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Background A Chinese herbal formula, namely Jian-Pi-Yi-Shen (JPYS), has been clinically prescribed for patients with chronic kidney disease associated-anemia, and which can improve the patient’s immunological system. However, the mechanisms of JPYS involved in anemia and immune response have not been investigated. To study the role of JPYS in regulating hematopoietic and immunological functions, we investigated its activities on the expressions of erythropoietin and pro-inflammatory cytokines in cultured cells. Methods The standardized herbal extracts of JPYS (0–30 μg/ml) were applied onto cultured cells for 24–48 h. Total RNA was collected from the treated cells and subjected to real-time quantitative PCR analysis. Cultured HEK293T cells, transfected with a construct composed of hypoxia response element tagged with a luciferase gene, i.e. pHRE-Luc, were treated with JPYS extracts (1–30 μg/ml) for 24 h. The cell lysates were subjected to luciferase assay. Results The treatment with JPYS extract onto cultured HEK293T cells induced erythropoietin expression in a dose-dependent manner, having the highest response by ~ 50% of increase. In parallel, application of JPYS extract for 24 h stimulated expressions of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in cultured RAW 264.7 macrophages. In contrast, the pretreatment with JPYS extract suppressed expressions of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages. Conclusions These results confirmed the hematopoietic function of JPYS in regulating erythropoietin expression, as well as the bidirectional immune-modulatory roles of JPYS by regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in cultures.

Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), an ancient Chinese herbal decoction commonly used to mitigate menopausal osteoporosis, contains two herbs: Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR). The exact efficacy of individual chemical(s) within DBT, or in any herbal mixture, is hard to be revealed. Calycosin and ferulic acid have been reported to be the predominant chemicals found within DBT, and its roles in regulating osteoblastic differentiation have been proposed here. To probe the roles of calycosin and ferulic acid, these chemicals were specifically depleted from the DBT extracts. Here, calycosin-depleted DBT (DBTΔcal) and ferulic acid-depleted DBT (DBTΔfa), generated by semi-preparative HPLC, were coupled with RNA-seq and metabolomics analyses to reveal the synergistic functions of individual chemicals within a complex herbal mixture. The expressions of osteogenic differentiation markers were significantly increased under the treatments of DBT and DBTΔfa. The DBT-induced genes were markedly reduced in the absent of calycosin, i.e., DBTΔcal. In cultured osteoblasts, the DBT-activated Wnt/β-catenin and MAPK/Erk and signaling pathways were greatly affected when calycosin was depleted. By metabolomics analysis in DBT-treated osteoblasts, the profile of metabolites triggered by DBTΔcal showed distinction to that of DBT and/or DBTΔfa. Thus, our findings indicated that calycosin, rather than ferulic acid, could be an indispensable chemical in DBT to orchestrate multi-components of DBT in achieving maximal osteogenic properties.

The accurate estimation of deposits adhering on insulators is critical to prevent pollution flashovers which cause huge costs worldwide. The traditional evaluation method of insulator contaminations (IC) is based sparse manual in-situ measurements, resulting in insufficient spatial representativeness and poor timeliness. Filling that gap, we proposed a novel evaluation framework of IC based on remote sensing and data mining. Varieties of products derived from satellite data, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), digital elevation model (DEM), land use and land cover and normalized difference vegetation index were obtained to estimate the severity of IC along with the necessary field investigation inventory (pollution sources, ambient atmosphere and meteorological data). Rough set theory was utilized to minimize input sets under the prerequisite that the resultant set is equivalent to the full sets in terms of the decision ability to distinguish severity levels of IC. We found that AOD, the strength of pollution source and the precipitation are the top 3 decisive factors to estimate insulator contaminations. On that basis, different classification algorithm such as mahalanobis minimum distance, support vector machine (SVM) and maximum likelihood method were utilized to estimate severity levels of IC. 10-fold cross-validation was carried out to evaluate the performances of different methods. SVM yielded the best overall accuracy among three algorithms. An overall accuracy of more than 70% was witnessed, suggesting a promising application of remote sensing in power maintenance. To our knowledge, this is the first trial to introduce remote sensing and relevant data analysis technique into the estimation of electrical insulator contaminations.

Differential absorption lidar (DIAL) remote sensing is a promising technology for atmospheric CO2 detection. However, stringent wavelength accuracy and stability are required in DIAL system. Accurate on-line wavelength calibration is a crucial procedure for retrieving atmospheric CO2 concentration using the DIAL, particularly when pulsed lasers are adopted in the system. Large fluctuations in the intensities of a pulsed laser pose a great challenge for accurate on-line wavelength calibration. In this paper, a wavelength calibration strategy based on multi-wavelength scanning (MWS) was proposed for accurate on-line wavelength calibration of a pulsed laser for CO2 detection. The MWS conducted segmented sampling across the CO2 absorption line with appropriate number of points and range of widths by using a tunable laser. Complete absorption line of CO2 can be obtained through a curve fitting. Then, the on-line wavelength can be easily found at the peak of the absorption line. Furthermore, another algorithm called the energy matching was introduced in the MWS to eliminate the backlash error of tunable lasers during the process of on-line wavelength calibration. Finally, a series of tests was conducted to elevate the calibration precision of MWS. Analysis of tests demonstrated that the MWS proposed in this paper could calibrate the on-line wavelength of pulsed laser accurately and steadily.

