Effects of household water-repellent agents and number of coating layers on the physical properties of cotton woven fabrics.

The increased interest in outdoor activities has prompted the demand for water-repellent fabrics that can withstand various environmental factors. In this study, the water repellency and physical properties, namely thickness, weight, tensile strength, elongation, and stiffness, of cotton woven fabrics were analyzed according to various treatments with different types of household water-repellent agents and number of coating layers. Fluorine-, silicone-, and wax-based water-repellent agents were coated on cotton woven fabrics once, thrice, and five times. Thickness, weight, and stiffness increased with the number of coating layers, which may reduce comfort. These properties increased minimally for the fluorine- and silicone-based water-repellent agents, whereas they considerably increased for the wax-based water-repellent agent. The fluorine-based water-repellent agent had a low water repellency rating of 2.2 even after five coating layers, and the silicone-based water-repellent agent had a higher rating of 3.4 with the same five coating layers. Meanwhile, the wax-based water-repellent agent had the highest water repellency rating of 5 even with only one coating layer, which was maintained with repeated coatings. Therefore, fluorine- and silicone-based water-repellent agents minimally altered the fabric properties even with repeated coatings; multiple coating layers, especially five or more layers for the fluorine-based water-repellent agent, are recommended to attain excellent water repellency. Conversely, one coating layer of the wax-based water-repellent agent is recommended to retain the comfort of the wearer.

Association between the dietary inflammatory index and bone markers in postmenopausal women.

INTRODUCTION: The health problem of postmenopausal women is emerging as an important problem due to the increased aging population. This study investigated the association between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and bone markers in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 132 postmenopausal women aged 45-70 years. The DII score was calculated using the 3-day food records and divided into tertiles according to the DII score. The lifestyle factors that could affect bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women were investigated and included the EuroQol- 5 Dimension (EQ-5D), physical activity, and eating habits. Skeletal muscle index-weight (SMIw) was used to evaluate skeletal muscle mass, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BSALP), and phosphorus (P) measured as bone biomarkers. The BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the association between anthropometric, biochemistry, BMD, and DII was assessed. RESULTS: In the anti-inflammatory group, a high intake of fiber, vitamins, and minerals was observed. After adjusting for confound factors, with higher DII score, percent body fat increased (ß = 0.168, p = 0.012), and SMIw decreased linear regression analysis (ß = -0.329, p = 0.037, respectively). For biochemistry, confound factors were adjusted, with higher DII score, ALP, BSALP and P decreased and DII score increased (ß = -0.057, p = 0.002, ß = -0.167, p = 0.004, ß = -1.799, p = 0.026, respectively). The relationship between DII and BMD was not significant, but osteopenia increased as DII score increased. CONCLUSION: The low DII score is positively associated with low body fat, high muscle mass, elevated bone markers, and low risk of osteopenia.

Acetylated Resveratrol and Oxyresveratrol Suppress UVB-Induced MMP-1 Expression in Human Dermal Fibroblasts.

Resveratrol (RES) and oxyresveratrol (OXYRES) are considered and utilized as active ingredients of anti-aging skin cosmetics. However, these compounds are susceptible to oxidative discoloration and unpleasant odor in solutions, limiting their use in cosmetics. Accordingly, RES and OXYRES were chemically modified to acetylated derivatives with enhanced stability, and their anti-aging effect on the skin and detailed molecular mechanism of their acetylated derivatives were investigated. Acetylated RES and OXYRES lost their acetyl group and exerted an inhibitory effect on H2O2-induced ROS levels in human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells. In addition, RES, OXYRES, and their acetylated derivatives suppressed UVB-induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 expression via inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. Furthermore, RES, OXYRES, and their acetylated derivatives suppressed type I collagen in TPA-treated HDF cells. Collectively, these results suggest the beneficial effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of RES, OXYRES, and their acetylated derivatives for anti- skin aging applications.

Full-Body Animation of Human Locomotion in Reduced Gravity Using Physics-Based Control.

The proposed physics-based approach can generate stable and robust full-body animation of various gaits under different gravitational conditions. As input, this method takes motion-captured human motions in the Earth's gravity and builds an inverted-pendulum on cart (IPC) control model, which is analyzed using the motion-captured data. The authors use a pre-estimation model based on the Froude number to predict the desired velocity and stride frequency of a character model in hypogravity and then generate full-body animation using a pendulum trajectory generator, motion planner, and tracking.

PAL-12, a new anti-aging hexa-peptoid, inhibits UVB-induced photoaging in human dermal fibroblasts and 3D reconstructed human full skin model, Keraskin-FT™.

Peptoids are a class of peptidomimetics whose pharmacological activities are widely investigated owing to their remarkable biological stability. However, the utilities of peptoids as cosmetic functional ingredients have not been fully explored. Here, we investigated anti-aging effects of PAL-12, a new hexa-peptoid, on UVB-induced photoaging in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and a 3D reconstituted human full skin model, Keraskin-FT™. PAL-12 suppressed matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression induced by UVB irradiation along with the attenuation of MMP-1 secretion as determined by ELISA assay. Interestingly PAL-12 slightly enhanced the expression levels of collagen-1 and fibronectin-1 in HDFs or Keraskin-FT™. In addition, PAL-12 prevented the decrease of cell viability following UVB irradiation. However, PAL-12 failed to affect ROS generation, cell necrosis and apoptosis significantly. Instead, PAL-12 suppressed UVB-induced activation of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun, which may resulted in the attenuation of AP-1-promoted MMP-1 expression. Collectively, these results suggest that PAL-12 might be a novel cosmetic ingredient effective against UVB-induced skin photoaging.

Low-Dose Bisphenol A Increases Bile Duct Proliferation in Juvenile Rats: A Possible Evidence for Risk of Liver Cancer in the Exposed Population?

Increasing concern is being given to the association between risk of cancer and exposure to low-dose bisphenol A (BPA), especially in young-aged population. In this study, we investigated the effects of repeated oral treatment of low to high dose BPA in juvenile Sprague-Dawley rats. Exposing juvenile rats to BPA (0, 0.5, 5, 50, and 250 mg/kg oral gavage) from post-natal day 9 for 90 days resulted in higher food intakes and increased body weights in biphasic dose-effect relationship. Male mammary glands were atrophied at high dose, which coincided with sexual pre-maturation of females. Notably, proliferative changes with altered cell foci and focal inflammation were observed around bile ducts in the liver of all BPA-dosed groups in males, which achieved statistical significance from 0.5 mg/kg (ANOVA, Dunnett's test, p<0.05). Toxicokinetic analysis revealed that systemic exposure to BPA was greater at early age (e.g., 210-fold in Cmax, and 26-fold in AUC at 50 mg/kg in male on day 1 over day 90) and in females (e.g., 4-fold in Cmax and 1.6-fold in AUC at 50 mg/kg vs. male on day 1), which might have stemmed from either age- or gender-dependent differences in metabolic capacity. These results may serve as evidence for the association between risk of cancer and exposure to low-dose BPA, especially in young children, as well as for varying toxicity of xenobiotics in different age and gender groups.