Search

Objective: To explore the relationship between the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index and the risk of developing hypertension among rural Chinese adults. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from 2007 to 2008, involving 20 194 adults selected through random cluster sampling from a rural community in Luoyang City, Henan Province. Follow-ups were carried out in 2013-2014 and 2018-2020. After excluding participants with hypertension at baseline, those with missing TyG index data, individuals who passed away during follow-up, and those with incomplete hypertension status at the second visit, 9 802 participants were included in the analysis. Baseline and follow-up assessments included questionnaire interviews, physical measurements (including blood pressure), and blood sample collection for fasting lipid and glucose levels. Participants were divided into four groups according to TyG index quartiles, and a modified Poisson regression model was utilized to assess the association between TyG index quartiles and hypertension risk. Results: The study cohort comprised 9 802 participants with a median age of 48 (39, 57) years, including 3 803 males (38.80%). Participants were distributed across TyG index quartiles as follows: TyG<8.2 group (2 224 individuals), TyG 8.2-8.5 group (2 653 individuals), TyG 8.6-8.9 (2 441 individuals), and TyG≥9.0 (2 484 individuals). Over a follow-up period of (11.1±1.3) years, 3 378 subjects developed hypertension, resulting in a cumulative incidence of 34.46% (3 378/9 802). The risk of hypertension increased with higher TyG index quartiles ( P trend <0.05). Compared to the TyG<8.2, the TyG 8.2-8.5 ( RR =1.11, 95% CI 1.01-1.22, P =0.023), TyG 8.6-8.9 ( RR =1.16, 95%CI 1.06-1.27, P =0.023), and TyG≥9.0 ( RR =1.20, 95%CI 1.10-1.31, P =0.023) exhibited increased hypertension risk after adjusting for age, gender, educational level, and other potential confounders. Subgroup analyses based on gender and age at baseline yielded results consistent with the main analysis. Conclusions: The TyG index is positively correlated with the risk of developing hypertension in the rural adult population.

On the basis of establishing the prescription of Xinjianqu and clarifying the increase of the lipid-lowering active ingredients of Xinjianqu by fermentation, this paper further compared the differences in the lipid-lowering effects of Xinjianqu before and after fermentation, and studied the mechanism of Xinjianqu in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. Seventy SD rats were randomly divided into seven groups, including normal group, model group, positive drug simvastatin group(0.02 g·kg~(-1)), and low-dose and high-dose Xinjianqu groups before and after fermentation(1.6 g·kg~(-1) and 8 g·kg~(-1)), with ten rats in each group. Rats in each group were given high-fat diet continuously for six weeks to establish the model of hyperlipidemia(HLP). After successful modeling, the rats were given high-fat diet and gavaged by the corresponding drugs for six weeks, once a day, to compare the effects of Xinjianqu on the body mass, liver coefficient, and small intestine propulsion rate of rats with HLP before and after fermentation. The effects of Xinjianqu before and after fermentation on total cholesterol(TC), triacylglyceride(TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), blood urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(Cr), motilin(MTL), gastrin(GAS), and the Na~+-K~+-ATPase levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The effects of Xinjianqu on liver morphology of rats with HLP were investigated by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining and oil red O fat staining. The effects of Xinjianqu on the protein expression of adenosine 5'-monophosphate(AMP)-activated protein kinase(AMPK), phosphorylated AMPK(p-AMPK), liver kinase B1(LKB1), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarate monoacyl coenzyme A reductase(HMGCR) in liver tissues were investigated by immunohistochemistry. The effects of Xinjianqu on the regulation of intestinal flora structure of rats with HLP were studied based on 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that compared with those in the normal group, rats in the model group had significantly higher body mass and liver coefficient(P&lt;0.01), significantly lower small intestine propulsion rate(P&lt;0.01), significantly higher serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST, BUN, Cr, and AQP2(P&lt;0.01), and significantly lower serum levels of HDL-C, MTL, GAS, Na~+-K~+-ATP levels(P&lt;0.01). The protein expression of AMPK, p-AMPK, and LKB1 in the livers of rats in the model group was significantly decreased(P&lt;0.01), and that of HMGCR was significantly increased(P&lt;0.01). In addition, the observed＿otus, Shannon, and Chao1 indices were significantly decreased(P&lt;0.05 or P&lt;0.01) in rat fecal flora in the model group. Besides, in the model group, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was reduced, while that of Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria was increased, and the relative abundance of beneficial genera such as Ligilactobacillus and Lachnospiraceae＿NK4A136＿group was reduced. Compared with the model group, all Xinjianqu groups regulated the body mass, liver coefficient, and small intestine index of rats with HLP(P&lt;0.05 or P&lt;0.01), reduced the serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, ALT, AST, BUN, Cr, and AQP2, increased the serum levels of HDL-C, MTL, GAS, and Na~+-K~+-ATP, improved the liver morphology, and increased the protein expression gray value of AMPK, p-AMPK, and LKB1 in the liver of rats with HLP and decreased that of LKB1. Xinjianqu groups could regulate the intestinal flora structure of rats with HLP, increased observed＿otus, Shannon, Chao1 indices, and increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Ligilactobacillus(genus), Lachnospiraceae＿NK4A136＿group(genus). Besides, the high-dose Xinjianqu-fermented group had significant effects on body mass, liver coefficient, small intestine propulsion rate, and serum index levels of rats with HLP(P&lt;0.01), and the effects were better than those of Xinjianqu groups before fermentation. The above results show that Xinjianqu can improve the blood lipid level, liver and kidney function, and gastrointestinal motility of rats with HLP, and the improvement effect of Xinjianqu on hyperlipidemia is significantly enhanced by fermentation. The mechanism may be related to AMPK, p-AMPK, LKB1, and HMGCR protein in the LKB1-AMPK pathway and the regulation of intestinal flora structure.

&quot;Medicine and food homology&quot; is a precious health care concept rooted in the culture of Chinese medicine and plays an important role in the development of the national health industry. It is consistent with the current global trend that food and medicine are mutually penetrating. Accordingly, the Chinese medicinal materials with edible values have an increasing production scale. Especially, in the context that the development of Chinese medicinal materials is switching from pursuing quantity to quality, the food field has become the main market for the new production capacity of Chinese medicinal materials, which has presented a broad prospect. However, the quality standards of raw materials, production methods, and administration ways vary between the materials for edible and medicinal purposes. Specifically, the food for medicinal use on the market cannot meet the quality standards of medicinal mate-rials, while the medicinal materials fail to meet the taste requirements as food. As a result, these problems cause difficulties in market circulation and supervision. In this paper, we analyzed the formation of Chinese medicinal materials with edible values, compared the food with medicinal value, common food, and functional food, and analyzed the different quality requirements of Chinese medicinal materials used in different scenarios. Further, we advised the differential development of Chinese medicinal materials in different directions(edible or medicinal use) from production to supervision. Including:(1) In the variety registration of Chinese medicinal materials with edible values, the variety breeding direction should be announced according to the requirements that medicinal materials care more about the content of active ingredients and food use materials preferentially need to meet the requirements of edible palatability.(2) Differentiation can be reflected in the selection of cultivation mode and planting and processing technology of medicinal materials, The differential production technical specification of medicinal materials with edible values should be developed. Such as the &quot;simulated cultivation&quot; mode is encouraged in the plant of medicinal materials to ensure its quality and the strict management of inputs and sufficient cultivation years should be guaranteed. While for edible medicinal materials, more kinds of cultivation techniques can be selected according to their processing methods.(3) The market supervision of medicinal materials with edible values should be guided by the purpose of their sales and use, which depends on the accurately recognize of the relationship between the properties of medicinal materials with edible values and the situation of pharmacopeia collection.(4) During publicity, when used as ordinary food and health food medi-cinal materials, it should be noticed that the publicity of the product's efficacy must meet the requirements of corresponding regulations.

