Evaluation of Antioxidant Properties of Phaulopsis fascisepala C.B.Cl. (Acanthaceae)

The antioxidant activities of crude extract of Phaulopsis fascisepala leaf were evaluated and compared with α-tocopherol and BHT as synthetic antioxidants and ascorbic acid as natural-based antioxidant. In vitro, we studied its antioxidative activities, radical-scavenging effects, Fe2+-chelating ability and reducing power. The total phenolic content was determined and expressed in gallic acid equivalent. The extract showed variable activities in all of these in vitro tests. The antioxidant effect of P. fascisepala was strongly dose dependent, increased with increasing leaf extract dose and then leveled off with further increase in extract dose. Compared to other antioxidants used in the study, α-Tocopherol, ascorbic acid and BHT, P. fascisepala leaf extract showed less scavenging effect on α,α,-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and less reducing power on Fe3+/ferricyanide complex but better Fe2+-chelating ability. These results revealed the in vitro antioxidant activity of P. fascisepala. Further investigations are necessary to verify these activities in vivo

The hydrodynamic efficiency of laser-target acceleration

The acceleration of a thin foil using a laser pulse is studied. It is shown that the acceleration efficiency eta H is heavily dependent on the behaviour of the corona ejected by the foil: there is no universal relation eta H( Delta M/M0),M0 and Delta M being initial foil mass and ablated mass, respectively. Known results on the coronal flow are used to check the theory against experimental data available in the literature; effects due to both a non-planar corona, and the time-dependence of the laser irradiance, are considered. The agreement with experiments is substantially better than that for previous analyses. Acceleration of thin spherical shells is also discussed

Detailed Kinematic Study of the Ionized and Neutral Gas in the Complex of Star Formation in the Galaxy IC 1613

We carried out detailed kinematic studies of the complex of multiple HI and HII shells that represent the only region of ongoing star formation in the dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613. We investigated the ionized-gas kinematics by using Fabry--Perot H-alpha observations with the 6-m Special Astrophysical Observatory telescope and the neutral-gas kinematics by using VLA 21-cm radio observations. We identified three extended (300-350 pc) neutral shells with which the brightest HII shells in the complex of star formation are associated. The neutral-gas kinematics in the complex has been studied for the first time and the H~I shells were found to expand at a velocity of 15--18 km/s. We constructed velocity ellipses for all HII shells in the complex and refined (increased) the expansion velocities of most of them. The nature of the interacting ionized and neutral shells is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 9 EPS-figure

Inhibition of the Mitochondrial Enzyme ABAD Restores the Amyloid-β-Mediated Deregulation of Estradiol

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a conformational disease that is characterized by amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the brain. Aβ exerts its toxicity in part by receptor-mediated interactions that cause down-stream protein misfolding and aggregation, as well as mitochondrial dysfunction. Recent reports indicate that Aβ may also interact directly with intracellular proteins such as the mitochondrial enzyme ABAD (Aβ binding alcohol dehydrogenase) in executing its toxic effects. Mitochondrial dysfunction occurs early in AD, and Aβ's toxicity is in part mediated by inhibition of ABAD as shown previously with an ABAD decoy peptide. Here, we employed AG18051, a novel small ABAD-specific compound inhibitor, to investigate the role of ABAD in Aβ toxicity. Using SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, we found that AG18051 partially blocked the Aβ-ABAD interaction in a pull-down assay while it also prevented the Aβ42-induced down-regulation of ABAD activity, as measured by levels of estradiol, a known hormone and product of ABAD activity. Furthermore, AG18051 is protective against Aβ42 toxicity, as measured by LDH release and MTT absorbance. Specifically, AG18051 reduced Aβ42-induced impairment of mitochondrial respiration and oxidative stress as shown by reduced ROS (reactive oxygen species) levels. Guided by our previous finding of shared aspects of the toxicity of Aβ and human amylin (HA), with the latter forming aggregates in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) pancreas, we determined whether AG18051 would also confer protection from HA toxicity. We found that the inhibitor conferred only partial protection from HA toxicity indicating distinct pathomechanisms of the two amyloidogenic agents. Taken together, our results present the inhibition of ABAD by compounds such as AG18051 as a promising therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of AD, and suggest levels of estradiol as a suitable read-out

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Photoelectron spectra of finite-thickness layers

A method of computing x-ray photoemission spectra in the wide range of energy losses and different sighting angles is presented. Photoemission spectra for layers of finite thickness are investigated. Angular and energy spectra are analyzed using the invariant imbedding principle. They are computed using small-angle approximation and the exact numerical solution of the multiple photoelectron scattering events in solids. The presented methods of x-ray photoemission spectra analysis are compared regarding their efficiencies. Comparison of the exact numerical solution to those based on straight line approximation and small-angle approximation reveals an error in straight line approximation of about 50%. Numerical solutions are compared with the experimental data and Monte-Carlo simulations