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This study aims to explore the chemical structure transformation mechanisms of the main terpenoids in the effective fraction of Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix(EER) during the processing with vinegar. The terpenoids including ent-11α-hydroxyabicta-8(14),13(15)-dien-16,12-olide(HAO), jolkinolide B(JNB), fischeria A(FA), and eupractenoid A(EA) were heated at 160 ℃ with 6% acetic acid for 40 min, and then LC-MS/MS was employed to analyze the structural transformation rules of the terpenoids. Further, we analyzed the changes in the relative content of the four compounds and their transformation products in raw and vinegar processed EER to verify the transformation rules during the simulated processing with vinegar. In addition, JNB and FA were processed with single heating, heating with water or heating with acetic acid. We then employed HPLC to compare the content of these two terpenoids and their transformation products before and after processing, so as to investigate the effect of different processing methods on chemical structure transformation. The results showed that the lactone ring of the abietane-type diterpenoids HAO and JNB and the norditerpene lactone FA were opened by heating with acetic acid. When there were hydroxyl groups in the structures, terpenoids were esterized to esters and oxidized to form carbonyl groups. When there was epoxy ring in the structures, ring opening reaction was easy to occur. During the heating with acetic acid, the heterodimeric diterpenoid EA underwent the cleavage of ether bond to produce the rosane-type diterpenoid euphebracteolatin A(EHTA) and another abietane-type diterpenoid. The changes in the relative content of terpenoids and their transformation products in raw and vinegar-processed EER were basically consistent with those of simulated processing of components with vinegar. The HPLC results revealed that the effect of different simulated processing methods on structural transformation varied. Heating with acid can change JNB and FA into new components. Heating with water can also promote the structural transformation, with the efficiency obviously lower than that of heating with acid. Direct heating had no influence on the structure of JNB, while it significantly reduced the relative content of FA. The components treated with direct heating did not produce the products like those of the heating with acid. These results indicated that vinegar plays a key role in the structural transformation of diterpenoids during the processing of EER with vinegar. The structural transformation of diterpenoids in EER during the processing with vinegar may be the material basis for vinegar processed EER to reduce toxicity and preserve effect.

This study compared the toxicity of raw Bupleuri Radix(BR) and vinegar-processed Bupleuri Radix(VPBR) based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance(~1H-NMR), and explored the mechanism of toxicity. Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups: a control group(distilled water), a raw BR group(15 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), a rice VPBR(R-VPBR) group(15 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), and a shanxi VPBR(S-VPBR) group(15 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)). After administration for 30 d, pathological sections were treated and observed, and biochemical indexes related to liver and renal function were determined. The serum, liver, and kidney of rats were collected and analyzed by ~1H-NMR. The principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discrimination analysis(OPLS-DA) were performed. The results showed that, as compared with the control group, alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) in the raw BR group were increased significantly, while ALT and ALP in the R-VPBR and S-VPBR groups were significantly decreased(P<0.05), which indicated that BR showed certain hepatotoxicity, and vinegar processing reduced its hepatotoxicity. No significant difference of blood urea nitrogen(BUN) and creatinine(CREA), the biochemical indexes related to renal function, was observed in the control group and administration groups, indicating that BR had less effect on the renal function. The results of multivariate statistical analysis showed that the biomarkers of BR affecting liver metabolism were methionine, glutamine, and glutamic acid, and affecting kidney metabolism were taurine, ornithine, and inosine. These biomarkers were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, and taurine metabolism. VPBR alleviated the effect on the biomarkers, and S-VPBR had smaller effect than R-VPBR. Combining the results of biochemical indexes and metabolomics analysis, both raw BR and VPBR showed toxic effect on rats, whereas vinegar processing reduced its toxicity. S-VPBR has smaller effect on kidney and liver metabolism than R-VPBR, which indicates that the vinegar used for processing has certain effect on the toxicity of BR.

This study aims to explore the effects of chemical ingredient groups B and C in Kansui Radix stir-fried with vinegar on the diversity of gut microbiota in the rat model of malignant ascites, identify the key differential microbial taxa, and reveal the biological mechanism of water-expelling effect of the two chemical ingredient groups. The rat model of malignant ascites induced by Walker-256 cells was established, and phenolphthalein was used as the positive drug. The rats were orally administrated with corresponding agents for consecutive 7 days. On day 6, fresh feces samples were collected from the rats, and 16 S rDNA high-throughput sequencing and GC-MS were employed to determine the composition of gut microbiota and the content of short-chain fatty acids, respectively. On day 7, serum and intestinal tissue samples were collected for the determination of related indicators. Compared with the control group, the model group showed decreased feces volume and urine volume(P<0.01), increased volume of ascites and levels of Na~+, K~+, and Cl~- in urine(P<0.01), down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of intestinal AQP8(P<0.01), lowered abundance of beneficial Lactobacillus(P<0.01) while risen abundance of potential pathogenic Lachnospiraceae and Anaeroplasma(P<0.01), and reduced content of short-chain fatty acids(P<0.01). Compared with the model group, administration with chemical ingredient groups B and C alleviated all the above indicators(P<0.01). In conclusion, chemical ingredient groups B and C in Kansui Radix stir-fried with vinegar could alleviate the disordered gut microbiota in rats with malignant ascites to expel water through increasing the abundance of beneficial Lactobacillus and reducing the abundance of harmful Lachnospiraceae and Anaeroplasma. This study can provide a reference for the reasonable clinical application of Kansui Radix stir-fried with vinegar.

The present study investigated the effect of Euphorbiae Pekinensis Radix(EPR) on intestinal flora structure before and after vinegar processing and explored the detoxification mechanism of vinegar-processed EPR. In this study, the extraction efficiency of casbane diterpenes from EPR with different solvents was investigated, and the optimal solvent was selected to enrich these components. After 14 days of intragastric administration of total diterpene extract of EPR and vinegar-processed EPR, 16 S rDNA sequencing technology was used to detect the structural changes of intestinal flora. The flora related to the intestinal toxicity of EPR was screened out based on the results of intestinal pathological damage by correlation analysis. The results showed that Soxhlet extraction with chloroform as extraction solvent could enrich Casbane diterpenes in EPR. As revealed by 16 S rDNA sequencing results, EPR could significantly change the structure of intestinal flora, which could be reversed by vinegar-processing EPR. Some intestinal flora candidates might be related to detoxification of vinegar processing. The correlation analysis of intestinal flora candidates and indexes related to intestinal mucosal injury showed that compared with EPR, vinegar-processed EPR could down-regulate the abundance of some pathogenic bacteria such as Mucispirillum, Bilophila, and Ruminiclostridium, and up-regulated some probiotics such as Enterorhabdus, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Barnesiella, and Candidatus. The intestinal toxicity caused by EPR may be related to the disturbance of intestinal flora, and vinegar-processed EPR can improve intestinal flora disorder by up-regulating the abundance of probiotics and down-regulating the abundance of pathogenic bacteria to remodel the intestinal mucosal barrier and reduce toxicity.

