We previously demonstrated that the chronic consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) promotes lung and liver metastases of 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells in obesity-resistant BALB/c mice. To examine early transcriptional responses to tumour progression in the liver and lungs of HFD-fed mice, 4-week-old female BALB/c mice were divided into four groups: sham-injected, control diet (CD)-fed; sham-injected, HFD-fed (SH); 4T1 cell-injected, CD-fed (TC); 4T1 cell-injected, HFD-fed (TH). Following 16 weeks of either a CD or HFD, 4T1 cells were injected into the mammary fat pads of mice in the TC and TH groups and all mice were continuously fed identical diets. At 14 d post-injection, RNA was isolated from hepatic and pulmonary tissues for microarray analysis of mRNA expression. Functional annotation and core network analyses were conducted for the TH/SH Unique gene set. Inflammation in hepatic tissues and cell mitosis in pulmonary tissues were the most significant biological functions in the TH/SH Unique gene set. The biological core networks of the hepatic TH/SH Unique gene set were characterised as those genes involved in the activation of acute inflammatory responses (Orm1, Lbp, Hp and Cfb), disordered lipid metabolism and deregulated cell cycle progression. Networks of the pulmonary Unique gene set displayed the deregulation of cell cycle progression (Cdc20, Cdk1 and Bub1b). These HFD-influenced alterations may have led to favourable conditions for the formation of both pro-inflammatory and pro-mitotic microenvironments in the target organs that promote immune cell infiltration and differentiation, as well as the infiltration and proliferation of metastatic tumour cells.

Background: Highly educated participants with normal cognition show lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) than poorly educated participants, whereas longitudinal studies involving AD have reported that higher education is associated with more rapid cognitive decline. We aimed to evaluate whether highly educated amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) participants show more rapid cognitive decline than those with lower levels of education.

Methods: A total of 249 aMCI patients enrolled from 31 memory clinics using the standard assessment and diagnostic processes were followed with neuropsychological evaluation (duration 17.2 ± 8.8 months). According to baseline performances on memory tests, participants were divided into early-stage aMCI (−1.5 to −1.0 standard deviation (SD)) and late-stage aMCI (below −1.5 SD) groups. Risk of AD conversion and changes in neuropsychological performances according to the level of education were evaluated.

Results: Sixty-two patients converted to AD over a mean follow-up of 1.43 years. The risk of AD conversion was higher in late-stage aMCI than early-stage aMCI. Cox proportional hazard models showed that aMCI participants, and late-stage aMCI participants in particular, with higher levels of education had a higher risk of AD conversion than those with lower levels of education. Late-stage aMCI participants with higher education showed faster cognitive decline in language, memory, and Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) scores. On the contrary, early-stage aMCI participants with higher education showed slower cognitive decline in MMSE and CDR-SOB scores.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the protective effects of education against cognitive decline remain in early-stage aMCI and disappear in late-stage aMCI.

Maslinic acid is found in various natural sources, most notably in pomace olive oil, and exerts pro-apoptotic activities in various cancer cells in vitro. In the present study, DU145 human prostate cancer cells were cultured with 0–25 μm-maslinic acid to examine the effects of maslinic acid on the metastatic capacity of prostate cancer cells. Maslinic acid significantly (P <0·05) inhibited the basal and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced migration (27–64 %), invasion (23–60 %) and adhesion (8–40 %) of DU145 cells. Maslinic acid significantly (P <0·05) down-regulated both basal and EGF-stimulated secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 (25–67 %), MMP-2 (50–86 %), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA, about 100 %), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, 98–100 %) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, as well as expression of uPA receptor (uPAR), intercellular adhesion molecules (22–33 %), vascular cell adhesion molecules (23–46 %) and E-cadherin, whereas it increased TIMP-2 secretion. Maslinic acid dramatically reduced the levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) protein and mRNA; the reduction was accompanied by reduced stability, nuclear levels and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α. The levels of phospho-Akt and phospho-extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) were reduced in cells treated with maslinic acid, and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor PD98059 reduced HIF-1α levels and VEGF secretion. The results show that maslinic acid markedly inhibited the migration, invasion and adhesion of DU145 prostate cancer cells. Suppressing HIF-1α activation by inhibiting Akt and ERK activation may be part of the mechanism by which maslinic acid inhibited uPAR, E-cadherin, VEGF and MMP expression in DU145 cells.

