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Secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) has been characterized as an oncoprotein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but its involvement in the pathological development of esophageal adenocarcinoma (ESAD) remains poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to explore the sources of SPARC in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its functional role in ESAD. Bioinformatic analysis was conducted using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-esophageal cancer (ESCA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). ESAD tumor cell line OE33 and OE19 cells were used as in vitro cell models. Results showed that SPARC upregulation was associated with unfavorable disease-specific survival (DSS) in ESAD. ESAD tumor cells (OE33 and OE19) had no detectable SPARC protein expression. In contrast, IHC staining in ESAD tumor tissues suggested that peritumoral stromal cells (tumor-associated fibroblasts and macrophages) were the dominant SPARC source in TME. Exogenous SPARC induced partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of ESAD cells, reflected by reduced CDH1 and elevated ZEB1/VIM expression at both mRNA and protein levels. Besides, exogenous SPARC enhanced tumor cell invasion. When TGFBR2 expression was inhibited, the activation of TGF-β signaling induced by exogenous SPARC was impaired. However, the activating effects were rescued by overexpressing mutant TGFBR2 resistant to the shRNA sequence. Copresence of exogenous SPARC and TGF-β1 induced higher expression of mesenchymal markers and enhanced the invading capability of ESAD cells than TGF-β1 alone. In conclusion, this study suggests a potential cross-talk between ESAD tumor stromal cells and cancer cells via a SPARC-TGF-β1 paracrine network.

Innovations in synthetic chemistry have a profound impact on the drug discovery process, and will always be a necessary driver of drug development. As a result, it is of significance to develop novel simple and effective synthetic installation of medicinal modules to promote drug discovery. Herein, we have developed a NaClOmediated cross installation of indoles and azoles, both of which are frequently encountered in drugs and natural products. This effective toolbox provides a convenient synthetic route to access a library of Nlinked 2-(azol-1-yl) indole derivatives, and can be used for late-stage modification of drugs, natural products and peptides. Moreover, biological screening of the library has revealed that several adducts showed promising anticancer activities against A549 and NCI-H1975 cells, which give us a hit for anticancer drug discovery.

Grape phenolic compounds undergo various types of transformations during winemaking under the influences of yeasts, which further impacts the sensory attributes, thus the quality of wine. Understanding the roles of yeasts in phenolics transformation is important for controlling wine quality through fermentation culture selection. This literature review discusses the mechanisms of how yeasts alter the phenolic compounds during winemaking, summarizes the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces yeasts on the content and composition of phenolics in wine, and highlights the influences of mixed cultural fermentation on the phenolic profile of wine. Collectively, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding on yeast-phenolics interactions and to identify the current literature gaps for future research.

Prolonged hypersecretion of catecholamine induced by chronic stress may correlate with malignant progression of cancer. β2‐adrenergic receptor (β2‐AR) overexpressed in certain cancer cells may translate the signals from neuroendocrine system to malignant signals by interacting with oncoproteins, such as Her2. In the present study, we demonstrate that catecholamine stimulation activates the expression and proteolytic activity of ADAM10 by modulating the expression of miR‐199a‐5p and SIRT1 and also confirm that catecholamine induction triggers the activities of γ‐secretase, leading to shedding of Her2 extracellular domain (ECD) by ADAM10 and subsequent intramembranous cleavage of Her2 intracellular domain (ICD) by presenilin‐dependent γ‐secretase, nuclear translocation of Her2 ICD, and enhanced transcription of tumor metastasis‐associated gene COX‐2. Chronic stimulation of catecholamine strongly promotes the invasive activities of cancer cells in vitro and spontaneous tumor lung metastasis in mice. Furthermore, nuclear localization of Her2 was significantly correlated with overexpression of β2‐AR in human breast cancer tissues, indicating that catecholamine‐induced β2‐AR activation plays decisive roles in tumor metastasis. Our data also reveal that an unknown mechanism by which the regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) initiated by β2‐AR‐mediated signaling controls a novel Her2‐mediated signaling transduction., In the present study, we demonstrated that catecholamine stimulation activates the expression and proteolytic activity of ADAM10 by modulating the expression of miR‐199a‐5p and SIRT1 and also confirm that catecholamine induction triggers the activities of γ‐secretase, leading to shedding of Her2 ECD by ADAM10 and subsequent intramembranous cleavage of Her2 ICD by presenilin‐dependent γ‐secretase, nuclear translocation of Her2 ICD, and enhanced transcription of tumor metastasis‐associated gene COX‐2. Chronic stimulation of catecholamine strongly promotes the invasive activities of cancer cells in vitro and spontaneous tumor lung metastasis in mice. Furthermore, the nuclear localization of Her2 was significantly correlated with overexpression of β2‐adrenergic receptor (β2‐AR) in human breast cancer tissues, indicating that catecholamine‐induced β2‐AR activation plays decisive roles in tumor metastasis.

