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Background: Cutaneous angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare but fatal cancer. Established CAS cell lines are necessary for the investigation of their properties and treatment options. Methods: Two cell lines, KU‐CAS3 and KU‐CAS5, were established from human angiosarcoma specimens obtained from the scalp. Flow cytometric assay, tube formation assay, low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake assay, immunofluorescence analysis, real‐time PCR, tumorigenesis assay, and STR analysis were conducted. Results: The cells showed endothelial cell properties, based on the cobblestone appearance upon reaching confluence, CD31 positivity, tube‐formation activity, active uptake of acetylated LDL, and vWF expression. The two cell lines expressed relatively high levels of adrenergic β2 receptor, and the VEGF1 and VEGF2 receptors. In the in vivo study, the growing neoplasms, confirmed as CAS, were identified as subcutaneous dark papules. KU‐CAS cell lines were considered authentic based on STR profiling. Conclusions: KU‐CAS3 and KU‐CAS5 are the first human CAS cell lines having tumorigenic potential in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid increase in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) smoking, little is known about the factors associated with their use, particularly in adolescents with asthma. Our study investigated the prevalence of, and factors associated with asthma. We analyzed data from the Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey of 44,479 adolescents with physician-diagnosed asthma and 445,692 subjects without asthma. Sociodemographic factors, psychosocial factors, and e-cigarette smoking patterns were investigated by self-report questionnaires. Multiple logistic regression was used to investigate the factors associated with ever or current e-cigarette risks in adolescents with asthma, with adjustment for confounding factors. Significantly more subjects had a smoking habit in the asthma group than in the non-asthma group. Among the adolescents with asthma, 4,420 (9.9%) smoked e-cigarettes (ever-users), and 1,962 (4.4%) smoked e-cigarettes within the last 30 days (current users). Multiple logistic regression showed that both ever and current e-cigarette use were significantly associated with male gender, higher family income, residence in an urban area, alcohol drinking, substance use experience, sexual experience, and friends' smoking. Current e-cigarette use was also significantly associated with high caffeine intake, no regular exercise, and experience of violence in adolescents with asthma. E-cigarette smoking behavior was significantly more frequent in adolescents with asthma than in those without asthma, and multiple psychosocial factors were associated with e-cigarette smoking. Our results could inform e-smoking control programs and help identify adolescents with asthma at high risk of e-cigarette smoking, to ultimately prevent and reduce this behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swern oxidation was utilized to produce enantiomerically pure N-(R)-(+)-alpha-methylbenzyl]-azirine-2(S)-carboxaldehyde in 91% yield. The configuration of the enantiomerically pure substituted alkaloid analogue was stabilized by the ring strain aziridine. The aldehyde was also a synthetic equivalent of L-alaninal and its 2(R) isomer is the synthetic equivalent of D-alaninal. The optically pure alpha-amino aldehyde also exhibited a high diastereoselectivity during organolithium addition reactions due to the chelation-regulated C-C bond formation.

Using inelastic neutron scattering, we investigate the spin wave excitations on the antiferromagnetic MnTiO3 (TN = 65 K), which has the stacked honeycomb structure. At T = 2 K, the spin wave energy extends up to 10.7 meV with the zone-center anisotropy gap of 0.8 meV. Whereas the dispersion is also strong along the direction perpendicular to the honeycomb planes, the exchange cancellation causes the magnetic interactions to be effectively anisotropic below TN. While the spin wave spectrum survives at temperatures above TN, we find that the magnetic interactions become more anisotropic within the paramagnetic phase. These results suggest that the magnetic interaction in MnTiO3 crosses over from being three dimensional to two dimensional above TN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]