with a capture effect. There are M 〈 ∞ users each with an infinite buffer. If in a slot, i packets are transmitted, then the probability of a successful reception of a packet is q i. This model contains the CDMA protocols as special cases. We obtain sufficient rate conditions, which are close to necessary for stability of the system, when the arrival streams are stationary ergodic. Under the same rate conditions, for general regenerative arrival streams, we obtain the rates of convergence to stationarity, finiteness of stationary moments and various functional limit theorems. Our arrival streams contain all the traffic models suggested in the recent literature, including the ones which display long range dependence. We also obtain bounds on the stationary moments of waiting times which can be tight under realistic conditions. Finally, we obtain several results on the transient performance of the system, e.g., first time to overflow and the limits of the overflow process. We also extend the above results to the case of a capture channel exhibiting Markov modulated fading. Most of our results and proofs will be shown to hold also for the slotted ALOHA protocol without capture.
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  • 9
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    Celestial mechanics and dynamical astronomy 74 (1999), S. 19-57 
    ISSN: 1572-9478
    Keywords: stability ; Hamiltonian ; two centers ; oblate planet ; galactic disks ; dipole
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract Relative equilibria occur in a wide variety of physical applications, including celestial mechanics, particle accelerators, plasma physics, and atomic physics. We derive sufficient conditions for Lyapunov stability of circular orbits in arbitrary axisymmetric gravitational (electrostatic) and magnetic fields, including the effects of local mass (charge) and current density. Particularly simple stability conditions are derived for source‐free regions, where the gravitational field is harmonic (∇2U = 0) or the magnetic field irrotational (∇ × B = 0). In either case the resulting stability conditions can be expressed geometrically (coordinate‐free) in terms of dimensionless stability indices. Stability bounds are calculated for several examples, including the problem of two fixed centers, the J2 planetary model, galactic disks, and a toroidal quadrupole magnetic field.
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    Celestial mechanics and dynamical astronomy 75 (1999), S. 251-285 
    ISSN: 1572-9478
    Keywords: unrestricted problem ; rotational motion ; rigid body dynamics ; libration points ; stability ; resonances
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract We present an analysis of the model introduced by Kokoriev and Kirpichnikov (1988) for the study of unrestricted planar motion of a point mass and a symmetric rigid body whose gravity field is approximated by two point masses (a dumb-bell model). To show possible generalization of the model, we give a systematic derivation of equations of motion for a more general unrestricted problem of a point and a rigid body possessing a plane of dynamical symmetry. We give a simple description of bifurcation of triangular libration points, and we perform an analysis of their linear stability. We propose to extend the model of Kokoriev and Kirpichnikov (1988) to a case when the symmetric body is oblate. In the proposed model the gravity field of moving and rotating body is approximated by two complex masses at complex distance (a complex dumb-bell model). An analysis of bifurcation of the triangular libration points in this model is also presented.
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    Celestial mechanics and dynamical astronomy 78 (2000), S. 227-241 
    ISSN: 1572-9478
    Keywords: stability ; normal form ; spin-orbit resonance
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract We consider a model of spin-orbit interaction, describing the motion of an oblate satellite rotating about an internal spin-axis and orbiting about a central planet. The resulting second order differential equation depends upon the parameters provided by the equatorial oblateness of the satellite and its orbital eccentricity. Normal form transformations around the main spin-orbit resonances are carried out explicitly. As an outcome, one can compute some invariants; the fact that these quantities are not identically zero is a necessary condition to prove the existence of nearby periodic orbits (Birkhoff fixed point theorem). Moreover, the nonvanishing of the invariants provides also the stability of the spin-orbit resonances, since it guarantees the existence of invariant curves surrounding the periodic orbit.
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    Journal of computational analysis and applications 2 (2000), S. 293-308 
    ISSN: 1572-9206
    Keywords: parabolic equations ; ADI scheme ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract An ADI scheme for solving three-dimensional parabolic equations withfirst-order derivatives and variable coefficients has been developed basedon our previous papers and the idea of the modified upwind differencescheme. This ADI scheme is second-order accurate and unconditionallystable. Further, a small parameter can be chosen which makes it suitablefor simulating fast-transient phenomena or for computations on fine spatialmeshes. The method is illustrated with numerical examples.
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    Computational & mathematical organization theory 5 (1999), S. 5-30 
    ISSN: 1572-9346
    Keywords: network models ; organization theory ; rule following ; self organized ; stability ; work teams ; work routine
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract Self-organized rule-following systems are increasingly relevant objects of study in organization theory due to such systems&2018; capacity to maintain control while enabling decentralization of authority. This paper proposes a network model for such systems and examines the stability of the networks&2018; repetitive behavior. The networks examined are Ashby nets, a fundamental class of binary systems: connected aggregates of nodes that individually compute an interaction rule, a binary function of their three inputs. The nodes, which we interpret as workers in a work team, have two network inputs and one self-input. All workers in a given team follow the same interaction rule. We operationalize the notion of stability of the team&2018;s work routine and determine stability under small perturbations for all possible rules these teams can follow. To study the organizational concomitants of stability, we characterize the rules by their memory, fluency, homogeneity, and autonomy. We relate these measures to work routine stability, and find that stability in ten member teams is enhanced by rules that have low memory, high homogeneity, and low autonomy.
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    Queueing systems 33 (1999), S. 293-325 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: stability ; fluid models ; multiclass queueing networks ; piecewise linear Lyapunov functions ; linear Lyapunov functions ; monotone global stability ; static buffer priority disciplines
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract This paper studies the stability of a three‐station fluid network. We show that, unlike the two‐station networks in Dai and Vande Vate [18], the global stability region of our three‐station network is not the intersection of its stability regions under static buffer priority disciplines. Thus, the “worst” or extremal disciplines are not static buffer priority disciplines. We also prove that the global stability region of our three‐station network is not monotone in the service times and so, we may move a service time vector out of the global stability region by reducing the service time for a class. We introduce the monotone global stability region and show that a linear program (LP) related to a piecewise linear Lyapunov function characterizes this largest monotone subset of the global stability region for our three‐station network. We also show that the LP proposed by Bertsimas et al. [1] does not characterize either the global stability region or even the monotone global stability region of our three‐station network. Further, we demonstrate that the LP related to the linear Lyapunov function proposed by Chen and Zhang [11] does not characterize the stability region of our three‐station network under a static buffer priority discipline.
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    Queueing systems 36 (2000), S. 327-349 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: multiclass networks ; networks with feedback ; Skorokhod Problem ; Skorokhod Mapping ; Lipschitz continuity ; stability ; load conditions
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract We consider a four-class two-station network with feedback, with fluid inputs and a head-of-the-line generalized processor sharing discipline at each station. We derive the Skorokhod Problem associated with the network and obtain algebraic sufficient conditions for Lipschitz continuity of the associated Skorokhod Map. This provides the first example of a multiclass network with feedback for which the associated Skorokhod Problem has been proved to be regular. As an elementary application, we show that under the conditions which guarantee Lipschitz continuity the network is stable if and only if the usual load conditions apply.
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    Journal of dynamics and differential equations 12 (2000), S. 117-167 
    ISSN: 1572-9222
    Keywords: singular perturbation ; standing pulses ; stability ; Hopf bifurcation ; reaction-diffusion system
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract Bifurcation phenomena from standing pulse solutions of the problem $$\varepsilon \tau u_t = \varepsilon ^2 u_{xx} + f(u,v),{\text{ }}v_t = v_{xx} + g(u,v)$$ is considered. ε(〉0) is a sufficiently small parameter and τ is a positive one. It is shown that there exist two types of destabilization of standing pulse solutions when τ decreases. One is the appearance of travelling pulse solutions via the static bifurcation and the other is that of in-phase breathers via the Hopf bifurcation. Furthermore which type of destabilization occurs first with decreasing τ is discussed for the piecewise linear nonlinearities f and g.
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    Set-valued analysis 7 (1999), S. 209-238 
    ISSN: 1572-932X
    Keywords: nonsmooth analysis ; subdifferentials ; coderivatives ; implicit function theorem ; solvability ; stability ; open mapping theorem ; metric regularity ; multidirectional mean value inequality
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract We prove a general implicit function theorem for multifunctions with a metric estimate on the implicit multifunction and a characterization of its coderivative. Traditional open covering theorems, stability results, and sufficient conditions for a multifunction to be metrically regular or pseudo-Lipschitzian can be deduced from this implicit function theorem. We prove this implicit multifunction theorem by reducing it to an implicit function/solvability theorem for functions. This approach can also be used to prove the Robinson–Ursescu open mapping theorem. As a tool for this alternative proof of the Robinson–Ursescu theorem, we also establish a refined version of the multidirectional mean value inequality which is of independent interest.
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    Queueing systems 31 (1999), S. 171-206 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: scheduling ; open multiclass queueing networks ; discrete-review policies ; fluid models ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract This paper describes a family of discrete-review policies for scheduling open multiclass queueing networks. Each of the policies in the family is derived from what we call a dynamic reward function: such a function associates with each queue length vector q and each job class k a positive value r k (q), which is treated as a reward rate for time devoted to processing class k jobs. Assuming that each station has a traffic intensity parameter less than one, all policies in the family considered are shown to be stable. In such a policy, system status is reviewed at discrete points in time, and at each such point the controller formulates a processing plan for the next review period, based on the queue length vector observed. Stability is proved by combining elementary large deviations theory with an analysis of an associated fluid control problem. These results are extended to systems with class dependent setup times as well as systems with alternate routing and admission control capabilities.
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    Catalysis letters 68 (2000), S. 55-58 
    ISSN: 1572-879X
    Keywords: promoting effect ; B2O3 ; Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst ; methanol synthesis ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract The addition of B2O3 to a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst increased the activity of the catalyst for methanol synthesis after an induction period during the reaction. The stability of the B2O3-containing Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was greatly improved by the addition of a small amount of colloidal silica to the catalyst.
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    ISSN: 1572-879X
    Keywords: potassium desorption ; stability ; excitation ; iron catalyst ; Rydberg atoms
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract Well‐characterized catalyst model compounds of KAlO2 and KFeO2 are investigated by thermal desorption of potassium from the material. The desorbing fluxes of ions, atoms and highly excited states (field ionizable Rydberg states) were studied with surface and field ionization detectors in a vacuum apparatus. From the Arrhenius plots the activation energies for desorption of K and K+ were determined. The chemical state of potassium at the surfaces is concluded to be: ionic on KAlO2 (with the K desorption barrier of 1.76 eV) and covalent on KFeO2 (barrier of 2.73 eV). These results agree with the data obtained earlier for industrial catalysts for ammonia and styrene production. They are interpreted in terms of the Schottky cycle, which is completed for KAlO2 and fails for KFeO2. This failure indicates a non‐equilibrium desorption process. K Rydberg states are only found to desorb from KFeO2, in agreement with the suggestion that such states in some way are responsible for the catalytic activity.
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    Set-valued analysis 8 (2000), S. 253-266 
    ISSN: 1572-932X
    Keywords: Hausdorff metric ; linear inequality systems ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract In this paper, we propose a Hausdorff metric to measure the “distance” between two linear inequality systems on a real normed space X. For this topology, which comes through a pseudo-metric in the set Σ of linear inequality systems, the closedness of the feasible set mapping is studied, and at the same time a characterization of the stability of the subset Σ c of consistent sytems is given.
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    Annals of operations research 99 (2000), S. 251-265 
    ISSN: 1572-9338
    Keywords: stochastic programming ; bond portfolio management ; interest ratescenarios ; stability ; sensitivity
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics , Economics
    Notes: Abstract The bond portfolio management problem is formulated as a multiperiod two-stage or multistage stochastic program based on interest rate scenarios. These scenarios depend on the available market data, on the applied estimation and sampling techniques, etc., and are used to evaluate coefficients of the resulting large scale mathematical program. The aim of the contribution is to analyze stability and sensitivity of this program on small changes of the coefficients – the (scenario dependent) values of future interest rates and prices. We shall prove that under sensible assumptions, the scenario subproblems are stable linear programs and that also the optimal first-stage decisions and the optimal value of the considered stochastic program possess acceptable continuity properties.
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    Queueing systems 32 (1999), S. 99-130 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: neural network ; inhibition ; stability ; Markov process ; fluid limit ; Harris-recurrence ; transience
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract The subject of the paper is the stability analysis of some neural networks consisting of a finite number of interacting neurons. Following the approach of Dai [5] we use the fluid limit model of the network to derive a sufficient condition for positive Harris-recurrence of the associated Markov process. This improves the main result in Karpelevich et al. [11] and, at the same time, sheds some new light on it. We further derive two different conditions that are sufficient for transience of the state process and illustrate our results by classifying some examples according to positive recurrence or transience.
