Search for Intrinsic Excitations in 152Sm

The 685 keV excitation energy of the first excited 0+ state in 152Sm makes it an attractive candidate to explore expected two-phonon excitations at low energy. Multiple-step Coulomb excitation and inelastic neutron scattering studies of 152Sm are used to probe the E2 collectivity of excited 0+ states in this "soft" nucleus and the results are compared with model predictions. No candidates for two-phonon K=0+ quadrupole vibrational states are found. A 2+, K=2 state with strong E2 decay to the first excited K=0+ band and a probable 3+ band member are established.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review

Computational Characterization and Prediction of Estrogen Receptor Coactivator Binding Site Inhibitors

Many carcinogens have been shown to cause tissue specific tumors in animal models. The mechanism for this specificity has not been fully elucidated and is usually attributed to differences in organ metabolism. For heterocyclic amines, potent carcinogens that are formed in well-done meat, the ability to either bind to the estrogen receptor and activate or inhibit an estrogenic response will have a major impact on carcinogenicity. Here we describe our work with the human estrogen receptor alpha (hERa) and the mutagenic/carcinogenic heterocyclic amines PhIP, MeIQx, IFP, and the hydroxylated metabolite of PhIP, N2-hydroxy-PhIP. We found that PhIP, in contrast to the other heterocyclic amines, increased cell-proliferation in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and activated the hERa receptor. We show mechanistic data supporting this activation both computationally by homology modeling and docking, and by NMR confirmation that PhIP binds with the ligand binding domain (LBD). This binding competes with estradiol (E2) in the native E2 binding cavity of the receptor. We also find that other heterocyclic amines and N2-hydroxy-PhIP inhibit ER activation presumably by binding into another cavity on the LBD. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations of inhibitory heterocyclic amines reveal a disruption of the surface of the receptor protein involved with protein-protein signaling. We therefore propose that the mechanism for the tissue specific carcinogenicity seen in the rat breast tumors and the presumptive human breast cancer associated with the consumption of well-done meat maybe mediated by this receptor activation

Change in convergence and accommodation after two weeks of eye exercises in typical young adults

Abstract: Introduction Although eye exercises appear to help heterophoria, convergence insufficiency and intermittent strabismus, true treatment effects can be confounded by placebo, practice and encouragement factors. This study assessed objective changes in vergence and accommodation responses in typical naïve young adults after two weeks of exercises compared to control conditions to assess the extent of treatment effects occur above other factors. Methods 156 asymptomatic young adults were randomly assigned to 6 exercise groups or 2 no-treatment groups. Treatment targeted i) accommodation, ii)vergence, iii) both, iv) convergence>accommodation, v)accommodation>convergence, or vi) a placebo. All were re-tested under identical conditions, except for the second control group who were additionally encouraged during testing. Objective accommodation and vergence were assessed to a range of targets moving in depth containing combinations of blur, disparity and proximity/looming cues. Results Response gain improved more for less naturalistic targets where more improvement was possible. Convergence exercises improved vergence for near across all targets (P=.035). Mean accommodation changed similarly,but non-significantly. No other treatment group differed significantly from the non-encouraged control group, while encouraging effort produced significantly increased vergence (P=.004) and accommodation (P=.005) gains in the other control group. Conclusions True treatment effects were small, only significantly better after vergence exercises to a non-accommodative target, and were rarely related to response they were designed to improve. Exercising accommodation without convergence made no difference to accommodation to cues containing detail. Additional effort improved objective responses the most, so should be controlled carefully in research, and considered when auditing treatment

Essiac? and Flor-Essence? herbal tonics stimulate the in vitro growth of human breast cancer cells

People diagnosed with cancer often self-administer complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) to supplement their conventional treatments, improve health, or prevent recurrence. Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign} Herbal Tonics are commercially available complex mixtures of herbal extracts sold as dietary supplements and used by cancer patients based on anecdotal evidence that they can treat or prevent disease. In this study, we evaluated Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign} for their effects on the growth of human tumor cells in culture. The effect of Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign} herbal tonics on cell proliferation was tested in MCF-7, MDA-MB-436, MDA-MB-231, and T47D cancer cells isolated from human breast tumors. Estrogen receptor (ER) dependent activation of a luciferase reporter construct was tested in MCF-7 cells. Specific binding to the ER was tested using an ICI 182,780 competition assay. Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign} herbal tonics at 1%, 2%, 4% and 8% stimulated cell proliferation relative to untreated controls and activated ER dependent luciferase activity in MCF-7 cells. A 10{sup -7} M concentration of ICI 870,780 inhibited the induction of ER dependent luciferase activity by Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign}, but did not affect cell proliferation. Flor-Essence{reg_sign} and Essiac{reg_sign} Herbal Tonics can stimulate the growth of human breast cancer cells through ER mediated as well as ER independent mechanisms of action. Cancer patients and health care providers can use this information to make informed decisions about the use of these CAMs