To screen the toxic polar fractions of Daphne genkwa, compare the toxicity of D. genkwa on crypts epithelial cells IEC-6 before and after vinegar processing, and preliminarily investigate the mechanism of D. genkwa vinegar processing on toxicity reducing. The proliferation of IEC-6 cells was observed by MTT. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), as well as the enzyme activity of Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase were determined in IEC-6 cells to evaluate the oxidative damages degree of IEC-6 cells. The apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by Flow Cytometry. The results showed that the dichloromethane extraction was the toxic polar fraction of D. genkwa, and after vinegar processing, the toxicity of dichloromethane fraction was significantly reduced ( P <0.01). As compared with the blank control group, the dichloromethane fraction of D. genkwa can obviously decrease the levels of SOD, Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase, Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase ( P <0.01) and content of GSH, but increase the level of LDH and MDA in cell supernatant ( P <0.01). Besides, it obviously increased the early and late apoptotic rate of IEC-6 cells, obviously decreased the proportion of G₁stage cells, increased the ratio of S stage cells and M stage cells ( P <0.01). After vinegar processing, as compared with D. genkwa groups of various doses, it can significantly increase the levels of SOD, Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase, Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-ATPase ( P <0.01) and content of GSH, decrease the level of LDH, MDA( P <0.01), significantly decrease the early and late apoptosis rate of IEC-6 cells ( P <0.01), increase the proportion of G₁stage cells, and decrease the ratio of S stage cells and M stage cells ( P <0.01). Vinegar processing can reduce the toxicity of dichloromethane fraction of D. genkwa, and its mechanism may be associated with improving the activity of antioxidant enzymes and permeability in IEC-6 cells, and decreasing the oxidative damage., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

Biochemical methane potential experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of organic loading rate on the performance of anaerobic digesters with vinegar residues. According to the comparisons of methane production and liquid phase compositions, as well as thermogravimetry, X-ray Diffraction and infrared spectroscopy analyses, the conclusions could be drawn that:①Lower organic loading rate was better to mitigate the accumulation of VFAs and pH decrease during the hydrolysis and acidification of organic matters, which consequently improved methane production. When the inoculum to substrate ratio was 1:1[organic loading rate of 1.78 g·(L·d) -1 , pH=7.60], the cumulative methane production was the highest, reaching 2249.7 mL, and the performance of the digesters was stable. The VFAs content increased with the increase of the organic loading rate, leading to the suppression and further the stop of methane production. And when the inoculum to substrate ratio was 1:4[organic loading rate of 7.12 g·(L·d) -1 , pH=5.52], the simultaneous generation of acetate and lactic acids could be achieved at 8000 mg·L -1 and 2650 mg·L -1 , respectively. ② As vinegar residues were short-range ordered with microcrystalline structure or mainly contained amorphous substances, they were more biodegradable than feedstocks such as corn stalk. During the anaerobic digestion processes, the degradation rates of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose increased with the decrease of organic loading rate.

This study was to investigate the effect of vinegar processing on esculentosides in n-BuOH fraction and the contents of the main toxic components esculentoside B (EsB) and esculentoside C (EsC) in Phytolaccae Radix pieces. n-BuOH fraction of Phytolaccae Radix pieces was processed with vinegar according to the processing method in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. HPLC-MS-MS was adopted to analyze the esculentosides composition changes in n-BuOH fraction before and after vinegar processing. HPLC-ELSD was used to detect EsC and EsB contents in raw and vinegar processed Phytolaccae Radix pieces, and investigate the content changes before and after vinegar processing. Results showed that the esculentosides contents in n-BuOH fraction were significantly decreased except esculentoside A (EsA); there were significant changes in saponins compositions, but no new compounds were generated in n-BuOH fraction after vinegar processing. The contents of EsC and EsB were 0.12% and 0.20% respectively in raw Phytolaccae Radix, and decreased to 0.048% and 0.094% accordingly after vinegar processing. It showed that vinegar processing could significantly change the composition of esculentosides in n-BuOH fraction from Phytolaccae Radix and reduce the contents of toxic components EsC and EsB, indicating the scientificity of vinegar processing for Phytolaccae Radix., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

Lead (Pb) in purple soil was selected as the research target, using one-step extraction method with 0.01 mol · L⁻¹ sodium nitrate as the background electrolyte to study the release effect of citric acid (CA), tartaric acid (TA) and acetic acid (AC) with different concentrations. Sequential extraction and geochemical model (Visual Minteq v3.0) were applied to analyze and predict the speciation of Pb in soil solid phase and soil solution phase. Then the ebvironmental implications and risks of low-molecule weight organic acid (LMWOA) on soil Pb were analyzed. The results indicated that all three types of LMWOA increased the desorption capacity of Pb in purple soil, and the effect followed the descending order of CA > TA > AC. After the action of LMWOAs, the exchangeable Pb increased; the carbonate-bound Pb and Fe-Mn oxide bound Pb dropped in soil solid phase. Organic bound Pb was the main speciation in soil solution phase, accounting for 45.16%-75.05%. The following speciation of Pb in soil solution was free Pb, accounting for 22.71%-50.25%. For CA and TA treatments, free Pb ions and inorganic bound Pb in soil solution increased with increasing LMWOAs concentration, while organic bound Pb suffered a decrease in this process. An opposite trend for AC treatment was observed compared with CA and TA treatments. Overall, LMWOAs boosted the bioavailability of Pb in purple soil and had a potential risk to contaminate underground water. Among the three LMWOAs in this study, CA had the largest potential to activate soil Pb.

Chinese herbs are mostly used to make decoction, which would form precipitation after standing for cooling and abandoned by patients. Processing with vinegar can change the property of the herbal pieces, such as the transfer rate of heavy metal into decoction. To analyze the transfer rate change of heavy metal in the decoction and precipitation of Curcuma phaeocaulis before and after processing with vinegar, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to establish the determination method on five heavy metals in C. phaeocaulis, including Copper (Cu), arsenic (As), chromium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), using microwave to digest the samples, indium (In) as the internal standard, and national level standard material tea leaves GBW10016 (GSB-7 tea) as the quality control standard material. Then, the content of five heavy metals in the herbal pieces, decoction and five heavy metals of 6 representative batches of C. phaeocaulis and their vinegar-processing products was determinated. After computation, the transfer rates of heavy metals in the decoction and precipitation of C. phaeocaulis Val. before and after the processing with vinegar were obtained. The results showed that, after the processing with vinegar, total transfer rate of Pb and Hg was decreased significantly; total transfer rate of Cd and Cu was slightly decreased; total transfer rate of As was slightly increased, however heavy metals in all the precipitation were decreased. The results indicated that processing with vinegar had certain influence on heavy metal transfer rate, with certain synergistic and attenuated effect., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

