High quality MOF-177 crystals in the size range of 5-20 microm were successfully synthesized via a sonochemical route in a substantially reduced synthesis time (40 min) in the presence of low-cost NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as a solvent. Microwave heating in NMP also produced MOF-177 under similar conditions (35 min, 5-50 microm) but exhibited inferior crystallinity. In comparison, a conventional solvothermal route in DEF (diethylformamide) took 48 h to produce MOF-177 crystals 0.5-1.5 mm in size. The BET surface areas of the MOF-177 samples decreased in the order of sonochemical (4898 m(2) g(-1)) > conventional (4833 m(2) g(-1)) > microwave route (4197 m(2) g(-1)). In line with this trend, MOF-177 prepared via the sonochemical route resulted in the highest CO(2) adsorption capacity, 1315 mg g(-1) at 30 bar and 298 K. The product yield of MOF-177 synthesized via the sonochemical route was 95.6%, and was significantly higher than the product yields of other methods.

This study assessed the effectiveness of three intervention strategies to improve the participation rate of gastric cancer screening among people who had never undergone such screening, and those who had been screened for the disease, but not recently. It was conducted in the Ilsandong-gu District of Goyang City, Korea. The population for the current study was restricted to male residents, aged 40-65 years, who received an invitation letter to undergo gastric cancer screening from the National Health Insurance (NHI) Corporation at the beginning of 2010. The subjects were divided into two categories according to their screening history: never-screened, and ever-screened. A total of 2,065 men were eligible: 803 never-screened and 1,262 everscreened. In each screening category they were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: 1) tailored telephone counseling; 2) tailored postcard reminder after tailored telephone counseling;and 3) tailored telephone counseling after tailored postcard reminder. At 3 months post-intervention, neverscreened men with any intervention were more likely to undergo gastric cancer screening (OR=2.75, 95% CI: 1.22-6.18) compared to those in the reference group (no intervention). However, there was no statistically significant intervention effect in ever-screened men (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 0.65-2.27). Examination of the intervention effects by intervention group among never-screened men showed that those in the postcard reminder after telephone counseling group to be statistically significantly more likely to undergo gastric cancer screening (OR=4.49, 95% CI: 1.79-11.29) than the reference group (no intervention). Our results highlight that use of tailored postcard reminders after tailored telephone counseling is an effective method to increase participation in gastric cancer screening among men who had never been screened.

18 flowers of Compositae family were collected and extracted in aqueous methanol (MeOH). The concentrated extract was partitioned into n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-BuOH, and water fractions. The extract and fractions were evaluated for total phenolics, total flavonoids, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, and tyrosinase inhibition activity. n-Hexane and EtOAc fractions of Aster yomena, n-

Excess melanin in skin is known to be the main cause of hyper-pigmentary skin diseases such as freckles and lentigo. This study aimed to evaluate the depigmenting efficacy of an extract from the marine microorganism strain, Streptomyces sp. SNA077. To determine the anti-melanogenic efficacy of SNA077, we assessed the melanin contents of SNA077-treated B16, Melan-a, and MNT-1 cells. We observed the expression of key enzymes in melanogenesis via qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses. We further estimated the skin-whitening effect of SNA077 using a skin-equivalent model. SNA077 dramatically decreased the melanin production of B16 cells, Melan-a, and MNT-1 cells. In B16 cells treated with SNA077, the activity of cellular tyrosinase was clearly inhibited. In addition, the mRNA and protein expression levels of melanogenic genes were suppressed by SNA077 treatment in B16 and MNT-1 cells. Upstream of tyrosinase, the expression levels of phospho-CREB, phospho-p38, PKA activity, cyclic AMP production, and MC1R gene expression were inhibited by SNA077. Finally, SNA077 clearly showed a skin-brightening effect with a reduced melanin content in the skin tissue model. Collectively, our results suggest for the first time that an extract of marine Streptomyces sp. SNA077 could be a novel anti-melanogenic material for skin whitening.

No abstract