Objective: To explore the clinical value of four dimensional computed tomography (4 D CT) guided combined with deep inhalation and breath hold (DIBH) technique in the preoperative localization of solitary pulmonary nodules. Methods: The data of a total of 106 patients with solitary pulmonary nodules from March 2018 to May 2021 in the Ningbo First Hospital were collected retrospectively. Among them, there were 26 males and 80 females aged from 21 to 83 (47.4±14.2) years. According to different localization methods, 53 cases were divided into the control group, as the pulmonary nodules were located by CT guided injection of indocyanine green under calm breathing and 53 cases were divided into in the experimental group, as those patients were treated with indocyanine green injection under the guidance of 4 D CT combined with DIBH technology to locate pulmonary nodules. The three-dimensional distance deviation between pulmonary nodules and indocyanine green injection points was compared between the two groups to obtain the accuracy of pulmonary nodule localization. The preoperative positioning time of the two groups was compared by timing. Results: Among the 106 patients, there were 46 pure ground glass nodules, 32 sub solid nodules and 28 solid nodules, all of which were successfully localized before operation, with a success rate of 100%. The size of pulmonary nodules in the control group was (9.1±2.3) mm and the three-dimensional deviation[ M ( Q 1 , Q 3 )]between indocyanine green injection site and pulmonary nodules was X axis [7.0 (3.7, 12.6)] mm, Y axis [6.6 (2.9, 11.2)] mm, Z axis [3.0 (2.0, 6.0)]mm, respectively, and the preoperative positioning time was (11.4±3.8) min. The size of pulmonary nodules in the experimental group was (8.9±2.1) mm, and the deviations in 3 D direction were X axis [4.8 (3.0, 7.9)]mm, Y axis [3.8 (1.3, 7.5)]mm, Z axis [4.0 (2.0, 6.0)] mm, respectively. The preoperative positioning time was (9.3±3.0) min. There were statistically significant differences in preoperative positioning time and deviation of X and Y axis between the experimental group and the control group ( P <0.05), but no statistically significant differences was found in deviation of Z axis ( P >0.05). Conclusion: 4 D CT guided DIBH technology could improve the accuracy of preoperative localization of pulmonary nodules and save operation time, which is worthy of popularization.

Investigation of the cause of death during diving is one of the contents of forensic pathology. In this article, relevant foreign literature is reviewed to summarize the techniques and methods used in the identification of diving deaths, such as accident reconstruction, diving monitoring data, postmortem CT examination and gas analysis (location and quantity) in the body of the corpse, in order to provide a reference for forensic identification of such cases.

Carboxyl CoA ligases(CCLs) is an important branch of adenylate synthetase gene family, which mainly has two-step catalytic reactions. Firstly, in the presence of adenosine triphosphate, it can catalyze the pyrophosphorylation of carboxylateswith diffe-rent structures to form corresponding acyl adenosine monophosphate intermediates. Secondly, adenosine monophosphate was replaced by free electrons in the mercaptan group of enzyme A or other acyl receptors by nucleophilic attack to form thioesters. In this study, on the basis of the transcriptome database of Arnebia euchroma, two genes were selected, named AeCCL5(XP&#95;019237476.1) and AeCCL7(XP&#95;019237476.1). Bioinformatics analysis showed that their relative molecular weights were 60.569 kDa and 60.928 kDa, theoretical PI were 8.59 and 8.92, respectively. They both have transmembrane domains but without signal peptide. By multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree analysis, we found that the similarity between AeCCLs and other plant homologous proteins was not high, and the substrate binding sites of AeCCLs were not highly conserved. The reasons might be that the sequence and structure need to adapt to the changes of new substrates in the process of evolution. In this study, the full-length of AeCCL5 and AecCCL7 were cloned into the expression vector pCDFDuet-1. The proteins of AeCCL5 and AeCCL7 with His-tag were expressed in Escherichia coli. The proteins of AeCCL5 and AeCCL7 were purified by nickel column. In vitro enzymatic reactions proved that both AeCCL5 and AeCCL7 can participate in the upstream phenylpropane pathway of shikonin biosynthesisby catalyzing 4-coumaric acid to produce 4-coumarin-CoA, and then to synthesis p-hydroxybenzoic acid, which is an important precursor of shikonin biosynthesis in A. euchroma.

As the most advanced environment-friendly production model in the international society, ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica(CMM) is the only way for the development of modern agriculture. With the proposal of the declaration on ecolo-gical agriculture of CMM, &quot;Don't grab land from farmland, don't be enemies of grass and insects, don't be afraid of barren slopes and forests, and live up to the green and green mountains&quot;, the ecological planting of CMM has blossomed all over the country, and formed a scientific theory, technology and model. Based on the theory and method of economics, this paper expounds the comprehensive benefits and development advantages of ecological agriculture of CMM from the perspectives of farmers(producers), patients(consumers) and the country. From the perspective of medicinal farmers, the input and output income of conventional agriculture and ecological agriculture of CMM such as Panax ginseng, Astragalus propinquus, Atractylodes lancea, and Bupleurum chinense were compared, and it was found that ecological agriculture of CMM had obvious advantages in net income, average annual income and input-output ratio, which could better promote farmers' income. From the perspective of patients, according to the same dose, the content of active ingredients in ecologically planted CMMs is significantly higher than that in conventionally-planted herbs, and the amount of effective substances taken by patients is also higher, so as to achieve better therapeutic effect. At the national level, ecological planting of CMM is the key to ensuring the high-quality development of CMM industry, increasing farmers' income, ensuring the safety of people's drug use and promoting the sustainable development of agriculture. It is also an important part of realizing the harmonious development of economy, society and environment and promoting ecological civilization. In general, the declaration on ecological agriculture of CMM embo-dies the core characteristics and goals of ecological agriculture, and also points of the path and vision of ecological agriculture of CMM in the future. The declaration will guide production practice, promote the benefit of farmers, and lay the foundation for the sustainable development of CMM industry.

The study is aimed through field experiments to study the effect of combined application of organic and chemical fertilizers on the growth and quality of Salvia miltiorrhiza, provide ideas for reducing fertilization while increasing the efficiency as well as improving the quality of produces. The experiment included 6 treatments viz., no fertilization(CK), full application of chemical fertilizer(F), 25% orga-nic fertilizer with 75% chemical fertilizer(M25), 50% organic fertilizer with 50% chemical fertilizer(M50), 75% organic fertilizer with 25% chemical fertilizer(M75), and fully apply organic fertilizer(M100). The results showed that:(1)from the perspective of yield and economic benefits, M75 was the best and M100 second;(2)for effective components, the combined application of organic and chemical fertilizers increased the content of main water-soluble components and the total content of effective components, among which M25 and M50 were better.

Caffeic acid and its oligomers are the main water-soluble active constituents of the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) Arnebiae Radix. These compounds possess multiple biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, cardiovascular protective, liver protective, anti-liver fibrosis, antiviral and anticancer activities. The phenylpropanoid pathway in plants is responsible for the biosynthesis of caffeic acid and its oligomers. Glycosylation can change phenylpropanoid solubility, stability and toxic potential, as well as influencing compartmentalization and biological activity. In view of the important role played by de-glycosylation in the regulation of phenylpropanoid homeostasis, the biosynthesis of caffeic acid and its oligomers are supposed to be under the control of relative UDP-glycosyltransferases(UGTs). Through the data mining of Arnebia euchroma transcriptome, we cloned 15 full-length putative UGT genes. After recombinant expression using the prokaryotic system, the crude enzyme solution of the putative UGTs was examined for the glycosylation activities towards caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid in vitro. AeUGT&#95;01, AeUGT&#95;02, AeUGT&#95;03, AeUGT&#95;04 and AeUGT&#95;10 were able to glycosylate caffeic acid and/or rosmarinic acid resulting in different mono-and/or di-glycosylated products in the UPLC-MS analyses. The characterized UGTs were distantly related to each other and divided into different clades of the phylogenetic tree. Based on the observation that each characterized UGT exhibited substrate or catalytic similarity with the members in their own clade, we supposed the glycosylation abilities towards caffeic acid and/or rosmarinic acid were evolved independently in different clades. The identification of caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid UGTs from A. euchroma could lead to deeper understanding of the caffeic acid oligomers biosynthesis and its regulation. Furthermore, these UGTs might be used for regiospecific glycosylation of caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid to produce bioactive compounds for potential therapeutic applications.