In this study, the effect of grain size on the work-hardening behavior of Fe-24Ni-0.3C metastable austenitic steel was investigated by the use of in situ neutron diffraction during tensile tests in Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The effect of grain size on the work-hardening behavior was considered from viewpoints of martensite formation and stress partitioning between different phases. The result revealed that when the grain size changed within the coarse grained region the influence of the grain size on the stress partitioning was relatively small, thus the work-hardening behavior was mainly determined by the increasing rate of martensite volume fraction. On the other hand, when the grain size decreased down to ultrafine grained scale, the internal stress (phase stress) in martensite significantly increased, which contributed to the increasing work-hardening rate.

Dementia is a persistent disorder of the mental processes and is strongly related to depression. However, the performance of current antidepression medicine is far from satisfactory. Herbal extract provides an excellent source to identify compounds for possible drug development against depression. Here, HerboChips were employed to search herbal compounds that could bind nerve growth factor (NGF). By screening over 500 types of herbal extracts, the water extract of Ginkgo Folium, the leaf of Ginkgo biloba, showed a strong binding to NGF. The herbal fractions showing NGF binding were further isolated and enriched. By using LC-MS/MS analysis, one of the NGF binding fractions was enriched, which was further identified as quercetin, a major flavonoid in Ginkgo Folium. Quercetin, similar to Ginkgo Folium extract, could enhance the effect of NGF in cultured PC 12 cells, including potentiation of neurite outgrowth and phosphorylation of Erk-1/2. This is the first report of discovering an NGF binding compound by using HerboChips from herbal extracts, which could be further developed for antidepression application.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) is a glycoprotein possessing three conserved N-linked glycosylation sites in mammalian species, locating at 296, 381, and 495 residues of the human sequence. Several lines of evidence demonstrated that N-glycosylation of AChE affected the enzymatic activity, as well as its biosynthesis. In order to determine the role of three N-glycosylation sites in AChE activity and glycan composition, the site-directed mutagenesis of N-glycosylation sites in wild-type human AChET sequence was employed to generate the single-site mutants (i.e., AChET N296Q, AChET N381Q, and AChET N495Q) and all site mutant (i.e., AChET 3N→3Q). The mutation did not affect AChE protein expression in the transfected cells. The mutants, AChET 3N→3Q and AChET N381Q, showed very minimal enzymatic activity, while the other mutants showed reduced activity. By binding to lectins, Con A, and SNA, the glycosylation profile was revealed in those mutated AChE. The binding affinity with lectins showed no significant difference between various N-glycosylation mutants, which suggested that similar glycan composition should be resulted from different N-glycosylation sites. Although the three glycosylation sites within AChE sequence have different extent in affecting the enzymatic activity, their glycan compositions are very similar.

The outbreak of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (HP-PRRS) in 2006 devastated the Chinese swine industry. HP-PRRS virus is still the predominant strain in mainland China, rather than the classical PRRSV strain, and the attenuated live vaccine remains the preferred choice for protecting piglets against HP-PRRSV infection. To fully evaluate the safety of strain GDr180, the 180th attenuated virus of the HP-PRRSV strain GD, we used clinicopathological, microscopical, ultrastructural, serological and molecular biological methods to assess the different clinical manifestations and respiratory characteristics of piglets inoculated with HP-PRRSV strain GD or strain GDr180. The 5-week-old piglets inoculated with strain GD displayed marked clinical signs, including fever, anorexia, dyspnoea and tachypnoea. Significant interstitial pneumonia was present, characterized by thickened alveolar septa infiltrated with mononuclear cells and cell debris. However, the piglets inoculated with strain GDr180 and the negative control piglets showed neither clinical signs nor microscopical or ultrastructural lesions. Ultrastructural observation of the piglets' tracheas and examination of the dynamic tissue distributions of PRRSV strain GD and attenuated strain GDr180, by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, confirmed significant differences in their pathogenicity and distribution in the respiratory systems of piglets. The differences in pathogenicity are attributable to the different severity of the pathological changes in the pigs inoculated with the two strains. Thus, the HP-PRRSV GDr180 strain is practically harmless to the respiratory systems of piglets and may be a safe candidate for inducing immunity against HP-PRRS.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is a classical Chinese herbal decoction containing two herbs, Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelicae Sinensis Radix (ASR), which serves as dietary supplement for treating women menopausal syndromes. Pharmacological studies indicate that DBT has estrogenic, erythropoietic and osteogenic properties; however, the action mechanism for this complex herbal decoction is not known. Calycosin, a major flavonoid in AR, shares similar structure with β-estradiol, and thus which is hypothesized to be the critical compound of DBT. Here, we aim to investigate the role of calycosin in DBT in terms of its biological functions by using a calycosin-depleted DBT decoction (DBTΔcal). The biological functions of DBTΔcal and parental DBT were systematically compared. Materials and methods In order to standardize DBT decoction, four chemical markers were determined and quantified by HPLC. A semi-preparative HPLC method was utilized to prepare DBTΔcal. The authenticity of DBTΔcal was evaluated by LC-QQQ-MS/MS. To reveal the effect of calycosin on DBT functions, several cell assays related to the known properties of DBT were revealed, including estrogenic, erythropoietic and osteogenic functions. Results As compared to parental DBT, the estrogenic, erythropoietic and osteogenic abilities were markedly reduced in DBTΔcal. However, calycosin alone did not show significant responses. Conclusions Our results suggest that calycosin is a bioactive chemical in DBT decoction, and which could play a key linker in orchestrating multi-components of DBT as to achieve maximal functions. These discoveries should be invaluable in drug development and in investigating the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine from a new perspective.

