We introduced Acupoint Stimulation Physical Therapy (ASPT) as a combination of physical and acupuncture therapy. The characteristics of ASPT were as follows. We pressed acupoints on the meridians running through the affected muscles. The magnitude and duration of acupressure stimulation were maximized to alter muscle tonus and not cause pain to the patient. We demonstrated its e...

The gram-positive lactic acid bacterium Tetragenococcus halophilus catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-aspartate (Asp) with release of L-alanine (Ala) and CO(2). The decarboxylation reaction consists of two steps: electrogenic exchange of Asp for Ala catalyzed by an aspartate:alanine antiporter (AspT) and intracellular decarboxylation of the transported Asp catalyzed by an L-aspartate-beta-decar...

Tetragenococcus halophila D10 catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-aspartate with nearly stoichiometric release of L-alanine and CO(2). This trait is encoded on a 25-kb plasmid, pD1. We found in this plasmid a putative asp operon consisting of two genes, which we designated aspD and aspT, encoding an L-aspartate-beta-decarboxylase (AspD) and an aspartate-alanine antiporter (AspT), respectively, a...

AspT, the aspartate:alanine antiporter of Tetragenococcus halophilus, a membrane protein of 543 amino acids with 10 putative transmembrane (TM) helices, is the prototype of the aspartate:alanine exchanger (AAE) family of transporters. Because TM3 (isoleucine 64 to methionine 85) has many amino acid residues that are conserved among members of the AAE family and because TM3 contains two charged ...

Studies have implicated aspartame (ASP) with neurological problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in human erythrocyte membranes after incubation with the sum of ASP metabolites, phenylalanine (Phe), methanol (met) and aspartic acid (aspt), or with each one separately. Erythrocyte membranes were obtained from 12 healthy individuals and were incubated...

the present study aimed to compare the efficiency of bmwp, aspt and diversity indices in environmental monitoring of temporal rivers. for this purpose, four sampling stations were selected along the kheiroudkenar river and macroinvertebrates were sampled monthly with three replicates (from july 2012 to november 2013). bmwp and aspt were calculated using the specific scores of each family. our r...

evaluating the quality and quantity of water resources is crucial for a sustainable development. one of the simplest methods that is able to indicate the conditions of water quality in a short period and at a low cost, compared with the physicochemical methods, is by using the biological water quality indices. identifying the contamination of water resources using biomarkers, especially indices...