Influence of salicylic acid on phytochelatin synthesis in Zea mays during Cd stress

Abstract: Presoaking maize (Zea mays) seeds in salicylic acid (SA) reduces damage caused by cadmium. In the present work the possible role of phytochelatins (PCs) in SA-mediated protection against Cd toxicity was investigated. Seeds were presoaked in 0.5 mM SA, and seedlings were grown in hydroponic solution containing 0, 0.01, 0.015, or 0.025 mM Cd. Treatment with Cd increased the PC levels in maize roots, but only slight changes were observed in the leaves. Long-term exposure to Cd decreased the phytochelatin synthase (PCS) activity in the roots and led to an increase in PCS and glutathione reductase (GR) activities in maize leaves. Although presoaking seeds in SA solution before exposure to Cd may reduce the level of heavy metal injury and has an effect on the composition of individual PCs, this protection is not directly connected with the altered regulation of PCs

Optical spectra, crystal-field parameters, and magnetic susceptibility of the new multiferroic NdFe3(BO3)4

We report high-resolution optical absorption spectra for NdFe3(BO3)4 trigonal single crystal which is known to exhibit a giant magnetoelectric effect below the temperature of magnetic ordering TN = 33 K. The analysis of the temperature-dependent polarized spectra reveals the energies and, in some cases, symmetries and exchange splittings of Nd3+ 84 Kramers doublets. We perform crystal-field calculations starting from the exchange-charge model, obtain a set of six real crystal-field parameters, and calculate wave functions and magnetic g-factors. In particular, the values g(perpendicular) = 2.385, g(parallel) = 1.376 were found for the Nd3+ ground-state doublet. We obtain Bloc=7.88 T and |JFN|= 0.48 K for the values of the local effective magnetic field at liquid helium temperatures at the Nd3+ site and the Nd - Fe exchange integral, respectively, using the experimentally measured Nd3+ ground-state splitting of 8.8 cm-1. To check reliability of our set of crystal field parameters we model the magnetic susceptibility data from literature. A dimer containing two nearest-neighbor iron ions in the spiral chain is considered to partly account for quasi-one-dimensional properties of iron borates, and then the mean-field approximation is used. The results of calculations with the exchange parameters for Fe3+ ions Jnn = -6.25 K (intra-chain interactions) and Jnnn = -1.92 K (inter-chain interactions) obtained from fitting agree well with the experimental data.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Immunocytochemical and electrophysiological characterization of GABA receptors in the frog and turtle retina

AbstractThe expression of GABA receptors (GABARs) was studied in frog and turtle retinae. Using immunocytochemical methods, GABAARs and GABACRs were preferentially localized to the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Label in the IPL was punctate indicating a synaptic clustering of GABARs. Distinct, but weaker label was also present in the outer plexiform layer. GABAAR and GABACR mediated effects were studied by recording electroretinograms (ERGs) and by the application of specific antagonists. Bicuculline, the GABAAR antagonist, produced a significant increase of the ERG. Picrotoxin, when co-applied with saturating doses of bicuculline, caused a further increase of the ERG due to blocking of GABACRs. The putative GABACR antagonist Imidazole-4-acidic acid (I4AA) failed to antagonize GABACR mediated inhibition and, in contrast, appeared rather as an agonist of GABARs

New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 8

Six new for science species of lichen-forming fungi from Republic of Korea, Eastern Asia, i. e.: Bacidina jasonhuri J. P. Halda, S. Y. Kondr. et L. Lőkös, Gyalidea koreana J. P. Halda, S. Y. Kondr. L. Lőkös et Hur, G. pisutii J. P. Halda, S. Y. Kondr. L. Lőkös et Hur, G. poeltii S. Y. Kondr. L. Lőkös, J. P. Halda et Hur, G. Vězdae S. Y. Kondr. L. Lőkös, J. P. Halda et Hur, and Porpidia ulleungdoensis S. Y. Kond. L. Lőkös et J. P. Halda, as well as two new species from Japan (Fauriea yonaguniensis S. Y. Kondr. M. Moriguchi et Yoshik. Yamam. and Laundonia ryukyuensis S. Y. Kondr. M. Moriguchi et Yoshik. Yamam.), and one new species Lecanora orlovii S. Y. Kondr. et L. Lőkös from Ukraine are described, illustrated and compared with closely related taxa