As a typical characteristic fault gas, C2H2 is of important significance to predict the physical condition of transformers. In this work, α-MoO3 nanoparticles, nanorods, nanobelts and nanosheets have been successfully synthesised by a facile hydrothermal method and characterised by X-ray diffraction and SEM respectively. Sensors based on the four types of as prepared MoO3 materials were fabricated and subsequently tested for different C2H2 concentrations (100–600 ppm) and at different operating temperatures (100–500°C). The results indicate that the sensor based on MoO3 nanosheets exhibits higher sensitivity, shorter response and recovery times than that of the other three ones towards C2H2 gas. It should be possible to use such a nanosheet based sensor structure for transformer faults diagnosis.

Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) represents a collection of rare disorders that result from a failure of development of the tissues derived from the embryonic ectoderm. ED is often associated with hair, teeth, and skin abnormalities, which are serious conditions affecting the quality of life of the patient. To date, a large number of genes have been found to be associated with this syndrome. Here, we report a patient with hypohidrotic ED (HED) without family history. We identified that this patient's disorder arises from an X-linked HED with a mutation in the EDA gene (G299D) found by whole-exome sequencing. In addition, in this paper we summarize the disease-causing mutations based on current literature. Overall, recent clinical and genetic research involving patients with HED have uncovered a large number of pathogenic mutations in EDA, which might contribute to a full understanding of the function of EDA and the underlying mechanisms of HED caused by EDA mutations.

Thyroid cancer is one of the most common endocrine malignant tumors, and its molecular pathogenesis is also a process of multiple genes involved in many steps of carcinogenesis. With the development of molecular biology technology, a variety of related gene mutations and epigenetic phenomena have been found in thyroid cancer tissues. It is helpful to understand the latest progress in the research of the gene mutation and epigenetics of thyroid cancer for its early diagnosis, prevention and the development of targeted drugs.甲状腺癌的分子发病机制也是一个多基因参与、多个步骤的癌变过程。随着分子生物学诊断技术的不断发展，在甲状腺癌组织中发现多种相关基因突变和表观遗传学现象。了解甲状腺癌的最新基因突变和表观遗传学研究进展，有助于甲状腺癌的早期诊断、防治和靶向药物研发。.

Background Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a phytoestrogen-enriched Chinese herbal formula, serves as dietary supplement in stimulating the “Blood” functions of menopausal women. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, “Blood” has a strong relationship with brain activities. Previous studies supported that some ingredients of DBT possessed neuronal beneficial functions. Therefore, the neurotrophic function and the mechanistic action of DBT were systematically evaluated in cultured human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Methods The DBT-triggered protein expressions were analyzed by western blotting, while the transcriptional activities of promoters coding for related genes were revealed by luciferase assays. For mechanistic analysis of DBT, Erk1/2 and its inhibitor U0126 were analyzed. Results The application of DBT in cultured neuroblastoma cells showed the efficacies in: (1) up-regulation of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF); (2) activation of transcriptional activities of promoters coding for NGF, BDNF, GDNF; (3) activation of Erk1/2 and CREB; and (4) attenuation of the neurotrophic factor expression by the treatment of an Erk1/2 inhibitor. Conclusions Our study supports that MAPK/Erk pathway acts as fundamental role in monitoring DBT-induced expression of neurotrophic factors in cultured human neuroblastoma cell. These results shed light in developing the working mechanism of this ancient herbal decoction for its neuronal function. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13020-017-0144-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lung cancer has been a major threat to human health worldwide. Vimentin (VIM) and E-cadherin (E-cad) are molecular markers that play important roles in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which has been shown to be correlated with tumor progression. Herein, we investigated the associations between clinicopathological parameters and VIM/E-cad expression in primary T1 stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Real-time PCR was performed on RNA extracted from tumor tissue isolated from 54 patients with T1 stage NSCLC. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the protein levels of VIM and E-cad. The paired-samples t-test, independent-samples t- test, Kappa test, and nonparametric test were used to perform statistical analyses. The expression of VIM were lower (P

A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been discovered in ferrets and mink worldwide. However, the situation in China is unknown. Diverse HEV RNA belonging to HEV genotype C2 was detected in this study from 17.5% (18/103) of the laboratory ferrets and 1.9% (2/107) of farmed mink in China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the ferret HEV strains clustered into three groups with known strains detected from the United States and the Netherlands. Attempted transmission of ferret HEV to two rabbits was not successful. This study confirmed that the C2 genotype of HEV is circulating in China and succeeded in infecting laboratory ferrets with this genotype of HEV. Further studies are required to determine whether the C2 genotype of HEV can infect humans.

