Peristaltic Motion of Johnson-Segalman Fluid in a Curved Channel with Slip Conditions

Slip effects on the peristaltic transport of Johnson-Segalman fluid through a curved channel have been addressed. The influence of wall properties is also analyzed. Long wavelength and low Reynolds number assumptions have been utilized in the mathematical formulation of the problem. The equations so formed have been solved numerically by shooting method through computational software Mathematica 8. In addition the analytic solution for small Weissenberg number (elastic parameter) is computed through a regular perturbation method. An excellent agreement is noticed between the two solutions. The results indicate an increase in the magnitude of velocity with an intensification in the slip effect. Moreover the size and circulation of the trapped boluses increase with an increase in the slip parameter. Unlike the planar channel, the profiles of axial velocity are not symmetric about the central line of the channel.     

Apoptotic cell death by the novel natural compound, cinobufotalin

Cinobufotalin (CB), one of the bufadienolides prepared from toad venom, was investigated for its cytotoxicity, and the underneath mechanism involved. We primarily utilized DNA fragmentation assay and microscopic observation to assess the effect of various doses of CB in human lymphoma U937 cells. Following that, we investigated other parameters involved in cell death mechanism such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and apoptotic proteins activation. HeLa cells were concomitantly used to generalize the data observed. Our results show that CB caused significant DNA fragmentation, decrease of MMP, and an increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) ion and ROS production. In addition, CB induced upregulation of Fas protein, proteolytic activation of cytochrome c, caspase-2, -3, -8 and -9 together with the activation of Bid and Bax. Our findings were further validated using either Fas/FasL antagonist or pan-caspase inhibitor to significantly inhibit CB-induced DNA fragmentation. In our study, we suggest that CB induces caspase dependent cell death in U937 cells, and that Fas plays a role in CB-induced apoptosis. Altogether, our data provides novel insights of the mechanism of action of CB and its potential as a future chemotherapeutic agent.     

Postnatal development of morphological and vocal features in Asian particolored bat,Vespertilio sinensis

We studied the postnatal development of morphological and vocal features in a free-ranging population of the Asian particolored bat, Vespertilio sinensis. There were no significant differences in postnatal growth rates between males and females on the basis of morphological changes. Body mass and forearm length followed a linear pattern of growth until 28 days of age at mean growth rates of 0.38 g/day and 1.15 mm/day, respectively and thereafter increased slowly. The length of total epiphyseal gap of the fourth metacarpal–phalangeal joint initially showed a linear increase for up to 16 days, followed by a linear decrease until day 46 at a mean rate of 0.18 mm/day. When forearm length was used in combination with changes in total epiphyseal gap length, we derived reliable age estimation equations for the 1–46 day age range. Of the three nonlinear growth models (logistic, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy), the von Bertalanffy and logistic equations provided the best fit to the empirical curves for body mass and forearm length, respectively. Studies of vocal development showed that infants could emit short calls as precursors of echolocation calls after birth. Isolation calls and precursors of echolocation calls were both characterized by multiple harmonics. We observed a systematic increase in the value of the starting frequency without a significant change in the terminal frequency over the 3 week period of development. In addition, the duration of isolation calls increased until day 4 and then decreased, whereas, the duration of precursors of echolocation calls decreased continuously to reach a stable level.     

Role of mammalian cytosolic molybdenum Fe-S flavin hydroxylases in hepatic injury

The study was designed to investigate the role of molybdenum iron-sulfur flavin hydroxylases in the pathogenesis of liver injuries induced by structurally and mechanistically diverse hepatotoxicants. While carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), thioacetamide (TAA) and chloroform (CHCl3) inflict liver damage by producing free radicals, acetaminophen (AAP) and bromobenzene (BB) exert their effects by severe glutathione depletion. Appropriate doses of these compounds were administered to induce liver injury in rats. The activities of the Mo-Fe-S flavin hydroxylases were measured and correlated with the biochemical markers of hepatic injury. The activity levels of the anti-oxidative enzymes and glutathione redox cycling enzymes were also determined. The treatment of rats with the hepatotoxins that inflict liver injury by generating free radicals (CCl4, TAA, CHCl3) had elevated activity levels of hepatic Mo-Fe-S flavin hydroxylases (p<0.05). Specific inhibition of these hydroxylases by their common inhibitor, sodium tungstate, suppresses biochemical and oxidative stress markers of hepatic tissue damage. On the contrary, Mo-Fe-S flavin hydroxylases did not show any change in animals receiving AAP and BB. Correspondingly, sodium tungstate could not attenuate damage in AAP and BB treated groups of rats. The study concludes that Mo-Fe-S hydroxylases contribute to the hepatic injury inflicted by free radical generating agents and does not play any role in hepatic injury produced by glutathione depleting agents. The study has implication in understanding human liver diseases caused by a variety of agents, and to investigate the efficacy of the inhibitors of Mo-Fe-S flavin hydroxylases as potential therapeutic agents.     

Structure-function analyses involving palindromic analogs of tritrypticin suggest autonomy of anti-endotoxin and antibacterial activities

Neutralization of invading pathogens by gene-encoded peptide antibiotics has been suggested to manifest in a variety of different modes. Some of these modes require internalization of the peptide through a pathway that involves LPS-mediated uptake of the peptide antibiotics. Many proline/tryptophan-rich cationic peptides for which this mode has been invoked do, indeed, show LPS (endotoxin) binding. If the mechanism of antibiotic action involves the LPS-mediated pathway, a positive correlation ought to manifest between the binding to LPS, its neutralization, and the bacterial killing. No such correlation was evident based on our studies involving minimal active analogs of tritrypticin. The anti-endotoxin activities of these analogs appear not to relate directly to their antibiotic potential. The two palindromic analogs of tritrypticin, NT7 (RRFPWWW) and CT7 (WWWPFRR), showed comparable antibacterial activities. However, while NT7 exhibited anti-endotoxin activity, CT7 did not. The LPS binding of two tritrypticin analogs correlated with their corresponding structures, but the antibacterial activities did not. Further structure-function analysis indicated specific structural implications of the antibacterial activity at the molecular level. Studies involving designed analogs of NT7 incorporating either rigid or flexible linkers between the specifically distanced hydrophobic and cationic clusters modulate the LPS binding. On the other hand, not knowing the target receptor for antibacterial activity is a drawback since the precise epitope for antibacterial activity is not definable. It is apparent that the anti-endotoxin and antibacterial activities represent two independent functions of tritrypticin, consistent with the emerging multifunctionality in the nature of cathelicidins.     

Phenolic and other constituents of fresh water fern Salvinia molesta

Two glycosides, 6'-O-(3,4-dihydroxy benzoyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1), and 4-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside-3-hydroxy methyl benzoate (2), along with five known compounds methyl benzoate (3), hypogallic acid (4), caffeic acid (5), paeoniflorin (6) and pikuroside (7) were isolated for the first time from a fresh water fern Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitch. These compounds showed a potent antioxidant radical scavenging activity in a non-physiological assay. Their structures were determined by NMR spectroscopic and CID mass spectrometry techniques.