Along with the concept of circular economy growing worldwide, circular business models (CBMs) have been receiving ever greater attention in both the business sector and academia. However, the existing literature on the CBM is scattered and fragmented; this study offers an integrated firm‐level framework to link CBM typologies, the circular economy transition process, and relevant tools for CBM development and clarifies the positioning and roles of those tools in the process. In response to the fragmentation issue, results of this study are presented in three subtopics: (a) CBM typologies and archetypes, (b) transition guidelines, and (c) major analytical tools for CBM research. The roles and functions of CBM typologies and tools were integrated in different stages of the transition process, and the challenges and shortfalls for CBM research in the various stages were identified. This work lays the foundation for future operational studies.

This study develops a hybrid material flow analysis (HMFA) method to evaluate the annual additional quantity of material stock, known as net additions to stock (NAS) at both micro‐ and macro‐levels through analyzing the fixed capital formation (FCF) and total supply in input‐output tables (IOTs). HMFA turns NAS from a balance indicator in the top‐down approach to an indicator with meaningful value in terms of urban ore evaluation. To verify the validity of HMFA, this study compares the developed HMFA with a top‐down approach and a bottom‐up approach through assessing the NAS of Taiwan and Germany. The quantity of NAS estimated by HMFA is considered as a more conservative upper bound than that by the top‐down approach, while underestimation often occurs with a bottom‐up approach. HMFA has been proven as an efficient and rational evaluation method which overcomes a key limitation in assessing micro‐level material stock by a top‐down approach, and solves the data demanding problem of the bottom‐up approach for quantifying material stock.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated protein 4 (NEDD4) plays a crucial role in governing a number of signaling pathways, including insulin and autophagy signaling. However, the molecular mechanism by which NEDD4 gene is transcriptionally regulated has not been fully elucidated. Here, we reported that NEDD4 mRNA and protein levels were increased by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) in HepG2 hepatocytes. PPARγ antagonist GW9662 abolished thiazolidinedione (TZD)-induced NEDD4 expression. ChIP and luciferase reporter assays showed that PPARγ directly bound to the potential PPAR-responsive elements (PPREs) within the promoter region of the human NEDD4 gene. In addition, TZDs increased Akt phosphorylation and glucose uptake, which were abrogated through NEDD4 depletion. Furthermore, we showed that NEDD4-mediated autophagy induction and Akt phosphorylation were suppressed by oleic acid and high glucose treatment, activation of PPARγ successfully prevented this suppression. In conclusion, these results suggest that PPARγ plays a novel role in linking glucose metabolism and protein homeostasis through NEDD4-mediated effects on the autophagy machinery.

Glycosides are a kind of highly important natural aromatic precursors in tobacco leaves. In this study, a novel HKUST-1-coated monolith dip-it sampler was designed for the fast and sensitive analysis of trace glycosides using direct analysis in real-time mass spectrometry. This device was prepared in two steps: in situ polymerization of monolith in a glass capillary of dip-it and layer-by-layer growth of HKUST-1 on the surface of monolith. Sufficient extraction was realized by immersing the tip to solution and in situ desorption was carried out by plasma direct analysis in real time. Compared with traditional solid-phase microextraction protocols, sample desorption was not needed anymore, and only extraction conditions were needed to be optimized in this method, including the gas temperature of direct analysis in real time, extraction time, and CH3 COONH4 additive concentration. This method enabled the simultaneous detection of six kinds of glycosides with the limits of detection of 0.02-0.05 μg/mL and the linear ranges covering two orders of magnitude with the limits of quantitation of 0.05-0.1 μg/mL. Moreover, the developed method was applied for the glycosides analysis of three tobacco samples, which only took about 2 s for every sample.

