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The programmed self-assembly of patchy nanoparticles (NPs) through a bottom-up approach is an efficient strategy for producing highly organized materials with a predetermined architecture. Herein, we report the preparation of di- and trivalent silica NPs with polystyrene (PS)/poly(4-vinylbenzyl azide) (PVBA) patches and assemble them in a THF mixture by lowering the solvent quality. Silica-PS/PVBA colloidal hybrid clusters were synthesized through the seeded growth emulsion copolymerization of styrene and 4-vinylbenzyl azide (VBA) in varying ratios. Subsequently, macromolecules on silica NPs originating from the copolymerization of growing PS or PVBA chains with the surface-grafted MMS compatibilizer are engineered by fine-tuning of polymer compositions or adjustment of solvent qualities. Moreover, multistage silica regrowth of tripod and tetrapod allowed a fine control of the patch-to-particle size ratio ranging from 0.69 to 1.54. Intriguingly, patchy silica NPs (1-, 2-, 3-PSNs) rather than hybrid clusters are successfully used as templates for multistep regrowth experiments, leading to the formation of silica NPs with a new morphology and size controllable PVBA/PS patches. Last but not least, combined with mesoscale dynamics simulations, the self-assembly kinetics of 2-PSN and 3-PSN into linear colloidal polymers and honeycomb-like lattices are studied. This work paves a new avenue for constructing colloidal polymers with a well-defined sequence and colloidal crystals with a predetermined architecture.

Background: The objective of this study is to analyze the characteristics of pediatric echocardiography clinical trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov., Methods: A data set including pediatric echocardiography clinical trials was downloaded from ClinicalTrials.gov until May 13, 2022. We searched the PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, and Embase databases to extract publication data. Pediatric echocardiography trial characteristics, application areas, and publication status were described. The secondary objectives were to evaluate factors associated with trial publication., Results: We identified 410 pediatric echocardiography reporting definite age, of which 246 were interventional and 146 were observational. Drug interventions were the most commonly studied (32.9%). The most applied area of pediatric echocardiography was congenital heart disease, followed by hemodynamics of preterm or neonatal infants, cardiomyopathy, inflammatory heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, and cardio-oncology. According to the primary completion data, 54.9% of the trials were completed before August 2020. 34.2% of the trials had been published within 24 months. Union countries and quadruple masking were more likely to be published., Conclusion: Echocardiography is rapidly evolving in pediatric clinical applications, including anatomic imaging and functional imaging. Novel speckle tracking techniques have also been pivotal in the assessment of cancer therapeutics-related cardiac dysfunction. A small number of clinical trials in pediatric echocardiography are published in a timely fashion. Concerted efforts are needed to promote trial transparency., 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., (© 2023 Mao, Wang and Lv.)

Objective: The perspective of real-world study is especially relevant to newborns, enabling dosage regimen optimization and regulatory approval of medications for use in newborns. The aim of the present study was to conduct a pharmacokinetic analysis of cefotaxime and evaluate the dosage used in newborns with early-onset sepsis (EOS) using real-world data in order to support the rational use in the clinical practice. Methods: This prospective, open-label study was performed in newborns with EOS. A developmental pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model of cefotaxime in EOS patients was established based on an opportunistic sampling method. Then, clinical evaluation of cefotaxime was conducted in newborns with EOS using real-world data. Results: A one-compartment model with first-order elimination was developed, using 101 cefotaxime concentrations derived from 51 neonates (30.1-41.3°C weeks postmenstrual age), combining current weight and postnatal age. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic target was defined as the free cefotaxime concentration above MIC during 70% of the dosing interval (70% fT > MIC), and 100% of neonates receiving the dose of 50 mg/kg, BID attained the target evaluated using the model. Additionally, only two newborns had adverse reactions possibly related to cefotaxime treatment, including diarrhea and feeding intolerance. Conclusion: This prospective real-world study demonstrated that cefotaxime (50 mg/kg, BID) had a favorable efficacy and an accepted safety profile for neonates with EOS., 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 © 2022 Shang, Wu, Lv, Zhang, Liu, van den Anker, Xu and Zhao.)