Background: The influences of demographics, culture, language, and environmental changes on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores are considerable.

Methods: Using a sample of 7452 healthy, community-dwelling elderly Koreans, aged 55 to 94 years, who participated in the four ongoing geriatric cohorts in Korea, we investigated demographic influences on MMSE scores and derived normative data for this population. Geropsychiatrists strictly excluded subjects with cognitive disorders according to the protocol of the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K) Clinical Assessment Battery (CERAD-K-C).

Results: Education (standardized β = 0.463), age (standardized β = −0.303), and gender (standardized β = −0.057) had significant effects on MMSE scores (p < 0.001). The score of MMSE increase 0.379 point per 1-year education, decrease 0.188 per 1-year older, and decrease 0.491 in women compared to men. Education explained 30.4% of the scores’ total variance, which was much larger than the variances explained by age (8.4%) or gender (0.3%). Accordingly, we present normative data for the MMSE stratified by education (0, 1–3, 4–6, 7–9, 10–12, and ≥ 13 years), age (60–69, 70–79, and 80–89 years), and gender.

Conclusions: We provide contemporary education-, age-, and gender-stratified norms for the MMSE, derived from a large, community-dwelling elderly Korean population sample, which could be useful in evaluating individual MMSE scores.

Licorice extracts are known to exhibit anti-carcinogenic activities. However, chronic licorice consumption can lead to serious side effects due to the presence of considerable quantities of glycyrrhizin, which causes severe hypokalaemia and hypertension. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of a hexane–ethanol extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis (HEGU), which lacks glycyrrhizin, on the metastatic characteristics of DU145 prostate cancer cells. HEGU inhibited basal and epidermal growth factor-induced cell migration, invasion and adhesion in a dose-dependent fashion. HEGU significantly suppressed the secretion and activation of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9. The secretion of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 was reduced, but that of TIMP-2 was increased in HEGU-treated cells. HEGU reduced the protein levels of integrin-α2, the intercellular adhesion molecule, and the vascular cell adhesion molecule. An active fraction of HEGU was separated via column chromatography, and the structure of the active component, licoricidin, was identified via 1H NMR and 13C NMR. The treatment of DU145 cells with licoricidin induced a reduction in cell migration and the secretion of MMP-9, TIMP-1, urokinase-type plasminogen activator and vascular endothelial growth factor, as well as in the expression of adhesion molecules. These results indicate that HEGU, which contains licoricidin, is a potent anti-metastatic agent, which can markedly inhibit the metastatic and invasive capacity of malignant prostate cancer cells. The observed reductions in the activation of proteases and the levels of adhesion molecules may constitute a component of the mechanisms by which HEGU inhibits the migration and adhesion of prostate cancer cells.

Large-area vertically aligned silicon nanowire (Si NW) arrays were synthesized with a controlled length (0.3 ˜ 9 μm) by the chemical etching of n-type silicon substrates. Upon their excitation using a fs Ti-sapphire laser pulse (800 nm), their THz emission intensity exhibits strong dependence on their length; the intensity increases sharply up to a length of 3 μm and then decreases slightly, due to the complete absorption of the optical pump power. The Raman scattering spectrum exhibits the same behavior as that of the THz emission. We suggest that the field enhancement by localized surface plasmons induces more efficient THz emission or Raman scattering for the longer Si NWs. The photocurrent measured in a photoelectrochemical cell showed consistently the length dependence with a maximum value at the length of 5 μm.