BACKGROUND We explored correlations between the new International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society classification, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status, and prognosis. METHODS Data from 293 patients with lung adenocarcinoma were classified according to the new classification. Fisher's exact, χ2 , and log-rank tests and Cox regression analysis were used to analyze correlations between EGFR mutation status, lung cancer prognosis, and the new histologic subtype. Disease-free survival and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS Lepidic and non-solid adenocarcinomas showed significantly elevated EGFR mutation rates (79.0% and 65.8%, respectively; P < 0.05). EGFR mutation status was only associated with gender (P < 0.001). EGFR mutation-positive patients who received targeted therapy had better median PFS than those who received chemotherapy as first-line treatment (P < 0.001). The median PFS of patients with exon 19 and exon 21 mutations who received first-line targeted therapy were 12.5 and 9.5 months, respectively (P = 0.970). Patients with micropapillary predominant adenocarcinomas had the shortest disease-free survival (

Nuclei and mitochondria are the only cellular organelles containing genes, which are specific targets for efficient cancer therapy. So far, several photosensitizers have been reported for mitochondria targeting, and another few have been reported for nuclei targeting. However, none have been reported for photosensitization in both mitochondria and nucleus, especially in cascade mode, which can significantly reduce the photosensitizers needed for maximal treatment effect. Herein, a light‐driven, mitochondria‐to‐nucleus cascade dual organelle cancer cell ablation strategy is reported. A functionalized iridium complex, named BT‐Ir, is designed as a photosensitizer, which targets mitochondria first for photosensitization and subsequently is translocated to a cell nucleus for continuous photodynamic cancer cell ablation. This strategy opens new opportunities for efficient photodynamic therapy., Herein, a functionalized iridium complex, named BT‐Ir, is designed as a light‐driven, mitochondria‐to‐nucleus cascade organelle targeted photosensitizer, which targets mitochondria first for photosensitization and subsequently is translocated to the cell nucleus for continuous photodynamic cancer cell ablation. This strategy opens new opportunities for efficient photodynamic therapy.

A novel carbon nanotubes-based fluoridated hydroxyapatite (CNTs/FHA) composite is prepared by an in situ chemical synthesis method and spark plasma sintering technology. The 1 wt% CNTs/FHA composite exhibits ≈82 and ≈86% improvement in fracture toughness and hardness, respectively. The chemical stability of the CNTs/FHA composite is evaluated by determining the Ca2+ ion release. The result indicates that the substitution of F− ions into the HA structure has a positive effect on the dissolution resistance of HA. The in vitro bioactivity assessment shows that the osteoblast proliferation and differentiation ability are improved. Further, it is observed that the composites can effectively inactivate oral bacteria. Therefore, the CNTs/FHA composite is expected to be a promising material for dental implants.

Primulina maciejewskii F. Wen, R.L. Zhang & A.Q. Dong, a new species of Primulina (Gesneriaceae) from Guangdong, China, is described and illustrated. It is similar to P. lobulata and P. danxiaensis in leaf and flower shape, but can be distinguished by bract shape, peduncle, pedicel, and bract size, filament and anther indumentum, and number of bracts, staminodes and stigma.

A fast, sensitive, and reliable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation and pharmacokinetic study of five phthalides (senkyunolide A, ligustilide, butylidenephthalide, 3-butylphthalide, and levistilide A) in rat plasma after oral administration of Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXLD) or Angelica sinensis--Ligusticum chuanxiong herb pair (DG-CX) between normal and arthritis rats. After extraction from blood, the analytes and internal standard were subjected to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with a Shim-pack XR-ODS column (75 × 3.0 mm(2) , 2.2 μm particles) and mobile phase was composed of methanol and water (containing 0.05% formic acid) under gradient elution conditions, with an electrospray ionization source in the positive ionization and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The lower limits of quantification were 0.192-0.800 ng/mL for all the analytes. Satisfactory linearity, precision, accuracy, mean extraction recovery, and acceptable matrix effect have been achieved. The validated method was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of five bioactive components in rat plasma after oral administration of HLXLD or DG-CX alone, respectively, between normal and arthritic rats. The results showed that there were unlike characters of pharmacokinetics among different groups.

