Pu-Erh tea and GABA attenuates oxidative stress in kainic acid-induced status epilepticus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pu-Erh tea is one of the most-consumed beverages due to its taste and the anti-anxiety-producing effect of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) if contains. However the protective effects of Pu-Erh tea and its constituent, GABA to kainic acid (KA)-induced seizure have not been fully investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed the effect of Pu-Erh tea leaf (PETL) and GABA on KA-induced neuronal injury <it>in vivo </it>and <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PETL and GABA reduced the maximal seizure classes, predominant behavioral seizure patterns, and lipid peroxidation in male FVB mice with status epilepticus. PETL extracts and GABA were effective in protecting KA-treated PC12 cells in a dose-dependent manner and they decreased Ca²⁺release, ROS production and lipid peroxidation from KA-stressed PC12 cells. Western blot results revealed that mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), RhoA and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression were increased in PC12 cells under KA stress, and PETL and GABA significantly reduced COX-2 and p38 MAPK expression, but not that of RhoA. Furthermore, PETL and GABA reduced PGE₂production from KA-induced PC12 cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, PETL and GABA have neuroprotective effects against excitotoxins that may have clinical applications in epilepsy.</p

Flavor and CP Violation with Fourth Generations Revisited

The Standard Model predicts a very small CP violation phase $\sin2\Phi^{\rm SM}_{B_s} \simeq -0.04$%= \arg M_{12} \simeq \arg\,(V^*_{ts}V_{tb})^2$in$B_s$--$\bar B_s$mixing.$\lambda^2\eta$. Any finite value of$\Phi_{B_s}$measured at the Tevatron would imply New Physics. With recent hints for finite$\sin2\Phi_{B_s}$, experiments at the Tevatron, we reconsider the possibility of a 4th generation. As recent direct search bounds have become considerably heavier than 300 GeV, we take the$t'$mass to be near the unitarity bound of 500 GeV. Combining the measured values of$\Delta m_{B_s}$with${\cal B}(B \to X_s\ell^+\ell^-)$, together with typical$f_{B_s}$values, we find a sizable$\sin2\Phi^{\rm SM4}_{B_s} \sim -0.33$. Using$m_{b'} = 480$GeV, we extract the range$0.06 < |V_{t'b}| < 0.13$from the constraints of$\Gamma(Z\to b\bar b)$,$\Delta m_{D}$and${\cal B}(K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar\nu)$. A future measurement of${\cal B}(K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar\nu)$will determine$V_{t'd}$.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure

Fourth Generation Leptons and Muon g−2g-2

We consider the contributions to $g_\mu-2$ from fourth generation heavy neutral and charged leptons, $N$ and $E$, at the one-loop level. Diagrammatically, there are two types of contributions: boson-boson-$N$, and $E$-$E$-boson in the loop diagram. In general, the effect from $N$ is suppressed by off-diagonal lepton mixing matrix elements. For $E$, we consider flavor changing neutral couplings arising from various New Physics models, which are stringently constrained by $\mu\to e\gamma$. We assess how the existence of a fourth generation would affect these New Physics models.Comment: Minor changes, with references update

Mechanics of Optimal Structural Design for Extreme Loads to Peak System Responses

[[abstract]]Over the past decades, with the development of modern manufacturing and information technology, demands of smart and economical structural designs have been increasing considerably. Central to this engineering issue is that a good structural design needs to embrace both necessary capabilities to afford critical load distributions and the best arrangement of materials serving the performance criteria using limited resources. Here, a new analysis technique is proposed to achieve optimal structural designs considering peak system responses as design constraints respective to extreme load distributions. We anticipate that the technique will open a door for designing efficient structural systems which satisfy safety requirements under various sophisticated loadings from the environment.[[sponsorship]]Tamkang University[[sponsorship]]Taiwan Association of Wind Engineering[[sponsorship]]Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic[[conferencetype]]國際[[conferencetkucampus]]淡水校園[[conferencedate]]20151101~20151102[[booktype]]紙本[[iscallforpapers]]Y[[conferencelocation]]New Taipe

