Evaluation of Growth Characteristics and Biological Activities of 'Dachul', a Hybrid Medicinal Plant of Atractylodes macrocephala × Atractylodes japonica, under Different Artificial Light Sources.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different artificial light sources on the growth characteristics and various biological activities of the Atractylodes macrocephala x Atractylodes japonica hybrid cv. 'Dachul', which is highly useful for medicinal purposes. The plant had the largest biomass with a plant height of 38.20 ± 1.95 cm when treated with microwave electrodeless light (MEL). The chlorophyll content of the plants treated with fluorescent light (FL) was 53.93 ± 1.05 SPAD and was the highest. The antioxidant effect, determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), was the highest with 92.7 ± 0.2% in plants treated with light-emitting diode (LED)-green light. Total phenol and flavonoid contents were significantly higher with 19.7 ± 0.5 mg GAE/g and 40.2 ± 2.2 mg QE/g in the sample treated with LED-green light, respectively. For antimicrobial activity using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) technique, the inhibitory ability against Escherichia coli was at 0.25 mg/mL under LED-green light treatment. The whitening activity using tyrosinase enzyme showed the highest tyrosinase inhibitory ability at 62.1 ± 1.2% of the above extract treated with MEL light. To confirm the immune activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells, NO production of inflammation-related substances was measured. In addition, the inflammation-related genes iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase), COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α) in the same sample were confirmed using reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR, and the result showed that gene expression was suppressed compared with that in the control group. It is expected that Dachul plants treated with LED-blue light will play an important role in enhancing intracellular anti-inflammatory activity. From these results, the effect for various biological activities appeared in a significantly diverse spectrum in response to different wavelengths of artificial light sources in Dachul.

Mitigation Effects of a Novel Herbal Medicine, Hepad, on Neuroinflammation, Neuroapoptosis, and Neuro-Oxidation.

Parkinson's disease (PD), a common adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder with complex pathological mechanisms, is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons. The present study demonstrated that the herbal medicines Hepad 1 and 2 protected against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity in C57BL/6 mice and SH-SY5Y cells. Hepad 1 and 2 remarkably alleviated the enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, macrophage-1, and phosphorylated iκB-α) and apoptotic signals (Bcl-2-associated X protein, caspase-3, and poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase-1). Additionally, Hepad reduced MPTP-induced oxidative damage by increasing the expression of anti-oxidant defense enzymes (superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase) and downregulating the levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4. This study also showed that the neuroprotective effects of Hepad include anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-oxidative properties, in addition to activation of the protein kinase B, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathways. Furthermore, oral administration of Hepad 1 and 2 attenuated the death of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive substantia nigra neurons that was induced by 20 mg/kg MPTP. Therefore, our results suggest that Hepad 1 and 2 are useful for treating PD and other disorders associated with neuro-inflammatory, neuro-apoptotic, and neuro-oxidative damage.

Synthesis, in vitro antiproliferative activity, and kinase inhibitory effects of pyrazole-containing diarylureas and diarylamides.

Twenty pyrazole-containing diarylureas and diarylamides were designed and synthesized. They were tested for in vitro antiproliferative activity over a 58-cancer cell line panel at the NCI, USA. The diarylurea derivatives 1b-e and 1g exerted the strongest antiproliferative activity. Among them, compound 1e possessing 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl terminal ring and 3`-methoxy-5`-chlorophenyl ring attached to the central pyrazole ring was the most potent. Its IC50 values were in sub-micromolar range against most of the tested cell lines. It showed superior potency than sorafenib, a reference diarylurea drug, over all the tested cell lines. It was also extremely selective towards cancer cells than non-cancerous cells (IC50 against RAW 264.7 macrophages was higher than 100 µM). At molecular level, compound 1e selectively inhibited V600E mutated B-RAF kinase (IC50 = 0.39 µM). It also stimulated caspase 3/7 enzymes in RPMI-8226 leukemia cells (2.79 fold increase at 10 µM concentration, EC50 = 1.52 µM). So compound 1e may kill cancer cells through induction of apoptosis. This promising candidate can be considered further for development of new efficient anticancer agents.

Etching-Assisted Crumpled Graphene Wrapped Spiky Iron Oxide Particles for High-Performance Li-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitor.

From graphene oxide wrapped iron oxide particles with etching/reduction process, high-performance anode and cathode materials of lithium-ion hybrid supercapacitors are obtained in the same process with different etching conditions, which consist of partially etched crumpled graphene (CG) wrapped spiky iron oxide particles (CG@SF) for a battery-type anode, and fully etched CG for a capacitive-type cathode. The CG is formed along the shape of spikily etched particles, resulting in high specific surface area and electrical conductivity, thus the CG-based cathode exhibits remarkable capacitive performance of 210 F g-1 and excellent rate capabilities. The CG@SF can also be ideal anode materials owing to spiky and porous morphology of the particles and tightly attached crumpled graphene onto the spiky particles, which provides structural stability and low contact resistance during repetitive lithiation/delithiation processes. The CG@SF anode shows a particularly high capacitive performance of 1420 mAh g-1 after 270 cycles, continuously increases capacity beyond the 270th cycle, and also maintains a high capacity of 170 mAh g-1 at extremely high speeds of 100 C. The full-cell exhibits a higher energy density up to 121 Wh kg-1 and maintains high energy density of 60.1 Wh kg-1 at 18.0 kW kg-1 . This system could thus be a practical energy storage system to fill the gap between batteries and supercapacitors.

