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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of osteocalcin (OCN) on fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) in aged laying hens. Thirty 68-week-old White Plymouth laying hens were randomly assigned into conventional single-bird cages, and the cages were randomly allocated into one of 3 treatments (n = 10): normal diet (ND + vehicle, ND + V), high-fat diet (HFD + vehicle, HFD + V), and HFD + OCN (3 μg/bird, 1 time/2 d, i.m.) for 40 d. At day 30, oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and insulin tolerance tests (ITT) were performed. At the end of experiment, the hens were euthanized followed by blood collection. The plasma aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured using an automatic biochemistry analyzer. Pathological changes in the liver were examined under both light and transmission electron microscopes. The plasma inflammatory factors including interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were analyzed by ELISA, and the gene expressions of these inflammatory factors in the liver were analyzed by real-time PCR. The level of oxidative stress was evaluated using malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) assay kits, respectively. The results showed that HFD + V hens had more severe liver hemorrhage and fibrosis than ND + V hens (P < 0.05). The ultramicrostructural examination showed that hepatocytes of HFD + V hens exhibited necrotic pyknosis showing great intracellular electron, mitochondrial swelling, shrunk nucleus, and absence of autolysosomes. Osteocalcin mitigated HFD + V-induced pathological changes in aged laying hens. High-fat diet + OCN hens had higher insulin sensitivity; lower liver concentrations of MDA (P = 0.12) but higher GSH-Px (P < 0.05); and lower blood TNF-α concentrations (P < 0.05) and mRNA expressions (P < 0.05) than HFD + V hens. These results suggest OCN functions in preventing the FLHS process in old laying hens through inhibiting excessive energy diet-induced metabolic disorder, oxidative stress, and related pathological damage., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of motherwort injection (MI, Yi mu cao) in preventing post-abortion hemorrhage and promoting uterine retraction after induced abortion surgery., Methods: In this multi-center randomized controlled trial undertaken between September 2014 and August 2016, 408 child-bearing age women who underwent induced abortion surgery and randomly assigned to two groups: MI group who received intramuscular MI treatment (n = 207) and no-treatment group (n = 201). The volume of vaginal bleeding and its duration were used as primary end points; and uterine size and dimension were measured as secondary end points. Blood coagulation indices, routine blood and adverse events were recorded to evaluate the safety., Results: The efficacy analysis was based on 366 patients. No significant difference were found in baseline characteristics between the two groups (P > 0.05). The amount of vaginal bleeding and duration of bleeding were significantly reduced in MI group compared with on-treatment group in Full Analysis Set (FAS) and Per Protocol Set (PPS) populations (P < 0.001). The volume and perimeter of the uterine dimensions in MI group were smaller than no-treatment group (P < 0.001). No significant abnormal vital signs were observed. Only 1 case of mild, transient erythema was found in MI group., Conclusions: MI could reduce post-abortion hemorrhage and improve uterine retraction in women undergoing surgical induced abortion, without serious adverse events. It was a safe and effective treatment in preventing post-abortion hemorrhage after induced abortion., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The potential to remove nickel(II) ions from aqueous solutions using Na-mordenite, a common zeolite mineral, was thoroughly investigated. The effects of relevant parameters solution pH, adsorbent dose, ionic strength, and temperature on nickel(II) adsorption capacity were examined. The sorption data followed the Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir-Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms. The maximum sorption capacity was found to be 5.324 mg/g at pH 6, initial concentration of 40 mg/L and temperature of 20 degrees C. Thermodynamic parameters, viz. changes in standard free energy (DeltaG degrees ), enthalpy (DeltaH degrees ) and entropy (DeltaS degrees ) have also been evaluated and the results show that the sorption process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Dynamics of the sorption process were studied and the values of rate constant of adsorption, rate constant of intraparticle diffusion were calculated. The activation energy (E(a)) was found to be 12.465 kJ/mol in the present study, indicating a chemical sorption process involving weak interactions between sorbent and sorbate. The sorption capacity increased with the increase of solution pH and the decrease of ionic strength and adsorbent dose. The nickel(II) ions sorption by the Na-mordenite is not completely attributable to ion exchange. Compared to the other adsorbents, the nickel(II) ions show a lower affinity towards the clay mineral adsorbents.