Animal experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of fermented rice germ and soybean extracts in lowering blood alcohol concentration. A compound primarily derived from fermented soybean extract constitutes the principal component of DA-5521, an experimental dietary substance examined in this study. We investigated the possible hangover-alleviating effects of DA-5521 in individuals aged 19 to 50 who had previously experienced hangovers. Moreover, we enrolled 22 participants who met the eligibility criteria and conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Six hours after alcohol consumption, the test group exhibited a statistically significant reduction in blood acetaldehyde concentration compared with the placebo group. Further, our results displayed significantly lower levels in the DA- 5521 group at 0.50 and 0.75 h post-ingestion and substantially lower peak breath alcohol concentration compared to the placebo group. These findings confirm that consumption of DA-5521 can significantly ameliorate hangover symptoms by diminishing blood acetaldehyde concentration and reduce breath alcohol concentration.

Floral transition is influenced by environmental factors such as light and temperature. Plants are capable of integrating photoperiod and ambient temperature signaling into their developmental program. Despite extensive investigations on individual genetic pathways, little is known about the molecular components that integrate both pathways. Here, we demonstrate that the RING finger–containing E3 ubiquitin ligase CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1) acts as an integrator of photoperiod and ambient temperature signaling. In addition to the role in photoperiodic destabilization of CONSTANS (CO), COP1 also regulates temperature sensitivity by controlling the degradation of GIGANTEA (GI). COP1-impaired mutants showed reduced sensitivity to low ambient temperature. Notably, COP1 is more stabilized at low temperature and accelerates GI turnover in a 26S proteasome-dependent manner. The direct association of GI with the promoter of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) depends on ambient temperature, and thus COP1-triggered GI turnover delays flowering at low temperatures via a CO-independent pathway. Taken together, our findings indicate that environmental conditions regulate the stability of COP1, and conditional specificity of its target selection stimulates proper developmental responses and ensures reproductive success.

This experiment was carried out to enhance plantlet conversion and ex vitro survival of encapsulated somatic embryos of Siberian ginseng. Cotyledonary somatic embryos were encapsulated with 3.0% sodium alginate and 96% of conversion rate in terms of plantlet with well-developed epicotyl marked when the encapsulated embryos were placed on perlite soils wetted with sucrose solution as for carbon source. However, post-germinative growth of encapsulated embryos was suppressed in case of sucrose did not added. Instead of sucrose alone, the addition of both sucrose and starch to the sodium alginate enhanced the post-germinative growth of the embryos. In sodium alginate matrix with 2% sucrose, the survival rate of the encapsulated embryos was more than twice (23.5%) that of ones without sucrose (10.0%). Embryos encapsulated with both 2% sucrose and 1% starch showed the highest percentage (42.1%) of survival rate was shown. In analysis of Iodine staining and starch content in the sodium alginate matrix, the starch component was decomposed when the embryos started to germinte. This result indicated that the carbohydrate treatments (starch and sucrose) in the encapsulation matrix enhanced the survival rate of post-germinative growth of encapsulated embryos in Siberian ginseng.