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Background Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a major damaging agricultural pest that exhibits high resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. L925I (TTA to ATA) and T929V (ACT to GTT) mutations in the para-type voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) are associated with resistance of B. tabaci to pyrethroids. Amplicon sequencing is a reliable and highly efficient method to detect the frequency of mutations linked with insecticide resistance. Results Similar frequencies of L925I and T929V mutations were obtained by amplicon sequencing and Sanger sequencing (L925I: 0.3548 vs 0.3619; T929V: 0.6140 vs 0.6381) with overlap of 95% confidence interval in the SX population of B. tabaci. In five populations of B. tabaci from China, the maximum and minimum frequencies of the two mutations were found in the LN (L925I: 0.1126; T929V: 0.8834) and JS (L925I: 0.8776; T929V: 0.1166) populations by amplicon sequencing. However, there was no significant difference in frequencies between the L925I and T929V mutations. The sum frequency of L925I and T929V exceeded 0.9688 in all populations. In addition, a combining mutation, L925 + T929V (L925I and T929V located in same allele), was found in five populations by amplicon sequencing even though its highest frequency was only 0.0157. Conclusion We established an efficient approach for detecting frequency of mutation by amplicon sequencing. The frequencies of L925I and T929V in VGSC associated with pyrethroid resistance were detected in this study, which could provide foundational data for resistance management of B. tabaci. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disease result from absolute or relative insulin secretion deficiency, insulin resistance, or both, and has become a major and growing public healthy menace worldwide. Currently, clinical antidiabetic drugs still have some limitations in efficacy and safety such as gastrointestinal side effects, hypoglycemia, or weight gain. Rosmarinus officinalis is an aromatic evergreen shrub used as a food additive and medicine, which has been extensively used to treat hyperglycemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and diabetic wounds. A great deal of pharmacological research showed that rosemary extract and its phenolic constituents, especially carnosic acid, rosmarinic acid, and carnosol, could significantly improve diabetes mellitus by regulating glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, anti-inflammation, and anti-oxidation, exhibiting extremely high research value. Therefore, this review summarizes the pharmacological effects and underlying mechanisms of rosemary extract and its primary phenolic constituents on diabetes and relative complications both in vitro and in vivo studies from 2000 to 2020, to provide some scientific evidence and research ideas for its clinical application.

The extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf is a popular herbal product or dietary supplement in the world to treat various diseases, and flavonol glycosides are considered as the main bioactive constituents. In this study, thirty-seven flavonol glycosides were rapidly screened out by precursor ion scanning in positive ion mode with production ions at m/z 287.05, 303.05, 317.06. Subsequently, a reliable and sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry approach was established and validated to quantify the twenty prototype flavonol glycosides in rat plasma. Calibration curves showed good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9894) over the corresponding concentration range. The precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability were also satisfactory. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of prototype flavonol glycosides in rat after oral administration of the extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf. As a result, the Tmax of flavonol glycosides was short at 0.11-0.60 h. Quercetin-3-O-(2",6"-di-O-rhamnosyl)-glucoside, kaempferol-3-O-(2'',6''-di-O-rhamnosyl)-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin 3-O-glucosyl-(1-2)-O-rhamnoside and kaempferol-3-O-glucoside presented relatively high systemic exposure levels with AUC0-∞ > 500 μg h/L and Cmax > 100 μg/L. This study would provide the valuable information for further scientific research and clinical application of the extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A rapid ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ MS/MS) approach with high sensitivity and selectivity was developed for the quantification of twenty compounds, including 9 saponins, 8 flavonoids, 2 oligosaccharide esters and 1 phenolic acid, in rat plasma and brain, which was administrated intragastrically with Jia-Wei-Qi-Fu-Yin (JWQFY), Mass spectrometric detection was operated under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. All calibration curves possessed good linearity with correlation coefficients ( r2) higher than 0.9916 in their respective linear ranges. For intra- and inter-day precision, all the relative standard deviations (RSDs) at different levels were less than 14.68 %. Based on the UHPLC-QqQ MS/MS quantitative results, pharmacokinetic study and brain distribution of multiple components in JWQFY was then successfully performed. As a result, constituents with discrepancy structures showed diverse pharmacokinetic and distribution characteristics. For instance, ferulic acid (phenolic acid), 3, 6′-disinapoyl sucrose and tenuifoliside A (oligosaccharide esters) showed short Tmax ( 4 h). Besides, ferulic acid, epimedin C, icariin, glycyrrhizin, ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside Rg1 were considered as the potential effective ingredients of JWQFY because of their relatively high exposure to blood and brain. Our study would provide relevant information for discovery of pharmacodynamic ingredients, as well as further action mechanisms investigations of JWQFY.

Shenfu Injection (SFI), derived from the classical traditional Chinese medicine formula "Shenfu Decoction", is a modern preparation used to treat heart failure and shock in clinic. In this study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadruple tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ MS) method was established to simultaneously quantify twenty-eight main active components of SFI in rat plasma, including eighteen ginsenosides and ten aconite alkaloids. Multi-reaction monitoring in positive and negative ionization switching modes is used for mass spectrometry analysis, and the whole analysis process was within 14 min. The developed method was well validated and successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of multiple components of SFI in rat plasma. Eight PPD-type ginsenosides Ra2, Ra3, Rb1, Ra1, Rc, Rb2, Rb3 and Rd presented relative high systemic exposure levels among ginsenosides with AUC0-t larger than 10,000 μg h/L, while mesaconine and hypaconine possessed relative high plasma abundance among aconite alkaloids with AUC0-t at 142.50 ± 17.42 μg h/L and 40.65 ± 5.61 μg h/L, respectively. Several PPT-type ginsenosides had obviously higher AUC0-t levels (e.g. 639.70 ± 134.61 μg h/L for ginsenoside Re and 874.79 ± 188.87 μg h/L for ginsenoside Rg1) than alkaloids but similar t1/2 levels (0.14 ± 0.03 h for ginsenoside Re, 0.16 ± 0.03 h for ginsenoside Rg1, 0.04-0.33 h for aconite alkaloids), indicating their quick elimination. Collectively, the pharmacokinetic research of ginsenosides and aconite alkaloids in SFI would provide a scientific basis for its clinical use and drug-drug interactions.

