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Ginsenoside Rh4, as a bioactive component obtained from Panax notoginseng, has excellent pharmacological properties. However, its role in regulating gut microbiota and intestinal inflammation is still poorly understood. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Rh4 on gut microbiota, especially antibiotic-induced microbiota perturbation, and the underlying mechanisms. C57BL/6 mice were given different doses of Rh4 after the establishment of a gut microbiota disturbance model with antibiotics. Our data revealed that Rh4 administration could greatly improve the pathological phenotype, gut barrier disruption, and intestinal inflammation in mice that had been antibiotic-induced. Notably, it was found that Rh4 significantly inhibited the TLR4-MyD88-MAPK signaling pathway. In addition, Rh4 treatment could significantly increase the number of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and bile acids (BAs). These changes were accompanied with beneficial alterations in gut microbiota diversity and composition. In conclusion, Rh4 improves intestinal inflammation and induces potentially beneficial changes in the gut microbiota, which are conducive to revealing host-microbe interactions.

Additional file 1. The guidelines for practicing quadriceps strengthening exercises and Baduanjin qigong for KOA patients in this study.

Additional file 3. CONSORT 2010 checklist of information to include when reporting a randomized trial.

BackgroundExercise is recommended as a core treatment for individuals with KOA. However, the optimal exercise program to promote long-term compliance for KOA patients is not clear. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of the combination exercise program (quadriceps strengthening exercises (QSE) plus Baduanjin qigong) versus QSE alone on older adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). MethodsA two-arm, quasi-experimental trial with repeated measurements was used. As a cluster randomized trial, participants from one community center were assigned to combination exercise group while participants from the other center were assigned to QSE group. We assessed pain intensity, physical function, self-efficacy, and HRQoL with standardized instruments at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Results87 participants with KOA who aged above 60 completed the study. Over the 6 months, There were significant time by group interaction effects on pain intensity (F = 44.419, p < 0.001), physical function (F = 46.904, p < 0.001) and self-efficacy (F = 49.754, p < 0.001), as well as in the physical component summary (F = 15.205, p < 0.001) and mental component summary of SF-12 (F = 19.205, p < 0.001), with the combination exercise group exhibiting significantly greater improvements in all outcomes than QSE group. ConclusionsCombination exercise treatment is more effective than QSE for relieving pain, increasing physical functioning, and improving self-efficacy, and quality of life in community-dwelling KOA older adults. Also, it could promote long-term compliance for KOA community patients.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trails Registry number ChiCTR2000033387 (retrospectively registered). Registered 30 May 2020

Fuzhuan brick tea (FBT) is a Chinese dark tea that is famous for its significant health benefits, in which

Objective To assess the overall trends in the development and citation impact of high-impact papers in nursing research worldwide to gain insight into the focus areas of nursing research. Background Bibliometric method is proved to be effective in analysing the papers' characteristics, and it gained considerable interest from the scientific community in recent years. An analysis of the characteristics and intrinsic patterns of high-impact papers in nursing research will provide an objective reflection of the research hot spots. Nursing managers can pointedly increase funding amount and strengthen research cooperation in order to put the scientific results into management practice. Methods Bibliometric methods and visualization software were used to comprehensively analyse high-impact papers in nursing research in terms of development trends, countries/regions, distribution of subject areas, research institutes, collaborative networks and subject terms. Results There were 6,886 papers between 2008 and 2018. The number of papers increased from 528 in 2008 to 723 in 2015, and then remained above 600 in 2016 and 2017. These papers were mainly distributed in nursing, oncology, paediatrics, gynaecology, teaching and education, and cardiac and cardiovascular systems and were cited by 128,845 papers that came from 89 Web of Science subject areas. Papers in nursing research accounted for the largest share of these citations. The top five countries in the world in terms of the number of high-impact papers were the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden. The research institutions with the highest number of high-impact papers worldwide were the University of California System, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina, the University of London and the University of Technology Sydney. In this data set, it was shown that research collaborative circles have been formed in the United States, Australia, Canada and Europe; the subject-term analysis indicated that 'women' and 'students' have always been high-interest populations for high-impact papers and that cancer is still one of the greatest threats to human health. Furthermore, the subject terms of high-impact papers in nursing research have gradually evolved from 'disease' and 'therapy' to 'symptoms'. Conclusion In recent years, the number of high-impact papers published each year in nursing research has grown over time. Nursing has been shown to be a highly specialized subject, and the majority of its high-impact papers have been published by research institutions. Although cross-regional collaborations are beginning to emerge, there is much room for improvement in this regard. Finally, women, students, cancer and symptomatic care are the current focus areas in nursing research. Implications for nursing management This study informs nursing managers within the nursing research field about subject areas, collaborative networks and hot topics. It is beneficial to pay attention to studies, manage scientific outputs, allocate resources, seek cooperation and improve the work efficiency of scientific research management.

By combining DEAE-cellulose-52 and Sepharose-CL-6B chromatography, a heteropolysaccharide ECIP-1A with an average molecular weight of 24,336 Da was isolated from the hyphae of Eurotium cristatum. The main components of the monosaccharides of ECIP-1A were mannose, glucose and galactose, and their molar ratio is 4.003: 0.592: 4.58. Analysis of the immunomodulatory activity showed that ECIP-1A could significantly promote the proliferation of RAW264.7 cells and induce the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and nitric oxide (NO) by RAW264.7 cells. The results therefore suggested that ECIP-1A, as an immunomodulator, may have potential application prospects in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Advanced lung cancer is becoming a chronic disease threatening human life and health. Cachexia has been recognized as the most common problem associated with advanced lung cancer. Lung cancer-induced cachexia seriously affects patients' quality of life. The present article summarizes the pathogenesis of advanced lung cancer-induced cachexia from three aspects: anorexia, cytokines, and energy and metabolic abnormalities. In addition, the present article proposes corresponding nursing measures based on cachexia pathogenesis to improve the quality of life and survival rate of cachectic patients with advanced lung cancer by combining continuously advancing treatment regimens and effective nursing. The present article also provides references for healthcare professionals when administering related treatments and nursing care.

