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Oligomeric proanthocyanidin suppresses the death of retinal ganglion cells
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research
The death of retinal ganglion cells is a hallmark of many optic neurodegenerative diseases such as glaucoma and retinopathy. Oxidative stress is one of the major reasons to cause the cell death. A latest study, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 25, 2013), has shown that grape seed extract can protect retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. In this study, Prof. Kwok-Fai So, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Daxiang Lu from Jinan University, China show that oligomeric proanthocyanidin, enriched in grape seeds, has a protective effect on retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced injury, as confirmed by using both RGC-5 cell lines and retinal explant culture. These findings imply a potential application of oligomeric proanthocyanidin in the clinical treatment of many neural diseases, from glaucoma, ischemia to neurodegenerative disease.
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Article: " Oligomeric proanthocyanidin protects retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis," by Hui Wang1, 2, Chanjuan Zhang1, 2, Dan Lu1, 2, Xiaoming Shu1, Lihong Zhu1, 2, Renbing Qi1, Kwok-Fai So2, Daxiang Lu1, Ying Xu2 (1 Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China; 2 GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China)
Wang H, Zhang CJ, Lu D, Shu XM, Zhu LH, Qi RB, So KF, Lu DX, Xu Y. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin protects retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(25):2317-2326.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=704
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Oligomeric proanthocyanidin suppresses the death of retinal ganglion cells
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research
The death of retinal ganglion cells is a hallmark of many optic neurodegenerative diseases such as glaucoma and retinopathy. Oxidative stress is one of the major reasons to cause the cell death. A latest study, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 25, 2013), has shown that grape seed extract can protect retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. In this study, Prof. Kwok-Fai So, an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Daxiang Lu from Jinan University, China show that oligomeric proanthocyanidin, enriched in grape seeds, has a protective effect on retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced injury, as confirmed by using both RGC-5 cell lines and retinal explant culture. These findings imply a potential application of oligomeric proanthocyanidin in the clinical treatment of many neural diseases, from glaucoma, ischemia to neurodegenerative disease.
###
Article: " Oligomeric proanthocyanidin protects retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis," by Hui Wang1, 2, Chanjuan Zhang1, 2, Dan Lu1, 2, Xiaoming Shu1, Lihong Zhu1, 2, Renbing Qi1, Kwok-Fai So2, Daxiang Lu1, Ying Xu2 (1 Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China; 2 GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong Province, China)
Wang H, Zhang CJ, Lu D, Shu XM, Zhu LH, Qi RB, So KF, Lu DX, Xu Y. Oligomeric proanthocyanidin protects retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(25):2317-2326.
Contact:
Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=704
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The following is excerpted from Blockbusters: Hit-Making, Risk-Taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment,by Anita Elberse, published by Henry Holt & Co.
Standing backstage at Boston’s sold-out TD Garden in March 2011 during Lady Gaga’s smash-hit tour, the Monster Ball, her manager, Troy Carter, paused a moment to take it all in. “It is amazing how far we have come in such a short time,” he said.
After emerging on the pop-music scene in 2008—touring as a supporting act for New Kids on the Block, a boy band beyond its glory years—Lady Gaga broke through in early 2009, when her singles “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” topped international charts. She rapidly became one of the biggest names in entertainment, sweeping up Grammys and Video Music Awards and selling tens of millions of singles. In 2011, Forbes ranked her first on its Celebrity 100 list, ahead of Oprah Winfrey.
As is the case with most “overnight successes,” Gaga’s ascent had been a long time in the making. In the early days of her career, through a relentless touring schedule—for months on end, she put on seven to eight shows a week, sometimes performing three times per night, in clubs around the U.S. and Canada—Gaga had built a fan base with a strong core. “We wanted to build her fan base from the ground up,” Carter said. “Once the audience feels they own something, they are going to run with it, and do the work for you.” She relied heavily on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to spread word of mouth and strengthen her connection with her fans—her ”little monsters,” as she called them. She turned out to be extraordinarily skilled at doing so: By 2011, Gaga was the most popular living person on Facebook and the most followed person on Twitter.
Given her extraordinary success with a grassroots approach to launching her music, one might have assumed that Gaga, Carter, and her label, Interscope, would stick with such a strategy in 2011 for her third album, Born This Way. Yet the Born This Way launch compared more to “a movie blockbuster in the summer months, like Avatar,” as Interscope’s vice chairman Steve Berman put it. “With an artist of Gaga’s caliber,” Carter said, “reaching full potential means doing things on an enormous scale.” He knew that the launch he had in mind would have to go beyond traditional music-distribution channels and would test the limits of what a record label—even one the size of Universal Music Group—could afford. Carter and his team likewise pursued a blockbuster strategy for Gaga's forthcoming record, ARTPOP, due Nov. 11.
Most leading entertainment businesses operate on such a blockbuster model: making risky bets on the development of a select few products, then increasing the stakes by investing a great deal of money in distributing and promoting those products as widely as possible, all with an eye toward opening as big as they can. Companies often set marketing budgets at high levels well before they know how those products will be received in the marketplace. But what’s the rationale? Why would the team behind Lady Gaga want to move away from a word-of-mouth-driven launch that worked so well for them in the past? With Gaga’s new album likely to sell like hot cakes, wouldn’t record label executives prefer to save on any unnecessary marketing expenditures?
