Spin constrained orbital angular momentum control in high-harmonic generation

The interplay between spin and orbital angular momentum in the up-conversion process allows us to control the macroscopic wave front of high harmonics by manipulating the microscopic polarizations of the driving field. We demonstrate control of orbital angular momentum in high harmonic generation from both solid and gas phase targets using the selection rules of spin angular momentum. The gas phase harmonics extend the control of angular momentum to extreme-ultraviolet wavelength. We also propose a bi-color scheme to produce spectrally separated extreme-ultraviolet radiation carrying orbital angular momentum

Avaliação da casca de mamona na alimentação de ovinos.

Resumo: Objetivou-se com este trabalho, avaliar a casca de mamona na alimentação de ovinos. Foram utilizadas quatro fêmeas ovinas jovens, sem raça definida, com peso vivo médio de 30 kg e idade média de sete meses. Os animais foram mantidos em gaiolas de metabolismo e distribuídos em um delineamento em quadrado latino 4 x 4 para avaliar o efeito de quatro níveis de inclusão da casca de mamona em substituição ao milho em dietas isoprotéicas e isoenergéticas. Como alimento volumoso foi utilizado o feno de capim-Tifton, mantendo uma relação volumoso:concentrado de 60:40. Cada período experimental teve duração de 21 dias, sendo 14 dias de adaptação e sete dias de coleta de dados. Foram mensuradas as seguintes variáveis: a composição bromatológica e o valor de energia da casca de mamona, o consumo voluntário, a digestibilidade da matéria seca e de nutrientes e o balanço de nitrogênio. Houve uma redução no consumo da matéria seca e na digestibilidade da matéria orgânica com o aumento na participação da casca de mamona (P < 0,05). Com a substituição de 72,92% do milho por casca de mamona, houve também uma redução significativa da digestibilidade da fibra (P < 0,05). Não houve efeito dos tratamentos sobre o balanço de nitrogênio (P < 0,05), nem sintomas de intoxicação nos animais. A casca de mamona com 13% de sementes em sua composição, não apresentam efeitos tóxicos em níveis de até 15,25% da matéria seca da dieta, sendo um alimento com potencial de uso em dietas para pequenos ruminantes. [Castor bean hulls in the female sheep diets]. Abstract - This experiment was assigned to evaluate the castor bean hulls in the sheep feeding Four 7 month old young females, weighting 30 kg were used. They were set in metabolic cages and distributed in a 4 x 4 Latin Square design to evaluate the effect of four levels of castor bean hulls inclusion in substitution of corn grain diets. Bermudagrass hay was the forage used, maintaining a roughage:concentrate ratio 60:40. Each experimental period had duration of 21 days, being 14 days of adaptation and 7 days of data collection. The variables evaluated were: bromatologic composition and energy value of castor bean hulls, voluntary feed intake, dry matter and nutrients digestibility and nitrogen balance. There was a reduction in dry matter intake and in digestibility of organic matter with the increasing participation of castor bean hulls (P < 0.05). When the substitution from corn grain to castor bean hulls achieved 72.92%, there was also a significant reduction in fiber digestibility (P < 0.05). On the other hand, there was not effect of the treatments on nitrogen balance (P < 0.05) and did not occur intoxication symptoms in the animals. The castor bean hulls, with 13% of seed in their composition, did not present toxic effect in levels up to 15.25% of the dry matter, being a potential food source to be used in small ruminant diets

Study of the cap structure of (3, 3),(4, 4) and (5, 5)-SWCNTs: Application of the sphere-in-contact model

We have applied the sphere-in-contact model supported by hybrid Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate the cap geometry of the sub-nanometer in dimension (3,3), (4,4) and (5,5) single-wall carbon-nanotubes (SWCNTs). Our approach predicts certain cap-geometries that do not comprise of the commonly known for their stability combination of pentagonal and hexagonal carbon rings but also tetragonal, trigonal and all-pentagonal structures. Based on hybrid-DFT calculations carbon atoms in these new cap geometries have similar stability to carbon found in other fullerene-like capped zig-zag and arm-chair nanotubes (i.e., (5,5), (6,6), (9,0) and (10,0)) that are known to be stable and synthetically accessible. We find that the cap structure of the (3,3)-CNTs is a pointy carbon geometry comprised of six pentagonal rings with a single carbon atom at the tip apex. In this tip geometry the carbon atom at the tip apex does not have the usual sp2 or sp3 geometry but an unusual trigonal pyramidal configuration. DFT calculations of the molecular orbitals and density-of-states of the tip show that this tip structure apart from being stable can be used in scanning probe microscopies such as STM for very high resolution imaging

