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BackgroundThe course of schizophrenia is prolonged， and patients have impaired social function and significantly reduced quality of life. Drug therapy combined with psychological therapy is particularly important for improving the quality of life of patients. Brief cognitive behavioral therapy （BCBT） has been widely applied in clinical practice， but current research on BCBT focuses more on improving patients' symptoms and lacks relevant reports on improving quality of life.ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and influencing factors of BCBT combined with conventional treatment on improving the quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.MethodsA total of 210 patients who met the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in the International Classification of Diseases （10th edition） （ICD-10） and were followed up at the outpatient department of Beijing Anding Hospital Capital Medical University from August 2011 to December 2016 were selected. Using a random number table method， patients were divided into study group and control group， with 105 cases in each group. Both groups received routine treatment， and the research group received a total of 8 BCBT sessions for 12 weeks on this basis. At the baseline period and 12 weeks of treatment， 26 weeks of follow-up and 52 weeks of follow-up， Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale （PANSS）， Personal and Social Performance Scale （PSP） and World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief （WHOQOL-BREF） were used for evaluation.ResultsThe results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the time point effect and interaction effect of PANSS total score were statistically significant （F=118.783， 8.083， P

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Qili Qiangxin Capsule (QLQXC) combined with western medicine in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) comorbid with heart failure (HF) for clinical application. Methods: We searched relevant references in Chinese databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Scientific Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang Database, and China Biology Medicine (CBM), as well as English databases including PubMed and Embase, from the foundation of the database to January 8, 2023, without language restrictions. All statistical analyses, including subgroup and sensitivity analyses, were performed using the Review Manager (version 5.4) and Stata (version 15.0). Results: QLQXC combined with western medicine significantly increased the endpoints of overall response rate (ORR) (P < 0.000 01), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (P < 0.000 01), the score of Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) (P = 0.000 2), and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) (P < 0.000 01), decreased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) (P < 0.000 01), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) (P = 0.03), and pro-brain natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) (P < 0.00001), and reduced the incidence of rehospitalization (P = 0.0003) and adverse events (AEs) (P = 0.000 6) compared with those under the conventional western therapy alone. Nonetheless, no significant difference was observed in reducing the mortality between the QLQXC combined with western medicine group and the western medicine group (P = 0.30). Conclusion: The combination therapy of QLQXC with western medicine can potentiate cardiac function and raise the quality of life in patients with ICM comorbid with HF.

Objective: This study aimed to design and optimize the water extraction process for Chuantieling (喘贴灵, CTL) based on the concept of quality by design (QbD). Methods: The single-factor experiments were used to select the best experimental points of CTL water extraction. On this basis, the transfer rate of ephedrine hydrochloride and sinapine thiocyanate, and the yield of the extract were evaluated as the evaluation indicators. The liquid-solid ratio, extraction time, and pH value were selected as the main factors to carry out the Box-Behnken design (BBD). A mathematical model of the critical process parameters (CPPs) and critical quality attributes (CQAs) was established, the interaction between CQAs and CPPs was examined, and the CTL extraction process design space was established and optimized, which guaranteed the stability of the process. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze the main active compounds in the CTL extract. Results: Through single-factor experiments, the best experimental parameters were found to be a liquid-solid ratio of 8∶1, extraction time of 90 min, pH value of 4, and extraction times of three. The experimental variance analysis results of the BBD showed that the P value of the regression model was less than 0.05, and the lack-of-fit value was greater than 0.01, indicating that the constructed model had good predictive ability. The operating space of the CPPs of the CTL water extraction process was combined with the actual production situation. In the production situation, the best extraction process was nine times of water addition, 72 min of extraction time, and 4.5 of pH value. The HPLC results showed that the peak areas of ephedrine hydrochloride, sinapine thiocyanate, tetrahydropalmatine, methyl eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, and 6-gingerol in the CTL extract accounted for 0.94%, 14.32%, 0.78%, 31.23%, 0.34%, and 0.44% of the total peak area, respectively. Conclusion: The water extraction process design space of CTL based on QbD was conducive to actual production operations, ensuring the stability of the process.

AbstractMicrobial oil recovery (MEOR) technology has a wide application prospect in the field of enhanced oil recovery in low-permeability reservoirs, and genetic engineering plays an important role. At present, oil-production engineering bacteria constructed by genetic engineering are mainly used to obtain high metabolites and strong environmental adaptability; there are few reports on genetically engineered bacteria with different functional metabolites. However, the bacteria which could efficiently produce one metabolite have a poor ability to produce other metabolites. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost of nutrients and improve the effect of microbial oil recovery, dual-metabolite bacteria have been constructed for low-permeability reservoir. In this paper, four rhamnolipid expression plasmids are extracted from E. coli-produced biosurfactant. Then, the rhamnolipid expression plasmids are transferred into the bacteria-produced biopolymer by electrotransformation, and the metabolite performance of the constructed bacteria is evaluated. Finally, the profile control and displacement performance of the constructed bacteria are studied through low-permeability core experiments. The experimental results show that three bacteria, WS1, WS2, and WS3, are successfully constructed that have preferable ability, among which the bacteria WS2 has the best capacity for producing biopolymer and biosurfactant at the same time. After culturing 96 h, the viscosity of the bacteria WS2 fermentation broth could increase to 42.1 mPa·s, and the surface tension and interfacial tension of the fermentation broth could decrease to 24.3 mN/m and 0.035 mN/m, respectively. This time-varying biological viscosity ensures that the microbial system can enter the low-permeability reservoir at a low injection pressure, and the oil recovery of the low-permeability core could be increased by 10.18% after injecting 0.5 PV WS2 microbial system. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of gene construction and technical support for further popularization and application of MEOR in low-permeability reservoirs.