Launching entertainment products—albums, movies, television shows, video games, books—using what marketers call a “limited” or “grass-roots” release strategy has undeniable advantages. The basic idea is to gradually discover what level of marketing spending is most appropriate. It is all about being as efficient as possible with the available resources. For a movie, for example, a limited-release strategy generally means that it debuts on only a few screens in major cities, and is supported with print and online advertisements in those regions. The goal is to attract not the largest but rather the right audience to the product, in the hopes that those early customers will in turn spread positive word of mouth and help draw in new audiences. Only if the product takes off—or shows some signs of being on the verge of taking off—will the producer gradually increase the distribution coverage or intensity and support the product with more advertising to further enhance growth. The principle is to spend sizable amounts of money on the marketing of only those products that are worth it—those that truly have a chance of success in the marketplace.
Lady Gaga’s first recordings were released in this fashion. When her first single, “Just Dance,” was released in April 2008, gaining traction proved difficult. “We could not get it played on pop radio,” Carter recalled. “Mainstream radio stations told us it was too much of a dance song for them.” Bobby Campbell, chief marketing officer at Carter’s management firm Atom Factory, agreed: “Dance music simply was not on the air in Top 40 radio.”
So Carter relied on an intense schedule of live performances targeted at communities that seemed especially receptive to her music. “The gay community seemed to stick to her, and that resonated with her personally, so gay clubs were a natural fit to start the work,” Campbell said. “It was about finding different groups: the gay community, the dance community, the club-going community, the fashion community, the art community, and developing those into a larger pool of Gaga fans. So when Interscope made some headway with radio later on, we had this really strong core of fans who had been following her for months, and who felt they were part of the reason why she was successful.”
Jimmy Iovine, Interscope’s chairman, talks about capitalizing on “sparks”: The idea is that if an entertainment product resonates with audiences in a given market, that market can, with the right kind of support, become a launching pad for a wider rollout.
New information revealed about SMS integration, statuses and sharing options
Google announced at an event this week that new features would be coming in the latest version of Hangouts, and now we have a better idea of when and specifically what we'll be getting. First up is SMS and MMS integration — Google says you'll be able to receive text messages in Hangouts, and you can even import existing conversations when you make the move. SMS support also extends to group texts and emoji support between Android and iPhone.
You will also be able to send animated GIFs in Hangouts, including Auto Awesome animated photos made through Google+. Even further, you can now set status indicators showing what device you're currently using, whether or not you're in a call and what your mood is (if you're into that kinda thing). You'll also be able to share your granular location on a map (shown above).
Contact: Sally Corinaldi sally.corinaldi@csiro.au 61-352-275-203 CSIRO Australia
A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemic.
The SARS-CoV pandemic killed 774 people of the 8094 people infected, a case fatality ratio of almost 10 per cent. With cases diagnosed across the world, the pandemic had an impact on international travel and trade.
The research team, led by Professor Shi Zhengli from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and including CSIRO and Duke-NUS scientist Professor Linfa Wang, have just had their breakthrough results published in Nature.
While researchers globally have previously used genetic sequencing to demonstrate that bats are the natural reservoirs of SARS-like CoVs, this is the first time that live virus has been successfully isolated from bats to definitively confirm them as the origin of the virus.
The team successfully isolated a SARS-like CoV, named SL-CoV WIV1, directly from faecal samples of Chinese Horseshoe bats using the world renowned bat virus isolation methodology developed by scientists at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong.
The results will help governments design more effective prevention strategies for SARS and similar epidemics.
Horseshoe bats are found around the world, including Australia and play an important ecological role. Their role in SARS-CoV transmission highlights the importance of protecting the bat's natural environment so they are not forced into highly populated urban areas in search of food.
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Bats confirmed as SARS origin
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
30-Oct-2013
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Contact: Sally Corinaldi sally.corinaldi@csiro.au 61-352-275-203 CSIRO Australia
A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemic.
The SARS-CoV pandemic killed 774 people of the 8094 people infected, a case fatality ratio of almost 10 per cent. With cases diagnosed across the world, the pandemic had an impact on international travel and trade.
The research team, led by Professor Shi Zhengli from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and including CSIRO and Duke-NUS scientist Professor Linfa Wang, have just had their breakthrough results published in Nature.
While researchers globally have previously used genetic sequencing to demonstrate that bats are the natural reservoirs of SARS-like CoVs, this is the first time that live virus has been successfully isolated from bats to definitively confirm them as the origin of the virus.
The team successfully isolated a SARS-like CoV, named SL-CoV WIV1, directly from faecal samples of Chinese Horseshoe bats using the world renowned bat virus isolation methodology developed by scientists at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong.
The results will help governments design more effective prevention strategies for SARS and similar epidemics.
Horseshoe bats are found around the world, including Australia and play an important ecological role. Their role in SARS-CoV transmission highlights the importance of protecting the bat's natural environment so they are not forced into highly populated urban areas in search of food.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Dressing up to go harpooning on the high seas for Halloween (October 31), Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy took little Louis out for Trick-Or-Treating as Gorton's Fishermen.
Looking legit in full fisherman's rubbers, complete with gray beards, "The Heat" co-stars were great sports walking Sandra's adoptive son around the neighborhood. He was dressed as a scary skeleton, holding a bucket for his candy as they went.
In related news, the 49-year-old mommy is working hard as a voice actor for the upcoming "Despicable Me" spinoff, "Minions." Set for release on July 10th of 2014, the "Gravity" beauty will play the voice of the seductive Scarlett Overkill.
According to the synopsis, "Dr. Gru is recruited by an organization to stop Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world."
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