Red propolis and its dyslipidemic regulator formononetin: evaluation of antioxidant activity and gastroprotective effects in rat model of gastric ulcer

Propolis has various pharmacological properties of clinical interest, and is also considered a functional food. In particular, hydroalcoholic extracts of red propolis (HERP), together with its isoflavonoid formononetin, have recognized antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, with known added value against dyslipidemia. In this study, we report the gastroprotective effects of HERP (50–500 mg/kg, p.o.) and formononetin (10 mg/kg, p.o.) in ethanol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced models of rat ulcer. The volume, pH, and total acidity were the evaluated gastric secretion parameters using the pylorus ligature model, together with the assessment of gastric mucus contents. The anti-Helicobacter pylori activities of HERP were evaluated using the agar-well diffusion method. In our experiments, HERP (250 and 500 mg/kg) and formononetin (10 mg/kg) reduced (p < 0.001) total lesion areas in the ethanol-induced rat ulcer model, and reduced (p < 0.05) ulcer indices in the indomethacin-induced rat ulcer model. Administration of HERP and formononetin to pylorus ligature models significantly decreased (p < 0.01) gastric secretion volumes and increased (p < 0.05) mucus production. We have also shown the antioxidant and anti-Helicobacter pylori activities of HERP. The obtained results indicate that HERP and formononetin are gastroprotective in acute ulcer models, suggesting a prominent role of formononetin in the effects of HERP.This work has been funded by the Fundação de ApoioàPesquisa eàInovação Tecnológica do Estadode Sergipe (FAPITEC/SE), by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).R.L.C.d.A.-J., S.M.T., and J.C.C. received CNPq productivity grants. E.B.S. acknowledges the sponsorship of theproject UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund), from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, Ministry ofScience and Education (FCT/MEC) through national funds, and was co-financed by FEDER, under the PartnershipAgreement PT2020. E.N. and A.S. acknowledge the support of the research project: Nutraceutica come supporto nutrizionale nel paziente oncologico, CUP: B83D1800014000info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Observation of CR Anisotropy with ARGO-YBJ

The measurement of the anisotropies of cosmic ray arrival direction provides important informations on the propagation mechanisms and on the identification of their sources. In this paper we report the observation of anisotropy regions at different angular scales. In particular, the observation of a possible anisotropy on scales between $\sim$ 10 $^{\circ}$ and $\sim$ 30 $^{\circ}$ suggests the presence of unknown features of the magnetic fields the charged cosmic rays propagate through, as well as potential contributions of nearby sources to the total flux of cosmic rays. Evidence of new weaker few-degree excesses throughout the sky region $195^{\circ}\leq$ R.A. $\leq 315^{\circ}$ is reported for the first time.Comment: Talk given at 12th TAUP Conference 2011, 5-9 September 2011, Munich, German

