Rhus verniciflua Stokes against Advanced Cancer: A Perspective from the Korean Integrative Cancer Center

Active anticancer molecules have been searched from natural products; many drugs were developed from either natural products or their derivatives following the conventional pharmaceutical paradigm of drug discovery. However, the advances in the knowledge of cancer biology have led to personalized medicine using molecular-targeted agents which create new paradigm. Clinical benefit is dependent on individual biomarker and overall survival is prolonged through cytostatic rather than cytotoxic effects to cancer cell. Therefore, a different approach is needed from the single lead compound screening model based on cytotoxicity. In our experience, the Rhus verniciflua stoke (RVS) extract traditionally used for cancer treatment is beneficial to some advanced cancer patients though it is herbal extract not single compound, and low cytotoxic in vitro. The standardized RVS extract's action mechanisms as well as clinical outcomes are reviewed here. We hope that these preliminary results would stimulate different investigation in natural products from conventional chemicals

Classification of rice (oryza sativa l. japonica nipponbare) immunophilins (fkbps, cyps) and expression patterns under water stress

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs) and cyclophilins (CYPs) are abundant and ubiquitous proteins belonging to the peptidyl-prolyl <it>cis/trans </it>isomerase (PPIase) superfamily, which regulate much of metabolism through a chaperone or an isomerization of proline residues during protein folding. They are collectively referred to as immunophilin (IMM), being present in almost all cellular organs. In particular, a number of IMMs relate to environmental stresses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FKBP and CYP proteins in rice (<it>Oryza sativa </it>cv. Japonica) were identified and classified, and given the appropriate name for each IMM, considering the ortholog-relation with <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas </it>or molecular weight of the proteins. 29 FKBP and 27 CYP genes can putatively be identified in rice; among them, a number of genes can be putatively classified as orthologs of <it>Arabidopsis </it>IMMs. However, some genes were novel, did not match with those of <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas</it>, and several genes were paralogs by genetic duplication. Among 56 IMMs in rice, a significant number are regulated by salt and/or desiccation stress. In addition, their expression levels responding to the water-stress have been analyzed in different tissues, and some subcellular IMMs located by means of tagging with GFP protein.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Like other green photosynthetic organisms such as <it>Arabidopsis </it>(23 FKBPs and 29 CYPs) and <it>Chlamydomonas </it>(23 FKBs and 26 CYNs), rice has the highest number of IMM genes among organisms reported so far, suggesting that the numbers relate closely to photosynthesis. Classification of the putative FKBPs and CYPs in rice provides the information about their evolutional/functional significance when comparisons are drawn with the relatively well studied genera, <it>Arabidopsis </it>and <it>Chlamydomonas</it>. In addition, many of the genes upregulated by water stress offer the possibility of manipulating the stress responses in rice.</p

Stabilization of halide perovskites with silicon compounds for optoelectronic, catalytic, and bioimaging applications

Silicon belongs to group 14 elements along with carbon, germanium, tin, and lead in the periodic table. Similar to carbon, silicon is capable of forming a wide range of stable compounds, including silicon hydrides, organosilicons, silicic acids, silicon oxides, and silicone polymers. These materials have been used extensively in optoelectronic devices, sensing, catalysis, and biomedical applications. In recent years, silicon compounds have also been shown to be suitable for stabilizing delicate halide perovskite structures. These composite materials are now receiving a lot of interest for their potential use in various real‐world applications. Despite exhibiting outstanding performance in various optoelectronic devices, halide perovskites are susceptible to breakdown in the presence of moisture, oxygen, heat, and UV light. Silicon compounds are thought to be excellent materials for improving both halide perovskite stability and the performance of perovskite‐based optoelectronic devices. In this work, a wide range of silicon compounds that have been used in halide perovskite research and their applications in various fields are discussed. The interfacial stability, structure–property correlations, and various application aspects of perovskite and silicon compounds are also analyzed at the molecular level. This study also explores the developments, difficulties, and potential future directions associated with the synthesis and application of perovskite‐silicon compounds. imag

Dataset on electro-optically tunable smart-supercapacitors based on oxygen-excess nanograin tungsten oxide thin film

