Functional lysophosphatidic acid receptor in bovine luteal cells 1This paper is dedicated to Prof. F.A. Leidenberger, the founder of the Institute for Hormone and Fertility Research, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.1

AbstractThe aim of this study was to determine whether luteal cells possess functional receptors for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). We present evidence that [3H]LPA binds to a 38–40 kDa protein in a membrane fraction prepared from luteal cells and that this phospholipid is able to induce tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins (65–125 kDa). Furthermore, LPA upregulates forskolin- and LH/GTP-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity by changing its Vmax. Although a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein has been reported to transmit the inhibitory signals between the LPA receptor and adenylyl cyclase, the observed upregulation of the enzyme activity in luteal cells is not abolished after pre-treating the cells with the toxin, suggesting that a different mechanism is operative in these cells. According to the pharmacological regulatory pattern it is suggested that the modulated adenylyl cyclase isoform is the enzyme subtype V expressed in luteal cells

Reversible, repeatable and low phase transition behaviour of spin coated nanostructured vanadium oxide thin films with superior mechanical properties

Smooth, uniform and crystalline vanadium oxide thin films were deposited on quartz by spin coating technique with four different rpm i.e., 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 and subsequently post annealed at 350, 450 and 550 °C in vacuum. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were utilized for microstructural characterizations and phase analysis, respectively, for vanadium oxide powder and deposited film. Nanorods were observed to be grown after vacuum annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was utilized to study the elemental oxidation state of deposited vanadium oxide films. Thermo-optical and electrical properties such as solar transmittance (τs), reflectance (ρs), absorptance (αs), infrared (IR) emittance (εir) and sheet resistance (Rs) of different thin films were evaluated. Based on the optical characteristics the optimized condition of the film processing was identified to be spin coated at 3000 rpm. Subsequently, the nanoindentation technique was utilized to measure hardness and Young's modulus of the optimized film. The measured nanomechanical properties were found to be superior to those reported for sputtered vanadium oxide films. Finally, temperature dependent phase transition characteristics of optimized vanadium oxide films were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. Reversible and repeatable phase transition was found to occur in the range of 44–48 °C which was significantly lower than the phase transition temperature (i.e., 68 °C) of bulk VO2

Antimicrobial Activity of Cuminum cyminum L.

El comino (Cuminum cyminum) es un ingrediente habitual en la comida india. Ha sido usado desde hace mucho tiempo en la medicina tradicional para curar la diarrea, dispepsia y trastornos gástricos, así como agente antiséptico. Estudios realizados en nuestro laboratorio han mostrado que el comino tiene una potente actividad antimicrobiana sobre diversas especies de bacterias y hongos, tanto patógenas como no patógenas. Los estudios químicos realizados indican que la mayor parte de esta actividad antimicrobiana es debida al cuminaldehido [p-isopropil benzaldehido] presente en el fruto desecado de esta planta. Los estudios de concentración mínima inhibitoria (CMI) con el cuminaldehido aislado (comparado con el cuminaldehido patrón) indican que es efectivo sobre diferentes microorganismos, incluyendo cepas de bacterias, levaduras y hongos.Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is a widely used ingredient in Indian food. It has been used for a very long time in traditional medicine in the treatment of diarrhoea, dyspepsia and gastric disorders, and as an antiseptic agent. Studies carried out at our laboratory have shown that cumin has powerful antimicrobial properties against diverse species of bacteria and fungi, as much in the case of pathogens as in non-pathogens. The chemical studies carried out indicate that the greater part of this antimicrobial activity may be attributed to the cuminaldehyde [p-isopropil benzaldehyde] that is present in the dried fruit of this plant. Minimum inhibitory concentration studies (MIC) with isolated cuminaldehyde (compared with standard cuminaldehyde) indicate that it is effective upon different microorganisms, including bacterial strains, yeasts and fungi

Antimicrobial actions of Illicium verum Hook. f.