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    Queueing systems 32 (1999), S. 195-231 
    ISSN: 1572-9443
    Keywords: window flow control ; TCP ; stability ; multiclass networks ; stationary ergodic point processes ; (max,+)-linear system
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science
    Notes: Abstract We focus on window flow control as used in packet-switched communication networks. The approach consists in studying the stability of a system where each node on the path followed by the packets of the controlled connection is modeled by a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) queue of infinite capacity which receives in addition some cross traffic represented by an exogenous flow. Under general stochastic assumptions, namely for stationary and ergodic input processes, we show the existence of a maximum throughput allowed by the flow control. Then we establish bounds on the value of this maximum throughput. These bounds, which do not coincide in general, are reached by time-space scalings of the exogenous flows. Therefore, the performance of the window flow control depends not only on the traffic intensity of the cross flows, but also on fine statistical characteristics such as the burstiness of these flows. These results are illustrated by several examples, including the case of a nonmonotone, nonconvex and fractal stability region.
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    Advances in computational mathematics 10 (1999), S. 271-289 
    ISSN: 1572-9044
    Keywords: delay differential equations ; steady state solutions ; stability ; 34K20 ; 65J10
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract The characteristic equation of a system of delay differential equations (DDEs) is a nonlinear equation with infinitely many zeros. The stability of a steady state solution of such a DDE system is determined by the number of zeros of this equation with positive real part. We present a numerical algorithm to compute the rightmost, i.e., stability determining, zeros of the characteristic equation. The algorithm is based on the application of subspace iteration on the time integration operator of the system or its variational equations. The computed zeros provide insight into the system’s behaviour, can be used for robust bifurcation detection and for efficient indirect calculation of bifurcation points.
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    Applications of mathematics 45 (2000), S. 161-176 
    ISSN: 1572-9109
    Keywords: reaction-diffusion system ; unilateral conditions ; quasivariational inequality ; Leray-Schauder degree ; eigenvalue ; stability
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract We consider a reaction-diffusion system of the activator-inhibitor type with unilateral boundary conditions leading to a quasivariational inequality. We show that there exists a positive eigenvalue of the problem and we obtain an instability of the trivial solution also in some area of parameters where the trivial solution of the same system with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions is stable. Theorems are proved using the method of a jump in the Leray-Schauder degree.
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    BIT 39 (1999), S. 385-402 
    ISSN: 1572-9125
    Keywords: Gaussian elimination ; stability ; backward error analysis ; growth factor
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract A new backward error analysis of LU factorization is presented. It allows to obtain a sharper upper bound for the forward error and a new definition of the growth factor that we compare with the well known Wilkinson growth factor for some classes of matrices. Numerical experiments show that the new growth factor is often of order approximately log2 n whereas Wilkinson's growth factor is of order n or $$\sqrt n$$ .
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    Advances in computational mathematics 12 (2000), S. 229-250 
    ISSN: 1572-9044
    Keywords: numerical analysis ; shallow water problems ; DIRK methods ; stability ; 65L06 ; 65L20 ; 65M12 ; 65M20
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract We construct A‐stable and L‐stable diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta methods of which the diagonal vector in the Butcher matrix has a minimal maximum norm. If the implicit Runge–Kutta relations are iteratively solved by means of the approximately factorized Newton process, then such iterated Runge–Kutta methods are suitable methods for integrating shallow water problems in the sense that the stability boundary is relatively large and that the usually quite fine vertical resolution of the discretized spatial domain is not involved in the stability condition.
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    BIT 40 (2000), S. 62-73 
    ISSN: 1572-9125
    Keywords: Gaussian elimination ; stability ; pivoting
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract It has been recently shown that large growth factors might occur in Gaussian Elimination with Partial Pivoting (GEPP) also when solving some plausibly natural systems. In this note we argue that this potential problem could be easily solved, with much smaller risk of failure, by very small (and low cost) modifications of the basic algorithm, thus confirming its inherent robustness. To this end, we first propose an informal model with the goal of providing further support to the comprehension of the stability properties of GEPP. We then report the results of numerical experiments that confirm the viewpoint embedded in the model. Basing on the previous observations, we finally propose a simple scheme that could be turned into (even more) accurate software for the solution of linear systems.
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    BIT 40 (2000), S. 611-639 
    ISSN: 1572-9125
    Keywords: Runge-Kutta methods ; stability ; convergence ; stiff problems
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract This paper studies the stability and convergence properties of general Runge-Kutta methods when they are applied to stiff semilinear systems y′(t) = J(t)y(t) + g(t, y(t)) with the stiffness contained in the variable coefficient linear part. We consider two assumptions on the relative variation of the matrix J(t) and show that for each of them there is a family of implicit Runge-Kutta methods that is suitable for the numerical integration of the corresponding stiff semilinear systems, i.e. the methods of the family are stable, convergent and the stage equations possess a unique solution. The conditions on the coefficients of a method to belong to these families turn out to be essentially weaker than the usual algebraic stability condition which appears in connection with the B-stability and convergence for stiff nonlinear systems. Thus there are important RK methods which are not algebraically stable but, according to our theory, they are suitable for the numerical integration of semilinear problems. This paper also extends previous results of Burrage, Hundsdorfer and Verwer on the optimal convergence of implicit Runge-Kutta methods for stiff semilinear systems with a constant coefficients linear part.
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    Advances in computational mathematics 10 (1999), S. 115-133 
    ISSN: 1572-9044
    Keywords: Runge–Kutta–Nyström methods ; predictor–corrector methods ; stability ; parallelism ; 65M12 ; 65M20
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract This paper describes the construction of block predictor–corrector methods based on Runge–Kutta–Nyström correctors. Our approach is to apply the predictor–corrector method not only with stepsize h, but, in addition (and simultaneously) with stepsizes a i h, i = 1 ...,r. In this way, at each step, a whole block of approximations to the exact solution at off‐step points is computed. In the next step, these approximations are used to obtain a high‐order predictor formula using Lagrange or Hermite interpolation. Since the block approximations at the off‐step points can be computed in parallel, the sequential costs of these block predictor–corrector methods are comparable with those of a conventional predictor–corrector method. Furthermore, by using Runge–Kutta–Nyström corrector methods, the computation of the approximation at each off‐step point is also highly parallel. Numerical comparisons on a shared memory computer show the efficiency of the methods for problems with expensive function evaluations.
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    BIT 39 (1999), S. 620-645 
    ISSN: 1572-9125
    Keywords: Numerical integrator ; oscillatory solutions ; Schrödinger equation ; quantum-classical coupling ; error bounds ; stability
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract We study time integration methods for equations of mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics in which Newtonian equations of motion and Schrödinger equations are nonlinearly coupled. Such systems exhibit different time scales in the classical and the quantum evolution, and the solutions are typically highly oscillatory. The numerical methods use the exponential of the quantum Hamiltonian whose product with a state vector is approximated using Lanczos' method. This allows time steps that are much larger than the inverse of the highest frequencies. We describe various integration schemes and analyze their error behaviour, without assuming smoothness of the solution. As preparation and as a problem of independent interest, we study also integration methods for Schrödinger equations with time-dependent Hamiltonian.
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    BIT 40 (2000), S. 226-240 
    ISSN: 1572-9125
    Keywords: Stochastic differential equations ; regularisation ; stability
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    Topics: Mathematics
    Notes: Abstract This paper is devoted to the numerical analysis of ill-posed problems of evolution equations in Banach spaces using certain classes of stochastic one-step methods. The linear stability properties of these methods are studied. Regularisation is given by the choice of the regularisation parameter as α = $$\sqrt {\tau _n }$$ , where τ n is the stepsize and provides the convergence on smooth initial data. The case of the approximation of well-posed problems is also considered.
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    Optical review 6 (1999), S. 28-36 
    ISSN: 1349-9432
    Keywords: optical propagation equation ; stability ; picosecond pulse ; 3-dimensional computation ; Fresnel’s distribution ; fast Fourier transform
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    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract We present a new simulation code able to simulate the entire propagation of laser pulse, from the amplifiers level up to the focusing stage. This algorithm has some new characteristics that we intend to present. It computes the three-dimensional optical propagation equation using no approximation other than its picosecond expression. The stability has been carefully studied so that it can be applied to any geometry. This is a great improvement since, up to now only cylindrical geometry was accessible for accuracy. In this paper we also present a method using Fast Fourier Transform able to evaluate with a high accuracy, Fresnel’s distribution of a focused laser pulse. The advantages provided by our algorithm are its rapidity and its high physical understanding of the focusing phenomena.
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  • 35
    ISSN: 1572-8773
    Keywords: cadmium ; apoptosis ; RT-PCR ; p53 gene expression ; testes ; rat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract Reverse transcription (RT) PCR technique was used to investigate the mechanism of apoptosis induced by Cd and the change of its related genes in testes and prostate of rats. Adult male rats were given a single (s.c.) injection of CdC l2 0, 2.5, 5.0, 10 μmol/kg. 48 h and 72 h after administration of Cd, animals were sacrificed. The results indicated that Cd can induce apoptosis in testes via p53-independent pathway. No apoptosis occurred in prostate in any of the Cd-exposed groups. There was a clearly negative relationship in testes between p53 gene expression and Cd exposure and this dose-response relationship was observed both at 48 h and 72 h. There was a very small increase of this gene expression in the dorsolateral lobe of the prostate in Cd exposed groups. The other apoptosis related gene, bcl-x, was not detectable in either control or Cd-exposed group in testes and dorsal prostate. Although the MT-I gene was expressed in testes or dorsal prostate both in control and exposed groups, no overexpression of MT-I gene was found after administration of Cd . The expression of MT-I in the ventral prostate was not detected in the control group, but a weak expression was found after Cd exposure. Since p53 is a tumo r suppressor gene which can inhibit tumorigenesis, the consequence of a Cd-induced decrease of p53 in testes may have a relation to the known risk of Cd tumorigenesis in this tissue.
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    Archive of applied mechanics 70 (2000), S. 17-29 
    ISSN: 1432-0681
    Keywords: Key words free-surface flow ; solidification ; strip casting ; steady state ; nonuniqueness ; stability
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    Topics: Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
    Notes: Summary The paper is concerned with a one-dimensional analysis of plane open-channel flow with continuous solidification. The process is of relevance for recent developments in the casting of steel and other metals. The bottom of the channel consists of a rotating casting roll and a horizontal cooling table, where the solidified material is withdrawn with given velocity. The study is restricted to the region downstream of the top of the casting roll. Surface tension is neglected. In the main part of the analysis inviscid fluid flow is considered since the Reynolds number is very large in the applications. It is found that the steady-state solutions are nonunique in a certain parameter range. In addition to a continuous solution, there are two solutions including hydraulic jumps, with one hydraulic jump being located on the casting roll, the other one on the cooling table. Regarding the stability of the non unique solutions, the evolution of disturbances is investigated numerically as an initial-value problem. It is concluded that the hydraulic jump on the cooling table is unstable, while the other discontinuous solution as well as the continuous solution are stable for sufficiently small disturbances. Which stable solution is attained in the steady state, depends on the history of the process. Friction at the liquid/solid interface is taken into account in the last part of the analysis. A constant friction coefficient is assumed. It is found that the history of the process determines the steady-state solution if, and only if, the friction coefficient is sufficiently small. For larger values of the friction coefficient, the steady-state solution is unique and independent of the history of the transient process. Furthermore, for sufficiently large friction coefficients, stable hydraulic jumps are found, in contrast to the inviscid case, also on the cooling table.
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    Archive of applied mechanics 69 (1999), S. 47-54 
    ISSN: 1432-0681
    Keywords: Key words Bifurcation ; stability ; multibody system dynamics ; singularity theory ; Liapunov's direct method
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
    Notes: Summary In this paper, the global behavior of relative equilibrium states of a three-body satellite with flexible connection under the action of the gravitational torque is studied. With geometric method, the conditions of existence of nontrivial solutions to the relative equilibrium equations are determined. By using reduction method and singularity theory, the conditions of occurrence of bifurcation from trivial solutions are derived, which agree with the existence conditions of nontrivial solutions, and the bifurcation is proved to be pitchfork-bifurcation. The Liapunov stability of each equilibrium state is considered, and a stability diagram in terms of system parameters is presented.
