Tyrosinase inhibitory and antioxidant activity by bromophenols from the alga Odonthalia corymbifera

In the course of our search for tyrosinase inhibitors and antioxidants, six known bromophenol dimers were purified from methanol extract of the red alga Odonthalia corymbifera. The compounds were identified by comparison with published spectroscopic data. These bromophenols were categorized into symmetric and asymmetric dimers. Among them, the tetrabrominated dimers displayed more potent tyrosinase inhibition than the tribrominated ones. Especially, the asymmetric tetrabrominated compound showed strong inhibition. These results suggest that number of bromine substitution and orientation of bromine and phenolic hydroxy groups are important factors of tyrosinase inhibitory potency. The bromophenols were also investigated for antioxidant activities by using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, CUPRAC and FRAP metal reducing and copper chelation assays. All dimers showed comparable antioxidant activities to the positive controls examined. Symmetric dimers displayed relatively higher antioxidant activities than asymmetric ones

Antiferromagnetism in two-dimensional t-J model: pseudospin representation

We discuss a pseudospin representation of the two-dimensional t-J model. We introduce pseudospins associated with empty sites, deriving a new representation of the t-J model that consists of local spins and spinless fermions. We show, within a mean-field approximation, that our representation of t-J model corresponds to the {\it isotropic} antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in an effective magnetic field. The strength and the direction of the effective field are determined by the hole doping ${\delta}$ and the orientation of pseudospins associated with empty sites, respectively. We find that the staggered magnetization in the standard representation corresponds to the component of magnetization perpendicular to the effective field in our pseudospin representation. Using a many-body Green's function method, we show that the staggered magnetization decreases with increasing hole doping ${\delta}$ and disappears at ${\delta \approx 0.06-0.15}$ for $t/J=2-5$. Our results are in good agreement with experiments and numerical calculations in contradistinction to usual mean-field methods.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

A feasibility study of the measurement of Higgs pair creation at a Photon Linear Collider

We studied the feasibility of the measurement of Higgs pair creation at a Photon Linear Collider (PLC). From the sensitivity to the anomalous self-coupling of the Higgs boson, the optimum $\gamma \gamma$ collision energy was found to be around 270 GeV for a Higgs mass of 120 GeV/$c^2$. We found that large backgrounds such as $\gamma \gamma \rightarrow W^+W^-, ZZ,$ and $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$, can be suppressed if correct assignment of tracks to parent partons is achieved and Higgs pair events can be observed with a statistical significance of $\sim 5 \sigma$ by operating the PLC for 5 years.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, 5 table

Pole Exercise on Thorax Cage and its Influence on the Flexibility in Low Back-pain Patients

Background: Low back pain (LBP) has been common clinical and neuromusculoskeletal disorders. Authors have continued clinical practice and research concerning LBP and rehabilitation, associated with the efficacy of pole exercise movement and application. Methods: Subjects were 18 LBP patients with 46.6 ± 5.8 years old. They were randomly assigned to two groups, which are pole exercise and control groups. Group 1 continued axial rotation, lateral bending and forward/backward rotation along Moriyasu method 10 times 3 sets per day for 2 weeks. Group 2 continued Slump Stretching and Gluteus Stretch in the same way. The biomarkers include Finger Floor Distance (FFD) and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) before and after the intervention. Results: Both groups showed significant improved results in FFD and NRS between before and after the intervention. Group 1 showed significant improved results in FFD and NRS after intervention, which were 5.2 ± 9.4 cm vs. 15.7 ± 7.0 cm, and 3.0 ± 2.1 vs. 5.1 ± 1.3 respectively. Conclusion: The results suggested that continuous daily pole exercise would be effective for improved flexibility and motor function for thorax cage and vertebrae. Further study and comparative evaluation among LBP, pole exercise, FFD and other biomarkers will be expected in the future

Chemical Visualization of an Attractant Peptide, LURE

The pollen tube attractant peptide LUREs of Torenia fournieri are diffusible peptides that attract pollen tubes in vitro. Here, we report a method enabling the direct visualization of a LURE peptide without inhibiting its attraction activity by conjugating it with the Alexa Fluor 488 fluorescent dye. After purifying and refolding the recombinant LURE2 with a polyhistidine tag, its amino groups were targeted for conjugation with the Alexa Fluor dye. Labeling of LURE2 was confirmed by its fluorescence and mass spectrometry. In our in vitro assay using gelatin beads, Alexa Fluor 488-labeled LURE2 appeared to have the same activity as unlabeled LURE2. Using the labeled LURE2, the relationship between the spatiotemporal change of distribution and activity of LURE2 was examined. LURE2 attracted pollen tubes when embedded in gelatin beads, but hardly at all when in agarose beads. Direct visualization suggested that the significant difference between these conditions was the retention of LURE2 in the gelatin bead, which might delay diffusion of LURE2 from the bead. Direct visualization of LURE peptide may open the way to studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of LURE in pollen tube attraction

Selective labeling of a single organelle by using two-photon conversion of a photoconvertible fluorescent protein

SPIE BiOS, 2008, San Jose, California, United StatesWataru Watanabe, Tomoko Shimada, Sachihiro Matsunaga, Daisuke Kurihara, Shin-ichi Arimura, Nobuhiro Tsutsumi, Kiichi Fukui, Kazuyoshi Itoh, "Selective labeling of a single organelle by using two-photon conversion of a photoconvertible fluorescent protein," Proc. SPIE 6860, Multiphoton Microscopy in the Biomedical Sciences VIII, 68601B (15 February 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.768745

Pole exercise on the ROM of thoracic spine

Background: The stability of the spine and flexibility of the thoracic cage have been in discussion for long. Authors have continued clinical practice and rehabilitation for various subjects. Among them, we have developed the application of pole exercise for various subjects, leading to the improved flexibility of thoracic spine. Subjects and Methods: Enrolled subjects were 18 adults with an average age of 27.8 ± 2.9 years old. Methods included the continuation of pole exercise by two ways, which are performed on the shoulder and at the armpit. The range of motion (ROM) of thoracic upper/lower (U/L groups) thoracic cage was analyzed using the measurement apparatus, spinal mouse. Results: For the main effect between U/L groups, there was a significant difference in the range of the total ROM. For alternating effect between intervention condition and time, there was a significant difference in ROM (total, flexion, and extension). U-group showed larger ROM compared to the L-group. Discussion and Conclusion: There would be probable some reasons for the difference, which are (i) bucket-handle rotation about a dorsoventral axis, (ii) caliper rotation about a craniocaudal axis, and (iii) pump-handle rotation about a mediolateral axis. These results would become reference data, leading to further research in the future