Effectiveness of carnosine on disturbed electrolytes homeostasis induced by cisplatin

We aimed to assess the effect of well known antioxidant carnosine on disturbed plasma and intraerythrocytes electrolytes and Na+-K+-ATPase activity by cisplatin. 24 male albino Wistar rats were selected and divided into 4 groups: Group I = untreated control; Group II = cisplatin control (received cisplatin at a dose of 3 mg/ kg body weight; i.p. for 13 alternate days); Group III = carnosine alone (treated group at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight; i.p. for 13 consecutive days); Group IV = carnosine + cisplatin pretreated group. Carnosine was administered 30 min prior to cisplatin. Carnosine significantly restored the intra – erythrocytes Na+, K+ and Na+-K+-ATPase level which consequently affect the plasma Na+, Ca++, and Mg++ level. Effective role conferred by carnosine exhibits its protective activity.Key words: Cisplatin, carnosine, electrolytes, Na+-K+-ATPase

Electron dynamics in InNxSb1–x

Electron transport properties in InNxSb1–x are investigated for a range of alloy compositions. The band structure of InNxSb1–x is modeled using a modified k·p Hamiltonian. This enables the semiconductor statistics for a given x value to be calculated from the dispersion relation of the E– subband. These calculations reveal that for alloy compositions in the range 0.001<=x<=0.02 there is only a small variation of the carrier concentration at a given plasma frequency. A similar trend is observed for the effective mass at the Fermi level. Measurements of the plasma frequency and plasmon lifetime for InNxSb1–x alloys enable the carrier concentration and the effective mass at the Fermi level to be determined and a lower limit for the electron mobility to be estimated

Core-level photoemission spectroscopy of nitrogen bonding in GaNxAs1–x alloys

The nitrogen bonding configurations in GaNxAs1–x alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy with 0.07=0.03, the nitrogen is found to exist in a single bonding configuration – the Ga–N bond; no interstitial nitrogen complexes are present. The amount of nitrogen in the alloys is estimated from the XPS using the N 1s photoelectron and Ga LMM Auger lines and is found to be in agreement with the composition determined by x-ray diffraction

Efectos inducidos por el hábitat sobre mutaciones y perfil de ácidos grasos en carpas mrigala que habitan en el fondo del río Chenab

Fish from the river Chenab were analyzed for DNA damage by the Comet and Micronucleus assays. The fatty acid profile was determined by gas chromatography using a Flame Ionization Detector. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry showed significant (p < 0.05) levels of contamination due to Cd, Hg, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, Sn and phenols in the fish habitat. The Comet assay revealed significant (p < 0.05) DNA damage in Cirrhinus mrigala of 37.29±2.51%, 34.96±2.53% and 38.80±2.42% in the comet tail, in the tail moment of 23.48±3.90, 19.78±4.26 and 14.30±1.82, in the olive moment of 16.22±2.04, 13.83±1.96 10.99±0.90, respectively, from three experimental sites. The micronucleus assay showed a high frequency of single micronucleus induction of 44.80±3.73, double induction of 06.20±0.97 and nuclear abnormalities of 09.60±1.72, as calculated in a thousand cells. C8:0, C12:0, C20:0, C16:1(n-7), C16:1(n-9), C20:1(n-9), C18:2(n-6), C18:4(n-3), C20:5(n-3), C22:4(n-6) fatty acids were found missing in the fish with a higher intensity of DNA damage but were found in optimal amounts both in farmed and wild fish from non polluted habitats. A highly significant (p < 0.01) correlation was also found in saturated, unsaturated fatty acids and DNA damage and habitat. The present study revealed that the habitat of even lower intensity pollutions not only induce DNA damage but also confiscate essential fatty acids of the omega series and reduce the amount of unsaturated fatty acids for which fish is preferred over other animals.Los daños en el ADN de los peces del río Chenab se analizaron mediante la técnica del “ensayo del cometa” y el ensayo de micronúcleos. El perfil de ácidos grasos se determinó mediante cromatografía de gases con detector de ionización de llama. La espectrofotometría de absorción atómica mostró diferencias significativas (p < 0.05) de los niveles de contaminación por Cd, Hg, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, Sn y fenoles en el hábitat de los peces. El ensayo del cometa mostró daños significativos (p < 0,05) en el ADN de las carpas mrigala de tres sitios experimentales: 37,29±2,51%, 34,96±2,53 y 38,80±2,42% del ADN en la cola del cometa, momento de la cola con 23,48±3,90, 19,78±4,26 y 14,30±1,82% y cola media con 16,22±2,04, 13,83±1,96 10,99±0,90. Los ensayos de micronúcleos mostraron una alta frecuencia de inducción de micronúcleos como única 44,80±3,73, 06,20±0,97 y doble anomalías nucleares 09,60±1,72 calculados en miles de células. C8:0, C12:0, C20:0, C16:1(n-7), C16:1 (n-9), C20:1(n-9), C18:2(n-6), C18:4(n-3), C20:5(n-3) y C22:4(n-6) se mostraron como ácidos grasos que faltan en el pescado que tiene una mayor intensidad de daño en el ADN, aunque se encuentran en cantidades óptimas, tanto en los peces de piscifactoría como en los salvajes donde no hay hábitats contaminados. Se encontró una correlación altamente significativa (p < 0,01) también en ácidos saturados, ácidos grasos insaturados, daño del ADN y hábitat. El presente estudio reveló que la intensidad de la contaminación del hábitat aún en la más baja no sólo induce daño en el ADN, sino también en la composición de los ácidos grasos de la serie omega y de los ácidos grasos insaturados, para los que se prefiere ingerir pescado a otros animales