In this study, based on the transcriptome database of suspension cells of Arnebia euchroma, we explored two candidate cytochrome P450 enzyme genes that might relate to the shikonin biosynthesis downstream pathway when CYP76B74 sequence was referenced. We constructed interference-type hairy roots of candidate genes and cultured them. We measured the fresh weight, dry weight, total naphthoquinone content, shikonin and its derivatives content and expression levels of key enzyme genes involved in shikonin biosynthesis pathway. The effects of candidate genes on the growth and shikonin production of A. euchroma hairy roots were discussed, and the possible regulatory mechanisms that candidate genes affected shikonin synthesis were discussed. Through local Blast and phylogenetic analysis, two candidate CYP450 genes(CYP76B75 and CYP76B100) with high homology to CYP76B74 in A. euchroma were screened, and corresponding interference hairy roots were constructed. Compared with the control(RNAi-control), the fresh weight of CYP76B75 interfered hairy root(RNAi-CYP76B75) and CYP76B100 interfered hairy root(RNAi-CYP76B100) were significantly reduced, while dry weight were not affected, so the dry rate increased significantly. Except for β-acetoxyisovalerylalkannin, which is high in three groups of hairy roots, the contents of shikonin, deoxyshikonin, acetylshikonin, β,β'-dimethacrylicalkannin, β-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin,β-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin, isobutyrylshikonin and total naphthoquinones showed a consistent pattern: RNAi-CYP76B75&gt;RNAi-CYP76B100&gt;RNAi-control. Among them, the synthesis of β-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin was most significantly promoted by interfering with the expression of CYP76B75. The content of β-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin in RNAi-CYP76B75 was 11.7 times that of RNAi-control. RESULTS:: of real-time qPCR analysis showed that compared to RNAi-control, the expression levels of AePGT gene in RNAi-CYP76B75 and RNAi-CYP76B100 were not changed significantly, and the expression levels of CYP76B74 and AeHMGR were up-regulated. In addition, the expression level of CYP76B100 in RNAi-CYP76B75 was down-regulated, whereas in RNAi-CYP76B100, the expression of CYP76B75 was significantly up-regulated. Therefore, this study confirmed that when the expression of CYP76B75 and CYP76B100 were interrupted, the growth of hairy roots were suppressed, but the synthesis of shikonin were promoted. They might increase the shikonin biosynthesis by up-regulating the expression of CYP76B74 in the hairy roots of A. euchroma.

As an environment-friendly agriculture, ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica(CMM) is being implemented in all parts of the country. Due to the stronger dependence on natural environmental conditions, ecological agriculture of CMM shows obvious regional differences in production practice. More mature CMM ecological planting patterns representative of each region were collected. It was found that common types of patterns in various regions of the country mainly included intercropping,intercropping,rotation planting mode, undergrowth planting mode, wild tending planting mode and landscape ecological planting mode. Based on the Construction Plan of National Dao-di Herbs Production Base(2018-2025) and Chinese Medicine Division, this paper systematically sorts out the pattern of ecological planting of CMM in the 8-avenue medicinal materials production areas according to the varieties and regions. The specific pattern of ecological planting of CMM included the ginseng undergrowth planting pattern in northeastern China, the bionics wild ecological planting of the Forsythia suspensa in northern China, the Fritillaria thunbergii-rice rotation in eastern China, the imitation wild planting pattern under the Polygonatum cyrtonema in central China, the planting pattern of the Fructus amomi under forest in southern China, the Ligusticum chuanxiong-rice rotation pattern in the Southwest, wild tending of Glycyrrhiza uralensis in the Northwest, and rhubarb imitation wild planting pattern in Qinghai-Tibet area. Finally, it is expected to provide reference for the screening and popularization of ecological planting patterns of other CMMs in various distribution areas.

This paper summarized the effects of ecological planting on secondary metabolism firstly and pointed out that ecological planting can increase the content of secondary metabolites in plants, especially the content of defensive secondary metabolites. The possible mechanism was analyzed subsequently. Then, we reviewed the induction and utilization of secondary metabolism in the ecological planting of Chinese materia medica from the perspectives of biological control of pests and diseases, promotion of beneficial microorganism accumulation, optimization of mixed planting, regulation of no-tillage and straw cover. In this article, we pointed out that paying close attention to secondary metabolism is the most important feature of ecological planting of Chinese materia medica. Ecological planting can promote the accumulation of secondary metabolites of Chinese materia medica which means can improve the quality of Chinese materia medica, beneficial to the prevention and control of diseases, insects and weeds. Furthermore, lacking of systemic researches,the extensive verifications and systematic in-depth researches on the ecological planting of Chinese materia medica should be carry out urgently.

The ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica(CMM) has become the most dynamic and promising new field in the global ecological agriculture. The development of ecological planting of CMM has become the national strategy of Chinese traditional medicine agriculture. It has been highly valued and has flourished throughout the country, and has formed some more mature ecological planting models of CMM. Based on the system level, this paper sorts out the common ecological cultivation patterns of CMM, and obtains five basic patterns: landscape pattern at the ecological landscape level, circulation pattern at the ecosystem level, stereo model at the bio-community level, biodiversity patterns at the level of biological populations and well-established models at the level of biological individuals. On this basis, eight common ecological planting techniques of CMM were obtained, includingwild tending techniques, fine agricultural farming techniques, directional cultivation techniques, soil improvement techniques, soil testing and fertilization techniques, mycorrhizal cultivation techniques, green control technology for pests and diseases and facility cultivation techniques.This paper aims to provide theoretical basis for scientific research and popularization and application of CMM ecological planting.

The cluster brand is the embodiment of the core competitiveness of an industry. Developing and cultivating cluster brand of ecological agriculture of Dao-di herbs not only helps to optimize the value chain of the Chinese medicinal materials(CMMs) industry cluster, realize the value-added of the CMMs industry cluster, but also enhance the visibility and influence of the industrial cluster, enhance the core competitiveness of the industrial cluster. This has important practical significance for promoting the &quot;orderly&quot; &quot;safe&quot; and &quot;effective&quot; development of the Dao-di herbs. Based on the industry development status of CMMs, this article introduces several concepts related to cluster brands and their relationships, and focuses on the cultivation models and strategies of cluster brand in the CMMs industry. Based on the current status of the development of the CMMs industry, this article introduces several concepts related to cluster brands and their interrelationships. It discusses the cultivation models and strategies of cluster brands in the CMMs industry, industry associations, Chinese medicine companies and individual growers as the support, insists on the ecological cultivation of authentic medicinal materials and the cultivation of cluster brands. Finally, it points out the direction for the high-quality development of the ecological agriculture of CMMs.

This paper analyzed life form, habitats and environmental stresses of medicinal plants and algal fungi collected in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2015). ①It was found that only 0.94% of the medicinal plants mainly cultivated in field. The most common habitats of medicinal plants are divided into two types: those whose natural habitats are forest margins/undergrowth(about 42.53%) and those whose natural habitats are roadside, hillside, wasteland/sand(about 43.78%). The former mainly faces environmental stresses such as weak light, pests and diseases; the latter often faces the main environmental stresses of drought, strong light, ultraviolet radiation, high temperature, low temperature(day and night or annual temperature difference is large), nutrient deficiency, pests and so on. ②Based on analyzing the strategies of medicinal plants to adapt to environmental stresses, it is pointed out that the synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites are the most important strategies of medicinal plants to protect against environmental stresses. In the process of long-term adaptation to specific stress, the accumulation of relevant genetic variation and epigenetic inheritance has become an important condition for the formation of quality of medicinal plants. ③It is proposed that &quot;simulative habitat cultivation&quot; has obvious advantages in balancing growth and secondary metabolism and guaranting the quality of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

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 Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.)

