Search

Although the typical antioxidant, N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD), ensures high durability and long lifespan for rubber compounds, it generates a highly toxic quinone in water, causing a serious environmental pollution. Herein, as an alternative material of 6PPD, we newly introduce eco-friendly amine-functionalized lignin (AL) to be incorporated in rubber, which can provide excellent combinatorial anti-aging properties of thermal stability and ozone/fatigue resistances through radical scavenging effect. The heterolytic ring-opening reaction of AL and sulfur can accelerate curing and improve crosslink density by 28% (v, 4.107 × 10−4 mol/cm3), consequently reducing ozone vulnerable areas of the matrix, and further improving aging resistance. Notably, AL allows its rubber compound to exhibit superior anti-ozone performance after ozone aging, with the arithmetic surface roughness (Sa) of 2.077 μm, which should be compared to that of 6PPD (4.737 μm). The developed chemically modified lignin and the methodology have enormous potential as a promising additive for the future eco-friendly rubber compounds.

Anti-corrosion metal protection of the 2D structured graphene oxide (GO) was investigated in this study using its intrinsic impermeability against reactive molecules stemming from the small geometric pore size and π-orbital repelling fields of graphene. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of GO sheets on metals is an attractive coating method but the negatively-charged GO only allows the anodic EPD process, which makes it difficult to achieve high-quality coating layers due to gas bubbling and electrochemical oxidation of metals. Thus, we imposed the positive charge to GO sheets using p-phenylenediamine (PPD) and successfully carried out the cathodic EPD in the ethanol aqueous solution. The cathodic EPD of GO on cupper provided a linear growth rate with both deposition time and voltage providing the thickness over 6.0 μm in a void-free and robust feature, which could hardly be achieved by other coating methods. Converting the GO coating to the reduced GO (RGO) by thermal reduction, we successfully increased the RGO adhesion strength up to the highest adhesion grade of 5B in the cross-cut adhesion test. An excellent anti-corrosion protection capability of the developed RGO coating was demonstrated by a decreased corrosion current density and increased corrosion potential in potentiodynamic polarization analysis.

We investigated the rheological and mechanical properties of a polypropylene (PP) composite reinforced by microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) fibers, of which the size was fractionated at ca. 24 µm by removing substances such as lignin or hemicellulose out of natural plants to exert the maximum mechanical performance of cellulose fibers. Due to the poor compatibility of MFC with a non-polar hydrophobic PP matrix, the MFC surface was modified through silylation and acetylation to increase its wetting and dispersion characteristics. The content of silylated-MFC could increase up to 30 wt% in the PP composite through large-volume process such as extrusion and injection molding. In addition, all mechanical properties of the silylated-MFC/PP composite were improved compared to untreated MFC/PP, acetylated MFC/PP composite. It was ensured by a strong shear thinning characteristic of the PP composite with silylated MFC content 30 wt% exhibiting a 69% lower viscosity (337 Pa·s at 4.7 s−1) than the neat PP at 180 °C. The same 30 wt% silylated specimens gave a well-dispersed fibrous MFC in PP, providing a tensile modulus (3.09 GPa) and a flexural modulus (3133 MPa), which were 64 and 81% higher than the neat PP, and 16 and 15% higher than the untreated-MFC composites, respectively. The flexural strength and the heat distortion temperature were also increased by 10 and 22%, compared to neat PP, respectively. In the acetylation reaction, the fibril structure of MFC was damaged due to full substitution by acetyl groups, and the reinforcing effect was insignificant as a filler in PP matrix. The developed silylated-MFC/PP composites provided excellent mechanical properties and high-loading processability that would be difficult to achieve by other eco-friendly composite systems.

As highly integrated electronic devices and automotive parts are becoming used in high-power and load-bearing systems, thermal conductivity and mechanical damping properties have become critical factors. In this study, we applied two different fillers of aluminium nitride (AlN) and boron nitride (BN), having polygonal and platelet shapes, respectively, into ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber to ensure improved thermo-mechanical properties of EPDM composites. These two different shapes are considered advantageous in providing effective pathways of phonon transfer as well as facilitating sliding movement of packed particles. When the volume ratio of AlN : BN was 1 : 1, the thermal conductivity of the hybrid-filler system (EPDM/AlN/BN) increased in comparison to that of the single-filler system (EPDM/AlN) of 3.03 to 4.76 W m−1 K−1. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and thermal distortion parameter (TDP) substantially decreased from 59.3 ppm °C−1 and 17.5 m K−1 of EPDM/AlN, to 39.7 ppm °C−1 and 8.4 m K−1 of EPDM/AlN/BN, representing reductions of 33 and 52%, respectively. Moreover, the damping coefficient of EPDM/AlN/BN was greatly increased to 0.5 of at 50 °C, compared to 0.03 of neat EPDM. These excellent performances likely stem from the effective packing of AlN/BN hybrid fillers, which could induce facile energy transfer and effective energy dissipation by the sliding movement of the adjacent hybrid fillers in the EPDM matrix.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and α-glucosidase are important targets to treat obesity and diabetes, due to their deep correlation with insulin and leptin signalling, and glucose regulation. The methanol extract of Paulownia tomentosa fruits showed potent inhibition against both enzymes. Purification of this extract led to eight geranylated flavonoids (1–8) displaying dual inhibition of PTP1B and α-glucosidase. The isolated compounds were identified as flavanones (1–5) and dihydroflavonols (6–8). Inhibitory potencies of these compounds varied accordingly, but most of the compounds were highly effective against PTP1B (IC50 = 1.9–8.2 μM) than α-glucosidase (IC50 = 2.2–78.9 μM). Mimulone (1) was the most effective against PTP1B with IC50 = 1.9 μM, whereas 6-geranyl-3,3′,5,5′,7-pentahydroxy-4′-methoxyflavane (8) displayed potent inhibition against α-glucosidase (IC50 = 2.2 μM). All inhibitors showed mixed type Ι inhibition toward PTP1B, and were noncompetitive inhibitors of α-glucosidase. This mixed type behavior against PTP1B was fully demonstrated by showing a decrease in Vmax, an increase of Km, and Kik/Kiv ratio ranging between 2.66 and 3.69.