To research the intestinal toxicity of n-BuOH fraction in Phytolacca Radix before and after being processed with vinegar. Toxic n-BuOH fractions were separated from Phytolacca Radix. In the animal model, the level of intestinal edema, water content of intestine and stool, IC₅₀ values of HT-29 and IEC-6 were detected with MTT method to compare the changes in toxicity of n-BuOH fractions from Phytolacca Radix before and after being processed with vinegar. n-BuOH fractions of Phytolacca Radix could cause intestinal edema in mice, increase the edema of duodenum, jejunum and the water content in stool, inhibit the proliferation of HT-29 cells and IEC-6 cells, indicating its intestinal toxicity, with HT-29 IC₅₀ at 14.59 mg•L⁻¹ and IEC-6 IC₅₀ at 43.77 mg•L⁻¹. After being processed with vinegar, the level of intestinal edema, edema of duodenum and jejunum and the water content in stool and inhibition ratio of cells line were reduced, with HT-29 IC₅₀ at 58.51 mg•L⁻¹ and IEC-6 IC₅₀ at 84.37 mg•L⁻¹. After being processed with vinegar, the toxicity of n-BuOH fractions from Phytolacca Radix decreased obviously., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

To look for the toxicity fraction of Euphorbia pekinensis and discuss the vinegar processing mechanism. The level of intestinal edema, water content of intestine and stool, IC50 values of IEC-6 were applied to evaluate the toxicity of different fractions. RT-PCR was employed for detecting AQP1, AQP3 mRNA expression. The petroleum ether (PE) fraction and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction could significant cause intestinal edema in mice, increase the water content of duodenum, colon and stool, inhibited the mRNA expression of AQP1 and increased the mRNA level of AQP3 in colon, and the petroleum ether (PE) fraction was more poisonous. After the petroleum ether (PE) fraction was processed with vinegar, the level of intestinal edema, water content of duodenum, colon, stool and inhibition ratio of cells line were reduced. And we compared the composition change after vinegar processing, finding that the conpekinensis.

Objective: To study the differences in the toxicity of vinegar-processed Kansui Radix on normal and cancerous ascites model rats., Method: Normal and cancerous ascites model rats were taken as the research objects and orally administered with different doses of vinegar-processed Kansui Radix for 7 d. Pathological sections were prepared to observe the damages in liver, stomach, intestinal tissues in rats and detect the impacts on serum, liver, stomach and intestinal tissues and the oxidative damage index., Result: Compared with the blank group, all of normal administration groups and model groups showed significant damages in liver, stomach and intestinal tissues. Compared with the model groups, all of normal administration groups revealed notable alleviation in damages. Compared with the blank group, the model groups showed significant increases in AST, ALT and MDA in serum and liver (P < 0.01) and a significant decrease in GSH in serum and liver, stomach, intestinal tissues (P < 0.01). Compared with the blank group, the results showed significant decreases in ALT, AST in serum and ALT in liver in model low, medium and high dose groups and AST activity in liver tissues in the normal high dose group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); significant decreases in GSH in serum and stomach tissues in normal low, medium and high dose groups and GSH content in liver and intestinal tissues in normal medium and high dose groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); notable rises in MDA in liver tissues in normal low, medium and high dose groups and MDA content in serum and stomach and intestinal tissues in normal medium and high dose groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with model groups, data revealed significant decreases in ALT, AST in serum in model low, medium and high dose groups, AST in liver tissues of model medium and high dose groups and ALT activity in liver in the model high dose group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); significant increases in GSH content in serum and stomach tissues of model low, medium and high dose groups, GSH in liver tissues in model medium and high dose groups and GSH in intestinal tissues in the high dose groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); and notable declines in MDA content in serum in model low, medium and high dose groups, MDA in liver tissues of model medium and high dose groups and MDA in stomach and intestinal tissues the high dose group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: According to the study, vinegar-processed Kansui Radix showed a significant lower toxicity liver, stomach, and intestines of cancerous ascites model rats, which provided a basis for clinical safe application of vinegar-processed Kansui Radix based on symptom-based prescription theory.

This study aims to develop a method for determination of beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione in the volatile oil of Curcuma phaeocaulis, and to provide the basis of the quality control method for the volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis and the related preparations. Based on GC-MS, the 4 main compounds were simultaneously determined, with the internal standard n-tridecane. The Agilent 19091S-433 column (0.25 microm x 250 microm x 30 m) was adopted at the temperature of 250 degrees C, the programmed temperature method (60 degrees C for 1 min, 5 degrees C x min x to 110 degrees C for 5 min, 1 degrees C x min(-1) to 140 degrees C, 5 degrees C x min(-1) to 160 degrees C, 10 degrees C x min(-1) to 240 degrees C) was used. Helium gas was used as the carrier gas at a constant flow rat of 1 mL x min(-1), with an injection volume of 1 RL. Mass spectra were taken at 70 eV; the ion-source temperature was 200 degrees C. The relation time and character acteristic ions for each target compound were determined by full scan mode and SIM, and m/z 85.1, 93.1, 121.1, 107.1 and 180.1 were the detection ions of n-tridecane, beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione. As a result, beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione were all detected with good separation. They were all in a good linear relationship within each concentration scope. The average recovery rates were in the range of 98.2%-101%. So, the method can be used to control the quality of the volatile of C. phaeocaulis Val. and the preparations related.

Flocculent gene FLO1 and its truncated form FLO1c with complete deletion of repeat unit C were expressed in a non-flocculent industrial strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae CE6 to generate recombinant flocculent strains 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c respectively. Both strains of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c displayed strong flocculation and better cell growth than the control strain CE6-V carrying the empty vector under acetic acid stress. Moreover, the flocculent strains converted glucose to ethanol at much higher rates than the control strain CE6-V under acetic acid stress. In the presence of 0.6% (V/V) acetic acid, the average ethanol production rates of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c were 1.56 and 1.62 times of that of strain CE6-V, while the ethanol production rates of 6-AF1 and 6-AF1c were 1.21 and 1.78 times of that of strain CE6-V under 1.0% acetic acid stress. Results in this study indicate that acetic acid tolerance and fermentation performance of industrial S. cerevisiae under acetic acid stress can be improved largely by flocculation endowed by expression of flocculent genes, especially FLO1c.

Effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on bio-hydrogen production and operational stability of ethanol-type fermentation was investigated in a hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor (HABR) using brown sugar as substrate. The results showed that five HRTs were examined, ranging from 8 to 36 h. At a HRT of 12 h, the highest hydrogen production rate was achieved [13.86 mmol x (h x L)(-1)], with a COD remove rate of 51.51%, and the pH value of five compartments was between 4.22-4.47. The ethanol and acetate were the predominant metabolites. The ratios of ethanol and acetic acid from the 1th compartment to the 5th compartment were 1.90, 1.94, 1.80, 1.77 and 1.91, respectively. The results demonstrated that the best energy production rate was 11.11 kJ x (h x L)(-1), occurred at a HRT of 12 h.

