A comparison of alternative assays to measure DNA damage in stallion spermatozoa: TUNEL test versus ‘Nicoletti assay’

The aberrations of sperm DNA may cause various problems and have negative consequences on fertility. These influence embryonic development or might lead to early embryo loss. Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA) is the flow cytometric method most often used for the detection of DNA lesions; however, some studies using that method reached confusing conclusions. The aim of this pilot study was to adjust and compare two alternative tests, namely the TUNEL test and the Nicoletti assay. The above-mentioned two flow cytometric methods capable of detecting the fragmented DNA of sperm were tested on 12 frozen-thawed stallion semen samples. The TUNEL test demonstrated much higher DNA fragmentation ratio than the Nicoletti assay (mean ± SD: 30.77 ± 13.03% vs. 1.93 ± 0.89%, respectively). A fluorescent microscopic check of the samples showed that TUNEL labelled the plasma membrane and the mitochondria in a nonspecific way, rather than detecting only the fragmented DNA, thus eventually resulting in a false positive sign. The Nicoletti assay is simpler, quicker and does not detect nonspecific binding; however, further analyses are required to determine its diagnostic value

Software for the frontiers of quantum chemistry:An overview of developments in the Q-Chem 5 package

This article summarizes technical advances contained in the fifth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program package, covering developments since 2015. A comprehensive library of exchange–correlation functionals, along with a suite of correlated many-body methods, continues to be a hallmark of the Q-Chem software. The many-body methods include novel variants of both coupled-cluster and configuration-interaction approaches along with methods based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction and variational reduced density-matrix methods. Methods highlighted in Q-Chem 5 include a suite of tools for modeling core-level spectroscopy, methods for describing metastable resonances, methods for computing vibronic spectra, the nuclear–electronic orbital method, and several different energy decomposition analysis techniques. High-performance capabilities including multithreaded parallelism and support for calculations on graphics processing units are described. Q-Chem boasts a community of well over 100 active academic developers, and the continuing evolution of the software is supported by an “open teamware” model and an increasingly modular design

The effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Pistacia vera on pentylenetetrazole-induced kindling in rat

Background and objectives: Most antiepileptic drugs that are commonly being used in the clinic have a wide range of unwanted side effects; while some species of pistachioshave been used in the traditional medicine to treat epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticonvulsant effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Pistacia vera L. in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced chemical kindling. Methods: this study was carried out on 40 male Wistar rats. Chemical kindling was induced by intraperitoneal administration of PTZ (40 mg/kg) on every alternate day (30 days). The hydroalcoholic extract of P. vera (50 and 100 mg/kg) were administered orally every day (30 days). In days which animals received both PTZ and extract, PTZ was injected 30 min after extract administration. Convulsive behavior was observed for 30 min after PTZ injection and scored according to racine scale. Diazepam was used as the reference anticonvulsant drug. Results: Pretreatment with 50 and 100 mg/kg of P. vera extract decreased seizure scores, stage 4 latency and stage 5 duration compared to the control group. The anti-epileptic effects of P. vera extract were comparable to diazepam. Conclusion: The present findings demonstrated that the hydroalcoholic extract of P. vera may inhibit the development of seizure behavior following chronic PTZ-induced model of epilepsy in rats

The effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Pistacia vera on pentylenetetrazole- induced kindling in rat

Abstract Background and objectives: Most antiepileptic drugs that are commonly being used in the clinic have a wide range of unwanted side effects; while some species of pistachios have been used in the traditional medicine to treat epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticonvulsant effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Pistacia vera L. in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced chemical kindling. Methods: this study was carried out on 40 male Wistar rats. Chemical kindling was induced by intraperitoneal administration of PTZ (40 mg/kg) on every alternate day (30 days). The hydroalcoholic extract of P. vera (50 and 100 mg/kg) were administered orally every day (30 days). In days which animals received both PTZ and extract, PTZ was injected 30 min after extract administration. Convulsive behavior was observed for 30 min after PTZ injection and scored according to racine scale. Diazepam was used as the reference anticonvulsant drug. Results: Pretreatment with 50 and 100 mg/kg of P. vera extract decreased seizure scores, stage 4 latency and stage 5 duration compared to the control group. The anti-epileptic effects of P. vera extract were comparable to diazepam. Conclusion: The present findings demonstrated that the hydroalcoholic extract of P. vera may inhibit the development of seizure behavior following chronic PTZ-induced model of epilepsy in rats