Nowaday, beyond the time of wellbeing and LOHAS, many people have great interest in self therapy, so it is called healing era. As the folk medicine fields are actively industrialized and the interest in health improvement, not disease cure, is increased, many researches about the alternative medicine and therapy in various fields are being performed. In the times of the interest in health improvement and spontaneous, natural healing ability of human body is getting increase, it is very meaningful to search the factors which consist of recognition to folk medicine. So in this study, we developed the questionaries on the basis of previous studies, researched the factors affecting the recognition to folk medicine using factor analysis, and tested statistically the difference of recognition character according to demo-statistical traits. As the result, the twenty-four measurable variables related to folk medicine are sorted to four factors, ie, health improvement factor, safety factor, psycholocial factor, and substitutional factor. And overall, the middle and senior ages, the forties to sixties, and higher-educated peoples have more experiences in folk medicine than the younger ages, below thirties and lower-educated peoples. The distiction of sex makes little differences.

The crystal structure of sialidase from C. perfringens, a pathogenic bacterium causing various gastrointestinal diseases, was determined in complex with a potent natural polyphenolic geranylated flavonoid-based inhibitor. The complex structure and comparative kinetic studies revealed that the geranyl group and C3′ hydroxyl group of the flavonoid backbone contribute to inhibition of the bacterial sialidase and generation of the stable enzyme–inhibitor complex., Sialidase catalyzes the removal of a terminal sialic acid from glycoconjugates and plays a pivotal role in nutrition, cellular interactions and pathogenesis mediating various infectious diseases including cholera, influenza and sepsis. An array of antiviral sialidase agents have been developed and are commercially available, such as zanamivir and oseltamivir for treating influenza. However, the development of bacterial sialidase inhibitors has been much less successful. Here, natural polyphenolic geranylated flavonoids which show significant inhibitory effects against Cp-NanI, a sialidase from Clostridium perfringens, are reported. This bacterium causes various gastrointestinal diseases. The crystal structure of the Cp-NanI catalytic domain in complex with the best inhibitor, diplacone, is also presented. This structure explains how diplacone generates a stable enzyme–inhibitor complex. These results provide a structural framework for understanding the interaction between sialidase and natural flavonoids, which are promising scaffolds on which to discover new anti-sialidase agents.

Austroinulin (AI) and 6-O-acetyl-austroinulin (6-OAAI) are natural diterpenoids isolated from Stevia rebaudiana with anti-inflammatory activity. However, the mechanisms underlying their anti-inflammatory effects are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of AI and 6-OAAI on nitric oxide (NO) production and their molecular mechanism in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. We found that AI and 6-OAAI inhibit the production of NO, iNOS, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and MCP-1) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. In these same cells, AI and 6-OAAI also suppressed the phosphorylation of STAT1 and the production of interferon-beta (IFN-β). Moreover, treatment with AI and 6-OAAI inhibited the activation of interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF3) and NF-κB. Taken together, our results suggest that AI and 6-OAAI inhibit NO production and iNOS expression by blocking the activation of STAT1, IRF3, and NF-κB in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages.

Graphical abstract A series of geranylated flavonoids 1–12 demostrated a high inhibition against SARS-CoV pain like protease. The flavonoids 1–5 were identified as new compounds and have very rare functionality, 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran., SARS-CoV papain-like protease (PLpro) is an important antiviral target due to its key roles in SARS virus replication. The MeOH extracts of the fruits of the Paulownia tree yielded many small molecules capable of targeting PLpro. Five of these compounds were new geranylated flavonoids, tomentin A, tomentin B, tomentin C, tomentin D, tomentin E (1–5). Structure analysis of new compounds (1–5) by NMR showed that they all contain a 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran moiety. This chemotype is very rare and is derived from cyclization of a geranyl group with a phenol functionality. Most compounds (1–12) inhibited PLpro in a dose dependent manner with IC50’s raging between 5.0 and 14.4 μM. All new compounds having the dihydro-2H-pyran group showed better inhibition than their parent compounds (1 vs 11, 2 vs 9, 4 vs 12, 5 vs 6). In kinetic studies, 1–12 emerged to be reversible, mixed inhibitors.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) papain-like protease (PLpro) is a key enzyme that plays an important role in SARS virus replication. The ethanol extract of the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia showed high activity against the SARS-CoV PLpro with an IC50 of value of 15 µg/ml. Due to its potency, subsequent bioactivity-guided fractionation of the ethanol extract led to six aromatic compounds (1-6), which were identified as bavachinin (1), neobavaisoflavone (2), isobavachalcone (3), 4'-O-methylbavachalcone (4), psoralidin (5) and corylifol A (6). All isolated flavonoids (1-6) inhibited PLpro in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 ranging between 4.2 and 38.4 µM. Lineweaver-Burk and Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicated that inhibitors (1-6) were mixed inhibitors of PLpro. The analysis of KI and KIS values proved that the two most promising compounds (3 and 5) had reversible mixed type I mechanisms.

The action of β-secretase (BACE1) is strongly correlated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Aminochalcone derivatives were examined for their ability to inhibit BACE1. Parent aminochalcones showed two digit micromolar IC50s against BACE1. Potency was enhanced 10-fold or more by introducing benzenesulfonyl derivatives to the amino group: 1 (IC50 = 48.2 μM) versus 4a (IC50 = 1.44 μM) and 2 (IC50 = 17.7 μM) versus 5a (IC50 = 0.21 μM). The activity was significantly influenced by position and number of hydroxyl groups on the chalcone B-ring: 3,4-dihydroxy 5a (IC50 = 0.21 μM) > 4-hydroxy 4a (IC50 = 1.44 μM) > 2,4-dihydroxy 6 (IC50 = 3.60 μM) > 2,5-dihydroxy 7 (IC50 = 16.87 μM) > des hydroxy 4b (IC50 = 168.7 μM). Lineweaver-Burk and Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicate that compound 5a was a mixed inhibitor with reversible and time-dependent behavior. Potent BACE1 inhibitors 4a,c,f, 5a–c showed moderate inhibition against two other enzymes implicated in AD pathogenesis, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), with IC50s ranging between 56.1 ~ 95.8 μM and 19.5 ~ 79.0 μM, respectively.

Co-treatment of astragalin and quercetin (AGQC) significantly suppressed the ultraviolet (UV)-induced keratinocyte damage. Administration of AGQC in UV-irradiated mice reduced the histological skin alterations and the levels of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) and CXCL2. These results suggest that AGQC has a potential use as a compound for protection against UV-irradiated skin damage.

Sialidases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of sialic acid residues from various glycoconjugates, which are widely found in a number of viral and microbial pathogens. In this study, we investigated the biological evaluation of isolated six shikonins (1–6) and three shikonofurans (7–9) from Lithospermum erythrorhizon. The nine isolated compounds 1–9 showed strong and selective inhibition of glycosyl hydrolase (GH) 33 and -34 sialidases activities. In GH33 bacterial-sialidase inhibition assay, the inhibitory activities against GH33 siadliase of all shikonofuran derivatives (7–9) were greater than shikonin derivatives (1–6). Shikonofuran E (8) exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity toward GH33 sialidases (IC50 = 0.24 μM). Moreover, our detailed kinetic analysis of these species unveiled that they are all competitive and simple reversible slow-binding inhibitors. Otherwise, they showed different inhibitory capacities and kinetic modes to GH34 viral-sialidase activity. All the naphthoquinone derivatives (1–6) were of almost equal efficiency with IC50 value of 40 μM and shikonofurans (7–9) did not show the significant inhibitory effect to GH34 sialidase. Kinetic analyses indicated that naphthoquinones acted via a noncompetitive mechanism.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-allergy activities of persimmon leaf extract (PLE) on a phthalic anhydride (PA)-induced allergic mouse model. A human leukemic mast cell line (HMC-1) was used to examine the inhibitory activity of PLE on the histamine release by human leukemic mast cells. PLE inhibited histamine release from HMC-1 cells in response to cross-linkage of high-affinity IgE receptor-α (FceRIα). Additionally, a PA-induced allergic mouse model was used to investigate the effects of PLE in vivo. Mice were orally administrated with or without PLE of single dose (250 mg/kg/day) for 31 days. Oral intake of PLE significantly inhibited passive cutaneous reactions. Oral administration of PLE to PA-induced allergic mice also led to a striking suppression of the development of contact dermatitis, ear swelling and lymph node weight. In addition, PA-specific IL-4 production of draining lymph node cells was markedly diminished by PLE oral administration, but not IFN-γ. Furthermore, PLE treatment suppressed PA-induced thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (CCL17) and cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine (CCL27) expressions in ear tissues. Based on these results, we suggest that PLE may have therapeutic potential as an effective material for management of irritant contact dermatitis or related inflammatory diseases.