To reveal the transformation and attribution of drug properties in Galla Chinesis fermented Baiyaojian by studying the effect of Galla Chinesis and Baiyaojian on cold and heat syndrome rats. Euthyrox was used to induce the hyperthyrosis model,ice water stimulation was used to induce the cold syndrome model,and different concentrations of Galla Chinesis and Baiyaojian water decoction were administrated by gavage for 15 d continuously. Symptom indexes were evaluated,content of pyruvic acid( PA),ATPase activity in liver and contents of DA,T4,cAMP,5-HT,NE,17-OHCS,TRH and TSH in serum were assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and spectrophotometry. The rectal temperature,water consumption and body weight of heat syndrome rats in model group were increased,cAMP,NE,17-OHCS,TRH and PA were increased,TSH,Na-K ATPase and Ca-Mg ATPase were increased significantly( P<0. 01),while 5-HT was decreased,compared with those of the blank group( P< 0. 05),the contents of T4,DA,NE,TSH,TRH,cAMP and 17-OHCS were decreased significantly( P<0. 01),PA and Ca-Mg ATPase in WG and BG groups were decreased compared with those of the model group( P<0. 05),and the Galla Chinesis content of WG group was lower than that of BG group,while the contents of 5-HT in WG and BG groups were increased,and the Galla Chinesis content of WG group was higher than that of BG group,with no significant difference of viscera index between heat syndrome rats in blank group,model group and drug groups. The rectal temperature,water consumption and body weight of cold syndrome rats in model group were decreased,DA,T4,cAMP,NE,17-OHCS,TRH,TSH,PA,Na-K ATPase and Ca-Mg ATPase of rats in model group were decreased,whereas 5-HT was increased compared with those of the blank group( P<0. 05),the indexes of heart,lung and kidney were significantly higher than those in the blank group( P<0. 05). Both Galla Chinesis and Baiyaojian can significantly alleviate the symptoms of heat syndrome rats caused by levothyroxine sodium. Galla Chinesis has a better effect than Baiyaojian,but cannot alleviate the symptoms of cold syndrome caused by ice water stimulation,suggestting that the decoction of Galla Chinesis and Baiyaojian are both cold,but Galla Chinesis is colder than Baiyaojian. Cold property in Galla Chinesis fermented Baiyaojian can be relieved. In clinical application,the property of " slight cold" is more accurate than " neutral property" for Baiyaojian.

From May to October in 2017, the sap flow, water consumption and the effects of environmental factors on the sap flow of Amorpha fruticosas with different stem diameters under different water and salt conditions were examined with the packaged sap flow measuring system in a secondary saline-alkali land of Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area. The sap flow rate showed a broad peak curve with no obvious phenomenon of 'midday break' in sunny days and a multi-peak curve in cloudy, overcast and rainy days. Weak sap flow was found at night. In the growing season (May - October), total sap flow of A. fruticosas with basal stem diameters of 13, 16 and 22 mm were 138.14, 206.06, 370.11 kg, respectively. The water consumption was largest in June and July, accounting for about 50% of the whole growing season, followed by May and August, and lowest in September and October. At both 0.5 h and day scales, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was the dominant meteorological factor affecting the sap flow. In the first growth stage (May 13th - August 19th), soil water in shallow layer (0-40 cm) had significant effect on the sap flow of A. fruticosas with three different diameters, and soil salt in shallow layer had significant inhibitory effect only on A. fruticosa with the diameter of 13 mm. In the second growth stage (August 20th - October 10th), soil water and soil salt had no significant effect on A. fruticosas with three different diameters. In summary, the A. fruticosas with diameters <13 mm was not suitable for planting in saline soil (electrical conductivity (EC)>2 dS·m -1 ), and individuals with diameters >16 mm could grow well in saline soil (EC=5 dS·m -1 ). Moreover, reasonable irrigation should be carried out in the vigorous growth stage of the A. fruticosas.

Objective: To investigate the protective effects of vascular endothelial growth factor-165 (VEGF165) transfected the endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) mediated by lentivirus on acute lung injury (ALI) in rats., Methods: The mononuclear cells from the male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were isolated and cultured to get the EPCs for study. The lentivirus vector carrying the human VEGF165 gene was constructed. According to the random number table method, 90 male SD rats were divided into ALI model group, phosphate buffer solution (PBS) group, EPCs treatment group, none transfected EPCs treatment group and VEGF165 transfected EPCs treatment group, and the rats in each group were subdivided into 4, 12 and 48 hours subgroups, with 6 rats in each subgroup. The rat model of ALI was reproduced by intravenous injection of oleic acid (0.15 μL/g). Then each treatment group was given PBS, EPCs, none transfected EPCs and VEGF165 transfected EPCs respectively with the same volume of 0.2 mL. For the groups with cells, about 1×10 6 cells were contained. Abdominal aortic blood and lung tissue were harvested at 4, 12 and 48 hours. Arterial blood gas analysis was performed. The lung wet/dry weight ratio (W/D) was calculated. The expressions of induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and VEGF165 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After dyed with hematoxylin-eosin (HE), the lung tissue pathology was observed and the lung injury score was performed., Results: Compared with the ALI model group, the arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2 ) in EPCs, none transfected EPCs and VEGF165 transfected EPCs treatment groups was significantly increased from 4 hours, and lung W/D, expressions of iNOS and ET-1 were significantly decreased, and VEGF165 expression was significantly increased. Compared with the EPCs treatment group, the increase in PaO 2 , the decrease in lung W/D and expressions of iNOS and ET-1, and the increase in VEGF165 expression in VEGF165 transfected EPCs treatment group were more significant [4 hours: PaO 2 (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) was 82.84±10.69 vs. 72.34±9.36, lung W/D ratio was 4.83±0.23 vs. 5.55±0.37, iNOS (ng/mg) was 8.77±1.10 vs. 14.84±1.34, ET-1 (ng/mg) was 103.41±5.66 vs. 153.08±5.12, VEGF165 (ng/mg) was 130.56±12.16 vs. 83.03±5.95; 12 hours: PaO 2 (mmHg) was 91.67±6.81 vs. 78.5±8.81, lung W/D ratio was 4.44±0.35 vs. 5.32±0.25, iNOS (ng/mg) was 7.23±0.24 vs. 14.04±1.18, ET-1 (ng/mg) was 91.98±3.52 vs. 125.99±7.55, VEGF165 (ng/mg) was 164.49±5.71 vs. 96.61±6.12]; individual parameters reached valley value or peak value at 48 hours [lung W/D ratio was 4.26±0.30 vs. 4.89±0.15, iNOS (ng/mg) was 5.79±0.85 vs. 12.72±1.10, ET-1 (ng/mg) was 74.53±7.10 vs. 108.33±5.84, VEGF165 (ng/mg) was 237.43±10.79 vs. 134.24±11.99, all P < 0.05]. Over time, lung tissue injury in each group was gradually increased, and the lung injury score was gradually increased. The lung injury score at 48 hours in the EPCs, none transfected EPCs and VEGF165 transfected EPCs treatment groups were lower than that in the ALI model group. Compared with the EPCs treatment group, the VEGF165 transfected EPCs treatment group had a lower score at 48 hours (8.50±1.05 vs. 10.50±1.05, P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The transplantation of EPCs which were transfected with VEGF165 mediated by lentivirus could obviously improve the oxygen pressure, reduce the lung water seepage, decrease the iNOS and ET-1 expressions in lung tissue, and had obvious protective effects on ALI.

