Racial Paradises Reconsidered : National and International Significance of Local Japanese American Values for Understanding the Process of Cultural Pluralism

Article人文科学論集 14: 87-92 (1980)departmental bulletin pape

A Minority Group in an Underdeveloped Nation : The Japanese Case in Brazil

Article人文科学論集 13: 67-84 (1979)departmental bulletin pape

Reconstruction of Type II Supergravities via O(d)×O(d)O(d) \times O(d) Duality Invariants

We reconstruct type II supergravities by using building blocks of $O(d) \times O(d)$ invariants.These invariants are obtained by explicitly analyzing $O(d) \times O(d)$ transformations of 10 dimensional massless fields. Similar constructions are done by employing double field theory or generalized geometry, but we completed the reconstruction within the framework of the supergravities.Comment: 16 pages. References and appreciation are adde

The cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects of gamavuton-0 in rat basophilic Leukemia cells

Gamavuton-0 (GVT-0), also named as 1,5-bis(4’-hydroxy-3’- methoxyphenyl)-1,4-pentadiene-3 one is a 1,5-diphenyl-1,4-pentadiene-3-one analog of curcumin by modifying the center site of curcumin leading to 1,4-pentadiene-3-ones to maintain the hydroxy moiety at aromatic rings which are responsible for its biological activities. Curcumin has been reported to have potent anticarcinogenic effects. Besides, curcumin was found to induce apoptosis in human Leukemia cells. In our study, we investigated the cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects of gamavuton-0 in rat basophilic leukemia cells. Cell viability was determined by WST-1 assay. In brief, tetrazolium salts were cleaved to formazan by cellular enzymes of viable cells, determined by colorimetric methods with a microplate (ELISA) reader at 450 nm.In the present study, we evaluated cytotoxic and proliferative effects of GVT-0 in rat basophilic leukemia cells. In the study, GVT-0 induced rat basophilic leukemia cells death in a dose dependent manner after overnight incubation. GVT-0 also impaired the content of histamine and b-hexoaminidase enzyme in cells. However, the cytotoxic effect of GVT-0 (IC50 : 43,67 mM) was less potent than this of curcumin (IC50 : 29,14 mM). GVT-0 (1 mM) also showed a significant inhibition of cell growth after 48 and 72 hr. Its fact indicates that GVT-0 could prolong the cells doubling time. These results provide useful information to guide the development of new synthetic compounds for the treatment of cancer diseases.Key words : gamavuton-0, curcumin, cancer, cytotoxic, antiproliferative

The effects of PGV-1 and PGV-2 on the b-hexosaminidase release from intraceluller calcium ion-induced mast cells

PGV-1 or 2,5-bis(4'-hydroxy-3',5'-dimethylbenzylidene)cyclopentanone and PGV-2 or 2,5-bis(4'-hydroxy-3',5'-diethylbenzylidene)cyclopentanone are two benzylidene cyclopentanone analogues of curcumin. In our study, weinvestigated the effects of these compounds on the b-hexoaminidase enzyme release from mast cell culture (RBL-2H3 cell line). Thapsigargin and ionomycin were used as intracellular calcium ion stimulants for inducing b-hexoaminidase enzyme release from mast cells. The release of b-hexoaminidase enzyme was determined by colorimetric methods with substrate, p-nitrophenyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-b-D-glucopyranocide, and a microplate reader at 405 nm. In present study, treatment of 0.5 mM thapsigargin or 1 mM ionomycin could stimulate therelease of b-hexoaminidase enzyme from RBL-2H3 cells by 43.91 ± 1.30 % dan 52.93 ± 2.07 %, respectively. PGV-1 and PGV-2 showed inhibitory effects on the b-hexoaminidase enzyme release from RBL-2H3 cells induced by the increase of intraceluller calcium ion in dose-dependent manner. At the dose of 100 mM, PGV-1 and PGV-2, respectively, inhibited the b-hexoaminidase enzyme release by 73.51 ± 8.69 % and 66.42 ± 8.63 % on thapsigargin experiments; and by 89.73 ± 3.23 % and 38.57 ± 5.32 % on ionomycin experiments. The IC50 values of their effects on the b-hexoaminidase enzyme release from RBL-2H3 cells, respectively, were 22.20 mM and 22.27 mM on thapsigargin experiment; and 22.77 mM and >100 mM on ionomycin experiment. Based on the results, the inhibitory effect of PGV-1 and PGV-2 on the b-hexoaminidase enzyme release from RBL-2H3 cells involving mechanisms related to the alteration on activationprocesses of intracellular calcium ion on mast cells.Key words : Curcumin, PGV-1, PGV-2, mast cells, b-hexoaminidase enzym