Selection of high berberine yielding phellodendron insulare nak. lines and the antimicrobial activity of their extracts

High berberine yielding Phellodendron insulare Nak. lines were selected by aggregate cloning method and the antimicrobial activity of their extracts was assessed. The berberine producing cork tree lines were selected by adopting a colorimetric method. In all 300 high berberine producing lines were selected with a colorimetric reagent containing 5M HCl and H2O2 and established from dissociated cell aggregates. The crude extracts from these lines showed antibacterial activities against tested Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimulium, and Listeria monocytogenes. The cork tree extracts were found to be inhibitory to these test organisms. Further the antimicrobial activity of plant extracts was on par with the berberine isolated from the extracts from native cork trees. These results have potential for developing alternative plant products as antimicrobial substances for application in agriculture and food industry

An Oral Selective Alpha-1A Adrenergic Receptor Agonist Prevents Doxorubicin Cardiotoxicity

Alpha-1 adrenergic receptors (α1-ARs) play adaptive and protective roles in the heart. Dabuzalgron is an oral selective α1A-AR agonist that was well tolerated in multiple clinical trials of treatment for urinary incontinence, but has never been used to treat heart disease in humans or animal models. In this study, the authors administered dabuzalgron to mice treated with doxorubicin (DOX), a widely used chemotherapeutic agent with dose-limiting cardiotoxicity that can lead to heart failure (HF). Dabuzalgron protected against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity, likely by preserving mitochondrial function. These results suggest that activating cardiac α1A-ARs with dabuzalgron, a well-tolerated oral agent, might represent a novel approach to treating HF

DNA methylation loss promotes immune evasion of tumours with high mutation and copy number load

Mitotic cell division increases tumour mutation burden and copy number load, predictive markers of the clinical benefit of immunotherapy. Cell division correlates also with genomic demethylation involving methylation loss in late-replicating partial methylation domains. Here we find that immunomodulatory pathway genes are concentrated in these domains and transcriptionally repressed in demethylated tumours with CpG island promoter hypermethylation. Global methylation loss correlated with immune evasion signatures independently of mutation burden and aneuploidy. Methylome data of our cohort (n = 60) and a published cohort (n = 81) in lung cancer and a melanoma cohort (n = 40) consistently demonstrated that genomic methylation alterations counteract the contribution of high mutation burden and increase immunotherapeutic resistance. Higher predictive power was observed for methylation loss than mutation burden. We also found that genomic hypomethylation correlates with the immune escape signatures of aneuploid tumours. Hence, DNA methylation alterations implicate epigenetic modulation in precision immunotherapy

Evolution of particle breakage studied using x-ray tomography and the discrete element method

Particle breakage can significantly change the fabric (size and shape of particles and contact network) of a granular material, affecting highly the material's macroscopic response. In this paper, oedometric compression tests are performed on zeolite specimens and x-ray computed micro-tomography is employed, to acquire high resolution 3D images of the specimens throughout the test. The images are processed, to describe breakage spatially and quantify it throughout the test and gain information about the mechanisms leading to particle breakage. In addition to the image processing, the discrete element method (DEM) is used to study the initiation and likelihood of particle breakage, by simulating the experimental test during the early stages of loading and using quantitative results from the images to inform and validate the DEM model. A discrete digital image correlation is used, in order to incrementally identify intact grains and simultaneously get results about the strain field within the specimen, as well as the kinematics of individual grains and fragments. In the initial stages of breakage, there is a clear boundary effect on the spatial distribution of breakage, as it is concentrated at the moving boundary (more than 90% of total breakage) and circumferentially (more than 70% of total breakage) close to the apparatus cell. The DEM model can reproduce the bulk response of the material until the point where substantial breakage governs the macroscopic response and it starts to soften. Additionally, there is an initial indication that the spatial distribution of the force network matches the localisation of breakage radially, but it does not seem to localise close to the loading platen. This analysis will enrich our understanding of the mechanisms and evolution of particle breakage

Search for the Rare Decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e, J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e, and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e-

We report on a search for the decays J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c., J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c., and J/Psi --> D0bar e+ e- + c.c. in a sample of 5.8 * 10^7 J/Psi events collected with the BESII detector at the BEPC. No excess of signal above background is observed, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions are set: B(J/Psi --> Ds- e+ nu_e + c.c.)<4.8*10^-5, B(J/Psi --> D- e+ nu_e + c.c.) D0bar e+ e- + c.c.)<1.1*10^-5Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Measurements of J/psi Decays into 2(pi+pi-)eta and 3(pi+pi-)eta

Based on a sample of 5.8X 10^7 J/psi events taken with the BESII detector, the branching fractions of J/psi--> 2(pi+pi-)eta and J/psi-->3(pi+pi-)eta are measured for the first time to be (2.26+-0.08+-0.27)X10^{-3} and (7.24+-0.96+-1.11)X10^{-4}, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

BESII Detector Simulation

A Monte Carlo program based on Geant3 has been developed for BESII detector simulation. The organization of the program is outlined, and the digitization procedure for simulating the response of various sub-detectors is described. Comparisons with data show that the performance of the program is generally satisfactory.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, uses elsart.cls, to be submitted to NIM

Measurement of branching fractions for the inclusive Cabibbo-favored ~K*0(892) and Cabibbo-suppressed K*0(892) decays of neutral and charged D mesons

The branching fractions for the inclusive Cabibbo-favored ~K*0 and Cabibbo-suppressed K*0 decays of D mesons are measured based on a data sample of 33 pb-1 collected at and around the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider. The branching fractions for the decays D+(0) -> ~K*0(892)X and D0 -> K*0(892)X are determined to be BF(D0 -> \~K*0X) = (8.7 +/- 4.0 +/- 1.2)%, BF(D+ -> ~K*0X) = (23.2 +/- 4.5 +/- 3.0)% and BF(D0 -> K*0X) = (2.8 +/- 1.2 +/- 0.4)%. An upper limit on the branching fraction at 90% C.L. for the decay D+ -> K*0(892)X is set to be BF(D+ -> K*0X) < 6.6%

Study of J/ψ→ωK+K−J/\psi \to \omega K^+K^-

New data are presented on $J/\psi \to \omega K^+K^-$ from a sample of 58M $J/\psi$ events in the upgraded BES II detector at the BEPC. There is a conspicuous signal for $f_0(1710) \to K^+K^-$ and a peak at higher mass which may be fitted with $f_2(2150) \to K\bar K$. From a combined analysis with $\omega \pi ^+ \pi ^-$ data, the branching ratio $BR(f_0(1710)\to\pi\pi)/BR(f_0(1710) \to K\bar K)$ is $< 0.11$ at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.