The stems of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo (Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis) have a high medicinal value as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Because of the limited supply, D. officinale is a high priced TCM, and therefore adulterants are commonly found in the herbal market. The dried stems of a closely related Dendrobium species, Dendrobium devonianum Paxt., are commonly used as the substitute; however, there is no effective method to distinguish the two Dendrobium species. Here, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was successfully developed and applied to differentiate D. officinale and D. devonianum by comparing the chromatograms according to the characteristic peaks. A HPLC coupled with electrospray ionization multistage mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) method was further applied for structural elucidation of 15 flavonoids, 5 phenolic acids, and 1 lignan in D. officinale. Among these flavonoids, 4 flavonoid C-glycosides were firstly reported in D. officinale, and violanthin and isoviolanthin were identified to be specific for D. officinale compared with D. devonianum. Then, two representative components were used as chemical markers. A rapid and reliable high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was applied in distinguishing D. officinale from D. devonianum. The results of this work have demonstrated that these developed analytical methods can be used to discriminate D. officinale and D. devonianum effectively and conveniently.

Quercetin (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone, Qu) is a promising cancer chemo-preventive agent for various cancers because it inhibits disease progression and promotes apoptotic cell death. In our previous study, we demonstrated that Qu could evoke ER stress to enhance drug cytotoxicity in ovarian cancer (OC). However, Qu-induced ER stress in OC is still poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that Qu evoked ER stress to involve in mitochondria apoptosis pathway via the p-STAT3/Bcl-2 axis in OC cell lines and in primary OC cells. Unexpectedly, inhibition of ER stress did not reverse Qu-induced cell death. Further functional studies revealed that Qu-induced ER stress could activate protective autophagy concomitantly by activating the p-STAT3/Bcl-2 axis in this process. Moreover, the autophagy scavenger 3-MA was shown to enhance Qu's anticancer effects in an ovarian cancer mice xenograft model. These findings revealed a novel role of ER stress as a "double edge sword" participating in Qu-induced apoptosis of OC and might provide a new angle to consider in clinical studies of biological modifiers that may circumvent drug resistance in patients by targeting protective autophagy pathways.

SiC nanoparticles and nanofibres were synthesised by simple carbothermal reduction technology. Low cost water glass and phenolic resin were used as raw materials, and nickel nitrate was added as catalyst. The synthesised samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, TEM, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results indicate that nickel catalyst can change the morphology and the surface area of SiC. When molar ratio of nickel to silicon equals to 0·0141, SiC nanoparticles with an average diameter of 40 nm are synthesised, and the surface area reaches maximum value, 81 m2 g−1. However, SiC nanofibres are prepared with the increase in nickel content, but the surface area decreases. The synthesised SiC have stable and strong photoluminescence property. The synthetic technique has the advantage of being simple, efficient and economical.

An 11-week growth trial was conducted to determine dietary myo-inositol (MI) requirement for juvenile gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio). Myo-inositol was supplemented to the basal diet to formulate six purified diets containing 1, 56, 107, 146, 194 and 247 mg MI kg(-1) diet, respectively. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of juvenile gibel carp (initial body weight 3.38 +/- 0.27 g, mean +/- SD) in a flow-through system. The diets were randomly assigned to different fish tanks. Fish fed >= 107 mg MI kg(-1) diet had significantly higher weight gain (WG), feed efficiency (FE) and protein efficiency ratio than those fed 1 mg MI kg(-1) diet. Fish fed >= 56 mg MI kg(-1) diet had higher feeding rate and survival compared with fish fed 1 mg MI kg(-1) diet. Dietary supple-mental inositol did not affect fish liver inositol concentration. Fish fed >= 56 mg MI kg(-1) diet had higher body dry matter, crude protein and gross energy and lower hepatosomatic index than fish fed 1 mg MI kg(-1) diet. Dietary inositol supplementation decreased fish body ash. Quadratic regression of weight gain indicated that the myo-inositol requirement to maximum growth for juvenile gibel carp was 165.3 mg MI kg(-1) diet.

Multi-phase steels showing transformation induced plasticity (TRIP), can exhibit an excellent combination of high strength and good ductility by the aid of martensitic transformation during deformation. Even though TRIP-assisted multi-phase steels have been widely used in industry, the role of each phase in the enhancement of mechanical properties is still unclear given their complicated microstructures. In order to understand better the nature of the TRIP effect, the mechanical interaction between different phases at the micro-scale should be clarified. In the present study, the mechanical behavior of a transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) assisted multi-phase steel, has been characterized by in-situ neutron diffraction during tensile testing. The result of strain partitioning between the different phases obtained from the in-situ neutron analysis revealed that the martensite phase took much more elastic strain than the ferrite and retained austenite phases, which suggests that the work hardening behavior in the present steel is affected by the higher load borne by deformation-induced martensite.

Background Poor early graft function (EGF), a frequent complication of kidney transplantation, can be caused by many risk factors, including donor kidney and body weights. Methods We studied the relationship to early graft function in a rat kidney transplantation model among 3 indices: ratio of graft to body weight; ratio of native kidney to body weight, and weight difference/body weight of the recipient. We categorized 2 groups based on contralateral nephrectomy at day 1 (G1) or day 3 (G2) after transplantation. EGF was evaluated by measuring serum creatinine levels at day 1 after bilateral nephrectomy. Results The 3 indices, ie, weight difference/body weight of recipient (G1 and G2: P P P = .0013), and ratio of graft to body weight (G1: P = .0064; G2: P = .014) strongly correlated with EGF regardless of the time of contralateral nephrectomy. Conclusions The index of weight difference/body weight of recipient sensitively and predominantly influenced EGF, which probably reflects the systemic metabolic profile.

