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The treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has traditionally included a multimodality approach including radiotherapy (RT) and systemic chemotherapy. RT has long been favored as the mainstay of local treatment for disease in this challenging anatomic location owing to the morbidity of extensive surgical resection in the nasopharynx. However, NPC presents a unique treatment challenge for radiation oncologists because such tumors typically involve complex anatomic structures near several critical organ structures such as the brainstem, spinal cord, temporal lobes, salivary glands, cochleae, oral cavity, mandible and optic structures. Thus, radiation is not without toxicity, and critical organs in these areas clearly benefit from the use of conformal and precise treatment delivery. The unique physical properties of proton radiotherapy (PRT) make it especially well-suited for treating tumors in this anatomically complex area and offer promising potential for acute and chronic toxicity reduction while maintaining excellent disease control.

To analyze the endogenous metabolite changes in rat plasma after intervention by Sini Tang and Sini Tang without Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma based on GC-MS metabonomics technology, and study the toxicity reduction effect of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in Sini Tang on Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata. Eighteen SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, Sini Tang group and Sini Tang without Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma group on average. The rats in Sini Tang group and Sini Tang without Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma group were treated respectively with physic liquor by intragastric administration at the dose of 0.02 mL•g ⁻¹ (equivalent to 0.8 g•mL ⁻¹ crude drugs) once a day for 7 days. The rats in normal group were given with equal volume of saline solution. The plasma samples were collected from each rat 0.5 h after the last administration for GC-MS detection. The data was used for multivariate statistical analysis to obtain 14 potential metabolic markers(13 of them were identified). Then their relative content and metabolic pathways were analyzed. Compared with Sini Tang without Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma group, seven metabolic markers of were reduced in Sini Tang group. Analysis on physiological functions of these potential metabolic markers showed that the Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in Sini Tang could reduce the toxicity of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata by adjusting the glycolysis, lipid metabolism, citrate cycle and some amino acids metabolism., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

In this study, the changes of bullatine A in plasma and skin of mice with time in microemulsion gel and ordinary gel of Aconitum brachypodum total alkaloids were compared through UPLC-MS/MS, and their pharmacokinetic parameters were also compared and analyzed, to investigate the feasibility of microemulsion agent in the transdermal drug delivery. UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of bullatine A in plasma and skin had high sensitivity and was in line with the pharmacokinetic study requirements for transdermal drug delivery. The main pharmacokinetic parameters for microemulsion gel in the plasma were as follows: Cmax=(37.62±14.31) μg•L⁻¹, Tmax=(3.40±1.34) h, AUC0-∞=(1 027.7±260) μg•L⁻¹•h⁻¹, MRT=(34.80±12.31) h, MRTlast=(10.68±0.57) h, t1/2=(23.11±9.20) h; main pharmacokinetic parameters for ordinary gel in the blood: Cmax=(52.23±15.90) μg•L⁻¹, Tmax=(4.00±0.00) h, AUC0-∞=(728.60±280.80) μg•L⁻¹•h⁻¹, MRT=(20.69±3.98) h, MRTlast=(9.34±0.42) h, t1/2=(14.69±3.15) h. The results showed that the microemulsion gel had more stable transdermal absorption, longer duration of action and higher bioavailability than ordinary gel, indicating that the microemulsion gel had a good and stable transdermal effect. There was no significant difference in bioavailability of bullatine A in skin between microemulsion gel and ordinary gel., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

One-dimensional nanomaterials may organize into macrostructures to have hierarchically porous structures, which could not only be easily adopted into various water treatment apparatus to solve the separation issue of nanomaterials from water but also take full advantage of their nanosize effect for enhanced water treatment performance. In this work, a novel template-based process was developed to create Mn3O4/CeO2 hybrid nanotubes, in which a redox reaction happened between the OMS-2 nanowire template and Ce(NO3)3 to create hybrid nanotubes without the template removal process. Both the Ce/Mn ratio and the precipitation agent were found to be critical in the formation of Mn3O4/CeO2 hybrid nanotubes. Because of their relatively large specific surface area, porous structure, high pore volume, and proper surface properties, these Mn3O4/CeO2 hybrid nanotubes demonstrated good As(III) removal performances in water. These Mn3O4/CeO2 hybrid nanotubes could form paper-like, free-standing membranes spontaneously by a self-assembly process without high temperature treatment, which kept the preferable properties of Mn3O4/CeO2 hybrid nanotubes while avoiding the potential nanomaterial dispersion problem. Thus, they could be readily utilized in commonly used flow-through reactors for water treatment purposes. This approach could be further applied to other material systems to create various hybrid nanotubes for a broad range of technical applications.