Ginsenoside Rk1 is a substance derived from ginseng and exhibits various activities such as anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects; however, its anti-tumor effect and target signaling mechanism in lung adenocarcinoma are not well understood. Here, we show that Rk1, a natural drug product, can function as an antitumor modulator that induces apoptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells by inhibiting NF-κB transcription and triggering cell cycle arrest. Mechanistically, Rk1 suppressed the proliferation and clonal formation of two lung adenocarcinoma cell lines (A549 and PC9) in vitro and caused G1 phase cell arrest. In the A549 xenograft model, Rk1 significantly inhibited tumor growth and had few toxic side effects on normal organs. Western blotting results showed that Rk1 increased the protein expression of Bax, cleaved caspase-3, -8, and -9, and PARP, decreased the expression of Bcl-2 and blocked the NF-κB signaling pathway. Furthermore, ginsenoside Rk1 also reduced the high expression of PD-L1 in lung adenocarcinoma cells by inhibiting NF-κB signaling. These data revealed a previously unreported antitumor mechanism of Rk1, providing new ideas and an experimental basis for further study of the mechanism of action of Rk1 in lung adenocarcinoma.

The primary goal of the present study is to discover new drug treatments by topology analysis of drug associations and their therapeutic group network. To this end, we collected 19,869 papers dated from 1946 to 2015 that are related to autism treatment from PubMed. We extracted 145 drugs based on MeSH terms and their synonyms (the total number is 6624) within the same ATC classification hierarchy and used them to find drug associations in the collected datasets. We introduced a new topology-driven method that incorporates various network analyses including co-word network, clique percolation, weak component, pathfinding-based analysis of therapeutic groups, and detection of important drug interaction within a clique. The present study showed that the in-depth analysis of the drug relationships extracted from the literature-based network sheds new light on drug discovery research. The results also suggested that certain drugs could be repurposed for autism treatment in the future. In particular, the results indicated that the discovered four drugs such as Tocilizumab, Tacrolimus, Prednisone, and Sulfisoxazole are worthy of further study in laboratory experiments with formal assessment of possible effects on symptoms, which may provide psychologists, physicians, and researchers with data-based scientific hypotheses in autism-drug discovery.

The rare ginsenoside Compound K (C-K) is attracting more attention because of its good physiological activity and urgent need. There are many pathways to obtain ginsenoside C-K, including chemical and biological methods. Among these, the conversion of PPD-type ginsenosides by enzymatic hydrolysis is a trend due to its high efficiency and mild conditions. For effectively extracting from the other panaxadiol saponins, the conversion process for ginsenoside C-K was investigated using snailases in this study. The univariate experimental design and response surface methodology were used to determine the optimal hydrolysis conditions for the conversion of ginsenoside Rb1 into ginsenoside C-K by snailases. The optimum conditions were as follows: pH 5.12, temperature 51 °C, ratio of snailase/substrate 0.21, and reaction time 48 h. On the basis of these parameters, the addition of 1.0 mmol·L− 1 ferric ion was found to significantly improve the enzymolysis of snailases for the first time. With the above conditions, the maximum conversion rate reached 89.7%, suggesting that the process can obviously increase the yield of ginsenoside C-K. The bioassay tests indicated that the ginsenoside C-K showed anti-tumor activity in a series of tumor cell lines. Based on these results, we can conclude that the process of rare ginsenoside C-K production by enzymolysis with snailase is feasible, efficient, and suitable for the industrial production and application.

The use of ginsenosides in cancer therapy has been intensively investigated. The ginsenoside Rh4 (Rh4), a rare saponin obtained from Panax notoginseng, dissolves in water more readily than total saponins, making this compound easier to use in anti-cancer pharmaceutics. Here, we investigated the antiproliferative activity and mechanisms of Rh4 in colorectal cancer, both in vivo and in vitro. A colorectal cancer xenograft model showed that Rh4 significantly inhibited tumor growth with few side effects. CCK-8 assays, flow cytometric analysis, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry revealed that Rh4 effectively suppressed colorectal cancer cell proliferation via inducing G0/G1 phase arrest, caspase-dependent apoptosis and autophagic cell death but was not significantly cytotoxic to normal colon epithelial cells. Furthermore, apoptosis played a dominant role in Rh4-induced cell death, as the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK blocked cell death to a greater extent than the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine. Moreover, Rh4 increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and subsequently activated the JNK-p53 pathway. An ROS scavenger and JNK and p53 inhibitors significantly attenuated Rh4-induced apoptosis and autophagy. Thus, the present study is the first to illustrate that Rh4 triggers apoptosis and autophagy via activating the ROS/JNK/p53 pathway in colorectal cancer cells, providing basic scientific evidence that Rh4 shows great potential as an anti-cancer agent.