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  • 38
    ISSN: 1572-9737
    Keywords: conservation ; marsupial ; remote censusing ; microsatellites ; wombat
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    Topics: Biology
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    Plant molecular biology reporter 17 (1999), S. 371-383 
    ISSN: 1572-9818
    Keywords: epidermal peel ; extraction ; gene expression ; stomata ; tree tobacco
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    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Stomatal guard cells are critical for maintenance of plant homeostasis and represent an interesting cell type for studies of leaf cell differentiation and patterning. Here we describe techniques for the isolation of guard cell RNA and protein from blended epidermal peels of Nicotiana glauca. The RNA isolation procedure is a modification of the hot borate method, which is particularly well-suited for recalcitrant tissues. Protein was extracted by disrupting guard cell-enriched epidermis with a French® press. This system offers the following advantages: relatively high yield, low or no contamination by other cell types, fresh tissue as a source of RNA and protein rather than protoplasts, and a plant species that is readily transformable. These techniques will allow for cloning and analysis of genes expressed in guard cells, application of traditional biochemical techniques to guard cell proteins, as well as characterization of genetic manipulation of guard cell function in transgenic plants.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 15-24 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: census ; conservation ; Lepidoptera ; population monitoring ; survey techniques
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract The use of light traps in sampling moth populations is an established technique used by entomologists and ecologists. However, trap data partly reflect the variable attractiveness of UV light to different species of moth. There are also potential problems of the practicality and expense of running traps in certain locations. An alternative method of recording moth populations is developed, using a modification of the transect count technique used for butterflies (Pollard and Yates, 1993) and recently applied to moths (Spalding, 1997). During transects, moths were observed by torch-light in a 5 by 5 m box, before the recorder walked on for 10 paces, and recorded moths in the next 5 m box. The transect approach was tested in the field, alongside traditional light trap and sugar methods. Transects recorded moth species for relatively little effort, produced repeatable measures of relative density, and provided habitat-specific data. This approach is likely to provide a valuable addition to light trapping in biodiversity inventories, species surveys, and in monitoring the effects of habitat management for conservation.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 145-161 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: conservation ; dispersal ; forest management ; polypore fungi ; saproxylic insects
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract Many insects dependent on dead wood are considered threatened by modern forestry. This may partly be due to substrate patches being too widely scattered to be effectively colonized. We studied how rates of colonization by insect species breeding in polypore fruiting bodies are affected by interpatch distance and habitat matrix characteristics. In field experiments, fruiting bodies of Fomitopsis pinicola and Fomes fomentarius were put out at different distances from natural sources of insects. The anobiid beetles Dorcatoma spp. were the most successful colonizers of distant patches, and they readily flew over open fields. Cis beetles were less successful colonizers, despite their generally higher abundance. We hypothesize that the Dorcatoma spp. are inferior competitors, but superior colonizers of distant resources compared with Cis spp. The flies Leucophenga quinquemaculata (Drosophilidae) and Medetera impigra (Dolichopodidae) appeared to be more affected by distance than the beetles studied in their colonization of fungal fruiting bodies. Lower rates of parasitism were recorded on distant patches, and parasitoids appeared more affected by distance than their hosts. Most of the insect species studied can probably persist in the managed forest landscape if suitable breeding substrate is created continuously on a 1 km2 scale.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 75-84 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: conservation ; dung beetles ; habitat and food selection ; domestic and wild ungulates
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract There is increasing concern about the conservation of dung beetles which are threatened by several peculiar dangers world-wide, both at the population and community level. A noticeable threat in Europe is the dramatic reduction in the number of cattle and sheep grazing in the open, which is associated with both intensive agriculture and the progressive reforestation of previously pastured areas. We studied dung beetle habitat and resource preferences at La Mandria Park (north-west Italy) which is a mosaic of open and wooded patches where domestic (cows and horses) and wild ungulates (deer and wild boar) co-exist. Scarabaeidae were numerically dominant, accounting for 61.5% of the approximately 3000 individuals sampled (Aphodiidae accounted for 32.5% and Geotrupidae for only 6%). However, when species richness was considered, Aphodiidae were dominant, with 17 of the 27 species found (Scarabaeidae with eight and Geotrupidae with two). Assuming a null hypothesis of equal probability of colonizing any habitat or faeces, we found that most species were significantly associated with one of the four dung types or with one of the two habitats considered. On average, Scarabaeidae preferred cattle dung and open habitats whereas most Aphodiidae used deer lumps and wooded habitats. In spite of the precise ecological choices observed at La Mandria, surveys from other European areas suggest that both habitat and food selection are quite flexible. From a conservation viewpoint, the ability of coprophagous beetles to choose herbivore faeces according to their availability and to select habitats that satisfy their own microclimate requirements may certainly be useful in preserving biodiversity. Agroecology, which implies some woodland and hedgerow management practices associated with pastoralism, could be the right approach to the management of the agricultural landscape. Conversely, in reforested areas, while wild ungulate populations should be preserved, some form of human disturbance, particularly clearings used for pastoralism, should also be maintained.
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    Journal of intelligent and robotic systems 27 (2000), S. 195-209 
    ISSN: 1573-0409
    Keywords: wall-climbing robot ; electromagnetic grippers ; stability ; additional support element ; sliding and turning over conditions
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science , Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
    Notes: Abstract Legged-climbing robot is considered. Each foot of the robot has an electromagnet system for robot"s holding on a metal surface. This surface can be both vertical and inclined, including negative slope. Analytical calculation of robot stability under turn over or sliding conditions has been made. Critical slopes have been determined. One of these slopes corresponds to minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding and another to minimal reserve of robot stability towards turning-over. As total reserve of stability of a robot is always equal to the minimal one of these reserves. Additional support elements of elastic material with high coefficient of friction, along with electromagnet, allows to increase minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding. The use of such support elements leads to redistributing force of normal support reaction between electromagnet (which surface has low coefficient of friction) and additional support element (which surface has high coefficient of friction). It is just what leads to increasing the total friction force and as a consequence to increasing of minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding.
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    Journal of productivity analysis 12 (1999), S. 55-75 
    ISSN: 1573-0441
    Keywords: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) ; returns to scale (RTS) ; sensitivity ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Economics
    Notes: Abstract Sensitivity of the returns to scale (RTS) classifications in data envelopment analysis is studied by means of linear programming problems. The stability region for an observation preserving its current RTS classification (constant, increasing or decreasing returns to scale) can be easily investigated by the optimal values to a set of particular DEA-type formulations. Necessary and sufficient conditions are determined for preserving the RTS classifications when input or output data perturbations are non-proportional. It is shown that the sensitivity analysis method under proportional data perturbations can also be used to estimate the RTS classifications and discover the identical RTS regions yielded by the input-based and the output-based DEA methods. Thus, our approach provides information on both the RTS classifications and the stability of the classifications. This sensitivity analysis method can easily be applied via existing DEA codes.
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    Letters in mathematical physics 53 (2000), S. 313-320 
    ISSN: 1573-0530
    Keywords: partial differential equations ; nonlinearities ; symmetries ; stability ; minimization
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    Topics: Mathematics , Physics
    Notes: Abstract We suggest a simple but general method of establishing symmetry properties of stable solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations. The method relies on characterization of symmetry breaking with a help of zero modes and on a generalization of the Perron–Frobenius theory.
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    Agroforestry systems 45 (1999), S. 131-158 
    ISSN: 1572-9680
    Keywords: competition ; fertility ; microclimate ; risk ; stability ; water
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
    Notes: Abstract The first ecosystem mimic hypothesis suggests clear advantages if man-made land use systems do not deviate greatly in their resource use patterns from natural ecosystems typical of a given climatic zone. The second hypothesis claims that additional advantages will accrue if agroecosystems also maintain a substantial part of the diversity of natural systems. We test these hypotheses for the savannah zone of sub-Saharan Africa, with its low soil fertility and variable rainfall. Where annual food crops replace the natural grass understorey of savannah systems, water use will decrease and stream and groundwater flow change, unless tree density increases relative to the natural situation. Increasing tree density, however, will decrease crop yields, unless the trees meet specific criteria. Food crop production in the parkland systems may benefit from lower temperatures under tree canopies, but water use by trees providing this shade will prevent crops from benefiting. In old parkland trees that farmers have traditionally retained when opening fields for crops, water use per unit shade is less than in most fast growing trees introduced for agroforestry trials. Strong competition between plants adapted to years with different rainfall patterns may stabilise total system productivity -- but this will be appreciated by a farmer only if the components are of comparable value. The best precondition for farmers to maintain diversity in their agroecosystem hinges on the availability of a broad basket of choices, without clear winners or 'best bets'.
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    Agroforestry systems 48 (2000), S. 289-302 
    ISSN: 1572-9680
    Keywords: conservation ; humidforest zone ; native plants ; non-timber forest products
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
    Notes: Abstract Traditional approaches to conservation of Garcinia kola and Gnetum africanum were assessed by a survey of 15 villages (three per province) in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. Four major land use systems [evergreen forest, degraded forest, bush fallow (10 years and over) and food crop fields] were identified as major niches for the species. The distribution of the plant stands varied from province to province. Gnetum africanum is intensively harvested (up to four times per week throughout the year) and reported to generate substantial income (averaging US$2,630 per household per annum). Indigenous practices used by farmers to protect the species include selective clearing during land preparation for cropping, sustainable bark harvesting of stands in wild population, transplantation of wildings, artificial propagation and recognition of individual property ownership on certain wild stands of G. kola.
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    Journal of statistical physics 95 (1999), S. 835-850 
    ISSN: 1572-9613
    Keywords: quasicrystals ; nonperiodic tilings ; classical lattice-gas models ; nonperiodic ground states ; nonperiodic Gibbs states ; stability ; frustration
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract One of the fundamental problems of quasicrystals is to understand their occurrence in microscopic models of interacting particles. We review here recent attempts to construct stable quasicrystalline phases. In particular, we compare two recently constructed classical lattice-gas models with translation-invariant interactions and without periodic ground-state configurations. The models are based on nonperiodic tilings of the plane by square-like tiles. In the first model, all interactions can be minimized simultaneously. The second model is frustrated; its nonperiodic ground state can arise only by the minimization of the energy of competing interactions. We put forward some hypotheses concerning stabilities of nonperiodic ground states. In particular, we introduce two criteria, the so-called strict boundary conditions, and prove their equivalence to the zero-temperature stability of ground states against small perturbations of potentials of interacting particles. We discuss the relevance of these conditions for the low-temperature stability, i.e., for the existence of thermodynamically stable nonperiodic equilibrium states.
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    Journal of statistical physics 95 (1999), S. 867-902 
    ISSN: 1572-9613
    Keywords: kinetics of phase transitions ; domain coarsening ; asymptotic behavior ; self-similarity ; stability ; chaos
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract The classical Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner theory of domain coarsening predicts asymptotically self-similar behavior for the size distribution of a dilute system of particles that evolve by diffusional mass transfer with a common mean field. Here we consider the long-time behavior of measure-valued solutions for systems in which particle size is uniformly bounded, i.e., for initial measures of compact support. We prove that the long-time behavior of the size distribution depends sensitively on the initial distribution of the largest particles in the system. Convergence to the classically predicted smooth similarity solution is impossible if the initial distribution function is comparable to any finite power of distance to the end of the support. We give a necessary criterion for convergence to other self-similar solutions, and conditional stability theorems for some such solutions. For a dense set of initial data, convergence to any self-similar solution is impossible.
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    Journal of statistical physics 101 (2000), S. 731-746 
    ISSN: 1572-9613
    Keywords: attractive Bose–Einstein condensates ; nonlinear Schrödinger equation ; stability ; ground state ; variational arguments
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Physics
    Notes: Abstract We propose the critical nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a harmonic potential as a model of attractive Bose–Einstein condensates. By an elaborate mathematical analysis we show that a sharp stability threshold exists with respect to the number of condensate particles. The value of the threshold agrees with the existing experimental data. Moreover with this threshold we prove that a ground state of the condensate exists and is orbital stable. We also evaluate the minimum of the condensate energy.
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  • 51
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: Parnassius mnemosyne ; butterfly population ; dispersal ; oviposition behaviour ; conservation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract A population of Parnassius mnemosyne L., an endangered butterfly species, was studied for two seasons by mark–release–recapture (MRR) techniques in the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area, Czech Republic. There were four distinct colonies in the area; the MRR data indicate that the largest colony contained over 1000 adult males during peak flight in 1996 suggesting that the area harbours one of the largest populations of the species in the Czech Republic. The detected rate of intercolony movements showed that the individual colonies were not genetically isolated, but the interchange of individuals was limited. Capture sex ratio and estimated sex ratios were both consistently male-biased. We suggest that this might be caused by different behaviour of the sexes which renders the males more catchable: the females spent most of their time either egg laying or resting, which makes them inconspicuous compared to the patrolling males. Preferred oviposition sites were open, sunny patches such as forest clearings which may be due to different hostplant quality compared to hostplants under closed canopy. The heliophily of the species and the dependency of females on open oviposition sites render the butterfly vulnerable due to a decline in coppice management and replacement of fine mosaic of sunny and shady patches by even-aged forest stands.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 341-347 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: spiders ; conservation ; heritage programs ; databases
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract Although spiders play important roles in terrestrial ecosystems and are negatively impacted by human activity, they have received little attention from the US conservation community. Information gaps may prohibit the inclusion of spiders in conservation planning. Conservation priority setting, environmental review and local land-use planning activities in the US increasingly rely on information compiled by the Natural Heritage Network. A review of heritage database content and a survey of natural heritage programs both indicate a paucity of compiled data on the US spider fauna. Heritage programs are probably hampered by the unavailability of current species checklists, identification services and keys, and a general unfamiliarity with the fauna. Clearly, further development of information on rare or imperiled spiders will depend on increased communication and collaboration with arachnologists.