A fast, sensitive and reliable ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method has been developed and validated for simultaneous quantitation and pharmacokinetic study of five tanshinones (tanshinone I, tanshinone IIA, tanshinone IIB, dihydrotanshinone I, cryptotanshinone), the bio-active ingredients of Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXLD) in rat plasma. After liquid-liquid extraction, chromatographic separation was accomplished on a Shim-pack XR-ODS column (75 × 3.0 mm, 2.2 µm particles) and eluted with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-0.05% formic acid aqueous solution (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min, and the total run time was 7.0 min. The detection was performed on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray ionization source in positive ionization and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The lower limits of quantification were 0.050-0.400 ng/mL for all the analytes. Linearity, precision and accuracy, the mean extraction recoveries and matrix effects all satisfied criteria for acceptance. This validated method was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of five bio-active components in rat plasma after oral administration of HLXLD or Salvia miltiorrhiza extract in normal and arthritic rats. The results showed that there were different pharmacokinetic characteristics among different groups. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nepheline-based water-permeable bricks are prepared with coal gangue and aluminum hydroxide by raw material pretreating, mixing, isostatic molding, roasting, and self-curing. These bricks exhibit balance between their mechanical and water-permeable properties. In this study, two main factors, the raw material ratio and the molding pressure, are studied. The mineral phase, porous structure, and mechanical properties of the samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mercury injection, respectively. The compressive strength and water permeability of the bricks meet Chinese industry standard JC/T945-2005 for water-permeable bricks. The compressive strengths of the samples are between 30.6 and 34.3 MPa. The permeability coefficients range from 1.37 cm s−1 to 1.55 cm s−1. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2016

Invited for this month's cover are the groups of Shih-kang Lin at the National Cheng Kung University and Takeshi Abe at Kyoto University. The image shows how interfacial chemistry design can play a role in unlocking higher-energy-density and fast-charging Li4 Ti5 O12 -based lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle applications. The Full Paper itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202001086.

Nowadays, cell membrane-targeted therapy, which owns high antitumor efficacy by avoiding cell barriers, has received great attention. Here, a cell membrane-targeted self-delivery theranostic chimeric peptide CMP-PpIX is designed for simultaneously targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumor and real-time therapeutic feedback. Self-assembled CMP-PpIX nanoparticles can effectively accumulate in tumor by enhanced permeability and retention effect without additional vector. And this chimeric peptide CMP-PpIX has low background fluorescence, which is due to its relatively high intramolecular Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) quenching efficiency between 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and 4-(dimethylaminoazo)-benzene-4-carboxylic acid (Dabcyl). More importantly, CMP-PpIX can be anchored on the tumor cell membrane for more than 8 h. Under irradiation, reactive oxygen species produced by CMP-PpIX directly damage cell membrane and rapidly induce apoptosis, which significantly improve the efficacy of PDT in vitro and in vivo. Then, peptide sequence Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVD) is subsequently cleaved by activated caspase-3 and activated caspase-7, which separates the FAM and Dabcyl and terminates the FRET process. Therefore, fluorescence of FAM is recovered to monitor the expression of activated caspase-3 in vitro and in vivo to feedback real-time PDT therapeutic efficacy. In general, a novel cell membrane-targeted self-delivery theranostic chimeric peptide offers new promise for effective imaging-guided PDT.

Cancer remains one of the world's leading causes of death. However, most conventional chemotherapeutic drugs only show a narrow therapeutic window in patients because of their inability to discriminate cancer cells from healthy cells. Nanoparticle-based therapeutics (termed nanotherapeutics) have emerged as potential solutions to mitigate many obstacles posed by these free drugs. Deep insights into knowledge of the tumor microenvironment and materials science make it possible to construct nanotherapeutics that are able to release cargoes in response to a variety of internal stimuli and external triggers. Therefore, such highly sophisticated nanosystems could help impede the premature release of toxic drugs in the blood circulation or healthy tissues, thus enhancing the safety profiles of encapsulated drugs. In this context, this review offers a comprehensive overview of several specific stimuli, including internal stimuli (e.g., pH, temperature, enzyme, redox, and H2 O2 ) and external stimuli (e.g., magnetic, photo, and ultrasound). We envision that applications of these smart nanotherapeutics can benefit cancer patients and provide a good chance for clinical translation of many nanoparticle formulas. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices Diagnostic Tools > in vitro Nanoparticle-Based Sensing.