Entre las diferentes especies de Illicium, Illicium verum Hook.f., conocido vulgarmente como anís estrellado, posee potentes propiedades antimicrobianas. Los estudios químicos realizados indican que la mayor parte de esta actividad antimicrobiana se debe al anetol [1-metoxi-4-(1-propenil)-benceno] presente en el fruto desecado de esta planta. Ensayos de concentración mínima inhibitoria (CMI) con el anetol aislado, en comparación con un patrón de anetol, indicaron que es efectivo sobre diferentes microorganismos, entre los que se encuentran cepas de bacterias, levaduras y hongos.Among the different Illicium species, Illicium verum Hook.f commonly known as star anise, posseses potent antimicrobial properties. Detailed chemical studies indicate that a major portion of this antimicrobial activity is due to anethole [1- methoxy-4-(1-propenyl)-benzene] present in the dried fruit of this plant. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) studies with isolated anethole, as compared with standard anethole, indicated that it is effective against different microorganisms including bacteria, yeast and fungal strains

On a coordinate independent description of string worldsheet theory

We study worldsheet conformal invariance for bosonic string propagating in a curved background using the hamiltonian formalism. In order to formulate the problem in a background independent manner we first rewrite the worldsheet theory in a language where it describes a single particle moving in an infinite-dimensional curved spacetime. This language is developed at a formal level without regularizing the infinite-dimensional traces. Then we adopt DeWitt's (Phys.Rev.85:653-661,1952) coordinate independent formulation of quantum mechanics in the present context. Given the expressions for the classical Virasoro generators, this procedure enables us to define the coordinate invariant quantum analogues which we call DeWitt-Virasoro generators. This framework also enables us to calculate the invariant matrix elements of an arbitrary operator constructed out of the DeWitt-Virasoro generators between two arbitrary scalar states. Using these tools we further calculate the DeWitt-Virasoro algebra in spin-zero representation. The result is given by the Witt algebra with additional anomalous terms that vanish for Ricci-flat backgrounds. Further analysis need to be performed in order to precisely relate this with the beta function computation of Friedan and others. Finally, we explain how this analysis improves the understanding of showing conformal invariance for certain pp-wave that has been recently discussed using hamiltonian framework.Comment: 32 pages, some reorganization for more elaborate explanation, no change in conclusio

Fission Hindrance in hot 216Th: Evaporation Residue Measurements

The fusion evaporation-residue cross section for 32S+184W has been measured at beam energies of E_beam = 165, 174, 185, 196, 205, 215, 225, 236, 246,and 257 MeV using the ATLAS Fragment Mass Analyzer. The data are compared with Statistical Model calculations and it is found that a nuclear dissipation strength, which increases with excitation energy, is required to reproduce the excitation function. A comparison with previously published data show that the dissipation strength depends strongly on the shell structure of the nuclear system.Comment: 15 pages 9 figure

Suppression of High-p_T Neutral Pion Production in Central Pb+Pb Collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.3 GeV Relative to p+C and p+Pb Collisions

Neutral pion transverse momentum spectra were measured in p+C and p+Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.4 GeV at mid-rapidity 2.3 < eta_lab < 3.0 over the range 0.7< p_T < 3.5 GeV/c. The spectra are compared to pi0 spectra measured in Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.3 GeV in the same experiment. For a wide range of Pb+Pb centralities (N_part < 300) the yield of pi0's with p_T > 2 GeV/c is larger than or consistent with the p+C or p+Pb yields scaled with the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions (N_coll), while for central Pb+Pb collisions with N_part > 350 the pi0 yield is suppressed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Pion Freeze-Out Time in Pb+Pb Collisions at 158 A GeV/c Studied via pi-/pi+ and K-/K+ Ratios

The effect of the final state Coulomb interaction on particles produced in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c has been investigated in the WA98 experiment through the study of the pi-/pi+ and K-/K+ ratios measured as a function of transverse mass. While the ratio for kaons shows no significant transverse mass dependence, the pi-/pi+ ratio is enhanced at small transverse mass values with an enhancement that increases with centrality. A silicon pad detector located near the target is used to estimate the contribution of hyperon decays to the pi-/pi+ ratio. The comparison of results with predictions of the RQMD model in which the Coulomb interaction has been incorporated allows to place constraints on the time of the pion freeze-out.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure