Regularized Filters for L1-Norm-Based Common Spatial Patterns.

The l1 -norm-based common spatial patterns (CSP-L1) approach is a recently developed technique for optimizing spatial filters in the field of electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain computer interfaces. The l1 -norm-based expression of dispersion in CSP-L1 alleviates the negative impact of outliers. In this paper, we further improve the robustness of CSP-L1 by taking into account noise which does not necessarily have as large a deviation as with outliers.

[Ethyl acetate-soluble chemical constituents from branch of Hypericum petiolulatum].

The stems and branches of Hypericum petiolulatum were extracted by alcohol and liquid-liquid extraction. Seven furofuran lignans were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of ethanol extract of H. petiolulatum by using silica gelchromatography, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, medium-pressure liquid chromatography and preparative HPLC.

Sensory perception, nutritional role, and challenges of flavored milk for children and adults.

Milk and milk products provide essential nutrients for both adults and children. However, overall milk consumption of both adults and children does not meet the recommendations from Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Flavored milk can increase milk consumption for children and adolescents, but the added sugar content raises concern.

Effects of fog, driver experience and gender on driving behavior on S-curved road segments.

Driving on curved roads has been recognized as a significant safety issue for many years. However, driver behavior and the interactions among variables that affect driver performance on curves is complicated and not well understood. Previous studies have investigated various factors that influence driver performance on right- or left-turn curves, but have paid little attention to the effects of foggy weather, driver experience and gender on driver performance on complex curves.

Molecular mechanisms of casticin action: an update on its antitumor functions.

Casticin (3', 5-dihydroxy-3, 4', 6, 7-tetramethoxyflavone) is an active compound isolated from roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of a variety of plants. It is well known for its pharmacological properties and has been utilized as an anti-hyperprolactinemia, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotetective, analgesic and immunomodulatory agent. Recently, the anticancer activity of casticin has been extensively investigated.

Identification of 'erasers' for lysine crotonylated histone marks using a chemical proteomics approach.

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) play a crucial role in a wide range of biological processes. Lysine crotonylation (Kcr) is a newly discovered histone PTM that is enriched at active gene promoters and potential enhancers in mammalian cell genomes. However, the cellular enzymes that regulate the addition and removal of Kcr are unknown, which has hindered further investigation of its cellular functions.

Life history trait differentiation and local adaptation in invasive populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in China.

Local adaptation has been suggested to play an important role in range expansion, particularly among invasive species. However, the extent to which local adaptation affects the success of an invasive species and the factors that contribute to local adaptation are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate a case of population divergence that may have contributed to the local adaptation of invasive populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in China.

Computational study on the interaction between CCR5 and HIV-1 entry inhibitor maraviroc: insight from accelerated molecular dynamics simulation and free energy calculation.

C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) is the co-receptor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and plays an important role in HIV-1 virus infection. Maraviroc has been proved to be effective for anti-HIV-1 by targeting CCR5. Understanding the detailed interaction mechanism between CCR5 and Maraviroc will be of great help to the rational design of a more potential inverse agonist to block HIV-1 infection.

Targeting apoptosis pathways in cancer and perspectives with natural compounds from mother nature.

Although the incidences are increasing day after day, scientists and researchers taken individually or by research group are trying to fight against cancer by several ways and also by different approaches and techniques. Sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, diterpenoids, and polyphenolic represent a large and diverse group of naturally occurring compounds found in a variety of fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants with various anticancer properties. In this review, our aim is to give our perspective on the current status of the natural compounds belonging to these groups and discuss their natural sources, their anticancer activity, their molecular targets, and their mechanism of actions with specific emphasis on apoptosis pathways, which may help the further design and conduct of preclinical and clinical trials.

Extrinsic attributes that influence parents' purchase of chocolate milk for their children.

Unlabelled: The consumption of milk is essential for children's heath; and flavored milk, especially chocolate milk, is often purchased to increase children's milk consumption. However, the sugar content of chocolate milk has raised health concerns. As such, it is important to understand chocolate milk extrinsic attributes that influence parents' purchase decisions when they are purchasing chocolate milk for their children.

Altholactone induces reactive oxygen species-mediated apoptosis in bladder cancer T24 cells through mitochondrial dysfunction, MAPK-p38 activation and Akt suppression.

Human bladder cancer is an aggressive tumor which frequently resists chemotherapy. Therefore, the search for new therapeutic agents is of great importance. Altholactone, isolated from Goniothalamus sp.

Controlled release of protein from biodegradable multi-sensitive injectable poly(ether-urethane) hydrogel.

The synthesis and characterization of multi-sensitive polymers for use as injectable hydrogels for controlled protein/drug delivery is reported. A series of biodegradable multi-sensitive poly(ether-urethane)s were prepared through a simple one-pot condensation of poly(ethylene glycol), 2,2'-dithiodiethanol, N-methyldiethanolamine, and hexamethylene diisocyanate. The sol-gel phase transition behaviors of the obtained copolymers were investigated.

[Primary tumor SUVmax measured on (18)F-FDG PET-CT correlates with histologic grade and pathologic stage in non-small cell lung cancer].

Objective: To assess the relationship between preoperative maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured on (18)F-FDG PET-CT and clinicopathologic parameters in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: A total of 540 patients (348 men and 192 women, mean age 60 ± 10 years) with histologically proven non-small cell lung cancer, who had undergone both preoperative (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging and curative surgery in our institution from October 2006 to January 2013, were analyzed retrospectively in this study. Primary tumor (18)F-FDG uptake, measured as SUVmax corrected for lean body mass, was compared among different variables and correlated with tumor size, histologic grade and postoperative pathologic TNM stage.