Skin defects are an important and pressing clinical problem. The use of hydrogels as a regenerative scaffold presents a promising approach to cure skin defects by inducing dermal reconstruction. Although synthetic material hydrogels display good mechanical properties, their poor biocompatibility restricts their application. To develop a good dermal substitute, we have successfully prepared hydrogels that mimic the extracellular matrix of the human body and can be used for tissue engineering skin scaffolds. The hydrogels were synthesized by adding hyaluronic acid (HA) and carboxylated chitosan (CCS) to human-like collagen (HLC) that can be used to tissue engineering skin scaffolds and using transglutaminase as a crosslinking agent. The mechanical characteristics of the hydrogels were explored by cyclic compressive mechanical tests and a uniaxial tension protocol. The compressive stress of HLC/HA/CCS (GEL4) hydrogel reached 0.2136 ± 0.034 MPa when the compressive strain reached 60%. The tensile strain of GEL4 was 126.99 ± 2.38%. The hydrogels significantly promoted adhesion, proliferation and migration of L929 cells, demonstrating the good biocompatibility of the hydrogels. For in vivo analysis, we constructed a full-thickness skin defect model and demonstrated that the hydrogels could effectively prevent invasion of the wound by outside bacteria and certificate that they are beneficial in promoting wound healing over pathologic healing. Subcutaneous implantation experiments revealed that the degradation period of the hydrogels with HA and CCS is suitable for the healing cycle of skin tissue, and the inflammatory reaction could be reduced to a very short time, indicating the good histocompatibility of the hydrogels. Therefore, the hydrogels are favourable, soft and porous materials that demonstrate good potential for skin repair, drug delivery, cartilage treatment and other tissue engineering applications.

Bacterial infection and oxidative stress are two critical problems for chronic infected wound healing. Here, molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (MoS2 NSs) with triple enzyme-like activities are loaded onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and incorporated into multifunctional hydrogels aiming to eradicate bacteria and eliminate free radicals. The nanozyme activities of MoS2 are significantly enhanced through CNTs and near-infrared irradiation. The hydrogel exhibits significant antibacterial performance attributed to the peroxidase-like activity (catalyzing hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) into hydroxyl free radicals (•OH)) under acidic conditions, glutathione loss, and photothermal therapy. Additionally, the nanozyme can mimic the superoxide-like activity to transform the superoxide radicals (O2•- ) into H2 O2 and oxygen (O2 ), then H2 O2 is further depleted into O2 via the catalase-like activity, benefitting from which and •OH scavenging ability, the hydrogel shows excellent scavenging free radical ability in neutral environment and provides abundant O2 for wound healing. The multifunctional hydrogel, crosslinked by dynamic boron ester bonds, exhibits adhesiveness, self-healing, and shape-adaptivity, which can fill the cavity of irregular wounds and promote the nanozyme to play the role with maximum efficiency. The hydrogels notably accelerate the skin reconstruction through killing bacteria, clearing ROS, promoting collagen deposition and angiogenesis.

Ginsenoside Rk3 is a natural prebiotic found in ginseng, has excellent pharmacological efficacy, especially antitumor effects, and can greatly benefit human health. Here, we investigated the impact of Rk3 intake on modulation of the gut microbiota and their metabolites as well as its effect on low-grade inflammation in mice. C57BL/6JFandd mice were administered different doses of Rk3 for two weeks after establishment of an antibiotic-mediated gut microbiota disturbance model. Interestingly, Rk3 intake induced substantial changes in the gut microbiota composition, enriched the Bacteroides, Alloprevotella and Blautia genera, and effectively ameliorated gut microbiota dysbiosis, with significantly decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratios. These changes were accompanied by beneficial alterations in gut microbiota diversity and improved short-chain fatty acid levels. In addition, we found that Rk3 intervention repaired intestinal barrier dysfunction by increasing the expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, Occludin and Claudin-1), reducing colonic inflammatory cytokine levels, and suppressing TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 overproduction. In conclusion, Rk3 improves intestinal inflammation and induces potentially beneficial changes in the gut microbiota, and these findings help elucidate host-microbe interactions.

Yanbing Su,1 Chao Long,2 Qi Yu,1 Juan Zhang,1 Daisy Wu,3 Zhiguang Duan1 1School of Management, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 3Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the multiple collaboration types, quantitatively evaluate the publication trends and review the performance of institutions or countries (regions) across the world in COPD research.Materials and methods: Scientometric methods and social network analysis were used to survey the development of publication trends and understand current collaboration in the field of COPD research based on the Web of Science publications during the past 18years.Results: The number of publications developed through different collaboration types has increased. Growth trends indicate that the percentage of papers authored through multinational and domestic multi-institutional collaboration (DMIC) have also increased. However, the percentage of intra-institutional collaboration and single-authored (SA) studies has reduced. The papers that produced the highest academic impact result from international collaboration. The second highest academic impact papers are produced by DMIC. Out of the three, the papers that are produced by SA studies have the least amount of impact upon the scientific community. A handful of internationally renowned institutions not only take the leading role in the development of the research within their country (region) but also play a crucial role in international research collaboration in COPD. Both the amount of papers produced and the amount of cooperation that occurs in each study are disproportionally distributed between high-income countries (regions) and low-income countries (regions). Growing attention has been generated toward research on COPD from more and more different academic domains.Conclusion: Despite the rapid development in COPD research, collaboration in the field of COPD research still has room to grow, especially between different institutions or countries (regions), which would promote the progress of global COPD research. Keywords: research collaboration, social network analysis, COPD, citation frequency

Background: TB is one of the top 10 causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent. The study characterize the developmental trends and collaboration features in the field of tuberculosis (TB) at the national level and identify high-impact countries. Methods: Scientometrics and social network analysis methods were used to analyze the research situation and collaboration behaviors based on TB research indexed in Web of Science from 1998 to 2017. Results: The publication output, national collaborative rate, and collaborative level have steadily increased from 1998 to 2017. However, domestic publications still account for a substantial proportion of a nation's publications. Over time, the numbers of national publications and international collaborative publications have increased in total, but the growth trend of their share as a proportion of total national publications is not significant. The United States of America has the largest number of highly cited publications, while Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden have higher values of average relative citation than do other countries. Notably, the United Kingdom and South Africa have established the strongest and most stable collaboration. Conclusions: There was increasing research activity and collaboration in the field of TB during the period 1998 to 2017, but growth shows wide variability between countries. Further comprehensive and full collaboration should be promoted.