A simple and quick method is described for the determination of ferulic acid, senkyunolide I, senkyunolide H, senkyunolide A and ligustilide in rhizomes of Ligusticum chuanxiong. The 5 active ingredients in the sample was extracted using 40% ethanol and analyzed by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Chromatography separation was performed using Agilent 1100 series HPLC system with a Symmetry C18 column and gradient elution with a mixture of three solvents : solvent A, acetonitrile, solvent B, methanol and solvent C, 1% aqueous acetic acid, 0 min to 5 min A: B: C 20: 40: 40, 5 min to 30 min A: B: C 60 to 100 : 0 : 40 to 0. The effluent was monitored using a VWD detector set at 321 nm (0-4.3 min) and 275 nm (4.31-30 min). The flow rate was set at 1 mL x min(-1) and the injection volume was 10 microL. The column temperature was maintained at 35 degrees C. The calibration curve was linear (r > or = 0.99) over the tested ranges. The average recovery was 94.44%-103.1% (n = 6). The method has been successfully applied to the analysis in different harvest periods of L. chuanxiong samples. In this paper, single-factor randomized block design to study the 5 components content of L. chuanxiong on ten collecting stages. For the L. chuanxiong collected from April 15th to May 30rd, the content of 5 ingredients increased primarily, and then decreased. Determine the appropriate harvest time has important significance to the promotion of the quality of L. chuanxiong.

Objective: To compare the difference of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix before and after being processed with vinegar in the toxicity on rat small intestinal crypt epithelial cells IEC-6, and make a preliminary study on the mechanism of detoxication of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix processed with vinegar., Method: With rat small intestinal crypt epithelial cells IEC-6 as the study object, the MTT method was adopted to detect the effect of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix before and after being processed with vinegar on IEC-6 cell activity. The morphology of cells were observed by the inverted microscope. The down-regulated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway of enterocytes caused by the vinegar processing was analyzed by using the high content screening., Result: Compared with the negative control group, the proliferation inhibition experiment showed that Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix showed a relatively high intestinal cell toxicity (P < 0.01). The results of HCS analysis showed that Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix could significantly reduce the cell nucleus Hoechst fluorescence intensity and mitochondria membrane (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and increase Annexin V-FITC and PI fluorescence intensity and membrane permeability (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.01). After being processed with vinegar, compared with Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix groups with different doses, Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix processed with vinegar could significantly decrease the cell proliferation inhibition effect on enterocytes, increase the cell nuclear Hoechst fluorescence intensity and mitochondria membrane (P < 0.05, P < 0.05), and decrease Annexin V-FITC and PI fluorescence intensity and membrane permeability (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.05), and showed a certain dose-effect relationship., Conclusion: The vinegar processing can further reduce the toxicity of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix on enterocytes. Its possible mechanism can decrease the effect of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix on the permeability of IEC-6 cell membrane, so as to provide a basis for further explanation of the detoxication mechanism of Euphorbia Pekinensis Radix processed with vinegar.

Euphorbia kansui (EK) is a toxic herbal drug, and often used after vinegar-processing to reduce its toxicity. In present study, a 1H-NMR based metabonomic approach was used to evaluate the detoxification effect of vinegar-processed EK. The water extracts of EK and VEK were administered orally to male SD rats at doses of 9 g x kg(-1) x d(-1) for 1 week, respectively, and one more week observation was further conducted. The control group was orally given with saline. Histopathological studies of liver samples on the 8th and 15th day were conducted, and the metabolites of rat urine and liver were analysed by 1H-NMR. Histopathological studies of liver samples from EK and VEK treated rats showed no negative impacts. In metabonomic analyses of urines, changes of metabolites indicated liver damages, kidney lesions and imbalance of gut microbes in the second week. VEK-treated rats showed a quite lower toxicity compared with EK-treated ones. The present study revealed that the metabonomic approach might be helpful for the evaluation of toxicity of EK and detoxic effect of VEK.

In order to illustrate the effects of released algal organic matter in cyanobacteria blooms on raw water quality and water treatment process, intracellular organic matter (IOM) of Microcystis aeruginosa, which is the dominant species in cyanobacteria blooms, was chosen as a precursor and characterized. In addition, the transformation of IOM and the formation of disinfection byproducts were evaluated at different pH of 6.5, 7.1 and 8.4 after chlorination or bromination, with subsequent correlation analysis. The results indicated that IOM was primarily composed of macromolecular matter, i. e. , the species with relative molecular weight of > 30 x 10(3), constituting 68.8% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix indicated that IOM was mainly composed of aromatic protein-like matter with an intensity of 92.6 AU x L x mg(-1). After reaction with chlorine or bromine, the intensity of aromatic protein-like peaks decreased sharply by 76.6% - 93.3%, and its reduction correlated well with the formation of trihalomethane (THMs, R2 = 0.81) and haloacetic acid (HAAs, R2 = 0.77). The formation of THMs and HAAs increased with the increase in pH. Compared with chlorine, bromine formed more THMs and HAAs, and tended to form highly halogenated HAAs. However, with increasing pH, the reactivity with IOM between chlorine and bromine was closer, i.e, k(OBr-IOM)/k(OCl-(IOM) < k(HOBr-IOM/k(HOCl-IOM).

Objective: To compare the content of water, ethanol soluble extracts and tetrahydropalmatine in crude and processed Corydalis Rhizoma samples from different habitats., Methods: Corydalis Rhizoma was processed according to the optimum processing of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition), and then, the difference of the content of water,ethanol soluble extracts and tetrahydropalmatine in crude and processed Corydalis Rhizoma samples were analyzed and compared., Results: From 14 different batches of Corydalis Rhizoma studies, the content of water, ethanol soluble extracts and tetrahydropalmatine in crude Corydalis Rhizoma was 12.8%-14.8%, 16.5%-19.6% and 0.043%-0.075%, respectively; As for Corydalis Rhizoma after processing with vinegar,the content of water, ethanol soluble extracts and tetrahydropalmatine was 7.58%-11.7%, 17.8%-23.5% and 0.046%-0.079%, respectively., Conclusion: The content of water, ethanol soluble extracts and tetrahydropalmatine varies slightly in the same type of samples from different habitats,which might be due to the difference in soil and climate in each habitat.

Objective: To extract and separate toxic components from Phytolaccae Radix, and to comare the changes in toxicity of Phytolaccae Radix before and after being processed with vinegar., Method: The mucous membrane irritation response, mouse peritoneal inflammation model and in vitro macrophages release NO model were applied to compared the changes in inflammatory toxicity of toxic components from Phytolaccae Radix before and after being processed with vinegar., Result: Toxic components of Phytolacca Radix had significant inflammatory toxicity, which could cause conjunctival edema in rabbits, and increase of PGE2 and macrophages release NO content in peritoneal exudate in mice. After being processed with vinegar, they showed reduced irritation, which resulted in decrease of PGE2 and macrophages release NO content in peritoneal exudate in mice., Conclusion: After being processed with vinegar, the toxicity of toxic components from Phytolacca Radix decreased obviously.

To get the tolerability and consumption of Klebsiella oxytoca on major inhibitors in lignocelluloses hydrolysate, we studied the effect of acetic acid, furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural on production of 2,3-butanediol by Klebsiella oxytoca. The metabolites of furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were measured. The results show that when acetic acid, furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was individually added, tolerance threshold for Klebsiella oxytoca was 30 g/L, 4 g/L and 5 g/L, respectively. Acetic acid was likely used as substrate to produce 2,3-butanediol. The yield of 2,3-butanediol increased when acetic acid concentration was lower than 30 g/L. In the fermentation, more than 70% 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was converted to 2,5-furandimethanol. All furfural and the rest of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were metabolized by Klebsiella oxytoca. It showed that in the detoxification process of 2,3-butanediol production using lignocelluloses hydrolysate, furfural should be given priority to remove and a certain concentration of acetic acid is not need to removal.

