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The electrochemical behavior of Li2O in KCl-LiCl molten salt has been studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry. The diffusion coefficient D=0.5×10-5 cm2/s of O2- in KCl-LiCl molten salt at 923 K has been calculated by convolutional voltammetry. Gd2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3 and Dy2O3 were used as cathodes to conduct electrolysis in KCl-LiCl-Li2O(w=1%) molten salt(constant voltage 3.40 V, electrolysis temperature 923 K, electrolysis time 25 h). By XRD analysis, it was confirmed that the rare earth oxides are partially reduced to metals, and the possible reactions during the electrolysis process were analyzed. At the same time, the PRS model was used to analyze the electrolytic reduction models of these rare earth oxides, and the optimal porosity(Popt) of Gd2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3 and Dy2O3 are 18.7%, 24.2%, 30.6%,16.7%, respectively. The minimum electrolysis time of them are 133, 157, 143, and 119 h, respectively, which are compared with the results of the electrolytic experiment, it is found that the porosity and electrolysis time of the cathode do not meet the requirements for complete reduction of metal oxides, and the corresponding explanation is given.

Background: Osteoporosis is a multifactorial bone disease in which lipid metabolism plays an important role. Bone Mineral Density (BMD) measured by Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is a critical indicator for diagnosing osteoporosis. The cardiometabolic index (CMI) is a novel metric that combines two quantitative indicators of blood lipids-triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). This study explores the association between CMI and BMD and seeks to elucidate the role of lipid metabolism in the context of bone health., Methods: Based on the data of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017-March 2020-pre-pandemic, weighted multiple linear regression and smooth curve fitting were used to study the relationship between CMI and femoral BMD. Stratified analyses were also conducted for age, gender, BMI, ethnicity, diabetes and hypertension status. And, the saturation threshold effect of CMI was further analyzed using a two-stage linear regression model., Result: This study enrolled a total of 1,650 participants (48.7% males), with an average age of 63.0 ± 8.6 years. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, CMI was positively correlated with total femur BMD, trochanter BMD, and intertrochanter BMD, while the correlation with femur neck BMD was not statistically significant. In the fully adjusted model, each unit increase in CMI was associated with a 0.026 (g/cm 2 ) increase in total femur BMD, a 0.022 (g/cm 2 ) increase in trochanter BMD, and a 0.034 (g/cm 2 ) increase in intertrochanter BMD. Subjects in the highest quartile of CMI had a 0.034 (g/cm 2 ) increase in total femur BMD, a 0.035 (g/cm 2 ) increase in trochanter BMD, and a 0.039 (g/cm 2 ) increase in intertrochanter BMD in the fully-adjusted model compared to those in the lowest quartile. In addition, saturation was observed between CMI and total femur BMD, trochanter BMD and intertrochanter BMD, with saturation thresholds of 1.073, 1.431 and 1.073, respectively., Conclusion: CMI is strongly associated with BMD, indicating its potential relevance in bone metabolism. However, the role of CMI in the context of bone health, especially regarding osteoporosis risk, requires further investigation in large-scale prospective studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wu, Jin, Xu, She, Li and Mao.)

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy that has been found useful for treating various diseases. The treatments involve the insertion of fine needles at acupoints along specific meridians (meridian specificity). This study aims to investigate the metabolic basis of meridian specificity using proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR)-based metabolomics. Electro-acupuncture (EA) stimulations were performed at acupoints of either Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming (SMFY) or Gallbladder Meridian of Foot-Shaoyang (GMFS) in healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. 1 H-NMR spectra datasets of serum, urine, cortex, and stomach tissue extracts from the rats were analysed by multivariate statistical analysis to investigate metabolic perturbations due to EA treatments at different meridians. EA treatment on either the SMFY or GMFS acupoints induced significant variations in 31 metabolites, e.g., amino acids, organic acids, choline esters and glucose. Moreover, a few meridian-specific metabolic changes were found for EA stimulations on the SMFY or GMFS acupoints. Our study demonstrated significant metabolic differences in response to EA stimulations on acupoints of SMFY and GMFS meridians. These results validate the hypothesis that meridian specificity in acupuncture is detectable in the metabolome and demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a metabolomics approach in understanding the mechanism of acupuncture.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pitavastatin on high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in patients with hypercholesterolemia, and determine risk factors for the effect., Methods: This study was a 12-week, multicenter, open-label, without parallel-group comparison, phase IV clinical trail., Results: There were 330 subjects in the per protocol set. Contrast to the baseline, the average levels of hsCRP in all of subjects and the group without a history of receiving previous statin medication at week 12 post-treatment decreased respectively 26.4% (1.20 mg/L vs 1.68 mg/L) and 27.5% (1.21 mg/L vs 1.97 mg/L, all P < 0.05). The results of multilevel models indicated that the average levels of hsCRP reduced with the passage of treatment time, the time-varying rate of per-visit was 0.97 mg/L (95% confidence interval 0.96 - 0.98). Controlled individual background covariates, the model predicted that pulse pressure and white blood cell count on the baseline had the significant positive effects on hsCRP (P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Pitavastatin decreases hsCRP in patients with hypercholesterolemia. The main risk factors for the effect are pulse pressure and white blood cell count on the baseline.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of pitavastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia in China under conditions of extensive usage., Methods: This was a 12-week, multicenter, open-label, without parallel-group comparison, phase IV clinical trial., Results: There were 427 subjects in the safety set. The adverse events mainly included vomiting, myalgia and the elevations of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and creatine kinase (CK), etc. The incidence of drug-related adverse events was 4.22%. There were no significant differences between pre-exposure and post-exposure average levels of renal function indicators and blood routine examination item (all P > 0.05). None of them had a high AST/ALT value, i.e. > 3 times upper limits of normal (ULN), or had a high CK value, i.e. > 10 times ULN. There were 397 subjects in the per protocol set. At week 12 post-treatment, the blood levels of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in subjects without previous treatment decreased 24.6% and 31.0% respectively, that of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in subjects with HDL-C < 1.04 mmol/L increased 60.1% while that of triglyceride (TG) in subjects with TG > 1.70 mmol/L decreased 22.5% (P < 0.05). And 207 (92.3%) subjects were at a low risk, 46 (76.1%) subjects at an intermediate risk, 134 (47.8%) subjects at a high risk and 10 (40.0%) of subjects at a very high risk had achieved a LDL-C target value; the LDL-C goal achievement rate after switching from previous medication to pitavastatin was significant higher than that of pre-switching., Conclusion: Pitavastatin demonstrates positive safety and efficacy. It may be used for the treatment of patients with hypercholesterolemia in China.