Azasugars derived from L-alanine and L-serine were screened for inhibitory activity against α-rhamnosidase. The enantiomers of 1,6-dideoxynojirimycin (ent-1,6-dDNJ) (1) and (2S,3R)-2-(hydroxymethyl)piperidin-3-ol (5) showed highly specific and potent inhibition against α-rhamnosidase with K i values of 4.2 and 16.6 μM, respectively. Structure of the best inhibitor features the same stereochemical configuration as L-rhamnose at C2, C3, and C4 centers. In kinetic studies, both compounds exhibited competitive inhibition behavior. Compound 1 manifested simple reversible slow-binding inhibition with the following kinetic parameters: k 3=1.17 nM−1 min−1, k 4 = 5.96 ×10−3 min−1, and K i app =5.1 mM.

Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation induces skin damage and inflammation. Persimmon leaf extract (PLE) has traditionally been used for the treatment of acute and chronic diseases in Asia, but there have been no reports on its UVB-protective effects. Thus, protective effects of PLE against UVB-induced inflammations in HaCaT keratinocytes and mice were investigated. In an in vitro study using HaCaT keratinocytes, UVB irradiation decreased cell viability and increased chemokine production. PLE recovered cell viability and suppressed UVB-induced production of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (CCL2) and cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine (CCL27). Moreover, oral administration of PLE to UVB-irradiated mice resulted in significant suppression of skin damage. Histological analyses revealed that infiltration of inflammatory cells, especially degranulated mast cells, thickening of the epidermis, and hyperplasia were significantly reduced. PLE treatment suppressed UVB-induced CCL2 and CCL27 expressions in the skin. These results suggest PLE has potential as an effective material for protection against UVB-induced skin inflammation.

Neuraminidase is a proven target in anti-viral drug development. It also appears to be important for infection by certain pathogenic bacteria and has been implicated in biofilm formation. Based on activity-guided fractionation, the acetone extract of Amorpha fruticosa roots gave four flavanones 1-4 and three rotenoids 5-7 which were identified as amoradicin (1), amorisin (2), isoamoritin (3), amoricin (4), amorphigeni (5), dalbinol (6), and 6-ketodehydroamorphigenin (7), respectively. All isolated inhibitors showed strong neuraminidase inhibition with IC₅₀s between 0.12 and 22.03 μM. In particular, amorisin 2 exhibited 120 nM IC(₅₀, which is 30-fold more potent than the positive control, quercetin. In addition, this is the first report detailing rotenoids (IC₅₀ = 8.34-16.74 μM) exhibiting neuraminidase inhibition. Kinetic analysis revealed that all inhibitors were noncompetitive. The most active neuraminidase inhibitors (2, 3, 5, 6) were proven to be present in the native root in high quantities by HPLC. Finally, at concentrations where no toxicity was observed, 3 and 6 inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm production. 29.7% and 21.0% inhibition respectively was observed at 25 μΜ.

This study was designed to gain deeper insights into the molecular properties of natural xanthones as neuraminidase inhibitors. A series of xanthones 1–12 was isolated from the seedcases of Garcinia mangostana and evaluated for bacteria neuraminidase inhibitory activity. Compounds 11 and 12 emerged to be new xanthones (mangostenone F, mangostenone G) which we fully spectroscopically characterized. The IC50 values of compounds 1–12 were determined to range between 0.27–65.7 μM. The most potent neuraminidase inhibitor 10 which has an IC50 of 270 nM features a 5,8-diol moiety on the B ring. Interestingly, structure–activity studies reveal that these xanthones show different kinetic inhibition mechanisms depending upon the arrangement of hydroxyl groups in the B ring. Compound 6 possessing a 6,7-diol motif on the B-ring operated under the enzyme isomerization model (k5 = 0.1144 μM−1 s−1, k6 = 0.001105 s−1, and K i app = 7.41 μM), whereas compound 10 possessing a 5,8-diol unit displayed simple reversible slow-binding inhibition (k3 = 0.02294 μM−1 s−1, k4 = 0.001025 s−1, and K i app = 0.04468 μM).

The seeds of Psoralea corylifolia were extracted into five different polar solvents: chloroform, 50% ethanol in water, ethanol, methanol and water. All extracts were evaluated for glycosidase inhibitory activity. The chloroform extract (CE) showed the lowest IC 50 values against α-glucosidase (82.9 μg/ml) and α-mannosidase (132 μg/ml). Chromatography of CE yielded nine phenolic compounds which were identified as isovabachalcone ( 1 ), 4′- O -methylbavachalcone ( 2 ), isobavachromene ( 3 ), corylifolin ( 4 ), bavachinin ( 5 ), psoralidin ( 6 ), neobavaisoflavone ( 7 ), corylifol A ( 8 ), and bakuchiol ( 9 ). All isolated compounds, apart from compound 5 , possessed α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Among them, compounds 6 – 8 exhibited potent inhibition with IC 50 s of 13.7, 27.7 and 11.3 μM, respectively. Furthermore, compounds 2 and 6 showed α-mannosidase inhibitory activity. Mechanistic analysis of their inhibition modes against α-glucosidase showed that compounds ( 6 and 7 ) were noncompetitive, whereas compound 8 was mixed. Furthermore, the most active glycosidase inhibitors ( 2 , 6 – 8 ) were proven to be present in the native seed in high quantities by an HPLC chromatogram.