Electron tomography and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the unique 3-dimensional (3D) structures of twinned Zn3P2 (tetragonal) and InAs (zinc blende) nanowires synthesized by the vapor transport method. The Zn3P2 nanowires adopt a unique superlattice structure that consists of twinned octahedral slice segments having alternating orientations along the axial [111] direction of a pseudocubic unit cell. The apices of the octahedral slice segment are indexed as six equivalent <112> directions at the [111] zone axis. At each 30 degrees turn, the straight and zigzagged morphologies appear repeatedly at the <112> and <011> zone axes, respectively. The 3D structure of the twinned Zn3P2 nanowires is virtually the same as that of the twinned InAs nanowires. In addition, we analyzed the 3D structure of zigzagged CdO (rock salt) nanowires and found that they include hexahedral segments, whose six apices are matched to the <011> directions, linked along the [111] axial direction. We also analyzed the unique 3D structure of rutile TiO2 (tetragonal) nanobelts; at each 90 degree turn, the straight morphology appears repeatedly, while the in-between twisted form appears at the [011] zone axis. We suggest that the TiO2 nanobelts consist of twinned octahedral slices whose six apices are indexed by the <011>/<001> directions with the axial [010] direction.

High-density TiO2-CdS and ZnO-CdS core-shell nanocable arrays were synthesized on large-area Ti substrates. The CdS layers were deposited on the pre-grown vertically-aligned TiO2 (rutile) and ZnO nanowire arrays, with a controlled thickness (10~50 nm), using the vapor transport method. The ZnO-CdS nanocables consisted of single-crystalline wurtzite CdS shells whose [001] direction was aligned along the [001] wire axis of the wurtzite ZnO core, which is distinctive from the polycrystalline shell of the TiO2-CdS nanocables. We fabricated the photoelectrochemical cell using the ZnO-CdS photoelectrode exhibits much more efficient hydrogen generation than that using the TiO2-CdS one.

Over several decades a number of epidemiological studies have identified the inverse associations between cruciferous vegetables and the risk of several cancers, including gastric, breast, colo-rectal, lung, prostate, bladder and endometrial cancers, via plausible physiological mechanisms. Although retrospective case–control studies have consistently reported inverse associations between the risk of these cancers and the intake of cruciferous vegetables and isothiocyanate-containing plants, current prospective cohort studies have found these associations to be weaker and less consistent. Genetic variations affecting the metabolism of glucosinolate hydrolysis products may modulate the effects of cruciferous vegetable consumption on cancer risk, which may be one of the reasons for the discrepancies between retrospective and prospective studies. In addition, methodological issues such as measurement errors of dietary exposure, misclassification, recall bias, publication bias, confounding and study design should be carefully considered in interpreting the results of case–control and cohort studies and in drawing conclusions in relation to the potential effects of cruciferous vegetables on cancers. Although recent comprehensive reviews of numerous studies have purported to show the specific protective role of cruciferous vegetables, and particularly Brassicas, against cancer risk, the current epidemiological evidence suggests that cruciferous vegetable consumption may reduce the risk only of gastric and lung cancers. However, there is at present no conclusive evidence that the consumption of cruciferous vegetables attenuates the risk of all other cancers.

Analytical electron microscopy (AEM) was used to examine the initial interfacial reaction layers between a eutectic Sn–3.5Ag solder and an electroless nickel-immersion gold-plated (ENIG) Cu substrate during reflow at 255 °C for 1 s. AEM confirmed that a thick upper (Au,Ni)Sn2 layer and a thin Ni3Sn4 layer had formed through the reaction between the solder and ENIG. The amorphous electroless Ni(P) plated layer transformed into two P-rich Ni layers. One is a crystallized P-rich Ni layer, and the other is an intermediate state P-rich Ni layer before the crystallization. The crystallized P-rich layer consisted of Ni2P and Ni12P5. A thin Ni2P layer had formed underneath the Ni3Sn4 layer and is believed to be a predecessor of the Ni2SnP ternary phase. A Ni12P5 phase was observed beneath the Ni2P thin layer. In addition, nanocrystalline Ni was found to coexist with the amorphous Ni(P) phase in the intermediate state P-rich Ni layer.