The zona pellucida (ZP) domain is present in extracellular proteins such as the zona pellucida proteins and tectorins and participates in the formation of polymeric protein networks. However, the ZP domain also occurs in the cytokine signaling co-receptor transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) receptor type 3 (TGFR-3, also known as betaglycan) where it contributes to cytokine ligand recognition. ...

Let Zp be the finite field of prime order p and A be a subsequence of Zp. We prove several classification results about the following questions: (1) When can one represent zero as a sum of some elements of A ? (2) When can one represent every element of Zp as a sum of some elements of A ? (3) When can one represent every element of Zp as a sum of l elements of A ?

The birefringence of fresh and fixed mouse pancreatic acinar tissue was studied, utilizing whole mounts of pancreas from which the mesentery had been removed. Fresh pancreas in Tyrode's solution demonstrated positive birefringence with respect to the radial axis (the axis radiating from the nucleus as spokes from a wheel). Formol fixation reversed the sign of birefringence to negative with resp...

The use of small antimicrobial peptides or bacteriocins, like nisin, to treat cancer is a new approach that holds great promise. Nisin exemplifies this new approach because it has been used safely in humans for many years as a food preservative, and recent laboratory studies support its anti-tumor potential in head and neck cancer. Previously, we showed that nisin (2.5%, low content) has antitu...

BACKGROUND The stage of folliculogenesis at which the human zona pellucida (ZP) is initiated and the cells responsible for the origin of the ZP continue to be controversial. This study characterizes the development of the ZP during human folliculogenesis using ovarian samples donated from patients requesting ovarian storage. METHODS Follicles (from n = 18 patients, 14-40 years old) within fre...

If p is a prime, let Zp denote the integers modulo p and Z* the set of nonzero elements of Zp. It is well known that every function from Zp x Zp x Zp into Zp can be represented as a polynomial of degree < p in each variable. We say that a polynomial f(x19 x29 x3) with coefficients in Zp is a local permutation polynomial in three variables over Zp if f(x19a9 b) 9 f{c9x29 d) , and f(e9f9 x$) are ...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine if only sperm with double stranded DNA could bind to the human zona pellucida (ZP). METHODS Sperm samples from 124 infertile men with a range of semen abnormalities were studied. Oocytes that had failed to fertilize in IVF or ICSI were used for the sperm-ZP binding test. A group of four oocytes were incubated for 2 h with 2 x 10(6)/ml motile s...

High birefringence induced by elliptical air hole photonic crystal fibers (EHPCFs) is analyzed numerically using the finite-element method. Statistical correlations between the birefringence and the various parameters are obtained. We found that the complex elliptical air hole is better than that of a circular one to obtain high birefringence in photonic crystal fibers. Our suggested structures...

PURPOSE To investigate the relationship between scleral mechanical properties, its birefringence, and the anisotropy of birefringence alteration in respect of the direction of the strain by using PS-OCT. METHODS The scleral birefringence of thirty-nine porcine eyes was measured with a prototype PS-OCT. A rectangle strip of sclera with a width of 4 mm was dissected at the temporal region 5 mm ...

All mammalian eggs are surrounded by a relatively thick extracellular coat, called the zona pellucida (ZP), that plays vital roles during oogenesis, fertilization, and preimplantation development. The mouse egg ZP consists of three glycoproteins, called mZP1-3, that are synthesized solely by oocytes during their 2-to-3 week growth phase. The ZP is seen initially as isolated extracellular deposi...