Fibroid explants reveal a higher sensitivity against MDM2-inhibitor nutlin-3 than matching myometrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spontaneous cessation of growth is a frequent finding in uterine fibroids. Increasing evidence suggests an important role of cellular senescence in this growth control. Deciphering the underlying mechanisms of growth control that can be expected not only to shed light on the biology of the tumors but also to identify novel therapeutic targets.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have analyzed uterine leiomyomas and matching normal tissue for the expression of p14^Arfand used explants to see if reducing the MDM2 activity using the small-molecule inhibitor nutlin-3 can induce p53 and activate genes involved in senescence and/or apoptosis. For these studies quantitative real-time RT-PCR, Western blots, and immunohistochemistry were used. Statistical analyses were performed using the student's <it>t </it>test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An in depth analysis of 52 fibroids along with matching myometrium from 31 patients revealed in almost all cases a higher expression of p14^Arfin the tumors than in the matching normal tissue. In tissue explants, treatment with the MDM2 inhibitor nutlin-3 induced apoptosis as well as senescence as revealed by a dose-dependent increase of the expression of <it>BAX </it>as well as of <it>p21</it>, respectively. Simultaneously, the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 drastically decreased. Western-blot analysis identified an increase of the p53 level as the most likely reason for the increased activity of its downstream markers <it>BAX </it>and <it>p21</it>. Because as a rule fibroids express much higher levels of p14^Arf, a major negative regulator of MDM2, than matching myometrium it was then analyzed if fibroids are more sensitive against nutlin-3 treatment than matching myometrium. We were able to show that in most fibroids analyzed a higher sensibility than that of matching myometrium was noted with a corresponding increase of the p53 immunopositivity of the fibroid samples compared to those from myometrium.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results show that uterine fibroids represent a cell population of advanced cellular age compared to matching myometrium. Moreover, the data point to members of the p53-network as to potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of uterine fibroids.</p

Counter-current chromatography for the separation of terpenoids: A comprehensive review with respect to the solvent systems employed

Copyright @ 2014 The Authors.This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Natural products extracts are commonly highly complex mixtures of active compounds and consequently their purification becomes a particularly challenging task. The development of a purification protocol to extract a single active component from the many hundreds that are often present in the mixture is something that can take months or even years to achieve, thus it is important for the natural product chemist to have, at their disposal, a broad range of diverse purification techniques. Counter-current chromatography (CCC) is one such separation technique utilising two immiscible phases, one as the stationary phase (retained in a spinning coil by centrifugal forces) and the second as the mobile phase. The method benefits from a number of advantages when compared with the more traditional liquid-solid separation methods, such as no irreversible adsorption, total recovery of the injected sample, minimal tailing of peaks, low risk of sample denaturation, the ability to accept particulates, and a low solvent consumption. The selection of an appropriate two-phase solvent system is critical to the running of CCC since this is both the mobile and the stationary phase of the system. However, this is also by far the most time consuming aspect of the technique and the one that most inhibits its general take-up. In recent years, numerous natural product purifications have been published using CCC from almost every country across the globe. Many of these papers are devoted to terpenoids-one of the most diverse groups. Naturally occurring terpenoids provide opportunities to discover new drugs but many of them are available at very low levels in nature and a huge number of them still remain unexplored. The collective knowledge on performing successful CCC separations of terpenoids has been gathered and reviewed by the authors, in order to create a comprehensive document that will be of great assistance in performing future purifications. © 2014 The Author(s)

ABI3 ectopic expression reduces in vitro and in vivo cell growth properties while inducing senescence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mounting evidence has indicated that <it>ABI3 </it>(ABI family member 3) function as a tumor suppressor gene, although the molecular mechanism by which ABI3 acts remains largely unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The present study investigated <it>ABI3 </it>expression in a large panel of benign and malignant thyroid tumors and explored a correlation between the expression of ABI3 and its potential partner ABI3-binding protein (ABI3BP). We next explored the biological effects of <it>ABI3 </it>ectopic expression in thyroid and colon carcinoma cell lines, in which its expression was reduced or absent.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We not only observed that <it>ABI3 </it>expression is reduced or lost in most carcinomas but also that there is a positive correlation between <it>ABI3 </it>and <it>ABI3BP </it>expression. Ectopic expression of <it>ABI3 </it>was sufficient to lead to a lower transforming activity, reduced tumor <it>in vitro </it>growth properties, suppressed <it>in vitro </it>anchorage-independent growth and <it>in vivo </it>tumor formation while, cellular senescence increased. These responses were accompanied by the up-regulation of the cell cycle inhibitor <it>p21 </it>^WAF1and reduced ERK phosphorylation and <it>E2F1 </it>expression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our result links <it>ABI3 </it>to the pathogenesis and progression of some cancers and suggests that ABI3 or its pathway might have interest as therapeutic target. These results also suggest that the pathways through which <it>ABI3 </it>works should be further characterized.</p