For the three Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Escherichia coli, and Erwinia amylovora, p-benzoquinone was the principal bactericidal agent formed in vitro during the oxidation of hydroquinone by horseradish peroxidase, whereas no toxicity could be associated with either phenolic or oxygen-free radicals. Even the continuous generation of p-benzosemiquinone during the simultaneou...

The anti-malarial drug quinine and its quaternary derivative N-benzylquininium (BQ(+)) have been shown to inhibit gap junction (GJ) channels with specificity for Cx50 over its closely related homologue Cx46. Here, we examined the mechanism of BQ(+) action using undocked Cx46 and Cx50 hemichannels, which are more amenable to analyses at the single-channel level. We found that BQ(+) (300 µM-1 mM)...

In this study the endothelin (ET) receptors mediating contractions produced by ET-1, ET-3 and the selective ET(B) ligands sarafotoxin 6c (S6c) and BQ-3020 in guinea pig bronchus were investigated using SB 209670, a nonpeptide, mixed ET(A)/ET(B) receptor antagonist, and the peptide ET receptor antagonists BQ-123 (ET(A) receptor-selective), BQ-788 (ET(B) receptor-selective) and RES-701 (ET(B) rec...

The derivatization of cysteine-containing peptides with benzoquinone compounds is rapid, quantitative and specific in acidic media. The conversion of cysteines into hydrophobic benzoquinone-adducted residues in peptides is used here to alter the chromatographic properties of cysteinyl peptides during liquid chromatography separation. The benzoquinone derivatization is shown to allow the accurat...

The public concern for radioactivity of drinking-water has been increasing in recent years after the rapid development of nuclear power plants, and especially after the Fukushima nuclear accident. In this study, the radioactivity of water samples collected in the vicinity of nuclear facilities from seven provinces in China was measured and an average annual equivalent effective dose derived fro...

Temporal consequences of neurocompensation to balloon injury on endothelinergic functionality in rat contralateral carotid were evaluated. Rats underwent balloon injury in left carotid and were treated with CP-96345 (NK1 antagonist). Concentration-response curves for endothelin-1 were obtained in contralateral (right) carotid at 2, 8, 16, 30, or 45 days after surgery in the absence or presence ...

Entomopathogenic fungi and their insect hosts represent a model system for examining invertebrate-pathogen coevolutionary selection processes. Here we report the characterization of competing components of an arms race consisting of insect protective antimicrobial compounds and evolving fungal mechanisms of detoxification. The insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has a remarkably wide ho...

Introduction: This Study has was  carried out to measure and detect the natural occurred radionuclide content including 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the  Nile River sediments at various locations in Upper Egypt, from Aswan to El-Minya. Additionally, we determine the absorbed dose rate, the annual effective dose equivalent, and excess lifetime cancer risk also has been calculated. Material and Metho...

The vapor phase fluorescence spectra of p-benzoquinone-84 and & are reported and discussed in relation to the assignment of the low lying singlet states. The low temperature, polarized single crystal electronic absorption spectra of p-benzoquinone and several of its isotopic derivatives are reported. From the isotope shifts and band polarizations of the various vibronic origins, a detailed vibr...