Two groups of sequencing batch reactors were used to study the metabolism substrate transformation of phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAO) and glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAO) fed with mixed acetic and propionic acids. Seven stoichiometry parameters and 24 kinetic parameters were contained in the PAO and GAO kinetic model, and stoichiometry parameters were deduced from the stoichiometry models, while kinetic parameters were determined by experimental results. The kinetic model parameters of stoichiometry and kinetics were determined according the experiments and the literature. Subsequently, the substrate transformations of PAO and GAO were calculated by the Matlab software. The model curves matched the SBR experimental data well, indicating that the kinetic model based on SCFAs metabolism could be used to simulate PAO and GAO in anaerobic-aerobic conditions.

Objective: To compare the toxicity of Euphorbia pekinensis before and after being processed by vinegar on normal liver cells LO2, and discuss its possible mechanism., Method: LO2 cells were cultured in vitro, and processed with different concentrations of crude and vinegar-processed E. pekinensis. MTT assay was used to measure the inhibitory effect of LO2 cell; Hoechst 33258 staining was used to observe the morphological changes in apoptosis cell; Annexin V-FITC flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptotic rate of LO2 cell; PI staining flow cytometry was used to analyze its impact on cell cycle. The level or content of ALT, AST, LDH, SOD, MDA and GSH were observed as well., Result: Compared with the negative control group, crude E. pekinensis at all concentrations could obviously inhibit LO2 cell proliferation, induce LO2 cell apoptosis and cause cell arrest in S phase, with significant differences (P <0.05). E. pekinensis could significantly increase the levels of ALT, AST and LDH (P <0.05) in the supernatant of cell culture fluid, significantly decrease the level of SOD and the content of GSH (P <0.05) , and significantly increase the content of MDA (P <0.05). Compared with the crude E. pekinensis group, E. pekinensis after being vinegar-processed can significantly reduce cell apoptotic rate, cell cycle arrest, activities of ALT, AST, LDH in the supernatant of cell culture fluid (P <0.05) , and remarkably increase the level of SOD and the content of GSH, but reduce the content of MDA in the supernatant of cell culture fluid., Conclusion: Vinegar-processed E. pekinensis can release the cytotoxicity of LO2 cell. Its mechanism may be related to the decrease in the oxidative damage of LO2 cells, thereby reducing the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

The kinetic model based on SCFAs metabolism was applied for the prediction of phosphorus-and glycogen-accumulating organisms (PAO and GAO) competition with different carbon sources and m(P)/m(COD) ratios. When acetic acid was used as the sole carbon source, the biomass compositions were almost the same as those before cultivation, and neither PAO nor GAO could be out-competed from EBPR. However, increasing propionic acid in the influent helped PAO to be the predominance organism, and EBPR performance kept excellent when the ratio of propionate to mixed acids (acetate + propionate) was higher than 0.33. It also found that the m(P)/m(COD) ratio should be kept at 0.04-0.10 to avoid phosphorus became a limiting factor for PAO growth. This was because at low m(P)/m(COD) ratios, such as 0.01, GAO would take up 95% of the total (PAO + GAO) biomass.

Based on activated sludge model No. 2 (ASM2), the anaerobic/aerobic kinetic model of phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAO) was established with mixed short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as the base substance in enhanced biological phosphorus removal process. The characteristic of the PAO model was that the anaerobic metabolism rates of glycogen degradation, poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoates synthesis and polyphosphate hydrolysis were expressed by SCFAs uptake equation, and the effects of anaerobic maintenance on kinetics and stoichiometry were considered. The PAO kinetic model was composed of 3 soluble components, 4 particulate components and a pH parameter, which constituted the matrix of stoichiometric coefficients. On the basis of PAO model, the GAO kinetic model was established, which included 7 processes, and phosphorus content influenced the aerobic metabolism only.

Use acetic acid as the media of ozone degradation of oxytetracycline (OTC), and effects of the initial dosing ratio of ozone/OTC, ozone flow, free radical scavenger, metal ions on the removal rate of OTC were investigated respectively. The results showed that acetic acid had a high ozone stability and solubility. OTC had a high removal rate and degradation rate in acetic acid solution. With the increase of OTC dosage, the removal rate of OTC decreased in acetic acid. Removal rate of OTC was increased distinctly when ozone flow increased properly. It was also observed that free radical scavenger had a significantly negative effect on OTC ozonation degradation in acetic acid. Furthermore the main reactions of OTC ozone oxidation were direct oxidation and indirect oxidation in acetic acid. When Fe3+ and Co2+ were existent in acetic acid, the degradation of OTC was inhibited significantly.

By investigating the interaction between components from Flos Genkwa (FG) and Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae (RRG) and the dissolution profile of toxic components in co-decoction, the characteristics and possible mechanism of incompatibility were revealed. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-TQ/MS) were used to analyze multi-components in different herb extractions prepared by different ratios of FG/FG processed by vinegar (FGV) and RRG, which reflect the interaction and characteristics of multiple components in incompatibility combinations. The results showed that the components dissolution was influenced by compatibility ratio with certain regularity. Whether FG processed by vinegar or not, with the increase of RRG in co-decoction, the dissolution of diterpenes, especially for yuanhuacine, yuanhuadine and yuanhuajine, the toxic ingredients of FG, increased significantly. From these results, the material basis and one possible mechanism of incompatibility between FG and RRG is the increasing dissolution of diterpenes, toxic components of FG in co-decoction process, which caused by interaction between multi-components in these two herbs.

Objective: To study the variation regularity of chemical constituents contained in Euphorbia ebracteolata after vinegar processing., Method: The colorimetric method was adopted for determining the variation of total lactone content in toxic constituents contained in E. ebracteolata decoction, with Kedde as the coloring reagent. The HPLC method was used for detecting the content variation of jolkinolide B and jolkinolide C, both were active constituents contained in E. ebracteolata decoction, before and after roasting with vinegar, in which Kromasil-ODS column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was adopted, with the detection wavelength of 290 nm, column temperature at 25 degrees C , gradient elution with acetonitrile and water and the flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1)., Result: After roasting with vinegar, the total lactone content in E. ebracteolata was reduced from 0.60 to 0.45 mg x g(-1) , with active constituents, jolkinolide B and jolkinolide C, increased to varying degrees. The established chromatographic fingerprint contained risk information and could reflect the overall variation regularity of chemical constituents after roasting with vinegar., Conclusion: The chemical constituents of E. ebracteolata show significantly changes, especially a reduced toxicity, after roasting with vinegar. The increase in its efficacy may be related to the variation of these constituents.

