2,979 research outputs found
Astragalus polysaccharide relieves reproductive toxicity in phenobarbital-treated epileptic rats
Purpose: To investigate the underlying mechanisms by which Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) relieves the reproductive toxicity induced by phenobarbital (PB) treatment in epileptic rats.Methods: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay kits were used to quantify cell apoptosis in an epileptic rat model. The weight of sex organs and levels of three reproductive hormones, viz, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone, were measured in order to evaluate the effect of APS administration on reproductive ability. Concentration, motility, morphology as well as fertilization rate of sperms were analyzed as well.Results: Increase in sex organ weight and decrease in apoptosis were both associated with oral APS treatment. In APS-treated group, FSH, LH, and testosterone levels were raised while concentration, motility and normal morphology of sperm also increased. This was consistent with the observed increase in fertilization rate. In addition, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining of the testis was performed in the epileptic rat model showed that the size of cell lumen increased in APS-treated group. All APSassociated phenotypes occurred in a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusion: These data suggest that APS lowers reproductive toxicity in PB-treated epileptic rats by regulating the reproductive hormones, FSH, LH and testosterone, and also by altering the concentration, motility, and morphology of sperm. Thus, APS has a potential treatment for minimizing the side effects of antiepileptic drugs.Keywords: Astragalus polysaccharide, Reproductive toxicity, Phenobarbital, Epileptic rat
Near-Infrared (NIR) Luminescent Homoleptic Lanthanide Salen Complexes Ln(4)(Salen)(4) (Ln = Nd, Yb Or Er)
The series of homoleptic tetranuclear [Ln(4)(L)(2)(HL)(2)(NO3)(2)(OH)(2)]center dot 2(NO3) (Ln = Nd, 1; Ln = Yb, 2; Ln = Er, 3; Ln = Gd, 4) have been self-assembled from the reaction of the Salen-type Schiff-base ligand H2L with Ln(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O (Ln = Nd, Yb, Er or Gd), respectively (H2L: N, N'-bis(salicylidene) cyclohexane-1,2-diamine). The result of their photophysical properties shows that the strong and characteristic NIR luminescence for complexes 1 and 2 with emissive lifetimes in microsecond ranges are observed and the sensitization arises from the excited state (both (LC)-L-1 and (LC)-L-3) of the Salen-type Schiff-base ligand with the flexible linker.National Natural Science Foundation 21173165, 20871098Ministry of Education of China NCET-10-0936Higher Education of China 20116101110003State Key Laboratory of Structure Chemistry 20100014Education Committee Foundation of Shaanxi Province 11JK0588Hong Kong Research Grants Council, P. R. of China HKBU 202407, FRG/06-07/II-16)Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Robert A. Welch Foundation F-816Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board ARP 003658-0010-2006Petroleum Research Fund 47014-AC5Chemistr
Priprema, identifikacija i antioksidacijska svojstva kelatnog kompleksa željeza i oligopeptida izoliranog iz mesa japanske svilaste crne kokoši (Gallus galllus domesticus Brisson)
Black-bone silky fowl iron(II)-oligopeptide chelate was synthesized from iron(II) solution and the black-bone silky fowl oligopeptide, which was extracted from the muscle protein of black-bone silky fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus Brisson). Orthogonal array analysis was used to determine the optimal conditions for the iron(II)-oligopeptide chelate preparation. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to identify the structure of iron(II)-oligopeptide chelate. 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide radical scavenging assays were performed to compare the antioxidant abilities of the black-bone silky fowl oligopeptide and iron(II)-oligopeptide chelate. The optimal conditions for iron(II) oligopeptide chelate preparation were 4 % of the black-bone silky fowl oligopeptide and a ratio of the black-bone silky fowl oligopeptide to FeCl2·4H2O of 5:1 at pH=4. Under these conditions, the chelation rate was (84.9±0.2) % (p<0.05), and the chelation yield was (40.3±0.1) % (p<0.05). The structures detected with UV-Vis spectroscopy, electron microscopy and FTIR spectra changed significantly after chelation, suggesting that Fe(II) ions formed coordinate bonds with carboxylate (-RCOO¯) and amino (-NH2) groups in the oligopeptides, confirming that this is a new oligopeptide-iron chelate. The iron(II)-oligopeptide chelate had stronger scavenging activity towards DPPH and superoxide radicals than did the black-bone silky fowl oligopeptide.Kelatni kompleks željeza i oligopeptida sintetiziran je dodatkom praha proteina izoliranog iz mesa japanske svilaste crne kokoši (Gallus galllus domesticus Brisson) otopini iona Fe2+. Optimalni uvjeti keliranja određeni su pomoću ortogonalnog plana. Struktura kelata ispitana je pomoću UV-Vis spektroskopije, elektronskog mikroskopa i FTIR spektroskopije. Uspoređena je antioksidacijska aktivnost oligopeptida i kelata, i to ispitivanjem sposobnosti uklanjanja DPPH i superoksidnih radikala. Optimalni uvjeti keliranja bili su: omjer mase oligopeptida i volumena otopine od 4 %, maseni omjer oligopeptida i otopine željezovog(II) klorida od 5:1 i pH-vrijednost od 4. Pri tim je uvjetima uspješnost keliranja bila (84,9±0,2) % (p˂0,05), a prinos kelata (40,3±0,1) % (p˂0,05). Isptivanjem spojeva pomoću UV-Vis spektroskopije, elektronskog mikroskopa i FTIR spektroskopije utvrđeno je da se struktura kelata bitno promijenila, te da je nastao novi spoj, najvjerojatnije vezivanjem iona Fe2+ s karboksilnom i amino skupinom oligopeptida. Kelatni kompleks imao je izraženiju sposobnost uklanjanja DPPH i superoksidnih radikala od oligopeptida
Constructing the Equation of State of QCD in a functional QCD based scheme
We construct the equation of state (EoS) of QCD based on the finite chemical
potential information from the functional QCD approaches, with the assistance
of the lattice QCD EoS. The obtained EoS is consistent with the up-to-date
estimations of the QCD phase diagram, including a phase transition temperature
at zero chemical potential of MeV, the curvature of the transition line
and also a critical end point at MeV. In
specific, the phase diagram mapping is achieved by incorporating the order
parameters into the EoS, namely the dynamical quark mass for the chiral phase
transition together with the Polyakov loop parameter for the deconfinement
phase transition. We also implement the EoS in hydrodynamic simulations to
compute the particle yields, ratios and collective flow, and find that our
obtained EoS agrees well with the commonly used one based on the combination of
lattice QCD simulation and hadron resonance gas model.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure
Reconfigurable nanoelectronics using graphene based spintronic logic gates
This paper presents a novel design concept for spintronic nanoelectronics
that emphasizes a seamless integration of spin-based memory and logic circuits.
The building blocks are magneto-logic gates based on a hybrid
graphene/ferromagnet material system. We use network search engines as a
technology demonstration vehicle and present a spin-based circuit design with
smaller area, faster speed, and lower energy consumption than the
state-of-the-art CMOS counterparts. This design can also be applied in
applications such as data compression, coding and image recognition. In the
proposed scheme, over 100 spin-based logic operations are carried out before
any need for a spin-charge conversion. Consequently, supporting CMOS
electronics requires little power consumption. The spintronic-CMOS integrated
system can be implemented on a single 3-D chip. These nonvolatile logic
circuits hold potential for a paradigm shift in computing applications.Comment: 14 pages (single column), 6 figure
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