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The aim of the study was to report our experiences in the treatment of chronic prostatitis using combination regimen including ciprofloxacin, doxazosin, allopurinol and biofeedback perineal massage. From May 2003 to April 2004, 7 patients with NIH Category II-chronic bacterial prostatitis and 7 patients with NIH Category IIIA-inflammatory chronic pelvic pain syndrome were treated. The NIH-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) was scored by the patient before and after the treatment, 6 months later. In Category II patients, the bacterial eradication rate was 71% after ciprofloxacin treatment during a follow-up of 6 months. The beneficial response rate to allopurinol, doxazosin and biofeedback perineal massage was 50%, 42% and 85%, respectively. In NIH Category IIIA patients, the individual beneficial response rate to ciprofloxacin, allopurinol, doxazosin and biofeedback perineal massage was 57%, 100%, 71% and 100%, respectively. Comparing pre-treatment and post-treatment results of the combination regimen, there was a statistically significant improvement in the 3 domains of pain score, urinary symptoms and quality of life impact of the NIH-CPSI. Combination regimen including ciprofloxacin, doxazosin allopurinol and biofeedback perineal massage in the treatment of chronic prostatitis is a safe and effective modality in our limited experience.

Four new steroidal saponins, polygonatosides A−D (1−4), were isolated from the rhizomes of Polygonatum zanlanscianense, together with six known spirostanols (5−10) and a known megastigmane glycoside (11). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and the results of acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis. The cytotoxic activities of 1−11 against HeLa cells are described.

Six new steroid glycosides&sbd;two spirostanols, polianthosides B and C (1, 2), and four furostanols, polianthosides D−G (3−6)&sbd;were isolated from the fresh tubers of Polianthes tuberosa, together with seven known spirostanols (7−13) and a known furostanol (14) saponins. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and the results of acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis. The cytotoxic activities of 1−14 against HeLa cells are reported.

Abstract:  A methacrylate copolymer combining chemically amplified concept and casting technique was developed as a novel thick photoresist for the UV-LIGA process. Photoresist layers up to 500 μm in thickness can be fabricated easily. Microstructures fabricated by the novel thick photoresist were demonstrated. At present, the ring-shape microstructures with 150 μm tall and 15 μm wide have been realized and the calculated aspect ratio is 10.

Six new ellagitannins, phyllanemblinins A−F (1−6), were isolated from Phyllanthus emblica, along with 30 known tannins and related compounds. Their structures were determined by spectral and chemical methods. Phyllanemblinins A (1) and B (2) were confirmed to be ellagitannins having a tetrahydroxybenzofuran dicarboxyl group and a hexahydroxydiphenoyl group, respectively, by chemical synthesis from furosin (8). Phyllanemblinin C (3) has a new acyl group at the glucose 2,4-positions and is structurally related to chebulagic acid. Phyllanemblinins D (4), E (5), and F (6) were found to be positional isomers of neochebuloyl 1(β)-O-galloylglucose.

Three novel bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids, phyllaemblic acids B (1) and C (2) and phyllaemblicin D (3), together with two new phenolic glycosides, 2-carboxylmethylphenol 1-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (4) and 2,6-dimethoxy-4-(2-hydroxyethyl)phenol 1-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (5), were isolated from the roots of Phyllanthus emblica. The structures of 1−5 were established by spectral and chemical methods. The absolute stereochemistry of 1 and 2 was determined by applying the PGME method.

Three ester glycosides, named phyllaemblicins A (3), B (4), and C (5), and a methyl ester (2), of a highly oxygenated norbisabolane, phyllaemblic acid (1), were isolated from the roots of Phyllanthus emblica, along with 15 tannins and related compounds. The structures of 2−5 were established by spectral and chemical methods.

