Effect of sound strength and IACC on perception of listener envelopment in concert halls

ABSTRACT The effects of sound strength (G) on perceived listener envelopment (LEV) at audience positions were investigated in different concert halls. The impulse responses were measured in the halls with different size. Anechoic violin sound was convolved with the impulse responses and the sound pressure level (SPL) was varied from 68.0 to 75.5 dBA in 1.5 dB step. A total of 18 sound stimuli with different interaural cross correlation (IACC) values of 0.13, 0.37, and 0.57 were provided for auditory tests. Results of subjective experiments indicated that LEV was not realized when SPL was less than around 70dBA even though IACC was 0.13. This means that the effect of IACC on LEV perception could be relatively small when the SPL is not large enough

Anti-inflammatory effects of enzymatic hydrolysates of velvet antler in RAW 264.7 cells in vitro and zebrafish model

Enzymatic hydrolysis has been successfully used for the extraction of numerous biologically active components from a wide variety of natural sources. In the present study, velvet antler was subjected to the extraction process using Alcalase protease. We analyzed bioactive components, such as uronic acid, sulfated-glycosaminoglycans (sulfated-GAGs), and sialic acid, present in the velvet antler Alcalase hydrolysate (VAAH) and assessed their anti-inflammatory effects in zebrafish as well as in vitro using cell lines. VAAH mainly contained uronic acid (78.22 mg/g) and sulfated-GAGs (50.47 mg/g), while the amount of sialic acid was negligible (5.55 mg/g). VAAH inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cells in a dosedependent manner and the inhibitory effect of VAAH on NO production was higher than that of hot water extracts. VAAH treatment also reduced the expression of inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Furthermore, we evaluated anti-inflammatory effects of VAAH using LPS-stimulated zebrafish. Treatment with LPS significantly increased cell death, NO, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in zebrafish. Notably, VAAH significantly inhibited the extent of LPS-stimulated cell death and generation of NO and ROS in zebrafish. These results suggest that VAAH alleviated inflammation and cell death by inhibiting the generation of ROS induced by LPS treatment. Thus, VAAH could be used as a potential natural remedy with a trong anti-inflammatory effect. Taken together, we believe that based on our present results, enzymatic hydrolysis of velvet antler may be an effective process to make antler products acceptable as elements of health foods and nutraceutical components with increased biological activity

Bioactive Cembranoids from the Soft Coral Genus Sinularia sp. in Borneo

Soft corals are known to be prolific producers of a wide spectrum of biologically active cembranoids. One new cembranoid, sinularolide F (2), along with three known compounds, cembranolide(1),(E,E,E)-6,10,14-trimethyl-3-methylene-cis-3α,4,5,8,9,12,13,15α-octahydrocyclo tetradeca [β]furan-2(3H)-one (3), and denticulatolide (4), were isolated from the Bornean soft coral Sinularia sp. Compounds 2 and 4 showed potential anti-inflammatory activities against lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 with IC50 values less than 6.25 µg/mL and anticancer activity against HL60 cell lines. The compounds’ mechanisms of action were investigated via the Western blot evaluation of their protein markers. These activities could be attributed to the presence of tertiary methyl at C-8 and the compounds’ 3D configurations

Separation of glycine-rich proteins from sea hare eggs and their anti-cancer activity against U937 leukemia cell line

The present study was designed to investigate the anti-cancer effects of Sea hare eggs (SE) in U937 cells and its major active components. The aqueous extract of SE (ASE), which contained the highest protein content, dosedependently inhibited the cancer cell’s growth (IC50 value, 10.42 ± 0.5 μg/mL). Additionally, ASE markedly caused DNA damage by inducing apoptotic body formation, DNA fragmentation, and accumulation of sub-G1 DNA contents. ASE induced apoptosis by activating caspase-3 and 9 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) by regulating the expression of Bcl-2/Bax. Moreover, among its molecular weight fractions, the > 30 kDa fraction showed the highest cell-growth-inhibitory effects, which was inhibited by heat treatment. Furthermore, the > 30 kDa fraction had markedly higher glycine content than the ASE. The presence of two protein bands at around 16 and 32 kDa was identified. In addition, two fractions, F1 and F2, were obtained using anion-exchange chromatography, with the F1 having an improved cell-growth-inhibitory effect than the > 30 kDa fraction. Taken together, these results suggest that the ASE contains glycine-rich proteins, including the active 16 and 32 kDa proteins, which account for its anti-cancer effects by inducing apoptosis via regulation of the mitochondrial pathway

