The NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemical technique is commonly used to localize the nitric oxide (NO) produced by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in neural tissue. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is induced in the late stage of cerebral ischemia, and NO produced by iNOS contributes to the delay in recovery from brain neuronal damage. The present study was performed to investigate whether the increase in nitric oxide production via inducible nitric oxide synthase was suppressed by the administration of aminoguanidine, a selective iNOS inhibitor, as it follows a decrease of NADPH-diaphorase activity (a marker for NOS) after four-vessel occlusion used as an ischemic model. The administration of aminoguanidine (100 mg/kg i.p., twice per day up to 3 days immediately after the ischemic insult) reduced the number of NADPH-diaphorase positive cells to control levels. Our results indicated that aminoguanidine suppressed NADPH-diaphorase activity, and also decreased the number of NADPH-diaphorase positive cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus following ischemic brain injury.
Mangiferin is a kind of polyphenol chemical compound separated from these herbal medicines of Mangifera indica L., Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge. and Belamcanda chinensis L., which has anti-inflammatory, anti-virus, and other physiological activities without toxic effects. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease that is also a kind of arthritis disease in which articular cartilage or bones under the joint is damaged. In addition, artificial replacements are required in severe cases. At present, there are not too much researches on the potential biological activities of mangiferin that plays a protective role in the treatment of OA. In this study, we evaluated the protective effect of mangiferin on osteoarthritis (OA) in vitro and in vivo. First, the effect of different concentrations of mangiferin on rat chondrocytes was determined by MTT assay. Second, the effects of mangiferin on the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13, TNF-α, Collagen II, Caspase-3, and cystatin-C in interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced rat chondrocytes were examined by the real-time polymerase chain reaction in vitro, meanwhile the effects of mangiferin on the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway were also investigated by Western Blot. Finally, the antiosteoarthritic protective effect of mangiferin was evaluated in the rat model by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) combined with bilateral ovariectomy-induced OA in vivo. The results showed that the mangiferin was found to inhibit the expression of MMP-13, TNF-α, and Caspase-3 which also increased the expression of Collagen II and cystatin-C in IL-1β-induced rat chondrocytes. In addition, IL-1β-induced activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and the degradation of inhibitor of κB (IκB)-α were suppressed by mangiferin. For the in vivo study in a rat model of OA, 100 μl of mangiferin was administered by intra-articular injections for rats, the results showed that the cartilage degradation was suppressed by mangiferin through Micro CT and Histological Examination. According to both in vitro and in vivo results, mangiferin has a protective effect in the treatment of OA which may be a promising therapeutic agent for OA.
For more than sixty years lith ium carbonate has been used in medicine. However, during its administration different side effects including oxidative stress can occur. Selenium belongs to essential elements possessing antioxidant properties. This study aimed at evaluating if selenium co uld be used as a protective adjuvant in lithium therapy. The experiment was performed on four groups of Wistar rats: I (control), II (Li), III (Se), IV (Li + Se) treated with saline, lithium carbonate (2.7 mg Li/kg b.w.), sodium selenite (0.5 mg Se/kg b.w.) and lithium carbonate (2.7 mg Li/kg b.w.) + sodium selenite (0.5 mg Se/kg b.w.), respectively. All substances were administered as water solutions by stomach tube for 3 or 6 weeks. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GP x) as well as malonyldialdehyde (MDA) were determined in brain homogenates. Lithium slightly enhanced MDA and depressed CAT and SOD after 6 weeks as well as GPx after 3 weeks. Selenium co -administration show ed tendency to restore the disturbed parameters. Selenium alone and given with lithium significantly increased GPx vs. Li- treated group after 3 weeks. Having regarded the outcomes of this study, the research on application of selenium during lithium treatment seems to be worth continuation., M. Kiełczykowska, J. Kocot, A. Lewandowska, R. Żelazowska, I. Musik., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A survey of the species of the Proteocephalus-aggregate from sticklebacks (Actinopterygii: Gasterosteidae) is provided. The occurrence of three species in North America is confirmed: (i) Proteocephalus filicollis (Rudolphi, 1802), which has been reported from the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, in the northeastern part of North America (Newfoundland); (ii) Proteocephalus pugetensis Hoff et Hoff, 1929 occurs also in G. aculeatus, but in northwestern North America (British Columbia and Washington); and (iii) Proteocephalus culaeae sp. n., which is described from the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), in Manitoba (Canada). Another species, Proteocephalus ambiguus (Dujardin, 1845), a specific parasite of the nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus), and type species of the genus, has also been found in North America (Alberta, Canada), but its vouchers are in poor condition and cannot be reliable assigned to this species. Both species reported from three-spined stickleback differ from each other by the shape of the scolex (rounded in P. filicollis versus continuously tapered towards the anterior extremity in P. pugetensis) and the apical sucker (widely oval to subspherical in frontal view in P. filicollis versus flattened in P. pugetensis). Proteocephalus culaeae sp. n. is characterised by a short body composed of a few, continuously widened proglottids, a short scolex narrower than the strobila and devoid of an apical sucker, a short, pyriform cirrus sac, no vaginal sphincter, and few testes. A key to species of the Proteocephalus-aggregate from sticklebacks is provided.
