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Pd/C was found to be an efficient and convenient metal catalyst in the homocoupling reaction for the synthesis of symmetrical biaryl diamides. The catalyst system Pd/C-KOAc showed high catalytic activity, and a variety of symmetrical biaryl diamides were conveniently synthesized from 2-halo-N-phenylbenzamides in moderate to good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information diffusion in online social networks is affected by the underlying network topology, but it also has the power to change it. Online users are constantly creating new links when exposed to new information sources, and in turn these links are alternating the way information spreads. However, these two highly intertwined stochastic processes, information diffusion and network evolution, have been predominantly studied separately, ignoring their co-evolutionary dynamics. We propose a temporal point process model, Coevolve, for such joint dynamics, allowing the intensity of one process to be modulated by that of the other. This model allows us to eficiently simulate interleaved diffusion and network events, and generate traces obeying common diffusion and network patterns observed in real-world networks such as Twitter. Furthermore, we also develop a convex optimization framework to learn the parameters of the model from historical diffusion and network evolution traces. We experimented with both synthetic data and data gathered from Twitter, and show that our model provides a good fit to the data as well as more accurate predictions than alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have caused frequent occurrence of haze in China during wintertime in recent years. The sulfate aerosol is one of the most important components of fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere, contributing significantly to the haze formation. However, the heterogeneous formation mechanism of sulfate remains poorly characterized. The relationships of the observed sulfate with PM2.5, iron, and relative humidity in Xi'an, China have been employed to evaluate the mechanism and to develop a parameterization of the sulfate heterogeneous formation involving aerosol water for incorporation into atmospheric chemical transport models. Model simulations with the proposed parameterization can successfully reproduce the observed sulfate rapid growth and diurnal variations in Xi'an and Beijing, China. Reasonable representation of sulfate heterogeneous formation in chemical transport models considerably improves the PM2.5 simulations, providing the underlying basis for better understanding the haze formation and supporting the design and implementation of emission control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the WRF-CHEM model is used to evaluate the contributions of trans-boundary transport to the air quality in Beijing during a persistent air pollution episode from 5 to 14 July 2015 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), China. Generally, the predicted temporal variations and spatial distributions of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), O3 (ozone), and NO2 are in good agreement with observations in BTH. The WRF-CHEM model also reproduces reasonably well the temporal variations of aerosol species compared to measurements in Beijing. The factor separation approach is employed to evaluate the contributions of trans-boundary transport of non-Beijing emissions to the PM2.5 and O3 levels in Beijing. On average, in the afternoon during the simulation episode, the local emissions contribute 22.4 % to the O3level in Beijing, less than 36.6 % from non-Beijing emissions. The O3 concentrations in Beijing are decreased by 5.1 % in the afternoon due to interactions between local and non-Beijing emissions. The non-Beijing emissions play a dominant role in the PM2.5 level in Beijing, with a contribution of 61.5 %, much higher than 13.7 %, from Beijing local emissions. The emission interactions between local and non-Beijing emissions enhance the PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing, with a contribution of 5.9 %. Therefore, the air quality in Beijing is generally determined by the trans-boundary transport of non-Beijing emissions during summertime, showing that the cooperation with neighboring provinces to mitigate pollutant emissions is key for Beijing to improve air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have discussed the overlapping and reinforcing effects (defined as a syndemic) of psychosocial problems on high-risk sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM). The present study aimed to apply the syndemic theory to verify the reinforcing effects of psychosocial problems on unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) among MSM in Shanghai, and determine if other important psychosocial factors fit into the syndemic theory.Methods: Data were collected from 547 MSM in Shanghai, China, through face-to-face interviews. The measures for psychosocial problems included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale; and the Sexual Compulsivity Scale. We used multivariate analysis and binary logistic regression to investigate the associations