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  • 53
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: Allochernes wideri ; conservation ; hollow tree ; Larca lata ; pseudoscorpion
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract Many beetles associated with old trees are on national red lists, but pseudoscorpions living in similar habitats have received little attention. This study reports the habitat and occurrence patterns of two species of pseudoscorpions living in hollow trees. Their occurrence has been assessed by sieving wood mould from 274 oaks in southeastern Sweden and from museum specimens collected in Sweden. Larca lata is confined to hollow oaks with a large girth and a plentiful supply of wood mould. Allochernes wideri is much less particular about wood mould volume, trunk diameter and tree species. Larca lata inhabits hollow trunks with characteristics that are typical of very old trees, whereas A. wideri predominantly occurs in trunks in an earlier stage of hollow formation. Larca lata was almost exclusively found in larger assemblages of hollow oaks, which suggests long-term survival may be difficult when the network of suitable hollow trees is too sparse. Larca lata is a rare species in Europe and probably vulnerable to extinction, since it is dependent on a habitat which has declined severely in the last few centuries.
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  • 54
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    Journal of insect conservation 4 (2000), S. 93-98 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: allozymes ; fluctuating asymmetry ; Dysauxes ancilla ; conservation ; Sweden
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract Genetic status and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) were assessed in a small, isolated and endangered population of the moth Dysauxes ancilla in Sweden. A sample from the German population, within the continuous breeding area of the species, was used for comparison. The levels of FA were significantly higher in the Swedish population, indicating a reduced ability to withstand developmental stress. Two polymorphic loci showed significantly higher variation in the Swedish population, indicating that there are no serious effects on genetic factors. Therefore, it is suggested that the increased level of FA in the Swedish population is due to the stress of living in an ecologically marginal habitat. The Swedish population is a northern outpost separated from the continuous distribution area of species and environmental stress caused by variable and extreme abiotic factors, for example climatic conditions, could explain a higher FA. However, it is still an open question if a higher FA from environmental stress also constitutes an increased extinction risk.
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  • 55
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: Acrididae ; conservation ; distribution ; diversity ; rarity
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract The objective of this study was to apply knowledge of holarctic grasshopper biogeography in representative, temperate ecosystems (Russia, South Siberia, Sayans region; 685,000 km2 and USA, Wyoming; 272,000 km2) to develop a comparative basis for understanding and conserving insect biodiversity. Maps of species distributions and vegetation zones were digitized, and a Geographic Information System was used to identify habitats with the greatest biodiversity and to characterize this diversity as a function of selected attributes. With respect to subfamilies, the greatest differences were in cold, mesic zones, where gomphocerines and melanoplines were dominant in Sayans and Wyoming, respectively. In terms of mobility, the Sayans has more flightless species and individuals, with the taiga supporting the greatest frequency of flightless acridids in both countries. With regard to feeding types, the diversity and richness of graminivores and forbivores were similar in the two regions, but mixed feeders were much more frequent in Wyoming. In the Sayans and Wyoming, pest species were most common in boreal and prairie zones, respectively. Ecoregions with a high diversity of pests also supported a high diversity of rare species. Shrub and desert zones supported many rare species in both countries. Thus, in terms of conservation, the Sayans' acridofauna appears to be at greater risk in terms of ecological vulnerability; acridid biodiversity is dispersed among habitats, with high frequencies of flightless and oligophagous species. The acridofauna of Wyoming could be conserved in fewer habitats than in the Sayans, but these habitats are subject to considerable human disturbance.
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  • 56
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    Journal of insect conservation 4 (2000), S. 215-223 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: conservation ; red-listed ; flight period ; distribution
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract From 1987 to 1999 efforts were made to understand the status and breeding sites of three presumed endangered flies in Britain: Blera fallax (Linnaeus), Hammerschmidtia ferruginea (Fallén) and Callicera rufa Schummel (Diptera, Syrphidae). Historical data on flight periods, localities and breeding sites were collated from the literature and captured specimens in museums and other collections. Using these data, life cycles were investigated, and cited and other localities searched for adults and early stages. Looking for early stages was more productive than looking for adults. B. fallax is the most endangered. It has declined in abundance, is restricted to two localities and, in 1999, breeding sites were destroyed at one of these localities. In contrast C. rufa is widespread and not uncommon throughout northern Scotland. H. ferruginea is not as endangered as B. fallax but adverse factors such as habitat destruction affect most of its sites.
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  • 57
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    Landscape ecology 14 (1999), S. 333-343 
    ISSN: 1572-9761
    Keywords: boundary effects ; conservation ; corridor ; ecotone ; fragment ; landscape ; matrix ; metapopulation ; patch ; spillover predation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Life generates discontinuites (boundaries) in the distribution of matter and energy. One class of these constitutes the edges between habitat-types; these are fundamental structures in landscape functioning, and hence are of central importance in conservation biology. The symposium on which this series of papers is based focused on the responses of mammals to habitat edges. A diversity of views are represented, and a variety of edge related behaviors illustrated. A survey of general ecology texts dating back to 1933 demonstrates a decline of interest in ecotones and edge effects extending into the 1980's but showing a resurgence of interest in the 1990's. Habitat edges are defined operationally with respect to particular focal species leading to a number of important corollary features. The variety of phenomena subsumed under ‘edge effects’ is emphasized, and an initial attempt at classification is proposed based primarily on the presence or absence of emergent properties in edge response behaviors (matrix vs. ecotonal effects). This scheme provides for clear null hypotheses needed to distinguish the two types, enlightens mechanistic explanations of edge effects, and encourages predictions about the results of untested management schemes or other novel situations. The use and design of landscape corridors are tied to edge related behaviors. A functional and general definition of corridors is urged, so that their effectiveness can be judged with respect to specified attributes rather than to a general collection of things that might be termed corridors. Linear habitat patches are specifically excluded from the definition. Studies on small mammals have contributed to our understanding of the potential role of corridors in metapopulation dynamics. Fine versus coarse grained perceptions of environment by different species will generate ecotonal edge effects such as spillover predation. In general, the effects on landscape processes of various species operating on different spatial scales seems a fruitful direction for future research.
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  • 58
    ISSN: 1572-9737
    Keywords: caviar ; conservation ; genetics ; mtDNA ; sturgeon
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Molecular species identification methods are an important component of CITES monitoring programs for trade in sturgeon and caviar. To date, obtaining molecular evidence for distinguishing caviar from four closely related Eurasian sturgeon species Acipenser baerii (Siberian sturgeon), A. gueldenstaedtii (osetra), A. persicus (Persian sturgeon), A. naccarii (Italian sturgeon) remains problematic. Using approximately 2.3 kb of mtDNA sequence data (cytochrome b, NADH5, control region), we find this to be attributable to the polyphyletic nature of these mitochondrial DNA markers in the Russian sturgeon, A. gueldenstaedtii. Two mitochondrial lineages are present within this species: one is phylogenetically affiliated with A. persicus and A. naccarii, while the other clusters with A. baerii. These findings have a direct impact on molecular testing of commercial caviar and demonstrate the necessity of using large sample sizes when constructing forensic databases. Furthermore, the results affect current taxonomic designations for these species as well as hypotheses concerning their evolutionary origins.
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    Conservation genetics 1 (2000), S. 169-171 
    ISSN: 1572-9737
    Keywords: conservation ; Panthera pardus ; sport hunting ; tourism
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract The sex ratio of leopards, Panthera pardus, taken by trophyhunters in Tanzania is examined. We used sex specific molecularmarkers to analyze 77 samples collected from animals shot betweenthe years 1995–1998 and found that 28.6% were females, despitethe fact that only males are allowed on licenses and all skinswere tagged as males. The model used for quota setting assumesthat only males are shot, but the effect of this violation ofquotas is unknown. Off-take in Tanzania does not currently fillquotas, but when off-take approach maximum levels, compliancewith set quotas and regulations will be critical for sustainableharvest.
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  • 60
    ISSN: 1572-9761
    Keywords: biodiversity ; conservation ; disturbance ; forest succession ; fragmentation ; grazing ; land use change ; mountain ; semi-natural grasslands ; sub-alpine ; sustainable agriculture
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract The Norwegain mountains have had a central role in the subsistence agroecosystems by providing vast biological resources for humans and their livestock since 4000–3500 BP as indicated by paleoecological records. Later with the development of the summer farming system the use of the mountains was intensified. This long-term use of the mountains has shaped a montane cultural landscape by livestock grazing, mowing for hay, fuel collection and a variety of other uses. The result is a significant increase of the grassland areas at the expense of the forest. Those semi-natural grasslands and heathlands with specific biological diversity have until recently dominated the mountains but are today decreasing due to forest invasion – which in turn is a result of changes in human land use. The present paper focuses on changes in landscape pattern and differences in landscape development in two mountain valleys with summer farming activities, in Mid-Norway, over the period 1960s–1990s, and seeks to interpret the changes in relation to differential land use and environmental factors. This study contributes examples from human shaped ecosystems in mountains where the fragmentation of semi-natural habitats is addressed. A set of landscape pattern indices commonly used in landscape ecological studies is also used here, and their ecological relevance in the present context is dealt with. The implications of changed land use for biodiversity conservation in those mountains and the relationships to future sustainable agriculture is also briefly discussed.
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    Integrated pest management reviews 5 (2000), S. 175-183 
    ISSN: 1572-9745
    Keywords: paddy agroecosystem ; minor insects ; non-target insects ; conservation ; agroecology ; aquatic insects
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
    Notes: Abstract The insect fauna in paddy fields is composed of resident, migratory and aquatic species each corresponding to the continuous cropping of rice in the same field, harvesting rice as an annual crop, and originating from still water habitats in wetlands. Although IPM is becoming popular in the control of rice pests, those ‘minor’ insects and aquatic insects that have no direct economic impact on rice production have received little attention. Consequently, some of them are in danger of extinction requiring conservation. A new concept, ‘Integrated biodiversity management (IBM)’, is proposed under which IPM and conservation are reconciled and made compatible with each other. As an operational concept in agroecology, premises for implementing IBM are suggested.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 97-106 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: peat bogs ; relict insects ; ecological succession ; conservation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract The isolated habitat of the Červené Blato bog (South Bohemia, Czech Republic) and its relict insect fauna have been the subject of long-term monitoring. The species composition and abundance of Lepidoptera (light traps) and Coleoptera (pitfall traps) were monitored for 4 years (1994–1997) simultaneously on two sites – in the edaphic climax pine forest and in wetland successional habitats. The method of statistical evaluation by RDA and CCA ordination, representing the habitat preference of species of Coleoptera (Carabidae only) and Lepidoptera (all nocturnal phototactic taxa) between the edaphic climax forest and succession stages, was used. All categories of the peatland taxa (tyrphobiontic, tyrphophilous and tyrphoneutral species) were analysed. Ten highly stenotopic tyrphobiontic species and 23 tyrphophilous species of Lepidoptera (out of 487) were most characteristic of the bog habitat. Only two tyrphophilous carabid species (out of 20) were characteristic of the bog. The most important relict species (tyrphobionts) of Lepidoptera are most diverse and abundant within the successional habitats and in the open wet forest. The relict fauna of the closed climax pine forest is much less diverse and composed mostly of abundant tyrphophilous and tyrphoneutral forest species. Preservation or restoration of sufficiently constant hydrological conditions, which prevents formation of the closed forest, is the basic management for habitat conservation of all relict tyrphobiontic species of the Červené Blato bog and similar peat land habitat islands. The peat bog is a unified complex system of specific diverse and relict taxa. The most specific taxa are tyrphobiontic Lepidoptera, but a number of other vulnerable tyrphophilous and tyrphoneutral insects are associated with the peat bog as well.
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  • 63
    ISSN: 1572-9761
    Keywords: habitat isolation ; thresholds ; quantification ; deciduous ; long-tailed tit ; Aegithalos caudatus ; forest management ; conservation ; Sweden
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract We assessed the habitat patch occupancy of a deciduous-mixed forest specialist, the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus), in a 1000 km2 conifer dominated landscape in relation to two landscape parameters, namely proportion and isolation of suitable habitat. Data from five consecutive spring seasons were used and within habitat variation controlled for. The occurrence of long-tailed tits was positively related to the amount of habitat within 1 km2 (p=0.0007) and negatively related to the distance between habitat patches (p〈0.0001). When combined, the two variables explained 〉78% of the variation in local patch occupancy. There were distinct thresholds in these landscape variables for the probability of local long-tailed tit presence. In the model the probability increased from 0.1 to 0.8 when interpatch distance decreased from 500 to 100 m with 5% total habitat coverage. With a total proportion of 15% suitable habitat, the same probability jump occurred when interpatch distance changed from 900 to 500 m. The general importance of defined measurements and quantified threshold levels for species conservation and landscape management is discussed.
