No abstract

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a bioactive component extracted from honeybee hive propolis. Our observations indicated that CAPE treatment suppressed cell proliferation and colony formation of TW2.6 human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells dose-dependently. CAPE treatment decreased G1 phase cell population, increased G2/M phase cell population, and induced apoptosis in TW2.6 cells. Treatment with CAPE decreased protein abundance of Akt, Akt1, Akt2, Akt3, phospho-Akt Ser473, phospho-Akt Thr 308, GSK3β, FOXO1, FOXO3a, phospho-FOXO1 Thr24, phospho-FoxO3a Thr32, NF-κB, phospho-NF-κB Ser536, Rb, phospho-Rb Ser807/811, Skp2, and cyclin D1, but increased cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip. Overexpression of Akt1 or Akt2 in TW2.6 cells rescued growth inhibition caused by CAPE treatment. Co-treating TW2.6 cells with CAPE and 5-fluorouracil, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug for oral cancers, exhibited additive cell proliferation inhibition. Our study suggested that administration of CAPE is a potential adjuvant therapy for patients with OSCC oral cancer.

We use the All Ordinaries Index and the corresponding Share Price Index futures contract written against the All Ordinaries Index to estimate optimal hedge ratios, adopting several specifications: an ordinary least squares-based model, a vector autoregression, a vector error-correction model and a diagonal-vec multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model. Hedging effectiveness is measured using a risk-return comparison and a utility maximization method. We find that time-varying generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity hedge ratios perform better than constant hedge ratios in terms of minimizing risks, but when return effects are also considered, the utility-based measure prefers the ordinary least squares method in the in-sample hedge, whilst both approaches favour the conditional time-varying multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity hedge ratio estimates in out-of-sample analyses. Copyright 2005 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand..

Test equating methods are intended to produce interchangeable scores and should not be strongly influenced by the group of examinees on which they are computed. Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) exams, which include both multiple‐choice (MC) items and constructed‐response (CR) items, provide an environment for studying the effects of subpopulations on the estimation of equating functions. The exams are equated to past forms using an internal anchor‐test design in which the linking items are restricted to MC items due to the immediate disclosure of the CR sections of the tests (precluding their reuse as linking items). This collection of closely related papers uses the variety of cases provided by AP exams to assess the effects of subpopulations on various important aspects of test equating. Earlier versions of these papers were prepared for a symposium at the 2002 Annual Meetings of the National Council on Measurement in Education.

In this study, we show that EGCG enhances the clearance of AD-relevant phosphorylated tau species in primary neurons. Interestingly, this result appears to be independent of both Nrf2 activation and enhanced autophagy - two previously reported mechanisms of phytochemical-induced tau clearance. EGCG did significantly increase expression of two autophagy adaptor proteins. Taken together, these results demonstrate that EGCG has the ability to increase the clearance of phosphorylated tau species in a highly specific manner, likely through increasing adaptor protein expression.