The terminal enzymatic step in piperine biosynthesis is co-localized with the product piperine in specialized cells of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.).

Piperine (1-piperoyl piperidine) is responsible for the pungent perception of dried black pepper (Piper nigrum) fruits and essentially contributes to the aromatic properties of this spice in combination with a blend of terpenoids. The final step in piperine biosynthesis involves piperine synthase (PS), which catalyzes the reaction of piperoyl CoA and piperidine to the biologically active and pungent amide. Nevertheless, experimental data on the cellular localization of piperine and the complete biosynthetic pathway are missing.

Inhibition of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase by Pictilisib Blocks Influenza Virus Propagation in Cells and in Lungs of Infected Mice.

Influenza virus (IV) infections are considered to cause severe diseases of the respiratory tract. Beyond mild symptoms, the infection can lead to respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure. Occurrence of resistant seasonal and pandemic strains against the currently licensed antiviral medications points to the urgent need for new and amply available anti-influenza drugs.

[Interrelationship between peripartal metabolism, performance, morbidity and productive life in a herd of Holstein-Friesian heifers].

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the heifers' peripartal metabolism, milk yield data and the productive life achieved. Furthermore, the influence of fertility, back fat thickness and morbidity on the productive life was evaluated.

Material And Methods: Metabolic data and back fat thickness measurements, determined between 2004 and 2005 in a herd of Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, were analysed retrospectively.

Application of the ANNA neural network chip to high-speed character recognition.

A neural network with 136000 connections for recognition of handwritten digits has been implemented using a mixed analog/digital neural network chip. The neural network chip is capable of processing 1000 characters/s. The recognition system has essentially the same rate (5%) as a simulation of the network with 32-b floating-point precision.

Qualitative dimensions of worry in DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder subjects and nonanxious controls.

Revisions to DSM-III cite apprehensive expectation or 'worry' as a defining feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The quality and focus of worry reported by groups of GAD patients (n = 19), and nonanxious 'controls' (n = 26) were examined using self-monitored data. Content categorizations by independent raters showed that GAD patients worried more about illness, health and injury issues and displayed a tendency to worry more about miscellaneous 'minor' issues.