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    Mangroves and salt marshes 3 (1999), S. 117-125 
    ISSN: 1572-977X
    Keywords: alien species ; biogeography ; bioregions ; conservation ; mangal ; pattern and process ; sustainable use
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Despite an undeserved reputation for being dull and homogenous systems, mangal and saltmarsh in Australia have highly complex patterns and processes. Their role as key ‘edge’ systems between land and sea has implications for many species which have larval stages in mangal and saltmarsh, but spend adult life as benthic, pelagic or demersal species. Many such species are also important commercially. Mangal and saltmarsh are both highly dynamic systems, reacting rapidly to changes in hydrological condition and sedimentation. In many areas of the world mangal and saltmarsh are threatened systems, especially near human habitation. Appropriate management strategies for mangal and saltmarsh are therefore critical for both conservation and sustainable use, the two key objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Clearing and associated development, invasion of alien species, pollution effects and poor management are the key threats to these systems. Management at a bioregional level, including the development of a comprehensive system of protected areas, is identified as the key management strategy which will ensure an adequate future for these dynamic systems.
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    Landscape ecology 14 (1999), S. 493-507 
    ISSN: 1572-9761
    Keywords: area ; colonisation ; conservation ; extinction ; isolation ; metapopulation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract (1) The presence and absence of 22 plant species of various growth forms and habitat associations were analysed in 423 habitat fragments totalling 10.4 km2 in a 268 km2 urban and suburban region, in Birmingham, UK. (2) Multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess the effects of patch geometry and quality on the species distributions. Measures of geometry were area, shape (S-factor), distance from open countryside and various measures of isolation from other patches. Potential habitat for each species was determined quantitatively, and the distribution of each species was considered within a subset of patches containing potentially suitable habitat types. There was found to be a significant positive correlation between the density of patches available to a species and the proportion of these patches which were occupied. (3) Logistic analyses and incidence functions revealed that, for many of the species, occupancy increased with site age, area, habitat number and similarity of adjacent habitats, while increasing distance to the nearest recorded population of the same species decreased the likelihood that a species would be found in a patch. (4) Patterns of occupancy are consistent with increased extinction from small sites, and colonisation of nearby habitats, coupled with an important role for site history. We conclude that spatial dynamics at the scale of the landscape are of importance to the long-term persistence of many plant species in fragmented landscapes, and must be seriously considered in conservation planning and management. These results have direct implications for the siting and connectivity of urban habitat reserves.
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    Landscape ecology 15 (2000), S. 5-20 
    ISSN: 1572-9761
    Keywords: biodiversity ; conservation ; large-area mapping ; gap analysis
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Rapid progress is being made in the conceptual, technical, and organizational requirements for generating synoptic multi-scale views of the earth's surface and its biological content. Using the spatially comprehensive data that are now available, researchers, land managers, and land-use planners can, for the first time, quantitatively place landscape units – from general categories such as ‘Forests’ or ‘Cold-Deciduous Shrubland Formation’ to more categories such as ‘Picea glauca-Abies balsamea-Populus spp. Forest Alliance’ – in their large-area contexts. The National Gap Analysis Program (GAP) has developed the technical and organizational capabilities necessary for the regular production and analysis of such information. This paper provides a brief overview of concepts and methods as well as some recent results from the GAP projects. Clearly, new frameworks for biogeographic information and organizational cooperation are needed if we are to have any hope of documenting the full range of species occurrences and ecological processes in ways meaningful to their management. The GAP experience provides one model for achieving these new frameworks.
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  • 67
    ISSN: 1572-9737
    Keywords: conservation ; genetic variability ; isolation by distance ; mitochondrial DNA ; pearl oyster
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Populations of the Calafia pearl oyster Pinctada mazatlanica ofthe American Pacific coasts have been considered endangeredbecause of overfishing and/or alteration to coastal areas. Weassessed genetic variability and the pattern of populationstructure among 9 samples collected from Mexico to Panama, usingmtDNA RFLP analysis of two genes: 12S rRNA and subunit one ofCytochrome oxydase (COI). Haplotype diversity varied from 0.000to 0.856. The Panama population appeared to be monomorphic, whilethe other samples exhibited a level of haplotypic variabilitysimilar to those reported in the literature for the same kind ofanalysis on other bivalves species. A test for the impact ofdemographic history on genetic diversity was applied on thesequence data, and the results were congruent with a recentdecline of population sizes. Genetic differentiation was shown tofollow a scheme of isolation by distance, with low levels ofdifferentiation at the scales of ten to one hundred kilometres,whereas stronger and significant genetic structure was detectedat a larger scale. Three significantly distinct groups could thenbe defined, which correspond to Northern Mexico, Southern Mexico,and Panama.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 5-14 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: butterflies ; air-pollution ; soot ; extinction ; conservation ; Epping Forest
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract Air-pollution has frequently been suggested as a cause of the decline of some butterfly species: a suggestion based mainly on lowered species richness close to industrial areas in Europe. There have been frequent calls, in vain, for research on the direct effect of air-pollution on Lepidoptera, recent research being confined to the indirect role via climate change. Based on studies of the species loss and natural recolonisation of Epping Forest (a large woodland area close to London, UK) I suggest that those species feeding as adults on sugar-rich fluids direct from the surface of trees or leaves (i.e. aphid honeydew on leaves or sap-runs on tree-trunks) were affected by particulate air-pollution. Species loss was high during the period of maximum smoke emissions. Since 1950 five species have recolonised naturally, of which four are honeydew feeders. It is possible that high levels of particulate air-pollution caused the extinction of butterflies feeding on honeydew from polluted leaves. Predictions are made which will allow this hypothesis to be tested.
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    Journal of insect conservation 3 (1999), S. 85-95 
    ISSN: 1572-9753
    Keywords: saproxylic ; old growth ; forest management ; decaying wood ; conservation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Nature of Science, Research, Systems of Higher Education, Museum Science
    Notes: Abstract The effects of commercial forestry harvest and regeneration practices (clearfelling and slash-burning) on the lucanid fauna of the wet sclerophyll forests of southern Tasmania and the dry sclerophyll forests of eastern Tasmania were examined using pitfall catches. Lucanids are saproxylic beetles, dependent on dead, moribund and decaying wood. Samples taken from old-growth forest and from a chronosequence of sites regenerating after logging, in each forest type, were used to compare the species richness and abundance of the lucanid assemblages. In both forest types, species richness and abundance was highest in the youngest regeneration sites (1–3 year), reflecting the species richness of the original and adjacent unlogged forest, lowest in the older (20–25 year) sites, and variable in the old-growth sites. TWINSPAN cluster analysis showed no clear distinction between regeneration and old-growth forest. The post-harvest slash and stump residue provided an important refugium and initial habitat, but our research indicates that some species may not maintain populations in the long term. Our results suggest that most species of lucanids will find a continuous supply of suitable habitat only in old-growth forests; and such species may become less common as clearfell harvesting leads to a replacement of heterogeneous old-growth forest with single-aged monospecific stands. Continuity of supply of wood in all decay stages, the maintenance of sufficient source areas, and biological connectivity between old-growth stands to enable dispersal, are all likely to be essential to maintain lucanid beetle community integrity. If similar principles apply to other saproxylic species of invertebrate, then clearfelling and slash-burning may cause a gradual extinction of an important element of the forest biota.
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    Journal of intelligent and robotic systems 26 (1999), S. 91-100 
    ISSN: 1573-0409
    Keywords: robots ; neural networks ; adaptiveness ; stability ; approximation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Computer Science , Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
    Notes: Abstract An indirect adaptive control approach is developed in this paper for robots with unknown nonlinear dynamics using neural networks (NNs). A key property of the proposed approach is that the actual joint angle values in the control law are replaced by the desired joint angles, angle velocities and accelerators, and the bound on the NN reconstruction errors is assumed to be unknown. Main theoretical results for designing such a neuro-controller are given, and the control performance of the proposed controller is verified with simulation studies.
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  • 71
    ISSN: 1432-0770
    Keywords: Key words: Hebbian learning rule ; attractor dynamics ; symmetric connections ; multiplicative normalization ; self-organization ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Computer Science , Physics
    Notes: Abstract. While learning and development are well characterized in feedforward networks, these features are more difficult to analyze in recurrent networks due to the increased complexity of dual dynamics – the rapid dynamics arising from activation states and the slow dynamics arising from learning or developmental plasticity. We present analytical and numerical results that consider dual dynamics in a recurrent network undergoing Hebbian learning with either constant weight decay or weight normalization. Starting from initially random connections, the recurrent network develops symmetric or near-symmetric connections through Hebbian learning. Reciprocity and modularity arise naturally through correlations in the activation states. Additionally, weight normalization may be better than constant weight decay for the development of multiple attractor states that allow a diverse representation of the inputs. These results suggest a natural mechanism by which synaptic plasticity in recurrent networks such as cortical and brainstem premotor circuits could enhance neural computation and the generation of motor programs.
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    Computational mechanics 23 (1999), S. 8-19 
    ISSN: 1432-0924
    Keywords: Keywords: Material characteristic length ; strain-rate gradient ; dominant growth rate ; viscoplastic material ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
    Notes: Abstract We study thermomechanical deformations of a viscoplastic body deformed in simple shear. The strain gradients are taken as independent kinematic variables and the corresponding higher order stresses are included in the balance laws, and the equation for the yield surface. Three different functional relationships, the power law, and those proposed by Wright and Batra, and Johnson and Cook are used to relate the effective strain rate to the effective stress and temperature. Effects of strain hardening of the material and elastic deformations are neglected. The homogeneous solution of the problem is perturbed and the stability of the problem linear in the perturbation variables is studied. Following Wright and Ockendon's postulate that the wavelength whose initial growth rate is maximum determines the minimum spacing between adjacent shear bands, the shear band spacing is computed. It is found that the minimum shear band spacing is very sensitive to the thermal softening coefficient/exponent, the material characteristic length and the nominal strain-rate. Approximate analytical expressions for the critical wave length for heat conducting nonpolar materials and locally adiabatic deformations of gradient dependent materials are also derived.
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  • 73
    ISSN: 1570-0267
    Keywords: cDNA ; PCR cDNA ; TaqMan Analysis ; gene expression ; Pearson's correlation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Comparative gene expression studies are often limited by low availability of tissue and poor quality of extractable mRNA. Collective PCR amplification of minute quantities of mRNA has great potential for overcoming these limitations. However, there remains significant concern about the effects of amplification on the absolute and relative abundance of individual mRNAs that could complicate subsequent gene expression studies. To address this problem, we systematically compared the relative abundance of many specific mRNAs from complex cDNA preparations (from tissue and cultured cells) both before and after amplification by PCR. Our results demonstrated that, as expected, the absolute abundance of different mRNAs in a cDNA library is altered in an unpredictable manner by PCR amplification. However, we found that the concentration ratios of specific mRNAs among different cDNA preparations were routinely well conserved after PCR amplification. Thus, for the purpose of comparative expression studies for specific mRNAs in two (or more) complex cDNAs, PCR-amplified cDNA is equally useful as unamplified cDNA. These results provide a rigorous experimental validation and offer a theoretical treatment to support the utility of PCR amplified cDNA for differential gene expression studies. We conclude that the inherent difficulties in performing differential screening studies such as gene chip and array analyses on limited amounts of biological materials can be overcome by a PCR amplification step without compromising data quality.
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    Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 56 (1999), S. 1285-1304 
    ISSN: 1572-8943
    Keywords: amorphous state ; combined techniques ; drug design ; drug product development ; drug substance ; drug technology ; DSC ; excipients ; failure investigations ; hydrates ; MDSC ; microcalorimetry ; pharmaceuticals ; polymorphism ; polymers ; preformulation ; process optimization ; purity ; quality control ; solvates ; stability ; sub-ambient DSC ; TG ; temperature resolved X-ray diffraction ; water interactions ; thermal microscopy ; water sorption-desorption
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract Modern thermal analysis, microcalorimetry and new emerging combined techniques which deliver calorimetric, microscopic and spectroscopic data offer a powerful analytical battery for the study of pharmaceuticals. These techniques are very useful in all steps of development of new drug products as well as methods for quality control in production. The characterization of raw materials enables to understand the relationships between polymorphs, solvates and hydrates and to choose the proper development of new drug products with very small amount of material in a very short time. Information on stability, purity is valuable for new entities as well as for marketed drug substances from different suppliers. Excipients which vary from single organic or inorganic entity to complexes matrixes or polymers need to be characterized and properly controlled. The thermodynamic phase-diagrams are the basis of the studies of drug-excipients interactions. They are very useful for the development of new delivery systems. A great number of new formulations need proper knowledge of the behaviour of the glass transition temperature of the components. Semi-liquid systems, interactions in aqueous media are also successfully studied by these techniques.
