103 research outputs found

    Chemical profiles and biological activities of acetone extracts of nine Annonaceae plants

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    This study investigated the chemical components and bioactivities of acetone leaf extracts of nine Annonaceae plants collected in the Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve, Vietnam. A total of 182 constituents were identified, with linolenic acid, diaeudesmin, germacrene D, 1-octadecenoic acid, 8-(3-octyl-2-oxiranyl)-1-octanol, oleic acid, and phenylmethyl ester being the major compounds. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was evaluated using a disc diffusion assay. Eight of the nine extracts, except for the Mitrephora thorelii extract, showed an inhibition effect against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was determined using DPPH assay, and the cytotoxic activity was deter mined using SRB assay. The results showed that the acetone extracts of Artabotrys hexapetalus, Uvularia grandiflora, Polyalthia luensis, Xylopia pierrei, Sphaerocoryne affinis, Desmos cochinchinensis, Uvaria littoralis, Mitrephora thorelii, and Goniothalamus touranensis had significant activity with IC50 for the DPPH radical scavenging activity ranging from 18.56 to 702.33 ÎŒg/mL, and the IC50 for the cytotoxic effects ranged from 5.39 to 251.77 ÎŒg/mL. Overall, the results obtained provide experimental evidence for the potential use of these plants in medicine and other related fields

    BAK1 regulates the accumulation of jasmonic acid and the levels of trypsin proteinase inhibitors in Nicotiana attenuata's responses to herbivory

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    BAK1 is a co-receptor of brassinosteroid (BR) receptor BRI1, and plays a well-characterized role in BR signalling. BAK1 also physically interacts with the flagellin receptor FLS2 and regulates pathogen resistance. The role of BAK1 in mediating Nicotiana attenuata's resistance responses to its specialist herbivore, Manduca sexta, was examined here. A virus-induced gene-silencing system was used to generate empty vector (EV) and NaBAK1-silenced plants. The wounding- and herbivory-induced responses were examined on EV and NaBAK1-silenced plants by wounding plants or simulating herbivory by treating wounds with larval oral secretions (OS). After wounding or OS elicitation, NaBAK1-silenced plants showed attenuated jasmonic acid (JA) and JA-isoleucine bursts, phytohormone responses important in mediating plant defences against herbivores. However, these decreased JA and JA-Ile levels did not result from compromised MAPK activity or elevated SA levels. After simulated herbivory, NaBAK1-silenced plants had EV levels of defensive secondary metabolites, namely, trypsin proteinase inhibitors (TPIs), and similar levels of resistance to Manduca sexta larvae. Additional experiments demonstrated that decreased JA levels in NaBAK1-VIGS plants, rather than the enzymatic activity of JAR proteins or Ile levels, were responsible for the reduced JA-Ile levels observed in these plants. Methyl jasmonate application elicited higher levels of TPI activity in NaBAK1-silenced plants than in EV plants, suggesting that silencing NaBAK1 enhances the accumulation of TPIs induced by a given level of JA. Thus NaBAK1 is involved in modulating herbivory-induced JA accumulation and how JA levels are transduced into TPI levels in N. attenuata

    Comparative Study of the Effects of Different Growth Hormone Doses on Growth and Spatial Performance of Hypophysectomized Rats

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    This study was designed to examine the effects of recombinant human growth hormone replacement on somatic growth and cognitive function in hypophysectomized (HYPOX) female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats (5 per group) were randomized by weight to 3 experimental groups: group 1, administered 200 ”g/kg of GH once daily for 9 days; group 2, administered 200 ”g/kg of GH twice daily; and group 3, administered saline daily. Somatic growth was evaluated by measurement of body weight daily and of the width of the proximal tibial growth plate of the HYPOX rats. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Morris water maze (MWM) test. The results indicated that GH replacement therapy in HYPOX rats promoted an increase in the body weight and the width of the tibial growth plate in a dose-dependent manner. On the third day of the MWM test, the escape latency in the GH-treated groups 1 and 2 was significantly shorter than that in the control rats (P<0.001 and P=0.032, respectively), suggesting that rhGH improved spatial memory acquisition in the MWM test. Therefore it is concluded that rhGH replacement therapy in HYPOX rats stimulates an increase in somatic growth in a dose-dependent manner and also has beneficial effects on cognitive functions

    Search for the Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay D0→Ό+Ό−D^0 \to \mu^+\mu^- with the HERA-B Detector

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    We report on a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decay D0→Ό+Ό−D^0 \to \mu^+\mu^- using 50×10650 \times 10^6 events recorded with a dimuon trigger in interactions of 920 GeV protons with nuclei by the HERA-B experiment. We find no evidence for such decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction Br(D0→Ό+Ό−)<2.0×10−6Br(D^0 \to \mu^+\mu^-) <2.0 \times 10^{-6}.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures (of which 1 double), paper to be submitted to Physics Letters

    Open and Hidden Charm Production in 920 GeV Proton-Nucleus Collisions

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    The HERA-B collaboration has studied the production of charmonium and open charm states in collisions of 920 GeV protons with wire targets of different materials. The acceptance of the HERA-B spectrometer covers negative values of xF up to xF=-0.3 and a broad range in transverse momentum from 0.0 to 4.8 GeV/c. The studies presented in this paper include J/psi differential distributions and the suppression of J/psi production in nuclear media. Furthermore, production cross sections and cross section ratios for open charm mesons are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm & Beauty Hadrons (BEACH04), Chicago, IL, June 27 - July 3, 200

    High‐Volume Processed, ITO‐Free Superstrates and Substrates for Roll‐to‐Roll Development of Organic Electronics

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    The fabrication of substrates and superstrates prepared by scalable roll‐to‐roll methods is reviewed. The substrates and superstrates that act as the flexible carrier for the processing of functional organic electronic devices are an essential component, and proposals are made about how the general availability of various forms of these materials is needed to accelerate the development of the field of organic electronics. The initial development of the replacement of indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) for the flexible carrier materials is described and a description of how roll‐to‐roll processing development led to simplification from an initially complex make‐up to higher performing materials through a more simple process is also presented. This process intensification through process simplification is viewed as a central strategy for upscaling, increasing throughput, performance, and cost reduction

    Inclusive V0V^0 Production Cross Sections from 920 GeV Fixed Target Proton-Nucleus Collisions

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    Inclusive differential cross sections dσpA/dxFd\sigma_{pA}/dx_F and dσpA/dpt2d\sigma_{pA}/dp_t^2 for the production of \kzeros, \lambdazero, and \antilambda particles are measured at HERA in proton-induced reactions on C, Al, Ti, and W targets. The incident beam energy is 920 GeV, corresponding to s=41.6\sqrt {s} = 41.6 GeV in the proton-nucleon system. The ratios of differential cross sections \rklpa and \rllpa are measured to be 6.2±0.56.2\pm 0.5 and 0.66±0.070.66\pm 0.07, respectively, for \xf ≈−0.06\approx-0.06. No significant dependence upon the target material is observed. Within errors, the slopes of the transverse momentum distributions dσpA/dpt2d\sigma_{pA}/dp_t^2 also show no significant dependence upon the target material. The dependence of the extrapolated total cross sections σpA\sigma_{pA} on the atomic mass AA of the target material is discussed, and the deduced cross sections per nucleon σpN\sigma_{pN} are compared with results obtained at other energies.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 5 table
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