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Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl (FS), the fruit of Oleaceae plants, as a large part of traditional Chinese medicine, is classified as "Qingqiao (Q)" and "Laoqiao (L)" based on the harvest time. Because the maturation of FS is a gradual process, its accurate identification based on different maturity levels is an important issue.We suggest colorimetric, electronic tongue, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) characteristic fingerprints to discriminate FS in different harvest periods.First, FS fruits from different harvest times were collected, and then, their colour parameters, E-tongue sensory properties, HPLC characteristic fingerprints, and contents of nominal ingredients were determined. Finally, multivariate statistical analyses, including three-dimensional scatter plots, hierarchical cluster, principal component, linear discriminant, similarity, and partial least squares discriminant analyses were performed.The results demonstrated that the three experimental techniques could effectively discriminate FS based on different harvest times with 100% accuracy. Under the qualitative conditions, nine common peaks were identified in the HPLC fingerprints of 60 samples, among which, six peaks [variable importance in projection (VIP) 1] could be used as index peaks for qualitative identification. In fact, the contents of quality marker components, including forsythin, phillygenin, rutin and forsythoside A, were significant different (P 0.001) at different harvest times. Interestingly, the quality markers not only accurately reflected the maturity of FS but also showed close correlations with the colour parameters and sensory E-tongue responses.In our present investigation, bionic technologies, including a colorimeter, E-tongue analysis, and HPLC characteristic fingerprints, combined with chemometrics, were employed to develop a novel and accurate method for discriminating FS based on different harvest times.

Background and aims Treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is challenging, because suppressing fibrotic progression has not been achieved consistently by drug candidates currently in clinical trials. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular interplays underlying NASH-associated fibrosis in a mouse NASH model and human specimens. Methods Mice were divided into 4 groups: Controls; NASH (high fat/Calorie diet plus high fructose and glucose in drinking water, HFCD-HF/G) for 16 weeks; HFCD-HF/G plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for 16 or 8 weeks. Results Along with NASH progression, fibrotic deposition was documented in HFCD-HF/G-fed mice. Liver succinate content was significantly increased along with decreased expression of succinate dehydrogenase-A (SDH-A) in these mice; whereas, GPR-91 receptor expression was much enhanced in histology compared to control mice, and co-localized histologically with hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Succinate content was increased in fatty acid-overloaded primary hepatocytes with significant oxidant stress and lipotoxicity. Exposure to succinate led to up-regulation of GPR-91 receptor in primary and immortalized HSCs. In contrast, suppression of GPR-91 receptor expression abolished succinate stimulatory role in GPR-91 expression and extracellular matrix production in HSCs. All these changes were minimized or abrogated by DHA supplementation in vivo or in vitro. Moreover, GPR-91 receptor expression correlates with severity of fibrosis in human NASH biopsy specimens. Conclusion Succinate accumulation in steatotoic hepatocytes may result in HSC activation through GPR-91 receptor signalling in NASH progression, and the cross-talk between hepatocytes and HSC through GPR-91 signalling is most likely to be the molecular basis of fibrogenesis in NASH.

In this work, we proposed a design principle that the shape selectivity of zeolite topologies on the methanol to olefin (MTO) intermediates controls products selectivity. We used such principle to screen zeolite topologies by grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations to find optimal topologies. The results show that the hexamethylbenzene (M1) and 1,2,3,5-tetramethylbenzene (M1′) respectively function as the core intermediate for the topologies of zeolites rho (RHO), chabazite (CHA) and socony mobil–five (MFI) to produce both ethylene and propylene. The topology of sunbury zeolite-four (SZR) can selectively generate ethylene through the M1′ while the topologies of zeolites instituto de tecnologia quimica valencia-fifty (IFY) and aluminophosphate-twenty two (AWW) can selectively produce propylene through respective M1 and M1′. We also found that the order of adsorption amounts of naphthalene is consistent with the severity order of coke deposition of zeolites MFI, deca-dodecasil 3R (DDR), edinburgh univerisity-one (EUO), beta polymorph A (*BEA) and faujasite (FAU). We further investigated the resistance to naphthalene of screened zeolite topologies and found that the topologies of AWW and SZR zeolites are superior to DDR zeolite.

To compare the areas of human liver horizontal sections with computed tomography (CT) images and to evaluate whether the subsegments determined by CT are consistent with the actual anatomy. Six human cadaver livers were made into horizontal slices with multislice spiral CT three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction was used during infusion process. Each liver segment was displayed using different color, and 3D images of the portal and hepatic vein were reconstructed. Each segmental area was measured on CT-reconstructed images, which were compared with the actual area on the sections of the same liver. The measurements were performed at four key levels namely: (1) the three hepatic veins, (2) the left, and (3) the right branch of portal vein (PV), and (4) caudal to the bifurcation of the PV. By dividing the sum of these areas by the total area of the liver, the authors got the percentage of the incorrectly determined subsegmental areas. In addition to these percentage values, the maximum distances of the radiologically determined intersegmental boundaries from the true anatomic boundaries were measured. On the four key levels, an average of 28.64 ± 10.26% of the hepatic area of CT images was attributed to an incorrect segment. The mean-maximum error between artificial segments on images and actual anatomical segments was 3.81 ± 1.37 cm. The correlation between radiological segmenting method and actual anatomy was poor. The hepatic segments being divided strictly according to the branching point of the PV could be more informative during liver segmental resection. Clin. Anat. 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.