Phytochemical investigation on the seeds of Caesalpinia decapetala led to the isolation of a new cassane diterpenoid with an unusual O bridge between C-19 and C-20, named phanginin Q (1), together with three known cassane diterpenoids, caesaljapin (2), caesaldekarin A (3), and caesaldekarin B (4). The structure of the new compound was elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including (1)H NMR, (13...

Sea-level rise is a major effect of climate change. It has drawn international attention, because higher sea levels in the future would cause serious impacts in various parts of the world. There are questions associated with sea-level rise which science needs to answer. To what extent did climate change contribute to sea-level rise in the past? How much will global mean sea level increase in th...

In this paper, a systematic, overall view of theories for periodic waves of permanent form, such as Stokes and cnoidal waves, is described first with their validity ranges. To deal with random waves, a method for estimating directional spectra is given. Then, various wave equations are introduced according to the assumptions included in their derivations. The mild-slope equation is derived for ...

The present study aimed to isolate soil microorganisms-degrading plant latices and to screen their capablilities of producing protease and lipase. Many bacterial and fungal strains of mesophilic, thermotolerant or thermophilic nature were able to grow on sugar-free medium amended with crude latex of either Euphorbia pulcherrima, Ficus elastica or F. nitida and incubated at 25oC, 36oC or 45oC. T...

A bioassay-guided study led to the isolation of seven new cassane furanoditerpenes, designated as spirocaesalmin B (1), caesalpinin M1 (2), caesalpinin M2 (3), caesalmin E1 (4), caesalmin E2 (5), caesalmin E3 (6), caesalpinin F1 (7) and three known compounds neocaesalpin A(8), neocaesalpin L(9), neocaesalpin L1(10) from the seeds of Caesalpinia minax Hance. Compound structures were determined o...

Homoisoflavanone, sappanone A, was isolated from Caesalpinia sappan and proven to dose-dependently inhibit both melanogenesis and cellular tyrosinase activity via repressing tyrosinase gene expression in mouse B16 melanoma cells. To our knowledge, sappanone A is the first homoisoflavanone to be discovered with melanogenesis inhibitory activity. Our results give a new impetus to the future searc...

The growth of yeasts that occur naturally in grape juice was quantitatively examined during the fermentation of four wines that had been inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although S. cerevisiae dominated the wine fermentations, there was significant growth of the natural species Kloeckera apiculata, Candida stellata, Candida colliculosa, Candida pulcherrima, and Hansenula anomala.

New Candida species may cause bloodstream infections challenging current therapeutic approaches because of unpredictable susceptibility and virulence. In the present report, we describe a fungemia case due to Candida pulcherrima in a premature neonate. After full in vitro diagnostic workup, the neonate was successfully treated with liposomal amphotericin B and micafungin achieving rapid fungal ...