With advances in natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has become a novel treatment for esophageal achalasia. In this study, we investigated the feasibility and safety of POEM in patients with achalasia after failed endoscopic interventions. Data on all patients undergoing POEM treatment of achalasia were collected prospectively. We enrolled 61 patients who underwent POEM for achalasia between July 2011 and January 2014. The preoperative intervention group included patients who had undergone botulinum toxin injection or pneumatic balloon dilation before POEM. The preoperative, operative, and short-term outcome data between the groups were compared. Among preoperative intervention group, 22 patients received endoscopic therapy before being referred for operation (18 dilation only, 2 botulinum toxin only, and 2 both treatments). Procedure time in the preoperative intervention group was similar to the nonpreoperative intervention group (60.8 ± 30.9 vs. 62.0 ± 21.0 minutes, P = 0.863). Both groups demonstrated significant improvement in Eckardt scores and manometric outcomes at 1-year follow-up. There were no significant differences in pretreatment and posttreatment D-values of symptom scores and lower esophageal sphincter pressures between groups (6.2 ± 2.2 vs. 6.1 ± 1.8, P = 0.840; 27.9 ± 17.6 vs. 24.9 ± 15.2; P = 0.569). There was also no significant difference in the incidence of intraoperative complications (P = 0.958) and gastroesophageal reflux rate (23.5% vs. 20.0%, P = 0.771) between the two groups. Our study demonstrated that POEM is safe and effective, even for treating achalasia in the setting of failed endoscopic interventions.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC) is among the most common malignances worldwide. Patients with HNSCC often develop primary tumors at multiple sites and have tendency for local recurrences following curative resectional surgery. Field cancerization theory presumes that, after repeated carcinogenic exposures, the entire superficialepitheliium of the upper aerodigestive tract has an increased risk for developing (pre)malignant lesions because of multiple genetic abnormalities. This theorywell explains the strong potential with malignant transformation and loco-regional recurrence in HNSCC, and helps to better understand the pathogenesis, and thus provides a new idea for prevention and treatment of this disease. This paper will give an overview of field cancerization, including the concept and its clinical application.

To analyze the phenotype-genotype correlation of 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) patients found by neonatal screening, and to investigate the characteristics of gene frequency of these patients.Clinical and biochemical data of 66 21-OHD patients diagnosed by neonatal screening in department of pediatric endocrinology and genetics and neonatal screening center of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from 2009 to 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Point mutations of CYP21A2 gene were analyzed by Sanger sequencing, and large gene deletions were detected by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Then the correlation between phenotypes and genotypes of these patients were analyzed.(1) Forty-one out of 66 patients who presented adrenal crisis or other signs of salt loss at age range from 4 days to 2 months were classified as salt-wasting forms. The remaining 25 patients did not present any signs of salt loss at preliminary diagnosis (12 days-2 months). (2) Definite mutations of CYP21A2 gene on two alleles were found in all 66 patients (132 alleles). A total of thirteen types of different point mutations (98/132, 74.2%), large gene deletions (24/132, 18.2%) and clusters of point mutations (10/132, 7.6%) were found. The most frequent point mutations were I2G, p. I173N, p. R357W, p. G111Vfs*21 and p. Q319*, accounting for 65.2% of alleles. (3) Phenotype and genotype correlation analysis was performed in 41 21-OHD patients with salt wasting forms. Predicted phenotypes according to genotypes in 36 (87.8%) of the 41 patients were consistent with their actual phenotypes. In 4 out of the 41 patients, the actual phenotypes were different from predicted phenotypes according to their genotypes. And in one patient, prediction of phenotype could not be made based on genotype as carrying an unknown function mutation on one allele.Adrenal crisis or other signs of salt loss were found in 62% of 21-OHD patients at age range from 4 days to 2 months. In 66 Chinese 21-OHD children, total mutation frequency of I2G, p. I173N, p. R357W, p. G111Vfs*21 and p. Q319* accounted for 65.2% of alleles. In 87.8% of patients with salt wasting forms, predicted phenotypes according to genotypes were consistent with their actual phenotypes.

To explore the association between the tag single nucleotide polymorphism (tag SNP) of the adenylyl cyclase 3 (ADCY3) and the essential hypertension (EH).From April to July 2013, a total of 1 061 subjects diagnosed with EH and 1 218 control subjects were recruited from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Information was collected by face-to-face interview. Twelve tag SNPs were detected by ligase detection reaction technique.After adjusted for age, gender, body mass index and other related factors, logistic regression analysis showed that 3 loci (rs11689546, rs7593130, rs2241759)were associated with EH. AG genotype of rs11689546 was associated with 0.494 times lower risk of EH (OR=0.494, 95%CI 0.246-0.993; compared with AA genotype). CT genotype of rs7593130 was associated with 1.596 times higher risk of EH (OR=1.596, 95%CI 1.009-2.524; compared with TT genotype), and CT/CC genotype of rs7593130 was associated with 1.627 times higher risk of EH (OR=1.627, 95%CI 1.034-2.559; compared with TT genotype). AG genotype of rs2241759 was associated with 0.669 times lower risk of EH (OR=0.669, 95%CI 0.503-0.891; compared with AA genotype), and CT/CC genotype of rs2241759 was associated with 0.687 times lower risk of EH (OR=0.687, 95%CI 0.518-0.911; compared with TT genotype).The polymorphisms of ADCY3 are associated with lower (G allele of the rs11689546 locus and G allele of the rs2241759 locus) or higher (C allele of the rs7593130 locus) risk of essential hypertension.

