Three New Chalcones from the Aerial Parts of Angelica keiskei

Three new chalcones, 3′‐carboxymethyl‐4,2′‐dihydroxy‐4′‐methoxychalcone ( 1 ), (±)‐4,2′,4′‐trihydroxy‐3′‐[(3‐hydroxy‐2,2‐dimethyl‐6‐methylenecyclohexyl)methyl]chalcone ( 2 ), and 2′′‐hydroxyangelichalcone ( 3 ), were isolated from the aerial parts of Angelica keiskei (Umbelliferae) together with five known compounds, artocarmitin A ( 4 ), (+)‐cis‐(3′R,4′R)‐methylkhellactone ( 5 ), (?)‐trans‐(3′R,4′S)‐methylkhellactone ( 6 ), 3,4‐dihydroxanthotoxin ( 7 ), and (Z)‐p‐coumaryl alcohol ( 8 ). The known compounds 4  –  8 were identified from A. keiskei for the first time. The structures of 1  –  3 were elucidated by interpreting spectroscopic data including 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR.     

Ergodic theorem for infinite iterated function systems

1IntroductionandProblem IteratedFunctionSystems(IFS)theorycanbesaidtobethecontinuationanddevelopment ofdynamicalsystemtheory.DynamicalsystemstheorydealswithiterationofonemapbutIFS theorydealswithiterationofmanymaps. IFStheory’srootwasveryearlybutthebeginningofactivedevelopmentwasHutchinson’s paper(1981).Heresearchedselfsimilarityoffractalsetsusingsystemoffinitenumberofsimilar contractionmapsofRn.Barnsleycalledafinitesetofcontractionmappsasaniteratedfunction systemsandsystemizedIFStheo…     

Radionuclides analysis in hot spring waters in Korea by liquid scintillation counting

Tritium and ¹⁴C concentration in hot spring water in Korea were determined. Tritium in the most hot spring samples could not detected and concentration range was <0.5?C1.31?TU. And ¹⁴C contents were ranged 1.7?C78.6?pMC. From the ³H and ¹⁴C analysis, we found some hot springs are mixed with recent groundwater and hot spring water ages were estimated from 1,940 to 32,800?years. And also, ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra were determined simultaneously in hot spring water, and some other radionuclides were also analyzed. Content distribution of ²²²Rn was 50?C3,760?pCi/L, ²²⁶Ra was <0.003?C0.15?Bq/L and ²²⁸Ra was below the detection limit.     

Determination of radon partitioning between groundwater and atmosphere by liquid scintillation counter

A simple method for the determination of the air?Cwater partition coefficient (K_air/water) of radon (Rn-222) was studied using a liquid scintillation counter. In the present work, the radon activity of groundwater phase in a closed container was measured and used to calculate the partition coefficient instead of the radon activity of gaseous phase in other works. The partition coefficient was determined for four groundwater samples by using a modified equilibrium partition coefficient in closed system method. The effect of temperature on the partition coefficient was investigated at 0, 10, 20 and 30?°C. Within the temperature range, the partition coefficients were 1.72?C2.03, 2.11?C2.28, 2.78?C3.92 and 4.93?C5.61 at 0, 10, 20, and 30?°C, respectively. It was found that the effect of temperature on the air?Cwater partition coefficient of groundwater radon was agreed well with literature values.     

Determination of the emanation coefficient and the Henry’s law constant for the groundwater radon

The radon emanation coefficient (ε) from aquifer rock and the Henry’s law constant (H) of radon were determined by measuring activity concentrations using liquid scintillation counter (LSC). For the evaluation of the method, the coefficients were measured at 0, 10 and 20 °C and the temperature dependency of the coefficients was compared with others. The radon emanation coefficients from the rock particles used in this work are 0.0845, 0.1007 and 0.1308 at 0, 10 and 20 °C, respectively. The dimensionless Henry’s law constants for the groundwater used in this work are 0.994, 1.153 and 2.641 at 0, 10 and 20 °C, respectively. The results show a good agreement with those in literatures.     

A functional comparison between the HER2(high)/HER3 and the HER2(low)/HER3 dimers on heregulin-β1-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression in breast cancer cells

Overexpression of HER2 correlates with more aggressive tumors and increased resistance to cancer chemotherapy. However, a functional comparison between the HER2(high)/HER3 and the HER2(low)/HER3 dimers on tumor metastasis has not been conducted. Herein we examined the regulation mechanism of heregulin- β1 (HRG)-induced MMP-1 and -9 expression in breast cancer cell lines. Our results showed that the basal levels of MMP-1 and -9 mRNA and protein expression were increased by HRG treatment. In addition, HRG-induced MMP-1 and -9 expression was significantly decreased by MEK1/2 inhibitor, U0126 but not by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor, LY294002. To confirm the role of MEK/ERK pathway on HRG-induced MMP-1 and -9 expression, MCF7 cells were transfected with constitutively active adenoviral- MEK (CA-MEK). The level of MMP-1 and -9 expressions was increased by CA-MEK. MMP-1 and -9 mRNA and protein expressions in response to HRG were higher in HER2 overexpressed cells than in vector alone. The phosphorylation of HER2, HER3, ERK, Akt, and JNK were also significantly increased in HER2 overexpressed MCF7 cells compared with vector alone. HRG-induced MMP-1 and -9 expressions were significantly decreased by lapatinib, which inhibits HER1 and HER2 activity, in both vector alone and HER2 overexpressed MCF7 cells. Finally, HRG-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression was decreased by HER3 siRNA overexpression. Taken together, we suggested that HRG-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression is mediated through HER3 dependent pathway and highly expressed HER2 may be associated with more aggressive metastasis than the low expressed HER2 in breast cancer cells.     

Role of chemical structure in stereoselective recognition of beta-blockers and H1-antihistamines by human serum transferrin in capillary zone electrophoresis

Studies on chiral resolution of beta-blocker and H1-antihistamine drugs by CZE using human serum transferrin are described. The drugs with different structures passed a pseudostationary protein zone in a coated capillary applying the partial filling method for the chiral separation. In this study we screened 15 compounds; most of them showed longer migration time, indicating an interaction with transferrin. Stereoselective interaction was observed only for five beta-blockers (celiprolol, talinolol, mepindolol, bopindolol, and oxprenolol) and for one H1-antihistamine (brompheniramine). The most important finding was that very small differences in the chemical structure of the drug resulted in significant changes in the stereoselective recognition. Resolution of mepindolol enantiomers was observed showing the essential role of one methyl group compared to pindolol, which is not resolved by transferrin. Bopindolol, also a derivative of pindolol having bigger difference in the structure, showed more experienced separation. The very slight difference between alprenolol and oxprenolol was also revealed with these methods, since only oxprenolol enantiomers, having an extra oxygen in the structure, are resolved. Determining the migration order of the eutomers and distomers (chlorpheniramine, brompheniramine) we can deduct conclusions about the role of serum proteins in the delivery of drugs within the body.