Coronary artery CT angiography has short scanning length, the exposure dose is high. Therefore, it is required to study on the organ dose when using MDCT. We compared the differences between the absorbed dose and effective dose in the major organs assessing the absorbed dose in the major organs by 16-MDCT and 64-MDCT in the subjects with coronary artery CT angiography, the same protocol by 16-MDCT and 64-MDCT. As a result, the great orders of absorbed dose when conducting coronary artery CT angiography had been shown as heart, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, spleen, large intestine, lung, small intestine, thyroid gland, ovary, bladder, and orbit with the absorbed dose distribution of in 16-MDCT, and heart, stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, kidney, small intestine, large intestine, lung, thyroid gland, ovary, bladder, and orbit with the absorbed dose distribution of in 64-MDCT, demonstrating some different distributions. The exposed doses to the patient per one time scanning with coronary artery CT angiography were in 16-MDCT as the absorbed dose based on the heart and in 64-MDCT. The effective doses were 7.41 mSv and 12.11 mSv in 16 and 64-MDCT, respectively. Taking into account the results of brain CT with 2.8 mSv that has comparatively large scanning length and size, facial CT 0.8 mSv, chest CT 5.7 mSv, pelvic CT 7.2 mSv, and abdominal and pelvic CT 14.4 mSv, it is very high considering the scanning length of 13 cm limited to the heart for the scanning range.

The use of cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT) has been proposed for guiding the delivery of radiation therapy. A kilovoltage imaging system capable of radiography, fluoroscopy, and cone-beam computed tomography(CT) has been integrated with a medical linear accelerator. A standard clinical linear accelerator, operating in arc therapy mode, and an amorphous-silicon (a-Si) with an on-board electronic portal imager can be used to treat palliative patient and verify the patient`s position prior to treatment. On-board CBCT images are used to generate patient geometric models to assist patient setup. The image data can also, potentially, be used for dose reconstruction in combination with the fluence maps from treatment plan. In this study, the accuracy of Hounsfield Units of CBCT images as well as the accuracy of dose calculations based on CBCT images of a phantom and compared the results with those of using CT simulator images. Phantom and patient studies were carried out to evaluate the achievable accuracy in using CBCT and CT stimulator for dose calculation. Relative electron density as a function of HU was obtained for both planning CT stimulator and CBCT using a Catphan-600 (The Phantom Laboratory, USA) calibration phantom. A clinical treatment planning system was employed for CT stimulator and CBCT based dose calculations and subsequent comparisons. The dosimetric consequence as the result of HU variation in CBCT was evaluated by comparing MU/cCy. The differences were about 2.7% (3-4MU/100cGy) in phantom and 2.5% (1-3MU/100cGy) in patients. The difference in HU values in Catphan was small. However, the magnitude of scatter and artifacts in CBCT images are affected by limitation of detector`s FOV and patient`s involuntary motions. CBCT images included scatters and artifacts due to In addition to guide the patient setup process, CBCT data acquired prior to the treatment be used to recalculate or verify the treatment plan based on the patient anatomy of the treatment area. And the CBCT has potential to become a very useful tool for on-line ART.)

This study suggested that the table of CT-simulator and the laser alignment system using diagnostic CT scanner have an efficient method for improvement in alignment between the planned target center of traverse image with CT scanner. It was conducted on the daily QA when presented in the AAPM TG66 with correcting the laser alignment system using geometric trigonometric functions and investigated the effectiveness of correction methods as compared with those before and after correction. Before correction error was 3.82mm between the planned target center of image, the table longitudinal axis was twisted with 0.436o. The laser alignment system using geometric trigonometric functions in after correction was satisfied with tolerance limits of when occurred about 0.7mm in errors between the planned target center. The table correction to satisfy the geometric accuracy is very inefficient over against the time and economic loss as well as technical limits in the case of application as only radiation therapy associated with CT-simulator with diagnostic CT scanner in use. But, the method which corrects the laser alignment system is economic and relatively simple with possibility of getting well geometric accuracy and we suppose that it is efficient method for applying in the clinic.

