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The higher expression of AGE, 8-OHdG and NF-κB in corneal tissues of diabetic rats suggests that these factors are involved in apoptosis and in subsequent corneal alterations related to diabetic keratopathy.

The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-obestic effects of ursolic acid isolated from the roots of Actinidia arguta, as well as the mechanism of action of this compound. This was conducted by testing whether ursolic acid inhibited the elevation of the rat plasma triacylglycerol levels after oral administration of a lipid emulsion containing corn oil in rats. Ursolic acid prevented the elevation of plasma triacylglycerol levels 2 h after oral administration of the lipid emulsion at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Furthermore, ursolic acid inhibited phosphodiesterase activity in vitro with an IC(50) of 51.21 muM and enhanced lipolysis in rat fat cells. We suggest that the inhibitory effects of ursolic acid, isolated from the roots of A. arguta, on obesity, might be attributable to the inhibition of lipid absorption through the inhibition of pancreatic lipase and by enhancing lipolysis in fat cells.

NAND flash memory has become an indispensable component in mobile embedded systems because of its versatile features such as non-volatility, solid-state reliability, low cost and high density. Even though NAND flash memory is gaining popularity as data storage, it can be also exploited as code memory for XIP (execute-in-place). In this paper, we present a new memory architecture which incorporates NAND flash memory into an existing memory hierarchy for code execution. The usefulness of the proposed approach is demonstrated with real embedded workloads on a real prototyping board.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have been implicated in the development of diabetic complications, including diabetic nephropathy. KIOM-79, an 80% ethanolic extract obtained from parched Puerariae Radix, gingered Magnolia Cortex, Glycyrrhiza Radix and Euphorbia Radix, was investigated for its effects on the development of renal disease in Zucker diabetic fatty rats, an animal model of type 2 diabetes. In vitro inhibitory effect of KIOM-79 on AGEs cross-linking was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). KIOM-79 (50 mg/kg/day) was given to Zucker diabetic fatty rats for 13 weeks. Body and kidney weight, blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, urinary albumin and creatinine excretions were monitored. Kidney histopathology, collagen accumulation, fibrinogen and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) expression were also examined. KIOM-79 reduced blood glucose, kidney weight, histologic renal damage and albuminuria in Zucker diabetic fatty rats. KIOM-79 prevented glomerulosclerosis, tubular degeneration, collagen deposition and podocyte apoptosis. In the renal cortex, TGF-β1, fibronectin mRNA and protein were significantly reduced by KIOM-79 treatment. KIOM-79 reduces AGEs accumulation in vivo, AGE–protein cross-linking and protein oxidation. KIOM-79 could be beneficial in preventing the progression of diabetic glomerularsclerosis in type 2 diabetic rats by attenuating AGEs deposition in the glomeruli.