Folded modes in the infrared spectra of the spin-Peierls phase of CuGeO_3

Polarized far-infrared transmittance spectra of CuGeO_3 single crystals were measured at different temperatures (6K < T < 300K). Two spectral lines, at 284.2 cm-1 in E||c polarization and at 311.7 cm-1 in E||b polarization, appear at the temperature of the spin-Peierls transition and grow in intensity with decreasing temperature. Both of them are, most probably, folded modes of the dimerized lattice. We discuss a possible role of the spin-phonon interaction in the formation of the 311.7 cm-1 feature.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; Submitted to Phys.Rev.B Second revision. Figures and text were slightly change

Effects of final expenditures on ICT goods and services on the croatian domestic output and imports–the input- output approach

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a significant role in the growth and development of almost every national economy. The aim of this paper is to estimate the overall contribution of final expenditures on ICT goods and services on the domestic output and imports of Croatia in terms of gross value added (GVA) and employment. In order to quantify the direct, indirect and induced effects of final expenditures on ICT goods and services to the overall Croatian economy, input-output (IO) analysis is applied. The results of the empirical analysis show that of all three categories of total final uses, the final consumption expenditure on ICT goods and services recorded the highest total contribution in terms of GVA and in terms of employment. The final consumption expenditure of households had the most important role in generating GVA and employment, while the impact of government and non-profit organisations serving households expenditures was limited. At the activity section level, the majority of GVA and the number of jobs were generated in the activity section J–Information and Communication. The total number of employees induced by final expenditures on goods and services produced by the ICT sectors is estimated at 2.8%. The ICT sectors contributed to the total Croatian GVA in a range higher than 4.5

Maximum tumor diameter is associated with event-free survival in PET-negative patients with stage I/IIA Hodgkin lymphoma.

