Evaluation of the Safety of Daily Consumption of Extract (KPFORCE): A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial.

This study's aim was to evaluate the safety of daily consumption of extract (KPE) using a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study with 52 recruited healthy Japanese subjects. Each subject received five KPE tablets (containing 150 mg of KPFORCE/tablet) or placebo daily for 4 weeks. There were no adverse events related to KPE intake or any abnormalities compared with placebo group in anthropometric, cardiovascular, blood, and urine parameters during the course of the study.

Toxicological evaluation of standardized extract: Sub-chronic and mutagenicity studies.

(KP), also known as Krachai-dam in Thailand, belongs to the family Zingiberaceae and has been used traditionally to improve blood flow and treat inflammatory, allergic, and gastrointestinal disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate the safety profile of a standardized hydroalcoholic KP rhizome extract via mutagenicity and sub-chronic toxicity evaluations using and techniques. The in vitro mutagenicity of KP extract was assessed via reverse mutation tests using TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537, and WP2 .

Daily intake of extract decreases abdominal fat in overweight and preobese subjects: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.

Purpose: Obesity is a serious problem, which is now a worldwide health problem. extract (KPE) exhibits anti-obesity effects in animals. However, as no clinical trials have evaluated the anti-obesity effects of KPE in humans, we examined the effects of KPE in reducing abdominal fat in overweight and preobese Japanese subjects.

Tilt orientationally disordered hexagonal columnar phase of phthalocyanine discotic liquid crystals.

The structures of the discotic liquid crystalline (LC) phase of metal-free octa-substituted phthalocyanine (Pc) derivatives were investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Special attention was paid to the LC phase structure of the non-peripheral octa-hexyl substituted Pc-derivatives that were recently found to show very high carrier mobilities for the discotic LCs. We obtained spontaneous transition to the columnar hexagonal (Col_{h}) LC phase in a melting simulation from the crystal structure obtained using an x-ray diffraction study.

Dynamics of discotic fluoroalkylated triphenylene molecules studied by proton NMR relaxometry.

The Larmor frequency and temperature dependence of the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation time was measured in the isotropic and columnar phases of both chain-end fluorinated triphenylene disk-like and fully hydrogenated molecules. In the columnar phase, the results are interpreted in terms of the collective motions, due to the deformations of the columns, and individual molecular translational self-diffusion displacements and rotations/reorientacions. In the isotropic phase, local molecular motions and order fluctuations as a pretransitional effect were considered.

Molecular cloning and expression of starfish protein kinase C isoforms.

To investigate the roles of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in Echinoderms, we cloned starfish cDNAs for novel, atypical, and conventional PKCs. They showed highest homology with PKCdelta, iota, and alpha isoforms respectively. It was predicted from the whole genome sequence and by RT-PCR that sea urchin has only one isoform of each PKC subgroups.

Remineralization of enamel subsurface lesions by xylitol chewing gum containing funoran and calcium hydrogenphosphate.

The aim of the present study was to determine the remineralization effects of xylitol chewing gum containing funoran and calcium hydrogenphosphate on enamel subsurface lesions in humans. The study was a double-blind, randomized, cross-over design, with 4 types of gum: (1) xylitol gum, (2) xylitol gum containing funoran and calcium hydrogenphosphate, (3) sugar gum, and (4) gum base as a control. Seven subjects were instructed to wear removable lingual appliances, with half-slab insets of human enamel containing demineralized subsurface lesions.

Heterologous expression and catalytic properties of the C-terminal domain of starfish cdc25 dual-specificity phosphatase, a cell cycle regulator.

The 3'-terminal region of starfish Asterina pectinifera cdc25 cDNA encoding the C-terminal catalytic domain was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The C-terminal domain consisted of 226 amino acid residues containing the signature motif HCxxxxxR, a motif highly conserved among protein tyrosine and dual-specificity phosphatases, and showed phosphatase activity toward p-nitrophenyl phosphate. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by SH inhibitors.