Special reception of research grants recipients from a Japanese sponsor, Okayama, Japan

From July 9 to July10,we took part in a special event in Okayama, Japan, where 37 recipients
of the 2010 research grants from a japanese sponsor gathered.
It was wonderful to meet so many researchers from different Japanese Universities. A special
grant certificate was given to each recipient and I was granted to take a picture with the boss. I was accompamied by one of our unversity staff, Dr Hirota Ryoji.

Visit at Kochi Health Sciences Center, biggest hospital in the Town, 7July 2010

Last week, I and two undergraduate students from Hawaii University have visited the KHSC hospitals here in Kochi, Japan. We were welcomed by the president of the hospital who introduce to us different departments of thismedical setting.

Some recent articles (quelques articles recents) 2009-2010 (1)

Anti-inflammatory Effects of Limonene from Yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) Essential Oil on Eosinophils
Ryoji Hirota 1 , Ngatu Nlandu Roger 1 , Hiroyuki Nakamura 1 , Hee-Sun Song 1 , Masayoshi Sawamura 1 , and Narufumi Suganuma 1
1 Authors Hirota, Roger, and Suganuma are with Dept. of Environmental Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kohasu, Oko, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8505, Japan. Author Nakamura is with Dept. of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Kanazawa Univ. Graduate School of Medical Science. Author Song is with Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Kwang Ju Health College. Author Sawamura is with Major of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi Univ. Direct inquiries to author Hirota (E-mail: hirotar@kochi-u.ac.jp).
Copyright © 2010 Institute of Food Technologists®
KEYWORDS
limonene • monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) • nuclear factor (NF) kappa B • p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) • reactive oxygen species (ROS) • yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) essential oil
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) has been used as a traditional medicine in Japan. We investigated in vitro anti-inflammatory effects of limonene from yuzu peel on human eosinophilic leukemia HL-60 clone 15 cells. To examine anti-inflammatory effects of limonene on the cells, we measured the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), nuclear factor (NF) kappa B, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). We found that low concentration of limonene (7.34 mmol/L) inhibited the production of ROS for eotaxin-stimulated HL-60 clone 15 cells. 14.68 mmol/L concentration of limonene diminished MCP-1 production via NF-kappa B activation comparable to the addition of the proteasomal inhibitor MG132. In addition, it inhibited cell chemotaxis in a p38 MAPK dependent manner similar to the adding of SB203580. These results suggest that limonene may have potential anti-inflammatory efficacy for the treatment of bronchial asthma by inhibiting cytokines, ROS production, and inactivating eosinophil migration.
MS 20090713 Submitted 7/26/2009, Accepted 1/10/2010.
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01541.x