Objective: To compare the toxicity on normal liver cells LO2 before and after Kansui Radix stir-baked with vinegar, and make a preliminary study on the mechanism of detoxication of Kansui Radix stir-baked with vinegar., Method: The MTT method was adopted to detect the cell activity, with normal liver cells LO2 as the study object. The morphology of cells were observed, and the level or content of AST, ALT, LDH, SOD, Na+-K+-ATPase, Ca2+-Mg2+ -ATPase, GSH and MDA were determined in cell culture supernatant and splitting supernatant., Result: Compared with the control group, Kansui can obviously inhibit the cell activity (P < 0.01) and morphology, and increase the levels of ALT, AST, and LDH (P < 0.01) in the supernatant fluid of cell incubation, and decrease the level of SOD and the content of GSH (P < 0.01). Besides, it significantly increased the content of MDA (P < 0.01) and significantly decreased the level of Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+ -ATPase (P < 0.01) in the supernatant fluid of cell dissociation. Compared with Kansui group of various doses, Kansui Radix stir-baked with vinegar can significantly decrease the cell proliferation inhibition and the trend of morphological variation, and obviously decrease the levels of ALT, AST, and LDH (P < 0.01) in the supernatant fluid of cell incubation, and significantly increase the level of SOD and the content of GSH (P < 0.01), and significantly decrease the content of MDA (P < 0.01). Additionally, it significantly increased the level of Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+ ATPase (P < 0.01) in the supernatant fluid of cell dissociation, and showed a certain dose-effect relationship., Conclusion: Stir-baking with rice vinegar can release the hepatotoxicity of Kansui Radix. Its possible mechanism was that Kansui Radix stir-baked with vinegar can decrease the influence of Kansui Radix on the permeability of liver cells LO2 membrane and oxidative damage, in order to provide basis for further exploration of the detoxication mechanism of Kansui Radix stir-baked with vinegar.

Objective: To optimize the vinegar processing technique of Euphorbia pekinensis., Method: The test was designed by using orthogonal table L9 (3(4)). The factors were vinegar amount, proportion of vinegar and water and duration and degree of heating. An aggregative weighted method was used to optimize processing technology of E. pekinensis with content of euphol, extract of ethanol, extract of water and appearance and section were used as evaluative indicators., Result: The optimal processing of E. pekinensis was identified as adding the mixture of 30 g vinegar and 270 g water to 100 g herbs, mixing evenly and softening, cooking until exhaustion under slow fire, taking out and drying to degree 6-7, and then cutting into thick slices., Conclusion: The study defines parameters of the processing technique of E. pekinensis. The quality of E. pekinensis is stable and controllable under the technical conditions.

Objective: To study the scientific theory on detoxification (attenuation) of Stellera chamaejasme (ScL) by processing and the impact on drug effect of ScL before and after being processed with vinegar., Method: The difference in ingredients of ScL before and after being processed vinegar was compared by using PHLC-MS technique. A subcutaneously transplanted tumor model of H22 hepatoma was established to compare the lethal effect and weight change between tumor-loaded mice and normal mice. After consecutive oral administration in tumor-loaded mice, the impacts on tumors and immune organs were compared before and after being processed with vinegar. Luciferase Report Gene was employed to investigate the target genes TGF-beta, AP1 and NF-kappaB., Result: The LD50 (median fatal dose) of extract Zp1102 exhibited higher than that of the processed one Zp1103, that is 9. 89 g x kg(-1) vs. 16.85 g x kg(-1). According to the test, Zp1102 showed more effective anti-tumor activities in vivo than that of Zp1103 in a same dosage, with the tumor inhibitory rate 36.24% (P < 0.01) at the dosage of2 g x kg(-1) and 34.40% (P < 0.05) at the dosage of 1 g x kg(-1). At the dosage of 1 g x kg(-1), Zp1102 showed a tumor inhibitory rate of 34.52% (P < 0.05), much higher from 21.55% in Zp1103. Both Zp1102 and Zp1103 had basically no impact on the report gene NF-kappaB, besides that Zp1102 up-regulated the report gene after increase in NF-kappaB concentration and down-regulated TGF-beta, but Zp1103 can only up-regulate NF-kappaB expression without any impact on TGF-beta., Conclusion: Processed ScL extracts show less toxic than unprocessed extracts and slight reduction in anti-tumor activity, which may be related to the regulation of transforming growth factor TGF-beta.

Objective: To study and compare the changes of toxicity of Euphorbia pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata before and after being prepared by vinegar., Method: Small intestinal accentuation of mice and peritoneal macrophage NO release experiments were assessed to investigate the changes of toxicity of the three Chinese Medicines of Euphorbia before and after being prepared., Result: E. pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata and vinegar can obviously promot small intestinal accentuation and peritoneal macrophage NO release with the intensity of toxicity in the order of E. kansui > E. pekinensis > E. ebracteolata. After being prepared with vinegar, the toxicity of the three medicines decreased obviously compared to crude one., Conclusion: E. pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata can induce inflammation and accelerate enterokinesis. After being prepared with vinegar, the irritation on Euphorbia decreased obviously.

Objective: To study the effect of two kinds of silane coupling agent on bond strength of resin-ceramic adhesive., Methods: Four hundred and thirty-two ceramic samples were divided into 9 groups (48 per group), and in each group the ceramic surface was treated with r-methacryloxypropyletrimethoxysilane (MPTS) (50 g/L) in 99% ethanol (Primer A) and the mixture of hydrochloric acid (0.10 mol/L), phosphoric acid (0.05 mol/L) and acetic acid (0.01 mol/L) in 99% ethanol with the same volume (Primer B). Then the treated ceramic was bonded with resin cement (Link Max). The shear bond strength was tested after 5000 and 10 000 thermo-cycles and standing for 24 h., Results: The highest shear bond strengths [(19.5 ± 3.7) MPa, (15.7 ± 3.0) MPa and (14.6 ± 3.0) MPa] of the specimens were obtained with 0.05 mol/L hydrochloric acid. At acid solution of 0.10 mol/L, the specimens using hydrochloric acid [(10.6 ± 3.5) MPa] and phosphoric acid [(9.5 ± 2.7) MPa] showed remarkably higher strength than that using acetic acid [(6.3 ± 2.5) MPa, P < 0.05] after 10 000 thermo-cycles. When the concentration of acid solution was 0.05 mol/L, the shear bond strength of specimens from hydrochloric acid [(14.6 ± 3.0) MPa] was significantly higher than that using phosphoric acid [(6.3 ± 1.9) MPa] and acetic acid [(4.7 ± 1.8) MPa, P < 0.05]. When the concentration of acid solution reached 0.01 mol/L, the specimens using hydrochloric acid exhibited a dramatically increase in shear strength [(12.7 ± 3.2) MPa] compared with that using phosphoric acid [(2.3 ± 1.2) MPa, P < 0.05] and acetic acid [(1.5 ± 1.2) MPa, P < 0.05]., Conclusions: The maximum adhesive bond strength with highest durability was obtained using hydrochloric acid of 0.05 mol/L hydrolysis catalysts to treat siline couple agent.

