Portable low-power thermal cycler with dual thin-film Pt heaters for a polymeric PCR chip.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been widely used for major definite diagnostic tool, but very limited its place used only indoor such as hospital or diagnosis lab. For the rapid on-site detection of pathogen in an outdoor environment, a low-power cordless polymerase chain reaction (PCR) thermal cycler is crucial module. At this point of view, we proposed a low-power PCR thermal cycler that could be operated in an outdoor anywhere.

Galangin induces human colon cancer cell death via the mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase-dependent pathway.

Galangin is a member of flavonols and found in Alpinia officinarum, galangal root, and propolis. Previous studies have demonstrated that galangin has anti-cancer effects on several cancers, including melanoma, hepatoma, and leukaemia cells. However, anti-cancer activity of galangin on human colon cancer has not been established yet.

Factors Associated with Body Mass Index(BMI) Among Older Adults: A Comparison Study of the U.S., Japan, and Korea.

This study examined BMI distributions among older adults in three different countries: the U.S., Japan, and Korea.

A tale of two countries--the United States and Japan: are differences in health due to differences in overweight?

Background: Despite similar standards of living and health care systems for older persons, there are marked differences in the relative health of the elderly populations in the United States (US) and Japan. We explore the association of overweight and obesity with these health disparities.

Methods: Data on older adults from the US National Health Interview Survey (1994) and the Longitudinal Study of Aging II (1994) were compared to similar data from the 1999-2001 Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging.