Connarus semidecandrus Jack Exerts Anti-Alopecia Effects by Targeting 5α-Reductase Activity and an Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

There is a growing demand for hair loss treatments with minimal side effects and recurrence potential. Connarus semidecandrus Jack has been used as a folk medicine for fever in tropical regions, but its anti-alopecia effects remain unclear. In this study, the anti-androgenic alopecia effect of an ethanol extract of Connarus semidecandrus Jack (Cs-EE) was demonstrated in a testosterone-induced androgenic alopecia (AGA) model, in terms of the hair–skin ratio, hair type frequency, and hair thickness. The area of restored hair growth and thickened hair population after Cs-EE treatment showed the hair-growth-promoting effect of Cs-EE. Histological data support the possibility that Cs-EE could reduce hair loss and upregulate hair proliferation in mouse skin by shifting hair follicles from the catagen phase to the anagen phase. Western blotting indicated that Cs-EE reduced the expression of the androgenic receptor. Cs-EE treatment also inhibited programmed cell death by upregulating Bcl-2 expression at the mRNA and protein levels. The anti-alopecia effect of Cs-EE was confirmed by in vitro experiments showing that Cs-EE had suppressive effects on 5-α reductase activity and lymph node carcinoma of the prostate proliferation, and a proliferative effect on human hair-follicle dermal papilla (HDP) cells. Apoptotic pathways in HDP cells were downregulated by Cs-EE treatment. Thus, Cs-EE could be a potential treatment for AGA.     

Suppression of secondary PL emission by indirect photoexcitation

A blend of a newly synthesized polyfluorene(PDHBF) and polyvinylcarbazole(PVK) exhibits a photoluminescence(PL) emission spectrum of PDHBF without an increase in the PL intensity on photoexcitation at 340 nm, the UV-visible absorption maximum of PVK, despite of a substantial spectrum overlap. However, the indirect photoexcitation of the blend suppresses the secondary emission of the PL with the maximum at 520 nm. The chromophores generating the secondary emission are formed when the chromophores are photoexcited above the critical energy level of an excited state. The chromophores formed by the energy transfer have energy lower than the critical energy and fail to form the excimers. A low temperature PL study of the blend in a cryogenic chamber proves that the energy transfer in the system takes place mainly between the excimers of PVK generated by the partially eclipsed dimeric states of two carbazole units and the fluorophores of PDHBF.     

Estimates for the p-Laplacian-type operator in the subcritical Sobolev exponent range

We obtain Calderón–Zygmund-type gradient estimates below the duality exponent of very weak solutions to p-Laplacian-type elliptic equations with non-divergence datum by providing an analytic approach without using the fractional maximal function of order 1 for the non-divergence datum.     

Copolymerization of ethylene with allylbenzene using rac-ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane as a catalyst

Ethylene was copolymerized with allylbenzene using rac-ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride (Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂)/methylaluminoxane (MAO) as a catalyst. Analysis of the copolymers obtained revealed that chain transfer to aluminium was a preferred chain transfer reaction during the copolymerization. It seems that chain termination through aluminium transfer is induced by the allylbenzene unit incorporated in the propagating chain end. Hydroxy-terminated ethylene copolymers were obtained when the copolymer solution was exposed to air before precipitation of the polymer in acidic methanol.