Taking a typical apple×maize intercropping system in the loess region of Shanxi Pro-vince, China as test object, the current study analyzed the photosynthetic characteristics of maize leaves of ear position at filling stage under different irrigation and fertilization regimes. There were three irrigation levels [low (W 1 ), 50% field capacity (Fc); medium (W 2 ), 65% Fc; and high (W 3 ), 85% Fc], three fertilizer levels {F 1 [N (289 kg·hm -2 ) + P 2 O 5 (118 kg·hm -2 ) + K 2 O (118 kg·hm -2 )]; F 2 [N (412.4 kg·hm -2 ) + P 2 O 5 (168.8 kg·hm -2 ) + K 2 O (168.8 kg·hm -2 )], F 3 [N (537 kg·hm -2 ) + P 2 O 5 (219 kg·hm -2 ) + K 2 O (219 kg·hm -2 )]}, and a control (CK, no irrigation and fertilization throughout the growing season). The nine irrigation and fertilization treatment combinations were W 1 F 1 , W 2 F 1 , W 3 F 1 , W 1 F 2 , W 2 F 2 , W 3 F 2 , W 1 F 3 , W 2 F 3 , and W 3 F 3 , respectively. The results indicated that different water and fertilizer regimes had no significant effect on the variation in diurnal photosynthetic indexes. However, the application of water and fertilizers considerably increased the peak value of net photosynthetic rate (P n ), exten-ded the stomatal opening period, influenced the lowest value of intercellular CO 2 concentration (C i ), and reduced the maximum value of water use efficiency (WUE) during the day. The limiting factors affecting photosynthesis were nonstomatal factors. Stomatal conductance (g s ) and transpiration rate (T r ) were both significantly negatively correlated with the distance from tree line (P<0.01). WUE were significantly positively correlated with the distance from the tree line (P<0.05). g s decreased by 0.028-0.093 mol·m -2 ·s - 1 , T r decreased by 0.56-1.41 mmol·m -2 ·s -1 , WUE increased by 0.08-1.00 μmol·mmol -1 , as the average distance from the tree line increased by 1 m. Thus, irrigation and fertilizers significantly increased the mean value of P n , T r , and g s , but decreased the mean value of WUE during the day. The W 3 F 1 treatment had the highest mean values of P n (10.64 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 ), g s (0.295 mol·m -2 ·s -1 ), WUE (3.05 μmol·mmol -1 ), but a lower mean value of T r (4.32 mmol·m -2 ·s -1 ) compared with the other treatment combinations during the day. When the total irrigation rate was 1300 m 3 ·hm -2 , the total fertilization rate was 525 kg·hm -2 , P n was at its maximum, and the theoretical maximum value was 10.32 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 . Therefore, the W 3 F 1 treatment was the irrigation and fertilizer regime that was most likely to improve the photosynthetic efficiency of the apple-maize intercropping system.

Objective: To investigate the effect of high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by Kupffer cell (KC) of rats with severe burn and the role of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the process., Methods: Model of 30% TBSA full-thickness burn was reproduced in 32 SD rats through immersing the back in 98°C water for 12 s. KC (32 samples) was isolated from rat liver 24 h after injury and inoculated in 24-well plate in the concentration of 1×10(6) cell per well. (1) Cells were divided into control group (cultured with 1 mL PBS) and HMGB1 group (stimulated with 100 ng/mL HMGB1 in the volume of 1 mL) according to the random number table, with 8 samples in each group. At post culture hour (PCH) 48, the expression of RAGE (denoted as grey value ratio) was detected with Western blotting. (2) Another portion of cells were divided into control group (cultured with 1 mL PBS), HMGB1 group (treated with 100 ng/mL HMGB1 in the volume of 1 mL), HMGB1 + anti-RAGE antibody group (treated with 100 ng/mL HMGB1 in the volume of 1 mL after being pre-incubated with 20 µg/mL anti-RAGE monoclonal antibody in the volume of 1 mL for 2 hours), HMGB1 + recombinant rat RAGE/Fc chimera (rrRAGE/Fc) group (treated with the mixture of 100 ng/mL HMGB1 in the volume of 0.5 mL and 5 µg/mL rrRAGE/Fc in the volume of 0.5 mL which were pre-incubated for 2 hours) according to the random number table, with 8 samples in each group. At PCH 48, the protein levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in supernatant were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, while the mRNA expression of TNF-α and IL-1β (denoted as grey value ratio) were determined with Northern blotting. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance, t test, and LSD test., Results: (1) The expression of RAGE in HMGB1 group (1.036 ± 0.101) was significantly higher than that of control group at PCH 48 (0.191 ± 0.024, t = -23.158, P = 0.000). (2) In HMGB1 group, HMGB1 + anti-RAGE antibody group, and HMGB1 + rrRAGE/Fc group, the contents of TNF-α in supernatant were respectively (10.59 ± 1.39), (9.91 ± 1.68), (11.51 ± 2.27) ng/mL; the contents of IL-1β in supernatant were respectively (2.49 ± 0.33), (2.08 ± 0.32), (2.42 ± 0.42) ng/mL; the mRNA levels of TNF-α in cells were respectively 0.311 ± 0.009, 0.301 ± 0.047, 0.326 ± 0.016; the mRNA levels of IL-1β in cells were respectively 0.237 ± 0.021, 0.244 ± 0.041, 0.245 ± 0.013. There were no statistically significant differences in the above indexes among these three groups (with P values all above 0.05). Their levels were all significantly higher than those of control group [with contents of TNF-α and IL-1β in supernatant respectively (2.69 ± 0.14), (0.43 ± 0.05) ng/mL, and mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in cells respectively 0.140 ± 0.022, 0.077 ± 0.005, P values all below 0.01]., Conclusions: HMGB1 can induce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β from the KC in rats with severe burn. However, RAGE does not play a predominant role in this process.

The prenylation of aromatic compounds plays an important role in the natural product research because it not only gives rise to an astounding diversity of primary and secondary metabolites in plants, fungi and bacteria but also enhances the bioactivities and bioavailabilities of these compounds. However, further investigation of prenylated aromatic compounds is frequently hindered due to their low content in nature and difficulties in chemical synthesis. Cloning aromatic prenyltransferase genes followed by heterologous expression would be attractive tools for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of bioactive molecules. This review summarizes the classifications, structural investigations, enzymatic catalysis and other progress in aromatic prenyltransferases originated from microorganisms.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Biyan Qingdu Granula drug-containing serum (BQG-DS) on cell growth and apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines CNE1, CNE2, TWO3, C666-1, and explore the antineoplastic mechanism of Biyan Qingdu Granula., Methods: SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: experimental (Biyan Qingdu Granula) group, positive control (cytoxan) group and negative control group. After administration of drug, the serum was collected from the treated animals. MTT assay was used to examine the effect of BQG-DS on the proliferation of CNE1, CNE2, TWO3, C666-1 cell, and flow cytometry was used to observe the cell cycle distribution. Apoptosis of CNE1, CNE2, TWO3, C666-1 cell was further investigated by inverted microscope., Results: BQG-DS inhibited the proliferation of CNE1, CNE2, TWO3, C666-1 cell and the effects were in a time-and concentration-dependent manner. BQG-DS could also induce apoptosis while the G1 phase was arrested., Conclusion: BQG-DS inhibits proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via induction of apoptosis and arrest of cell cycle.

Ten compounds were isolated and purified from cell suspension cultures of Cudrania tricuspidata with silica-gel column chromatography, semi-preparative HPLC and Sephadex LH-20. On the base of their physicochemical properties and spectral data, their structures were identified as 1, 3, 5-trihydroxy4-(3, 3-dimethylallyl) xanthone (1), wighteone (2), 6-prenylapigenin (3), licoflavone C(4), cudraflavanone C(5), erythrivarone A (6), derrone (7), carthamidin (8), genistein (9) and aromadendrin (10). Among them, compounds 2-10 were flavonoids, and compound 1 was a xanthone which was isolated from the plant for the first time.

Estimating minerals abundance from reflectance spectra is one of the fundamental goals of remote sensing lunar exploration, and the main difficulties are the complicated mixing law of minerals spectrum and spectral features being sensitive to several kinds of factors such as topography, particle size and roughness etc. A method based on spectral unmixing was put forward and tested in the present paper. Before spectra are unmixed the spectral continuum is removed for clarifying and strengthening spectral features. The absorption features and reflectance features (the upward curving parts of spectra between absorption features) are integrated for unmixing to improve the unmixing performance. The Hapke model was used to correct unmixing error due to nonlinear mixing of minerals spectra. Forty three mixed spectra of olivine, clinopyroxene, hypersthene and plagioclase were used to validate the above method. The four minerals abundance was estimated under the conditions of being unaware of endmember spectra used to mix, granularity and chemical composition of minerals. Residual error, abundance error and correlation coefficient between retrieved and true abundance were 5.0 Vol%, 14.4 Vol% and 0.92 respectively. The method and result of this paper could be referred in the lunar minerals mapping of imaging spectrometer data such as M3.