Objective: To investigate the smoking cessation rate and its related factors in cardiovascular patients after percutaneous coronary intervention., Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1241 outpatients or inpatients fulfilling the inclusion criteria was conducted at 14 hospitals across China., Results: The survey population mainly consisted of middle-aged male patients with an average age of (59.9 ± 10.7) years old. Their median time after surgery was 1.5 years. Among them, 77.4% tried to quit smoking while 55.4% succeed. The elder men were more likely to try to quit smoking and succeed eventually (OR values: 1.02 vs 1.03). The higher number of cigarettes smoked daily, the greater possibility of trying to quit smoking (OR = 1.03), but less likely to quit smoking eventually (OR = 0.97). Furthermore the years of smoking and cessation motivation had impacts on the cessation behaviors as well., Conclusion: Smoking cessation was achieved in more than half of the patients at one year after PCI. Age, years of smoking, daily number of cigarettes, concurrent diseases and physician recommendations are the influencing factors of smoking cessation.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and hazard of smoking in Chinese cardiovascular physicians., Methods: A total of 4032 cardiovascular-certified physicians were recruited from 386 medical centers in all 31 provinces and municipalities in mainland China between June 1 2008 and August 31 2008., Results: The prevalence of smoking in Chinese cardiovascular physicians was 15.2% (95% CI 14.1% - 16.3%), 609 (29.8%) (95% CI 27.8% - 31.8%) for men was much higher than 3 (0.2%) (95% CI 0.1% - 0.4%) for women (P < 0.01). The prevalence of heavy male smoking was 6.9% (95% CI 5.9% - 8.1%) and there was no heavy female smoker. Significant geographic differences were observed among male smokers. Higher smoking rates were seen in the northwest and southwest parts of China. There were significant differences in prevalence of male smoking between areas. The prevalence of history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia in male smoking group were all significantly higher than in male non-smoking group (all P < 0.01). The 10-year absolute risk and relative risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic cardiovascular disease estimated by Framingham model and Chinese model were all significantly higher in smoking group than in non smoking group (all P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking in Chinese cardiovascular physicians is relatively high and smoking cessation should be targeted in this population.

Objective: To investigate the effect of low dose irradiation (LDI) on callus formation and mineralization., Methods: 80 SD rats were subjected to standard closed fracture on right femur so as to establish animal models and then were randomly divided into 2 equal groups: LDI group undergoing low dose whole body X-ray irradiation of 1Gy right after fracture induction and control group without irradiation. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 weeks later blood samples were collected from the heart to examine the amounts of white blood cells and platelets and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level. Conventional X-ray films were taken and MicroCT was conducted to evaluate the callus bridging. Then the rats were killed to take out the femurs to undergo histological examination. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) was conducted to quantify the bone mineral content (BMC). Four-point bending test was used to examine the mechanical properties of the callus., Results: The maximum load value and histological score 2 weeks later of the LDI group were both lower than those of the control group, however, the serum ALP, BMC, maximum load level, callus bridging score, and histological score 3 weeks later of the LDI group were all significantly higher than those of the control groups (all P<0.05). 4 and 8 weeks later there were not significant differences in all these parameters between the 2 groups. The WBC amount in the first 2 weeks of experiment of the LDI group was remarkably lower in these 2 groups, however, in the third week, the WBC value of the LDI group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05)., Conclusion: LDI promotes the mineralization at the stage of hard callus formation which is probably associated with progenitor cell mobilization.