This study integrates “TMAH wet etching” “photo-assisted electrochemical etching’, “PtRu binary metal chemical plating”, and “methanol modification” techniques to develop a micro direct methanol fuel cell. The battery electrode plate is made into microchannel + porous silicon (PS) and microchannel + through-silicon via (TSV) plate electrodes using a silicon wafer as the substrate. When the anode and cathode use a PS electrode and TSV electrode, respectively, the maximum open-circuit voltage is 0.4 V, which is 1.5 times the cell using the PS electrode and 6.7 times the cell using the TSV electrode. The PtRu binary metal is uniformly coated on the surface of a graphene and carbon nanotube to form a compound catalyst layer (PtRu/G-CNT), where the Pt and Ru contents are 34.1 wt% and 2.6 wt%, respectively. In the half-cell test, the oxidation current peak of PtRu/G-CNT is 5 mA/cm2, which is 2.02 times and 2.4 times that of Pt/G-CNT and PtRu/G, respectively. When the fuel is mixed with 0.1% surfactant of sodium dihexyl sulfosuccinate, the maximum power density is 0.336 MW/cm2, and the maximum open-circuit voltage is 0.48 V, which are 1.4 times and 1.2 times the case without a surfactant, respectively.

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) plays a critical role in resealing DNA double-stand breaks by non-homologous end joining. Aside from DNA-PK, XRCC4 and DNA ligase IV, other proteins which play a role(s) in this repair pathway remain unknown; DNA-PK contains a catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and a DNA binding subunit (Ku70 and Ku80). We isolated Ku70-binding proteins (KUB1-KUB4) using yeast two-hybrid analyses. Sequence analyses revealed KUB1 to be apolipoprotein J (apoJ), also known as X-ray-inducible transcript 8 (XIP8), testosterone-repressed prostate message-2 (TRPM-2) and clusterin. KUB2 is Ku80. KUB3 and KUB4 are unknown, >10 kb trans-cripts. Interactions of apoJ/XIP8 or KUB3 with Ku70 were confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation analyses in MCF-7:WS8 breast cancer or IMR-90 normal lung fibroblast cells, respectively. The interaction of apoJ/XIP8 with Ku70 was confirmed by far-western analyses. Stable over-expression of full-length apoJ/XIP8 in MCF-7:WS8 caused decreased Ku70/Ku80 DNA end binding that was restored by apoJ/XIP8 monoclonal antibodies. The role of apoJ/XIP8 in ionizing radiation resistance/sensitivity is under investigation.