In order to clarify the distribution characteristics and risk levels of heavy metals in typical drinking water sources of towns in Dongjiang River Basin, several regular water quality indexes as well as concentrations of Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, As, Cr, Hg, Pb and Cd were analyzed in the 45 random water samples of 9 towns in the study area. The risk assessment was conducted according to different drinking water types using the environmental health risk assessment model recommended by U. S. EPA. The results indicated that the metal carcinogenic risk is relatively high in this area. The highest carcinogenic risk was from Cr in reservoir water, with the risk for adult people reaching 1.14 x 10(-4) x(-1) and the risk of children reaching 2.14 x 10(-4) x a(-1). Total carcinogenic risk of reservoir, river and underground water exceeded the accepted level of 5.0 x 10(5) x a(-1) as suggested by ICRP while all the non-carcinogenic risk levels were within the acceptable range. The primary control sequence of metal pollution in this area was Cr > As > Pb > Fe > Zn; the risk value of different drinking water sources descended in this order: reservoir > river > underground water > mountain spring.

Objective: To explore the quantity and distribution of diatoms in main rivers and lakes in Xicheng, Dongcheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai and Shijingshan Districts of the city of Beijing., Methods: Water samples were examined through the method of disorganizing, which were collected from 16 rivers and lakes in the central city of Beijing in September and October 2011. Diatom species and proportions of water samples were analyzed using DotSlide microscope station., Results: A total of 10 species of diatoms were detected. Cyclotella, Synedra and Melosira etc. were found to be the dominant species via quantitative analysis. Significant differences were observed for diatom species and proportions among the different rivers and lakes. Melosira was found to be the dominant species in the Chang River; Synedra, in the Zhuan River, the Kunyu River and the Taoranting Park; Cyclotella, in the East Moat River, the Ba River, the Liangshui River and the Yongding River; and Navicula, in the Liangma River; Nitzschia, in the diversion canal of the Yongding River., Conclusion: The features of distribution of diatoms in the central city of Beijing are outlined. The morphological and relative constituent ratio database of diatoms are established in central city of Beijing.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Sarcandra glabra in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by γ-ray irradiation in the parotid gland of miniature pigs., Methods: Forty-five male miniature pigs were randomly divided into control group, radiation group and radiation plus medication group, and each group contained 3 parallel groups (subgroups a, b and c). From 1 week before exposure of the parotid gland region to 15 Gy γ-ray irradiation (which was not administered in the control group), the miniature pigs in radiation plus medication group were given Sarcandra glabra powder, while those in the other groups received an equal amount of saline. Bilateral parotid glands were taken and weighed on the days 10, 40 and 90 following the exposure in subgroups a, b, and c, respectively, and ROS content in the parotid glands were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay., Results: The content of ROS was significantly lower in radiation plus medication group than in the radiation group (P<0.01). In the radiation plus medication group, the ROS content showed no significant difference between subgroups a and b or between subgroups a and c (P>0.01), but differed significantly between subgroups b and c (P<0.01). Sarcandra glabra showed a strong ROS-scavenging effect 10 days after the irradiation, and the ROS content was similar with that in the control group (P>0.01); at 40 and 90 days, the ROS-scavenging effect of Sarcandra glabra was still observable, but the ROS content was significantly higher in the irradiation plus medication group than in the control group (P<0.01)., Conclusion: Sarcandra glabra displays a ROS-scavenging effect in the parotid gland of miniature pigs against irradiation, especially at 10 days following the exposure, which may serve as the main mechanism for the protective effect of Sarcandra glabra against radiation injury in the parotid gland.

Objective: To investigate changes of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentration in photodynamic induced rat anterior ischemic optic neuropathy model (rAION) and evaluate the effects of compound anisodine hydrobromide (CA)., Methods: Eighty-five Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were randomly divided into a blank control group of 10 rats and a model group of 75 rats. rAION model was established in the model group by photodynamic induction. The model group was divided into a rAION simple group of 25 rats, a CA intervention group of 25 rats, and a normal saline (NS) control group of 25 rats. Beginning from the day that the rAION model was established, temporal subcutaneous injections (once daily for 3 days) of CA and NS were performed in the CA and the NS groups, respectively. The plasma ET-1 concentrations were detected by radioimmunoassay and analyzed at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days., Results: The means plasma ET-1 concentration of rAION simple group is (114.9±17.6) ng/L, higher than that of the control group (69.4±9.1) ng/L (t=14.92, P<0.01). In the rAION model group, the plasma ET-1 concentrations 1 to 5 days after the model was established were higher than that of 7 to 14 days. During observational periods, on the 1st, 5th, 7th and 14th day, there was no significant difference between the CA and NS groups (t=0.58, 2.07, 0.81 and 0.93, P>0.05), but on the 3rd day the level of plasma ET-1 concentration in the CA group was significantly lower than that of the NS group (t=4.72, P<0.05)., Conclusions: Increase of plasma ET-1 concentrations may play an important role in the pathogenesis of photodynamic induced rAION model. CA can decrease the plasma ET-1 concentrations in rAION rats.

Objective: To study the changes of dietary pattern among adult residents in different areas of Liaoning province from 1989 to 2006., Methods: Healthy adults (6213 subjects) at age of 18 - 65 years from 480 households in three cities (Shenyang, Yingkou, Wafangdian) and three counties (Qingyuan, Huanren, Chaoyang) were selected with stratified multiple cluster random sampling. The information on nutrient intake of the subjects were collected from datasets of Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey conducted in 1989, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2004, and 2006. Different food intake, the nutrients intake percentages for recommended nutrition intake (RNI) and appropriate intake (AI), and the percentages of total energy and protein from grain, animal product, bean and its product were calculated to assess the residents' dietary pattern and nutrition status. The changes of dietary pattern among adult residents were analyzed., Results: Among the residents, there were a 38.1% of decreased intake for grain (from 601.9 to 372.5 g/d), 20.5% for potato (from 75.6 to 60.1 g/d), 25.1% for beans (from 38.7 to 29.0 g/d), and a 77.2% of increased intake for fish and shrimp (from 25.0 to 44.3 g/d), 36.9% for livestock and poultry (from 65.6 to 89.8 g/d), 47.7% for fruit (from 70.7 to 104.4 g/d), and intake of milk product (from 5.8 to 21.3 g/d), egg (from 17.3 to 35.7 g/d), vegetable (from 296.1 to 316.3 g/d) were also increased from 1989 to 2006. During the period, the intake percentages of energy and protein from grain decreased from 67.5% (8.7 MJ/12.8 MJ per day) to 51.5% (5.0 MJ/9.6 MJ per day) and from 72.0% (66.2 g/91.9 g per day) to 59.7% (45.3 g/75.9 g per day), and on the contrary those from animal products increased from 8.9% (1.1 MJ/12.8 MJ per day) to 14.8 (1.4 MJ/9.6 MJ per day) and from 15.9% (14.6 g/91.9 g per day) to 27.9% (21.2 g/75.9 g per day), respectively. In 2006, the intake of vitamin A (508.9 µg/d) was 67.6% of it's RNI, intake of vitamin B(2) (0.9 mg/d) was 64.6% and the intake of calcium (453.7 mg/d) was 52.5% of it's AI among the residents., Conclusion: The intake of plant food decreased and that of animal food increased from 1989 to 2006 and the dietary intakes of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B(2) need to be increased among adult population of Liaoning province.

Municipal solid waste management of urban communities has difficulties of insufficient source separation and food waste's high moisture content, an integrating technology of manual separation, simple compression of food waste, reclaim of food waste and composting leachate was studied. Manual separating rate was 36.8 kg/h, and would increase when the worker became sophisticated. Community separated food waste had high organic matter content of 44.493%, nutrients N, P, K contents of 2.586%, 0.649% and 1.274%, C/N ratio of 17.427, but 0.07-0.82 times lower heavy metals contents compared to centralized separation of mixed municipal solid waste. Moisture content of food waste was still 78.7%, high enough to have negative impacts of composting processes. Composting leachate processing with biological stabilization and dilution showed a fertilizer efficiency, and dry weight of impatiens irrigated with composting leachate was 1.46-2.49 times of tap water irrigation. Integrating technology based on community's manual separation could decrease 52.6% municipal solid waste.