The dispersibility in aqueous phase and antibacterial activity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) with mixed surfactant functionalization has been studied. The ratio of 3:7 between hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and octylphenol ethoxylate (TX100) showed the highest dispersing power for MWNT. The use of mixed surfactants formed stable MWNT dispersions at lower total surfactant concentration compared to their concentrations when used alone. UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were employed to characterize the dispersion of MWNT in the aqueous phase. The result indicated that the surfactant molecules had been successfully adsorbed onto the surface of the MWNT. Bacterial toxicity assay showed that the mixed surfactant-functionalized MWNT had a strong antibacterial activity and concentration dependence to Staphylococcus aureus. Based on the consideration of the cost and environmental impact, the use of mixed surfactant (CTAB-TX100) should be more favorable for the stable dispersion of MWNT and the improvement of antibacterial activity than that of an individual surfactant. These observations suggested that the mixed surfactant-functionalized MWNT might be a promising antibacterial agent for removal and inactivation of biological contaminants in water treatment applications.

Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXLD), a Chinese herbal formula, is used in folk medicine for the treatment of arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases. However, the in vivo integrated metabolism of its multiple components remains unknown. In this paper, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method was developed for detection and identification of HLXLD metabolites in rat urine at high and normal clinical dosages. The prototype constituents and their metabolites in urine were analyzed. The mass measurements were accurate within 8 ppm, and subsequent fragment ions offered higher quality structural information for interpretation of the fragmentation pathways of various compounds. A total of 85 compounds were detected in high dosages urine samples by a highly sensitive extracted ion chromatograms method, including 31 parent compounds and 54 metabolites. Our results indicated that phase 2 reactions (e.g. glucuronidation, glutathionidation and sulfation) were the main metabolic pathways of lactones, alkaloids and flavones, while phase I reactions (e.g. hydrogenation and hydroxylation) were the major metabolic reaction for coumarins, paeoniflorin and iridoids. This investigation provided important structural information on the metabolism of HLXLD and provided scientific evidence to obtain a more comprehensive metabolic profile.

A simple, reliable and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantification of four secoiridoid (gentiopicroside, swertiamarin, sweroside) and iridoid glycosides (loganic acid), the bio-active ingredients in rat plasma. After liquid–liquid extraction, chromatographic separation was accomplished on a Shim-pack XR-ODS column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.1% formic acid in water. A triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray ionization source was used as detector operating both in positive and negative ionization mode and operated by multiple-reaction monitoring scanning. The lower limits of quantitation were 0.25–30 ng/mL for all the analytes. Both intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy of analytes were well within acceptance criteria (±15%). The mean extraction recoveries of analytes and internal standard (amygdalin) from rat plasma were all >71.4%. The validated method was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of four analytes in rat plasma between normal and arthritic rats after oral administration of Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan and Gentiana macrophylla extract, respectively. Results showed significant differences in pharmacokinetic properties of the analytes among the different groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Memristors have attracted broad interest as a promising candidate for future memory and computing applications. Particularly, it is believed that memristors can effectively implement synaptic functions and enable efficient neuromorphic systems. Most previous studies, however, focus on implementing specific synaptic learning rules by carefully engineering external programming parameters instead of focusing on emulating the internal cause that leads to the apparent learning rules. Here, it is shown that by taking advantage of the different time scales of internal oxygen vacancy (VO) dynamics in an oxide-based memristor, diverse synaptic functions at different time scales can be implemented naturally. Mathematically, the device can be effectively modeled as a second-order memristor with a simple set of equations including multiple state variables. Not only is this approach more biorealistic and easier to implement, by focusing on the fundamental driving mechanisms it allows the development of complete theoretical and experimental frameworks for biologically inspired computing systems.