Bemisia tabaci, sweetpotato whitefly, is one notorious insect pest on a series of crops worldwide, and many populations show high resistance to various insecticides. The cyantraniliprole-resistant strain of B. tabaci SX-R (138.4-fold) was obtained by selections with an outdoor-collected cyantraniliprole resistant population. By crossing and repeated backcrossing to a susceptible MED-S strain, the trait of cyantraniliprole resistance from SX-R was moved into MED-S to establish one near-isogenic line (CYAN-R). MED-S and CYAN-R were utilized to build patterns of cross-resistance, CYAN-R strain exhibited 63.317-fold resistance to cyantraniliprole, but no cross-resistance to several other successfully commercialized chemical agents. After that significant inhibition of cyantraniliprole resistance by piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and increased cytochrome P450 (3.4-fold) were observed in CYAN-R strain, indicating putative involvement of P450 in detoxification. Furthermore, five published detoxification-related P450 genes in B. tabaci, CYP4C64, CYP6CM1, CYP6CX1, CYP6CX4, and CYP6DZ7 were selected and expression levels of them were measured for exploring mechanisms of cyantraniliprole resistance. Compare with MED-S, no significant overexpression of the five P450 genes was observed in the CYAN-R strain. Above results could be conductive to study on mechanism of cyantraniliprole resistance and will be very helpful for the management of whitefly.

The tobacco whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is an important crop pest which threatens agriculture worldwide. It has evolved resistance to various classes of insecticides. Cycloxaprid is a new-generation neonicotinoid which is a (nitromethylene) imidazole analogue of imidacloprid which is highly efficient for the control of various Hemipteran pests in China. Studies were conducted to determine the baseline susceptibility to cycloxaprid of 18 field samples of B. tabaci collected from 9 geographical locations in China and the possibility of cross-resistance between cycloxaprid and other important neonicotinoids of one laboratory-selected resistant strain. The 50% lethal concentrations (LC50) of cycloxaprid to these 18 samples ranged from 0.84 to 12.17 mg/L. Furthermore, compared with the susceptible laboratory strain, the imidacloprid-resistant strain exhibited a 27.9-fold resistance to imidacloprid and lower level of cross-resistance to acetamiprid (16.3-fold), thiacloprid (13.7-fold) and nitenpyram (16.6-fold), but no cross-resistance to cycloxaprid (1.9-fold). These results demonstrate that cycloxaprid could be one effective alternative insecticide for whitefly management that could reduce imidacloprid selection pressure.

The job scheduler plays a vital role in high-performance computing platforms. It determines the execution order of the jobs and the allocation of resources, which in turn affect the resource utilization of the entire system. As the scale and complexity of HPC continue to grow, job scheduling is becoming increasingly important and difficult. Existing studies relied on user-specified or regression techniques to give fixed runtime prediction values and used the values in static heuristic scheduling algorithms. However, these approaches require very accurate runtime predictions to produce better results, and fixed heuristic scheduling strategies cannot adapt to changes in the workload. In this work, we propose RLSchert, a job scheduler based on deep reinforcement learning and remaining runtime prediction. Firstly, RLSchert estimates the state of the system by using a dynamic job remaining runtime predictor, thereby providing an accurate spatiotemporal view of the cluster status. Secondly, RLSchert learns the optimal policy to select or kill jobs according to the status through imitation learning and the proximal policy optimization algorithm. Extensive experiments on real-world job logs at the USTC Supercomputing Center showed that RLSchert is superior to static heuristic policies and outperforms the learning-based scheduler DeepRM. In addition, the dynamic predictor gives a more accurate remaining runtime prediction result, which is essential for most learning-based schedulers.

A new ceramide, rel-(3S,4S,5S)-3-[(2S)-2-hydroxyheneicosanoylamino]-4-hydroxy-5-[(4Z)-tetradecan-4-ene]-2,3,4,5-tetrahydrofuran (1), was isolated from the florets of Carthamus tinctorius along with two compounds, 10,12-nonacosanedione (2) and apigenin-7-O-β-apiofuranosyl-6,8-di-C-β-glucopyranoside (3), for the first time. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectral techniques including MS and 1D/2D NMR.

The Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) cryptic species complex comprises very destructive insect pests for agricultural crops worldwide. In China, the B. tabaci MED species (also known as biotype ‘Q’), has supplanted the MEAM1 species (biotype ‘B’) which is threatening agricultural production around the country. The new anthranilic diamide insecticide, cyantraniliprole, provides one novel step for the management of B. tabaci and the development of resistance to other insecticides. Ryanodine receptors of insect are the main target sites of the diamide insecticides. In this study, the full-length cDNA of a ryanodine receptor gene ( BtRyR ) was cloned and characterized from B. tabaci MED. The cDNAs of BtRyR contain a 15,369-bp open reading frame with encoding 5122 amino acids (GenBank ID: KY244091). BtRyR shares 76–83% identity with other insect RyR isoforms and 42–45% identity with vertebrate RyR isoforms. Spatial and temporal expression of BtRyR mRNA was at the highest relative level in pseudopupae and head, and at the lowest expression level in egg and abdomen. The expression levels of whole body BtRyR mRNA were increased remarkably after insecticide-treatments of adults with cyantraniliprole at 0.01 to 1 mg/l. This structural and expression data on BtRyR provides the basis for further understanding the selective action of cyantraniliprole.

The sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata (Say) is an invasive pest infesting trees of the genus Platanus. Both adults and nymphs damage the foliage of sycamore trees. Nymphs cannot survive in low temperatures; however, the sycamore lace bug overwinters as adults. In this study, we analyzed the metabolite profiles of this pest to determine significantly regulated metabolites during paurometabolous development from nymphs to adults. The identification of metabolites is essential to convert analytical data into meaningful biological knowledge. A total of 62 metabolites were identified using GC-MS. Among them, 29 different metabolites showed differences in content among nymphs, adult females (AF), and adult males (AM). Five of the 29 metabolites, including caffeic acid, D-glucose, D-mannose, glycerol and aminooxyacetic acid, were significantly increased and nine of them were significantly decreased during the developmental stages from nymph to adult. In addition, we identified three novel aldo-keto reductase (AKR) genes that may play a significant role in the control of glycerol biosynthesis. Moreover, the characteristics and expression levels of these genes were analyzed. This study will provide us with the necessary information to improve our understanding of the changes in metabolites in C. ciliata during paurometabolous development.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different NaCl content and drying temperatures on the lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, and physical properties of dry-cured chicken. In the final product, lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, and physical properties were significantly affected by NaCl and temperature. Increased NaCl content and temperature led to significantly increased level of indicators including conjugated diene, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and carbonyl contents (P < 0.05). Conversely, the sulfhydryl contents and surface hydrophobicity significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Results of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis further indicated that NaCl and temperature affected protein oxidation and degradation. According to the drying curve, the main factor affecting the drying time was the drying temperature and a slower rate of moisture loss occurred in samples with higher NaCl content. Moreover, due to the effects of temperature on lipid and protein oxidation and moisture diffusion, the hardness and shrinkage ratio increased with temperature. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Dry-cured chicken is a kind of air-dried meat product. During actual production of dry-cured chicken, its physicochemical characteristics (e.g., lipid and protein oxidation and texture) are affected by NaCl content and drying temperature. In this study, the NaCl content and drying temperature were found to promote lipid and protein oxidation and have significant effects on texture properties. Therefore, the NaCl content and drying temperature should be controlled to improve the quality of dry-cured chicken.

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is an important invasive economic pest of agricultural crops worldwide. &beta, ionone has a significant oviposition repellent effect against B. tabaci, but the olfactory molecular mechanism of this insect for recognizing &beta, ionone is unclear. To clarify the binding properties of odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) with &beta, ionone, we performed gene cloning, evolution analysis, bacterial expression, fluorescence competitive binding assay, and molecular docking to study the binding function of OBP1 and OBP4 on &beta, ionone. The results showed that after the OBP1 and OBP4 proteins were recombined, the compound &beta, ionone exhibited a reduction in the fluorescence binding affinity to &lt, 50%, with a dissociation constant of 5.15 and 3.62 &mu, M for OBP1 and OBP4, respectively. Our data indicate that &beta, ionone has high affinity for OBP1 and OBP4, which play a crucial role in the identification of oviposition sites in B. tabaci. The findings of this study suggest that whiteflies employ &beta, ionone compound in the selection of the suitable egg-laying sites on host plants during the oviposition behavior.

The sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata (Say) is a highly invasive pest insect that feeds on sycamore trees (Platanus spp.) worldwide. The interaction between Platanus species and this insect pest has not yet been studied at the molecular level. Therefore, a recent study was conducted to compare the gene expression and metabolite profiles of Platanus acerifolia leaves in response to C. ciliata feeding damage after 24 and 48 h. We employed high throughput RNA sequencing (RNA- seq) to identify a total of 2,828 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after C. ciliata feeding. In addition, 303 unigenes were found to be up-regulated at both time points. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis showed that monoterpenoid biosynthesis, the linoleic acid metabolism pathway, and alpha- linolenic acid metabolism were the most prominent pathways among the DEGs. Further analysis of the metabolite profiles showed that nine metabolites were significantly different before and after C. ciliata damage. In addition, we analyzed DEGs detected in the P. acerifolia and C. ciliata interaction using Mapman. The terpene synthase gene family was also identified. We suggest that the results obtained from DEGs and metabolite analysis can provide important information for the identification of genes involved in the P. acerifolia&ndash, C. ciliata interaction, which might be necessary for controlling C. ciliata efficiently.

Rhizoma Paridis (RP) with significant anti-tumor and haemostatic effects, has been used as the raw material of many Traditional Chinese preparations. However, its active ingredients are still unclear. The present study aimed to discover bioactive ingredients from RP based on spectrum-relationship and chemometric methods. Firstly, the saponins extract was prepared by phytochemical methods. Furthermore, UHPLC-QTOF-MS and UHPLC-qMS were incorporated to establish an efficient and sensitive method for obtaining the chemical profiles of RP. A total of 34 saponins were characterized in RP and 13 of them were assigned as common peaks in 25 batches of samples. After evaluation of the anti-tumor and haemostatic activities of samples, spectrum-effect relationships were investigated by the grey relational analysis (GRA), orthogonal projections to latent structures (OPLS) and back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN). These analyses showed that polyphyllin VII (P27), polyphyllin II (P30), dioscin (P31) and polyphyllin I (P33) play a role in the haemostatic effects of RP whereas polyphyllin VII (P27), dioscin (P31), polyphyllin I (P33), progenin III (P34) were assigned as candidate ingredients accounting for the anti-tumor activity of RP. The anti-tumor and haemostatic activities of these screened ingredients were subsequently verified in vitro. Collectively, the present study established the spectrum-effect relationship mode of RP and discovered the bioactive compounds of RP, which could be also used for exploration of bioactive compounds in herbal medicines, especially for trace compounds.

To analyze structural characteristic of rabbit glycated myofibrillar protein (GMP) with different solubility in low ionic strength medium, changes in fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy analysis, intrinsic fluorescence analysis, UV absorption spectra, surface hydrophobicity, total sulfhydryl and carbonyl contents, and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were determined. The results reflected that GMP with 75.07% solubility in low ionic strength medium had less α-helix and more random coil than GMP with other solubility. The difference in the tertiary structure of GMP with different solubility was also detected, including that intrinsic fluorescence intensity of GMP gradually reduced and a red shift of peak positions of UV absorption spectrum of GMP with solubility increased. Furthermore, the total sulfhydryl content of GMP with 75.07% solubility was much lower than other groups, and carbonyl content of GMP was significantly increased when solubility was above 15.10%. Results also suggested that the electrophoretic mobility of the protein chain of GMP with 75.07% solubility was minimum among all groups. In conclusion, the structure of rabbit GMP with 75.07% solubility in low ionic strength medium was different from GMP with other solubility due to glycation process, and protein oxidation may be also response for the structure changes.