Introduction: the high cure rates achieved in early-stage (ES) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are one of the great successes of hemato-oncology, but late treatment-related toxicity undermines long-term survival. Improving overall survival and quality of life further will require maintaining disease control while potentially de-escalating chemotherapy and/or omitting radiotherapy to reduce late toxicity. Accurate stratification of patients is required to facilitate individualized treatment approaches. Response assessment using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful predictor of outcome in HL,1,2 and has been used in multiple studies, including the United Kingdom National Cancer Research Institute Randomised Phase III Trial to Determine the Role of FDG–PET Imaging in Clinical Stages IA/IIA Hodgkin’s Disease (UK NCRI RAPID) trial, to investigate whether patients achieving complete metabolic remission (CMR) can be treated with chemotherapy alone.3-5 These PET-adapted trials have demonstrated that omitting radiotherapy results in higher relapse rates, but without compromising overall survival.3-5 For the 75% of patients who achieved CMR in RAPID, neither baseline clinical risk stratification (favorable/unfavorable) nor PET (Deauville score 1/2) predicted disease relapse; additional biomarkers are needed.1 Tumor bulk has long been recognized as prognostic in HL,1,6 but there remains uncertainty about the significance and definition of bulk in the era of PET-adapted treatment.7 We performed a subsidiary analysis of RAPID to assess the prognostic value of baseline maximum tumor dimension (MTD) in patients achieving CMR. Methods: ee have previously reported the RAPID trial design, primary results, and outcomes according to pretreatment risk stratification and PET score.1,3 Patients were aged 16 to 75 years with untreated ES-HL and without B-symptoms or mediastinal bulk (mass &gt; 1/3 internal mediastinal diameter at T5/6).6 Metabolic response after 3 cycles of ABVD chemotherapy (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) was centrally assessed using PET (N = 562). Patients with CMR (ie, Deauville score 1-2) were randomly assigned to receive involved field radiotherapy (IFRT; n = 208) or no further therapy (NFT; n = 211). PET-positive patients (score, 3-5; n = 143) received a fourth cycle of ABVD and IFRT. Baseline disease assessment was performed by computed tomography, and bidimensional target lesion measurements were reported by local radiologists in millimeters. The association of baseline MTD with HL-related event-free survival (EFS: progression or HL-related death) and progression-free survival (PFS) (progression or any-cause death) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Non-HL deaths were either related to primary treatment toxicity or occurred in HL remission.1 United Kingdom ethical approval for the RAPID trial was via the UK Multicentre Research ethics committee. Results and discussion: baseline patient characteristics have been previously described.1 Median age was 34 years (range, 16-75 years); 184 (37.4%) of 492 patients had unfavorable risk by European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria, and 155 (32.3%) of 480 by German Hodgkin Study Groupcriteria. Median MTD for patients achieving CMR was 3.0 cm (interquartile range, 2.0-4.0 cm) and 3.0 cm (interquartile range, 1.8-4.5 cm) in the NFT and IFRT groups, respectively, whereas PET-positive patients had a median MTD of 3.9 cm (interquartile range, 2.8-5.1 cm). After a median follow-up of 61.6 m, 44 HL progression events occurred: 21 NFT, 9 IFRT and 14 PET-positive. No patient received salvage treatment without documented progression. Only 5 HL-related deaths occurred (1 IFRT, 4 PET-positive), and 12 non-HL deaths (4 NFT, 6 IFRT, 2 PET-positive).1 For patients with CMR (N = 419), there was a strong association between MTD and EFS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.39; P = .02), adjusting for treatment group, with an approximate 19% increase in HL risk per centimeter increase in MTD. The association was similar in both treatment groups (NFT HR, 1.20 [95% CI, 0.99-1.44; P = .06]; IFRT HR, 1.19 [95% CI, 0.92-1.55; P = .19]). The observed effect sizes did not markedly change after adjusting for baseline clinical risk factors, and similar results were observed for PFS (supplemental Table 1). In contrast, for PET-positive patients, there was no association between MTD and EFS (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.70-1.11; P = .29) or PFS (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.70-1.08; P = .21). In an exploratory analysis within the NFT group, MTD was dichotomized using increasing 1-cm intervals to investigate the relationship between MTD thresholds and EFS. The largest effect size was observed with an MTD threshold of ≥5 cm (Table 1). Similar results were observed for PFS; this threshold also performed best in time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. It was not possible to assess MTD thresholds in the IFRT group with only 9 events. Among all randomized patients, 79 (18.9%) had MTD of ≥5 cm, the majority with mediastinal (n = 43), supraclavicular (n = 17), or cervical (n = 16) locations. Five-year EFS for patients with MTD of ≥5 cm randomly assigned to NFT and IFRT was 79.3% (n = 39; 95% CI, 66.6%-92.0%) and 94.9% (n = 40; 95% CI, 88.0%-100%), respectively (P = .03; Figure 1)

Magnetization and specific heat of TbFe3(BO3)4: Experiment and crystal field calculations

We have studied the thermodynamic properties of single-crystalline TbFe3(BO3)4. Magnetization measurements have been carried out as a function of magnetic field (up to 50 T) and temperature up to 350K with the magnetic field both parallel and perpendicular to the trigonal c-axis of the crystal. The specific heat has been measured in the temperature range 2-300K with a magnetic field up to 9 T applied parallel to the c-axis. The data indicate a structural phase transition at 192 K and antiferromagnetic spin ordering at 40 K. A Schottky anomaly is present in the specific heat data around 20 K, arising due to two low-lying energy levels of the Tb3+ ions being split by f-d coupling. Below TN magnetic fields parallel to the c-axis drive a spin-flop phase transition, which is associated with a large magnetization jump. The highly anisotropic character of the magnetic susceptibility is ascribed mainly to the Ising-like behavior of the Tb3+ ions in the trigonal crystal field. We describe our results in the framework of an unified approach which is based on mean-field approximation and crystal-field calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 20 references, accepted by Phys. Rev.