By the methods of site investigation, data collection and correlation analysis, the bad tourist behaviors and their environmental impacts on Xixi National Wetland Park in 2006 were studied. The occurrence probabilities of three bad tourist behaviors, i.e., picking, trampling, and littering were 6.5%, 10.3% and 12.6%, respectively. Picking probability was primarily related to the vegetation types along walkways, while the scale of heavy trampling was negatively correlated with tour distance from the entrance. Waste production by each tourist was 782 g x d(-1) on average. The waste from littering amounted for 13.6% of the total. Tourist flow fluctuations of daily, weekly, and monthly perspectives for the study area showed high seasonality and successive days of overloaded tourist flows during peak seasons, which caused an increase of bad tourist behaviors. However, the water quality in the Park was not affected because of the improvement of dredging facilities.

Aim: To study the immunomodulatory effects of spleenic cells added by souble IL-15Ralpha on the regulation of melanoma cell growth., Methods: The spleenic cells of mice were prepared for culture for 48 hours by adding or not adding soluble IL-15Ralpha (sIL-15Ralpha). Then the adherent cells and non- adherent cells were separated. FACS was used to detect the expression of CD4, CD8, B220, CD11c and CD1a; as mentioned above, the four groups (non-adherent cells of spleenic cells, adherent cells of spleenic cells, non-adherent cells of spleenic cells added by sIL-15Ralpha, adherent cells of spleenic cells added by sIL-15Ralpha) were mixed with melanoma cells separately, then injected intraperitoneally into the cells to mice to observe the tumor volume of the mice, control group was only injected intraperitoneally into melanoma cells., Results: The melanoma growth rate of mice with adherent cells added by sIL-15Ralpha was significantly less than that of the other groups. FACS showed the molecules of this group were possibly dendritic cells., Conclusion: sIL-15Ralpha added by spleenic cells can make an immunomodulatory effets possibly mainly by the effects of dendritic cells and inhibit the growth of tumor cells.

Aiming at the ecological characters of the cities in central and west China, several ecological sanitary (ecosan) technologies with different adaptability were integrated, and five adaptive optimized technologies were established. The environmental effects, resources recyclable potential, economic benefits, management difficulties, and public acceptance of each of the technologies were studied, with the possible complex eco-benefits of the technical improvement assessed. The results showed that decentralized ecosan technologies had the advantages of conserving water, recycling nutrients and saving cost, but also had the problems in management and public acceptance. Centralized ecosan technologies had the advantages in management and public acceptance, but were short in high cost and low recycling potential. If the sanitary system was improved through applying ecosan technologies, the greenhouse gases emission (CO2 equivalent) and water pollution (calculated as BOD5) could be reduced by 70% and 30%, respectively, while recycled nutrients (the sum of N, P, K) could be increased by 15 times. The optimized system could supply 3% of domestic energy, 10% of domestic water, and 15% of food demand, and the total cost could be reduced by 56% when the resource-recycling benefits were taken into account.

There are many difficulties in ascertaining the area that needs to be remedied in contaminated site. This paper integrated the experts' judgments with grids as the sampling strategy in an abandoned pesticide plant in northern China, and applied a geostatistical method, inverse distance weighted interpolation (IDW), to simulate the pollutants- and risk spatial distribution. Based on soil environmental benchmark, two scenarios were designed for ascertaining the polluted area. The results showed that the area needed to be remedied and determined by IDW was somewhat larger, according to the national environmental 2nd standard for agricultural soils, but the area and cost needed for remedy were smaller and more economic and reasonable, based on the health risk threshold level and IDW method. A combination of IDW and health risk assessment in ascertaining polluted area would be a new way for site assessment and soil remediation in the future.

City is a kind of social-economic-natural complex ecosystem. How to realize the urban sustainable development is one of the important issues in the world. Eco-city is one of the ideal patterns for urban sustainable development, while the evaluation method and related indices of eco-city development are the main basis in measuring the effect of urban ecological planning, construction, and management. Taking the Dafeng City of Jiangsu Province as a case, the eco-city index system consisting of 58 indices of 4 categories including economic development, ecological construction, environment protection and social progress was established, and the construction effect was evaluated at different urban development phases by using Full Permutation Polygon Synthesis Illustration method. The results indicated that in 2004, the comprehensive index of Dafeng eco-city was 0.24, and the sustainable development ability was belonged to class IV, i.e., be worse, but in 2010, 2015 and 2020, it would reach to 0.45, 0.66 and 0.85, and the sustainable development ability would belong to class III, II and I, i.e., be moderate, better and excellent, respectively. This research could be a reference for decision-making of eco-city development.

Using the approaches of evaluating sustainable development and livable cities for references, a set of indicator systems were established to assess the ecological niche of complex ecosystem. The integrated ecological niche of complex ecosystem included 4 sub-niches of natural resources, environment, economy and society, and these sub-niches comprised many single-item indicators. How to apply the polygon synthesis indicators approach to calculate the integrated ecological niche and 4 sub-niches was introduced, and a quantitative assessment on the ecological niches of complex ecosystems in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under Central Government of China in 2003 was made. The results showed that Yunnan, Hainan and Guangxi had a higher sub-niche of natural resources, Hainan, Fujian and Hubei had a higher sub-niche of environment, Shanghai, Beijing and Zhejiang had a higher sub-niche of economy, and Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin had a higher sub-niche of society. The integrated ecological niche in Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan was the highest.

Ecological risk is a hotspot in the present environmental management study, which mainly focuses on the chemical, physical, and biological stressors that may damage ecosystem or its components. Ecological risk assessment (ERA) has a great significance for making scientific environmental management strategies. In order to lessen the damage of ecosystem or its parts, and to manage the ecosystem effectively, it is necessary to predict the probability the adverse ecological effects would occur and the consequences. This paper summarized the research methods, tools and trends of ERA, and pointed out the areas that need to be further studied. It was suggested that under the background of urbanization, urban ecological risk should be given more attentions. The prospects of further study were discussed, based on the issues existed in current researches.

Objective: To identify the promoter of human nicastrin (NCT) gene, a major component of gamma-secretase which is closely related with pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease., Methods: Promoter of human Alzheimer's disease related gene, nicastrin, a 1768 bp fragment was firstly isolated from human genomic DNA by PCR. This fragment's 3 flanking end was 4 bp upstream to the start codon ATG (+1) of the gene. This fragment was used as template, a series of deleted fragments were amplified and constructed to the pGL3-Enhancer plasmid with the artificial designed linkers. The relative activity of their promoter in Hela cells was studied by dual-luciferase assay., Results: The 420 bp fragment showed the strongest activity, and the 237 bp fragment was the minimal fragment in length with activity., Conclusion: The promoter of NCT is located at -432/-133 region upstream the translational start codon, while its basal promoter is between -359/-90 that drives the transcription of reporter gene in Hela cells.

Objective: To investigate the effects of exogenous nucleotides on apoptosis of a normal rat small intestinal epithelial cell line, IEC-6., Methods: Cultured IEC-6 cells were treated by four kinds of monophosphate nucleotides and their mixture prepared according to their composition in human milk, then the cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry measurement, morphologic characterization, and electron-microscope observation., Results: IEC-6 cells treated with AMP or GMP showed a apotosis peak in flow cytometry measurement, but only AMP produce typical apoptosis characteristics in electron-microscope observation. Pyrimidine nucleotides (UMP and CMP)and nucleotides mixture could not induce apoptosis. However, UMP could significantly eliminate the apoptosis-inducing effects of AMP or GMP., Conclusion: Purine nucleotides induce apoptosis of IEC-6, inducing effects of purine nucleotides. pyrimidine nucleotides UMP could abolish the apoptosis-inducing effects of purine nucleotides.

This paper present a microcontroller system for target controlled infusion according to pharmacodynamic parameters of intravenous anesthetics. It can control the depth of anesthesia by adjusting the level of plasma concentrations. The system has the advantages of high precision, extended function and easy operation. It has been now used in the clinical anesthesia.