Objective: To establish integration processing method for pretreating and vinegar producing Corydalis yanhusuo., Method: Different processing methods were contrasted with the traditional processing technology, and contents of corydalis B, water extract and ethanol extract in samples of different processing products were determined., Result: The content of corydalis B were best in the samples of vacuumizing C. yanhusuo chips scaked in rice vinegar for twice or soaked in rice vinegar after chip drying. The water extract was highest in the samples of chip soaked in rice vinegar after drying, followed with chip vacuumizing twice, and there were no remarkable difference between the other samples and the traditional process. The difference of ethanol extract was not remarkable in all the samples., Conclusion: The study provide the feasibility of C. yanhusuo producing and concocting integration processing.

A solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-HPLC/ESI-MS/MS) method for the determination of 3 sweeteners (acesulfame (AK), sodium saccharin (SA), sodium cyclamate (SC)) in vinegars has been developed. The sample was diluted with acidic water, then purified and enriched with a weak anion exchange SPE column. The HPLC separation was performed on a Pursuit C18 column (150 mm x 2.0 mm, 3 microm) by gradient elution with 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate containing 0.1% (v/v) ammonia water and acetonitrile as the mobile phases. The analytes were detected by ESI--MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode to satisfy qualitative and quantitative detections. Good linearities (r2 > 0.99) were obtained over the range of 0.01 - 0.50 mg/L. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for SA, AK and SC were 10, 5 and 5 microg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries ranged from 72.1% to 96.8% at the spiked levels of 0.01 and 0.1 mg/L with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 15%. This method is accurate, highly sensitive for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 3 sweeteners in vinegars.

Objective: To optimize the stir-baking with vinegar technology for Curcumae Radix., Method: The intrinsic quality (the content of Curcumin) and traditional outward appearance were chosen as indexes. The best technology was determined by orthogonal test L9 (3(4)). The factors of the moistening time, stir-baking temperature and stir-baking time were investigated., Result: The optimal technology was as follows: the quantity of vinegar was 10%, the moistening time was 10 min, the stir-baking temperature was 130 degrees C and the stir-baking time was 10 min., Conclusion: The optimal stir-baking with vinegar technology for Curcumae Radix is reasonable, which can be used to guide the standardized production of Curcumae Radix stir-baked with vinegar.

Objective: To study the changes of mucosa irritation of crude and processed Radix Phytolaccae., Method: Gastrointestinal experiments on rats and mice and the rabbits' eyes irritation experiments were applied to investigate the changes of mucosa irritation of crude and processed Radix Phytolaccae., Result: The mucosa irritation of processed Radix Phytolaccae decreased obviously compared to crude one., Conclusion: After being processed with vinegar, the mucosa irritation on Radix Phytolaccae decreased obviously.

During the bioconversion of lignocellulose to ethanol, the biomass always undergoes pretreatment in order to increase the enzymatic digestibility of cellulose. In present work, we conducted the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with aqueous acetic acid for delignification and alkali for deacetylation respectively (Acetoline process) to increase cellulose accessibility for enzymatic hydrolysis. The effects of several factors on the pretreatment effectiveness were investigated. The enzymatic digestibility of pretreated bagasse was further studied. The enzymatic glycan conversion of pretreated solid reached about 80% when it was digested under 7.5% solid consistency with cellulase of 15 FPU/g solid and beta-glucosidase of 10 CBU/g solid for 48 h. Compared with dilute acid pretreatment, Acetoline pretreatment could obtain higher enzymatic glycan conversion. The experimental results indicate that Acetoline is an effective pretreatment method to increase the enzymatic digestibility of sugarcane bagasse.

A HPLC method for limit detection of aristolochic acid A in the Chinese herbs containing aristolochic acid or suspected-containing aristolochic acid and their preparations was established. The samples were analyzed on an Alltima C18 column eluted with methanol-water-acetic acid (68:32:1.5) as the mobile phase. Flow rate was at 1.0 mL x min(-1) and the detection wavelength was at 390 nm. The calibration curve was linear over the range from 0.016 to 0.51 g (r = 0.9993) and LOD was 4 ng. The average recovery was 101.2% with RSD of 2.01%. The procedures of sample preparation were systematically investigated. The contents of aristolochic acid A in Radix et Rhizoma Asari bought from market or drugstore were fluctuated from 3.1 to 26.6 microg x g(-1) and 3 of 11 samples accorded with the quality requirement of current Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Among 15 batches samples of Chinese medicaments, only one sample was found to contain aristolochic acid A. The present investigation shows that the method is sensitive and repeatable and it could be used for the limit detection of aristolochic acid A in the Chinese herbal medicines containing trace amount of aristolochic acid A or suspected-containing aristolochic acid A and their preparations.

Objective: To investigate the alkaloids from Senecio scandens., Method: Compounds were isolated with silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and their structures were determined by spectral analysis and chemical evidence. The hepatic cytotoxicity of isolated compounds was tested by MTT method in vitro., Result: Six alkaloids were obtained and identified as adonifoline (1), 7-angeloylturneforcidine (2), hordenine (3), 1, 3, 6, 6-tetramethyl-5, 6, 7, 8-tetrahydro-isoquinolin-8-one (4), 4-(pyrrolidin-2-one) -phenyl acetic acid (5), (4-pyrrolidinophenyl) acetic acid (6)., Conclusion: Compound 6 is a new natural product, compounds 3, 4 were obtained from the genus Senecio for the first time, compounds 2, 5 were obtained from this plant for the first time. Compound 1 showed significant growth inhibitory effect against hepatocyte at 100 micromol x L(-1).

Nanotube titanic acid (NTA) has distinct optical and electrical character, and has photocatalysis character. In accordance with these qualities, NTA was treated with acid so as to enhance its surface activity. Surface structures and surface groups of acid-treated NTA were characterized and analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR). The interaction between acid-treated NTA and amino acids was investigated. Analysis results showed that the lengths of acid-treated NTA became obviously shorter. The diameters of nanotube bundles did not change obviously with acid-treating. Meanwhile, the surface of acid-treated NTA was cross-linked with carboxyl or esterfunction. In addition, acid-treated NTA can catch amino acid residues easily, and then form close combination.

A SBR was used in this study for investigating the influence of carbon source on EBPR metabolism and microorganism communities when feeding with acetate and propionate. The SBR was operated with a cycle time of 8 h and each cycle consisted of 4 min feeding, 2 h anaerobic period, 5 h aerobic period, 35 min setting, 15 min decanting and 6 min waiting. The COD of influent was kept at 300 mg/L during the experiment. Acetate and propionate were used as the sole carbon source for operation of 60 days, respectively. The phosphorus release/ COD consumption in the end of anaerobic phase were 0.35 and 0.27 when acetate and propionate were used as the carbon source, respectively. The PHA composition was different when different carbon source was dosed. PHB accounted for 92.6% in the end of anaerobic phase but the value for PHV was only 7.4% when acetate was selected as the carbon source. No PH2MV was detected during this process. The compositions of PHA were PHB (10.2%), PHV (35.8%) and PH2MV (54.0%) in the end of anaerobic cycle when propionate was used as the sole carbon source. There was variation of microorganism communities during this process for the results of DGGE combined with SEM micrographs and PHA staining. Coccus morphotype PAOs were accumulated in acetate-fed phase and rod morphotype PAOs were accumulated in propionate-fed stage. Different PAOs were accumulated and the metabolic pathways were different when different carbon sources were used, but good EBPR could be achieved during all these conditions.

