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The aroma compounds in red fragrant pear were analyzed by headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME)and gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS). The extraction conditions of aroma components in red fragrant pear were systematically optimized by response surface method. The aroma components were identified based on chromatographic retention index and mass spectrometry analysis and olfactometry and the contribution of aroma substances to the relative odor activity values was evaluated. The optimal extraction efficiency was achieved under the following conditions: 50/30 µm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) SPME fiber, 2.9 g of sample, extraction time 46 min, temperature 64 °C, equilibrium time 30 min and desorption time 4 min. The results showed that a total of 127 compounds were detected, 76 compounds of which were structurally identified, accounting for 97.36 % of the total volatile substance. These compounds included 18 esters, 9 aldehydes, 13 alcohols, 12 alkenes, 4 ketones, 11 hydrocarbons, 9 other compounds. According to the result of olfactometry and relative odor activity value (ROAV), the main flavor volatile components were identified: ethyl acetate; hexanal; ethyl hexanoate; hexyl acetate; ethyl -2 -trans -4 -cis -decadienoate; nonanal; trans -2 -hexenal; ethyl caprylate; ethyl caprate; alpha-farnesene; phthalic acid diisobutyl ester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To assess the reliability and validity of a new Chinese version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI-C) in drug users in the community. Methods: Three hundred and eighty-one drug users in the community in Chengdu, Sichuan province were recruited. They were interviewed with a questionnaire consisting of the ASI-C revised on the basis of the previous Chinese version and 38 were interviewed for the second time at an interval of 7 days to evaluate test-retest reliability. Results: Cronbach''s α coefficients for the internal consistency of the scale varied from 0.49 to 0.86. Test-retest correlation coefficients ranged from 0.50 to 0.93. Criterion validity was found acceptable, as compared with the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). Conclusion: The ASI-C presented acceptable reliability and validity in a sample of drug users in the community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Acupuncture is a promising non-pharmaceutical complementary therapy in treating prolonged Disorders of consciousness (pDOC), but solid evidence to support its effectiveness and safety is still lacking. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture-assisted therapy for pDOC patients., Methods: A single-center, prospective, randomized, conventional-controlled, assessor-and-statistician-blinded trial has been designed and is being conducted at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. A total of 110 participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group in a 1:1 allocation ratio and evaluated using Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) at 8 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m. on 2 consecutive days before enrollment to determine the consciousness level. The experimental group will receive acupuncture combined with conventional treatment, while the control group will receive only conventional treatment during the trial observation period. The treatment duration of both groups will be 20 days. Among them, the frequency of acupuncture-assisted therapy is once a day, with 10 consecutive sessions followed by a day's rest for a total of 24 days. Data will be collected separately during baseline and after the final treatment. For data analysis, both Full Analysis Set (FAS) and Per Protocol Set (PPS) principles will be performed together by applying SPSS 27.0 software. The primary outcome measures are the changes of CRS-R before and after treatment, while the secondary outcome measures are the changes of Full Outline of Unresponsiveness Scale (FOUR), the changes of Nociception Coma Scale-Revised (NCS-R), the changes of Disability Rating Scale (DRS), the changes of Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and P300 before and after treatment, respectively., Discussion: This trial aims to rationally assess the consciousness level from multiple 2 perspectives through subjective evaluation and objective detection by selecting several standardized clinical scales combined with Event-Related Potential (ERP) detection technology. In this way, we will be able to reduce the subjectivity of consciousness assessment and objectively evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture-assisted therapy for pDOC. The study, if proven to be effective and safe enough, will provide a favorable evidence to guide medical decision-making choices and future researches., Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.chictr.org.cn/, identifier ChiCTR2300076180., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhi, Sun, Huang, Yang, Guo, Xiong, Liu and Zhang.)

