Oenothera paradoxa
(EP) preparations are commonly used in folk medicine to treat skin diseases, neuralgia, and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Several reports suggested that EP preparations exhibit ...potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we aimed to characterize the action of EP pomace polyphenol extract in mouse model of colitis. We analyzed the composition of EP pomace polyphenol extract using reversed phase HPLC system and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system coupled with a quadrupole-time of flight (Q-TOF) MS instrument. Then, we used a well-established animal model of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis to determine the anti-inflammatory action of EP pomace polyphenol extract. We also investigated the effect of the EP pomace polyphenol extract on pro-inflammatory (IL-1β and TNF-α) cytokine mRNA levels and hydrogen peroxide concentration in the inflamed colon. Administration of EP pomace polyphenol extract significantly improved macroscopic and microscopic damage scores, as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in TNBS-treated mice. The anti-inflammatory effect of the extract was observed after intracolonic and oral administration and was dose-dependent. Significant reduction of tissue hydrogen peroxide level after treatment with EP pomace polyphenol extract suggests that its therapeutic effect is a result of free radical scavenging. This novel finding indicates that the application of the EP pomace polyphenol extract in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) may become an attractive supplementary treatment for conventional anti-inflammatory therapy.
Stars in young nearby associations are the only targets that allow giant planet searches in the near future, at all separations by coupling indirect techniques, such as radial velocity (RV) and deep ...imaging. These stars are first priority targets for the forth- coming planet imagers on eight- to ten-metre class telescopes. Young stars rotate more rapidly and are more active than their older counterparts. Both effects can limit the ability to detect planets using RV. We wish to explore the planet detection abilities of a representative sample of stars in close and young associations with RY data and to explore the complementarity between this technique and direct imaging. The RV technique allows the detection of planets lighter than Jupiter reaching a few Neptune masses around young stars aged typically 30 Myr or more. Detection limits increase at younger ages, but (sub-)Jupiter mass planets are still detectable. In the next few years, using complementary techniques will allow a full exploration of the Jupiter-mass planets' content of many of these stars.
We report the detection of a double planetary system around HD 140718 as well as the discovery of two long period and massive planets orbiting HD 171238 and HD 204313. Those discoveries were made ...with the CORALIE Echelle spectrograph mounted on the 1.2-m Euler Swiss telescope located at La Silla Observatory, Chile. The planetary system orbiting the nearby G9 dwarf HD 147018 is composed of an eccentric inner planet (e = 0.47) with twice the mass of Jupiter (2.1 MJup) and with an orbital period of 44.24 days. The outer planet is even more massive (6.6 MJup) with a slightly eccentric orbit (e = 0.13) and a period of 1008 days. The planet orbiting HD 171238 has a minimum mass of 2.6 MJup, a period of 1523 days and an eccentricity of 0.40. It orbits a G8 dwarfs at 2.5 AU. The last planet, HD 204313 b, is a 4.0 MSUBJup/SUB-planet with a period of 5.3 years and has a low eccentricity (e = 0.13). It orbits a G5 dwarfs at 3.1 AU. The three parent stars are metal rich, which further strengthens the case that massive planets tend to form around metal rich stars.
AIMS: This article describes the qualitative and quantitative analyses of untypical compounds in the cuticular and internal lipids of four dipteran species. For isolated compounds, antimicrobial ...activity against 18 reference strains of bacteria and fungi was determined. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, gas chromatography (GC) combined with mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to analyse the surface and internal compounds of four fly species. Seven untypical compounds from both pre‐imaginal and imaginal stages of examined insects were identified. Azelaic acid (AA) was the most abundant, while phenylacetic and phenylpropionic acids occurred in lower concentration. Minor quantities of sebacic acid, 2‐methyl‐2‐hydroxybutanoic acid, tocopherol acetate and trace amounts of 2,4‐decadienal were also detected. Tocopherol acetate was found only in cuticular lipids of Musca domestica larvae. Each compound was tested against several species of fungi and bacteria by determining minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Human pathogenic fungi were also investigated. Phenylpropionic acid showed the greatest antifungal activity. Bacterial strains were insensitive to the presence of identified compounds, apart from 2,4‐decadienal which strongly inhibited bacterial growth. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first time that the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of untypical compounds in the cuticular and internal lipids of four fly species has been analysed. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Determination of untypical compounds and their antimicrobial activity can effectively contribute to the knowledge concerning insect defence mechanisms.
In this paper, we present our HARPS radial-velocity data for eight low-activity solar-type stars belonging to the HARPS volume-limited sample: HD6718, HD8535, HD28254, HD290327, HD43197, HD44219, ...HD148156, and HD156411. Keplerian fits to these data reveal the presence of low-mass companions around these targets. With minimum masses ranging from 0.58 to 2.54 MJup, these companions are in the planetary mass domain. The orbital periods of these planets range from slightly less than one to almost seven years. The eight orbits presented in this paper exhibit a wide variety of eccentricities: from 0.08 to above 0.8.