The dataset presented here is related to the research article entitled ???Highly Efficient Electro-optically Tunable Smart-supercapacitors Using an Oxygen-excess Nanograin Tungsten Oxide Thin Film??? (Akbar et al., 2017) [9] where we have presented a nanograin WO3 film as a bifunctional electrode for smart supercapacitor devices. In this article we provide additional information concerning nanograin tungsten oxide thin films such as atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Moreover, their electrochemical properties such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical supercapacitor properties, and electrochromic properties including coloration efficiency, optical modulation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are presented

Effect of stromotion action observation on activation of the supplementary motor area

Park H, Kim T. Effect of stromotion action observation on activation of the supplementary motor area. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY. 2018;49(4):349-361

Contextual Emotion Appraisal Based on a Sentential Cognitive System for Robots

Emotion plays a powerful role in human interaction with robots. In order to express more human-friendly emotions, robots need the capability of contextual appraisal that expresses the emotional relevance of various targets in the spatiotemporal situation. In this paper, an emotional appraisal methodology is proposed to cope with such contexts. Specifically, the Ortony, Clore, and Collins model is abstracted and simplified to approximate an emotional appraisal model in the form of a sentence-based cognitive system. The contextual emotion appraisal is modeled by formulating the emotional relationships among multiple targets and the emotional transition with events and time passing. To verify the proposed robotic system’s feasibility, simulations were conducted for scenarios where it interacts with humans manipulating liked or disliked objects on a table. This experiment demonstrated that the robot’s emotion could change over time like humans by using a proposed formula for emotional valence, which is moderated by emotion appraisal of occurring events

Mental representation and cognitive performance. The functional relationship between long-term memory and working memory by skill level

Kim T, Park H, Schack T. Mental representation and cognitive performance. The functional relationship between long-term memory and working memory by skill level. Presented at the 29 th International Sport Science Congress in Commemoration of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Dankook University Cheonan Campus, South Korea

A Functional Link Between Mental Representation in Long-Term Memory and Cognitive Performance in Working Memory

Kim T, Park H, Schack T. A Functional Link Between Mental Representation in Long-Term Memory and Cognitive Performance in Working Memory. ADVANCES IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY. 2019;15(1):11-20.Although there have been various attempts to identify the perceptual-cognitive mechanisms underlying the superior performance of skilled players over novices in sports, few studies have examined the relationship between mental representations and cognitive performance according to the skill levels of players. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functional link between mental representations in long-term memory and cognitive information processing ability in working memory by analyzing mental representation structure and cognitive performance according to skill level. Twenty male skilled and 25 male novice tennis players participated in this study. Structural dimensional analysis of mental representation was used to evaluate the mental representation structure of a tennis serve. In addition, cognition and movement chronometry was used to assess the cognitive performance of a tennis serve in working memory. Results of the representational analysis showed that the similarity of the skilled players to the standard representation structure was higher than that of novices. Furthermore, results in cognitive performance showed that the skilled players had a higher accuracy and shorter response time compared to the novices. Finally, a significant correlation between the adjusted Rand index and cognition movement chronometry accuracy was observed. Taken together, the mental representation structure and cognitive performance of the skilled players were superior to those of the novices, and mental representations were positively correlated with the accuracy of the cognitive information processing. These results imply that the degree of functional connection between working memory and long-term memory may be used as a perceptual-cognitive factor to explain improvement in performance

Effect of TiO 2 on the Viscosity and Slag Structure in Blast Furnace Type Slags

TiO 2 additions up to 10 mass% behaved as a basic oxide and lowered the viscosity in the CaO-SiO 2 -17 mass% Al 2 O 3 -10 mass% MgO-based slags by depolymerizing the silicate network structure. Raman spectroscopy revealed the sum of NBO/Si 1 and 3 decreased while the sum of NBO/Si 2 and 4 increased with TiO 2 content. Unlike the silicate structures, the aluminate structures seems to be relatively unaffected by TiO 2 additions according to the FTIR results. 5 mass% TiO 2 significantly decreased the viscosity compared to the TiO 2 free slags, but beyond 5 mass% TiO 2 meaningful changes in the viscosity was not observed. From the comparison of the viscosity at constant TiO 2 of 5 and 10 mass% and varying CaO/SiO 2 ratio, increasing the CaO/SiO 2 ratio was more effective in decreasing the viscosity than TiO 2 additions