Ginsenoside CK is one of the intestinal bacterial metabolites of ginsenoside prototype saponins, such as ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd. Poor water solubility and low bioavailability have limited its application. The nanogel carriers could specifically deliver hydrophobic drugs to cancer cells. Therefore, in this study, a nanogel was constructed by the formation of Schiff base bonds between hydrazide-modified carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-NH2) and aldehyde-modified β-cyclodextrin (β-CD-CHO). A water-in-oil reverse microemulsion method was utilized to encapsulate ginsenoside CK via the hydrophobic cavity of β-CD. β-CD-CHO with a unique hydrophobic cavity carried out efficient encapsulation of CK, and the drug loading and encapsulation efficiency were 16.4% and 70.9%, respectively. The drug release of CK-loaded nanogels (CK-Ngs) in vitro was investigated in different pH environments, and the results showed that the cumulative release rate at pH 5.8 was 85.5% after 140 h. The methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) toxicity analysis indicated that the survival rates of A549 cells in CK-Ngs at 96 h was 2.98% compared to that of CK (11.34%). In vivo animal experiments exhibited that the inhibitory rates of CK-Ngs against tumor volume was 73.8%, which was higher than that of CK (66.1%). Collectively, the pH-responsive nanogel prepared herein could be considered as a potential nanocarrier for CK to improve its antitumor effects against lung cancer.

Ginsenoside Rh4, as a bioactive component obtained from Panax notoginseng, has excellent pharmacological efficacy especially antitumor effects. However, its anticancer effects and target mechanisms in regulating human esophageal cancer are still poorly understood. Here, the results suggested that Rh4 exhibited potent anti-esophageal cancer effects in vivo and in vitro. Flow cytometric analysis and Western Blot showed that Rh4 significantly inhibited the growth by inducing G1 phase arrest. In parallel, Rh4 inhibited aerobic glycolysis in esophageal cancer cells by hindering lactate production, glucose uptake and ATP production; reducing the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR); suppressing aerobic glycolysis-related protein expression. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that AKT is a possible target of Rh4, which suppresses aerobic glycolysis. Rh4 administration resulted in AKT deregulation, whereas treatment with insulin abolished the inhibitory effect of Rh4 on aerobic glycolysis. In contrast, treatment with AKT inhibitors or siRNA that silenced AKT enhanced the inhibitory effect of Rh4 on aerobic glycolysis. Moreover, molecular docking results indicated that Rh4 was able to bind to the interdomain region of AKT. Interestingly, the results revealed that Rh4 also inhibited the expression of PD-L1 via the AKT/mTOR pathway. Taken together, our findings provide important insights into the anti-esophageal cancer effects of Rh4 via suppressing aerobic glycolysis and PD-L1 expression, which indicated Rh4 could be as promising drug for clinical treatment.

This study involved the development of a β-glucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis method based on a deep eutectic solvent (DES), choline chloride-ethylene glycol 2:1, and continuous feed technique to overcome the difficulty of high-concentration ginsenoside hydrolysis. A productivity of 142 mg·L−1·h−1 was achieved with the following conditions: 30 vol% DES, pH 5.0, 55 °C, and substrate concentration of 12 mM. In the presence of DES, the affinity and catalytic efficiency of β-glucosidase to Rd increased by 49 and 64%, respectively, which promoted the continuation of hydrolysis. Moreover, conformation of β-glucosidase was mostly retained, as confirmed by spectral information. Through a combination of a substrate fed-batch technique to reduce the inhibitory effects of substrates and products, the CK conversion rate increased by 44% compared to traditional single-batch in pure buffer. This report describes a practical method for the continuous conversion of natural compounds through biological processes and solvent engineering.

Wound dressings are vital for cutaneous wound healing. In this study, a bi-layer dressing composed of polyvinyl alcohol/carboxymethyl cellulose/polyethylene glycol (PVA/CMC/PEG) hydrogels is produced through a thawing-freezing method based on the study of the pore size of single-layer hydrogels. Then the physical properties and healing of full-thickness skin defects treated with hydrogels are inspected. The results show that the pore size of the single-layer PVA/CMC/PEG hyrogel can be controlled. The obtained non-adhesive bi-layer hydrogels show gradually increasing pore sizes from the upper to the lower layer and two layers are well bonded. In addition, bi-layer dressings with good mechanical properties can effectively prevent bacterial penetration and control the moisture loss of wounds to maintain a humid environment for wounds. A full-thickness skin defect test shows that bi-layer hydrogels can significantly accelerate wound closure. The experiment indicates that the bi-layer PVA/CMC/PEG hydrogels can be used as potential wound dressings.

An elastomer-like phase (ELP) of phosphate salts with ultra-high stability was successfully prepared at the air–solid interface. ELPs possess multilayered structures, and exhibit high elasticity, and strong self-healing abilities. These unique properties of ELPs greatly expand our understanding of inorganic salts and reveal their potential application in future material fields.

