Tricycloillicinone (1), a novel tricyclic prenylated C6-C3 compound, has been isolated as a neurotrophic substance from the woods of Illicium tashiroi and its structure has been elucidated by spectroscopic analyses. Compound 1 could increase ChAT activity in culture of P10 rat septal neurons.
Neurotrophic factors, a subset that acts on the peripheral and central nervous systems, play a critical role in the development of the nervous system (1). A role for neurotrophic factors during neuronal development is well understood by the example of nerve growth factor (NGF) which primarily enhances neurite outgrowth and maintains cell viability (2). Since the discovery of NGF, many different living sources have been examined for the presence of additional neurotrophic factors, but only little success has been achieved in purifying these substances due to a limited availability of living sources and the difficulty of setting up appropriate assay systems. Thus, our attention has focused on a way to detect exogenous substances (3) having a typical neurotrophic property which primarily can enhance neurite sprouting in primary cell culture of fetal rat cerebral hemisphere (4). In this communication, we wish to report the structure of a neurotrophic sesquiterpene I named isodunnianin isolated from the methanol extract of the wood of Illicium tashiroi (Illiciaceae). 0 15 H3C ti1'P OR2 63 R10H0 bH "CH3 1 R1 Ac, R2 Bz 2 P1 Bz, R' Isodunnianin (1) had the molecular formula C24H3008 established by HR-FAB-MS (m/z 447.2032 FMH], calcd. 447.2019 for C24H3108) and its Ill spectrum revealed the presence of hydroxy groups (3400, 3301 cm1) and two ester carbonyls (1730 and 1715 cm1), which were allocated to an acetyl group (SH = 2.06 ppm; 5 = 170.8 and 20.
The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules with 9.5% (25 cm2) and 8.7% (802 cm2) have been demonstrated. This PCE of the module exceeded our previous world records of 8.5% (25 cm2) and 6.8% (396 cm2) that were listed in the latest Solar Cell Efficiency Tables ver.43 [1]. Both module design and coating/patterning technique were consistently studied for module development. In order to achieve highly efficient modules, we increased the ratio of photo-active area to designated illumination area to 94% without any scribing process and placed insulating layers in order to decrease the leakage current. The meniscus coating method was used for the fabrication of both buffer and photoactive layers. This technique ensures the fabrication of uniform and nanometer order thickness layers with thickness variation less than 3%. Furthermore, the PCE of the OPV under indoor illumination was found to be higher than that of the conventional Si type solar cells. This indicates that OPVs are promising as electrical power supplies for indoor applications. Therefore, we have also developed several prototypes for electronics integrated photovoltaics (EIPV) such as electrical shelf labels and wireless sensors embedded with our OPV modules, which can be operated by indoor lights.
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