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  • 75
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    Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 55 (1999), S. 727-739 
    ISSN: 1572-8943
    Keywords: ignition ; polymer combustion modelling ; stability ; steady state
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract A mathematical model of ignition and burning of organic polymers was used for evaluation and quantification of the tendency of polymers to ignition. The model permits investigation of the influence of one parameter of the polymer on the others. It was found that the model could be used for the verification of the ignitability method developed by Miller et al. [1]. Different steady states of combustion were found when using the model proposed. There is a characteristic steady state for normal flaming combustion, another for non-flaming combustion, and there are also unstable steady states that have no real physical meaning.
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  • 76
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    Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 56 (1999), S. 1177-1184 
    ISSN: 1572-8943
    Keywords: differential scanning calorimetry ; DNA triple helix ; oligonucleotides ; stability
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Chemistry and Pharmacology
    Notes: Abstract In this work we report a thermodynamic characterization of stability and melting behaviour of two 24-mer DNA triplexes. The third strand, that binds the Watson-Crick double helix with Hoogsteen hydrogen bonds, contains 3′-3′ phosphodiester junction that determines the polarity inversion. The target double helix is composed of adjacent and alternate fragments of oligopurine-oligopyrimidine tracts. The two helices differ from the substitution of the cytosine, involved in the junction, with the thymine. Calorimetric data reported here provide a quantitative measure of the influence of pH and base modification on the stability of a DNA triplex.
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  • 77
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: endosulfan ; cytotoxicity ; mitochondria ; apoptosis ; Jurkat cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Several organochlorinated pesticides including DDT, PCBs and dieldrin have been reported to cause immune suppression and increase susceptibility to infection in animals. Often this manifestation is accompanied by atrophy of major lymphoid organs. It has been suggested that increased apoptotic cell death leading to altered T-B cell ratios, and loss of regulatory cells in critical numbers leads to perturbations in immune function. The major objective of our study was to define the mechanism by which endosulfan, an organochlorinated pesticide, induces human T-cell death using Jurkat, a human T-cell leukemic cell line, as an in vitro model. We exposed Jurkat cells to varying concentrations of endosulfan for 0-48 h and analyzed biochemical and molecular features characteristic of T-cell apoptosis. Endosulfan lowered cell viability and inhibited cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner. DAPI staining was used to enumerate apoptotic cells and we observed that endosulfan at 10-200 μM induced a significant percentage of cells to undergo apoptotic cell death. At 48 h, more than 90% cells were apoptotic with 50 μM of endosulfan. We confirmed these observations using both DNA fragmentation and annexin-V binding assays. It is now widely being accepted that mitochondria undergo major changes early during the apoptotic process. We examined mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) in endosulfan treated cells to understand the role of the mitochondria in T-cell apoptosis. Within 30 min of chemical exposure, a significant percentage of cells exhibited a decreased incorporation of DiOC6(3), a cationic lipophilic dye into mitochondria indicating the disruption of ΔΨm. This drop in ΔΨm was both dose- and time-dependent and correlated well with other parameters of apoptosis. We also examined whether this occurred by the down regulation of bcl-2 protein expression that is likely to increase the susceptibility of Jurkat cells to endosulfan toxicity. Paradoxically, the intracellular expression of bcl-2 protein was elevated in a dose dependent manner suggesting endosulfan-induced apoptosis occurred by a non-bcl-2 pathway. Based on these data, as well as those reported elsewhere, we propose the following sequence of events to account for T-cell apoptosis induced by endosulfan: uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation → excess ROS production → GSH depletion → oxidative stress → disruption of ΔΨm → release of cytochrome C and other apoptosis related proteins to cytosol → apoptosis. This study reports for the first time that endosulfan can induce apoptosis in a human T-cell leukemic cell line which may have direct relevance to loss of T cells and thymocytes in vivo. Furthermore, our data strongly support a role of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in endosulfan toxicity.
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  • 78
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: microbodies ; diabetes mellitus ; steroid hormone receptor ; β-oxidation ; gene expression
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract To determine whether the increased fatty acid β-oxidation in the peroxisomes of diabetic rat liver is mediated by a common peroxisome proliferation mechanism, we measured the activation of long-chain (LC) and very long chain (VLC) fatty acids catalyzed by palmitoyl CoA ligase (PAL) and lignoceryl CoA ligase and oxidation of LC (palmitic acid) and VLC (lignoceric acid) fatty acids by isotopic methods. Immunoblot analysis of acyl-CoA oxidase (ACO), and Northern blot analysis of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-α), ACO, and PAL were also performed. The PAL activity increased in peroxisomes and mitochondria from the liver of diabetic rats by 2.6-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively. The lignoceroyl-CoA ligase activity increased by 2.6-fold in diabetic peroxisomes. Palmitic acid oxidation increased in the diabetic peroxisomes and mitochondria by 2.5-fold and 2.7-fold, respectively, while lignoceric acid oxidation increased by 2.0-fold in the peroxisomes. Immunoreactive ACO protein increased by 2-fold in the diabetic group. The mRNA levels for PPAR-α, ACO and PAL increased 2.9-, 2.8- and 1.6-fold, respectively, in the diabetic group. These results suggest that the increased supply of fatty acids to liver in diabetic state stimulates the expression of PPAR-α and its target genes responsible for the metabolism of fatty acids.
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  • 79
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 196 (1999), S. 13-21 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: apoptosis ; DNA fragmentation ; GSHPx-1 knockout mice ; GSHPx-1 transgenic mice ; ischemia/repurfusion
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Apoptosis, a genetically controlled programmed cell death, has been found to play a role in ischemic reperfusion injury in several animal species including rats and rabbits. To examine whether this is also true for other animals, an isolated perfused mouse heart was subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Experiments were terminated before ischemia (baseline), after ischemia, and at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min of reperfusion. At the end of each experiment, hearts were processed for the evaluation of apoptosis and DNA laddering. The in situ end labeling (ISEL) technique was used to detect apoptotic cardiomyocyte nuclei while DNA laddering was evaluated by subjecting the DNA obtained from the cardiomyocytes to 1.8% agarose gel electrophoresis followed by photographing under UV illumination. The results of our study revealed that apoptotic cells appear only after 60 min of reperfusion as demonstrated by the intense fluorescence of the immunostained genomic DNA when observed under fluorescence microscopy. None of the ischemic hearts showed any evidence of apoptosis. These results were corroborated with the findings of DNA fragmentation showing increased ladders of DNA bands in the same reperfused hearts representing integer multiples of the internucleosomal DNA length (about 180 bp). Since our previous studies showed a role of glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) in apoptotic cell death, we performed identical experiments using isolated hearts from GSHPx-l knockout mice and transgenic mice overexpressing GSHPx-l. GSHPx-l knockout mice showed evidence of apoptotic cell death even after 30 min of reperfusion. Significant number of apoptotic cells were found in the cardiomyocytes as compared to non-transgenic control animals. To the contrary, very few apoptotic cells were found in the hearts of the transgenic mice overexpressing GSHPx-l. Hearts of GSHPx-l knockout mice were more susceptible to ischemia/reperfusion injury while transgenic mice overexpressing GSHPx- 1 were less susceptible to ischemia reperfusion injury compared to non-transgenic control animals. The results of this study clearly demonstrate a role of GSHPx in ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis in mouse heart.
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  • 80
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 204 (2000), S. 83-88 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: FHIT ; cell cycle ; ecdysone ; tumor suppressor ; apoptosis
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The mechanism of tumor suppressor action of the fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is unknown. Disruption of cell cycle regulation leads to the tumor formation and many tumor suppressor genes suppress tumorigenesis through their effect on cell cycle regulation. We examined the expression of FHIT during the cell cycle, and determined whether overexpression of FHIT affects cell cycle kinetics and apoptosis. The FHIT cDNA was cloned into the ecdysone-inducible expression vector in both the sense and antisense orientations. Overexpression of the sense or antisense construct did not affect cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution or apoptosis in human 293T cells. Analysis of the FHIT expression in 293T cells collected at various cell cycle phases showed that the expression of FHIT is not under cell cycle regulation. These results indicate that the tumor suppressor activity of the FHIT gene may be independent of an effect on the cell cycle and apoptosis mechanisms.
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  • 81
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: myosin heavy chain ; gene expression ; hypertrophy ; dexamethasone ; promoter function
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Cardiac hypertrophy has been observed in newborn infants treated with dexamethasone (DEX). This study was undertaken to examine whether DEX-induced hypertrophy in newborn rats is associated with redistribution of cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms and if so, the effects involve transcriptional regulation. Newborn rats were injected with either DEX (1 mg/kg/day; s.c.) or equivalent volume normal saline for 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 days. Hypertrophy was quantified by heart dry/wet wt ratios, heart/body wt ratios, and total protein content of the myocardium. Changes in the expression of cardiac MHC mRNA were characterized by northern blot and slot blot analyses, using isoform specific probes for a- and β-MHC genes. DEX effect on α-MHC gene transcription was analyzed by transiently transfecting various α-MHC promoter/CAT reporter constructs into primary cultures of cardiac myocytes derived from one day old rat pups. DEX administration into newborn rats produced significant cardiac hypertrophy ranging from 23% at day 1 to 59% at 9 days. The hypertrophy was accompanied by immediate increase (83%) in steady state level of the α-MHC mRNA within one day and a maximum increase (148%) at 7 days of treatment. The steady state level of β-MHC mRNA declined by 25% at day 1 and a maximum decrease of 54% at day 7 of DEX treatment. The changes in MHC mRNA were also reflected in their protein levels as determined by V1 and V3 isozyme analysis. DEX treatment of primary cultures of cardiomyocytes following transfection with a-MHC promoter/CAT reporter constructs resulted in increased CAT expression in a dose dependent manner. The minimum α-MHC gene sequences responding to DEX treatment were located between the -200 to -74-bp region of the gene, resulting in 2-fold and 6-fold activation of CAT reporter after 0.05 and 0.1 mM doses of DEX, respectively. Our data indicate that DEX induced cardiac hypertrophy in newborn rats is accompanied by increased expression of α-MHC and decreased expression of β-MHC. The α-MHC effects are mediated in part through transcriptional mechanisms.
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  • 82
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 212 (2000), S. 19-28 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: melanoma ; transcription factors ; CREB ; invasion ; apoptosis
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the role of CREB and its associated proteins in melanoma progression. We used MeWo human melanoma cells transfected with a dominant negative construct of CREB, KCREB. KCREB has a mutation in its DNA-binding domain and can not bind the CRE element. Expression of KCREB yields proper heterodimerization with CREB and its associated proteins, but the proteins associated with KCREB do not confer the same degree of transcriptional activity as they would in the case of wild-type CREB. Here, we demonstrate that expression of KCREB in MeWo melanoma cells leads to a decrease in their tumorigenicity and metastatic potential in nude mice. We identified two mechanisms that explain at least partially this effect of KCREB. The first, is one in which CREB and its associated proteins play an essential role in invasion. We showed that the invasive properties of KCREB-transfected MeWo cells were reduced due to the downregulation of the CRE-dependent expression of the type IV collagenase MMP-2 and the adhesion molecule MCAM/MUC18. In the second mechanism, CREB and its associated proteins act as survival factors for human melanoma cells. Here we demonstrated that expression of KCREB in MeWo cells rendered them susceptible to apoptosis induced by thapsigargin, which in turn increased the intracellular level of Ca2+. Thapsigargin induced CREB and ATF-1 phosphorylation and activated CRE-dependent transcription in MeWo cells. Collectively, our data demonstrate that CREB and its associated proteins play an important role in tumor growth and metastasis of human melanoma.
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  • 83
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 212 (2000), S. 5-9 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: transcriptional regulation ; gene expression ; coactivator ; repressor
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The CREB-CREM transcription factors are the main gene regulatory effectors of the cAMP signaling pathway. The investigations of this family of transcription factors had a profound impact on the understanding of signaling-induced gene transcription. Here we discuss some key aspects of the underlying biology, review transcriptional activation by CREB proteins through transcription cofactors and present novel insights into the context- and position-specific function of CREB on complex genes.