To establish the method of solvent desorption gas chromatography for determination of bromoform in workplace air.Bromoform in the air was adsorbed by activated carbon tube sampling and solvent desorption using carbon disulfide, then analyed by GC with DB-FFAP capillary column.The linear regression equation is y=1.22x-0.81 (r=0.999 9)between 0.57~300.00 μg/ml of target concentration in the air. The detection limit was 0.17 μg /ml. The relative standard deviations of the batch and inter batch were 1.7%~3.6%, 2.8%~6.3%, respectively. The sampling efficiency was 100%. The overall desorption efficiency was 95.0%. The breakthrough capacity was more than 0.61 mg(100 mg activated carbon).The method is suitable to determine bromoform in the air of workplace.

Ferulic acid, a phenolic acid derived mainly from a Chinese herb Angelica Sinensis Radix (ASR), was reported to reduce the formation of free radicals. Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a herbal decoction composing of Astragali Radix (AR) and ASR, has been utilized for more than 800 years in China having known anti-oxidative property. Ferulic acid is a major active ingredient in DBT; however, the role of ferulic acid within the herbal mixture has not been resolved. In order to elucidate the function of ferulic acid within this herbal decoction, a ferulic acid-depleted herbal decoction was created and named as DBTΔfa. The anti-oxidative properties of chemically modified DBT decoction were systemically compared in cultured H9C2 rat cardiomyoblast cell line. The application of DBT and DBTΔfa into the cultures showed functions in (i) decreasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, detected by laser confocal; (ii) increasing of the activation of Akt; (iii) increasing the transcriptional activity of anti-oxidant response element (ARE); and (iv) increasing the expressions of anti-oxidant enzymes, i.e. NQO1 and GCLM. In all scenario, the aforementioned anti-oxidative properties of DBTΔfa in H9C2 cells were significantly reduced, as compared to authentic DBT. Thus, ferulic acid could be an indispensable chemical in DBT to orchestrate multi-components of DBT as to achieve maximal anti-oxidative functions.

To detect large genomic deletions or duplications of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) gene by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA).Thirty cases of suspected OTC deficiency (OTCD) patients based on tandem-mass spectrum results were recruited in Xinhua Hospital from 2012 to 2014, among whom 13 were male and 17 were female. Sanger sequencing of OTC gene revealed mutations in 23 cases. MLPA was performed in the patients whose previous Sanger sequencing failed to detect any disease-causing mutation. The samples were treated via the steps of DNA degeneration, the probe hybridization, connecting the hybridization probe, PCR amplification and capillary electrophoresis. The data were analyzed using Coffalyser software.Abnormal MLPA results were found in 5 patients without mutation detected in previous Sanger sequencing. Patient 1, a 9-year old girl, had a heterozygous deletion of Exon 2-4. Patient 2, a male newborn, died 10 days after birth. The examination of the mother's sample by MLPA revealed a heterozygous duplication of exon 2-6. Patient 3, a 10-day old boy, was found to harbor a hemizygous deletion of exon 7-10. Patient 4, a 2-year old girl, harbored a heterozygous deletion of exon 1-4. The fifth patient died at the age of 6 years, and his mother carried a heterozygous duplication of exon 1-4.MLPA can be helpful in detecting the OTC gene defects, particularly for OTCD patients without mutation detected by Sanger sequencing.

In the ETOF(End-cap TOF) upgrade of BESIII, MRPC(Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber) detectors are used. ETOF is designed with 72 MRPCs. 24 channels signal are read out from each MRPC, in which 6 neighbouring channels OR together in Front-End Electronic(FEE) side. So 288 channel hit signals are sent to ETOF trigger system for trigger logic. The MPRC hit signal is about 30 ns width after FEE. Hit signals are stretched and trigger data are stored by TDPP (Trigger Data Pre-Processor) and then sent to ETOFT (End-cap TOF Trigger) through 10 high speed optical fiber links. Trigger data are aligned and stored in FIFO in ETOFT. Trigger logic in the center FPGA counts hit signals and finds Back to Back (BtB) events and give out three ETOF trigger conditions: NETOF.GE.1, NETOF.GE.2 and ETOF.BB. ETOF trigger conditions are integrated with other detector trigger signals by SIF2(Signal Integrate and Fan-out Version2) to Global Trigger to generate L1. ETOF trigger system was installed on BESIII in Sept.2015 and has run stable for half year.

