Reduction of networks provides a hierarchical view of complex networks and gives insight knowledge into their coarse-grained structural properties. Although network reduction has been extensively AR-13324 price studied in computer science, adaptation and exploration of these concepts are still lacking for the analysis of biochemical reaction systems. Using the Petri net formalism, we describe two local network structures, common transition pairs and minimal transition invariants. We apply these two structural elements for network reduction. The reduction preserves the CTI-property (covered by transition invariants), which is an important

feature for completeness of biological models. We demonstrate this concept for a selection of metabolic networks including a benchmark network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose straightforward treatment is not yet feasible even on modern super-computers. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Pain processing has been poorly studied in multiple system atrophy (MSA), notwithstanding these subjects complaint pain very frequently. We hypothesized that, as observed in other basal ganglia neurodegenerative disorders involving the striatonigral projections, also in MSA with predominant parkinsonian signs could be detected an abnormal pain processing. We used the temporal summation threshold

(TST) of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) and the related pain sensation to evaluate the temporal pain processing at spinal level in eleven MSA subjects

and compared them with fifteen Necrostatin-1 clinical trial Parkinson’s disease (PD) subjects, in both during “”on”" and “”off”" treatment with L-Dopa, and fifteen healthy subjects. Evofosfamide mouse MSA showed a significant reduction in NWR TST as well as facilitation in other pain responses when compared to healthy subjects; no differences were detected between “”on”" and “”off”" condition; no differences were detected between MSA and PD subjects in term of neurophysiological and pharmacological responses. We demonstrated a facilitated temporal processing of pain in MSA subjects paralleling findings from PD. We hypothesize that the abnormal pain processing detected in both MSA and PD, could represent a consequence of the striatonigral neurodegeneration which in turn make these subjects more prone to develop pain conditions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Botulism, a disease of humans characterized by prolonged paralysis, is caused by botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the most poisonous substances known. There are seven serotypes of BoNT (A-G) which differ from each other by 34-64% at the amino acid level. Each serotype is uniquely recognized by polyclonal antibodies, which originally were used to classify serotypes.