Diffuse optical tomography: Present status and its future

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is one of the emerging modalities for the non-invasive imaging of thick biological tissues using near-infrared (NIR) light. This article reviews the fundamentals and development of DOT technology since its advent in the early 1990s, including the modeling of light propagation in biological tissues which strongly scatter and weakly absorb NIR light, the optical properties of biological tissues in the NIR wavelength range, three typical measurement methods, image reconstruction algorithms, and so forth. Then various studies are referred to for improvement of the DOT images, which are essentially low in quality due to the ill-conditioned and underdetermined problem. Studies and clinical applications presently attracting much attention are discussed in some detail. Finally, the expected future developments are summarized.     

Oleanene glycosides of the aerial parts and seeds of Bupleurum falcatum and the aerial parts of Bupleurum rotundifolium, and their evaluation as anti-hepatitis agents

To facilitate effective resource utilization, we have investigated triterpene saponins such as saikosaponin from the aerial parts of Bupleurum (B.) falcatum L., which are commonly discarded. Seven oleanene saponins were isolated from this plant; they were classified as the 13,28-epoxy type, 12-ene type, 9(11),12-diene type, and 28-acid type on the basis of their structural characteristics. For comparison, we also examined the oleanene saponins of the seeds of B. falcatum and the aerial parts of B. rotundifolium L. to obtain seven saponins and one sapogenol from the former and thirteen oleanene saponins from the latter. Several compounds obtained from them were investigated for their hepatoprotective activity and hepatotoxicity. The 13,28-epoxy type saponins had hepatoprotectivity. Ursane type showed hepatotoxicity from middle concentration. The 11,13(18)-diene type saponins did not express hepatoprotective activity. The 28-acid type saponin which has a glucosyl carboxy group showed hepatoprotective action.     

Garlicnin A from the fraction regulating macrophage activation of Allium sativum

Garlicnin A (1), a new stable, sulfur-containing compound isolated from a fraction of the acetone extracts of Allium sativum L. garlic bulbs, showed the potential to suppress tumor cell proliferation by inhibiting the polarization of M2 alternatively activated macrophages, and its structure was characterized as 3,4-dimethyl-5-(4,5-dithia-1E,7-octadiene)-tetrahydrothiophene-2-sulfoxide-S-oxide, on the basis of the results of spectroscopic analysis results.     

A new diterpenoid glucoside and two new diterpenoids from the fruit of Vitex agnus-castus

A new labdane-type diterpenoid glucoside and two new labdane-type diterpenoids were isolated from the fruit (chasteberry) of Vitex agnus-castus L. (Verbenaceae) along with 14 known compounds comprising seven labdane-type diterpenoids, one halimane-type diterpenoid, two oleanane-type triterpenoids, two ursane-type triterpenoids, one aromadendrane-type sesquiterpenoid, and one flavonoid. Their structures were characterized on the basis of spectroscopic data as well as chemical evidence. Furthermore, the antioxidative activities of the flavonoid were evaluated using five different analyses.     

Synthesis of glycopolymers bearing mannaric pendants as inhibitors on the β‐glucuronidase activity: The inhibition mechanisms of mannaric‐ and glucaric‐compounds

A new styrene derivative having D ‐mannaric moiety, N‐p‐vinylbenzyl‐D ‐mannaramic acid (VB‐D ‐ManaH, 8 ) was synthesized though the ring‐opening reaction of D ‐mannaro‐1,4:6,3‐dilactone (D ‐MDL) with p‐vinylbenzylamine. VB‐D ‐ManaH was copolymerized with acrylamide (AAm) to give novel polymers having D ‐mannaric moiety in the pendants, P(VB‐D ‐ManaH‐co‐AAm), 10 . The resulting glycomonomer and polymer ( 8 and 10 ) bearing D ‐mannaric pendants were found to inhibit the β‐glucuronidase activity, although the inhibition ability of the corresponding saccharodilactone (D ‐MDL) was known to be low. Additionally, the inhibition ability of P(VB‐D ‐ManaH‐co‐AAm), 10 , was almost the same as that of the glycopolymer having D ‐glucaric pendants, P(VB‐6‐D ‐GlcaH‐co‐AAm), 1 , which was one of the most effective inhibitors for β‐glucuronidase, reported in our previous work. Thus, 10 and 8 may be the first D ‐mannaric strong inhibitors to the β‐glucuronidase activity. The Lineweaver–Burk plot suggested that the inhibition mechanisms of 10 and 8 were more complicated than in the case of the competitive and uncompetitive inhibition of N‐p‐(vinylbenzyl)‐6‐D ‐glucaramic ( 11 ) and N‐p‐(vinylbenzyl)‐1‐D ‐glucaramic acids ( 12 ), respectively. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2032–2042, 2009     

Higher twist effects in asymptotically free gauge theories

The anomalous dimensions of the flavor octet, three-body operators of twist four are evaluated at the one-loop level. The calculation is complicated due to the appearance of gauge non-invariant operators which are needed to renormalize gauge invariant operators. The mixing problem of these operators is resolved by using the Ward identities derived through the Becchi-Rouet-Stora transformations. Some comments on the evaluation of the coefficient functions are also made.     

Reactivities of endo versus exo Isomers of Ester‐Substituted Norbornenes in their Addition Copolymerizations Catalyzed by Cyclopentadienyl Nickel Complexes

The addition copolymerization of 5‐norbornene‐2‐carboxylic acid methyl ester (NBCM) with norbornene (NB) catalyzed by CpNi‐based (Cp = η⁵‐C₅H₅) systems, i.e., CpNi(PPh₃)Me/B(C₆F₅)₃ and CpNi(PPh₃)Cl/AlMe₃/B(C₆F₅)₃, was studied with particular focus on the reactivities of the endo‐ versus exo‐isomers of NBCM. Unlike the well‐known higher reactivity of the exo‐isomer in Pd^II‐catalyzed polymerizations, the CpNi system showed a small but noticeable preference for the endo‐ isomer. The better reactivity of the endo‐isomer is more pronounced in the copolymerization of cis‐5‐norbornene‐2,3‐dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester (NBCD) with NB, where only the endo‐isomer gave the copolymer when the NB/NBCD feed ratio was 6/4.