Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide. Despite concerted efforts to improve the current therapies, the prognosis of cancer remains dismal. Highly selective or specific blocking of only one of the signaling pathways has been associated with limited or sporadic responses. Using targeted agents to inhibit multiple signaling pathways has emerged as a new paradigm for anticancer treatment. Icariside II, a flavonol glycoside, is one of the major components of Traditional Chinese Medicine Herba epimedii and possesses multiple biological and pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory, anti-osteoporosis, anti-oxidant, anti-aging, and anticancer activities. Recently, the anticancer activity of Icariside II has been extensively investigated. Here, in this review, our aim is to give our perspective on the current status of Icariside II, and discuss its natural sources, anticancer activity, molecular targets and the mechanisms of action with specific emphasis on apoptosis pathways which may help the further design and conduct of preclinical and clinical trials.Icariside II has been found to induce apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines of different origin by targeting multiple signaling pathways including STAT3, PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK, COX-2/PGE2 and β-Catenin which are frequently deregulated in cancers, suggesting that this collective activity rather than just a single effect may play an important role in developing Icariside II into a potential lead compound for anticancer therapy. This review suggests that Icariside II provides a novel opportunity for treatment of cancers, but additional investigations and clinical trials are still required to fully understand the mechanism of therapeutic effects to further validate it in anti-tumor therapy.

Thermohydrogen processing is a technique in which hydrogen is used as a temporary alloying element in titanium alloys to control the microstructure and improve the final mechanical properties. Thermohydrogen processing can also be used to enhance the processability/ fabricability of titanium products including sintering, compaction, machining, and hot working (forging, rolling, superplastic forming, etc.). In the case of near net shapes, such as castings and powder metallurgy products, thermohydrogen processing is the only method available for significant microstructural modifications and consequent enhancement in mechanical properties. This paper reviews the status of the methods and applications of thermohydrogen processing to titanium alloys. Principles of thermohydrogen processing, based on the hydrogen induced alterations of the phase compositions and the kinetics of phase reactions in hydrogenated titanium alloys, are overviewed. Stable and metastable phase diagrams of several titanium alloys containing hydrogen are also reviewed. Different applications of thermohydrogen processing for titanium alloys, such as processing, forming, microstructural modifications and improvement in mechanical properties are also discussed.

Microstructures, phases, and phase transformations in Ti-6Al-4V alloy specimens containing 0, 10, 20, and 30 at. pct hydrogen were investigated using optical microscopy (OM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and microhardness testing. Alloying with hydrogen was achieved by holding the specimens in a pure hydrogen atmosphere of different pressures at 780 ЊC for 24 hours. The phases present in the temperature range of 20 ЊC to 1000 ЊC were determined by microstructural characterization of the specimens quenched from different temperatures. Increasing the hydrogen addition from 0 to 30 at. pct lowered the beta-transus temperature of the alloy from 1005 ЊC to 815 ЊC, significantly slowed down the kinetics of the beta-to-alpha transformation, and led to formation of an orthorhombic martensite instead of the hexagonal martensite found in quenched specimens containing 0 pct H. A hydride phase was detected in specimens containing 20 and 30 at. pct hydrogen. The time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams for beta-phase decomposition were determined at different hydrogen concentrations. The nose temperature for the beginning of the transformation decreased from 725 ЊC to 580 ЊC, and the nose time increased from 12 seconds to 42 minutes when the hydrogen concentration was increased from 0 to 30 at. pct.

BackgroundProbiotic bacteria are becoming an important tool for improving human health, controlling diseases and enhancing immune responses. The availability of a cost effective cultivation conditions has profound effect on the efficiency and role of probiotic bacteria. Therefore the current study was conducted with an objective to develop a low cost growth medium for enhancing the biomass production of a bio-therapeutic bacterial strain Lactobacillus plantarum AS-14. In this work the isolation of Lactobacillus plantarum AS-14 bacterial strain was carried out from brinjal using cheese whey as a main carbon source. Moreover, the effect of four other nutritional factors besides cheese whey was investigated on the enhanced cell mass production by using response surface methodology (RSM).ResultsThe best culture medium contained 60 g/l cheese whey, 15 g/l glucose and 15 g/l corn steep liquor in addition to other minor ingredients and it resulted in maximum dry cell mass (15.41 g/l). The second-order polynomial regression model determined that the maximum cell mass production (16.02 g/l) would be obtained at temperature 40°C and pH 6.2. Comparative studies showed that cultivation using cheese whey and corn steep liquor with other components of the selected medium generated higher biomass with lower cost than that of De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) medium under similar cultivation conditions (pH 6.2 and temperature 40°C).ConclusionIt is evident that the cell biomass of L. Plantarum AS-14 was enhanced by low cost cultivation conditions. Moreover, corn steep liquor and ammonium bisulphate were perceived as low-cost nitrogen sources in combination with other components to substitute yeast extract. Of all these factors, cheese whey, corn steep liquor, yeast extract and two operating conditions (temperature and pH) were found to be the most significant parameters. Thus the cost effective medium developed in this research might be used for large-scale commercial application where economics is quite likely important.

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