Search

Weak (<1 μT) complex magnetic fields (CMFs) may exert their behavioral influences through the hippocampus by resonating by accident or design with intrinsic electrical patterns. Rats were exposed prenatally to one of four intensities of a CMF (either <5 nanoTesla [nT], 10-50 nT, 50-500 nT, or 500-1000 nT) designed to interact with the process of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Rats then underwent testing in the forced swim, open field, and fear-conditioning procedures. The cell densities of all amygdaloid nuclei, specific hypothalamic structures, and the major regions of the hippocampus were quantified. Results showed that acquisition of conditioned fear was strongly inhibited in animals exposed to LTP-CMFs. Rats exposed to intensities above 10 nT showed decreased cell density in the CA2 fields of the hippocampus; more neurons were present in the CA1 fields of rats exposed to the 10-50 nT intensities compared to all other groups. A decrease in cell density in the medial preoptic nucleus was linearly dependent on field intensity. In the forced-swim test, swimming was decreased in rats that had been exposed to low (10-50 nT) and medium intensity (50-500 nT) LTP-CMFs in a manner consistent with monoamine modulation. In the open field, exposed rats were indistinguishable from controls. These findings support the hypothesis that continuous exposure during prenatal development to CMFs designed to simulate intrinsic LTP within the hippocampus can affect adult behaviors specific to this structure and produce quantitative alterations in neuronal density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 11 men and women were exposed for 5 min each to six different temporal configurations of pulsed magnetic fields that were delivered through serial activation of 8 solenoids in a counterclockwise direction around the head within the horizontal plane above the ears. Twenty-second samples of quantitative electroencephalographic activity within the delta, theta, lower alpha, upper alpha, beta, and gamma regions were collected after each configuration had been activated for 2.5 min. Only the circumcerebral presentation of the first pulse for 25 ms followed by an acceleration of +2 ms to each of the other 7 solenoids (the last duration = 11 ms) resulted in a significant increase in power within the gamma range (35 Hz to 45 Hz) over both frontal and occipital lobes but not over the parietal or temporal lobes. These results suggest topical application of specific spatial-temporal configurations of magnetic fields may affect the recursive creation of the rostral-caudal waves of cohesive fields that might produce consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative electroencephalographic activity over the left and right frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes was obtained on 4 successive weeks in 12 subjects before they were exposed cerebrally for 30 min to one of two configurations of weak complex magnetic fields or to a sham-field condition. The two configurations were Shakti (c Todd Murphy) and the set of 4 solenoids (Koren boxes) generating a burst-firing magnetic field through the temporal lobes. Compared to baseline measurements there were no statistically significant differences in treatments for relative changes in power over these regions within the delta, theta, low alpha, beta, or gamma ranges. However within the high alpha range (10.5 Hz to 13 Hz), there was a significant interaction between session and type of treatment that was due primarily to the Shakti treatment. These changes were congruent with the subjective experiences reported by some users of the technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four pairs of adult siblings served once as either the stimulus or the response person in two sessions separated by one week. While the brain of the stimulus person, who was seated in a closed chamber, was exposed successively to six different complex magnetic fields for 5 mm. each quantitative monopolar electroencephalographic measurements over the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes were collected by computer for the response person who was seated in another room. The six configurations of fields served as different stimulus patterns and had been designed to affect consciousness. As predicted theoretically, a significant increase in electroencephalographic power within the 5.0-Hz to 6.0-Hz band over the frontal and occipital lobes was noted for the response persons when the stimulus persons received one of the six specific patterns of weak (1 microTesla range) magnetic fields. This magnetic stimulus was presented for 100 msec. with changes in rate of 20 msec. to each of the eight solenoids that were equally spaced in the horizontal plane around the head of the stimulus person. Derivatives within this narrow frequency band had been hypothesized to be a source of the "binding factor" for the cohesive cerebrogenic electromagnetic fields producing consciousness. The results suggest that an appropriate altered state of one brain can effect specific predictable frequencies of the electroencephalographic activity of another distant brain which is genetically related. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: All authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.

Sequences of three Arabidopsis thaliana and two Brassica napus cDNAs encoding squalene monooxygenase homologues (Sqp1 and Sqp2) are reported. Southern analysis confirmed that these cDNAs are derived from small gene families in both species. Expression analysis indicates that Sqp1 genes in B. napus are strongly expressed in leaves but not roots or developing seeds. Comparison of cDNA and genomic sequences indicate that the 3' splice site of an intron in these genes has undergone junctional sliding. The evolutionary significance of this phenomenon is discussed.

The Biolistic(®) microprojectile DNA-delivery method was used to test the usefulness in conifers of eight gene constructs based on the 35S promoter, the AMV translational enhancer, and gene fusion between the P-glucuronidase and the neomycin phosphotransferase II genes. The evaluation was done with embryogenic cells of Picea glauca, where the relative strengths of the promoters were 35S-35S-AMVE>35S-AMVE>35S-35S>35S as evaluated by transient gene expression. The fusion gene of GUS and NPT II gave lower levels of transient gene expression than the unfused GUS gene as detected by X-GLU histochemical assays. Experiments comparing the EM promoter of wheat and the 35S-35S-AMVE promoter (with and without fusion between GUS and NPT II) were done in Picea rubens, P. mariana, P. glauca, and Larix x eurolepis. The unfused gene with the 35S-35S-AMVE promoter gave higher levels of transient gene expression than the fused GUS-NPT II gene. The fluorescent MUG assay was more sensitive than the histochemical X-GLU assay to detect the activity of the β-glucuronidase gene.

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloproteins that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide radicals to hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. The enzyme is ubiquitous in aerobic organisms where it plays a major role in defense against oxygen radical-mediated toxicity. In plants, environmental adversity often leads to the increased generation of reduced oxygen species and, consequently, SOD has been proposed to be important in plant stress tolerance. Here we describe the isolation of a cDNA clone encoding a cytosolic copper/zinc SOD from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. Using this, together with previously isolated cDNAs encoding the mitochondrial manganese SOD and the chloroplastic iron SOD as probes in RNA gel blot analyses, we have studied SOD transcript abundance during different stress conditions: in response to light, during photoinhibitory conditions (light combined with high or low temperatures), and in response to a xenobiotic stress imposed by the herbicide paraquat. Evidence is presented that iron SOD mRNA abundance increases whenever there is a chloroplast-localized oxidative stress, similar to the previous finding that manganese SOD responds to mitochondria-localized events. The diverse effects of the different stress conditions on SOD mRNA abundance thus might provide an insight into the way that each treatment affects the different subcellular compartments.

The inability of superoxide dismutase (SOD; superoxide:superoxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.15.1.1)-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli to grow aerobically on minimal medium can be restored by functional complementation with a heterologous SOD-encoding sequence. Based upon this property, a phenotypic selection system has been developed for the isolation of clones containing eukaryotic SOD cDNAs. cDNA expression libraries from both Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and Arabidopsis thaliana were transformed into a SOD-deficient E. coli strain by electroporation, and clones containing functional SODs were selected by growth on minimal medium. Analysis of these clones revealed the identity of cDNAs encoding the iron form of superoxide dismutase (FeSOD)--the first SODs of this type to be cloned from eukaryotes. The presence of this enzyme in these two divergent plant species challenges previous ideas that FeSOD is found in only a few plant families. In addition, these results show the potential for shotgun cloning of eukaryotic genes by complementation of bacterial mutants, particularly when it is combined with a highly efficient transformation method, such as electroporation.