between psychosocial problems and high-risk sexual behaviors.Results: The prevalence of UAI among MSM in the past 6 months was 54.5%. Education (graduate from college vs. high school) served as a protective factor against UAI (OR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.38-0.94). There was a high prevalence of psychosocial problems, and at least one-third of participants reported experiencing more than two psychosocial symptoms. Of these psychosocial factors that we investigated, lower self-esteem was associated with UAI in both univariate and multivariate regression model (P = 0.009). Result suggests that overlapping and reinforcing effects of psychosocial problems may increase high risk sexual behaviors among MSM in Shanghai, China (OR 1.65, 95% CI: 1.09-2.50; P = 0.018).Conclusions: We found further evidence for a syndemic of psychosocial problems among MSM in Shanghai, China. This syndemic may also increase high risk sexual behaviors among MSM. Most HIV prevention interventions are focused on behavior change and only have moderate effects; our findings suggest that a shift from behavior-focused interventions to a more comprehensive strategy that addresses psychosocial factors may be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid proliferation of independently-designed and -deployed wireless sensor networks extremely crowds the wireless spectrum and promotes the emergence of cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSN). In CRSN, the sensor node (SN) can make full use of the unutilized licensed spectrum, and the spectrum efficiency is greatly improved. However, inevitable spectrum sensing errors will adversely interfere with the primary transmission, which may result in primary transmission outage. To compensate the adverse effect of spectrum sensing errors, we propose a reciprocally-benefited secure transmission strategy, in which SN's interference to the eavesdropper is employed to protect the primary confidential messages while the CRSN is also rewarded with a loose spectrum sensing error probability constraint. Specifically, according to the spectrum sensing results and primary users' activities, there are four system states in this strategy. For each state, we analyze the primary secrecy rate and the SN's transmission rate by taking into account the spectrum sensing errors. Then, the SN's transmit power is optimally allocated for each state so that the average transmission rate of CRSN is maximized under the constraint of the primary maximum permitted secrecy outage probability. In addition, the performance tradeoff between the transmission rate of CRSN and the primary secrecy outage probability is investigated. Moreover, we analyze the primary secrecy rate for the asymptotic scenarios and derive the closed-form expression of the SN's transmission outage probability. Simulation results show that: (1) the performance of the SN's average throughput in the proposed strategy outperforms the conventional overlay strategy; (2) both the primary network and CRSN benefit from the proposed strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the artificial breeding of free-spawning marine bivalves, the sperm concentration is often far greater than that of eggs and, therefore, increases the risk of polyspermy. However, the molecular mechanism of polyspermy blocking remains unclear. The chitin synthase (CHS) gene has been reported to participate in polyspermy blocking in Caenorhabditis elegans; it was therefore cloned and analysed in the commercial bivalve Tegillarca granosa. The results showed that the CHS gene of T. granosa (TgCHS) was highly conserved with those of Atrina rigida, Leptochiton asellus, Pinctada fucata and Mytilus galloprovincialis. Similar to the CHSs of these species, TgCHS is characterized by three domains, A, B and C. Domain A was located at the N-terminus, containing 7-9 transmembrane helices. Domain B formed a central catalytic domain without any potential transmembrane segments. Domain C comprised the C-terminal end of the protein, containing multiple potential transmembrane segments. Treatment of oocytes of T. granosa with a CHS-specific inhibitor, nikkomycin Z, led to a significant increase in polyspermy, suggesting that TgCHS has a role in polyspermy blocking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have caused frequent occurrence of haze in China during wintertime in recent years. The sulfate aerosol is one of the most important components of fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere, contributing significantly to the haze formation. However, the heterogeneous formation mechanism of sulfate remains poorly characterized. Observed filter measurements of PM2.5, sulfate, and iron, and relative humidity in Xi'an, China have been employed to evaluate the mechanism and to develop a parameterization of the sulfate heterogeneous formation involving aerosol water for incorporation into atmospheric chemical transport models. Model simulations with the proposed parameterization can successfully reproduce the observed sulfate rapid growth and diurnal variations in Xi'an and Beijing, China. Reasonable representation of sulfate heterogeneous formation in chemical transport models considerably improves the PM2.5 simulations, providing the underlying basis for better understanding the haze formation and supporting the design and implementation of emission control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on the impact of an interviewer's race on the results of a face-to-face survey's computer-assisted self-interview (CASI) module. The study involved an examination of race-related questions and literature that proposes several explanations for the race effect. Also explored are previous studies on interviewer effects, elimination of errors due to interviewer race effects, and advantages and disadvantages of the CASI module.

