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Establishing specific reference intervals (RIs) of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D] for children is essential for improving the accuracy of diagnosis and prognosis monitoring of diseases such as rickets and growth retardation. The study including 6,627 healthy children was conducted to establish specific RIs of 25(OH)D for children in Nanning area of China. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences among age, season, and gender of serum 25(OH)D levels, and the age-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D were 20.3 ~ 53.6 ng/mL for 0 ~ ≤ 1 year and 18.9 ~ 49.6 ng/mL for 2 ~ ≤ 3 years. The age-, season-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D for 4 ~ ≤ 6 years in spring–summer and autumn–winter were 15.8 ~ 42.6 ng/mL and 15.2 ~ 37.7 ng/mL, respectively. The age-, gender-specific RIs of serum 25(OH)D for 7 ~ ≤ 18 years for males and females were 12.1 ~ 36.1 ng/mL and 10.8 ~ 35.3 ng/mL, respectively. This study successfully established the RIs of serum 25(OH)D, which may help to improve disease diagnosis and monitoring for children in the Nanning area of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorinated SnO2 hollow nanospheres (HS) were synthesized via a solvothermal treatment of stannous fluoride in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. These nanospheres with diameters from 60nm to 100nm were composed of small nanoparticles with rutile phase. A small amount of fluorine ions were observed to be adsorbed on the surface of SnO2 physically. The introduction of polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200) in the reaction system could obviously improve the crystallinity and specific surface areas of the product while maintaining the hollow nanosphere structure. Furthermore, the as-prepared SnO2 sample (HS-PEG) showed a much enhanced photocatalytic activity with 100% degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) within only 40min under UV light irradiation. Fluorinated SnO2 hollow nanospheres (HS) were synthesized via a hydrothermal treatment. The introduction of polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200) to the reaction system obviously improved the crystallinity and specific surface areas of the product while maintained the hollow nanosphere structure. The as-prepared SnO2 sample (HS-PEG) showed a much enhanced photocatalytic activity with 100% degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) within only 40 min under UV light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of baicalin at different doses administered for different periods of time in the treatment of renal interstitial fibrosis in rats with unliateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and related mechanisms., Methods: Sixty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operation, model, low-dose baicalin, and high-dose baicalin groups, and each group was further randomly divided into 7-day and 14-day groups (n=8 each). Left ureteral ligation was used to establish the rat model of UUO. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe the pathological changes in the kidney. ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), Notch1, and Jagged1. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expression of TGF-β1 and Notch1. The Pearson correlation analysis was used for correlation analysis., Results: Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed inflammatory cell infiltration and edema in renal interstitium, tubular dilation and structure disorder, degeneration and necrosis of renal tubular epithelial cells, and a basically normal structure of the glomeruli on days 7 and 14 in the model group, and these lesions were alleviated in the low- and high-dose baicalin groups. Compared with the sham-operation group, the model group had a significantly higher serum level of TGF-β1 and a significantly higher number of TGF-β1-positive cells in renal tissues on days 7 and 14 (P<0.05). Compared with the model group at the same time points, the high- and low-dose baicalin groups had a significantly lower serum level of TGF-β1 and a significantly lower number of TGF-β1-positive cells in renal tissues on days 7 and 14 (P<0.05). The serum level of Jagged1 showed no significant differences between any two groups on days 7 and 14 (P>0.05). The serum level of TGF-β1 was positively correlated with that of Notch1 (r=0.650, P<0.01), and the serum level of Notch1 was positively correlated with that of Jagged1 (r=0.727, P<0.01). TGF-β1 level in renal tissues was also positively correlated with the number of Notch1-positive cells (r=0.743, P<0.01)., Conclusions: Baicalin can alleviate renal interstitial fibrosis in UUO rats, probably by inhibiting Notch1 signaling pathway and the expression of TGF-β1.

The origin and evolution of the domestic dog remains a controversial question for the scientific community, with basic aspects such as the place and date of origin, and the number of times dogs were domesticated, open to dispute. Using whole genome sequences from a total of 58 canids (12 gray wolves, 27 primitive dogs from Asia and Africa, and a collection of 19 diverse breeds from across the world), we find that dogs from southern East Asia have significantly higher genetic diversity compared to other populations, and are the most basal group relating to gray wolves, indicating an ancient origin of domestic dogs in southern East Asia 33 000 years ago. Around 15 000 years ago, a subset of ancestral dogs started migrating to the Middle East, Africa and Europe, arriving in Europe at about 10 000 years ago. One of the out of Asia lineages also migrated back to the east, creating a series of admixed populations with the endemic Asian lineages in northern China before migrating to the New World. For the first time, our study unravels an extraordinary journey that the domestic dog has traveled on earth.

Objective: To study the chemical constituents of Mallotus paniculaus radix., Methods: The compounds were isolated with column chromatography. The chemical structures were identified by spectral and spectroscopic technology., Results: Seven compounds were isolated from the n-BuOH extract and identified as scopoletin(1), isoscopletin(2), erythordiol(3), apigenin(4), 4-methoxybenzoic acid(5), acetylaleuritolic acid(6) and β-daucosterol (7)., Conclusion: compounds 2 - 6 are isolated from this plant for the first time.