A case of acute appendicitis with Vibrio fluvialis peritonitis

AbstractHuman infections caused by Vibrio fluvialis are rarely reported. The most common clinical presentation of V. fluvialis infection is acute gastroenteritis with diarrhea. Reported extra-intestinal infections caused by V. fluvialis have included bacteremia, hemorrhagic cellulitis and cerebritis. Peritonitis is an uncommon clinical presentation of Vibrio infections, and most cases have occurred in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis or those with liver cirrhosis. Herein, we report the first case of acute appendicitis with V. fluvialis peritonitis

Probing Flavor Changing Neutral Higgs Couplings at LHC

Uniquely heavy with mass at the weak scale, the top quark may have large flavor changing couplings to Higgs bosons that are as yet unexplored. We show that such couplings can be directly probed at the LHC through the parton subprocess $c(\bar c)g \to t (\bar t)A^0$, where the pseudoscalar $A^0$ subsequently decays into $t \bar c$ or ${\bar t} c$, giving rise to the intriguing final state of like sign top quark pairs. After demanding $\ell^\pm\ell^\pm$, missing energy and two $b$-jets, the major background turns out to be $q\bar q' \to Wt \bar t$, which can be partially suppressed by jet counting. The signal can then manifest itself in the asymmetry of numbers of $\ell^+\ell^+$ and $\ell^-\ell^-$ events. To further improve the signal over background, efficient $t$ vs. $\bar t$ tagging methods should be developed.Comment: 14 pages, REVTEX, 3 figures include

Overexpression of hTERT increases stem-like properties and decreases spontaneous differentiation in human mesenchymal stem cell lines

To overcome loss of stem-like properties and spontaneous differentiation those hinder the expansion and application of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), we have clonally isolated permanent and stable human MSC lines by ectopic overexpression of primary cell cultures of hMSCs with HPV 16 E6E7 and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) genes. These cells were found to have a differentiation potential far beyond the ordinary hMSCs. They expressed trophoectoderm and germline specific markers upon differentiation with BMP4 and retinoic acid, respectively. Furthermore, they displayed higher osteogenic and neural differentiation efficiency than primary hMSCs or hMSCs expressed HPV16 E6E7 alone with a decrease in methylation level as proven by a global CpG island methylation profile analysis. Notably, the demethylated CpG islands were highly associated with development and differentiation associated genes. Principal component analysis further pointed out the expression profile of the cells converged toward embryonic stem cells. These data demonstrate these cells not only are a useful tool for the studies of cell differentiation both for the mesenchymal and neurogenic lineages, but also provide a valuable source of cells for cell therapy studies in animal models of skeletal and neurological disorders

Flavor Changing Neutral Higgs Couplings and Top-Charm Production at Next Linear Collider

We explore the possibility of detecting flavor changing neutral Higgs couplings at the Next Linear Collider (NLC) through $e^+e^-\to \nu_e\bar{\nu_e} t\bar{c}$. In the framework of a general two-Higgs doublet model, we perform a complete calculation and find that $\sigma (e^+e^-\to \nu_e\nu_e t\bar{c}, \nu_e\bar{\nu_e} {\bar t}c)$ could reach $\sim 9$ fb for $\sqrt{s}=2 TeV$. This amounts to an annual production of 500 $t\bar{c}$ plus $\bar{t}c$ pairs at the NLC with an integrated luminosity of 50 fb$^{-1}$. The dependence of $tc$-production rate on the neutral scalar mixing angle is mild except when $\sin^2\alpha \to 0 or 1$. The $\nu\nu W^+W^-$ background should be manageable after $b$-tagging, while $\nu\nu t\bar t$ background should not be a problem when the signal event rate is still interesting. The process, together with $e^+e^-\to \nu_e\bar{\nu_e} W^+W^-, \nu_e\bar{\nu_e} ZZ$ studies, offer the chance of measuring the $t$-$c$-Higgs coupling.Comment: REVTEX, 18 pages, 7 figures; Report number change