Background: Chinese herbal medicine is widely used as a complement or alternative treatment in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in China. We compared the incidence of the major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) of CAD patients with or without the complement use of Chinese herbal medicine after PCI., Methods: In this prospective, observational study that was conducted from September 2016 to August 2019 in Fuwai Hospital (China), we followed up consecutive patients who received PCI treatment for two years. MACE was defined as the composite all-cause mortality, revascularization, and myocardial infarction (MI) and was compared between those using (integrative medicine group) or those not using Chinese herbal medicine as an additional treatment to standard Western medicine, with unadjusted (Kaplan-Meier curves) and risk-adjusted (multivariable Cox regression) analyses., Results: A total of 5942 patients after PCI were enrolled in this study, and 5453 patients were included in the final analysis (4189 [76.8%] male; mean age: 61.9 ± 9.9% years). During the follow-ups, 2932 (53.8%) patients used only Western medicine while 2521(46.2%) patients had used Chinese herbal medicine as an additional treatment to standard Western medicine. Patients in the integrative medicine group (IM group) were older than the Western medicine group (WM group), had more females and less previous MI. The incidence of MACE was 15.3% (449/2932) in WM group and 11.54% (291/2521) in IM group. Cox regression analysis showed that cumulative incidence of MACE was 27% lower in patients of the IM group than those in WM group (hazard ratio = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.63-0.85; P < 0.0001)., Conclusions: For CAD patients after PCI treatment, complement use of Chinese herbal medicine is associated with a lower 2-year MACE incidence. Randomized prospective studies are warranted to provide higher levels of benefit evidence in these patients., (© 2022 JGC All rights reserved; www.jgc301.com.)

Background: The Essen risk score improves stratification of patients with acute ischemic stroke by early stroke recurrence. Recent study showed it could also predict myocardial infarction (MI). This study aimed to compare the Essen score's ability to predict cerebrovascular events with compared cardiovascular events., Methods: We included patients with acute ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack within seven days from the Third China National Stroke Registry. One-year cumulative event rates of combined vascular events (a composite of MI, stroke recurrence or vascular death) and cardiac events (a composite of MI, heart failure or cardiac death) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The predictive value of the Essen score was assessed with C-statistics. In multivariate Cox regression analyses, we assessed whether Essen score, etiological subtype and imaging parameters were associated with outcomes., Results: Of 13,012 patients were included, the cumulative one-year event rates were 10.03% for combined vascular events and 0.77% for cardiac events, respectively. Compared with those with an Essen score < 3, patients with an Essen score ≥ 3 were more likely to have a subsequent combined vascular event [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.24-1.55] and cardiac events (HR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.53-3.44). The score tended to be more predictive of the risk of MI (C-statistic = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.55-0.71) and cardiac events (C-statistic = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.56-0.67) than stroke recurrence (C-statistic = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.54-0.57) and combined vascular events (C-statistic = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.54-0.57). In multivariable analysis after adjusted Essen score, patients with multiple acute infarctions or single acute infarctions and large artery atherosclerosis subtype were independently associated with an increased risk of combined vascular events. While the cardioembolism subtype was associated with an increased risk of cardiac events., Conclusions: The Essen score is potentially more suitable for risk stratification of cardiovascular events than cerebrovascular events. Moreover, future predictive tools should take brain imaging findings and cause of stroke into consideration., (Copyright and License information: Journal of Geriatric Cardiology 2022.)

Background: Qishen (QS) capsules, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been widely used to treat coronary heart disease in China. However, evidence of its effectiveness remains unclear., Methods: To explore whether QS has cardioprotective efficacy and/or promotes angiogenesis after myocardial infarction (MI), we performed experiments in a preclinical rat MI model. One month after left anterior descending coronary artery ligation, the rats received either QS solution (0.4 g/kg/day) or the same volume of saline by intragastric injection for four weeks., Results: Echocardiographic and hemodynamic analyses demonstrated relatively preserved cardiac function in MI rats administered QS. Indeed, QS treatment was associated with reduced infarct scar size and heart weight index, and these beneficial effects were responsible for enhancing angiogenesis. Mechanistically, QS treatment increased phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) and downregulated phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK)., Conclusions: QS therapy can improve the cardiac function of rats after MI by an underlying mechanism involving increased angiogenesis, at least partially via activation of the Akt signaling pathway and inhibition of MEK/ERK phosphorylation., (Institute of Geriatric Cardiology.)

REV1 is one of the major Y-family DNA polymerases. It not only functions as a scaffold protein to mediate other specialized DNA polymerases to sites of lesions, but also inserts deoxycytidine across the lesion strand during translesion DNA synthesis (TLS). Meanwhile, REV1 has been reported to be involved in homologous recombination (HR) repair. Here we further explore the roles of REV1-interacting proteins RAD51 and RAD51C in REV1-mediated DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. We found that RAD51 but not RAD51C regulates REV1 recruitment to DSB sites via pulsed laser microirradiation. Interestingly, immunofluorescence staining exhibits that REV1 also regulates RAD51 focus formation in response to CPT treatment. These results suggest that REV1 and RAD51 might be mutually dependent on each other in the REV1-related HR pathway.