Objective: Ginkgo biloba leaves, as an herbal medicine or dietary supplement, have been widely used worldwide. In this study, an integrated analytical method was established for the comprehensive analysis of flavonoids in G. biloba leaves. Materials and Methods: A practical chromatographic method combining high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint analysis and quantitation was used to simultaneously determine 11 flavonoids (6 flavonol glycosides and 5 biflavones) in G. biloba leaves from different regions. Results: A total of 11 characteristic peaks were identified accurately, and the similarity of fingerprints ranged from 0.944 to 0.996. Methodology validation revealed appropriate linearity ( R2 ≥ 0.9997), precision, repeatability, stability, and recovery. The total contents of the six flavonol glycosides and five biflavones were within the range of 2.142-8.378 mg/g and 3.759-5.675 mg/g in 19 batches of samples, respectively. Among them, two coumaroyl flavonol glycosides were the predominant components. Conclusions: In this study, a convenient and reliable approach was successfully employed for the comprehensive evaluation of flavonoids in G. biloba leaves, which also provided a reference for its quality standard.

The dried flower of Carthamus tinctorius L. (honghua) is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine in clinics to treat coronary heart disease, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease due to its functions of ameliorating circulation and removing blood stasis. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is an active marker component of honghua. In this paper, ultra-flow liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (UFLC-Q-TOF/MS) was established and successfully applied to the detection and identification of the metabolites in bile, urine, plasma and feces samples of normal and model rats with orally administrated HSYA. A total of 8 metabolites were observed in normal rats, while 7 metabolites were detected in model rats. The distribution of metabolites in the plasma, bile, urine and feces of normal and model rats had obvious differences. The major in vivo metabolic pathways for HSYA included hydroxylation, hydroxylation+methylation, acetylation and glucuronidation, and there were also dehydration, hydrogenation, hydration, and hydroxylation+glucuronidation. All of these metabolites were reported for the first time, and these results are valuable and important for the understanding of the metabolic process and therapeutic mechanism of HSYA and some other pigments in honghua.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Herb pair, the most fundamental and simplest form of herb compatibility, serves as the basic building block of traditional Chinese medicine formulae. The Danshen–Honghua herb pair (DH), composed of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen in Chinese) and Carthami Flos (Honghua in Chinese), has remarkable clinical efficacy to cure cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. This study was designed to investigate the pharmacodynamics of DH in comparison with single herbs and pharmacokinetics of DH relative to Danshen in acute myocardial ischemic injury. Materials and methods Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into control, model and drug treated groups. The acute myocardial ischemia rat model was induced by administering 85 mg/kg/d isoproterenol (ISO) subcutaneously for two consecutive days. For pharmacodynamic study, histopathological and biochemical analysis were performed to assess the anti-myocardial ischemic effects. While for pharmacokinetic study, a UPLC–MS/MS method was developed for determination of nine main active ingredients, namely danshensu, protocatechuic acid, protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, lithospermic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A and salvianolic acid C in rat plasma. Results The histopathological and biochemical analysis revealed that DH exerted enhanced anti-myocardial ischemic effects against the ISO-induced myocardial ischemia compared with single herbs. The pharmacokinetic study indicated that DH could significantly increase the t1/2z of danshensu, Tmax, AUC0-∞ and MRT0-t of protocatechuic acid in comparison with Danshen alone in normal rats, but more importantly elevate systemic exposure level and prolong t1/2z of protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, Tmax of danshensu in acute myocardial ischemia rats. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated the greater effects of DH after the compatibility in ISO-induced acute myocardial ischemia rats at pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic levels and provided valuable information for clinical application of herb pairs.

A rapid and sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method was established and employed to determine 21 nucleosides, nucleobases, and amino acids in 60 samples from different parts of Angelicae Sinensis Radix. The established methods were validated by good linearity (r2 > 0.9937), limits of detection (0.12-77.75 ng/mL), limits of quantitation (0.31-272.13 ng/mL), intra- and interday precisions (RSD ≤ 4.84%, RSD ≤ 6.26%), stability (RSD ≤ 5.92%), repeatability (RSD ≤ 7.14%), recovery (91.4-103.4%), and matrix effects (0.92-1.03). Chemical comparative analysis revealed that the content of total analytes in four parts of Angelicae Sinensis Radix were different, and exhibited the order: Head (14.89 mg/g) > Body (10.15 mg/g) > All (8.22 mg/g) > Tail (6.23 mg/g). Principal component analysis showed that the samples could be classified into four groups in accord with four different parts of Angelicae Sinensis Radix. The results could provide a scientific basis and reference for the quality control of Angelicae Sinensis Radix, and may be conducive to further research on the pharmacological activities of Angelicae Sinensis Radix.

The spread of the exotic insect pest sycamore lace bug Corythucha ciliata (Say) is increasing worldwide. The identification of behaviorally active compounds is crucial for reducing the current distribution of this pest. In this study, we identified and documented the expression profiles of genes encoding chemosensory proteins (CSPs) in the sycamore lace bug to identify CSPs that bind to the alarm pheromone geraniol. One CSP (CcilCSP2) that was highly expressed in nymph antennae was found to bind geraniol with high affinity. This finding was confirmed by fluorescence competitive binding assays. We further discovered one candidate chemical, phenyl benzoate, that bound to CcilCSP2 with even higher affinity than geraniol. Behavioral assays revealed that phenyl benzoate, similar to geraniol, significantly repelled sycamore lace bug nymphs but had no activity toward adults. This study has revealed a novel repellent compound involved in behavioral regulation. And, our findings will be beneficial for understanding the olfactory recognition mechanism of sycamore lace bug and developing a push-pull system to manage this pest in the future.

