Homeopathic Preparations to Control the Rosy Apple Aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea Pass.)

A laboratory model system with the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea Pass.) on apple seedlings was developed to study the effects of homeopathic preparations on this apple pest. The assessment included the substance Lycopodium clavatum and a nosode of the rosy apple aphid. Each preparation was applied on the substrate surface as aqueous solution of granules (6c, 15c, or 30c). Controls were aqueous solutions of placebo granules or pure water. In eight independent, randomized, and blinded experiments under standardized conditions in growth chambers, the development of aphids on treated and untreated apple seedlings was observed over 17 days, each. Six experiments were determined to assess the effects of a strict therapeutic treatment; two experiments were designed to determine the effects of a combined preventative and therapeutic treatment. After application of the preparations, the number of juvenile offspring and the damage on apple seedlings were assessed after 7 and 17 days, respectively. In addition, after 17 days, the seedling weight was measured. In the final evaluation of the six strictly therapeutic trials after 17 days, the number of juvenile offspring was reduced after application of L. clavatum 15c (-17%, p = 0.002) and nosode 6c (-14%, p = 0.02) compared to the pure water control. No significant effects were observed for leaf damage or fresh weight for any application. In the two experiments with combined preventative and therapeutic treatment, no significant effects were observed in any measured parameter. Homeopathic remedies may be effective in plant-pest systems. The magnitude of observed effects seems to be larger than in models with healthy plants, which renders plant-pest systems promising candidates for homeopathic basic research. For successful application in agriculture, however, the effect is not yet sufficient. This calls for further optimization concerning homeopathic remedy selection, potency level, dosage, and application routes

Catalase T-deficient fission yeast meiocytes show resistance to ionizing radiation

Funding: Work in A.L.’s laboratory was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK (BBSRC) [grant number BB/M010996/1]. Acknowledgments: H.S. thanks M. Port, Munich, for continuous support. A.L. is grateful to J. Kohli, P. Nurse, G. Smith, M.C. Whitby, and the National BioResource Project (NBRP), Japan, for providing strains.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Live cell imaging at the Munich ion microbeam SNAKE - a status report

Ion microbeams are important tools in radiobiological research. Still, the worldwide number of ion microbeam facilities where biological experiments can be performed is limited. Even fewer facilities combine ion microirradiation with live-cell imaging to allow microscopic observation of cellular response reactions starting very fast after irradiation and continuing for many hours. At SNAKE, the ion microbeam facility at the Munich 14 MV tandem accelerator, a large variety of biological experiments are performed on a regular basis. Here, recent developments and ongoing research projects at the ion microbeam SNAKE are presented with specific emphasis on live-cell imaging experiments. An overview of the technical details of the setup is given, including examples of suitable biological samples. By ion beam focusing to submicrometer beam spot size and single ion detection it is possible to target subcellular structures with defined numbers of ions. Focusing of high numbers of ions to single spots allows studying the influence of high local damage density on recruitment of damage response proteins

Reduced side effects by proton microchannel radiotherapy: Study in a human skin model.

The application of a microchannel proton irradiation was compared to homogeneous irradiation in a three-dimensional human skin model. The goal is to minimize the risk of normal tissue damage by microchannel irradiation, while preserving local tumor control through a homogeneous irradiation of the tumor that is achieved because of beam widening with increasing track length. 20 MeV protons were administered to the skin models in 10- or 50-μm-wide irradiation channels on a quadratic raster with distances of 500 μm between each channel (center to center) applying an average dose of 2 Gy. For comparison, other samples were irradiated homogeneously at the same average dose. Normal tissue viability was significantly enhanced after microchannel proton irradiation compared to homogeneous irradiation. Levels of inflammatory parameters, such as Interleukin-6, TGF-Beta, and Pro-MMP1, were significantly lower in the supernatant of the human skin tissue after microchannel irradiation than after homogeneous irradiation. The genetic damage as determined by the measurement of micronuclei in keratinocytes also differed significantly. This difference was quantified via dose modification factors (DMF) describing the effect of each irradiation mode relative to homogeneous X-ray irradiation, so that the DMF of 1.21 ± 0.20 after homogeneous proton irradiation was reduced to 0.23 ± 0.11 and 0.40 ± 0.12 after microchannel irradiation using 10- and 50-μm-wide channels, respectively. Our data indicate that proton microchannel irradiation maintains cell viability while significantly reducing inflammatory responses and genetic damage compared to homogeneous irradiation, and thus might improve protection of normal tissue after irradiation

Modeling studies on dicentrics induction after sub-micrometer focused ion beam grid irradiation.

The biophysical simulation tool PARTRAC contains modules for DNA damage response representing non-homologous end joining of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) and the formation of chromosomal aberrations. Individual DNA ends from the induced DSB are followed regarding both their enzymatic processing and spatial mobility, as is needed for chromosome aberrations to arise via ligating broken ends from different chromosomes. In particular, by tracking the genomic locations of the ligated fragments and the positions of centromeres, the induction of dicentrics can be modeled. In recent experiments, the impact of spatial clustering of DNA damage on dicentric yields has been assessed in AL human-hamster hybrid cells: Defined numbers of 20 MeV protons (linear energy transfer, LET 2.6 keV/μm), 45 MeV Li ions (60 keV/μm) and 55 MeV C ions (310 keV/μm) focused to sub-μm spot sizes were applied with the ion microbeam SNAKE in diverse grid modes, keeping the absorbed dose constant. The impact of the μm-scaled spatial distribution of DSB (focusing effect) has thus been separated from nm-scaled DSB complexity (LET effect). The data provide a unique benchmark for the model calculations. Model and parameter refinements are described that enabled the simulations to largely reproduce both the LET-dependence and the focusing effect as well as the usual biphasic rejoining kinetics. The predictive power of the refined model has been benchmarked against dicentric yields for photon irradiation