This paper presents a numerical and infrared experimental study of thermal and grain growth behavior during argon tungsten arc welding of 443 stainless steel. A 3D finite element model was proposed to simulate the welding process. The simulations were carried out via the Ansys Parametric Design Language (APDL) available in the finite-element code, ANSYS. To validate the simulation accuracy, a series of experiments using a fully-automated welding process was conducted. The results of the numerical analysis show that the simulation weld bead size and the experiment results have good agreement. The grain growth in the heat-affected zone of 443 stainless steel is influenced via three factors: (1) the thermal cycle experienced; (2) grain boundary migration; and (3) particle precipitation. Grain boundary migration is the main factor. The modified coefficient k of the grain growth index is calculated. The value is 1.16. Moreover, the microhardness of the weld bead softened slightly compared to the base metal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In machine-to-machine (M2M) networks, a key challenge is to overcome the overload problem caused by random access requests from massive machine-type communication (MTC) devices. When differentiated services coexist, such as delay-sensitive and delay-tolerant services, the problem becomes more complicated and challenging. This is because delay-sensitive services often use more aggressive policies, and thus, delay-tolerant services get much fewer chances to access the network. To conquer the problem, we propose an efficient mechanism for massive access control over differentiated M2M services, including delay-sensitive and delay-tolerant services. Specifically, based on the traffic loads of the two types of services, the proposed scheme dynamically partitions and allocates the random access channel (RACH) resource to each type of services. The RACH partition strategy is thoroughly optimized to increase the access performances of M2M networks. Analyses and simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of our design. The proposed scheme can outperform the baseline access class barring (ACB) scheme, which ignores service types in access control, in terms of access success probability and the average access delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the direct conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) in a photoelectrochemical cell consisting of germanium doped gallium nitride nanowire anode and copper (Cu) cathode. Various products including methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), and formic acid (HCOOH) were observed under light illumination. A Faradaic efficiency of ~10% was measured for HCOOH. Furthermore, this photoelectrochemical system showed enhanced stability for 6 h CO2 reduction reaction on low cost, large area Si substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wepreviously reported that the skeletal muscle-specific overexpression of Fyn in mice resulted in a severe muscle wasting phenotype despite the activation of mTORC1 signaling. To investigate the bases for the loss of muscle fiber mass, we examined the relationship between Fyn activation of mTORC1, JNK, and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Overexpression of Fyn in skeletal muscle in vivo and in HEK293T cells in culture resulted in the activation of IRE1α and JNK, leading to increased cell death. Fyn synergized with the general endoplasmic reticulum stress inducer thapsigargin, resulting in the activation of IRE1α and further accelerated cell death. Moreover, inhibition of mTORC1with rapamycin suppressed IRE1α activation and JNK phosphorylation, resulting in protecting cells against Fyn- and thapsigargin-induced cell death. Moreover, rapamycin treatment in vivo reduced the skeletal muscle IRE1α activation in the Fyn-overexpressing transgenic mice. Together, these data demonstrate the presence of a Fyn-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress that occurred, at least in part, through the activation of mTORC1, as well as subsequent activation of the IRE1α-JNK pathway driving cell death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluorooctane sulfate (PFOS), a persistent organic pollutant, has recently been closely linked with an increased risk of tumorigenesis. However, PFOS has yielded negative results in various tests of genotoxicity. The present study aimed to investigate the mutagenic response to PFOS in the gpt delta transgenic mouse mutation system and to illustrate the