A sensitive ultrafast liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometric (UFLC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of anhydrosafflor yellow B (AHSYB), a major active water-soluble pigment from Carthamus tinctorius, in rat plasma has been developed and validated. Sample preparation was achieved by protein precipitation of plasma with four volumes of methanol. Rutin was used as the internal standard (IS). The analytes were separated using a C18 column with an 8min gradient elution, followed by mass spectrometric detection using negative electrospray ionization (ESI(-)) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The method was linear in the concentration range of 25-10,000ng/mL for AHSYB. Intra-day and inter-day precision variation was less than 6.5%. The relative error of accuracy was within ±9.4%. The mean recovery of AHSYB was higher than 70.9%. The established method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study after intravenous (2.5mg/kg) and oral (30mg/kg) dosing of AHSYB in normal rats. And the pharmacokinetic properties of AHSYB in rats with acute blood stasis and the differences between normal and acute blood stasis syndrome rats were also investigated. The results showed that the compound was poorly absorbed (∼0.3%) and the AUC0-t, AUC0-∞ and F were all significantly lower (P

The compatibility of Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Danggui) and Carthami Flos (Honghua), a famous herb pair Gui-Hong, can produce synergistic and complementary hematinic effects. Our previous studies have indicated that Gui-Hong has therapeutic potential treatment in hemolytic and aplastic anemia (HAA). The present study aimed to investigate the hematinic effects of Danggui, Honghua and Gui-Hong on HAA rats induced by acetyl phenylhydrazine (APH) and cyclophosphamide (CP) and to explore the underlying hematinic regulation mechanisms.Rats were divided into 5 groups, and drugs were administered by oral gavage one time each day for continuous 7 days from the experiment began. Urine and plasma were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF/MS). Partial least-squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) models were built to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Danggui, Honghua and Gui-Hong. Pearson correlation matrix analysis method was used to discover the correlations between potential biomarkers and biochemical indicators of HAA rats.Seven potential biomarkers contribute to the separation of model group and control group were tentatively identified. The levels of l-kynurenine, phenylalanine, nicotinic acid and sphingosine increased significantly (P0.05) in HAA rats, while the levels of l-isoleucine, l-tyrosine and serotonin decreased significantly (P0.05) in comparison with control rats. Those endogenous metabolites were chiefly involved in phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism and tyrosine metabolism. The metabolic deviations could be regulated closer to normal level after Danggui, Honghua and Gui-Hong intervention. In term of hematinic effects, Gui-Hong was the most effective as shown by the relative distance in PLS-DA score plots and relative intensity of potential biomarkers. The result reflected the synergic action between Danggui and Honghua. The above results were found to be reasonable in explaining the hematinic effects mechanism of Gui-Hong.The results of routine blood, urinary metabolic pattern and plasma metabolic pattern show the Danggui, Honghua and Gui-Hong groups are moving toward the control group and the HAA was being prevented and alleviated. The effect of Gui-Hong group is more remarkable than Danggui and Honghua groups. Some potential biomarkers like l-kynurenine, phenylalanine, l-isoleucine, l-tyrosine, serotonin, nicotinic acid and sphingosine have been found and identified. The work shows that the metabonomics method is a promising tool in the efficacy and mechanism research of traditional Chinese medicines.

The sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata, is a pest of sycamore trees. In China, it is found in the most northern border where it has been known to become dormant during harsh winters. But the molecular and metabolic basis for dormancy in this insect is still unknown. In this study, we analyzed the transcript and metabolite profiles of this bug to identify key genes and metabolites that are significantly regulated during dormancy in adult females and males. In total, 149 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly up-regulated and 337 DEGs were significantly down-regulated in dormant adults (both females and males). We found major differences in heat shock protein (HSPs), immunity-responsive genes, NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) and genes involved in the spliceosome pathway that is known to regulate stress. Among the 62 metabolites identified by GC-MS, 12 metabolites including glycerol, trehalose, and alanine were significantly increased during C. ciliata dormancy. By integrating the transcriptome and metabolite datasets, we found that the metabolites in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and citrate cycle (TCA) were significantly reduced. This study is the first to report both transcript and metabolite profiles of the overwintering responses of C. ciliata to cold stress at the molecular level.

A sensitive, reliable and powerful ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for simultaneous quantification of the 15 main bio-active components including phenolic acids and flavonoids within 13 min for the first time. The proposed method was first reported and validated by good linearity (r2 > 0.9975), limit of detection (1.12–7.01 ng/mL), limit of quantification (3.73–23.37 ng/mL), intra- and inter-day precisions (RSD ≤ 1.92%, RSD ≤ 2.45%), stability (RSD ≤ 5.63%), repeatability (RSD ≤ 4.34%), recovery (96.84–102.12%) and matrix effects (0.92–1.02). The established analytical methodology was successfully applied to comparative analysis of main bio-active components in the herb pair Danshen-Honghua and its single herbs. Compared to the single herb, the content of most flavonoid glycosides were remarkable increases in their herb pair, and main phenolic acids were decreased, conversely. The content changes of the main components in the herb pair supported the synergistic effects on promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. The results could provide a scientific basis and reference for the quality control of Danshen-Honghua herb pair and the drug interactions based on variation of bio-active components in herb pairs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) of arthropods are thought to be involved in chemical recognition which regulates pivotal behaviors including host choice, copulation and reproduction. In insects, OBPs and CSPs located mainly in the antenna but they have not been systematically characterized yet in Bemisia tabaci which is a cryptic species complex and could damage more than 600 plant species. In this study, among the 106,893 transcripts in the head assembly, 8 OBPs and 13 CSPs were identified in B. tabaci MED based on head transcriptomes of adults. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships of B. tabaci OBPs and CSPs with those from several other important Hemipteran species, and the motif-patterns between Hemiptera OBPs and CSPs were also compared by MEME. The expression profiles of the OBP and CSP genes in different tissues of B. tabaci MED adults were analyzed by real-time qPCR. Seven out of the 8 OBPs found in B. tabaci MED were highly expressed in the head. Conversely, only 4 CSPs were enriched in the head, while the other nine CSPs were specifically expressed in other tissues. Our findings pave the way for future research on chemical recognition of B. tabaci at the molecular level.

This study was supported partly by research grants from National Science and Technology Support task (2012BAD19B06), the earmarked fund for Beijing Leafy Vegetables Innovation Team of Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (blvt-13), the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (2013003019) and the earmarked fund from Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (QNJJ201610).; The Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) cryptic species complex comprises important insect pests that cause devastating damage to agricultural crops worldwide. In China, the B. tabaci MED species, formerly known as biotype ‘Q’, has surpassed the MEAM1 species, formerly known as biotype ‘B’, which is threatening agricultural production all over the country as an increasing number of resistance cases have been reported. This situation highlights the need for alternative pest control measures. In this study, the lethal effects of six neonicotinoid and two anthranilic diamide insecticides including the novel compound cyantraniliprole on B. tabaci MED were examined. The sublethal effects of cyantraniliprole on the physiology and behavior of B. tabaci MED were also assessed. Among eight insecticides tested, cyantraniliprole was the most toxic to B. tabaci MED with a LC50 of 2.05 mg/L. The sublethal effects of cyantraniliprole to adult B. tabaci MED were observed at LC10 (0.22 mg/L) and LC25 (0.63 mg/L) concentrations. At these concentrations, cyantraniliprole prolonged the developmental duration and decreased the survival rate of nymph stages, pseudopupae and adults. The oviposition duration and fecundity of females were also reduced significantly. The hatching rate of eggs laid by females exposed to LC10 and LC25 concentrations was also reduced. Altogether, these results demonstrate that cyantraniliprole could be an alternative insecticide for efficient control of B. tabaci MED populations in China.

