Protection from UVB Toxicity in Human Keratinocytes by Thailand Native Herbs Extracts

Thai traditional medicine employs a wide range of indigenous herbs in the forms of tincture or tea for the cure of skin and systemic inflammatory diseases. The protection by Thai plants extracts against UVB DNA damage and cytotoxicity was investigated in human keratinocytes. Petroleum ether, dichloromethane and ethanol extracts were prepared from 15 Thai herb species, and the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, the antioxidant and UV‐absorbing properties were assessed by standard procedures. Cytoprotective effects were evaluated on the basis of cell survival, caspase‐3 activity and pyrimidine dimers determination. High total phenolic and flavonoid contents were found in the ethanol and dichloromethane fractions. Dichloromethane extract of turmeric was shown to possess the highest antioxidant activity. The maximum UV absorptions were found in the ethanol extract of turmeric and in the dichloromethane extract of ginger. These extracts stimulated the synthesis of Thioredoxin 1, an antioxidant protein, and could protect human HaCaT keratinocytes from UV‐induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity. The present data support the utilization of turmeric and ginger extracts in anti‐UV cosmetic pharmaceuticals.     

The Fundamental Convergence Theorem for <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>(·)-Superharmonic Functions

We study the balayage related to the supersolutions of the variable exponent p(·)-Laplace equation. We prove the fundamental convergence theorem for the balayage and apply it for proving the Kellogg property, boundary regularity results for the balayage, and a removability theorem for p(·)-solutions.     

Structure simulation into a lamellar supramolecular network and calculation of the metal ions/ligands ratio

Background

Biosensors have attracted increasing attention as reliable analytical instruments in in situ monitoring of public health and environmental pollution. For enzyme-based biosensors, the stabilization of enzymatic activity on the biological recognition element is of great importance. It is generally acknowledged that an effective immobilization technique is a key step to achieve the construction quality of biosensors.

Results

A novel disposable biosensor was constructed by immobilizing laccase (Lac) with silica spheres on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-doped screen-printed electrode (SPE). Then, it was characterized in morphology and electrochemical properties by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The characterization results indicated that a high loading of Lac and a good electrocatalytic activity could be obtained, attributing to the porous structure, large specific area and good biocompatibility of silica spheres and MWCNTs. Furthermore, the electrochemical sensing properties of the constructed biosensor were investigated by choosing dopamine (DA) as the typical model of phenolic compounds. It was shown that the biosensor displays a good linearity in the range from 1.3 to 85.5 ??M with a detection limit of 0.42 ??M (S/N = 3), and the Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m ^app) was calculated to be 3.78 ??M.

Conclusion

The immobilization of Lac was successfully achieved with silica spheres to construct a disposable biosensor on the MWCNTs-doped SPE (MWCNTs/SPE). This biosensor could determine DA based on a non-oxidative mechanism in a rapid, selective and sensitive way. Besides, the developed biosensor could retain high enzymatic activity and possess good stability without cross-linking reagents. The proposed immobilization approach and the constructed biosensor offer a great potential for the fabrication of the enzyme-based biosensors and the analysis of phenolic compounds.     

Exciplex intermediates in photoinduced electron transfer of porphyrin-fullerene dyads

The photoinduced electron transfer in differently linked zinc porphyrin-fullerene dyads and their free-base porphyrin analogues was studied in polar and nonpolar solvents with femto- to nanosecond absorption and emission spectroscopies. A new intermediate state, different from the locally excited (LE) chromophores and the complete charge-separated (CCS) state, was observed. It was identified as an exciplex. The exciplex preceded the CCS state in polar benzonitrile and the excited singlet state of fullerene in nonpolar toluene. The behavior of the dyads was modeled by using a common kinetic scheme involving equilibria between the exciplex and LE chromophores. The scheme is suitable for all the studied porphyrin-fullerene compounds. The rates of reaction steps depended on the type of linkage between the moieties. The scheme and Marcus theory were applied to calculate electronic couplings for sequential reactions, and consistent results were obtained.     

Carleson measures and conformal self‐mappings in the real unit ball

Bounded and compact Carleson measures in the unit ball B of R ⁿ , n ≥ 2, are characterized by means of global Dirichlet integrals of the conformal self‐map T_a taking a ∈ B to the origin. The same proof applies in the unit ball of C ⁿ . It is also proved that the powers of the Jacobian of T_a satisfy the weak Harnack inequality and even Harnack's inequality with a constant independent of a. As an application of these results it is shown that the two different definitions for Carleson measures in the existing literature are equivalent for a certain range of parameter values. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Association between visual degeneration of intervertebral discs and the apparent diffusion coefficient

The value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in intervertebral disc has been studied because ADC provides an estimate of free diffusion of unbound water and could be used as a quantitative tool to estimate degenerative changes. However, the challenging nature of diffusion imaging of spine and limited numbers of subjects in earlier studies has produced contradictory findings. We aimed to determine the relation between ADC and visual degenerative changes in lumbar intervertebral discs in a sufficiently large homogeneous study group. Lumbar spines of 228 volunteer middle-aged men were MR imaged at 1.5 T including anatomic and diffusion-weighted imaging. ADC values, T2 signal intensity and height, and width of the three lowest lumbar intervertebral discs were measured and disc degeneration visually graded. The calculated average ADC of 530 measured discs was 2.01×10⁻³ mm²/s±0.29 (±S.D.). The reduction in ADC between visually normal and moderately degenerated discs was 4%. Severely degenerated discs showed 5% larger ADC values than normal discs, presumably due to free water in cracks and fissures of those discs. T2 signal intensity of the disc was significantly correlated with the ADC values, whereas other measured parameters did not show correlation. There was no evident difference in ADC between the studied anatomic lumbar levels. Because there is considerable overlap between ADC values of normal and degenerated discs, we conclude that ADC measurements of intervertebral discs, at least with current technology, have limited clinical value.