Wound recovery is a complex process which is influenced by many factors. Therefore, dressings with multi-functions can greatly promote wound healing. In this study, a series of multifunctional PVA/HLC/SA composite hydrogels with air permeability, anti-protein absorption, bacterial barrier property and hemostasis activity were synthesized in the prospect of producing wound dressings by repeated freeze-thawing of poly (vinyl alcohol), Human-like collagen (HLC) and sodium alginate (SA) with Tween80 added as porogen. Infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) clarified its homogeneous porous and interconnected internal structures. In addition, the hydrogels were characterized statistically and in vivo full-thickness defects in rabbit was done to verify their effect on wound healing. Two of the hydrogels (gel 2 and gel 3) showed excellent water vapor transmission rate (2420.97 and 2798.09 g·cm−2·d−1)，their swelling ratio were 1427.44 and 2308.24% respectively, worked together with hemostasis property (hemostasis time of gel 2 and gel 3 were 30.55 and 17.33 s respectively), anti-protein absorption and bacterial barrier activity, greatly promoted the full-thickness wound healing in rabbit, wounds of the hydrogel dressing groups took only 10 days to heal, while the control groups need 13–15 days. In a whole, the results facilitate the use of provided hydrogel dressings as ideal wound dressings.

To carry out a stage-matched intervention study on dietary behavior based on the Health Action Process Approach( HAPA), in order to verify the effectiveness of the intervention on improving the dietary behavior of college students.The study recruited 184 medical university 's students who were admitted between 2013 and 2015 from Shanxi, including 37 males and 147 females to participate the intervention of dietary behavioral based on HAPA from October 2015 to May 2016 by method of random sampling. They were divided into control group( 98) and intervention group( 86). No intervention was conducted on participants in the control group, differentintervention measures were applied to non-intenders, intenders and actors according to their characteristics in intervention group. Epi Data 3. 1 and SPSS 20. 0 were employed to analyze data.After the stage-matched intervention, the proportion of actors in the intervention group increased from 52. 33% to 66. 28%. In the intervention group the scores of participants after intervention were significantly higher than those before intervention, and were also significantly higher after intervention than those from control group in dietary behaviors( P0. 001), dietary concepts( P0. 001), taste tendency( P0. 001, P = 0. 002), eating regular( P0. 001) and dietary habits( P = 0. 006, P0. 001). In the intervention group, the total scores in dietary behavior at nonintenders( t =-5. 22, P0. 001), intenders( t =-13. 69, P0. 001) and actors( t =-8. 82, P0. 001) after intervention were significantly higher than those before intervention.Stage-matched intervention based on the HAPA has a positive effect on improving the dietary behavior of college students.

Ginsenoside Rk3 (Rk3) and ginsenoside Rh4 (Rh4) have been reported to have therapeutic effects on a variety of diseases including some hematological diseases. The aim of the present study was to treat ribavirin-induced anemia in mice with Rk3 and Rh4 and explore the therapeutic mechanisms. All the experimental mice were randomly divided into 10 groups (the normal group, the control group, the model group, the erythropoietin (EPO) group, and 6 groups of different doses of Rk3 and Rh4, n = 10 per group). The changes in the hemograms, the content of cytokines, the number of hematopoietic cells and viscera damage were observed in the experiment. The results showed that the red blood cell count, the hemoglobin amount and the hematocrit of mice in the ginsenoside groups could be restored to normal values in a short time, and the effects of both Rk3 and Rh4 are obviously better than those of EPO. Moreover, some positive regulators (EPO, erythroid transcription factor-1, and interleukin-3) related to hematopoiesis increased and some negative regulators (interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α) decreased in vivo after the injection of Rk3 or Rh4. These two ginsenosides did little damage to viscera and produced different degrees of increase in the hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow and spleen, which indicated that Rk3 promoted bone marrow and extramedullary haematopoiesis while Rh4 promoted extramedullary hematopoiesis. Therefore, both Rk3 and Rh4 could be considered new therapeutic drugs for treating anemia.

Breast cancer is a tremendous threat to humans in many countries, and thus we need to find safe and effective drugs for treatment. Ginsenoside Rh4 has been reported to be present in processed ginseng. However, few studies have focused on its anti-tumor activity. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of ginsenoside Rh4 on MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the pathways that promote apoptosis in vitro. To study the effect of ginsenoside Rh4 in vivo, xenograft models were randomly divided into 3 groups (the control group, 10 mg/kg/d Rh4, 20 mg/kg/d Rh4, n = 10 per group), the ginsenoside Rh4 injection method was i.p. The results showed that ginsenoside Rh4 effectively inhibited proliferation, arrested the cell cycle in S phase and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells by flow cytometry. Morphological changes caused by ginsenoside Rh4-induced apoptosis were also observed by Hoechst 33342 staining. Western-blot analyses indicated that the apoptosis-inducing effects of ginsenoside Rh4 were associated with the external pathway by decreasing Bcl-2, increasing Bax, and activating caspase-8, -3 and PARP. Moreover, ginsenoside Rh4 significantly inhibited the growth of MCF-7 tumor cells in vivo. These results suggested that ginsenoside Rh4 could be a potentially effective anti-tumor drug for breast cancer.

The authors wish to make a change to the published paper[...].

Hydrogel-based wound dressings provide a cooling sensation, a moist environment, and act as a barrier to microbes for wounds. In this study, a series of soft, flexible, porous non-stick hydrogel dressings were prepared through the simple repeated freeze-thawing of a poly(vinyl alcohol), human-like collagen (or and carboxymethyl chitosan) mixed solution rather than chemical cross-linking and Tween80 was added as pore-forming agent for cutaneous wound healing. Some of their physical and chemical properties were characterized. Interestingly, hydrogel PVA-HLC-T80 and PVA-HLC-CS-T80 presented excellent swelling ratios, bacterial barrier activity, moisture vapor permeability, hemostasis activity and biocompatibility. Furthermore, in vivo evaluation of the healing capacity of these two hydrogels was checked by creating a full-thickness wound defect (1.3 cm × 1.3 cm) in rabbit. Macroscopic observation and subsequent hematoxylin eosin staining (H&E) staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis at regular time intervals for 18 days revealed that the hydrogels significantly enhanced wound healing by reducing inflammation, promoting granulation tissue formation, collagen deposition and accelerating re-epithelialization. Taken together, the obtained data strongly encourage the use of these multifunctional hydrogels for skin wound dressings.

