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Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts neuronal networks of ascending and descending tracts at the site of injury, leading to a loss of motor function. Restoration and new circuit formation are important components of the recovery process, which involves collateral sprouting of injured and uninjured fibers. The present study was conducted to determine cortical responses to antidromic stimulation of the corticospinal tracts, to compare changes in the reorganization of neural pathways within normal and spinal cord-injured rats, and to elucidate differences in spatiotemporal activity patterns of the natural progression and reorganization of neural pathways in normal and SCI animals using optical imaging. Optical signals were recorded from the motor cortex in response to electrical stimulation of the ventral horn of the L1 spinal cord. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were evaluated to demonstrate endogenous recovery of physiological functions after SCI. A significantly shorter N1 peak latency and broader activation in the MEP optical recordings were observed at 4 weeks after SCI, compared to 1 week after SCI. Spatiotemporal patterns in the cerebral cortex differed depending on functional recovery. In the present study, optical imaging was found to be useful in revealing functional changes and may reflect conditions of reorganization and/or changes in surviving neurons after SCI.

With 1 figure and 3 tables ABSTRACT: Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) derived from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are important resources for gene discovery and mapping. In this study, we developed EST‐based SSR (eSSRs) markers and assessed their ability in mapping and transferability. A total of 10 800 unigenes were detected from 18 522 pea EST sequences (December 2009). Screening of 10 800 unigenes by MISA (MIcroSAtellite) revealed 2612 (14.1%) eSSRs in 2395 (12.9%) SSR‐containing ESTs from which 577 (24.1%) primer pairs were designed. The most abundant repeat motif identified in eSSR was mononucleotide (85.2%), followed by trinucleotide (10.6%) and dinucleotide (2.8%). Among 108 randomly selected primer pairs, 40 were assessed for mapping and 68 to test cross‐species transferability in six leguminous species. Out of 40 primer pairs, 85% produced amplicons, 60% showed polymorphism and 47.5% were mapped. Furthermore, 68 primer pairs revealed high rate of transferability (48–85%) in leguminous species. High levels of polymorphism, reproducibility, presence of alleles (3.8/locus) and transferability revealed the potential use of these eSSR markers in molecular mapping, quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis and comparative mapping in pea and other legumes.

The study was undertaken to examine the effect of two synthetic auxins on somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from mature embryo explants of 16 onion cultivars. Cotyledons were removed from the embryos and remaining portions were cultured on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 2,4-D and 5.0 mg/L picloram alone or in combination (1.0 mg/L 2,4-D + 2.5 mg/L picloram) to produce embryogenic callus. MS medium supplemented with 5.0 mg/L picloram was found to be the best one for both embryogenic callus induction (85%) and callus diameter (3.8 mm). Of the 16 cultivars studied, Yeoeuijuhwang exhibited the lowest frequency of embryogenic callus induction (50.5%), whereas all the other 15 cultivars showed more than 60% embryogenic callus induction. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) analysis of embryogenic callus showed all stages of somatic embryos such as globular, scuetellar and coleoptilar. Plant regeneration was significantly affected by the composition of embryogenic callus induction medium. The greatest frequency of somatic embryo conversion was obtained from embryogenic callus developed in MS medium with 2,4-D (70.1%) followed by picloram (38.9%) and 2,4-D + picloram (34.5%). The germinated plantlets were further developed on the half-strength MS medium containing 3% sucrose and were acclimatized in the culture room with 98% survival rate. RESUMO: O estudo foi realizado para examinar o efeito de duas auxinas sintéticas na embriogênese somática e na regeneração de plantas a partir de explantes de embriões maduros de 16 cultivares de cebola. Os cotilédones foram removidos a partir dos embriões e as porções restantes foram cultivadas em meio MS suplementado com 1,0 mg/L de 2,4-D e 5,0 mg/L de picloram sozinho ou em combinação (1,0 mg/L de 2,4-D + 2,5 mg/L de picloram) para produzir calos embriogênicos. Verificou-se que o meio MS suplementado com 5,0 mg/L de picloram foi o melhor tanto para a indução de calo embriogênico (85%) quanto para o diâmetro do calo (3,8 mm). Das 16 cultivares estudadas, Yeoeuijuhwang exibiu a menor freqüência de formação de calos embriogênicos (50,5%), ao passo que todas as outras 15 cultivares apresentaram mais de 60% de indução de calos embriogênicos. A análise dos calos por micrografia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) mostrou todas as fases dos embriões somáticos, tais como as fases globular, escutelar e coleoptilar. A regeneração de plantas foi significativamente afetada pela composição do meio de indução de calos embriogênicos. A maior frequência de conversão de embriões somáticos foi obtida a partir do calo embriogênico desenvolvido em meio MS com 2,4-D (70,1%) seguido por picloram (38,9%) e 2,4-D + picloram (34,5%). As plântulas germinadas foram desenvolvidas no meio contendo metade da dose de MS, com 3% de sacarose e foram aclimatizadas em ambiente de cultura com 98% de taxa de sobrevivência.