The angelology found in the Hị kmat al-ishrāq of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī al-Maqtūl (d. 1191) has been the source of much debate. In many of his studies of Suhrawardian philosophy, Henry Corbin stresses the Persian influence on al-Suhrawardī’s thought, especially Suhrawardian angelology. Al-Suhrawardī does refer to Zoroastrianism in his introduction to the Hị kmat al-ishrāq, but to what extent is his angelology Zoroastrian? Does the use of Zoroastrian terminology and vocabulary mean that the angelology is Zoroastrian? This paper will explore Suhrawardian angelology, attempting to place it in context and to assess its provenance. It will be seen that the potential influences on his angelology are far wider than scholars, such as Corbin, have suggested in the past. Although focusing on al-Suhrawardī’s Hị kmat al-ishrāq, his use of angels in his other works will also be considered.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the recent challenges faced by stakeholders concerned with providing socially minded housing in Cyprus in view of the increased need for affordable housing in the five years after the financial crisis, which hit Cyprus in the spring of 2013 and impacted households. The demand was exacerbated by the influx of immigrants from South-eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the same period. The paper discusses these challenges by examining the historical context of providing socially minded housing in Cyprus since the first institutional attempts were made in the years following the Second World War. The paper also presents some case studies, which are illustrated with design proposals that are the results of research in design by students and staff in the Department of Architecture of the University of Cyprus.
The PsbH protein belongs to a group of small protein subunits of the photosystem 2 (PS2) complex and genes encoding PsbH homologues have been so far found in all studied oxygenic phototrophs. This single helix membrane protein is important for the proper function of the PS2 acceptor side and for stable assembly of PS2. Its hypothetical function as an analogue of the H subunit of the bacterial reaction centre as well as a putative role of its phosphorylation is evaluated. and J. Komenda, D. Štys, L. Lupínková.
Red alga contains four extrinsic proteins in photosystem II (PSII), which are PsbO, PsbV, PsbU, and PsbQ′. Except for the PsbQ′, the composition is the same in cyanobacterial PSII. Reconstitution analysis of cyanobacterial PSII has shown that oxygen-evolving activity does not depend on the presence of PsbQ′. Recently, the structure of red algal PSII was elucidated. However, the role of PsbQ′ remains unknown. In this study, the function of the acceptor side of PSII was analyzed in PsbQ′-reconstituted PSII by redox titration of QA and thermoluminescence. The redox potential of QA was positively shifted when PsbQ′ was attached to the PSII. The positive shift of QA is thought to cause a decrease in the amount of triplet chlorophyll in PSII. On the basis of these results, we propose that PsbQ′ has a photoprotective function when irradiated with strong light., M. Yamada, R. Nagao, M. Iwai, Y. Arai, A. Makita, H. Ohta, T. Tomo., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The developed and tested part of the scalable benchmark code, the
Pythagorean triples core, has been applied to the platform system of a scalable number of processors. The measurement has been performed on the system cluster consisting of 16 Pentium CPUs. The number of nodes of selected subclusters of an equivalent or a different performance of CPUs is scaled by the factor of 2. The core has been running in different conditions (homogeneous subcluster, heterogeneous subcluster, computationally free nodes and/or occupied nodes, etc.). A group of four measurements of the scalable number of processors has been selected and displayed in four characteristic blocks of the elapsed time Windows comparable with those of the previous paper. The characteristic exponential curves fit well to the measured points under the normal conditions of task run. The maximum deviations of the two exponential parameters in all presented cases do not exceed 5 percent.