Aims: We analyzed the clinical features of 417 patients with hemophilia from 11 Hemophilia Treatment Centers in Shanxi Province (SP) in China. Methods: We used data collected in the national registry of hemophilia A and hemophilia B in SP from January 2010 to December 2013. Results: Ratio of hemophilia A:hemophilia B patients was 5:1, of which 48% (200/417) were severe, 31% (129/417) moderate and 21% (88/417) mild. Episodes of joint bleeding occurred in 73% (305/417) of patients. Only 4% (15/417) of patients received tertiary prophylaxis. Three percent of patients (2/72) were hepatitis B virus-Ab positive, and 7% (5/72) of patients were hepatitis C virus-Ab positive. The incidence of inhibitors was 6% (11/182). Conclusion: The ability to manage hemophilia in SP remains suboptimal. However, due to limited data, the evaluation and extrapolation of large hemophilia populations in SP are restricted, therefore, further studies with a large cohort are needed.

Bibliometric analysis based on literature in the Web of Science WOS has become an increasingly popular method for visualizing the structure of scientific fields. Keywords Plus and Author Keywords are commonly selected as units of analysis, despite the limited research evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of Keywords Plus. This study was conceived to evaluate the efficacy of Keywords Plus as a parameter for capturing the content and scientific concepts presented in articles. Using scientific papers about patient adherence that were retrieved from WOS, a comparative assessment of Keywords Plus and Author Keywords was performed at the scientific field level and the document level, respectively. Our search yielded more Keywords Plus terms than Author Keywords, and the Keywords Plus terms were more broadly descriptive. Keywords Plus is as effective as Author Keywords in terms of bibliometric analysis investigating the knowledge structure of scientific fields, but it is less comprehensive in representing an article's content.

Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric diseases and significantly negatively impacts patients’ productivity, quality of life, and cognitive functions.[1] According to a recent survey by the World Health Organization, it has been estimated that depression currently ranks the third in terms of disability-adjusted life years and will be the leading cause of disease and injury burden by 2030, surpassing cancer as well as cardiovascular and respiratory disease.[2] This troubling situation, which has raised concern among the international field of psychiatry, challenges researchers worldwide to investigate the prevention and control of depression and identify the necessary funding to support this research. Given the expansive and interdisciplinary nature of biomedicine, no single researcher or institution can stay current on all developments within depression research. Thus, scientific collaboration becomes indispensable to make progress in biomedicine as it strengthens communication, encourages competency sharing, and facilitates the discovery of new scientific knowledge. Despite this fact, there have been few scientific publications to date regarding collaborative research within the field studying depression. Therefore, this article aimed to measure scientific collaborations at three levels – authors, institutions, and countries. By examining scientific collaboration, this article also identified hot topics in depression research, which represent the areas of focus that numerous researchers have decided to have substantial potential to prevent and cure this pervasive disease.

Ginsenoside Rk3 (Rk3) is present in the roots of processed Panax notoginseng herbs and it exerts anti-platelet aggregation, pro-immunogenic and cardioprotective effects. However, little is known regarding the anticancer activities of this compound, especially in lung cancer. This study was designed to investigate the anticancer effects of Rk3 on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and in an H460 xenograft tumor model. Our results showed that Rk3 reduced cell viability, inhibited both cell proliferation and colony formation, and induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest by downregulating the expression of cyclin D1 and CDK4 and upregulating the expression of P21. Rk3 also induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner in H460 and A549 cells by Annexin V/PI staining, TUNEL assay and JC-1 staining, resulting in a change in the nuclear morphology. Moreover, Rk3 induced the activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3, promoted changes in mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased the expression of Bcl-2, increased the expression of Bax, and caused the release of cytochrome c, which indicated that the apoptosis-inducing effects of Rk3 were triggered via death receptor-mediated mitochondria-dependent pathways. Furthermore, Rk3 significantly inhibited the growth of H460 xenograft tumors without an obvious effect on the body weight of the treated mice. Histological analysis indicated that Rk3 inhibited tumor growth by altering the proliferation and morphology of tumor cells. In addition, we confirmed that Rk3 inhibited angiogenesis via CD34 staining and chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay in vivo. Taken together, our findings revealed not only the anticancer effect of Rk3 on NSCLC cells but also a new promising therapeutic agent for human NSCLC.

