Short-Term Effects of PJE Administration on Metabolic Parameters in Diet-Induced Obesity Mice.

The study investigated the effects of Petasites japonicus (Siebold & Zucc.) Maxim. extract (PJE) and fenofibrate on diet-induced obesity (DIO) in mice. PJE was found to contain various bio-active polyphenolic compounds, including kaempferol, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin, rutin, protocatechuic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, p-coumaric acid, apigenin, and 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid. The results showed that PJE treatment up to 1000 µg/mL did not affect the viability of 3T3-L1 cell line, and it reduced the feed efficiency ratio in DIO mice. PJE administration also resulted in a significant reduction in body weight gain and fat accumulation in the liver compared to the DIO control group. Additionally, PJE administration improved the levels of lipid and related parameters, including total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, leptin, and atherogenic or cardiac indexes compared to the DIO control group. The study suggested that PJE may have a beneficial effect on insulin resistance, lipid profiles, atherogenesis, adipokines, and cardiac risk associated with diet-induced obesity.

Experimental Results of Underwater Acoustic Communication with Nonlinear Frequency Modulation Waveform.

In this paper, we propose underwater acoustic (UWA) communications using a generalized sinusoidal frequency modulation (GSFM) waveform, which has a distinct ambiguity function (AF) and correlation function characteristic. For these reasons, it is more robust in multipath channels than the conventional chirp spread spectrum (CSS) with a linear frequency modulation (LFM) waveform. Four types of GSFM waveforms that are orthogonal to each other are applied for each symbol in the proposed method. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, we compared the performances of the proposed method and conventional method by conducting diverse experiments: simulations, lake trials and sea trials. In the simulation results, the proposed method shows better performance than the conventional method. The lake trial was conducted with a distance of 300~400 m between the transmitter and receiver. As a result of the experiment, the average bit error rate (BER) of the proposed method is 3.52×10-2 and that of the conventional method is 3.52×10-1, which shows that the proposed method is superior to the conventional method. The sea trial was conducted at a distance of approximately 20 km between the transmitter and receiver at a depth of 1500 m, and the receiver was composed of 16 vertical line arrays (VLAs) with a hydrophone. The proposed method had a BER of 0.3×10-2 in one channel and was error free in the other.

Cytotoxicity, metabolic enzyme inhibitory, and anti-inflammatory effect of Lentinula edodes fermented using probiotic lactobacteria.

We found that the fermented Lentinula edodes (FLE) products exhibited various differences in terms of proximate composition, free sugar, and amino acid. In particular, there were higher levels of ergosterol, and ergothioneine in FLE-Pediococcus pentosaceus (PP) and -Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) than in the L. edodes (LE) products. The survival rates of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains on artificial gastric juice, artificial bile, or heat (50-60°C) were observed to vary from 60%-66%, 60%-66%, to 42%-79%, respectively. The FLE products up to 300 µg/ml had no cytotoxicity on RAW264.7, AGS, and RBL-2H3 cells, but inhibited the activities of α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and pancreatic lipase, as well as the production of nitrite, IL-1ß, IL-4, TNF-α, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response. Our findings suggest that FLE products have metabolic enzyme inhibitory and anti-inflammatory effects. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Fermentation plays a critical role in improving the functional and nutritional properties of food. In addition, lactobacteria are the main microorganisms involved in the fermentation of food known to have a variety of biological activities. Therefore, the utilization of lactobacteria for research and development of mushroom food materials can be used as a key strategy to improve the biological activity characteristics of mushroom food materials and to increase their active ingredient content. The present results show that FLE products had promising inhibitory efficacies against the activities of obesity-related metabolic enzymes and LPS-induced inflammatory response. These suggest that FLE products have the potential to be developed as functional probiotic dietary supplements or food products.

Chirp-Based FHSS Receiver with Recursive Symbol Synchronization for Underwater Acoustic Communication.

In this paper, we propose a covert underwater acoustic communication method that is robust to fading using a chirp signal combined with a frequency-hopping spread spectrum scheme. A fractional Fourier transform, which estimates the slope of the signal frequency variation, is applied to the receiver to enable a robust and reliable symbol estimation with respect to the frequency and irregular phase variations. In addition, since the recursive symbol synchronization can be implemented using a chirp signal, compression and expansion effects due to the Doppler shift can be mitigated. Simulation and lake trials were performed to verify the performance of the proposed method. The simulation was performed by two different methods.

