Search results for "Models"

CB(1) signaling in forebrain and sympathetic neurons is a key determinant of endocannabinoid actions on energy balance

2010

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a critical role in obesity development. The pharmacological blockade of cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB(1)) has been shown to reduce body weight and to alleviate obesity-related metabolic disorders. An unsolved question is at which anatomical level CB(1) modulates energy balance and the mechanisms involved in its action. Here, we demonstrate that CB(1) receptors expressed in forebrain and sympathetic neurons play a key role in the pathophysiological development of diet-induced obesity. Conditional mutant mice lacking CB(1) expression in neurons known to control energy balance, but not in nonneuronal peripheral organs, displayed a lean phenotype and res…

Thirty years of synaptosome research.

1993

Detached synapses (synaptosomes), first isolated by the author in 1958 and identified as such in 1960, are sealed presynaptic nerve terminals often with a portion of the target cell--sometimes amounting to a complete dendritic spine--adhering to their external surface. They can be prepared in high yield from brain tissue and also in decreasing yield from spinal cord, retina, sympathetic ganglia, myenteric plexus and electric organs. They are sealed structures which, under metabolizing conditions, respire, take up oxygen and glucose, extrude Na+, accumulate K+, maintain a normal membrane potential and, on depolarization, release transmitter in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. They thus provide an …

Robust three-dimensional best-path phase-unwrapping algorithm that avoids singularity loops.

2009

In this paper we propose a novel hybrid three-dimensional phase-unwrapping algorithm, which we refer to here as the three-dimensional best-path avoiding singularity loops (3DBPASL) algorithm. This algorithm combines the advantages and avoids the drawbacks of two well-known 3D phase-unwrapping algorithms, namely, the 3D phase-unwrapping noise-immune technique and the 3D phase-unwrapping best-path technique. The hybrid technique presented here is more robust than its predecessors since it not only follows a discrete unwrapping path depending on a 3D quality map, but it also avoids any singularity loops that may occur in the unwrapping path. Simulation and experimental results have shown that …

A fully synthetic vaccine consisting of a tumor-associated glycopeptide antigen and a T-cell epitope for the induction of a highly specific humoral i…

2005

Overcoming Myopic Behaviour in Intellectual Capital Policies through Interactive Learning Environments based on System Dynamics and Accounting Models

Aircraft type-specific errors in AMDAR weather reports from commercial aircraft

2008

AMDAR (Aircraft Meteorological DAta Relay) automated weather reports from commercial aircraft provide an increasing amount of input data for numerical weather prediction models. Previous studies have investigated the quality of AMDAR data. Few of these studies, however, have revealed indications of systematic errors dependent upon the aircraft type. Since different airlines use different algorithms to generate AMDAR reports, it has remained unclear whether a dependency on the aircraft type is caused by physical properties of the aircraft or by different data processing algorithms. In the present study, a special AMDAR dataset was used to investigate the physical type-dependent errors of AMD…

Getting even with CLE

2018

In the landscape of approaches toward the simulation of Lattice Models with complex action the Complex Langevin (CL) appears as a straightforward method with a simple, well defined setup. Its applicability, however, is controlled by certain specific conditions which are not always satisfied. We here discuss the procedures to meet these conditions and the estimation of systematic errors and present some actual achievements.

Error Estimates of Theoretical Models: a Guide

2014

This guide offers suggestions/insights on uncertainty quantification of nuclear structure models. We discuss a simple approach to statistical error estimates, strategies to assess systematic errors, and show how to uncover inter-dependencies by correlation analysis. The basic concepts are illustrated through simple examples. By providing theoretical error bars on predicted quantities and using statistical methods to study correlations between observables, theory can significantly enhance the feedback between experiment and nuclear modeling.

Phylogeny of Veronica in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres based on plastid, nuclear ribosomal and nuclear low-copy DNA

2010

The cosmopolitan and ecologically diverse genus Veronica with approximately 450 species is the largest genus of the newly circumscribed Plantaginaceae. Previous analyses of Veronica DNA sequences were in stark contrast to traditional systematics. However, analyses did not allow many inferences regarding the relationship between major groups identified, hindering further analysis of diversification and evolutionary trends in the genus. To resolve the backbone relationships of Veronica, we added sequences from additional plastid DNA regions to existing data and analyzed matching data sets for 78 taxa and more than 5000 aligned characters from nuclear ribosomal DNA and plastid DNA regions. The…

Autoreactivity to mouse C1q in a murine model of SLE.

1995

A large proportion of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients develop glomerulonephritis, coincident with the appearance of autoantibodies to C1q, the Fc-recognizing collagen-like subcomponent of the first component of complement, C1. The MRL/lpr/lpr mouse is an established model for SLE, developing both antinuclear and anti-type II collagen autoantibodies, and rheumatoid factors(s), exhibiting reduced complement levels and later on developing glomerulonephritis and often arthritis. We report here an age-dependent decrease in serum C1q levels coincident with the development of IgG2b autoantibodies reactive with mouse C1q in MRL/lpr/lpr mice. Unlike IgG2b, although high levels of IgM, Ig…