To analyze the morbidity and mortality of malignant tumor in Zhejiang province in 2014.The data were collected from Zhejiang provincial chronic disease surveillance system in 2014. The crude rate, age-standardized rate, cumulative rate(0-74 years old), cut rate(35-64 years old), age-specific and area-specific morbidity/mortality as well as the constitution of top 10 leading cancers were then calculated and analyzed. The age-standardized rate was calculated according to the standard population in China in 1982 and the Segi' s world standard population.The crude morbidity was 348.80/100 000(370.74/100 000 in males and 326.51/100 000 in females). The age-standardized morbidity according to the standard population in China and according to world standard population were 168.84/100 000 and 217.23/100 000 respectively, the cumulative morbidity was 24.66% and the cut morbidity was 376.40/100 000. Age-specific morbidity in age group 0-34 years remained low; however, the morbidity increased obviously in age group ≥35 years, increased more rapidly in age group ≥50 years and finally reached the peak in age group 80-84 years(1 618.20/100 000). The morbidity of malignant tumor, age-standardized morbidity(China standard)and age-standardized morbidity(world standard)were 381.81/100 000, 185.15/100 000 and 236.27/100 000 respectively in urban area, and 330.23/100 000 , 159.47/100 000 and 206.29/100 000, respectively in rural area. The crude mortality was 189.08/100 000(248.57/100 000 in males, 128.72/100 000 in females), and the age-standardized mortality according to China population and world population were 97.56/100 000 and 135.54/100 000 respectively. The cumulative mortality was 15.08%, and the cut mortality was 162.75/100 000. Age-specific mortality increased in age group 45-49 years(92.29/1000 000)and reached the peak in age group ≥85 years(2 263.70/100 000). The mortality was higher in rural area(190.60/100 000)than in urban area(186.38/100 000). The leading cancers were lung cancer, colorectum cancer, thyroid cancer, stomach cancer and liver cancer, accounting for 58.64% of the total. Lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, colorectum cancer and esophagus cancer were the major cancers causing deaths, accounting for 70.72% of all the total.The leading cancers were lung cancer, colorectum cancer, thyroid cancer, stomach cancer and liver cancer in Zhejiang in 2014, close attention should be paid to thyroid cancer in women. The disease burden of malignant tumor is increasing,it is necessary for health department to take effective measures to reduce the disease burden caused by malignant tumor.

Danggui Buxue Tang, an ancient Chinese herbal decoction containing Astragali Radix and Angelicae Sinensis Radix at the weight ratio of 5:1, is used to mitigate menopausal syndromes in women. The pharmacological properties of Danggui Buxue Tang have been illustrated in bone development, blood enhancement, and immune stimulation. Here, we extended the possible pharmacological role of Danggui Buxue Tang in cardiovascular function. In cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, the application of Danggui Buxue Tang induced the release of nitric oxide and the phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and Akt kinase in time- and dose-dependent manners. The robust activation of nitric oxide signaling, however, required the boiling of Astragali Radix and Angelicae Sinensis Radix together, i.e., as Danggui Buxue Tang instead of other herbal extracts. The Danggui Buxue Tang-induced phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and Akt kinase in human umbilical vein endothelial cells were fully blocked by treatment with an endothelial nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NAME), a PI3K/Akt inhibitor (LY294002), and a Ca(2+) chelator (BAPTA-AM). In parallel, the blockage of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and Akt activation subsequently fully abolished the Danggui Buxue Tang-induced nitric oxide production.

This paper presents a novel targeted magnetic fluid hyperthermia system. It consists of 12 coils which are deployed symmetrically in the space surrounding the patient. By injecting dc currents to all these coils, and selectively superimposing high frequency ac currents into several coils according to the location of the target point, it is possible to generate a high-frequency alternating magnetic field in the tumor area to heat the nano-particles, so as to kill the tumor cells, while, at the same time, builds up a static magnetic field in the surrounding area to protect the healthy tissues from thermal damage.

Microcellular foamed polypropylene (PP)/SiO2 composites were prepared by using micro-SiO2 and nano-SiO2 particles. The effects of the particle size of SiO2 on the foaming behavior and mechanical properties of the composites were studied based on heterogeneous nucleation theory. The results showed that the silica facilitated the cell nucleation to some extent. The average cell size of 16.3 μm and the cell density of 4.46 × 107 cells/cm3 were achieved for the composite foam at the silica content of 4 wt.%. The plastic deformation of the PP was strongly constrained due to the presence of the nano-silica. The tensile and impact strength of the nano-SiO2 composite foam are larger than those of the micro-SiO2 composite foam due to the high crack propagation resistance in the microcellular PP/nano-SiO2 composite.

A novel and effective catalytic system, silica-supported chitosan Schiff base palladium complex (SiO2–CS–Schiff base–Pd) was described for catalytic hydrogenation of aromatic ketones to corresponding hydrocarbons at ambient temperature and normal pressure of H2.

In this work, we report the fabrication of a sensitive electrochemical DNA impedance biosensor for the detection of sequence-specific target DNA. p-Aminobenzoic acid was first immobilized on the surface of the electrode modified with single walled carbon nanotubes with carboxylic acid groups (SWCNTs) by cyclic voltammetry (CV). A single-stranded DNA probe with a NH2 group at the end (H2N-ssDNA) was then covalently immobilized on the surface of polymeric film at room temperature. The impedance measurement was performed in a solution containing 5 mM K3[Fe(CN)6]/K4[Fe(CN)6]. The change of interfacial charge transfer resistance (RCT) was confirmed the hybrid formation. The difference of RCT was linear with the logarithm of complementary oligonucleotides concentrations in the range of 1.0 × 10−12 to 1.0 × 10−7 M, with a detection limit of 3.5 × 10−13 M (S/N = 3).