To improve collagen production by recombinant Pichia pastoris, we applied Placket-Burman and Box-Behnken design to optimize the fermentation medium. Through Placket-Burman design, three variables in the medium (concentration of yeast extract, peptone and glycerol) were selected for having significant effect on cell dry weight. Through Box-Behnken design regression coefficients analysis, a secondary degree polynomial equation was established, and the optimum levels of the three variables were yeast extract 1.13%, peptone 1.61% and glycerol 0.86%. During the growth period, an average cell dry weight of 4.41 g/L was obtained after 12 h fermentation, increased by 26%. Through high density fermentation, the production of recombinant human collagen (Ⅲ) was up to 4.71 g/L in 22 L fermentor. The recombinant human collagen (Ⅲ) exhibited good results to repair acetic acid induced gastric ulcer in rats.为提高重组毕赤酵母Pichia pastoris 发酵重组人Ⅲ型胶原蛋白产量，采用响应面对其生长阶段的BMGY 培养基 (Buffered minimal glycerol-complex medium) 组成进行优化。通过Placket-Burman 试验，得出酵母提取物、蛋白胨、甘油对胶原蛋白产量有显著影响，通过Box-Behnken 中心组合实验以及Design-Expert分析软件建立了以胶原蛋白产量为响应值的响应方程，得到最适浓度分别为酵母提取物1.13%，蛋白胨1.61%，甘油0.86%。经实验验证，在最优BMGY 培养基条件下培养12 h 后，所得到毕赤酵母干重为4.41 g/L，生长阶段的菌重量增加了26%。在22 L 发酵罐中通过高密度发酵，产量达到4.71 g/L。该重组胶原蛋白对大鼠乙酸灼伤胃粘膜有明显修复作用，为生物医用材料的应用制备奠定了基础。.

Biodegradable sponges, as a promising hemostatic biomaterial, has been clinically required over the past decades. Current hemostatic sponges are generally prepared by crosslinking and freeze-drying, but the quality control or biocompatibility is often unsatisfactory due to the freezing-caused morphological non-uniformity and the toxicity of raw materials or cross-linkers. The crosslinking often greatly retards the degradation of the sponges and thus affects the healing of the wound. In this work, we prepared a novel hemostatic sponge using human-like collagen and glutamine transaminase (non-toxic cross-linker) and optimized its morphology via “two-step” freezing instead of conventional “one-step” freezing. The resulting sponge showed a good biocompatibility in cytotoxicity and implantation tests and had a significant hemostatic effect in ear artery and liver injury models. Moreover, the sponge could be degraded high efficiently by several common enzymes in organisms (e.g. I collagenase, trypsase, and lysozyme), which means that the sponge can be easily digested by metabolism and can facilitate seamless healing. Finally, both the front and back of the sponge prepared via two-step freezing was more uniform in morphology than that prepared via one-step freezing. More importantly, two-step freezing can be used as a universal approach for preparation of diverse uniform biomaterials.

Designing the &ldquo, ideal&rdquo, hydrogel/matrix which can load bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in a low dose and with a sustained release is the key for its successful therapeutic application to enhance osteogenesis. The current use of natural collagen sponges as hydrogel/matrix is limited due to the collagen matrix showing weak mechanical strength and unmanageable biodegradability. Furthermore, the efficiency and safe dose usage of the BMP-2 has never been seriously considered other than purely chasing the lowest dose usage and extended-release time. In this paper, we customized a novel enzymatically cross-linked recombinant human-like collagen (HLC) sponge with low immunogenicity, little risk from hidden viruses, and easy production. We obtained a unique vertical pore structure and the porosity of the HLC, which are beneficial for Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) migration into the HLC sponge and angiopoiesis. This HLC sponge loading with low dose BMP-2 (1 &micro, g) possessed high mechanical strength along with a burst and a sustained release profile. These merits overcome previous limitations of HLC in bone repair and are safer and more sensitive than commercial collagens. For the first time, we identified that a 5 &micro, g dose of BMP-2 can bring about the side effect of bone overgrowth through this sensitive delivery system. Osteoinduction of the HLC-BMP sponges was proved by an in vivo mouse ectopic bone model and a rat cranial defect repair model. The method and the HLC-BMP sponge have the potential to release other growth factors and aid other tissue regeneration. Additionally, the ability to mass-produce HLC in our study overcomes the current supply shortage, which limits bone repair in the clinic.

Three dimensional (3D) biodegradable porous scaffolds play a key role in cartilage tissue repair. Freeze-drying and cross-linking techniques were used to fabricate a 3D composite scaffold that combined the excellent biological characteristics of human-like collagen (HLC) and the outstanding mechanical properties of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA). The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and compression tests, using Relive® Artificial Bone (RAB) scaffolds as a control. HLC/nHA scaffolds displayed homogeneous interconnected macroporous structure and could withstand a compression stress of 2.67 ± 0.37 MPa, which was higher than that of the control group. Rabbit chondrocytes were seeded on the composite porous scaffolds and cultured for 21 days. Cell/scaffold constructs were examined using SEM, histological procedures, and biochemical assays for cell proliferation and the production of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The results indicated that HLC/nHA porous scaffolds were capable of encouraging cell adhesion, homogeneous distribution and abundant GAG synthesis, and maintaining natural chondrocyte morphology compared to RAB scaffolds. In conclusion, the presented data warrants the further exploration of HLC/nHA scaffolds as a potential biomimetic platform for chondrocytes in cartilage tissue engineering.

Novel human-like collagen (HLC)/chitosan blended with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibrous meshes of different ratios were fabricated by electrospinning from aqueous solutions. Through studying the effects of the three composition on the solution rheological properties and the morphology of electrospun meshes, the mechanism of electrospinning was explored at the molecular level, and the ratio of PEO/(HLC & chitosan) (w/w) should be controlled below 1/4 as a plasticizer and HLC/chitosan maintained 4/3 w/w. Obtained meshes were treated by 0.2% glutaraldehyde solution (95% ethanol) for crosslinking and 0.2 M glycine solution for blocking unreacted aldehyde groups and became insoluble with fiber diameters of 151 ± 33 to 278 ± 46 nm, PEO was leached out after crosslinking and rinsing. HLC/chitosan scaffolds (4/3, w/w) could mimic native ECM in both chemical component and structure and support cellular in-growth in vivo while exhibited proper degradation rate in vivo. Bone marrow stromal cells adopted a flattened shape with filopodia- and lamellipodia-like extensions in the scaffolds and grew as a confluent layer after 7 days of culture in vitro. This study indicated the feasibility of electrospun nanofabrious HLC/chitosan scaffold from aqueous solution for tissue engineering application. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.