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  • 84
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: T-type Ca2+ channel ; polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor ; CAG trinucleotide repeats ; spinobulbar muscular atrophy ; apoptosis ; motorneuron ; cell lines ; neuroblastoma
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We have analyzed Ca2+ currents in two neuroblastoma-motor neuron hybrid cell lines that expressed normal or glutamine-expanded human androgen receptors (polyGln-expanded AR) either transiently or stably. The cell lines express a unique, low-threshold, transient type of Ca2+ current that is not affected by L-type Ca2+ channel blocker (PN 200-110), N-type Ca2+ channel blocker (ω-conotoxin GVIA) or P-type Ca2+ channel blocker (Agatoxin IVA) but is blocked by either Cd2+ or Ni2+. This pharmacological profile most closely resembles that of T-type Ca2+ channels [1-3]. Exposure to androgen had no effect on control cell lines or cells transfected with normal AR but significantly changed the steady-state activation in cells transfected with expanded AR. The observed negative shift in steady-state activation results in a large increase in the T-type Ca2+ channel window current. We suggest that Ca2+ overload due to abnormal voltage-dependence of transient Ca2+ channel activation may contribute to motor neuron toxicity in spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). This hypothesis is supported by the additional finding that, at concentrations that selectively block T-type Ca2+ channel currents, Ni2+ significantly reduced cell death in cell lines transfected with polyGln-expanded AR.
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  • 85
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    Keywords: regucalcin ; Ca2+-binding protein ; protein kinase C ; Ca2+signaling ; gene expression ; H4-II-E hepatoma cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The expression of hepatic Ca2+-binding protein regucalcin in the cloned rat hepatoma cells (H4-II-E) was investigated. The change in regucalcin mRNA levels was analyzed by Northern blotting using rat liver regucalcin complementary DNA (0.9 kb of open reading frame). Regucalcin mRNA was expressed in H4-II-E hepatoma cells. This expression was clearly stimulated in the presence of serum (10% fetal bovine serum). Bay K 8644 (2. 5 × 10-6 M), a Ca2+ channel agonist, significantly stimulated regucalcin mRNA expression in the absence or presence of 10% serum. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (10-3 M) did not have a stimulatory effect on the regucalcin mRNA expression. The presence of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 10-6 M) or estrogen (10-8 M) caused a significant increase in regucalcin mRNA levels in the hepatoma cells cultured in serum-free medium, while insulin (5 × 10-9 M) or dexamethasone (10-6 M) had no effect. Bay K 8644-stimulated regucalcin mRNA expression in the hepatoma cells was completely blocked in the presence of trifluoperazine (10-5 M), an antagonist of calmodulin, or staurosporine (10-7 M), an inhibitor of protein kinase C. The stimulatory effect of PMA was clearly inhibited in the presence of stauroporine. The present study demonstrates that regucalcin mRNA is expressed in the transformed H4-II-E hepatoma cells, and that the expression is stimulated through Ca2+-dependent signaling factors.
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  • 86
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: retinoic acid ; RARβ ; protein kinase A ; apoptosis ; caspase
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Both cAMP and retinoids play a role in cell differentiation and the control of cell growth. A site-selective cAMP analog, 8-Cl-cAMP and retinoic acid synergistically inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in certain cancer cells. In advanced or recurrent malignant diseases, retinoic acid (RA) is not effective even at doses that are toxic to the host. The objective of our present study was to examine the mechanism(s) of synergistic effects of retinoic acid (9-cis, 13-cis or all-trans RA) and 8-Cl-cAMP on apoptosis in human ovarian cancer NIH: OVCAR-3 and OVCAR-8 cells. RA induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in OVCAR-3 and OVCAR-8 cells. 8-Cl-cAMP acted synergistically with RA in inducing and activating retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) which correlates with growth inhibition and apoptosis in both cell types. In addition, induction of apoptosis by RA plus 8-Cl-cAMP requires caspase-3 activation followed by cleavage of anti-poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Furthermore, mutations in CRE-related motif within the RARβ promoter resulted in loss of both transcriptional activation of RARβ and synergy between RA and 8-Cl-cAMP. RARβ expression appears to be associated with induction of apoptosis. Introduction of the RARβ gene into OVCAR-3 cells resulted in gain of RA sensitivity. Loss of RARβ expression, therefore, may contribute to the tumorigenicity of human ovarian cancer cells. Thus, combined treatment with RA and 8-Cl-cAMP may provide an effective means for inducing RARβ expression leading to apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells.
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  • 87
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: MKP-1 ; Fas ligand ; Fas ; apoptosis ; prostate cancer
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Recent studies have suggested that MAP kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) is overexpressed in prostate cancer. To evaluate the role of MKP-1 in regulating cell death and tumor growth in prostate cancer, MKP-1 was conditionally overexpressed in the human prostate cancer cell line DU145. Overexpression of MKP-1 in DU145 cells blocked activation of stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK/JNK). MKP-1 overexpression in DU-145 cells was also found to inhibit Fas ligand (FasL)-induced apoptosis, as well as block the activation of caspases by Fas engagement. In addition, MKP-1 blocked the activation of apoptosis by transfected MEKK-1 and ASK-1, presumably through its inhibition of the SAPK/JNK family of enzymes. MKP-1 blocked the ability of FasL to induce loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δγm), suggesting that MKP-1 acts upstream of mitochondrial pro-apoptotic events induced by FasL and that the SAPK/JNK pathway may form the signaling link between Fas receptor and mitochondrial dysfunction. Thus, MKP-1 overexpression in prostate cancer may play a role in promoting prostate carcinogenesis by inhibiting FasL-induced cell death.
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 199 (1999), S. 125-137 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: apoptosis ; ADP-ribosylation ; caspases ; PARP ; PARG
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Poly(ADP-ribosylation) is a post-translational modification playing a relevant role in DNA damage recovery, DNA replication and viral integration. Several reports also suggest a modulation of this process during cell death by apoptosis. The aim of this review is to discuss the possible involvement of poly(ADP-ribosylation) during apoptosis, by dealing with general considerations on apoptosis, and further examining the correlation between NAD consumption and cell death, the regulation of poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism in apoptotic cells, the effect of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition on cell death occurrence and the use of enzyme cleavage as a marker of apoptosis. Finally, the future prospects of the research in this area will be addressed.
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 199 (1999), S. 189-200 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: lung ; cancer ; urokinase ; receptor ; gene expression
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) interacts with its receptor (uPAR) to promote proteolysis as well as cell proliferation and migration. These functions contribute to the pathogenesis of neoplastic growth and invasiveness. Expression of uPAR in tumor extracts also inversely correlates with prognosis in many forms of cancer. In this study, we sought to determine if differences in uPAR expression were distinguishable between cultured human lung carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma subtypes. We also sought to determine if, as in malignant mesothelioma cells, uPAR expression is regulated at the posttranscriptional level in cultured malignant lung carcinoma cells. Using 125I-uPA binding and ligand blotting techniques, uPAR was expressed by phenotypically diverse lung carcinoma cell lines, including the H460, H157 and H1395 non-small cell lines and the H146 small cell lung carcinoma line. Increased uPAR expression was also detected in spindle-shaped (M33K) and epithelioid (M9K and MS-1) malignant mesothelioma cells. Selected mediators, including TGF-β, TNF-α, LPS and PMA, uniformly enhanced uPAR expression in each of the tumor cell lines. Steady state uPAR mRNA expression was determined by RNase protection assay and correlated directly with the changes in cell surface uPAR expression. By gel mobility shift and UV-cross linking assays, a uPAR mRNA binding protein (uPAR mRNABp) implicated in the posttranscriptional control of message stability, was identified in each of the cell lines. Expression of uPAR and its message in cultured lung carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma cells is similarly influenced by effectors present in the tumor microenvironment. Regulation of the uPAR message occurs at the posttranscriptional level in cultured small and non-small cell lung carcinoma cells as well as spindle-shaped and fibrous malignant mesothelioma cell lines. Posttranscriptional regulation of uPAR in all these cells involves the interaction of the uPAR mRNABp with uPAR mRNA, which promotes uPAR mRNA destabilization.
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  • 90
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: AP-1 ; cobalt chloride ; gene expression ; heme oxygenase ; oxidative stress ; sodium arsenite
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Previously, chick heme oxygenase-1 (cHO-1) gene was cloned by us and two regions important for induction by sodium arsenite were identified. These two regions were found to contain consensus sequences of an AP-1 (-1580 to -1573) and a MRE/cMyc complex (-52 to -41). In the current study, the roles of these two elements in mediating the sodium arsenite or cobalt chloride dependent induction of cHO-1 were investigated further. DNA binding studies and site-directed mutagenesis studies indicated that both the AP-1 and MRE/cMyc elements are important for the sodium arsenite induction, while cobalt chloride induction involves only the AP-1 element. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that nuclear proteins binding to the AP-1 element was increased by both sodium arsenite or cobalt chloride treatment, whereas the binding of proteins to the MRE/cMyc element showed a high basal expression in untreated cells and the binding activity was only slightly increased by sodium arsenite treatment. Site-directed mutagenesis studies showed that, to completely abolish sodium arsenite induction, both the AP-1 and MRE/cMyc elements must be mutated; mutation of either element alone resulted in only a partial effect. In contrast, a single mutation at AP-1 element was sufficient to reduce the cobalt chloride induction almost completely. The MRE/cMyc complex plays a major role in the basal level expression, and shares some similarities to the upstream stimulatory factor element (USF) identified in the promoter regions of mammalian HO-1 genes and other stress regulated genes. Because sodium arsenite is known to cause oxidative stress and because activation of AP-1 proteins has been shown to be a key step in the oxidative stress response pathway, we also explored the possibility that the induction of the cHO-1 gene by sodium arsenite is mediated through oxidative stress pathway(s) by activation of AP-1 proteins. We found that pretreatment with antioxidants (N-acetyl cysteine or quercetin) reduced the induction of the endogenous cHO-1 message or cHO-1 reporter construct activities induced by sodium arsenite or cobalt chloride. These antioxidants also reduced the protein binding activities to the AP-1 element in the electrophoretic mobility shift assays. In summary, induction of the cHO-1 gene by sodium arsenite or cobalt chloride is mediated by activation of the AP-1 element located at -1,573 to -1,580 of the 5′ UTR.
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  • 91
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 205 (2000), S. 1-11 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: kidney ; ischemia-reperfusion injury ; free radicals ; reactive oxygen species ; gene expression ; antioxidant enzymes
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Reactive oxygen species (ROS; O2-, H2O2, and OH·), normal by-products of cellular metabolic processes, are kept in control by antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutases (SODs). To understand the role of antioxidant enzymatic defenses against ROS injury following ischemia-reperfusion, we examined the effect on kidney exposed to varying periods (30, 60 or 90 min) of ischemia followed by different periods of reperfusion. The enzymatic activities and protein levels of catalase, GPX, CuZnSOD and MnSOD were relatively unaffected at 30 min of ischemia followed by 0, 2 or 24 h reperfusion. However, 60 or 90 min of ischemia followed by 0, 2 or 24 h of reperfusion resulted in a decrease in activities and protein levels which paralleled the duration of ischemic injury. MnSOD activity tended to recover towards normal during reperfusion. Examination of the mRNA levels of these antioxidant enzymes demonstrated a severe decrease in mRNA levels of catalase and GPX at a time point of minimal ischemic injury (30 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion) suggesting that loss of mRNA of catalase and GPX may be the first markers of alterations in cellular redox in ischemia-reperfusion injury. Greater loss of mRNA for catalase, GPX and CuZnSOD were observed following longer periods (60 or 90 min) of ischemia. The mRNA for MnSOD was upregulated at all time points of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Actually, the greater decrease in mRNAs for catalase, GPX and CuZnSOD in the acute phase (within 24 h) subsequently showed a further decrease in these enzyme activities in the subacute phase (72 or 120 h after ischemia). These enzyme activities in the 30 min ischemia group, but not in the 90 min group, already showed tendencies for normalization at 120 h after ischemia. To understand the molecular basis of the loss of mRNA of these antioxidant enzymes during ischemia-reperfusion injury, we examined the rate of transcription by nuclear run-on assays. The similar rates of transcription in control and kidney exposed to ischemia-reperfusion indicates that the loss of mRNA for catalase, GPX and CuZnSOD are possibly due to the increased rate of turnover of their mRNAs. These studies suggest that expression of antioxidant genes during ischemia-reperfusion are not coordinately expressed and the differential loss of antioxidant enzymes may be the contributing factor(s) towards the heterogeneous renal tissue damage as a result of ischemia-reperfusion induced oxidative stress.
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  • 92
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: DNA binding protein ; NAD metabolism ; cellular response to DNA damage ; γ-rays ; alkylating agents ; genomic instability ; apoptosis
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract A dual approach to the study of poly (ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) in terms of its structure and function has been developed in our laboratory. Random mutagenesis of the DNA binding domain and catalytic domain of the human PARP, has allowed us to identify residues that are crucial for its enzymatic activity. In parallel PARP knock-out mice were generated by inactivation of both alleles by gene targeting. We showed that: (i) they are exquisitely sensitive to γ-irradiation, (ii) they died rapidly from acute radiation toxicity to the small intestine, (iii) they displayed a high genomic instability to γ-irradiation and MNU injection and, (iv) bone marrow cells rapidly underwent apoptosis following MNU treatment, demonstrating that PARP is a survival factor playing an essential and positive role during DNA damage recovery and survival.