Two invasive whitefly cryptic species, Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and Mediterranean (MED), are the most invasive and notorious pests on diverse crops and have significantly impacted agricultural production systems globally. This circumstance emphasizes the need for a better approach for controlling these species. In this study, the lethal effect of six insecticides and the sublethal effects of dinotefuran on B. tabaci MEAM1 and MED were examined. Among the six insecticides tested, dinotefuran was the most toxic to both B. tabaci MEAM1 and MED adults with LC 50 values of 5.54 mg/L and 6.01 mg/L, respectively. After treating adults of the two important species with LC 25 of 1.70 mg/L (MEAM1) and 2.12 mg/L (MED), the transgenerational effects of dinotefuran on survival, developmental duration, and fecundity of F 1 generation of B. tabaci MEAM1 and MED adults were observed respectively, which increased the developmental time and decreased survival rates of nymph, pseudopupa and adult. The fecundity of tested females was also reduced markedly. In summary, these results indicate that dinotefuran could be one excellent candidate that may effectively control two invasive whitefly populations.

Hydrogels can encapsulate large quantities of water within a three-dimensional cross-linked polymer network. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels have been widely used in tissue engineering, wound dressing, and drug delivery. However, the inferior mechanical properties of PVA hydrogels limit their utility in load-bearing applications. To alleviate this deficiency, we used a hybrid electrospinning/solution casting continuous process to reinforce PVA hydrogels using polyurethane nanofibers. In this process, the nanofibers were electrospun into the wet solution cast film prior to solidification. The reinforcement of PVA hydrogels at a series of extent of water swelling was determined using a custom built bubble biaxial stretching device. The results showed that nanofibers have substantial enhancement effect on mechanical properties particularly in thin hydrogel films at high water concentrations. Reduction of nanofiber diameter was also found to increase this reinforcement due to increased interfacial area between nanofibers and hydrogels. POLYM. COMPOS., 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers

The hydrolysate of waste sludge was used as the feedstock of biodiesel production, and its technological feasibility was investigated. Waste sludge, collected from No.3 Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant of Xi’an, was hydrolyzed in two parallel reactors firstly. Yeast was added into one reactor for bioaugmentation, and the other reactor without yeast was used as a control. Then an acid-catalyzed in situ esterification process was carried out to convert the hydrolysate to biodiesel. The results of hydrolysis showed that the reactor bioaugmented with yeast could promote hydrolysis compared with the control one because of an obvious variance in total suspended solid(TSS), volatile suspended solid(VSS) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD). Furthermore, gas chromatography (GC) analysis exhibited that the total volatile fatty acid (VFA) was low in the hydrolysate of bioaugmentation reactor; however, its yield of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) by in situ esterification was obviously higher when compared with the control one. Therefore, it may be inferred that the hydrolysate of bioaugmentation was mainly inclined to longer-chain fatty acid rather than to VFA. Anyway, an FAMEs yield of 9.24% (wt%) from dried sludge was attained after the 12-d bioaugmentation hydrolysis and succedent esterification. This value was not only higher than that of the control one but also higher than that reported in previous literature. The above results illuminated that it was feasible to produce biodiesel from the bioaugmented hydrolysate of waste sludge.

A novel and generally applicable approach was established to hierarchically identify the bioactive components of a medicinal herb by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) and a selective knock-out strategy. In this study, the targeted components of an herbal medicine were separated and knocked out using prep-HPLC. Subsequently, the contributions of the different target components to the overall effect of the medicinal herb were comparatively evaluated and differentiated by a heat map and a 3D score plot. This approach was successfully applied to investigate the bioactive constituents of safflower. The contributions of 11 components to the overall effect of safflower were as follows: anhydrosafflor yellow B (10)>6-hydroxykaempferol 3,6-di-O-β-d-glucoside (8)>hydroxysafflor yellow A (3)>kaempferol 3-O-β-rutinoside (11)>6-hydroxykaempferol 3-O-β-rutinoside (9)>6-hydroxykaempferol 3,6-di-O-β-d-glucoside-7-O-β-d-glucuronide (4)>6-hydroxyapigenin 6-O-β-d-glucoside-7-O-β-d-glucuronide (6)>cytidine (1)>6-hydroxykaempferol 3-O-β-rutinoside-6-O-β-d-glucoside (7)>6-hydroxykaempferol 3,6,7-tri-O-β-d-glucoside (5)>adenosine (2). These results demonstrate that quinochalcone C-glycosides (3 and 10) and some flavonoid glycosides containing C7-OH (such as 8, 9 and 11) made a greater contribution to the overall effect of safflower than the other components that were knocked out. The results provided an important reference for improving quality control and further development of safflower products. And this approach should also be useful for investigating the bioactive constituents of other medicinal herbs.

