Cyclic diarylheptanoids inhibit cell-mediated low-density lipoprotein oxidation

Two cyclic diarylheptanoids, garugamblin-3 (1) and acerogenin L (2), isolated from the MeOH extract of the fruits of Alnus japonica Steud., inhibited human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation in the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance assay with IC50 values of 2.9 and 1.7 microM, respectively, and they also inhibited cell-mediated LDL oxidation more than five times more strongly than that of a well-known antioxidant, probucol, at a concentration of 10 microM. 1 had no effect on the anti-atherogenesis in low-density lipoprotein receptor- deficient mice.     

Photocatalytic activity of R3MO7 and R2Ti2O7 (R=Y, Gd, La; M=Nb, Ta) for water splitting into H2 and O2

The photocatalytic activities of R3MO7 and R2Ti2O7 (R=Y, Gd, La; M=Nb, Ta) strongly depended on the crystal structure. Overall, photocatalytic water splitting into H2 and O2 proceeded over La3TaO7 and La3NbO7, which have an orthorhombic weberite structure, Y2Ti2O7 and Gd2Ti2O7, which have a cubic pyrochlore structure, and La2Ti2O7, which has a monoclinic perovskite structure. All of these materials are composed of a network of corner-shared octahedral units of metal cations (TaO6, NbO6, or TiO6); materials without such a network were inactive. The octahedral network certainly increased the mobility of electrons and holes, thereby enhancing photocatalytic activity.     

Radicals masquerading as electrophiles: a computational study of the intramolecular addition reactions of acyl radicals to imines

Ab initio calculations using 6-311G**, cc-pVDZ, and aug-cc-pVDZ, with (MP2, QCISD, CCSD(T)) and without (UHF) electron correlation, and density functional methods (BHandHLYP and B3LYP) predict that cyclization of the 5-aza-5-hexenoyl and (E)-6-aza-5-hexenoyl radicals proceed to afford the 5-exo products. At the CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//BHandHLYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory, energy barriers (deltaE(double dagger)) of 36.1 and 47.0 kJ mol(-1) were calculated for the 5-exo and 6-endo pathways for the cyclization of the 5-aza-5-hexenoyl radical. On the other hand, at the same level of theory, deltaE(double dagger) of 38.9 and 45.4 kJ mol(-1) were obtained for the 5-exo and 6-endo cyclization modes of (E)-6-aza-5-hexenoyl radical, with exothermicities of about 27 and 110 kJ mol(-1) calculated for the exo and endo modes, respectively. Under suitable experimental conditions, the 6-endo cyclization product is likely to dominate. Analysis of the molecular orbitals involved in these ring-closure reactions indicate that both reactions at nitrogen are assisted by dual orbital interactions involving simultaneous SOMO-pi* and LP-pi* overlap in the transitions states. Interestingly, the (Z)-6-aza-5-hexenoyl radical, that cannot benefit from these dual orbital effects is predicted to ring-close exclusively in the 5-exo fashion.     

Lysophosphatidylcholine suppresses apoptosis and induces neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells through activation of phospholipase D2

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is a bioactive lipid generated by phospholipase A2-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine. In the present study, we demonstrate that LPC stimulates phospholipase D2 (PLD2) activity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. Serum deprivation induced cell death of PC12 cells, as demonstrated by decreased viability, DNA fragmentation, and increased sub-G1 fraction of cell cycle. LPC treatment protected PC12 cells partially from the cell death and induced neurite outgrowth of the cells. Overexpression of PLD2 drastically enhanced the LPC-induced inhibition of apoptosis and neuritogenesis. Pretreatment of the cells with 1-butanol, a PLD inhibitor, completely abrogated the LPC-induced inhibition of apoptosis and neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells overexpressing PLD2. These results indicate that LPC possesses the neurotrophic effects, such as anti-apoptosis and neurite outgrowth, through activation of PLD2.     

Tripodal oxazoline-based homochiral coordination cages with internal binding sites

Homochiral coordination cages, which have two well-defined internal binding sites for ammonium and organoammonium ions, have been constructed by Pd(II)-mediated self-assembly of preorganized tripodal oxazolines containing pyridine pendant groups.     