Background: Recent clinical and experimental studies have confirmed the effects of Xinfuli Granule (XG), a compound Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of heart failure (HF). This study aimed to investigate the effects and the mechanisms of XG on ventricular reconstruction in rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI)., Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to left anterior descending branch ligation. The rats that survived 24 h were randomly assigned to five groups: medium-dose of XG group (MI+XGM), high-dose of XG group (MI+XGH), carvedilol group (MI+C), medium-dose of XG + carvedilol group (MI+C+XGM). Fourteen rats underwent identical surgical procedures without artery ligation, serving as sham controls. At 28 days, left ventricular weight to body weight (LVW/BW) and heart weight to body weight (HW/BW) were calculated; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular shortening fraction (LVFS), left ventricular internal diameter at systole (LVIDS) were measured by ultrasound; HE staining, Masson staining, and Sirius red staining were used to assess the myocardial pathological and physiological changes as well as myocardial fibrosis area and non-infarct zone I/III collagen ratio. Expression of Smad3 were detected and analyzed by Western blot, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. P-Smad3, Smad2 and Smad7 in the TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway were also analyzed by Western blot., Results: The LVIDS ( P < 0.01), HW/BW ( P < 0.05), type I/III collagen ratio ( P < 0.01) and myocardial collagen ( P < 0.01) decreased significantly while the LVW/BW, LVFS ( P < 0.05) increased significantly in MI+XGM group as compared with those in other groups. The expression of key signal molecules of the TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway, including Smad3, P-Smad3 and Smad2 protein were decreased, while the expression of Smad7 increased in both XG and carvedilol treatment groups as compared to those of the MI group (all P < 0.01). Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence further confirmed the down-regulated Smad3 expression., Conclusion: XG can improve ventricular reconstruction and inhibit myocardial fibrosis in rats with AMI by regulating TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway.

This study compared the short-term efficacies of different chemotherapy regimens in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) through pair-wise and network meta-analyses (NMA). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified in a comprehensive online literature search met our inclusion criteria. Direct and indirect evidence was combined to compare odds ratios (OR) and surfaces under the cumulative ranking curves (SUCRA) across the different treatment regimens. Twelve eligible RCTs were finally included, involving eight regimens (Paclitaxel + Carboplatin [PC], Gemcitabine + Carboplatin [GC], Carboplatin, Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin + Carboplatin [PLD + Carboplatin], Paclitaxel, Paclitaxel + Carboplatin + Topotecan [PC + Topotecan], Paclitaxel + Carboplatin + Epirubicin [PC + Epirubicin] and Docetaxel + Carboplatin [DC]). The NMA results revealed that in terms of overall response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR), PC (ORR: OR=2.59, 95%CI=1.20-6.22; DCR: OR=2.58, 95%CI=1.05-6.82) and GC (ORR: OR=2.08, 95%CI=1.08-4.37; DCR: OR=2.43, 95%CI=1.07-5.80) were more effective against AOC than Carboplatin alone. Similarly, PC (OR=0.21, 95%CI=0.05-0.69), GC (OR=0.31, 95%CI=0.09-0.90) and PLD + Carboplatin (OR=0.22, 95%CI=0.04-0.92) slowed disease progression better than Carboplatin alone. We also found that PC was more efficacious against AOC than Carboplatin or Paclitaxel single-agent chemotherapy. Combination chemotherapy is thus recommended for AOC, and should guide subsequent drug development and treatment strategies.

Background: Xinfuli Granule (XG), a compound Chinese herbal medicine, has been effectively used in China for the treatment of heart failure for more than fifty years. This study aimed to investigate the effects and the underlying mechanisms of Xinfuli in rats with doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity., Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with intraperitoneal injection of Doxorubicin (DOX, 2.5 mg/kg per week) for six weeks, and then randomly divided into four groups which received intragastrically administration of normal saline (control group) or different dosage of XG (0.675 g/kg per day, 1.35 g/kg per day, and 2.7g/kg per day, respectively) for six weeks. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed to evaluate the left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) before and after the XG treatment and histopathologic changes were also examined. Myocardial cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining. The expression of related genes and proteins were analyzed using immunohistochemical staining., Results: Compared to those in the control group, rats in XG treated groups showed significantly improved cardiac function and milder cardiac histopathological changes, lower cardiomyocyte apoptosis index, higher expression of Bcl-2 and lower expression of Bax., Conclusions: Administration of XG improves cardiac function and histopathological changes in rats with doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. These effects are associated with inhibition of cardiomyocyte apoptosis, perhaps via regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression.