There is increasing demand for moving from batch immersion tools to single-wafer spin tools for silicon wafer cleaning, etching, and photoresist/residue removal in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. However, high-dose ion-implanted photoresist removal using a conventional single-wafer spin tool is very difficult. We have developed a novel single-wafer single-chamber dry and wet hybrid system in combination with dry ashing and moderate-temperature wet-cleaning treatments by implementing an atmospheric-pressure plasma unit into a conventional single-wafer spin cleaning tool. This compact single-wafer single-chamber system can completely remove the hardened photoresist due to high-dose ion-implantation by an atmospheric-pressure plasma ashing process followed by an in situ wet chemical process in the same single chamber within 2 min. This single-wafer single-chamber dry/wet hybrid system offers less than 1/3 smaller footprint, less than 1/4 shorter cycle time (for 50 wafer processing), and potentially better process control and less contamination risk, as well as lower equipment cost, compared to the conventional combination of two separate dry- and wet-processing systems.

Glycosidase inhibitors are major targets in the treatment of type Ⅱ diabetes, cancer and viral infections. This study was carried out to investigate the glycosidase inhibitory substances from bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides). Bamboo was extracted with methanol and then further fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, n-BuOH and aqueous to get an active fraction. All extracts were evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibitory activities to identify the n-hexane fraction with 33.5 ㎍/ml of IC50 value. Active compound 1 in the n-hexane fraction was identified as linoleic acid, which exhibited inhibitory activity with 12.4 ㎛ of IC 50 value. Mechanistic analysis showed that linoleic acid exhibited noncompective inhibition. This is the first study in which bamboo is reported to show α-glucosidase inhibitory activity.

The study is to measure a variation of exposed dose on genital glands (ovary, testis) which are exposed to radiation during the defecography to diagnosis domain according to use of filters and to look into its utility. whose results are as follows: The measured values of dose were the left ovary 23.4mGy, the right ovary 7.5mGy, the testis 10.3mGy in case of not using filter at all, the left ovary 22.4mGy the right ovary 7.0mGy, the testis 9.5mGy in case of using an additional filter only, the left ovary 26.7mGy, the right ovary 8.4mGy, the testis 11.5mGy in case of using a defeco filter only and the left ovary 20.5mGy, the right ovary 6.2mGy, the testis 7.5mGy in case of using both an additional filter and a defeco filter, respectively. When comparing with the value in case of not using filter at all, the dose to the left ovary decreased by 10%, the dose to right ovary by 5% and the testis by 8% respectively in case of using an additional filter only. While the dose to the left ovary increased by 33%, the dose to right ovary by 9% and the testis by 12% respectively gonad a defeco filter only. And in case of using both an additional filter and a defeco filter, the dose to the left ovary decreased by 29%, the dose to right ovary by 13% and the testis by 28% respectively. In other words, the dose increased in case of using a defeco filter only while the dose decreased markedly on the rest conditions such as using an additional filter only, using a defeco filter only and using both an additional filter and a defeco filter.

This research attempted to find risk factors of alcoholic liver diseases by ultrasonography at the K image medicine clinic center located in Kwangju city, Kyunggi-Do from March to May, 2007. Six risk factors were selected for this study, age, sex, frequency of alcohol drinking, body mass index(BMI), cholesterol and GPT. The data collected from 353 patients of aged between 20 and 69. This study found the relationships between liver diseases and alcohol drinking style by liver ultrasonography. The results of the analyses showed that the male were 2.12 times more likely to have liver diseases than the female. The persons drinking alcohol more than 3 times per week had 2.37 times higher likelihood of showing liver diseases than below 2 times per week or non drinking at all.. The persons with normal body mass index have 0.52 times lower probability of liver diseases than the persons with abnormal BMI. The persons with abnormal cholesterol level have 9.13 times higher probability of liver diseases. The persons with abnormal GPT have 4.66 times higher probability of liver diseases. The results of this study suggested applying ultrasonography in health promotion programs for diagnosis of liver diseases.

Ten plans for Ir 192 high-dose-rate ICR after 30–40 Gy external beam radiotherapy were investigated. The ICR prescription dose for an each insertion was 4 or 5 Gy to point A, twice weekly, and the total dose of ICR ranged from 24 to 30 Gy (median, 24). A fractional 100% dose was prescribed to point A. Two sets of CT images before and after packing were acquired at the first ICR session with artifact-free applicators in place. The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements Report 38 (ICRU-38) rectal and bladder points, and the percentage of volumes receiving 50%, 80%, and 100% of the prescribed dose were also analyzed and compared. Conventional point A plans were performed. The mean values of the bladder and rectal ICRU-38 point doses before packing, 109.93 % and 117.80%, were decreased after packing to 98.85 % and 94.93 %, respectively, with the difference being marginally significant (p=0.013) (Ed-this p value is not significant at all). The maximum point doses of the bladder and rectum were decreased by 20.12% and 16.01%, respectively. The mean-volume fractions of the bladder receiving 50%, 80%, and 100% of the reference dose were decreased by 8.29 %, 4.48 % and 2.64 %, while the decrease of the mean-volume fractions for the rectum were relatively small at 4.44 %, 1.52 % and 1.20 %, respectively. However, this reduction was not significant based on a p value of about 0.15∼0.81. While the dose at the reference point was decreased significantly due to the packing effects, the presence or absence of packing had little effect on volumetric doses because the volumes enlarged by the packing effects were relatively small compared to the volume of the entire bladder and rectum itself. The packing is still needed as it could reduce the complications caused by the high point dose and decrease the maximum dose.