Desulfurispira natronophila gen. nov. sp. nov.: an obligately anaerobic dissimilatory sulfur-reducing bacterium from soda lakes

Anaerobic enrichment cultures with elemental sulfur as electron acceptor and either acetate or propionate as electron donor and carbon source at pH 10 and moderate salinity inoculated with sediments from soda lakes in Kulunda Steppe (Altai, Russia) resulted in the isolation of two novel members of the bacterial phylum Chrysiogenetes. The isolates, AHT11 and AHT19, represent the first specialized obligate anaerobic dissimilatory sulfur respirers from soda lakes. They use either elemental sulfur/polysulfide or arsenate as electron acceptor and a few simple organic compounds as electron donor and carbon source. Elemental sulfur is reduced to sulfide through intermediate polysulfide, while arsenate is reduced to arsenite. The bacteria belong to the obligate haloalkaliphiles, with a pH growth optimum from 10 to 10.2 and a salt range from 0.2 to 3.0 M Na+ (optimum 0.4–0.6 M). According to the phylogenetic analysis, the two strains were close to each other, but distinct from the nearest relative, the haloalkaliphilic sulfur-reducing bacterium Desulfurispirillum alkaliphilum, which was isolated from a bioreactor. On the basis of distinct phenotype and phylogeny, the soda lake isolates are proposed as a new genus and species, Desulfurispira natronophila (type strain AHT11T = DSM22071T = UNIQEM U758T)

In vivo testing of novel vaccine prototypes against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae) is a Gram-negative bacterium that represents the main cause of porcine pleuropneumonia in pigs, causing significant economic losses to the livestock industry worldwide. A. pleuropneumoniae, as the majority of Gram-negative bacteria, excrete vesicles from its outer membrane (OM), accordingly defined as outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Thanks to their antigenic similarity to the OM, OMVs have emerged as a promising tool in vaccinology. In this study we describe the in vivo testing of several vaccine prototypes for the prevention of infection by all known A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes. Previously identified vaccine candidates, the recombinant proteins ApfA and VacJ, administered individually or in various combinations with the OMVs, were employed as vaccination strategies. Our data show that the addition of the OMVs in the vaccine formulations significantly increased the specific IgG titer against both ApfA and VacJ in the immunized animals, confirming the previously postulated potential of the OMVs as adjuvant. Unfortunately, the antibody response raised did not translate into an effective protection against A. pleuropneumoniae infection, as none of the immunized groups following challenge showed a significantly lower degree of lesions than the controls. Interestingly, quite the opposite was true, as the animals with the highest IgG titers were also the ones bearing the most extensive lesions in their lungs. These results shed new light on A. pleuropneumoniae pathogenicity, suggesting that antibody-mediated cytotoxicity from the host immune response may play a central role in the development of the lesions typically associated with A. pleuropneumoniae infections

Applied Plasma Research

Contains research objectives, summary of research and reports on four research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant GK-28282X1)National Science Foundation (Grant GK-33843

Distinguishing Monosaccharide Stereo- and Structural Isomers with ToF-SIMS and Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is utilized to examine the mass spectra and fragmentation patterns of seven isomeric monosaccharides. Multivariate statistical analysis techniques, including principal component analysis (PCA), allow discrimination of the extremely similar mass spectra of stereoisomers. Furthermore, PCA identifies those fragment peaks which vary significantly between spectra. Heavy isotope studies confirm that these peaks are indeed sugar fragments, allow identification of the fragments, and provide clues to the fragmentation pathways. Excellent reproducibility is shown by multiple experiments performed over time and on separate samples. This study demonstrates the combined selectivity and discrimination power of ToF-SIMS and PCA, and suggests new applications of the technique including differentiation of subtle chemical changes in biological samples that may provide insights into cellular processes, disease progress, and disease diagnosis