Effect of sex hormone on the respiration and glycolysis processes in female rabbit placenta tissue

The respiratory and glycolytic activity of the female-rabbits placenta tissue on the 11th and 30th days of pregnancy was studied as affected by progesterone, estrone and chorionic gonadotrophin. The tissue respiration of the placenta at the end of pregnancy is established to be more sensitive to administration of the hormones under study than at the beginning of pregnancy. The glycolytic activity of the placenta tissue under the effect of hormones is decreased both at the beginning and at the end of pregnancy. Only anaerobic glycolysis is an exception when progesterone is administered at the beginning of pregnancy.     

Impacts of harvesting intensity on tree taxonomic diversity,structural diversity,population structure,and stability in a West African mangrove forest

Wetlands Ecology and Management - Understanding the impacts of wood harvesting intensity on the diversity and structure of ecosystems such as mangroves is essential for defining actions for their...     

Genetic diversity and population structure of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus from Niger Delta based on AFLP analysis

The silver catfish, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus is an important food fish in the Niger Delta. To understand the genetic variations and population structure in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, eighty-eight individuals collected from 7 locations were analyzed based on amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. A total of 243 bands were identified using 4 AFLP primer combinations. The average gene diversity was 0.1708 ± 0.1547 and Shannon’s information index was 0.2792 ± 0.2224. The pairwise F_st values ranged from 0.133 to 0.796. The results of AMOVA analysis indicated that 19.03% of the genetic variation was contained among three groups. The gene flow estimates (Nm) demonstrated that different degrees of gene flow existed among populations ranging from 0.064 to 1.630. Two clades were recognized on the UPGMA tree. The results supported that freshwater or brackishwater habitat, limited long-distance dispersal of the adult and juveniles and physical barriers may be responsible for the current genetic structure.     

Rg3 inhibits gemcitabine-induced lung cancer cell invasiveness through ROS-dependent,NF-κB- and HIF-1α-mediated downregulation of PTX3

PTX3, a member of the long pentraxin subfamily, associated with innate immunity is indispensable for resistance to some cancer. Gemcitabine, an analog of cytosine arabinoside, has shown restrained benefits because of profound chemoresistance. The PTX3 expression on GEM in human lung cancer cells have not yet been clarified; the present study aimed to show reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediatory PTX3 expression through distinct mechanisms. Whereas ginsenoside Rg3 is a herbal medicine with strong antitumor activity. Furthermore, we tested the hypothesis; Rg3 abrogates GEM-induced production of ROS-mediated activation of Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways and inhibits nuclear piling-up of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and HIF-1α. On the basis of time and dose-dependent manner, our data demonstrated that GEM-induced PTX3 expression was dependent on ROS generation as it was abrogated by pretreatment of lung cancer cells with the free radical scavenger N-acetyl-l -cysteine. Our data demonstrated that PTX3 upregulation by GEM correlated with the time-dependent escalation of NF-κB and HIF-1α in the nucleus resulted from phosphorylation-induced degradation of IκBα, whereas HIF-1α upregulation was NF-κB-dependent. Increase in ROS expression in lung cancer cells on GEM treatment preceded the nuclear accumulation of NF-κB and HIF-1α and suppression of ROS diminished these effects. ERK1/2 and Akt activation mediated the effect of ROS on NF-κB and HIF-1α and their pharmacological inhibition suppressed GEM-induced PTX3. Our study findings reinforced the role regarding PTX3 signaling in GEM-induced resistance and pointed toward an unintended and undesired effect of chemotherapy and to get an active regimen; the synergy was associated with NF-κB downregulation in lung cancer.     

Ants of Forest and Fallow Plots in Nigeria1

Pitfall traps were used to monitor the activity of ants in a forest floor and a one-year-old fallow plot in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, at monthly intervals between November 1980 and October 1981. Similar studies were carried out between October 1987 and June 1988. These studies also included manual collection of ants from the floor of the experimental plots Of all the 10 species of ants recorded, Pbeihk crassinoda was the most abundant in the forest and fallow plots both in 1980–81 and 1987–88. P. crassinoda accounted for 52 percent and 88 percent of the ant populations collected manually from the forest and fallow plots respectively between December 1987 and June 1988. This species was also significantly higher in the pitfall catches of the fallow than the forest plots. Pitfall traps were not effective in sampling the populations of the belligerent Dorylus nigricans. The data are consistent with the widely accepted notion that forested areas support less ants than unforested areas. Differences in physical habitat characteristics, food availability, nesting habits, predation and microenvironmental factors were considered responsible for the differences in activities and abundance of ants in the forest and fallow plots.