In: Endocrinology, 2006, vol. 147(1), p. 31-38
The mechanisms by which CRH and related peptides (i.e. the CRH/urocortin system) exert their control over thermogenesis and weight regulation have until now focused only upon their effects on brain centers controlling sympathetic outflow. Using a method that involves repeated oxygen uptake determinations in intact mouse skeletal muscle, we report here that CRH can act directly on skeletal...
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In: Hormone Research, 2006, vol. 65, no. 3, p. 90-97
Catch-up growth during infancy and childhood is increasingly recognized as a major risk factor for later development of insulin-related complications and chronic diseases, namely abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As catch-up growth per se is characterized by insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia and an accelerated rate of fat storage (i.e., catch-up fat) even in...
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In: The European Physical Journal: Applied Physics, 2006, vol. 33, p. 221-224
For physical processes which express themselves as a frequency, for example magnetic field measurements using optically-pumped alkali-vapor magnetometers, the precise extraction of the frequency from the noisy signal is a classical problem. We describe herein a frequency measurement system based on an inexpensive commercially available computer sound card coupled with a software single-tone...
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In: Journal of Biological Rhythms, 2006, vol. 21(3), p. 169-176
In mammals, circadian rhythms in behavior and physiology are controlled by a central pacemaker, the SCN, and subordinated clocks throughout the body. On the molecular level, these clocks are based on transcriptional/translational feedback loops involving a set of clock genes that regulate their own transcription. Among the components driving the mammalian circadian clock are the Period 1...
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In: Journal of Neural Transmission, 2006, vol. 113, no. 3, p. 347-356
Learning and memory, like most physiological processes, seem to be under the control of circadian rhythm. The recently cloned mPer1 and mPer2 genes play an important role in the regulation of the circadian rhythm. In this study, we tested mPer1 and mPer2 mutant mice in two different learning and memory paradigms, a water-maze place navigation task and contextual...
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In: Chronobiology International, 2006, vol. 23, no. 1-2, p. 51–157
A functional circadian clock has long been considered a selective advantage. Accumulating evidence shows that the clock coordinates a variety of physiological processes in order to schedule them to the optimal time of day and thus to synchronize metabolism to changes in external conditions. In mitochondria, both metabolic and cellular defense mechanisms are carefully regulated. Abnormal clock...
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In: Biological Procedures Online, 2005, vol. 7, p. 101-116
Most behavioral experiments within circadian research are based on the analysis of locomotor activity. This paper introduces scientists to chronobiology by explaining the basic terminology used within the field. Furthermore, it aims to assist in designing, carrying out, and evaluating wheel-running experiments with rodents, particularly mice. Since light is an easily applicable stimulus that...
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In: European Journal of Neuroscience, 2006, vol. 23, no. 4, p. 1082-1086
We developed a non-invasive method to measure and quantify human circadian PER2 gene expression in oral mucosa samples and show that this gene oscillates in a circadian (= about a day) fashion. We also have the first evidence that induction of human PER2 expression is stimulated by exposing subjects to 2 h of light in the evening. This increase in PER2 expression was statistically significant...
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In: Journal of Biological Rhythms, 2006, vol. 21, no. 2, p. 149-154
A genetic approach was used to investigate whether the emergence of circadian rhythms in murine pups is dependent on a functional maternal clock. Arrhythmic females bearing either the mPer1Brdm1/Per2Brdm1 or mPer2Brdm1/Cry1-/- double-mutant genotype were crossed with wild-type males under constant darkness. The heterozygous offspring have the genetic...
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In this paper we propose to regard an Agent Communication Language (ACL) as a set of conventions to act on a fragment of institutional reality, defined in the context of an artificial institution. Within such an approach, we first reformulate a previously proposed commitment-based semantics for ACLs. In particular we show that all commonly used types of communicative acts can be defined in terms...
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