Coptisine strongly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast formation when added during the early stage of bone marrow macrophage (BMM) cultures, suggesting that it acts on osteoclast precursors to inhibit RANKL/RANK signaling. Among the RANK signaling pathways, coptisine inhibited NF-kappa B p65 phosphorylations, which are regulated in response to RANKL in

BMMs. Coptisine also inhibited the RANKL-induced expression of NFATc1, which is a key transcription factor. In addition, 10 mu M coptisine significantly selleck screening library inhibited both the survival of mature osteoclasts and their pit-forming activity in cocultures. Thus, coptisine has potential for the treatment or prevention of several bone diseases characterized by excessive bone destruction.”
“The accuracy of density measurements and position resolution in flash (40 ns) radiography of thick objects with 24 Gev/c protons is investigated. A global model fit to step wedge data is shown to give a good description spanning the periodic table. The parameters obtained from the step wedge data are used to predict transmission through the French Test Object (FTO), a test object of nested spheres, to a precision better than 1%. Multiple trials have been used to show that the systematic errors are less than 2%. Absolute agreement between the average radiographic

measurements of the density and the known density is 1%. Spatial resolution has been measured to be 200 mu m at the center of the FTO. These data verify expectations of the benefits provided selleck compound by high energy hadron radiography for thick objects. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3580262]“
“The PB 203580 aqueous extract of Lespedeza cuneata G. Don. (ALC) induced vasorelaxation of phenylephrine precontracted aorta in a dose-dependent manner. This effect disappeared in the absence of functional endothelium. Pretreatment of the aortic tissues with N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), or 1H-[1,2,4]-oxadiazole-[4,3-alpha]-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ) blocked ALC-induced

vascular relaxation. Incubation of endothelium-intact thoracic aortic rings with ALC increased cGMP production. ALC-induced cGMP production was blocked by pretreatment with l-NAME or ODQ. ALC-induced vascular relaxation was also markedly attenuated by addition of verapamil or diltiazem, but was not blocked by pretreatment with indomethacine, glibenclamide, tetraethylammonium, atropine, or propranolol. The results suggest that ALC dilates vascular smooth muscle via endothelium-dependent NO-cGMP signaling.”
“Phase-field modeling is used to study the domain evolution of nano-scaled ferroelectric devices influenced by the mechanical strain of an underlying substrate. The investigations focus on the design of the energy harvesting systems to convert mechanical into electrical energy. Mechanical energy is provided by an alternating in-plane strain in the substrate through bending or unidirectional stretching.