Four excellent lactic acid bacteria were screened from Kefir. After morphological observation, physical and chemical detection, and 16SrDNA sequence comparison, three strains were preliminarily identified as Lactobacillus Kefir, and one strain was Lactobacillus acidophilus. Two strains were selected to study their biological characteristics. The results showed that the lactic acid bacteria isolated from Kefir had good probiotic properties, with a survival rate of more than 42% after artificial gastric juice digestion for 3 hours and more than 46% after artificial intestinal juice digestion for 6 hours; It has inhibitory effects on intestinal pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli; Does not produce hemolysis; There are different levels of resistance to antibiotics.

Hydrogen energy is regarded as an ideal solution for addressing climate change issues and an indispensable part of future integrated energy systems. The most environmentally friendly hydrogen production method remains water electrolysis, where the electrolyzer constructs the physical interface between electrical energy and hydrogen energy. However, few articles have reviewed the electrolyzer from the perspective of power supply topology and control. This review is the first to discuss the positioning of the electrolyzer power supply in the future integrated energy system. The electrolyzer is reviewed from the perspective of the electrolysis method, the market, and the electrical interface modelling, reflecting the requirement of the electrolyzer for power supply. Various electrolyzer power supply topologies are studied and reviewed. Although the most widely used topology in the current hydrogen production industry is still single-stage AC/DC, the interleaved parallel LLC topology constructed by wideband gap power semiconductors and controlled by the zero-voltage switching algorithm has broad application prospects because of its advantages of high power density, high efficiency, fault tolerance, and low current ripple. Taking into account the development trend of the EL power supply, a hierarchical control framework is proposed as it can manage the operation performance of the power supply itself, the electrolyzer, the hydrogen energy domain, and the entire integrated energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Ginsenoside Rb1-PLGA nanoparticles (GRb1@PLGA@NPs) represent a novel nanotherapeutic system, yet their therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms for treating heart failure (HF) remain unexplored. This study aims to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of GRb1@PLGA@NPs in HF treatment; (2) Methods: The left anterior descending coronary artery ligation was employed to establish a HF model in Sprague-Dawley rats, along with an in vitro oxidative stress model using H9c2 myocardial cells. Following treatment with GRb1@PLGA@NPs, cardiac tissue pathological changes and cell proliferation were observed. Additionally, the serum levels of biomarkers such as NT-proBNP, TNF-α, and IL-1β were measured, along with the expression of the ROS/PPARα/PGC1α pathway; (3) Results: GRb1@PLGA@NPs effectively ameliorated the pathological status of cardiac tissues in HF rats, mitigated oxidative stress-induced myocardial cell damage, elevated SOD and MMP levels, and reduced LDH, MDA, ROS, NT-proBNP, TNF-α, and IL-1β levels. Furthermore, the expression of PPARα and PGC1α proteins was upregulated; (4) Conclusions: GRb1@PLGA@NPs may attenuate myocardial cell injury and treat HF through the ROS/PPARα/PGC1α pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial insemination (AI) with liquid-stored semen is the most prevalent and efficient assisted reproduction technique in the modern pork industry. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex component X (PDHX) was demonstrated to be associated with sperm metabolism and affected the boar sperm viability, motility, and fertility. Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinases (PDKs) are the key metabolic enzymes that regulate pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activity and also the conversion from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. In the present study, two PDK inhibitors, Dichloroacetate (DCA) and Phenylbutyrate (4-PBA), were added to an extender and investigated to determine their regulatory roles in liquid-stored boar sperm at 17 °C. The results indicated that PDK1 and PDK3 were predominantly located at the head and flagella of the boar sperm. The addition of 2 mM DCA and 0.5 mM 4-PBA significantly enhanced the sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity (PMI), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and ATP content. In addition, DCA and 4-PBA exerted their effects by inhibiting PDK1 and PDK3, respectively. In conclusion, DCA and 4-PBA were found to regulate the boar sperm metabolic activities via PDK1 and PDK3. These both can improve the quality parameters of liquid-stored boar sperm, which will help to improve and optimize liquid-stored boar semen after their addition in the extender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]