Background: Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/polyamide-6 (PA-6) blends are promising for engineering and food-packaging applications. However, their poor toughness limits their use. In this study, an ethylene–acrylate–(maleic anhydride) terpolymer (E-AE-MA) was added to PET/PA-6 blends in order to improve the toughness. Results: Izod impact tests indicated an excellent toughening effect of E-AE-MA. E-AE-MA particles were observed to be selectively dispersed at the interface between PET and PA-6 phases and in the domain of the PA-6 phase. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry results demonstrated that the formation of E-AE-MA layers around PA-6 particles cut off the interaction between PET and PA-6, resulting in an enlarged PA-6 phase domain. Conclusion: Based on the experimental results, a core–shell microstructure, with PA-6 as a hard core and E-AE-MA as a soft shell, could be suggested. The formation of this core–shell microstructure, along with the increased PA-6 phase domain size, is the main toughening mechanism of E-AE-MA in PET/PA-6 blends. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

As a part of long-term project aimed at super polyolefin blends, in this work, we report the toughness and phase morphology of polypropylene (PP)/EPDM/SiO2 ternary composites. Two processing methods were employed to prepare PP/elastomer/filler ternary composites. One was called one-step processing method, in which the elastomer and the filler directly melt blended with PP matrix. Another one was called two-step processing method, in which the elastomer and the filler were mixed first, and then melt blended with pure PP. Two kinds of PP (grafted without or with maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA)) and SiO2 (treated with or without coupling agent) were used to control the interfacial interaction among the components. The dependence of the phase morphology on interfacial interaction and processing method was investigated. It was found that the formation of filler-network structure could be a key for a simultaneous enhancement of toughness and modulus of PP and its formation seemed to be dependent on the work of adhesion (WAB) and processing method. As the WAB of PP/EPDM interface was much lower than that of PP/SiO2 and EPDM/SiO2, and the two-step processing method was used, the formation of filler-network structure was favorable. In this case, a super toughened PP ternary composite with the Izod impact strength 2–3 times higher than PP/EPDM binary blend and 15–20 times higher than pure PP could be achieved.

In this article, the phase morphology and mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene–octane copolymer (POE) blends with fixed ratio (60/40) obtained via different processing conditions, including barrel temperature, injection speed, and mold temperature, have been investigated. SEM was carried out for detailed characterization of phase morphology from the skin to the core, layer by layer. It was interesting that for all the processing conditions no dispersed POE elastomer was observed in the skin layer but elongated POE particles with large size were observed in the subskin layer. From the transition zone to the core layer, an increased phase separation was observed, which could lead to a formation of cocontinuous morphology, depending on the processing condition used. Higher barrel temperature, lower mold temperature, and higher injection speed could result in a smaller size of POE phase. The tensile strength and impact strength were found not sensitive to barrel temperature and mold temperature but to the low injection speed, both tensile strength and impact strength had a higher value for specimen obtained via low injection speed. The formation of the skin-core morphology and the effect of processing conditions on the phase morphology were discussed based on crystallization kinetics of PP matrix, rheology, and shear induced phase mixing. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007

A kind of hydrophilic nano-SiO2 was applied to poly(ethylene terephthalate)/polyamide-6 (PA-6) blends. Melt-blended composites were prepared at various component ratios and different nano-SiO2 levels. Mechanical, morphological, dynamic mechanical, and thermal tests were carried out to characterize the properties, morphology, and compatibilization of the composites. Increased impact strength, tensile strength, and modulus were observed by adding nano-SiO2 particles in the blends. The nano-SiO2 particles were found to be preferentially dispersed in PA-6, resulting in an increase of glass transition temperature and crystallization of PA-6. The mechanism of morphology and properties changes was discussed based on the selective dispersion of nano-SiO2 particles in the blends. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 2288–2296, 2007

Anhydrosafflor yellow B (AHSYB) is one of the major active water-soluble pigments from Carthamus tinctorius, which has been found to inhibit ADP-induced platelet aggregation and possess significant antioxidant activity. However, the metabolic fate of AHSYB in vivo remains unknown. In order to explore whether AHSYB is extensively metabolized, the metabolites of AHSYB in plasma, urine, bile, and feces samples after intravenous administration to the rats were investigated by ultra-fast liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC/Qq-TOF-MS/MS) combined with Metabolitepilot™ software. In total, AHSYB and 22 metabolites including both phase I and phase II metabolism processes were found and tentatively identified from the bio-samples. The metabolic pathways were involved in oxidation, reduction, hydroxylation, methylation, dimethylation, O-acetylation, hydrolyzation, sulfation, glucuronidaton, glutathionation and combination with glucose. The results showed that the renal and biliary routes play an important role in the clearance and excretion of AHSYB as well as hepatocyte metabolism. All of these results were reported for the first time and would contribute to a further understanding of the in vivo intermediated processes and metabolic mechanism of AHSYB and its analogs.

Alkaloids of Piper longum L. (Piperaceae) (PLA) include piperine and piperlonguminine. Piper longum and piperine have multiple biological properties including antioxidant activity.The present study investigated the neuroprotective effects of PLA in a MPTP-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease.PLA was prepared by extracting the dry seed of P. longum using 85% ethanol. Adult male C57BL/6 mice were divided into eight groups of 12 rats each. Experimental and control groups received an equivalent volume of saline, 0.5% CMC-Na, and 0.1% Tween 80, treated groups received oral PLA (30, 60, and 120 mg/kg), other groups treated with piperine (60 mg/kg) or Madopar (50 mg/kg). The PLA prevention group (PLA-Pr) administrated PLA (120 mg/kg) for 1 week before MPTP challenged. Except for the PLA-Pr group, others were treated for seven consecutive weeks. Parkinson's disease was induced by injecting MPTP intraperitoneally (25 mg/kg) twice weekly for five consecutive weeks. Dopaminerigic (DA) neurons and their metabolism were detected by UFLC-MS/MS. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunohistochemistry assay and Western blotting were performed. The antioxidant enzymatic levels were determined by kit-based assays.The LD50 value of PLA was determined at 1509 mg/kg of body weight. PLA (60 mg/kg) can significantly increase total movement time and distance (p0.05), increase levels of DA (p0.05) and DOPAC (p .05), increase glutathione (GSH) level and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (p0.05), and decrease the lipid peroxidation of malondiadehycle (MDA) (p0.05) in PLA-treated groups as compared with the control group.Our results indicate that PLA possesses neuroprotective effects and has ameliorative properties in dopaminergic neurons.

In order to discover new compounds with antiplatelet aggregation activities, some ferulic acid (FA) derivatives were designed and synthesized. Thein vitroantiplatelet aggregation activities of these compounds were assessed by turbidimetric test. The results showed that the target compound7fhad potent antiplatelet aggregation activity with its IC5027.6 μmol/L, and7fcan be regarded as a novel potent antiplatelet aggregation candidate.