1. Intracellular current and voltage clamp recordings were obtained from rat supraoptic nucleus neurones in superfused hypothalamic explants in order to evaluate their response to dopamine and to D1 and D2 agonists. 2. With one exception, exposure to dopamine (10‐200 microM) depolarized supraoptic neurones. When tested for an effect on twenty‐one spontaneously active supraoptic neurones, dopamine enhanced the firing of all eleven continuous‐firing (possibly oxytocin‐secreting) neurones and prolonged the burst in all ten phasic‐firing (vasopressin‐secreting) neurones. 3. In sixty‐seven of sixty‐eight neurones where current injection was used to maintain membrane potential below threshold for action potential generation, current clamp data revealed that exposure to dopamine (10‐200 microM) was followed in 10‐17 s by a gradual 3‐7 mV membrane depolarization that lasted for 4‐15 min and was accompanied by a 12‐23% reduction in input resistance. Exposure to quinpirole, a D2 agonist (10‐200 microM), induced a similar response with comparable onset, duration and change in input resistance. In contrast, tests on sixteen cells indicated little or no response to a D1 agonist SKF38393. 4. Under voltage clamp, dopamine was noted to induce an inward current, accompanied by a 7.5‐40% increase in membrane conductance over the corresponding time course. 5. Voltage‐current plots for dopamine‐induced depolarizations were linear in the range ‐50 to ‐110 mV. Dopamine and quinpirole depolarizations had extrapolated mean reversal potentials of ‐25 +/‐ 10 mV (mean +/‐ S.D.) and ‐20 +/‐ 15 mV respectively. This approximated the mean reversal potential of ‐20 +/‐ 8 mV measured from the dopamine‐induced inward current using single‐electrode voltage clamp. 6. The actions of dopamine were selectively antagonized by two D2 receptor antagonists, sulpiride and spiperone, but neither influenced membrane depolarizations induced by equimolar concentrations of noradrenaline. Dopamine‐induced depolarizations also persisted following selective blockade of alpha 1‐adrenergic receptors by prazosin; under these conditions, noradrenaline induced membrane hyperpolarization. 7. Following complete substitution of external Na+ with Tris, the reversal potential for the dopamine‐induced response was shifted to ‐70 +/‐ 9.8 mV. This value was consistently less negative than the estimated potassium equilibrium potential. 8. The depolarization action of dopamine persisted in media containing tetrodotoxin and with an external calcium concentration ([Ca2+]o) of 0 mM‐Ca2+ with 6 mM‐Mg2+ or Mn2+, but was abolished following intracellular injection of [1,2‐bis(2‐aminophenoxy)ethane‐N,N,N',N'‐tetraacetic acid (BAPTA), a Ca2+ chelator.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Activation (transformation) of the chick oviduct progesterone receptor was found to be induced at 0 degrees C by heparin free in solution as well as by chromatography on a column of heparin linked to acrylamide/agarose. The transformed molecule displayed properties of the activated form of [3H]progesterone-receptor complex obtained by heat treatment or by high ionic strength: smaller size (s20,w = 3.9 S, Stokes radius = 5.2 nm), lower rate of dissociation (t 1/2 approx. 50 h at 0 degrees C compared with approx. 20 h for the ‘native’ form) and increased binding to phosphocellulose. In all cases, molybdate was an effective inhibitor of transformation and stabilized a large ‘native’ form (s20,w = 7.9 S, Stokes radius = 7.6 nm). Transformation by neither KCl nor heparin depended on the presence of ligand bound to the receptor, and the properties of the receptor molecule produced by treatment of ligand-free receptor with high ionic strength or with heparin were identical with those of the activated progesterone-receptor complex, demonstrating that receptor activation can be obtained experimentally in the absence of hormone. Our data are compatible with a model in which activation implies separation of the 4 S units, which compose the approx. 8 S ‘native’ form.

1. To characterize the organum vasculosum lamina terminalis (OVLT) innervation of hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus (SON) neurones, current clamp recordings were obtained in SON cells in superfused rat hypothalamic explants. Stimulation of 1 Hz evoked 5‐10 mV bicuculline‐sensitive IPSPs in forty out of forty‐six SON neurones, including both phasic (vasopressin immunoreactive) and continuously firing (oxytocin immunoreactive) cells. 2. In twenty‐four cells, mean IPSP latency was 8.7 +/‐ 1 ms (+/‐ S.D.) and reversal potentials (Vr) ranged between ‐60 and ‐75 mV. In the other sixteen cells, Vr ranged between ‐20 and ‐55 mV and the addition of bicuculline revealed underlying EPSPs (latency, 7.8 +/‐ 0.8 ms; mean Vr, ‐8 +/‐ 10 mV) with two components: (a) fast (rise and half‐decay times of 5.83 +/‐ 1.3 ms and 19 +/‐ 4.4 ms respectively), with reversible blockade by 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione (CNQX); (b) slow (4‐ to 5‐fold increase in rise and half‐decay time), with reversible reduction by (‐)‐aminophosphonovaleric acid (APV). 3. During 10 Hz stimulation, EPSPs summated into 3‐7 mV depolarizing envelopes lasting 1.5‐3.0 s and sustaining action potential bursts. Depolarizing envelopes displayed voltage dependence, and were enhanced after removal of extracellular magnesium, diminished by APV and completely abolished by APV and CNQX together. 4. Thus, non‐NMDA receptors probably mediate fast EPSPs whereas NMDA receptors mediate slow EPSPs and depolarizing envelopes. OVLT‐evoked EPSPs were only seen in vasopressin‐immunoreactive neurones. 5. These observations indicate converging inhibitory and target‐selective excitatory amino acid‐mediated inputs from OVLT to SON; the latter may modulate the excitability of SON vasopressin neurones to a hyperosmotic challenge.

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