Objective: Explore the mechanisms of DNA damage and repair capacity in TK6 and WTK1 cells that are derived from the same parental cell line WI-L2 (tk+/+) human diploid lymphoblastoid cells but are different in their p53 gene status., Methods: The TK6 and WTK1 cells treated with H2O2 were detected by single cell gel electrophoresis. Then a comparison was made on the comet cell rate, comet cell tail length and p53 protein expression level between TK6 and WTK1., Results: TK6 was more sensitive to DNA damage and its repair capacity was more quick and effective when compared with WTK1. Both TK6 and WTK1 cells showed effective post-damage repair capacity in incubation time of 0.5 h to 1 h. The background level of P53 protein in WTK1 was higher than that in TK6, but the level of P53 protein in H2O2-treated TK6 increased significantly higher than that in H2O2-treated WTK1., Conclusion: TK6 and WTK1 cells serve as a good biological experiment system for DNA damage sensitivity and repair capacity researches in the field of toxicology. TK6 is more sensitive to DNA damage, and it increases faster and higher than WTK1 after DNA being damaged. A possible explanation is that TK6 cell is of the p53 gene wild-type and WTK1 cell is of the mutant-type and they make different responses to the same chemical.

Background & Objective: Clinical studies showed there is no satisfying treatment efficacy of the patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using conventional fractionated radiotherapy. It is important to treat the patients with advanced NPC using different fractionated radiotherapy and radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. The current study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and radiation reactions of accelerated fractionated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy for advanced NPC patients., Methods: From June 1993 to June 1996, 416 patients pathologically confirmed NPC who firstly underwent radiotherapy were divided into three groups: accelerated fractionated radiotherapy group (AF group, n=138, 6 fractions per week, one time per day, 180-190 cGy per day to a total dose of 7,400-7,600 cGy). Accelerated fractionated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy group (AFC group, n=139, 6 fractions per week, one time per day, 180-190 cGy per day to a total dose of 7,400-7,600 cGy, cisplatin and 5-FU one time per week) and conventional fractionated radiotherapy group (CF group, n=139, 5 fractions per week, one time per day, 200 cGy per day to a total dose of 7,000-7,600 cGy). The local recurrent rate, 5-year survival rate, and acute radiation reactions in the three groups were observed., Results: All patients were followed up for more than 5 years. The local recurrent rates in AF group (16.7%) and AFC group (13.6%) were lower than that in CF group (27.3%)(P< 0.05). The 5-year survival rates in AF group (53.6%) and AFC group (57.6%) were higher than that in CF group (43.8%)(P< 0.05). The acute radiation reactions in AF group (47.1%) and AFC group (51.1%) were higher than that in CF group (33.8%)(P< 0.05)., Conclusion: AF and AFC schedules are feasible in reducing local recurrent rate and enhancing 5-year survival rate for patients with advanced NPC. The acute radiation reactions of the AF and AFC groups are tolerable.

In this study, an in vitro method of mouse limb bud culture in self-made rotator with continuous supplementation of gas mixture was employed in studying the teratogenic potential of cadmium and the influence of zinc on the teratogenesis induced by cadmium. Image analysis on the area and the form of the bone analgen of the cultured limb was used to evaluate quantitatively their teratogenic potentials. Different amounts of cadmium were directly added to culture medium. As cadmium concentrations were increased from 0.1 to 1.0 microgram/ml, the degree of morphogenetic differentiation and the area of the bone anlagen of limbs culture were significantly decreased. The paws and long bones were affected seriously. Cadmium had a greater effect on chondrogenic tissue than on soft tissue. Then various levels of Zn, together with cadmium (1.0 microgram/ml medium), were added into the culture media. As Zn concentrations increased from 1.0 to 10.0 micrograms/ml, the degree of morphogenetic differentiation and the area of cartilaginous bone anlagen of limbs culture were improved or increased. The long bones were better ameliorated as compared with the paw.

The purpose of this study was to explore the participation of physical activity and its related factors in the elderly in the community. Five hundred elderly ( > or = 65 yrs) living in the San-Min district of Kaohsiung city was taken as study subjects. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data including the following items: (1) the participation of physical activity (2) modifying factors: demographic data, biological characteristics, previous experience in exercise and exercise knowledge (3) cognitive-perceptual factors: perceived health status, perceived self-efficacy, perceived benefits and perceived barriers to exercise (4) cues to action. The results showed 19.2% of the elderly never exercised, 15.9% had exercised previously but not now, 20.4% exercised intermittently, 1% exercised only on holidays and 43.8% exercised regularly. Within the elderly who exercised regularly, 89.2% exercised more than three times a week and at least 20 minutes each time, walking was the most popular exercise pattern. The participation of physical activity had significant relationship with modifying factors, cognitive-perceptual factors and cues to action. After logistic stepwise multiple regression, those who totally self-care, without a history of exercise injury during youth, male, higher perceived self-efficacy score, lower perceived barriers score and those with higher cues to action score tended to exercise regularly.

The authors treated 40 cases of shoulder-hand syndrome of apoplexy hemiplegia with electro-acupuncture (EA) and filiform needle acupuncture (FNA) respectively. The results showed that EA had better results in treating hand back swelling, hand skin temperature elevating and the bending finger caused pain than that with FNA (P < 0.05). The finger joint and shoulder joint improvement (the functional scoring increased for 3 points or more) in EA was also better than that of FNA (P < 0.05). The total marked effective rate was higher in EA group (75%) than that in FNA (50%), P < 0.05). It suggested that EA produced rhythmic muscle contraction which had a "shoulder-hand pump" like action, and is significant in eliminating hand back swelling and preventing atrophy of hand muscles.

The purpose of this study is to understand the relationships for risk factors, health knowledge and lifestyles between children and their parents. 2806 primary schoolchildren in Kaohsiung City were measured for selected risk factors: serum cholesterol (CHOL), triglyceride (TG), systolic and diastolic blood pressure and height and weight for obese index (Rohrer's index). Children whose Rohrer's index > or = 150, or blood pressure, or CHOL, or TG level were above the 95th percentile distribution in the same age group were categorized as the risk group, the other children fell into the non-risk group. Using random sampling, 180 children were chosen from risk group and non-risk group respectively. A structured questionnaire about health knowledge and lifestyles were filled out by these children and their parents. In the risk group, the questionnaire was completed by 157 children, 103 fathers and 112 mothers. In the non-risk group, 102 children, 83 fathers and 82 mothers completed the questionnaire. The same risk factors examination of children was given to parents; 86 fathers and 144 mothers completed the examination from the risk group, while 56 fathers and 98 mothers completed the examination in the non-risk group. The results showed that: (1) there were significant positive correlations between children and their parents in CHOL, TG and obese index in risk group; children of mothers with higher CHOL and TG levels also showed higher CHOL and TG levels, (2) childrens' health knowledge was not correlated with parents' health knowledge, (3) childrens' lifestyles showed a significant positive correlation with mothers' lifestyles, (4) health knowledge has a significant positive correlation with childrens' and parents' lifestyles, (5) healthy lifestyles have a negative correlation with Rohrer's index in children and a negative correlation with TG level in fathers. The results suggest the presence of certain relationships for risk factors and lifestyles between children and their parents.

The purpose of this study is to explore the satisfaction of clients with the home visiting services provided by public health nurses. In addition, the related factors that influence this satisfaction are to be explored. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. This study comprises 247 subjects who were chosen via distributive sampling, 222 questionnaires were completed for use. The completed percentage achieved 90%. Factors analysis was used to discern the satisfaction components. The contents of the client's satisfaction can be broken down into 5 major areas: (1) the assistance provided by home health services; (2) the professional capacities of the home-visiting nurses; (3) the disturbance caused by the home health services; (4) the home visiting nurses' capacity for instruction and reaction; (5) the autonomy of home health services. The results of this study indicate that the clients' satisfaction ratio achieves 89%. A stepwise multiple regression was used to analyze the related factors that influence the clients' satisfaction. We found that the most important variables were "the assistance provided by home-visiting services", "the necessity of home-visiting services", and "the variation in client diagnosis". The predictable variance of these three variables reaches 34.8%.