Image-Guided Laparoscopic Surgical Tool (IGLaST) Based on the Optical Frequency Domain Imaging (OFDI) to Prevent Bleeding.

We present an image-guided laparoscopic surgical tool (IGLaST) to prevent bleeding. By applying optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) to a specially designed laparoscopic surgical tool, the inside of fatty tissue can be observed before a resection, and the presence and size of blood vessels can be recognized. The optical sensing module on the IGLaST head has a diameter of less than 390 µm and is moved back and forth by a linear servo actuator in the IGLaST body. We proved the feasibility of IGLaST by in vivo imaging inside the fatty tissue of a porcine model. A blood vessel with a diameter of about 2.2 mm was clearly observed. Our proposed scheme can contribute to safe surgery without bleeding by monitoring vessels inside the tissue and can be further expanded to detect invisible nerves of the laparoscopic thyroid during prostate gland surgery.

Self-Management Program for Heart Healthy Behavior Among Middle- and Old-Aged Korean Women at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been increasing among Koreans, and middle-aged and older women are at risk of metabolic syndrome. Effective strategies to promote lifestyle modification need to be developed. OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of a self-management program on improving the cardiovascular health status and promoting healthy behaviors among overweight or obese Korean women at risk of metabolic syndrome. METHODS: A pretest and posttest intervention design was used. Sixty women participated in a group teaching session. They also received a pedometer and a diary for self-monitoring. On the basis of blood test results, women's metabolic syndrome status was identified. Thirty women with metabolic syndrome received additional tailored counseling and weekly follow-up calls for 4 weeks, whereas 30 women without metabolic syndrome did not receive any tailored counseling or follow-up calls. Twenty-three women in the MetS group and 22 women in the non-MetS group completed the posttest. RESULTS: Overall, women significantly improved their cardiovascular health status including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, number of metabolic syndrome risk factors, and 10-year risk estimates from pretest to posttest. Seventy-eight percent of the MetS group (n = 18) no longer had metabolic syndrome, whereas 5% of the non-MetS group (n = 1) became to have metabolic syndrome. Women significantly increased frequency and duration of walking per week and significantly decreased the time spent sitting. CONCLUSIONS: Promoting self-management for healthy behaviors might be effective for obese or overweight women to prevent metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases, if it is tailored to their health needs.

Development of a multiresidue method for the determination of multiclass pesticides in soil using GC.

The principal objective of the present study was to develop a multiresidue analytical method for 62 pesticides in a soil matrix. Soil samples were fortified with known quantities of pesticides at two different concentration levels (0.1 and 0.01 microg/g) and the analytes were extracted via a liquid-solid extraction method. The pesticides were separated on an HP5 capillary column and were detected by gas chromatography coupled to an electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The method was validated, considering its good linearities (r(2) = 0.978-0.999), specificity and recovery characteristics. Recoveries were found between 70.3 and 113.4% for all pesticides except edifenphos (67.5%) and dichlobenil (69.5%) spiked at a 0.1 microg/mL concentration level and 74.5-117% except ethalfluralin (63.3%) and dichlobenil (51.9%) spiked at a concentration of 0.01 microg/mL. The developed method could be utilized as a simple and cost-effective method for the routine analysis of 62 pesticides in soil samples.

A multiresidue method for the analysis of pesticide residues in polished rice (Oryza sativa L.) using accelerated solvent extraction and gas chromatography and confirmation by mass spectrometry.

An analytical procedure using accelerated solvent extraction and gas chromatography with an electron capture detector has been optimized to simultaneously determine the residue of two insecticides (diazinon and EPN) and one fungicide (isoprothiolane) in polished rice and was confirmed by GC-mass spectrometry. Several parameters, including temperature, pressure, solvent ratio, cell size and cell cycle, were thoroughly investigated to find the optimal extraction conditions. The average recoveries of the three pesticides were between 82.7 and 126.4% at spiking levels of 0.1 and 0.5 ppm. The relative standard deviations were less than 7% for all of the recovery tests. The optimum accelerated solvent extraction operating conditions were 100 degrees C, 1500 atm, acetone-n-hexane (20:80 v/v) as the extraction solvent, two cycles, and a cell size of 33 ml. The total extraction time was approximately 20 min. The optimized procedure has also been applied to the determination of diazinon, isoprothiolane and EPN in real rice samples. In conclusion, accelerated solvent extraction was used for the first time for the analysis of diazinon, isoprothiolane and EPN in polished rice and offers the possibility of a fast and simple process for obtaining a quantitative extraction of the studied pesticides.