In order to better understand the toughening mechanism in polyoxymethylene (POM)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) blends and obtain ‘super-toughened’ POM, we carried out an investigation on the notched impact strength, fractured surface, inter-particle distance and spherulite size of POM as a function of the TPU content. A compatibilizer, namely polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene–butylene)-block-polystyrene, grafted with maleic anhydride (SEBS-graft-MA), was used to enhance the interfacial interaction between the POM and TPU. The impact strength is found to increase in two steps as a function of TPU content, namely a linear increase at the very beginning, and then a jump of impact strength is seen when the TPU content is larger than 30 wt%. A ‘supertough behavior’ is not observed for POM/TPU blends at room temperature, but can be achieved after adding 5 wt% of SEBS-graft-MA as the compatibilizer. The impact strength was found to depend not only on the interparticle distance but also on the interfacial interactions between POM and TPU. The dependence of impact strength on crystal size is considered for the first time, and a single curve is constructed, regardless of the composition and interfacial interactions. Our results indicate that the crystal size of POM indeed plays a role in determining the toughness, and has to be considered when discussing the toughening mechanism. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry

Polyoxymethylene (POM)/elastomer/filler ternary composites were prepared, in which thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and an inorganic filler, CaCO 3 were used to achieve balanced machanical properties of POM. A two -step processing method, in which the elastomer and the filler were mixed to a masterbatch first and then the masterbatch was melt-blendend with pure POM, was used to obtain a coreshell microstructure with CaCO 3 covered by TPU. A brittleductile transition phenomenon was observed with increasing TPU content for this ternary system. To better understand the toughening mechanism, we investigated the fractured surface, interparticle distance, and the spherulite size of POM as function of the TPU and Ca CO 3 content. The critical TPU content depended on not only the content of CaCO 3 , but also the size of CaCO 3 particles. The observed brittle-ductile transition was discussed based on the crystallinity and spherulite size of POM as well as Wu's critical interparticle distance theory. The results showed that the impact strengh of POM/TPU/CaCO 3 ternary system depends on a critical, interparticle distance, which varies from one system to another. The dependence of the impact strengh on the spherulite size was considered for the first time, and a single curve was constructed. A critical spherulite size of 40 micron was found, at which brittle-ductile transition occurs, regardless of the TPU and CaCO 3 content or the size of CaCO 3 particles. Our results indicate that the spherulite size of POM indeed plays a role in determining the toughness, and must be considered when discussing the toughening mechanism.

The DNA topoisomerase (Topo) I inhibitory activity of six quinochalcone C-glycosides (QCGs) isolated from the florets of Carthamus tinctorius were evaluated in vitro. Among them, anhydrosafflor yellow B (AHSYB, 4) and carthorquinoside B (6) could inhibit DNA Topo I at concentrations as low as 100 μM. Molecular docking study revealed that both of them have the capacity to stabilize Topo I-DNA cleavage complex in silico interacting with the essential binding sites, such as Arg364, Thr718 and TGP11. Besides, both compounds 4 and 6 exhibited no antitumor activity by in vitro cytotoxicity assays.

Purpose: To investigate the protective effect of the acetone extract of Rumex japonicas Houtt. (AER) on rat myocardial cells. Methods: R. japonicas was extracted with 75 % aqueous ethanol by reflux to afford total extract (TER). TER was suspended in water and then extracted with acetone to afford acetone fraction of R. japonicas (AER). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with standard substances was carried out to analyze the major constituents of AER. Apoptosis in myocardial H9c2 cell line was induced by H 2 O 2 (100 μmol/L). The cells were treated with AER (50, 100 and 200 μg/mL, and cell viability was evaluated by the 3-（4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, while oxidative stress level in H9c2 cells was evaluated by determining levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA), creatinine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT). Furthermore, apoptotic proteins (caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2) in H9c2 cells were analyzed by using western blot assay. Results: Results revealed that the main components of AER are aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin, chrysophanol and physcion. AER (50, 100 and 200 μg/mL) inhibited the cell viability reduction of the H9c2 cells induced by H 2 O 2 (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, respectively). AER (50, 100 and 200 μg/mL) decreased LDH and CK contents of H9c2 cells (p < 0.01). The levels of SOD (p

Scutellarin (1) has been used for the treatment of angina pectoris, cerebral infarction and coronary heart disease with a large market share in China. Pharmacokinetic studies on scutellarin showed that scutellarin (1) is readily converted into its metabolites in vivo. In this paper, a new and practical synthetic method for the synthesis of 6-O-methyl-scutellarein (3) (one metabolite of scutellarin in vivo) is reported. The benzyl bromide was firstly used to selectively replace the acetyl group at C-7 in 7, and was then used to protect the hydroxy groups at C-4' in 10, 6-O-methyl-scutellarein (3) is obtained in high yield through these methods.

Diuridine 3',5-boranophosphate has been synthesized. its diastereomerswere separated and their configuration was tentatively assingned basedon the snake venom phosphodiesterase catalytic hydrolysis

More stringent legislations controlling discharges of wastewater lead to more wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) constructed, which result in considerably sludge production nowadays. Being an important biological method to reduce sludge, the low rate of hydrolysis limited its efficiency and the released nutrient elements in the supernatant often became a new source of pollutant. In this study, hydrolysis of excess sludge by bioaugmentation and removal of nutrient with a method of low cost were studied. The excess sludge originated from No. 3 Wastewater Treatment Plant of Xi'an city was used and a yeast like was adopted for bioaugmentation. Two reactors with volume of 3.5 liters were operated in parallel for hydrolysis under 35±1°C and investigations on nutrient removal were carried out with jar tests. The results showed that it was an effective method to hydrolyze excess sludge by bioaugmentation, which made the reduction ratio of VSS in sludge increase to 47.9% as compare to the control one. At the same time, the multiples of SCOD, NH 4 +-N, PO 4 3−-P in the supernatant of bioaugmentation reactor were respectively 4.47, 3.79 and 3.25 of that in the control one. The experiment of nutrient removal displayed the concentration of phosphorus in supernatant liquor could decrease to 4.36mg PO 4 3−-P.L− and the percentage of NH 4 +-N removal was above 43% only by static settling for 42h followed with stirring for 30min under pH value of 9.5. To sum up, hydrolysis of excess sludge by bioaugmentation was potent and removal of nutrient from supernatant without magnesium addition was a potential method to save cost. However more research is required to clarify the mechanisms in the processes mentioned above detailedly later.