This paper aims at analyzing and extracting the research groups from the co-authorship network of oncology in China. By use of centrality, component analysis, K-Core, M-Slice, Hierarchical Clustering analysis, and Multidimensional Scaling analysis, we studied the data from 10 Core Chinese Oncology journals between 2000 and 2009, analyzed the structure character of the Chinese Oncology research institutes. This study advances the methods for selecting the most prolific research groups and individuals in Chinese Oncology research community, and provides basis for more productive cooperation in the future. This study also provides scientific evidences and suggestions for policymakers to establish a more efficient system for managing and financing Chinese Oncology research in the future.

The aim of this research was to prepare a novel sponge-like porous hydrogel scaffold based on human-like collagen (HLC) that could be applied in cartilage tissue regeneration. In this study, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a porogen to prepare the porous hydrogel, which had not been previously reported. Glutamine transaminase (TGase) was used as the cross-linker of the hydrogel, because it could catalyze the cross-linking of BSA. During the crosslinking process, BSA and HLC were mixed together, which affected the cross-linking of HLC. When the cross-linking was completed, the non-crosslinked section formed pores. The microstructure, porosity, swelling properties, and compressive properties of the hydrogel were studied. The results showed that the pore size of the hydrogel was between 100 and 300 μm, the porosity reached up to 93.43%, and the hydrogel had rapid water absorption and suitable mechanical properties. Finally, we applied the hydrogel to cartilage tissue engineering through in vitro and in vivo research. The in vitro cell experiments suggested that the hydrogel could promote the proliferation and adhesion of chondrocytes, and in vivo transplantation of the hydrogel could enhance the repair of cartilage. In general, the hydrogel is promising as a tissue engineering scaffold for cartilage.

With the increasing occurrence of vascular diseases and poor long-term patency rates of current small diameter vascular grafts, it becomes urgent to pursuit biomaterial as scaffold to mimic blood vessel morphologically and mechanically. In this study, novel human-like collagen (HLC, produced by recombinant E. coli)/chitosan tubular scaffolds were fabricated by cross-linking and freeze-drying process. The scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and tensile test, respectively. Human venous fibroblasts were expanded and seeded onto the scaffolds in the density of 1 x 10(5) cells/cm(2). After a 15-day culture under static conditions, the cell-polymer constructs were observed using SEM, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), histological examination, and biochemical assays for cell proliferation and extracellular matrix production (collagen and glycosaminoglycans). Furthermore, the scaffolds were implanted into rabbits' livers to evaluate their biocompatibility. The results indicated that HLC/chitosan tubular scaffolds (1) exhibited interconnected porous structure; (2) achieved the desirable levels of pliability (elastic up to 30% strain) and stress of 300 +/- 16 kPa; (3) were capable of enhancing cell adhesion and proliferation and ECM secretion; (4) showed superior biocompatibility. This study suggested the feasibility of HLC/chitosan composite as a promising candidate scaffold for blood vessel tissue engineering.

Background Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that levies a heavy medical toll and cost burden throughout the world. Scientific collaborations are necessary for progress in psychiatric research. However, there have been few publications on scientific collaborations in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of author collaborations in schizophrenia research. Methods This study used 58,107 records on schizophrenia from 2003 to 2012 which were downloaded from Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI Expanded) via Web of Science. CiteSpace III, an information visualization and analysis software, was used to make a visual analysis. Results Collaborative author networks within the field of schizophrenia were determined using published documents. We found that external author collaboration networks were more scattered while potential author collaboration networks were more compact. Results from hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the main collaborative field was genetic research in schizophrenia. Conclusion Based on the results, authors belonging to different institutions and in different countries should be encouraged to collaborate in schizophrenia research. This will help researchers focus their studies on key issues, and allow each other to offer reasonable suggestions for making polices and providing scientific evidence to effectively diagnose, prevent, and cure schizophrenia.

To discuss the clinical significance of the neck vascular ultrasound examination in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).Case-control study. Thirty patients of BRVO and 30 healthy subjects with no ophthalmic and systemic symptoms were recruited from January 2010 to January 2012 in the Department of Ophthalmology of the First People's Hospital of Dali Prefecture. The neck vascular ultrasound examination was performed in two groups. The incidence of carotid atheromatous plaque, the rate of carotid stenosis and the carotid artery resistance index (RI) were compared using chi square test. Logistic regression analysis of the rate of carotid stenosis and carotid artery RI were performed.In BRVO group, 23 cases had carotid atheromatous plaque with the incidence of 76.7% Nineteen cases had carotid stenosis with the incidence of 63.3%. The average carotid artery RI was 0.66. In control group, carotid artery atheromatous plaque was found on 6 subjects with incidence of 20.0%. Carotid artery stenosis was detected in 3 subjects with incidence of 10.0%. The average carotid artery RI was 0.61. The incidence of carotid artery atheromatous plaque and carotid stenosis and carotid artery RI in BRVO group were significantly higher than the control group. The difference was statistically significant (P0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that carotid artery stenosis (partial regression coefficien t = 2.263, OR = 9.611, P = 0.004) and carotid artery RI (partial regression coefficien t = 23.713, OR = 669.273, P = 0.006) had influence in BRVO patients as risk factors.Early detection of carotid scleratheroma and carotid artery stenosis by the carotid artery ultrasound examination played an important role in prevention or treatment of BRVO.

• This research examines the knowledge structure of college students' health research by using knowledge mapping and co-occurrence word analysis.