contribution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to PFOS genotoxicity. Mutations at the redBA/gam loci were determined by Spi- assay both in vitro and in vivo. DNA damage was measured by phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) and mouse bone marrow micronucleus (MN) testing. Our data showed that PFOS induced concentration-dependent increases in γ-H2AX foci and in mutation frequencies at redBA/gam loci in transgenic mouse embryonic fibroblast cells, which were confirmed by the formation of MNs in the bone marrow and the observations of mutation induction in the livers of gpt delta transgenic mice. Concurrent treatment with catalase, an efficient H2O2 scavenger, significantly decreased the formation of γ-H2AX foci and the mutation yields induced by PFOS. In addition, the generation of H2O2 was found to be closely related to the abnormal peroxisomal β-oxidation caused by PFOS. These finding might provide new mechanistical information about genotoxic effects of PFOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pompe disease is due to a deficiency in acid-α-glucosidase (GAA) and results in debilitating skeletal muscle wasting, characterized by the accumulation of glycogen and autophagic vesicles. Given the role of lysosomes as a platform for mTORC1 activation, we examined mTORC1 activity in models of Pompe disease. GAA-knockdown C2C12 myoblasts and GAA-deficient human skin fibroblasts of infantile Pompe patients were found to have decreased mTORC1 activation. Treatment with the cell-permeable leucine analog L-leucyl-L-leucine methyl ester restored mTORC1 activation. In vivo, Pompe mice also displayed reduced basal and leucine-stimulated mTORC1 activation in skeletal muscle, whereas treatment with a combination of insulin and leucine normalized mTORC1 activation. Chronic leucine feeding restored basal and leucine-stimulated mTORC1 activation, while partially protecting Pompe mice from developing kyphosis and the decline in muscle mass. Leucine-treated Pompe mice showed increased spontaneous activity and running capacity, with reduced muscle protein breakdown and glycogen accumulation. Together, these data demonstrate that GAA deficiency results in reduced mTORC1 activation that is partly responsible for the skeletal muscle wasting phenotype. Moreover, mTORC1 stimulation by dietary leucine supplementation prevented some of the detrimental skeletal muscle dysfunction that occurs in the Pompe disease mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroautophagy is a physiological cellular response to nutrient stress, which leads to the engulfment of cytosolic contents by a double-walledmembrane structure, the phagophore. Phagophores seal to become autophagosomes, which then fuse with lysosomes to deliver their contents for degradation. Macroautophagy is regulated by numerous cellular factors, including the Class III PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) Vps34 (vacuolar protein sorting 34). The autophagic functions of Vps34 require its recruitment to a complex that includes Vps15, Beclin-1 and Atg14L (autophagyrelated 14-like protein) and is known as Vps34 Complex I. We have now identified NRBF2 (nuclear receptor-binding factor 2) as a new member of Vps34 Complex I. NRBF2 binds to complexes that include Vps34, Vps15, Beclin-1 and ATG- 14L, but not the Vps34 Complex II component UVRAG (UV radiation resistance-associated gene). NRBF2 directly interacts with Vps15 via the Vps15 WD40 domain as well as other regions of Vps15. The formation of GFP-LC3 (light chain 3) punctae and PE (phosphatidylethanolamine)-conjugated LC3 (LC3-II) in serum-starved cells was inhibited by NRBF2 knockdown in the absence and presence of lysosomal inhibitors, and p62 levels were increased. Thus NRBF2 plays a critical role in the induction of starvation-induced autophagy as a specific member of Vps34 Complex I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyloid-β interacts with two cell surface receptors, CD36 and CD47, through which the matricellular protein thrombospondin-1 inhibits soluble guanylate cyclase activation. Here we examine whether amyloid-β shares this inhibitory activity. Amyloid-β inhibited both drug and nitric oxide-mediated activation of soluble guanylate cyclase in several cell types. Known cGMP-dependent functional responses to nitric oxide in platelets and vascular smooth muscle cells were correspondingly inhibited by amyloid-β. Functional interaction of amyloid-β with the scavenger receptor CD36 was indicated by inhibition of free fatty acid uptake via this receptor. Both soluble oligomer and fibrillar forms of amyloid-β were active. In contrast, amyloid-β did not compete with the known ligand SIRPα for binding to CD47. However, both receptors were necessary for amyloid-β to inhibit cGMP accumulation. These data suggest that amyloid-β interaction with CD36 induces a CD47-dependent signal that inhibits soluble guanylate cyclase activation. Combined with the pleiotropic effects of inhibiting free fatty acid transport via CD36, these data provides a molecular mechanism through which amyloid-β can contribute to the nitric oxide signaling deficiencies associated with Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in