Layered double hydroxide as novel antibacterial drug delivery system

The cephalosporin class antibacterial agent, cefazolin, was intercalated into layered double hydroxides (LDHs) in order to improve the drug efficiency as well as to achieve the controlled release property. Cefazolin molecules were incorporated into LDH through conventional ion exchange reaction. X-ray diffraction pattern analyses confirmed that cefazolin molecules were intercalated between the interlayer spaces of LDH. Fourier-transform infrared spectra and high performance liquid chromatographs clearly showed that the drug molecules were stabilized in LDH lattice through electrostatic interaction and released without any changes in their chemical integrity. Antibacterial activity of the cefazolin-LDH nanohybrid was also examined by an in vitro test, such as the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) by dilution method. Consequently, the cefazolin-LDH nanohybrid revealed an enhanced antibacterial activity compared to the cefazolin itself not only due to an improvement of chemical stability of cefazolin molecules but also due to a controlled release property.     

Hollow Polydimethylsiloxane Beads with a Porous Structure for Cell Encapsulation

Based on a water‐in‐oil‐in‐water emulsion system, porous and hollow polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) beads containing cells using a simple fluidic device with three flow channels are fabricated. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in the PDMS oil phase is served as a porogen for pore development. The feasibility of the porous PDMS beads prepared with different PEG concentrations (10, 20, and 30 wt%) for cell encapsulation in terms of pore size, protein diffusion, and cell proliferation inside the PDMS beads is evaluated. The PDMS beads prepared with PEG 30 wt% are exhibited a highly porous structure and facilitated fast diffusion of protein from the core domain to the outer phase, eventually leading to enhanced cell proliferation. The results clearly indicate that hollow PDMS beads with a porous structure could provide a favorable microenvironment for cell survival due to the large porous structure.

     

What types of investors generate the two-phase phenomenon?

We examine the two-phase phenomenon described by Plerou, Gopikrishnan, and Stanley (2003)  [1] in the KOSPI 200 options market, one of the most liquid options markets in the world. By analysing a unique intraday dataset that contains information about investor type for each trade and quote, we find that the two-phase phenomenon is generated primarily by domestic individual investors, who are generally considered to be uninformed and noisy traders. In contrast, our empirical results indicate that trades by foreign institutions, who are generally considered informed and sophisticated investors, do not exhibit two-phase behaviour.     

Nanoconfined heliconical structure of twist-bend nematic liquid crystal phase

We produced controlled heliconical structures of a twist-bend nematic (N_TB) liquid-crystal (LC) phase in nanoconfinement in a porous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) film. The structural parameters of the N_TB phase such as conical angle and helical pitch can be modulated by varying the surface energy of the inner surface of the porous AAO film, done by using different self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The LC molecules tend to be more freely packed, thus forming a larger conical angle, when placed on the tri-deca-fluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl-trichlorosilane (FOTS)-treated substrate, which has a relatively low surface energy. In contrast, the molecules form a more tightly packed structure, and thus a smaller conical angle, when placed on the 2-(methoxy(polyethyleneoxy)-propyl)trimethoxysilane (PEG 6/9)-treated substrate, which has higher surface energy. This work improves our collective understanding of self-assembled heliconical structures in the N_TB phase.     

Combined system of optical coherence tomography and fluorescence spectroscopy based on double-cladding fiber

We report the development of an all-fiber multimodal system, based on a double-cladding fiber (DCF) and related devices, suitable for simultaneous measurements of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence spectroscopy (FS). The DCF together with a DCF coupler and a single-body DCF lens has assisted in the realization of a multimodal but single-unit probe for the combined system. The DCF lens allowed simultaneous focusing of input beams for OCT and FS and also the effective collection of both signal beams from a sample. The DCF coupler could extract the OCT signal via the core channel and the FS signal through the cladding channel. The OCT image and the fluorescence spectra of a plant tissue were then simultaneously measured to validate the performance of the proposed multimodal system.