• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2009

The effects of aqueous extract of Schizandrae Fructus (AESC) on lead (Pb)-induced changes of monoamine neurotransmitters in the hippocampus (HIP) of adult rats were investigated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were received intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of Pb acetate (5 mg/kg/d) for 28 days and sacrificed 7 days after the last administration. Concentrations of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) in HIP were measured by HPLC. There were significant decreases of NE, DA, 5-HT and 5-HIAA in Pb treated rats (P < 0.05), while pretreatment with AESC (100 mg/kg/d or 300 mg/kg/d, p.o., 2 h before Pb) greatly inhibited the decrease of monoamine transmitters, respectively (P < 0.05). Also, AESC (300 mg/kg/d) significantly increased the reduction of glutathione contents and superoxide dismutase activities in HIP induced by chronic Pb. These results suggest that AESC ameliorates Pb-induced depletion of monoamine neurotransmitters in HIP through its antioxidant activity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5089-5094
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• 2015

FADS1 (fatty acid desaturase 1) plays a crucial role in fatty acid metabolism, and it was recently reported to be involved in tumorigenesis. However, the role of FADS1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown. In the current study, we investigated the expression and clinical pathologic and prognostic significance of FADS1 in ESCC. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that 58.2% (146/251) of the ESCC tissues had low levels of FADS1 expression, whereas 41.8% (105/251) exhibited high levels of FADS1 expression. In positive cases, FADS1 expression was detected in the cytoplasm of cells. Correlation analyses demonstrated that FADS1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor location (p=0.025) but not with age, gender, histological grade, tumor status, nodal status or TNM staging. Furthermore, patients with tumors expressing high levels of FADS1had a longer disease-free survival time (p<0.001) and overall survival time (p <0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that, along with nodal status, FADS1 expression was an independent and significant predictive factor (p<0.001). In conclusion, our study suggested that FADS1 might be a valuable biomarker and potential therapeutic target for ESCC.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1791-1794
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• 2013

Phytochemical investigation on dragon's blood of Dracaena cambodiana led to the discovery of two new flavonoid derivatives, cambodianin G (1) and cambodianin H (2). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR techniques and chemical methods. The two compounds were observed to exhibit antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, and compound 1 showed cytotoxicities against K562 and SGC-7901 cell lines.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3631-3634
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• 2013

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) play important roles in coordinating a variety of cellular processes and abnormal expression has been linked to the occurrence of several cancers. The miRNA miR-451 is downregulated in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cells, suggested by several research groups including our own. In this study, synthetic miR-451 mimics were transfected into the SW620 human CRC cell line using Lipofectamine 2000 and expression of miR-451 was analyzed by real time PCR, while expression of CAB39, LKB1, AMPK, AKT, PI3K and Bcl2 was analyzed by Western blot, and cell growth was detected by MTT assay. In comparison to the controls, a significant increase in the expression of miR-451 was associated with significantly decreased expression of CAB39, LKB1, AMPK, AKT, PI3K and Bcl2. The capacity of cell proliferation was significantly decreased by miR-451 expression, which also inhibited cell growth. Our study confirmed that miR-451 has a repressive role in CRC cells by inhibiting cell growth through down-regulating the P13K/AKT pathway.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.7 no.11
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• pp.2702-2719
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• 2013

A new optimal scheme based on curvelet transform is proposed for retinal image enhancement (RIE) using real-coded quantum genetic algorithm. Curvelet transform has better performance in representing edges than classical wavelet transform for its anisotropy and directional decomposition capabilities. For more precise reconstruction and better visualization, curvelet coefficients in corresponding subbands are modified by using a nonlinear enhancement mapping function. An automatic method is presented for selecting optimal parameter settings of the nonlinear mapping function via quantum genetic search strategy. The performance measures used in this paper provide some quantitative comparison among different RIE methods. The proposed method is tested on the DRIVE and STARE retinal databases and compared with some popular image enhancement methods. The experimental results demonstrate that proposed method can provide superior enhanced retinal image in terms of several image quantitative evaluation indexes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2561-2567
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• 2015