China's livestock and poultry productions have changed significantly in the last three decades, from mainly traditional and small-scale systems in early 1980s towards more intensive and industrialized ones in recent years, due to the booming economy and the changes in people' diet. There is an urgent need to increase the understanding of the changes in the livestock and poultry productions and the impact of manure recycle on the environment. Here, we reported on a systematic and quantitative analysis on the temporal and spatial variability of livestock and poultry productions and manure nutrients in Shanxi Province, China, using a large database and a coupled food chain nutrient flow model (NUFER) with GIS. In the period of 1978 to 2012, total animal manure production increased from 1.61 x 10⁷ t to 2.75 x 10⁷ t by 171%. The manure N increased from 7.74 x 10⁴ t to 17.32 x 10⁴ t, and the manure P from 1.09x104 t to 3.39x104 t. Besides the huge increase in total animal manure production, the distribution of animal manure was much uneven among regions, with high amounts of manure N and P per unit land in the north, middle and southeastern regions and low values in the north-central and southwestern regions, based on the results of 2012. The uneven distribution of manure was the combined effect of regional specializations in livestock and poultry productions and related policies. Our findings suggested that optimizing the structure of livestock and poultry productions and enhancing interregional collaborations on nutrient management could be two effective measures for reducing pollution and environmental risks, while achieving efficient and sustainable use of manure nutrient in the long term.

The mechanism of patulin adsorption by inactivated cider yeast was studied by chemical modification and FTIR The results of patulin removal by various modified yeast biomass showed that the ability of patulin biosorption by acetone-treated yeast and NaOH-treated yeast increased siginificantly, while the methylation of amino group and esterification of carboxylate functionalities of yeast cell surface caused a decrease in patulin binding, which indicated that amino group and carboxyl group presented in the cell walls of yeast might be involved in the binding of patulin to the yeast. The FTIR analysis indicated that the main functional groups were amino group, carboxyl group and hydroxy group which are associated with protein and polysaccharides.

Objective: To establish the methods of calculating and analyzing the multi-coefficient of variation significance test for the toxicology study., Methods: The paper aimed to confirm the significance level with the method of Bonferroni and then compared the methods of calculating and analyzing of the experiment groups with the control group respectively., Results: The significance level of multi-coefficient of variation significance test was confirmed as alpha1=0.0167. Compared with the control groups, the activity of ALT in serum both in 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg groups did not change in the average significance test, which was not statistically significant (P>0.05), while it changed in the variation significance test, which was of statistical significance (P<0.0167). The activity of AST in serum in 60 mg/kg group did not change in the average significance test (P>0.05), while it changed in the variation significance test (P<0.0167)., Conclusion: The complete changes of the indexes can only be shown by use of both the average significance test and the variation significance test together.

Objective: To investigate the effects of over-expressed Smac gene combined with cisplatin (CDDP) on proliferation and apoptosis of hepatic carcinoma cells., Methods: The recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1+-hSmac was introduced into the human hepatic carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells using a liposome-mediated method. The expression of Smac protein was detected by Western blot and flow cytometry. The cells were treated with three different doses of CDDP, 5, 15 and 25microg/ml, for 24 hours after the transfection. MTT colorimetry was used to detect the cellular growth-inhibitory effects; acridine orange-ethidium bromide fluorescent staining (AO/EB) and flow cytometry with annexin V-PI double staining, Methods: were used to detect the changes of cell apoptosis., Results: Western blot and flow cytometry results demonstrated that the Smac protein level in SMMC-7721 cells was significantly increased after the transfection (P less than 0.01). Compared with that of the control group, the over-expressed Smac gene inhibited the cell growth and induced cell apoptosis (P less than 0.01). After being treated with CDDP, the inhibitory rates were increased significantly with increasing concentrations of CDDP compared with that of the control group, and the inhibitory rate of the CDDP-treated plus Smac group was significantly higher than that of the CDDP-treated group (P less than 0.01). The results detected by AO/EB and flow cytometry demonstrated that the apoptotic rates of CDDP-treated plus Smac group were higher than those of the CDDP-treated group (P less than 0.01). The results demonstrated that the Smac over-expression enhanced the effects of cell growth inhibition and apoptotic promotion induced by CDDP., Conclusion: The pro-apoptotic Smac gene could be over-expressed in hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells and inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis. Moreover the over-expressed Smac could enhance the chemotherapeutic sensitivity of SMMC-7721 to cisplatin. This experimental work may help in further study on the regulatory mechanism of Smac in apoptosis and improve the chemotherapeutic effect on hepatoma.