CRL4 complex regulates mammalian oocyte survival and reprogramming by activation of TET proteins.

The duration of a woman's reproductive period is determined by the size and persistence of a dormant oocyte pool. Specific oocyte genes are essential for follicle maintenance and female fertility. The mechanisms that regulate the expression of these genes are poorly understood.

Targeting apoptosis pathways in cancer with alantolactone and isoalantolactone.

Alantolactone and isoalantolactone, main bioactive compounds that are present in many medicinal plants such as Inula helenium, L. Inula japonica, Aucklandia lappa, Inula racemosa, and Radix inulae, have been found to have various pharmacological actions including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties, with no significant toxicity. Recently, the anticancer activity of alantolactone and isoalantolactone has been extensively investigated.

[Correlation of ¹⁸F-FDG uptake with tumor-proliferating antigen Ki-67 expression in aggressive lymphoma].

Objective: To investigate the correlation between ¹⁸F-FDG uptake in positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging and tumor-proliferating antigen Ki-67 expression in aggressive lymphoma.

Methods: Data of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT imaging and immunohistochemical detection of Ki-67 expression of seventy-seven cases with initially diagnosed aggressive lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed. The intensity of ¹⁸F-FDG accumulation was determined by calculating the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and average standardized uptake value (SUVave).

DNA topoisomerase II is dispensable for oocyte meiotic resumption but is essential for meiotic chromosome condensation and separation in mice.

During mitosis, DNA topoisomerase II (TOP2) is required for sister chromatid separation. When TOP2 activity is inhibited, a decatenation checkpoint is activated by entangled chromatin. However, the functions of TOP2 in oocyte meiosis, particularly for homologous chromosome segregation during meiosis I, have not been investigated.

TOP2β is essential for ovarian follicles that are hypersensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs.

The mechanisms underlying chemotherapy-induced acceleration of ovarian insufficiency are not fully understood, particularly for ovarian granulosa cells (GCs). We used two widely used cancer chemotherapeutic reagents, bleomycin and VP-16, and an in vivo GC-specific DNA topoisomerase II-β (TOP2β) (Top2b) knockout mouse model to investigate the effects of chemotherapy-induced DNA damage on growing mouse follicles. Bleomycin and VP-16 caused massive double-strand DNA breaks in the GCs of growing follicles in a time-dependent manner as shown by DNA-damage checkpoint activation.

Pinocembrin: a novel natural compound with versatile pharmacological and biological activities.

Pinocembrin (5,7-dihydroxyflavanone) is one of the primary flavonoids isolated from the variety of plants, mainly from Pinus heartwood, Eucalyptus, Populus, Euphorbia, and Sparattosperma leucanthum, in the diverse flora and purified by various chromatographic techniques. Pinocembrin is a major flavonoid molecule incorporated as multifunctional in the pharmaceutical industry. Its vast range of pharmacological activities has been well researched including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer activities.

Surface functionalization of styrenic block copolymer elastomeric biomaterials with hyaluronic acid via a "grafting to" strategy.

As a biostable elastomer, the hydrophobicity of styrenic block copolymer (SBC) intensely limits its biomedical applications. In order to overcome such shortcoming, the SBC films were grafted with hyaluronic acid (HA) using a coupling agent. The surface chemistry of the modified films was examined by ATR-FTIR and XPS techniques, and the surface morphology was visually described by AFM.

Reactive oxygen species mediate isoalantolactone-induced apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells.

Isoalantolactone, a medicinal plant-derived natural compound, is known to induce apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. However, its effect on apoptosis in prostate cancer cells has not been addressed. Thus, we examined the effects of isoalantolactone on prostate cancer cells.

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase p110δ mediates estrogen- and FSH-stimulated ovarian follicle growth.

In the mammalian ovary, primordial follicles are generated early in life and remain dormant for prolonged periods. Their growth resumes via primordial follicle activation, and they continue to grow until the preovulatory stage under the regulation of hormones and growth factors, such as estrogen, FSH, and IGF-1. Both FSH and IGF-1 activate the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt (acute transforming retrovirus thymoma protein kinase) signaling pathway in granulosa cells (GCs), yet it remains inconclusive whether the PI3K pathway is crucial for follicle growth.

Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy used for purity determination of rhein-L-arginine cocrystal (argirein).

A method is described using rapid and sensitive Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) for the determination of rhein-L-arginine cocrystal (argirein). By mixing different values of argirein into different proportions with rhein and arginine, we obtained 41 batches of samples to deatermine. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was selected as the analysis type and standard normal variate (SNV) and original spectra were adopted for the spectral pretreatment.

On-off switchable drug release from multi-responsive degradable poly(ether urethane) nanoparticles.

A novel on-off switchable drug-release system was developed based on a series of multi-responsive degradable poly(ether urethane)s. The multi-segmented poly(ether urethane)s were synthesized through a simple one-pot condensation polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol), 2,2'-dithiodiethanol, N-methyldiethanolamine and hexamethylene diisocyanate. The obtained amphiphilic copolymers could self-assemble into nanoparticles in aqueous solution, which were responsive to temperature, pH and redox potential with tailored phase-transition temperature.

Synthesis, characterization and controlled drug release from temperature-responsive poly(ether-urethane) particles based on PEG-diisocyanates and aliphatic diols.

A series of linear amphiphilic poly(ether-urethane)s with alternative hydrophilic/hydrophobic segments based on PEG-diisocyanates and aliphatic diols is developed. The molecular structures of the copolymers were confirmed with nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectra and gel permeation chromatography. Nanoparticles prepared by self-assembly of the resulting copolymers show sharp temperature-responsive phase transition.