Seed briquette composition for the direct seeding of Gmelina Gmelina arborea Roxb.

ABSTRACT The study of the effect of briquette composition on the seedling survival and growth of Gmelina in the field with the Randomized Group Design (RGD) experimental method. The parameters observed in the seed briquette composition test in the field were seedling diameter, seedling height and life percentage. The data were analyzed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan's Test using SAS and SPSS programmes to determine the success of the seed briquette composition test. The composition of seed briquette has a significant effect on the survival percentage and growth of direct seeding Gmelina in the field. The application of the composition of B-5 with land preparation in the form of cleaning gives the best percentage of life and growth of Gmelina seedlings. This composition also gave a high growth of 45.29 cm, a diameter of 5.16 cm and a percentage of life of 58.33%. The composition of the B-5 seed briquettes has a proportional composition of the main ingredients in the form of soil and compost which is 20% and 40% as a growing medium and a source of nutrition for Gmelina seedling growth. ABSTRAK Penelitian  tentang  pengaruh  komposisi briket terhadap  persen hidup serta  pertumbuhan  Gmelina  di lapangan  dengan  metode eksperimen Rancangan  Acak Kelompok (RAK). Parameter yang diamati pada uji komposisi briket benih di lapangan adalah diameter semai, tinggi semai dan persentase hidup. Data dianalisis dengan Analisis Ragam dan Uji Duncan dengan menggunakan program SAS dan SPSS untuk mengetahui  keberhasilan dari uji komposisi briket benih. Komposisi briket benih berpengaruh  nyata  terhadap persentase hidup dan pertumbuhan direct  seeding  Gmelina di lapangan.  Penerapan komposisi B-5 dengan persiapan lahan berupa pembersihan memberikan persentase hidup dan pertumbuhan semai Gmelina terbaik. Komposisi ini juga memberikan pertumbuhan tinggi sebesar 45,29 cm, diameter sebesar 5,16 cm dan persen hidup sebesar 58,33%. Komposisi briket benih B-5 memiliki komposisi bahan utama berupa tanah dan kompos yang proporsional yaitu sebesar 20% dan 40% sebagai media tanam dan sumber nutrisi untuk pertumbuhan semai Gmelina. Keywords: Direct seeding, seed briquette, Gmeli

Preclinical quality, safety, and efficacy of a human embryonic stem cell-derived product for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, STEM-PD

Cell replacement therapies for Parkinson’s disease (PD) based on transplantation of pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons are now entering clinical trials. Here, we present quality, safety, and efficacy data supporting the first-in-human STEM-PD phase I/IIa clinical trial along with the trial design. The STEM-PD product was manufactured under GMP and quality tested in vitro and in vivo to meet regulatory requirements. Importantly, no adverse effects were observed upon testing of the product in a 39-week rat GLP safety study for toxicity, tumorigenicity, and biodistribution, and a non-GLP efficacy study confirmed that the transplanted cells mediated full functional recovery in a pre-clinical rat model of PD. We further observed highly comparable efficacy results between two different GMP batches, verifying that the product can be serially manufactured. A fully in vivo-tested batch of STEM-PD is now being used in a clinical trial of 8 patients with moderate PD, initiated in 2022

Dual Acting Neuraminidase Inhibitors Open New Opportunities to Disrupt the Lethal Synergism between Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza Virus

Secondary infections with Streptococcus pneumoniae cause severe pneumonia and enhance lethality during influenza epidemics and pandemics. Structural and functional similarities with viral neuraminidase (NA) suggest that the highly prevalent pneumococcal NAs, NanA and NanB, might contribute to this lethal synergism by supporting viral replication and that dual acting NA inhibitors (NAIs) will disrupt it. To verify this hypothesis, NanA and NanB were expressed in E. coli. After confirming their activity in enzyme assays, in vitro models with influenza virus A/Jena/8178/09 (Jena/8178) and the recombinant NanA or NanB (rNanA and rNanB) were established in A549 and MDCK cells to mimic the role of these pneumococcal NAs during co-infection. Studies on the influence of both NAs on viral receptor expression, spread, and yield revealed a distinct effect of NanA and NanB on viral replication in these in vitro models. Both enzymes were able to support Jena/8178 replication at certain concentrations. This synergism was disrupted by the NAIs oseltamivir, DANA, katsumadain A, and artocarpin exerting an inhibitory effect on viral NA and NanA. Interestingly, katsumadain A and artocarpin inhibited rNanA and rNanB similarly. Zanamivir did not show activity. These results demonstrate a key role of pneumococcal NAs in the lethal synergism with influenza viruses and reveal opportunities for its effective disruption

Synthesis and in Silico Evaluation of Novel Compounds for PET-Based Investigations of the Norepinephrine Transporter

Since the norepinephrine transporter (NET) is involved in a variety of diseases, the investigation of underlying dysregulation-mechanisms of the norepinephrine (NE) system is of major interest. Based on the previously described highly potent and selective NET ligand 1-(3-(methylamino)-1-phenylpropyl)-3-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidaz- ol- 2-one (Me@APPI), this paper aims at the development of several fluorinated methylaminebased analogs of this compound. The newly synthesized compounds were computationally evaluated for their interactions with the monoamine transporters and represent reference compounds for PET-based investigation of the NET