A sulfated polysaccharide of Ecklonia cava inhibits the growth of colon cancer cells by inducing apoptosis

We investigated anticancer effects of the crude polysaccharides (CPs) isolated from Ecklonia cava enzymatic extracts using AMG, Viscozyme, Protamex, and Alcalase enzyme against a colon cancer cell line, CT26 cells. Among them, the CP of Protamex extract (PCP) contained the highest fucose and sulfated group contents and showed the highest growth inhibitory effect against CT-26 cells. In addition, PCP dose-dependently increased the formation of apoptotic body and the percentage of Sub-G1 DNA contents. Also, PCP activated caspase 9 and PARP as regulating the expressions of Bax and Bcl-2. Moreover, PPP2, a fraction purified from PCP showed the highest growth inhibitory effect against CT 26 cells with the increased fucose and sulfated group contents. The results demonstrate that the isolated SP containing plentiful fucose and sulfated group contents has the anticancer effect on colon cancer cells via regulation of Bcl-2/Bax signal pathway

Evaluation on antioxidant properties of sixteen plant species from Jeju Island in Korea

In this study, the antioxidant properties of 80 % ethanol extracts of 16 species of plants from Jeju Island in Korea were evaluated using various antioxidant assays, including the DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-pricrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging, superoxide scavenging, xanthine oxidase inhibition and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities. Among the 16 plant extracts tested, CN-13 showed strong antioxidant properties in the DPPH radical scavenging and hydrogen peroxide scavenging tests. The CN-13 ethanol extract was thus selected to be used for further experiments, and was separated into various fractions using four different organic solvents (n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and butanol). The ethyl acetate fraction of CN-13 extract evidenced strong DPPH radical scavenging properties as compared to the other fractions. The ethyl acetate fraction also strongly inhibited DNA-damage induced by hydrogen peroxide-oxidative damage in a mouse lymphoma (L5178Y-R) cell line. Moreover, a correlation between the total phenolic content of the extract, and its antioxidant property was reported

Depression, antidepressant use, and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a nationally representative cohort study

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported that depression can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, they did not sufficiently consider antidepressants or comorbidity.MethodsThe National Health Insurance Sharing Service database was used. Among the sample population, 276,048 subjects who had been diagnosed with depression and prescribed antidepressants (DEP with antidepressants group) and 79,119 subjects who had been diagnosed with depression but not prescribed antidepressants (DEP without antidepressants group) were found to be eligible for this study. Healthy controls (HCs) were 1:1 matched with the DEP with antidepressants group for age and sex. We followed up with them for the occurrence of type 2 diabetes.ResultsIn the group of DEP with antidepressants, although the risk of type 2 diabetes increased compared to HCs in a crude analysis, it decreased when comorbidity was adjusted for. In the group of DEP without antidepressants, the risk of type 2 diabetes decreased both in the crude model and the adjusted models. The risk varied by age group and classes or ingredients of antidepressants, with young adult patients showing an increased risk even in the fully adjusted model.ConclusionOverall, those with depression had a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. However, the risk varied according to the age at onset, comorbidity, and type of antidepressants

Cytoprotective effects of fermented oyster extracts against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage and apoptosis through activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts

Osteoblast damage by oxidative stress has been recognized as a cause of bone-related disease, including osteoporosis. Recently, we reported that fermented Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) extracts (FO) inhibited osteoclastogenesis and osteoporosis, while promoting osteogenesis. However, since the beneficial potential of FO on osteoblasts is not well known, in the present study, we investigated the cytoprotective effect of FO against oxidative stress in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Our results demonstrated that FO inhibited hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity through the rescue of mitochondrial function by blocking abnormal ROS accumulation. FO also prevented apoptosis by suppressing loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytosolic release of cytochrome c, decreasing the rate of Bax/Bcl-2 expression and reducing the activity of caspase-9 and caspase-3 in H2O2-stimulated MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts, suggesting that FO protected MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts from the induction of caspase dependent- and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis by oxidative stress. In addition, FO markedly promoted the activation of nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which was associated with the enhanced expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). However, inhibiting the expression of HO-1 by artificially blocking the expression of Nrf2 using siRNA significantly eliminated the protective effect of FO, indicating that FO activates the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts to protect against oxidative stress. Based on the present data, FO is thought to be useful as a potential therapeutic agent for the inhibition of oxidative stress in osteoblasts