Two lab scale upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactors were operated at an organic loading rate of COD 9 kg x (m3 x d)(-1) to treat two kinds of calcium containing wastewaters, one of which took acetic acid as substrate and for the other, glucose and soluble starch were the substrate. Both the wastewaters contained 800 mg x L(-1) Ca+. Precipitation of calcium carbonate in the reactors was observed. The results showed that the kind of substrate had great influence on calcium carbonate precipitation. In the reactor treating acetic acid containing wastewater, a maximum calcium precipitation rate of 65% was achieved and an average rate of about 25% was then maintained. In contrast, the calcium precipitation rate for the glucose and soluble starch containing wastewater was only about 7.5%. It was also found that substantial precipitation only occurred 30 days after the reactor were operated for both of the wastewaters. After 180 days of operation, the ash content of the sludge in the reactors increased from about 10% to 70% for the acetic acid containing wastewater and 30% for the other. However, the increase of ash content had no negative influence on the COD removal efficiency, which was kept at about 90% throughout the experimental period. By the SEM it was inferred that the different substrates caused the differences of the granular sludge microstructure, leading to the diversity of calcium carbonate precipitation in the two reactors.

Objective: To establish the best processing technique of Radix Kansui stir-baked with vinegar., Method: The best processing technique was gained through determining the content of 3-O-(2'E, 4'Z-decadienoyl)-20-O-acetylingenol by HPLC as the index, and orthogonal design experiment-L9 (3(4)) was used to investigate the factors of vinegar amount, baked time and temperature., Result: The best processing technique was to add 30% vinegar and bake 9 minutes at 260 degrees C., Conclusion: This best processing technique is stable, feasible and good repetition.

With the long-term cultured enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems in sequencing batch reactors, the effect of different ratios of propionic acid to acetic acid on the transformations of phosphorus and polyhydoxyalkanoates (PHA), and the metabolism stoichiometry of PHA by phosphorus accumulating organisms were studied in this paper. Results showed that the phosphorus removal efficiency improved with the increase of propionic acid to acetic acid ratio, and the suitable C-mol ratio of propionic acid to acetic acid was 2:1. Stoichiometry study indicated that 0.15 C-mol PHB and 0.33 C-mol (PHV + PH2MV) were synthesized per degraded C-mol acetic acid, and very few PHB and 1.21 C-mol (PHV + PH2MV) were synthesized per degraded C-mol propionic acid. It was also observed that the phosphorus removal efficiency exhibited a good linear relationship with (PHV + PH2MV).

For the fast and exact detection of sugar content of fruit vinegar, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technique combined with least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) algorithm was used to build the prediction model of sugar content in the present research. NIR spectroscopy is a nondestructive, fast and accurate technique for the measurement of chemical compo nents based on overtone and combination bands of specific functional groups. The pivotal step for spectroscopy technique is how to extract quantitative data from mass spectral data and eliminate spectral interferences. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a method which has been widely used in the spectroscopic analysis, and LS-SVM is a new data mining algorithm developed from the machine learning community. In the present study, they were used for the spectroscopic analysis. First, the near infrared transmittance spectra of three hundred samples were obtained, then PCA was applied for reducing the dimensionality of the original spectra, and six principal components (PCs) were selected according the accumulative reliabilities (AR). The six PCs could be used to replace the complex spectral data. The three hundred samples were randomly separated into calibration set and validation set. Least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) algorithm was used to build prediction model of sugar content based on the calibration set, then this model was employed for the prediction of the validation set. Correlation coefficient (r) of prediction and root mean square error prediction (RMSEP) were used as the evaluation standards, and the results indicated that the r and RMSEP for the prediction of sugar content were 0.9939 and 0.363, respectively. Hence, PCA and LS-SVM model with high prediction precision could be applied to the determination of sugar content in fruit vinegar.

White vinegar is a condiment indispensable in our life, but our understanding of the white vinegar and evaluation of its quality and function has been gained through routine chemical and physical analysis. It is called for to develop more time- and cost-efficient methodologies for white vinegar detection. Visible and near infrared spectroscopy (Vis/NIR) is a nondestructive, fast and accurate technique for the measurement of chemical components based on overtone and combination bands of specific functional groups. Vis/NIR transmittance spectroscopy and chemometrics methods were utilized in classification and pH mensuration of white vinegar in the present study. First, the spectral curves of white vinegar were obtained by handheld Vis/NIR spectroradiometer, then principal component analysis (PCA) was used to process the spectral data after pretreatment. Five principal components (PCs) were selected based on accumulative reliabilities (AR), and these selected PCs would be taken as the inputs of the three-layer back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN). A total of 240 white vinegar samples were divided into calibration set and validation set randomly, the calibration set had 180 samples with 60 samples of each variety, and the validation set had 60 samples with 20 samples of each variety. The BP-ANN was trained using samples in calibration set, the optimal three-layer BP-ANN model with 5 nodes in input layer, 6 nodes in hidden layer, and 2 nodes in output layer would be obtained, and the transfer function of sigmoid was used in each layer. Then, this model was used to predict the samples in the validation set. The result indicated that a 100% recognition ration was achieved with the threshold predictive error +/- 0.1, the bias between predictive value and standard value was lower than 5%. It could be concluded that PCA combined with BP-ANN was an available method for varieties recognition and pH mensuration of white vinegar based on Vis/NIR transmittance spectroscopy.

This paper studied the effects of applying citric acid, oxalic acid and acetic acid on the removal of heavy metals Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn from sewage sludge, and the form transformation and bioavailability of these heavy metals before and after the application of tested organic acids. The results showed that the removal rates of tested heavy metals except Cu increased with increasing acid concentration and action time. Among the tested organic acids, citric acid was more effective in removing heavy metals from sewage sludge, with the removal rate of 52.0% for Pb and 74.2% for Zn after a 7-hour action, and 76.0% for Pb and 92.5% for Zn after 24-hour action. The removal rates of the heavy metals by oxalic acid and acetic acid were relatively low. The Pb and Zn removed by citric acid were mainly in stable form, resulting in a relative increase of their unstable and exchangeable forms in the sludge. Though the removal rate of Cu and Cd was lower, their exchangeable forms still had somewhat increase after the action of tested organic acids.

To find out a novel lead compound from heterocyclic amine Schiff bases for developing new antitumor agents, each of (4-amino-5-substituted-s-triazol-3-ylthio) -acetic acids 2a-j was condensed with anthracene-9-carbaldehyde to obtain Schiff-bases of [4-(anthracen-9-yl methylene) amino] -5-substituted-s-triazol-3-ylsulfanyl] -acetic acids 3a-j. The structures of new compounds synthesized were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral data, and in vitro antitumor activity was also evaluated against CHO, HL60 and L1210 cell lines by MTT assay.