innate and adaptive immunity but the access to sufficient amount of DCs for basic and translational research has been limited. We established a novel ex vivo system to develop and expand DCs from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HPCs). Both human and mouse HPCs were expanded first in feeder culture supplemented with c-Kit ligand (KL, stem cell factor, steel factor or CD117 ligand), Flt3 ligand (fms-like tyrosine kinase 3, Flt3L, FL), thrombopoietin (TPO), IL-3, IL-6, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and then in a second feeder culture ectopically expressing all above growth factors plus GM-CSF and IL-15. In the dual culture system, CD34+ HPCs differentiated toward DC progenitors (DCPs), which expanded more than five orders of magnitude. The DCPs showed myeloid DC surface phenotype with up-regulation of transcription factors PU.1 and Id2, and DC-related factors homeostatic chemokine ligand 17 (CCL17) and beta-chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6). Multiplex ELISA array and cDNA microarray analyses revealed that the DCPs shared some features of IL-4 and IL-15 DCs but displayed a pronounced proinflammatory phenotype. DCP-derived DCs showed antigen-uptake and immune activation functions analogous to that of the peripheral blood-derived DCs. Furthermore, bone marrow HPC-derived DCP vaccines of tumor-bearing mice suppressed tumor growth in vivo. This novel approach of generating DCP-DCs, which are different from known IL-4 and IL-15 DCs, overcomes both quantitative and qualitative limitations in obtaining functional autologous DCs from a small number of HPCs with great translational potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ex vivo activation and expansion of lymphocytes for adoptive cell therapy has demonstrated great success. To improve safety and therapeutic efficacy, increased antigen specificity and reduced nonspecific response of the ex vivo generated immune cells are necessary. Here, using a complete protein-spanning pool of pentadecapeptides of the latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a weak viral antigen which is associated with EBV lymphoproliferative diseases, we investigated the phenotype and function of immune effector cells generated based on IFN-γ or CD137 activation marker selection and dendritic cell (DC) activation. These ex vivo prepared immune cells exhibited a donor- and antigen-dependent T cell response; the IFN-γ- selected immune cells displayed a donor-related CD4- or CD8-dominant T cell phenotype; however, the CD137-enriched cells showed an increased ratio of CD4 T cells. Importantly, the pentadecapeptide antigens accessed both class II and class I MHC antigen processing machineries and effectively activated EBV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells. Phenotype and kinetic analyses revealed that the IFN-γ and the CD137 selections enriched more central memory T (Tcm) cells than did the DC-activation approach, and after expansion, the IFN-γ-selected effector cells showed the highest level of antigen-specificity and effector activities. While all three approaches generated immune cells with comparable antigen-specific activities, the IFN-γ selection followed by ex vivo expansion produced high quality and quantity of antigen-specific effector cells. Our studies presented the optimal approach for generating therapeutic immune cells with potential for emergency and routine clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human haematopoietic progenitor/stem cells (HPCs) differentiate into functional T cells in the thymus through a series of checkpoints. A convenient in vitro system will greatly facilitate the understanding of T-cell development and future engineering of therapeutic T cells. In this report, we established a lentiviral vector-engineered stromal cell line (LSC) expressing the key lymphopoiesis regulator Notch ligand, Delta-like 1 (DL1), as feeder cells (LSC-mDL1) supplemented with Flt3 ligand (fms-like tyrosine kinase 3, Flt3L or FL) and interleukin-7 for the development of T cells from CD34+ HPCs. We demonstrated T-cell development from human HPCs with various origins including fetal thymus (FT), fetal liver (FL), cord blood (CB) and adult bone marrow (BM). The CD34+ HPCs from FT, FL and adult BM expanded more than 100-fold before reaching the β-selection and CD4/CD8 double-positive T-cell stage. The CB HPCs, on the other hand, expanded more than 1000-fold before β-selection. Furthermore, the time required to reach β-selection differed for the various HPCs, 7 days for FT, 14 days for FL and CB, and 35 days for adult BM. Nevertheless, all of the T cells developed in vitro were stalled at the double-positive or immature single-positive stage with the exception that some CB-derived T cells arrived at a positive selection stage. Consequently, the LSC-mDL1 culture system illustrated diverse T-cell development potentials of pre- and post-natal and adult human BM HPCs. However, further modification of this in vitro T-cell development system is necessary to attain fully functional T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most abundant and toxic microcystin congener and has been classified as a potential human