The identification of potential by-product exchanges is important for fostering industrial symbiosis. To discover these potential exchanges, this article extends the analysis of local industrial symbiosis to a national scale. A waste input-output table, which is a material flow accounting tool, was compiled and used as a database to examine the existing exchanges of by-products. The supplies and demands of industrial wastes or by-products were compared to highlight their potential use for promoting higher exchange flows. The analysis of the linkages indicated that the majority of each of the by-products were reused by the few industries that had the technology and operational capacity for reuse. This finding is useful for determining which industries are good candidates for promoting further industrial symbiosis (IS). Based on a nation-wide analysis that considered the industrial characteristics of Taiwan comprehensively, 23 types of major by-products with greater reuse flows and 216 potential exchange patterns were identified between the industries. In addition, three types of eco-industrial networks were characterized as follows according to their dominant types: (1) fossil fuel, metal, and mineral-dominated; (2) agricultural and synthetic material-dominated; and (3) information and communications technology (ICT) and chemical industry-dominated eco-industrial networks. This analysis highlights the resource exchange potentials and provides information to new firms for networking with existing businesses

The objective of this study was to develop a sensitive and reliable ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous quantitation of three monoterpene glycosides (paeoniflorin, alibiflorin and oxypaeoniflorin) and four alkaloids (tetrahydropalmatine, corydaline, dehydrocorydaline and berberine), the main active ingredients of Radix Paeoniae Rubra extract (RPE) and Corydalis yanhusuo extract (CYE) in Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXLD), and to compare the pharmacokinetics of these active ingredients in normal and arthritic rats orally administrated with HLXLD or RPE/CYE alone. The analytes and internal standard (IS) (geniposide) were separated on a XBridge C18 column (150 × 4.6 mm, 3.5 µm) using gradient elution with the mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.01% formic acid in water at a flow rate of 0.6 ml/min. The detection of the analytes was performed on Acquity UPLC-MS/MS system with an electrospray ionization and multiple reaction monitoring mode via polarity switching between negative (for monoterpene glycosides) and positive (for alkaloids) ionization mode. The lower limits of quantification were 2.5, 1, 0.5, 0.2, 0.2, 0.02 and 0.01 ng/ml for paeoniflorin, alibiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, tetrahydropalmatine, corydaline, dehydrocorydaline and berberine, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy of analytes were well within acceptance criteria (15%). The mean extraction recoveries of analytes and IS from rat plasma were all more than 83.1%. The validated method has been successfully applied to determination of the analytes. Results showed that there were remarkable differences in pharmacokinetic properties of the analytes between herbal formula and single herb group, normal and arthritic group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric method with monolithic material sorptive extraction (MMSE) pretreatment was developed to determine the breath gas composition in lung cancer patients. MonoTrap silica monolithic and hybrid adsorbent was selected as the extraction medium during MMSE, given its strong capacity to extract volatile organic compounds (VOC) from exhaled gas. Under the appropriate conditions, high extraction efficiency was achieved. Using the selected ion-monitoring mode, the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio 3) for the benzene series was 0.012–2.172 ng L−1. The limit of quantitation (signal-to-noise ratio, 10) was 0.042–7.24 ng L−1. The linearity range of the method was 4–400 ng L−1. Average recovery of the benzene series at lower concentrations was 65–74% (20 ng L−1). The relative standard deviation of benzene series contents determined within the linear range of detection was

Branches and leafy shoots of fossil Glyptostrobus Endlicher (Cupressaceae s.l.), preserved as compressions of leaf cuticle with stomata and a single scale of a seed cone, have been found for the first time in the Jijuntun Formations of the Eocene in Fushun, Liaoning Province, NE China. These fossil remains are identified as Glyptostrobus by comparing them with Sequoia, Metasequoia, and Taxodium, which are commonly in association and have similar morphological features. The fossil remains are assigned to Glyptostrobus based on characters of leaf morphotypes, phyllotaxis, leaf apex, leaf base, epidermal cell morphology, orientation of stomata, and a single flabellate ovuliferous scale of a seed cone. All of the characteristics of the fossil remains are in agreement with those of the diagnosis of G. europaeus (Brongn.) Ung. These newly described Glyptostrobus specimens from China represent linear, linear-subulate, and scale-like leaves. The species G. europaeus is common for Eurasia where it has a wide geographic and stratigraphic range, but the cuticle characteristics of the species are rarely reported. In China, fossil remains of G. europaeus have been found in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Hong Kong.