The interest in male osteoporosis is increasing as the incidence of osteoporotic fractures has increased not only in female but also in male due to the increase of old age population thanks to the development of medical science and science in general. Therefore, this study is to find factors related to bone mineral density of male older than 40 years old, to investigate the incidence of the male osteoporosis and to provide a basic result for prevention and medical treatment for the male osteoporosis. The incidence of the osteopenia and the osteoporosis at L-spine was 45% and 12.9% respectively and the incidence of them at femur was 51.9% and 7.63% respectively, among male older than 40 years old who took a medical examination. It was higher than the existing study results conducted to male older than 50 years old in USA and Europe. The incidence of them at both of L-spine and femur showed a significant difference depending the age groups. As the age increases, the average bone mineral density decreases at both of L-spine and femur. And as the weight increases and the body mass index is higher, the incidence of the osteoporosis decreases. There was no significant relation with the incidence of the osteoporosis depending on the exercise, the smoking and the drinking, but the number of exercise, smoking and drinking changes the quantity of bone and are factors influencing the bone mineral density of male person.

A glandular breast tissue is a radio-sensitive tissue. So during the evaluation of an X-ray mammography device, Average Glandular Dose (AGD) measurement is a very important part. In reality, it is difficult to measure AGD directly, Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the correlation between the AGD and breast thickness. As a result, AGDs calculated through the Monte Carlo simulation were 1.64, 1.41 and 0.88 mGy. The simulated AGDs mainly depend on the glandular ratio of the breast. With the increase of glandular breast tissue, absorption of low photon-energy increased so that the AGDs increased, too. In addition, the thicker the breast was, the more the AGD became. Consequently, this study will be used as basic data for establishing the diagnostic reference levels of mammography.

The action of β-secretase (BACE1) is strongly correlated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Aminochalcone derivatives were examined for their ability to inhibit BACE1. Parent aminochalcones showed two digit micromolar IC50s against BACE1. Potency was enhanced 10-fold or more by introducing benzenesulfonyl derivatives to the amino group: 1 (IC50 = 48.2 μM) versus 4a (IC50 = 1.44 μM) and 2 (IC50 = 17.7 μM) versus 5a (IC50 = 0.21 μM). The activity was significantly influenced by position and number of hydroxyl groups on the chalcone B-ring: 3,4-dihydroxy 5a (IC50 = 0.21 μM) > 4-hydroxy 4a (IC50 = 1.44 μM) > 2,4-dihydroxy 6 (IC50 = 3.60 μM) > 2,5-dihydroxy 7 (IC50 = 16.87 μM) > des hydroxy 4b (IC50 = 168.7 μM). Lineweaver-Burk and Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicate that compound 5a was a mixed inhibitor with reversible and time-dependent behavior. Potent BACE1 inhibitors 4a,c,f, 5a–c showed moderate inhibition against two other enzymes implicated in AD pathogenesis, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), with IC50s ranging between 56.1 ~ 95.8 μM and 19.5 ~ 79.0 μM, respectively.

SummaryAn input shaping technique using a time-varying impulse sequence is presented to reduce the motion-induced vibration of flexible systems in a feedforward way.The decoupled modal responses for a general linear time-varying system are firstly approximated. Upon this approximation, the time-varying impulse sequences to suppress the vibrational modes are found. The reference inputs to the systems are shaped by convolving with the time-varying impulse sequence to suppress the multimode vibrations. This technique can be also applied to suppress the vibration of nonlinear time-varying systems.The performance of this method is demonstrated with two practical examples: a moving overhead crane and a two-link robot manipulator. Consequently, this study provides an input shaping technique applicable to the vibration suppression of broader classes of flexible systems.

Melanogenesis can be controlled by tyrosinase inhibition or by blocking the maturation processes of tyrosinase and its related proteins. Mangostenone F was isolated from the seedcases of Garcinia mangostana . Mangostenone F was shown to be inactive against tyrosinase (IC50 > 200 μM) but was a potent α-glucosidase inhibitor in vitro (IC50 = 21.0 μM). Mangostenone F was found to inhibit production of melanin in the mouse melanoma cell line B16F10. Importantly, unlike most glycosidase inhibitors, mangostenone F displayed very low cytotoxicity (EC50 > 200 μM). The Western blot for expression levels of proteins involved in melanogenesis showed that mangostenone F down-regulated tyrosinase and TRP-2 expression. Treating B16F10 cells with mangostenone F significantly increased the susceptibility of tyrosinase to endoglycosidase H digestion, indicating that tyrosinase was unable to mature fully and pass to the trans-golgi apparatus. Consistent with these data, in lysate assays, mangostenone F was shown to be a better inhibitor of α-glucosidases than deoxynojirimycin, a representative glycosidase inhibitor.