Photoluminescence spectroscopy of bandgap reduction in dilute InNAs alloys

Photoluminescence (PL) has been observed from dilute InNxAs1–x epilayers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The PL spectra unambiguously show band gap reduction with increasing N content. The variation of the PL spectra with temperature is indicative of carrier detrapping from localized to extended states as the temperature is increased. The redshift of the free exciton PL peak with increasing N content and temperature is reproduced by the band anticrossing model, implemented via a (5×5) k·p Hamiltonian

Rapamycin inhibition of baculovirus recombinant (BVr) ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K1) is mediated by an event other than phosphorylation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1(S6K1) is an evolutionary conserved kinase that is activated in response to growth factors and viral stimuli to influence cellular growth and proliferation. This downstream effector of target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling cascade is known to be directly activated by TOR- kinase mediated hydrophobic motif (HM) phosphorylation at Threonine 412 (T412). Selective loss of this phosphorylation by inactivation of TOR kinase or activation/recruitment of a phosphatase has accordingly been implicated in mediating inhibition by rapamycin.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We present evidence that baculovirus driven expression of S6K1 in insect cells (Sf9) fails to activate the enzyme and instead renders it modestly active representing 4-6 folds less activity than its fully active mammalian counterpart. Contrary to the contention that viral infection activates TOR signaling pathway, we report that BVr enzyme fails to exhibit putative TOR dependent phosphorylation at the HM and the resultant phosphorylation at the activation loop (AL) of the enzyme, correlating with the level of activity observed. Surprisingly, the BVr enzyme continued to exhibit sensitivity to rapamycin that remained unaffected by mutations compromised for TOR phosphorylation (T412A) or deletions compromised for TOR binding (ΔNH _2-46/ΔCT₁₀₄).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data together with the ability of the BVr enzyme to resist inactivation by phosphatases indicate that inhibition by rapamycin is not mediated by any phosphorylation event in general and TOR dependent phosphorylation in particular.</p

Electrical tuning of elastic wave propagation in nanomechanical lattices at MHz frequencies

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) that operate in the megahertz (MHz) regime allow energy transducibility between different physical domains. For example, they convert optical or electrical signals into mechanical motions and vice versa. This coupling of different physical quantities leads to frequency-tunable NEMS resonators via electromechanical non-linearities. NEMS platforms with single- or low-degrees of freedom have been employed to demonstrate quantum-like effects, such as mode cooling, mechanically induced transparency, Rabi oscillation, two-mode squeezing and phonon lasing. Periodic arrays of NEMS resonators with architected unit cells enable fundamental studies of lattice-based solid-state phenomena, such as bandgaps, energy transport, non-linear dynamics and localization, and topological properties, directly transferrable to on-chip devices. Here we describe one-dimensional, non-linear, nanoelectromechanical lattices (NEML) with active control of the frequency band dispersion in the radio-frequency domain (10–30 MHz). The design of our systems is inspired by NEMS-based phonon waveguides and includes the voltage-induced frequency tuning of the individual resonators. Our NEMLs consist of a periodic arrangement of mechanically coupled, free-standing nanomembranes with circular clamped boundaries. This design forms a flexural phononic crystal with a well-defined bandgap, 1.8 MHz wide. The application of a d.c. gate voltage creates voltage-dependent on-site potentials, which can significantly shift the frequency bands of the device. Additionally, a dynamic modulation of the voltage triggers non-linear effects, which induce the formation of a phononic bandgap in the acoustic branch, analogous to Peierls transition in condensed matter. The gating approach employed here makes the devices more compact than recently proposed systems, whose tunability mostly relies on materials’ compliance and mechanical non-linearities