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Seven new glycosides (1 − 7) with galloyl groups and two known kaempferol glycosides (8 and 9) were obtained from the overground parts of Balakata baccata. The structures of the new compounds were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. The rarely seen allene moiety in compounds 6 and 7 were described by detailed analysis of 1D and 2D NMR data. The antineuroinflammatory effect of all the isolates was assessed through inhibiting nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells. Compounds 1, 2, 6, and 7 showed potent inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 25.7, 17.2, 15.5 and 24.4 μM, respectively, compared with the positive control minocycline (IC50 = 16.1 μM).

One new phenylpropanoic acid congener, 2R-(5'-methoxy) pandanusphenol B (1), along with 26 known isolates, were isolated from Zanthoxylum nitidum. Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic data and circular dichroism analyses. All compounds, except 4, 7-10, 15, 17, 19 and 25, were reported from Z. nitidum for the first time. Among them, 16 compounds (1–3, 5–6, 12–14, 16, 20–24 and 26–27) were discovered from genus Zanthoxylum for the first time, while 15 compounds (1–3, 5–6, 12–14, 20–24 and 26–27) were isolated from the Rutaceae family for the first time. All isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines and the results showed that compound 27 exhibited significant cytotoxicity toward HepG2 and T24, with IC50 values of 2.49 and 7.0 μM, respectively.

A new natural product, 3α,19-dihydroxyl-ent-pimara-8(14),15-diene (1), which possesses an α-orientation hydroxymethyl at C-4 and ∆8,14 groups, as well as eight known compounds, was isolated from the rhizomes of Ricinus communis. The structure of 1 was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods and its absolute configurations were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The inhibitory rate of 1 against protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) was 49.49% at the concentration of 6.58 × 10−5 mol/L.

The antioxidant activity (AA) of ethyl acetate extracts of Caesalpinia sappan , Lithospermum erythrorhizon , Anemarrhena asphodeloides , Paris polyphylla and Illicium verum were tested in refined peanut oil at 60 ± 0.5 °C. The concentrations of the extracts added were 0.20% (w/w). The rate of oxidation was assessed by the measurement of peroxide value (PV) and calculation of such characteristics as induction period (IP), when PV reaches 20 meq kg −1 , protection factor (PF), which is the ratio of `IP of the sample with additive' and `IP of the sample without additive', and AA (the ratio of `IP increase of the sample with extract' and `IP increase of the sample with butylated hydroxytoluene'). All of C. sappan , L. erythrorhizon extracts and their combinations were found to be high effective in peanut oil. But the extracts of A. asphodeloides , P. polyphylla and I. verum slightly decrease the formation of peroxides in peanut oil as compared with pure oil.

Chemical investigations of the whole plant ethanol extract of Rubus phoenicolasius led to the isolation and identification of a new pregnane glycoside, 3-O-β-glucopyranosyl-3β,15β-dihydroxypregn-5-en-20-one (1), along with other nine known compounds (2–10). All the isolates were reported from this plant for the first time. The structure of compound 1 was determined by detailed analysis of its spectral data including 1D and 2D NMR. In vitro anti-proliferative activities of compounds 1–3 on MCF-7 and NCI-H460 tumour cell lines were evaluated, and compound 1 was active against the two cell lines with IC50 values of 15.6 and 13.5 μM, respectively.

Enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to chalcone was carried out in the presence of Ni(acac)2 complexed with five pyrrolidinylmethanols derived from L-proline. (S)-N-Benzyl-2-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl) pyrrolidine was found to be the best ligand in asymmetric conjugate addition among the five ligands. The products were obtained with up to 70% ee. The configuration of the product was determined jointly by the substituents on the carbon of the hydroxy group and the nitrogen atom.

How to make an appropriate sales promotion strategy is critical for enterprises, especially those small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. In this paper, we propose a customer-oriented model for sales promotion using data mining techniques. The proposed model can efficiently discovery the association rules between goods. To make the mining algorithm more scalable, a sparse data structure is designed and embedded into an improved association rule mining algorithm. We apply the proposed model on a cleaning product manufacturer. Experimental results show its effectiveness.

This paper discusses the influence of supply chain finance to supply chain performance management. We apply system dynamics to establish a supply chain finance model based on logistics, information and cash, and take quantitative analysis to the change of supply chain performance considered initial cash of retailer, Loan-to-value Ratio, average loan costs as control variables. It turns out that, this model can be used to optimize supply chain performance management.

Knowledge integration is one of the most important approaches of knowledge applications to achieve sustainable competitive advantages and business value. While it appears from literature analysis, there is not direct link between knowledge integration and business value but rather a complex and indirect relationship. Many companies frequently embark on knowledge integration without a explicit cognition of what business benefits they could expect. This article focuses on the current research status of knowledge integration and its impact on business value by means of an empirical survey study on 144 companies in China. To investigate the particular causality, exploratory factor analysis is used to test the classification of knowledge integration and business value. Moreover, canonical correlation analysis and stepwise regression analysis are deployed to scrutinize the impact of knowledge integration on business value and its measures. The results from statistical analyses show that knowledge integration has significant impact on business value. Finally, managerial signification is discussed.