Alzheimer's disease is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent human diseases. Inhibition of human acetylcholinestrase (hAChE) and butyrylcholinestrase (BChE) has been linked to amelioration of Alzheimer's symptoms and research into inhibitors is of critical importance. Purification of the methanol extract of Paulownia tomentosa fruits yielded potent hAChE and BChE inhibitory flavonoids (1-9). A comparative activity screen indicated that a geranyl group at C6 is crucial for both hAChE and BChE. For example, diplacone (8) showed 250-fold higher efficacy than its parent eriodictyol (12). IC(50)s of diplacone (8) were 7.2 μM for hAChE and 1.4 μM for BChE. Similar trends were also observed for 4'-O-methyldiplacone (4) (vs its parent, hesperetin 10) and mimulone (7) (vs its parent, naringenin 11). Representative inhibitors (1-8) showed mixed inhibition kinetics as well as time-dependent, reversible inhibition toward hAChE. The binding affinities of these compounds to hAChE were investigated by monitoring quenching of inherent enzyme fluorescence. The affinity constants (K(SA)) increased in proportion to inhibitory potencies.

A variety of flavones (8 examples) is isolated by activity-guided fractionation of the methanolic extracts from Morus Ihou stem bark.

In a previous study, our group showed that the effective microorganism substance (EM-S) produced by fermentation of medicinal plants with effective microorganisms has an antiinflammatory effect on atopic dermatitis-like lesions in NC/Nga mice. However, the possible antiinflammatory effect and skin barrier function of EM-S for inflammatory cell infiltration, Interleukin-4 (IL-4) production, C-C chemokine receptor 10 (CCR10), and filaggrin (FLG) expression were not reported. Therefore, effects of EM-S on the development of atopic dermatitislike skin lesions in NC/Nga mice were evaluated. Efficacy of EM-S was judged by measurement of scratching behavior, T-cell subset infiltration, cytokine production, and FLG expression. Topical application of EM-S significantly reduced scratching behavior in NC/Nga mice caused by house dust mite antigen (Dermatophagoides farinse extract, DfE) sensitization. IL-4 production and CD4+ and CD45+ cell infiltrations were significantly reduced by EM-S. CCR10 expression was also significantly inhibited by EM-S. EM-S treatment also increased the level of FLG reduced by DfE sensitization. These results demonstrate EM-S, when applied topically, may be an effective substance for management of atopic dermatitis patients.

An ethanol extract of the fruit case of Garcinia mangostan, whose most abundant chemical species are xanthones, showed potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC(50)=3.2 μg/ml). A series of isolated xanthones (1-16) demonstrated modest to high inhibition of α-glucosidase with IC(50) values of 1.5-63.5 μM. In particular, one hitherto unknown xanthone 16 has a very rare 2-oxoethyl group on C-8. Kinetic enzymatic assays with a p-nitrophenyl glucopyranoside indicated that one of them, compound (9) exhibited the highest activity (K(i)=1.4 μM) and mixed inhibition. Using, a physiologically relevant substrate, maltose, as substrate, many compounds (6, 9, 14, and 15) also showed potent inhibition which ranged between 17.5 and 53.5 μM and thus compared favorably with deoxynojirimycin (IC(50)=68.8 μM). Finally, the actual pharmacological potential of the ethanol extract was demonstrated by showing that it could elicit reduction of postprandial blood glucose levels. Furthermore, the most active α-glucosidase inhibitors (6, 9, and 14) were proven to be present in high quantities in the native seedcase by a HPLC chromatogram.

The action of β-secretase is strongly tied to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The development of inhibitors of β-secretase is thus critical to combating this disease, which threatens an ever increasing number of the population and grows in importance as the population ages. Herein we show that flavones from Morus lhou potently inhibit β-secretase. Our aim in this manuscript is to explore the inhibitory kinetics of natural compounds and develop a phamacophore model which details the critical features responsible for inhibitory activity. The IC50 values of compounds for β-secretase inhibition were determined to range between 3.4 and 146.1 μM. Prenylated flavone 2 (IC50 = 3.4 μM) was 20 times more effective than its parent compound, noratocarpetin 1 (IC50 = 60.6 μM). The stronger activity was related with resorcinol moiety on B-ring and isoprenyl functionality at C-3. Kinetic analysis shows that the four effective compounds (1–4) have a noncompetitive mode of action. The binding affinity of flavones for β-secretase calculated using in silico docking experiments correlated well with their IC50 values and noncompetitive inhibition modes.

Although it has not been extensively studied, a significant volume of literature suggests that TREK2 will probably turn out to be an important channel in charge of tuning neuronal transmitter and hormone levels. Thus, pharmacological tools which can manipulate this channel, such as selective agonists are essential both in drug design and to further our understanding of this system. Our investigations have shown that sulfonate ('O') chalcone and sulfonamide ('N') chalcones regulate the TREK2 channel in remarkably different ways: sulfonamide chalcone 5 behaved as an inhibitor with an IC(50) of 62 microM, whereas the sulfonate analogue 11 activated TREK2 with EC(50) value of 167 microM.