The regulators of G protein signaling RGS16 and RGS18 inhibit protease-activated receptor 2/Gi/o signaling through distinct interactions with Gα in live cells.

Protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) activated by endogenous proteases, in particular, trypsin. Although regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) are known to inhibit GPCR/Gα-mediated signaling, their specific effects on PAR2 are poorly understood at present. Here, we use a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer technique to investigate whether RGS16 and RGS18 bind PAR2 in live cells to regulate PAR2/Gαi/o -mediated signaling. Notably, we find that RGS16 binds to PAR2 in the presence of Gαi while RGS18 does not interact with PAR2, regardless of the presence of Gα. Both RGS16 and RGS18 inhibit PAR2/Gαi/o -mediated signaling. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to highlight the effects of RGS proteins on PAR2-mediated signaling.

In vitro and in vivo antithrombotic and cytotoxicity effects of ferulic acid.

We discovered recently in vitro and in vivo antithrombotic and cytotoxicity effects of ferulic acid. The cytotoxicity assays showed that ferulic acid (∼300 µg/mL) did not cause any significant toxicity on three cell lines, platelets, leukocytes, and erythrocytes. In vitro assays showed inhibitory effects of ferulic acid on thrombin (THR)- or collagen/epinephrine-stimulated platelet activation by inhibiting platelet aggregation, and decreasing clot retraction activity. The in vitro effect of ferulic acid on THR-stimulated platelet activation was proved by the decrease in the secretion of serotonin from the platelets. The anticoagulant effects of ferulic acid were confirmed by the prolongation of the intrinsic or/and extrinsic pathways and the delay of recalcification time in plasma coagulation. Ferulic acid had antithrombotic effect in acute thromboembolism model in vivo, and decreased the expression of αIIb ß3 /FIB and phosphorylation of AKT in THR-stimulated platelet activation in vivo, and their antithrombotic efficacies hold promise for therapeutic targeting in our ongoing studies.

Anti-thrombotic effect of rutin isolated from Dendropanax morbifera Leveille.

Dendropanax morbifera H. Lev. is well known in Korean traditional medicine for improvement of blood circulation. In this study, rutin, a bioflavonoid having anti-thrombotic and anticoagulant activities was isolated from a traditional medicinal plant, D. morbifera H. Lev. The chemical characteristics of rutin was studied to be quercetin 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-6)-ß-d-glucopyranoside using high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance ((13)C NMR). Turbidity and fibrin clotting studies revealed that rutin reduces fibrin clot in concentration dependent manner. Rutin was found to prolong activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT) and closure time (CT). Furthermore, it decreased the activity of pro-coagulant protein, thrombin. In vivo study showed that rutin exerted a significant protective effect against collagen and epinephrine (or thrombin) induced acute thromboembolism in mice. These results suggest that rutin has a potent to be an anti-thrombotic agent for cardiovascular diseases.

Differences in drug pharmacokinetics between East Asians and Caucasians and the role of genetic polymorphisms.

Interethnic variability in pharmacokinetics can cause unexpected outcomes such as therapeutic failure, adverse effects, and toxicity in subjects of different ethnic origin undergoing medical treatment. It is important to realize that both genetic and environmental factors can lead to these differences among ethnic groups. The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) published a guidance to facilitate the registration of drugs among ICH regions (European Union, Japan, the United States) by recommending a framework for evaluating the impact of ethnic factors on a drug's effect, as well as its efficacy and safety at a particular dosage and dosage regimen. This review focuses on the pharmacokinetic differences between East Asians and Caucasians. Differences in metabolism between East Asians and Caucasians are common, especially in the activity of several phase I enzymes such as CYP2D6 and the CYP2C subfamily. Before drug therapy, identification of either the genotype and/or the phenotype for these enzymes may be of therapeutic value, particularly for drugs with a narrow therapeutic index. Furthermore, these differences are relevant for international drug approval when regulatory agencies must decide if they accept results from clinical trials performed in other parts of the world.