carcinogen (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, the mechanisms underlying the genotoxic effects of MC-LR during chronic exposure are still poorly understood. In the present study, human-hamster hybrid (AL) cells were exposed to MC-LR for varying lengths of time to investigate the role of nitrogen radicals in MC-LR-induced genotoxicity. The mutagenic potential at the CD59 locus was more than 2-fold higher (p < 0.01) in AL cells exposed to a cytotoxic concentration (1 μmol/L) of MC-LR for 30 days than in untreated control cells, which was consistent with the formation of micronucleus. MC-LR caused a dose-dependent increase in nitric oxide (NO) production in treated cells. Moreover, this was blocked by concurrent treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor NG-methyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA), which suppressed MC-LR-induced mutations as well. The survival of mitochondrial DNA-depleted (ρ0) AL cells was markedly decreased by MC-LR treatment compared to that in AL cells, while the CD59 mutant fraction was unaltered. These results provided clear evidence that the genotoxicity associated with chronic MC-LR exposure in mammalian cells was mediated by NO and might be considered as a basis for the development of therapeutics that prevent carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Zhumian Tang formula granules combined with eszopiclone for treating poor sleep quality., Methods: This multi-center, dynamic block-randomized, parallel-group superiority clinical trial included 130 patients. The combined treatment group received Zhumian Tang formula granules combined with eszopiclone treatment, and the control group received eszopiclone treatment only. The group allocation ratio was 1∶1. The duration of treatment was 2 weeks. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires before treatment, after 1 week of the intervention, after 2 weeks of the intervention, and at the follow-up on week 3. The primary outcomes were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score and the total effective rate of treatment. The secondary outcome was the rate of adverse effects., Results: Compared with the eszopiclone treatment group, the PSQI score of the combined treatment group was significantly lower after 2 weeks of the intervention (6.98 vs 8.26, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the mean PSQI score after 1 week of the intervention (9.89 vs 9.15, P = 0.124). After the follow-up on week 3, the PSQI score of the combined treatment group remained significantly lower than that of the eszopiclone treatment group (6.12 vs 8.31, P < 0.001). The total effective rates of treatment of the combined group and the eszopiclone group were 36.92% vs 35.38% ( Z = 0.033, P = 0.855) after 1 week of the intervention, 83.08% vs 58.46% ( Z = 9.519, P < 0.05) after 2 weeks of the intervention, and 83.08% vs 61.54% ( Z = 7.530, P < 0.05) and after the follow-up on week 3, respectively. There was no significant difference in the overall rate of adverse reactions between the combined and eszopiclone treatment groups (21.53% vs 31.8%, P = 0.318)., Conclusion: The combination of Zhumian Tang formula granules with eszopiclone was found to be safe and more effective in improving sleep quality than eszopiclone alone. Traditional Chinese medicine can enhance the effectiveness of Western medicine in the treatment of insomnia.

Objective: To investigate the effects of acupoint catgut embedding for 3 weeks on lung tissue, blood immunoglobulin E (IgE) and interleutin-4 (IL-4), brain tissue microglia x-42 (OX-42) and toll-like receptor-2 (TLR-2) in rats with allergic rhinitis of lung deficiency type., Methods: Forty-five female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided for two times. The first time, they were randomly divided into model group and blank group (Group C) according to 2:1, and the second time, the model group were randomly divided into model control group (Group B) and intervention treatment group (Group A) according to 1:1. 15 in each group. For Group A and Group B, the lung deficiency model was made by "sulfur-moxa fumigation", and then the allergic rhinitis model was established by "ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization". Then catgut embedding was performed at acupoints in Group A and not in Group B. After 3 weeks, collect lung tissue samples for hematoxylin-eosin staining, then take blood to observe the concentration of IgE and IL-4, and finally take brain tissue to observe the results of OX-42 and TLR-2., Results: IgE level (μg/mL) was (3.11 ± 0.20) in the Group A, (4.19 ± 0.44) in the Group B, and (2.29 ± 0.30) in the Group C (all < 0.001). IL-4 level (pg/mL) was (14.2 ± 0.7) in the Group A, (18.6 ± 2.4) in the Group B, and (11.4 ± 1.2) for the Group C (all < 0.001). The mean OD for OX-42 is (0.1728 ± 0.0016) in the Group A, (0.1810 ± 0.0046) in the Group B and (0.1674 ± 0.0025) in the Group C (all < 0.001)., Conclusion: Although 3 weeks of acupoint catgut embedding already showed obvious efficacy on rats with allergic rhinitis, the allergic reaction in the body still continued. To achieve further treatment, prolonging the catgut embedding time is necessary.