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  • 93
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: PARP ; poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation ; apoptosis ; DNA replication
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We have focused on the roles of PARP and poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation early in apoptosis, as well as during the early stages of differentiation-linked DNA replication. In both nuclear processes, a transient burst of PAR synthesis and PARP expression occurs early, prior to internucleosomal DNA cleavage before commitment to apoptosis as well as at the round of DNA replication prior to the onset of terminal differentiation. In intact human osteosarcoma cells undergoing spontaneous apoptosis, both PARP and PAR decreased after this early peak, concomitant with the inactivation and cleavage of PARP by caspase-3 and the onset of substantial DNA and nuclear fragmentation. Whereas 3T3-L1, osteosarcoma cells, and immortalized PARP +/+ fibroblasts exhibited this early burst of PAR synthesis during Fas-mediated apoptosis, neither PARP-depleted 3T3-L1 PARP-antisense cells nor PARP -/- fibroblasts showed this response. Consequently, whereas control cells progressed into apoptosis, as indicated by induction of caspase-3-like PARP-cleavage activity, PARP-antisense cells and PARP -/- fibroblasts did not, indicating a requirement for PARP and poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of nuclear proteins at an early reversible stage of apoptosis. In parallel experiments, a transient increase in PARP expression and activity were also noted in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes 24 h after induction of differentiation, a stage at which ~95% of the cells were in S-phase, but not in PARP-depleted antisense cells, which were consequently unable to complete the round of DNA replication required for differentiation. PARP, a component of the multiprotein DNA replication complex (MRC) that catalyzes viral DNA replication in vitro, poly(ADP-ribosyl)ates 15 of ~40 MRC proteins, including DNA pol α, DNA topo I, and PCNA. Depletion of endogenous PARP by antisense RNA expression in 3T3-L1 cells results in MRCs devoid of any DNA pol α and DNA pol δ activities. Surprisingly, there was no new expression of PCNA and DNA pol α, as well as the transcription factor E2F-1 in PARP-antisense cells during entry into S-phase, suggesting that PARP may play a role in the expression of these proteins, perhaps by interacting with a site in the promoters for these genes.
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  • 94
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: breast cancer cells ; anti-apoptotic genes ; apoptosis ; progesterone
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Progesterone inhibits the proliferation of normal breast epithelial cells in vivo, as well as breast cancer cells in vitro. But the biologic mechanism of this inhibition remains to be determined. We explored the possibility that an antiproliferative activity of progesterone in breast cancer cell lines is due to its ability to induce apoptosis. Since p53, bcl-2 and survivin genetically control the apoptotic process, we investigated whether or not these genes could be involved in the progesterone-induced apoptosis. We found a maximal 90% inhibition of cell proliferation with T47-D breast cancer cells after exposure to 10 μM progesterone for 72 h. Control progesterone receptor negative MDA-231 cancer cells were unresponsive to 10 μM progesterone. The earliest sign of apoptosis is translocation of phosphatidylserine from the inner to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and can be monitored by the calcium-dependent binding of annexin V in conjunction with flow cytometry. After 24 h of exposure to 10 μM progesterone, cytofluorometric analysis of T47-D breast cancer cells indicated 43% were annexin V-positive and had undergone apoptosis and no cells showed signs of cellular necrosis (propidium iodide negative). After 72 h of exposure to 10 μM progesterone, 48% of the cells had undergone apoptosis and 40% were annexin V positive/propidium iodide positive indicating signs of necrosis. Control untreated cancer cells did not undergo apoptosis. Evidence proving apoptosis was also demonstrated by fragmentation of nuclear DNA into multiples of oligonucleosomal fragments. After 24 h of exposure of T47-D cells to either 1 or 10 μM progesterone, we observed a marked down-regulation of protooncogene bcl-2 protein and mRNA levels. mRNA levels of survivin and the metastatic variant CD44 v7-v10 were also downregulated. Progesterone increased p53 mRNA levels. These results demonstrate that progesterone at relative high physiological concentrations, but comparable to those seen in plasma during the third trimester of human pregnancy, exhibited a strong antiproliferative effect on breast cancer cells and induced apoptosis.
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  • 95
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: prostaglandin ; cyclooxygenase ; transcriptional regulation ; gene expression ; promotor activation ; transcription ; endothelial cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Interleukin-1β (IL-1) is a potent inducer of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin biosynthesis in many types of cells, yet little is known about the molecular mechanisms regulating IL-1 mediated prostanoid biosynthesis in the endothelium of the microvasculature. Therefore, we examined the cis- and trans-acting factors regulating IL-1-induced COX-2 expression in the human microvascular endothelial cell line, HMEC-1. IL-1 enhanced steady state levels of COX-2 protein and mRNA synthesis by ≈ 2-fold which preceded a 2-fold increase in PGFα biosynthesis. Expression of a series of COX-2 promoter-luciferase constructs in IL-1 treated HMEC-1 cells revealed that the 'full length' (-1432/+59 bp) promoter was 10 times more active than the SV-40 promoter/enhancer and that it could be further activated by IL-1. Surprisingly however, all except for the shortest COX-2 promoter construct retained the ability to respond to IL-1 and luciferase activity driven by -191/+59 bp COX-2 promoter was as responsive to IL-1 as the full-length promoter. Moreover, site-directed promoter mutagenesis and electophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) indicate that the combinatorial actions of AP2, NF-IL6, and CRE elements are critical for both constitutive and IL-1-inducible COX-2 promoter activity. Understanding the mechanism(s) regulating COX-2 gene expression and prostaglandin biosynthesis in the microvasculature has important implications with regard to inflammation and angiogenesis in vivo.
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  • 96
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 203 (2000), S. 59-71 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: PTEN tumor suppressor ; cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors ; apoptosis ; chemosensitivity
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The recently discovered tumor suppressor gene PTEN has been found mutated in many types of advanced tumors. When introduced into tumor cells that lack the wild-type allele of the gene, PTEN was able to suppress the growth of these cells. Here, we have analyzed how PTEN might alter cell cycle-regulatory controls to achieve this growth-inhibitory effect. We found that overexpression of PTEN stimulates the synthesis of three inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, p21WAF1, p27KIP1, and p57,KIP2. This effect is very specific, as the expression of other components of the cell cycle engine, various cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases, is not affected. For p21WAF1 we show that this induction is due to the p53-independent transcriptional activation of its promoter. In addition, increased expression of PTEN rendered the cells more sensitive to apoptotic cell death. Therefore, our data suggest a two-fold mechanism of growth inhibition by PTEN: one that acts via the increased expression of CKIs such as p21WAF1, and another that augments the cellular propensity for apoptotic cell death.
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  • 97
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 203 (2000), S. 163-167 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: thymosin β-4 ; gene expression ; chloramphenicol acetyltransferase ; NIH3T3 cells ; interferon response
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Expression of the gene coding for thymosin β-4 (Tβ-4), the major G-actin sequestering peptide in the cell, is regulated mainly at the level of transcription. In this study, we examined the nucleotide sequence of the 5′-flanking region (from - 2202 to - 881) of the mouse Tβ-4 gene, and demonstrated that the DNA fragment from -278 to +410 of this gene was capable of directing the expression of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene in NIH3T3 cells. However, expression of the reporter gene in cells cannot be induced by interferon-a treatment even though a rapid activation of endogenous Tβ-4 gene by this cytokine was observed. These results suggest that the projected interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) might reside in other parts of the mouse Tβ-4 gene.
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  • 98
    Electronic Resource
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 201 (1999), S. 111-123 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: complement factor I ; TPA ; protein kinase C ; gene expression ; Hep G2 cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract This study examined the role of the protein kinase C (PKC) signalling pathway in the regulation of expression of human complement factor I (CFI) gene. The production of CFI by Hep G2 cells was enhanced in a dose- and time-dependent fashion by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-1,2-phorbol 13-acetate (TPA), a potent PKC activator. 4α-phorbol didecanoate, an inactive phorbol ester, had no effect on CFI synthesis. The TPA-dependent increase in CFI secretion was correlated with an increase in CFI mRNA levels. Forskolin, a cAMP-inducing agent, augmented the TPA response. W7, an inhibitor of protein kinase A and genistein, an inhibitor of protein tyrosine kinase(s) both did not prevent the increase in CFI expression mediated by TPA. However, calphostin C, a specific inhibitor of PKC, abolished the TPA-induced increase in CFI mRNA levels. Down regulation of intracellular PKC levels by prior exposure of Hep G2 cells to a high concentration of TPA also blocked the increase in CFI mRNA levels induced by TPA suggesting that the TPA effects were mediated via activation of PKC. mRNA decay studies indicated that the half-life of CFI mRNA in TPA-induced cells was not significantly different from control. Nuclear run-on transcriptional assays on the other hand demonstrated that whereas the CFI gene is transcribed under basal conditions in Hep G2 cells, TPA induced a 3-4 fold increase in the transcription rate of CFI gene in 24 h. The transcription rate of GAPDH gene did not change, indicating that the effects were not general on gene transcription. Transient transfections of Hep G2 cells with chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene (CAT) constructs containing a series of sequential 5′ deletions of the CFI promoter and CAT assays showed that the sequence between -136 and -130, containing an AP-1 consensus sequence (TGAGTCA) was required for the TPA response. This observation was substantiated by the finding that mutation of this AP-1 site to TttaTCA or TtAtcCA abolished the TPA responsiveness. The enhancement of the activity of transfected chimeric CAT constructs by TPA was abrogated by calphostin C and by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (an inhibitor of NF-κB and AP-1 transactivation). These results indicate that TPA regulation of CFI gene requires PKC signalling and is mediated by via a TPA response element (TRE) in the CFI promoter region located at -136/-130 and involves the transactivation of AP-1 and NF-κB transcription factors. We suggest that PKC may be one of the intracellular pathways that control CFI gene expression and that cellular processes (involving growth factors, hormones, cytokines etc.) that activate PKC may upregulate the expression of the CFI gene.
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  • 99
    Electronic Resource
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    Molecular and cellular biochemistry 200 (1999), S. 51-57 
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: smokeless tobacco ; apoptosis ; nitric oxide
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Smokeless tobacco usage is, a growing public health concern in the United States. Lesions of the oral cavity have been clearly linked to smokeless tobacco use. The objective of this study was to determine the biochemical effects of smokeless tobacco extract (STE) exposure upon hamster cheek pouch cell (HCPC-1) cultures. HCPC-1 cells were exposed to a 5 -fold dose-range of STE (0.5, 1.0 and 2.5%) over a time-course of 24-96 h. Following each exposure we measured various biochemical parameters of cell proliferation and cell death. Cell viability, cell cycle progression and S-phase DNA synthesis were measured as markers of cell proliferation. We measured lactate dehydrogenase leakage as a marker of cell membrane damage and cell death due to necrosis. No significant alterations were observed in cell cycle progression and cell proliferation as a result of exposure to STE. LDH measured colorimetrically indicated no significant effect with the lower doses (0.5, 1.0 and 2.5% STE). Apoptosis measured as the A0 peak and by the TUNEL procedure revealed that STE caused significant rates of apoptosis. Maximal apoptosis was noted between 48-96 h. In order to probe the mechanism further we measured the levels of nitrites as an indicator of nitric oxide (NO) in the media. NO levels were significantly elevated at the doses that caused an induction of apoptosis. The results from this study indicate that STE causes a dose-dependent induction of apoptosis and that this is mediated by nitric oxide.
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  • 100
    ISSN: 1573-4919
    Keywords: regucalcin ; calcium-binding protein ; gene expression ; Ca2+-ATPase ; brain microsomes ; aging
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The expression of calcium-binding protein regucalcin and its effect on the microsomal Ca2+-ATPase activity in rat brain tissues was investigated. The expression of regucalcin mRNA was demonstrated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis in brain tissues using rat regucalcin-specific primers. Regucalcin concentration in the brain tissues was about 5 × 10-9 M as measured using enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA), and this level was lowered with increasing age (50 weeks old). The presence of regucalcin (10-9 to 10-7 M) in the enzyme reaction mixture caused a significant decrease in Ca2+-ATPase activity in the brain microsomes of young rats (5 weeks old). Meanwhile, the enzyme activity was not significantly altered by the addition of calmodulin (1 or 50 μg/ml), calbindin (1 or 10 μg/ml), and S-100 A protein (5 or 25 μg/ml), which are other Ca2+-binding proteins in rat brain. The effect of regucalcin to inhibit microsomal Ca2+-ATPase activity was weakened in the brain of rats with increasing age (50 weeks old). The present study demonstrates that regucalcin is expressed in the brain, and that it can uniquely inhibit Ca2+-ATPase activity in the brain microsomes of rats. The findings suggest that regucalcin plays a role in the regulation of microsomal Ca2+-ATPase activity in rat brain tissues.
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