An extensive statistical analysis is proposed to determine the best relevant roughness parameters as a function of spatial scales that affect adhesion on surfaces. The methodology is based on a multiscale decomposition of the roughness surface and is linked with adhesion measurements. This method is applied to study cell adhesion on a very wide range of roughnesses of titanium substrates (22 surfaces, the average roughness Ra from 1 to 21 µm) tooled by an electro-erosion process and coated with a polyelectrolyte, that leads to identical surface chemistry. It is shown that the scale length of observation should be a few times the cell size to put into evidence the influence of the surface morphology on cell adhesion. It is observed that the adhesion is the lowest when the distance between the asperities of the roughness is near the cell size.

In this study, the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels in Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hUC-MSCs) with different cell viability were measured by ROS probe fluorescence. It is found that the change of the ROS level with time (viability, decline) can be described by a Rational Function, whose integration can calculate the relative yield variations of ROS in different durations. The relative intensity variations of the characteristic Raman peak at 1342, 877, and 744 cm−1 were observed using Raman micro-spectroscopy. The results show that the relative yield variation of ROS and the relative intensity variations of the three Raman peaks can be described by a same model function (with different fitting parameter values). And the correlations between the relative intensity variations of the three Raman peaks and the relative yield variation of ROS were estimated by correlation coefficient method. It is found that they have perfect linear correlation coefficients of 0.980, 0.985, and 0.973, respectively. The analysis demonstrates that the intracellular excessive ROS can lead to the almost linear variation of the relative Raman peak intensity in hUC-MSCs with different viability.

A novel sensitivity of laser-induced upconversion (UC) fluorescence dynamics to the exciting wavelength in Er3+:YAG crystal has been observed. The sensitivities to exciting wavelength variations are only 0.02 and 0.06 nm for 2G9/2 and 2P3/2 UC luminescence, respectively. The observation of this sensitivity reveals that when a certain level is populated by more than one UC mechanisms, a precise determination of suitable exciting wavelength is crucial because the competition between different UC mechanisms has a sensitive variation with exciting wavelength in near-resonant range.

Recent research suggests that human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) can be promising candidates for cell-based therapy. Since large population and high viability are generally required, detecting viability transitions of these cells is crucial for their population expansion and quality control. Here, as a non-invasive method, Raman micro-spectroscopy is applied to examine hUC-MSCs with different viability. Using peak fitting and statistic t-test, the Raman peaks with obvious differences between the cells with high viability (> 90%) and low viability (< 20%) are extracted. It is found that the C=O out of plane bending in thymine at 744 cm-1, symmetric stretching of C–C in lipids at 877 cm-1 and CH deformation in proteins at 1342 cm-1 show the most significant changes (p < 0.001). When the cell viability decreases, the intensities of the former two peaks are both about doubled while that of the latter peak reduces by about 30%. Based on these results, we propose that the viability of hUC-MSCs can be characterized by these three peaks. And their intensity changes can be understood from the model of excessive reactive oxygen species interacting with the bio-macromolecules.

Astragali Radix (AR), a Chinese materia medica (CMM) known as Huangqi, is an important medicine prescribed in herbal composite formulae (Fufang) by Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners for thousands of years. According to the literature, AR is suggested for patients suffering from “Qi”- and “Blood”-deficiencies, and its clinical effects are reported to be related to anti-cancer cell proliferation, anti-oxidation, relief of complications in cardiovascular diseases, etc. The underlying cell signaling pathways involved in the regulation of these various diseases are presented here to support the mechanisms of action of AR. There are two botanical sources recorded in China Pharmacopoeia (CP, 2015): Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. Var. mongohlicus, (Bge.) Hsiao, and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. (Fam. Leguminosae), whose extracts of dried roots are processed via homogenization-assisted negative pressure cavitation extraction. Geographic factors and extraction methods have impacts on the pharmaceutical and chemical profiles of AR. Therefore, the levels of the major bioactive constituents of AR, including polysaccharides, saponins, and flavonoids, may not be consistent in different batches of extract, and the pharmaceutical efficacy of these bioactive ingredients may vary depending on the source. Therefore, the present review mainly focuses on the consistency of the available sources of AR and extracts and on the investigation of the biological functions and mechanisms of action of AR and of its major bioactive constituents. Furthermore, it will also include a discussion of the most popular AR composite formulae to further elucidate their chemical and biological profiles and understand the pharmaceutical value of AR.

The process of mercaptans removal from fluid catalytic cracked (FCC) gasoline by NaOH aqueous in a hollow fiber contactor was studied. The results showed that fractional removal of mercaptans was greater in a hydrophobic membrane than that in a hydrophilic membrane at the same condition. The mass transfer coefficient of mercaptans increased significantly while the gasoline flow rate increased because the predominant resistance lies in the gasoline boundary layer. HA-18 modified the solubility of mercaptans in caustic solution and enhanced mercaptans extraction from gasoline. The membrane module should be cleaned by a prolonged operation to recover the membrane property due to membrane fouling.