In the present study, a sequential treatment process was carried out using a fungal sp. (Phanerochaete sp.) followed by a bacterial sp. (Pseudomonas sp.) for the degradation and detoxification of contaminants in landfill leachate. The process was optimized using Box-Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM) for three variables (C source, N source and duration), while monitoring two responses (% COD and color removal). After treatment in a bioreactor under optimized conditions, enhanced removal of COD (76.9%) and color (45.4%) was observed. Further, GC-MS analysis of metabolites detected at different stages of treatment showed formation of degradation products of lignin and polycyclic aromatic compounds. Treatment efficiency was finally evaluated by the alkaline comet assay in HepG2 human hepato-carcinoma cells. The results indicated no statistically significant DNA damage at the end of the treatment, making the effluent suitable to be discharged conforming to the safety standards., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes the heavy metal distributions in river and lagoonal sediments of Jacarepagua Basin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The occurrence of metal phase translocation from the reducible to the oxidizable was observed for Fe, Mn and Ni, from the fluvial environment to the lagoonal. Cu was mainly associated with the oxidizable phase whileZn and Pb were mainly associated with the reducible phase in both environments. It has been demonstrated that metal sulfide formation andcomplexation by organic complexes are very important aspects in terms of toxicity reduction. By means of a risk assessment methodology, based on available sediment data, it was demonstrated that the lagoonal system is exposed to a low potential ecological risk and that Zn was the metal of greater concern with respect to the system pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the effect of extending the duration of ammonia (2% drymatter basis) treatment from 1 to 5 wk on the toxicity of endophyle-infected tal lfescue seed, 60 male Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the following six treatments during a 28-d trial: endophyle-free (E-), endophyte-infected (E+), 1 wk ammoniated endophyte- fee (1AE-), 1 wk ammoniated endophyte-infected (1AE+), 5 wk ammoniated endophyte-free (5AE-), and 5 wk ammoniated endophyte-infected (5AE+) tall fescue seed. The concentration of total pyrrolizidine alkaloids (N-acetyl and N-formyl loline) or E+ rescue was reduced from 4203 l2g/g to 3009 and 2533 I-tg/g by the 1AE+ and 5AE+ treatments, respectively. Ergovaline was lowered from 3.77 to 1.57 12g/g by 1AE+ andeliminated by 5AE+. Endophyte-infected treatment groups had depressed (P<0.0001) daily eed intakes (DFI), daily weight gains (DWG), feed efficiencies (G/F), primary antibody responses, and T cell and B cellmitogenic responses than endophyte-free treatment groups. Ammoniation of endophyte-infected rescue seed improved DFI and DWG (P<0.0001) and G/F (P<0.05); however, there was no difference in performance criteria between the 1-wk and 5-wk ammoniation treatments. Endophyte-induced depressions in immune function were not alleviated by ammoniation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the efficacy of ammoniation in the detoxification of endophyte-infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb), 40 male Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the following four treatments for 28 d: endophyte-free (E-), endophyte-infected (E+), ammoniated (2% dry matter basis, 7 d) endophyte-free (AE-), and ammoniated endophyte-infected (AE+) tall fescue seed. Total pyrrolizidine alkaloid (N-acetyl and N-formyl loline) and ergovaline contents of endophyte-infected fescue seed were reduced 24 and 54% respectively, by ammoniation. Endophyte-infected treatment groups had lower (P < 0.01) daily feed intakes (DFI), daily weight gains (DWG), feed efficiencies, and primary serum hemagglutination titers to sheep red blood cell (SRBC) immunization than endophyte-free treatment groups. Performance parameters were higher (P < 0.01) for ammoniated diets in comparison tonon-ammoniated diets; however, anti-SRBC titers were not significantly different. When compared to the E+ diet, the AIE+ diet increased (P < 0.01) DFI (24%), DWG (41%) and feed efficiency (13%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]