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Our study aimed to reveal molecular mechanisms. Microarray data of GSE15471 (including 39 matching pairs of pancreatic tumor tissues and patient-matched normal tissues) was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in PDAC tissues compared with normal tissues by limma package in R language. Then GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were conducted with online DAVID. In addition, principal component analysis was performed and a protein-protein interaction network was constructed to study relationships between the DEGs through database STRING. A total of 532 DEGs were identified in the 38 PDAC tissues compared with 33 normal tissues. The results of principal component analysis of the top 20 DEGs could differentiate the PDAC tissues from normal tissues directly. In the PPI network, 8 of the 20 DEGs were all key genes of the collagen family. Additionally, FN1 (fibronectin 1) was also a hub node in the network. The genes of the collagen family as well as FN1 were significantly enriched in complement and coagulation cascades, ECM-receptor interaction and focal adhesion pathways. Our results suggest that genes of collagen family and FN1 may play an important role in PDAC progression. Meanwhile, these DEGs and enriched pathways, such as complement and coagulation cascades, ECM-receptor interaction and focal adhesion may be important molecular mechanisms involved in the development and progression of PDAC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9763-9766
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• 2014

Background: This systemic analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of an ifosfamide-containing regimen in treating patients with osteosarcoma. Methods: Clinical studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of Ifosfamide-containing regimen on response and safety for patients with osteosarcoma were identified by using a predefined search strategy. Pooled response rate (RR) of treatment were calculated. Results: When ifosfamide-containing regimens were evaluated, 4 clinical studies which including 134 patients with osteosarcoma were considered eligible for inclusion. Systemic analysis suggested that, in all patients, pooled RR was 44.8% (60/134) in ifosfamide-containing regimens. Major adverse effects were neutropenia, leukopenia, and fatigue inIfosfamide-containing regimens; No treatment related death occurred in cantharidin combined regimens. Conclusion: This systemic analysis suggests that ifosfamide-containing regimens are associated with good response rate and acceptable toxicity in treating patients with osteosarcoma, but this result should be confirmed by randomized clinical trials.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.176-181
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• 2014

The antioxidant activities of 29 components isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia iwayomogi were evaluated in vitro and in cell culture. Among the tested compounds, 2, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 14 exhibited the greatest peroxyl radical-scavenging activities in the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, and 2, 10, and 14 also showed significant reducing capacities. However, all compounds showed weak metal chelating activities. Their cellular antioxidant activities were evaluated in HepG2 cells. At $10{\mu}M$, compounds 6, 8, and 14 exhibited stronger protection against 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-induced oxidative stress than compounds 2, 10, and 13. Moreover, Compounds 2 and 8 were more effective in protecting against $Cu^{2+}$-induced oxidative stress than compounds 6, 10, 13, and 14 at $10{\mu}M$. These results suggest that the phenolic compounds in A. iwayomogi have the potential to be developed as natural antioxidants for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.142-156
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• 2015

A new method for ship Inner Shell optimization, which is called Parametric Inner Shell Optimization Method (PISOM), is presented in this paper in order to improve both hull performance and design efficiency of transport ship. The foundation of PISOM is the parametric Inner Shell Plate (ISP) model, which is a fully-associative model driven by dimensions. A method to create parametric ISP model is proposed, including geometric primitives, geometric constraints, geometric constraint solving etc. The standard optimization procedure of ship ISP optimization based on parametric ISP model is put forward, and an efficient optimization approach for typical transport ship is developed based on this procedure. This approach takes the section area of ISP and the other dominant parameters as variables, while all the design requirements such as propeller immersion, fore bottom wave slap, bridge visibility, longitudinal strength etc, are made constraints. The optimization objective is maximum volume of cargo oil tanker/cargo hold, and the genetic algorithm is used to solve this optimization model. This method is applied to the optimization of a product oil tanker and a bulk carrier, and it is proved to be effective, highly efficient, and engineering practical.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.611-628
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• 2022

Energy-dissipative rocking (EDR) columns are a class of seismic mitigation device capable of dissipating seismic energy and preventing weak-story failure of moment resisting frames (MRFs). An EDR consists of two hinge-supported steel columns interconnected by steel dampers along its height. Under earthquakes, the input seismic energy can be dissipated by plastic energy of the steel dampers in the EDR column. However, the unrecoverable plastic deformation of steel dampers generally results in residual drifts in the structural system. This paper presents a proof-of-concept study on an innovative device, namely self-centring energy-dissipative rocking (SC-EDR) column, aiming at enabling self-centring capability of the EDR column by installing a set of shape memory alloy (SMA) tension braces. The working mechanism of the SC-EDR column is presented in detail, and the feasibility of the new device is carefully examined via experimental and numerical studies considering the parameters of the SMA bar diameter and the steel damper plate thickness. The seismic responses including load carrying capacities, stress distributions, base rocking behaviour, source of residual deformation, and energy dissipation are discussed in detail. A rational combination of the steel damper and the SMA tension braces can achieve excellent energy dissipation and self-centring performance.