Three new pyrrolizidine alkaloids, nervosine VII ( 1 ), nervosine VIII ( 2 ) and nervosine IX ( 3 ) were isolated from the whole plant extract of Liparis nervosa . Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses (including 1D, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS) and chemical methods. Compounds 1–3 were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against A549, MCF-7and H460 human cancer cell lines.

Phytolacca is the biggest and most original genus in Phytolaccaceae and an important genus in plant systematic studies. Light microscopy results show that the Phytolacca americana L. ovule arises from the caulis (floral receptacle). The perisperm and hypostase are simultaneously initiated from the top several layers of cells of chalaza after fertilization, and the perisperm is located between the nucellus and hypostase. In the early stages of development, the hypostase cells are thin-walled with dense cytoplasm, clear nuclei, and some reserve granules. Later, at the heart-shaped embryo stage, the hypostase cells are dead and thick-walled. The main functions of the hypostase may be to maintain cellular division and perisperm growth without delivering nutrient materials to the perisperm. An evolutionary picture of placentation in Caryophyllales is also presented.

Inspired by biological systems that have the inherent skill to generate considerable bioelectricity from the salt content in fluids with highly selective ion channels and pumps on cell membranes, herein, a fully abiotic single-pore nanofluidic energy-harvesting system that efficiently converts Gibbs free energy in the form of a salinity gradient into electricity is demonstrated. The maximum power output with the individual nanopore approaches ∼26 pW. By exploiting parallelization, the estimated power density can be enhanced by one to three orders over previous ion-exchange membranes. A theoretical description is proposed to explain the power generation with the salinity-gradient-driven nanofluidic system. Calculation results suggest that the electric-power generation and its efficiency can be further optimized by enhancing the surface-charge density (up to 100 mC m−2) and adopting the appropriate nanopore size (between 10 and 50 nm). This facile and cost-efficient energy-harvesting system has the potential to power biomedical tiny devices or construct future clean-energy recovery plants.

The carbonation/calcination loop of CaO/CaCO3 is an efficient process for CO2 capture. This study investigated the CO2 capture capability of CaO powders derived from oyster shells and reagent-grade CaCO3. The oyster shell-derived CaO powder had an oxide impurity content as high as 9 wt%, and a larger CaO crystal grain size and smaller specific surface area than the CaO derived from the reagent-grade CaCO3. In cyclic CO2 capture tests, the cyclability and CO2 capacity of the oyster shell-derived CaO was significantly improved by inserting an intermediate cooling step between carbonation and calcination. At a carbonation temperature of 740°C, the overall performance of the oyster shell-derived CaO in cyclic carbonation was superior to that of the CaO from the reagent-grade CaCO3. On the basis of X-ray diffraction analysis, it was suggested that the impurities contained in the oyster shell-derived CaO may have constituted transition zone on the CaO crystal grain-boundary to suppress crystal growth in calcination as well as to ease up lattice expansion in CO2 fixation. The intermediate cooling enlarged the transition zone to mitigate lattice dislocations resulting from CO2 fixation and thus, the decay in CO2 capacity.

It has been demonstrated that transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) improves recovery of injured spinal cord in animal models. However, the mechanism of how BMSCs promote repair of injured spinal cord remains under investigation. The present study investigated the neural differentiation of BMSCs, the lesion volume and axonal regrowth of injured spinal cord after transplantation. Seven days after spinal cord injury, 3 x 10(5) BMSCs or PBS (control) was delivered into the injury epicenter of the spinal cord. At 8 weeks after spinal cord injury, transplantation of BMSCs reduced the volume of cavity and increased spared white matter as compared to the control. BMSCs did not express the cell marker of neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in injured spinal cord. Transmission electron microscopic examination displayed an increase in the number of axons in BMSC rats. The effect of BMSCs on growth of neuronal process was further investigated by using a coculture system. The length and the number of neurites from spinal neurons significantly increased when they cocultured with BMSCs. PCR and immunochemical analysis showed that BMSCs expressed brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glia cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). These findings demonstrate that transplantation of BMSCs reduces lesion volume and promotes axonal regrowth of injured spinal cord.