The discovery that in invertebrates, disruption of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 pathway extends life span and increases resistance to oxidative injury led to the hypothesis that ...IGF-1 signaling may play a role in regulating cellular reactive oxygen species production, oxidative stress resistance, and consequentially, organismal life span in mammals. However, previous studies testing this hypothesis in rodent models of IGF-1 deficiency yielded controversial results. The Lewis dwarf rat is a useful model of human growth hormone (GH)/IGF-1 deficiency as it mimics many of the pathophysiological alterations present in human GH/IGF-1-deficient patients as well as elderly individuals. Peripubertal treatment of Lewis dwarf rats with GH results in a significant extension of life span. The present study was designed to test the role of the GH/IGF-1 axis in regulating cellular oxidative stress and oxidative stress resistance, utilizing primary fibroblasts derived from control rats, Lewis dwarf rats and GH-replete dwarf rats. Measurements of cellular dihydroethidium and C-H(2)DCFDA fluorescence showed that cellular O(2)(·-) and peroxide production were similar in each group. Fibroblasts from control and Lewis dwarf rats exhibited similar antioxidant capacities and comparable sensitivity to H(2)O(2), rotenone, high glucose, tunicamycin, thapsigargin, paraquat, and mitomycin, which cause apoptosis through increasing oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, ATP depletion, and/or by damaging DNA, lipids and proteins. Fibroblasts from GH-replete rats exhibited significantly increased antioxidant capacities and superior resistance to H(2)O(2), rotenone and bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced cell death compared with cells from Lewis dwarf rats, whereas their sensitivity to the other stressors investigated was not statistically different. Thus, low circulating IGF-1 levels present in vivo in Lewis dwarf rats do not elicit long-lasting alterations in cellular reactive oxygen species generation and oxidative stress resistance, whereas life span-extending peripubertal GH treatment resulted in increased antioxidant capacity and increased resistance to cellular injury caused by some, but not all, oxidative stressors.
We present HARPS spectroscopy of mu Arae (HD 160691) performed for studying the origin of the metallicity excess in this planet-hosting stars. The asteroseismologic campaign led to the previously ...reported discovery of a 14 earth mass planetary companion (Santos et al. 2004b, A&A, 426, L19). The present analysis reinforces this interpretation by excluding other possible processes for explaining the observed Doppler variation and leads to the identification of up to 43 p-mode oscillations with l = 0-3, frequencies in the range 1.3-2.5 mHz and amplitudes in the range 10-40 cm s super(-1).
Potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are serious pests in commercial potato production, causing yield losses valued at approximately $300 million in the European Community. The nematophagous fungus ...Plectosphaerella cucumerina has demonstrated its potential as a biological control agent against PCN populations by reducing field populations by up to 60% in trials. The use of biological control agents in the field requires the development of specific techniques to monitor the release, population size, spread or decline, and pathogenicity against its host. A range of methods have therefore been developed to monitor P. cucumerina. A species-specific PCR primer set (PcCF1-PcCR1) was designed that was able to detect the presence of P. cucumerina in soil, root, and nematode samples. PCR was combined with a bait method to identify P. cucumerina from infected nematode eggs, confirming the parasitic ability of the fungus. A selective medium was adapted to isolate the fungus from root and soil samples and was used to quantify the fungus from field sites. A second P. cucumerina-specific primer set (PcRTF1-PcRTR1) and a Taqman probe (PcRTP1) were designed for real-time PCR quantification of the fungus and provided a very sensitive means of detecting the fungus from soil. PCR, bait, and culture methods were combined to investigate the presence and abundance of P. cucumerina from two field sites in the United Kingdom where PCN populations were naturally declining. All methods enabled differences in the activity of P. cucumerina to be detected, and the results demonstrated the importance of using a combination of methods to investigate population size and activity of fungi.
Context. The \mu Arae planetary system is fairly complex, because it contains two already known planets, \mu Arae b with P =640 days and \mu Arae c with P =9.64 days, and a third companion on a wide, ...but still poorly defined, orbit. Aims. Even with three planets in the system, the data points keep anomalously high dispersion around the fitted solution. The high residuals are only partially due to the strong p-mode oscillations of the host star. We therefore studied the possible presence of a fourth planet in this system. Methods. During the past years we carried out additional and extremely precise radial-velocity measurements with the HARPS spectrograph. These data turned out to be highly important for constraining the many free parameters in a four-planet orbital fit. Nevertheless, the search for the best solution remains difficult in this complex and multi- dimensional parameter space. The new Stakanof software, that uses an optimized genetic algorithm, helped us considerably in this task and made our search extremely efficient and successful. Results. We provide a full orbital solution of the planetary system around \mu Arae. It turns out to be the second system known to harbor 4 planetary companions. Before this study, \mu Arae b was already well known and characterized. Thanks to the new data points acquired with HARPS we can confirm the presence of \mu Arae c at P =9.64 days, which produces a coherent RV signal over more than two years. The new orbital fit sets the mass of \mu Arae c to 10.5 M_{\oplus}. Furthermore, we present the discovery of \mu Arae d, a new planet on an almost circular 310 day-period and with a mass of 0.52 M_{\rm Jup}. Finally, we give completely new orbital parameters for the longest-period planet, \mu Arae e. It is the first time that this companion has been constrained by radial- velocity data into a dynamical stable orbit, which leaves no doubt about its planetary nature. We take this opportunity to discuss naming conventions for poorly characterized planets.
We report on the first extra-solar planet discovered with the brand new HARPS instrument. The planet is a typical "hot Jupiter" with m sub(2) sin i = 0.62 M sub(Jup) and an orbital period of 3.39 ...days, but from the photometric follow-up of its parent star HD 330075 we can exclude the presence of a transit. The induced radial-velocity variations exceed 100 m s super(-1) in semi-amplitude and are easily detected by state-of-the-art spectro-velocimeters. Nevertheless, the faint magnitude of the parent star (V = 9.36) benefits from the efficient instrument: with HARPS less than 10 observing nights and 3 h of total integration time were needed to discover the planet and characterize its orbit. The orbital parameters determined from the observations made during the first HARPS run in July 2003 have been confirmed by 7 additional observations carried out in February 2004. The bisector analysis and a photometric follow-up give no hint for activity-induced radial-velocity variations, indicating that the velocity curve is best explained by the presence of a low-mass companion to the star. In this paper we present a set of 21 measurements of excellent quality with weighted rms as low as 2.0 m s super(-1). These measurements lead to a well defined orbit and consequently to the precise orbital parameters determination of the extra-solar planet HD 330075 b.
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