Low-Actuation Voltage MEMS Digital-to-Analog Converter with Parylene Spring Structures.

We propose an electrostatically-actuated microelectromechanical digital-to-analog converter (M-DAC) device with low actuation voltage. The spring structures of the silicon-based M-DAC device were monolithically fabricated using parylene-C. Because the Young's modulus of parylene-C is considerably lower than that of silicon, the electrostatic microactuators in the proposed device require much lower actuation voltages. The actuation voltage of the proposed M-DAC device is approximately 6 V, which is less than one half of the actuation voltages of a previously reported M-DAC equipped with electrostatic microactuators. The measured total displacement of the proposed three-bit M-DAC is nearly 504 nm, and the motion step is approximately 72 nm. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the M-DAC can be employed as a mirror platform with discrete displacement output for a noncontact surface profiling system.

Structure-activity relationship of C6-C3 phenylpropanoids on xanthine oxidase-inhibiting and free radical-scavenging activities.

We employed the techniques of DNA relaxation, DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate), and DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide)-electron spin resonance (ESR), to study the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) suppression by 11 selected C6-C3 phenylpropanoid derivatives under oxidative conditions. We also investigated the effects of the derivatives on the inhibition of xanthine oxidase (XO) activity, and the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of these derivatives against XO activity were further examined using computer-aided molecular modeling. Caffeic acid was the most potent radical scavenger among the 11 test compounds. Our results suggest that the chemical structure and number of hydroxyl groups on the benzene ring of phenylpropanoids are correlated with the effects of ROS suppression. All test derivatives were competitive inhibitors of XO. The results of the structure-based molecular modeling exhibited interactions between phenylpropanoid derivatives and the molybdopterin region of XO. The para-hydroxyl of phenylpropanoid derivatives was pointed toward the guanidinium group of Arg 880. The phenylpropanoid derivatives containing the meta-or ortho-hydroxyl formed hydrogen bonds with Thr 1010. In addition, meta-hydroxyl formed hydrogen bonds with the peptide bond between the residues of Thr1010 and Phe1009. CAPE, the phenylenethyl ester of phenylpropanoids, had the highest affinity toward the binding site of XO, and we speculated that this was due to hydrophobic interactions of the phenylethyl ester with several hydrophobic residues surrounding the active site. The hypoxanthine/XO reaction in the DMPO-ESR technique was used to correlate the effects of these phenylpropanoid derivatives on enzyme inhibition and ROS suppression, and the results showed that caffeic acid and CAPE were the two most potent agents among the tested compounds. We further assessed the effects of the test compounds on living cells, and CAPE was the most potent agent for protecting cells against ROS-mediated damage among the tested phenylpropanoids.

6-Acyl-4-aryl/alkyl-5,7-dihydroxycoumarins as anti-inflammatory agents.

A series of coumarin derivatives were synthesized in two steps from phloroglucinol. The anti-inflammatory activities of these derivatives were evaluated by means of inhibiting NO production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Derivatives 3, 8, 10, 11, and 13 exhibited low micromolar levels of anti-inflammatory activities, and these derivatives also protected DNA against hydroxyl radical attack. Coumarin derivative 8 was the most potent derivative among those tested herein against NO production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells with an IC(50) value of 7.6 microM, and it effectively reduced the hydroxyl radical production by 50% at 100 microM in the electron spin resonance study.