We report on a top-emitting organic light-emitting device (TE-OLED) using a thermally evaporated and semi-transparent NiO film as a top-electrode. Our TE-OLED was fabricated, basically taking the reverse sequence for the fabrication of a conventional bottom-emitting organic light-emitting device (BE-OLED). Since the resultant sheet resistance of our NiO was high (8 kΩ/□) and its transmittance was only 50%, the resulting luminance (∼150 cd/m 2 ) and injection current (∼50 mA/cm 2 ) of our TE-OLED were much inferior to those of the BE-OLED device. However, its top-emitting was clearly observable and is thus concluded that our TE-OLED using thermally evaporated NiO, is quite promising if the NiO is controlled to have lower sheet resistance than the present value.

Chemical investigations into maize (Zea mays L.) kernels yielded phenolic compounds, which were structurally established using chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. The isolated phenolic compounds from maize kernel were examined in vitro for their antioxidant abilities by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine) radical, OH radical scavenging activity, and reducing ability, along with α-glucosidase and xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibition. The isolated maize phenolics revealed significant xanthine oxidase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity to that of allopurinol and acarbose in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The kinetics study with xanthine oxidase revealed competitive type of inhibition by isolated maize vanillic acid (M2), ferulic acid (M5), 3'-methoxyhirsutrin (M7), and peonidin-3-glucoside (M10) as compared to control allopurinol. Overall, with few exceptions, all the phenolic compounds from maize kernel revealed significant biological activities with all parameters examined. Also, the phenolic compounds from maize were found to be more reactive toward DPPH radical and had considerable reducing ability and OH radical scavenging activity. These findings suggest that maize kernel phenolic compounds can be considered as potential antioxidant, α-glucosidase, and XO inhibitory agents those might be further explored for the design of lead antioxidant, antidiabetic and antigout drug candidates using in vivo trials.

2-Aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazole derivatives having different side chains on the structure were examined in vitro for their antioxidant abilities by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine radical scavenging activity, reducing ability, OH radical scavenging activity, inhibition of polyphenol oxidase and xanthine oxidase. Overall, with few exceptions, all the 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles showed moderate biological activity with all parameters examined. The 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles were found to be reactive toward 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine radical and had considerable reducing ability, with significant xanthine oxidase inhibition. With few exceptions, all the compounds under study were found to possess moderate-to-poor OH radical scavenging activity and inhibited polyphenol oxidase significantly. These findings suggest that these 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benzimidazoles can be considered as potential antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitory agents, those might be further, explored for the design of lead antioxidant and antigout drug candidates using in vivo trials.

The authors report on the fabrication of rubrene organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with crystalline and amorphous channels, which were achieved by patterning a rubrene thin film deposited under a specific condition. The deposited film was mostly covered by amorphous rubrene matrix with smooth surface except many crystalline rubrene disks embedded with rough surface. When the channel of OTFT covers some portion of crystalline disks, the OTFT displayed a typical field effect behavior while it showed little drain current with the channel covered with amorphous background. Typical field mobility obtained from OTFT with crystalline disks was 1.23×10−4cm2∕Vs with an on/off current ratio of ∼103.

We report on the fabrication of rubrene thin-film transistors (TFTs) with spin-coated poly-4-vinylphenol (PVP) dielectric on indium-tin oxide/plastic substrate. Under a specific growth condition of 80°C in situ vacuum anneal following thermal deposition, initial amorphous rubrene film was successfully transformed into crystalline phase, both on hydrophobic PVP and on SiO 2 /p + -Si substrate, whose surface is relatively hydrophilic. The transformation or growth kinetics of the crystalline rubrene domain was much faster on PVP than on the SiO 2 gate dielectric. As a result, the rubrene TFT with PVP dielectric exhibited an order of magnitude higher field mobility (∼6 × 10 -3 cm 2 /V s) than that of the other one with SiO 2 dielectric.