• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1121-1126
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• 2013

Background: Palliative chemotherapy with cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (5FU) is the commonest regimen employed for metastatic and recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCCHN) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, this regimen is cumbersome requiring 5 days of admission to hospital. Carboplatin/5FU may be an alternative regimen without compromising survival and response rates. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and toxicity of carboplatin/5FU regimen with the cisplatin/5FU regimen. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study looked at patients who had palliative chemotherapy with either cisplatin/5FU or carboplatin/5FU for metastatic and recurrent SCCHN and NPC. It included patients who were treated at UKMMC from $1^{st}$ January 2004 to $31^{st}$ December 2009 with either palliative IV cispaltin 75 $mg/m^2$ D1 only plus IV 5FU 750 $mg/m^2$ D1-5 infusion or IV Carboplatin AUC 5 D1 only plus IV 5FU 500 $mg/m^2$ D1-2 infusion plus IV 5FU 500 $mg/m^2$ D1-2 bolus. The specific objectives were to determine the efficacy of palliative chemotherapy in terms of overall response rate (ORR), median progression free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) and to evaluate the toxicities of both regimens. Results: A total of 41 patients were eligible for this study. There were 17 in the cisplatin/5FU arm and 24 in the carboplatin/5FU arm. The ORR was 17.7 % for cisplatin/5FU arm and 37.5 % for carboplatin/5FU arm (p-value=0.304). The median PFS was 7 months for cisplatin/5FU and 9 months for carboplatin/5FU (p-value=1.015). The median OS was 10 months for cisplatin/5FU arm and 12 months for carboplatin/5FU arm (p-value=0.110). There were 6 treatment-related deaths (6/41=14.6%), four in the carboplatin/5FU arm (4/24=16.7%) and 2 in the cisplatin/5FU arm (2/17=11.8%). Grade 3 and 4 hematologic toxicity was also more common with carboplatin/5FU group, this difference being predominantly due to grade 3-4 granulocytopenia (41.6% vs. 0), grade 3-4 anemia (37.5% vs. 0) and grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia (16.6% vs. 0). Conclusions: Carboplatin/5FU is not inferior to cisplatin/5FU with regard to its efficacy. However, there was a high rate of treatment-related deaths with both regimens. A better alternative needs to be considered.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1249-1256
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• 2017

In our search for new sources of bioactive secondary metabolites from Streptomyces sp., the ethyl acetate extracts from endophytic Streptomyces SUK 25 afforded five active diketopiperazine (DKP) compounds. The aim of this study was to characterize the bioactive compounds isolated from endophytic Streptomyces SUK 25 and evaluate their bioactivity against multiple drug resistance (MDR) bacteria such as Enterococcus raffinosus, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp., and their cytotoxic activities against the human hepatoma (HepaRG) cell line. The production of secondary metabolites by this strain was optimized through Thornton's medium. Isolation, purification, and identification of the bioactive compounds were carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography, high-resolution mass liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance, and cryopreserved HepaRG cells were selected to test the cytotoxicity. The results showed that endophytic Streptomyces SUK 25 produces four active DKP compounds and an acetamide derivative, which were elucidated as $cyclo-({\text\tiny{L}}-Val-{\text\tiny{L}}-Pro)$, $cyclo-({\text\tiny{L}}-Leu-{\text\tiny{L}}-Pro)$, $cyclo-({\text\tiny{L}}-Phe-{\text\tiny{L}}-Pro)$, $cyclo-({\text\tiny{L}}-Val-{\text\tiny{L}}-Phe)$, and N-(7-hydroxy-6-methyl-octyl)-acetamide. These active compounds exhibited activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus ATCC 43300 and Enterococcus raffinosus, with low toxicity against human hepatoma HepaRG cells. Endophytic Streptomyces SUK 25 has the ability to produce DKP derivatives biologically active against some MDR bacteria with relatively low toxicity against HepaRG cells line.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1990

Clacic amphiboles along the tremolite (Tr)-tschermakite(Ts) joint were synthesized using a piston-cylinder appratus. At 750-85$0^{\circ}C$and 12-2 kb, amphibole+corundum coexist with zoisite($\pm$talc, chlorite, and Mg-staurolite), but with anorthite($\pm$cholorite, spinel, pyroxenes, and sapphirine) at lower P. At 90$0^{\circ}C$, amphibole+corundum+clinopyroxene($\pm$anorthite, forsterite, sapphirine, and garnet) are stable over the P range 12-18 kb. These amphibole-bearing assemblages are replaced at high P by clcinopyroxene+talc+chlorite+zoisite at 650-75$0^{\circ}C$, and at higher temperatures by garnet+clinopyroxene($\pm$zoisite, orthopyroxene, and Mg-staurolite). Synthetic amphiboles with Ts>~45 mol% contain as much as 0.15 excess cations per formula unit(pfu) based on 23 oxygens(anhydrous formula), whereas less tschermakitic ones are deficient in cation occupancy by up to 0.18 pfu. This trend is attributed to the 야/trioctahedral substitution in Ca-amphiboles. Compositions of synthetic amphiboles display systematic changes with P and T governed by coexisting mineral assemblages. The Ts content (=[8-Si-Na]/2) increases with increasing T( Ts/ T=~0.1 nik% K-1) in the range 750-85$0^{\circ}C$, but remains nearly constant at 850-90$0^{\circ}C$. Pressure dramatically affects the Ts content of Ca-amphiboles:it increases with P at 8-12 kb( Ts/ T=2-3 mol% K-1), but significantly decreases at 12-21 kb( Ts/ P=-2.5 mol% Kb-1). Hence, the most tschermakitic amphiboles, containing 60$\pm$5 mol % Ts, or 1.2$\pm$0.1 tetrahedral Al, occur at 12 kb and 850-90$0^{\circ}C$. Compositions of Ca-amphiboles defined by a simple reaction, 3 Tr+2 zoisite+7 corundum+H2O=5 Ts, are reversed and used to estimate thermodynamic parameters of tschermakite assuming ideal mixing of Tr-Ts solid solutions. Predicted standard molal entropy and enthalpy of tschermakite are : S$^{\circ}$of Tr-Ts solid solutions. Predicted standard molal entropy and enthalpy of tschermakite are : S$^{\circ}$=566.9$\pm$13.7 J mol-1K, -1and H$^{\circ}$=-12518.36$\pm$15.17 kJ mol.-1