Background: Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in adolescents. The molecular mechanism behind OS progression and metastasis remains poorly understood, which limits the effectiveness of current therapies. RNA N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) modification plays a critical role in influencing RNA fate. However, the biological significance of m 6 A modification and its potential regulatory mechanisms in the development of OS remain unclear., Methods: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), dot blotting, and colorimetric ELISA were used to detect m 6 A levels. Western blotting, quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to investigate METTL14 expression levels. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) and transcriptomic RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) were used to screen the target genes of METTL14. RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays were conducted to explore the specific binding of target genes and relevant m 6 A "readers". RNA stability and polysome analysis assays were used to detect the half-lives and translation efficiencies of the downstream genes of METTL14. IHC and clinical data were applied to explore the clinical correlations of METTL14 and its downstream target genes with the prognosis of OS., Findings: We observed the abundance of m 6 A modifications in OS and revealed that METTL14 plays an oncogenic role in facilitating OS progression. MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq revealed that MN1 is a downstream gene of METTL14. MN1 contributes to tumor progression and all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) chemotherapy resistance in OS. Mechanistically, MN1 is methylated by METTL14, specifically in the coding sequence (CDS) regions, and this modification is recognized by the specific m 6 A reader insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2) to prevent MN1 mRNA degradation and promote it translation efficiency. IHC showed that MN1 expression was positively correlated with METTL14 and IGF2BP2 expression in OS tissues. The METTL14-IGF2BP2-MN1 panel demonstrated more promising prognostic value for OS patients than any of these molecules individually., Interpretation: Our study revealed that METTL14 contributes to OS progression and ATRA resistance as an m 6 A RNA methylase by regulating the stability and translation efficiency of MN1 and thus provides both an underlying biomarker panel for prognosis prediction in OS patients., Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 81972510 and 81772864)., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: To analyze whether the cytochrome P450 enzyme 2C9*3 (CYP2C9*3) and angiotensin II receptor 1 (AGTR1) (1166A>C) gene polymorphisms are associated with the risk of essential hypertension (EH) and the antihypertensive effect of irbesartan., Methods: A total of 2,057 EH patients and 286 healthy controls were enrolled for genotyping in which 598 EH patients were given irbesartan 150 mg/day for 4 weeks. Blood pressure of all subjects were determined before and at the end of 4-week treatment., Results: There was no significant difference in genotype frequencies of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A>C) between EH and control groups. Subjects with *1*3/*3*3 genotypes of the CYP2C9*3 gene had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (34.9 ± 15.5 vs. 29.3 ± 10.2 mm Hg and 22.8 ± 9.0 vs. 19.6 ± 8.5 mm Hg, respectively) compared with the *1*1 genotype. For AGTR1 (1166A>C) polymorphisms, although there was no significant difference among AC, CC, and AA genotypes, male subjects with AC/CC genotypes had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (32.3 ± 1.3 vs. 29.3 ± 0.5 mm Hg and 21.6 ± 0.8 vs. 19.4 ± 0.1 mm Hg, respectively, P < 0.05) in response to irbesartan treatment compared with the AA genotype., Conclusions: Polymorphisms of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A>C) are not significantly different between EH and healthy controls. Male subjects with AC and CC genotypes of AGTR1 (1166A>C) show better antihypertensive effect of irbesartan than the AA genotype., (© American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2021. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: To clarify the expression pattern of miRNA-875-3p in CRC and its potential regulatory effect on the progression of CRC., Materials and Methods: MiRNA-875-3p level in 56 matched CRC tissues and adjacent normal tissues were determined. The correlation between the miRNA-875-3p level and pathological indexes of CRC patients was analyzed. Prognostic potential of miRNA-875-3p in CRC patients was assessed by introducing the Kaplan-Meier curves. Influences of miRNA-875-3p on viability, migration, and wound closure were assessed through a series of functional experiments. The interaction between miRNA-875-3p and PLK1 in regulating the progression of CRC was finally uncovered by Dual-Luciferase reporter gene and rescue experiments., Results: MiRNA-875-3p was downregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines. CRC patients with low level of miRNA-875-3p suffered a higher rate of distant metastasis and worse prognosis. Overexpression of miRNA-875-3p attenuated proliferative and migratory capacities of SW480 and HT29 cells. PLK1 was confirmed to be the target gene of miRNA-875-3p. PLK1 was upregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines, which was negatively regulated by miRNA-875-3p. MiRNA-875-3p alleviated the malignant progression of CRC via negatively regulating PLK1., Conclusions: MiRNA-875-3p is downregulated in CRC, which is closely related to distant metastasis and poor prognosis of CRC patients. MiRNA-875-3p alleviates the progression of CRC through targeting and downregulating PLK1.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether MTNR1B gene variants influence repaglinide response in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 300 patients with T2DM and 200 control subjects were enrolled to identify MTNR1B rs10830963 and rs1387153 genotypes by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with subsequent high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis. Ninety-five patients with newly diagnosed T2DM were randomly selected to undergo 8 weeks of repaglinide treatment (3 mg/day). After 8-week repaglinide monotherapy, patients with at least one G allele of MTNR1B rs10830963 showed a smaller decrease in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ( P = 0.031) and a smaller increase in homeostasis model assessment for beta cell function (HOMA-B) ( P = 0.002) levels than those with the CC genotype did. The T allele carriers at rs1387153 exhibited a smaller decrease in FPG ( P = 0.007) and smaller increases in postprandial serum insulin (PINS) ( P = 0.016) and HOMA-B ( P < 0.001) levels compared to individuals with the CC genotype. These data suggest that the MTNR1B rs10830963 and rs1387153 polymorphisms are associated with repaglinide monotherapy efficacy in Chinese patients with T2DM., (Copyright © 2019 Wang, Wang, Lai, Ling, Zhang, Lu, Lv and Yin.)

Several additives, including inorganic (NaCl) and organic salts (derivatives of benzoate), were added into aqueous solutions of a gemini cationic surfactant, 2-hydroxypropyl-1,3-bis (myristyldimethylammonium chloride) (abbreviated as 14-3(OH)-14(2Cl)). The mixed systems were investigated using rheological measurement, cryo-TEM and 1H NMR analysis. The results showed that addition of salts induced rich aggregate morphologies in the 14-3(OH)-14(2Cl)/salt systems. The influence of an inorganic salt on the viscoelasticity of 14-3(OH)-14(2Cl) solutions is much weaker than that of organic salts. Furthermore, the ability of three organic salts in enhancing the viscoelasticity of 14-3(OH)-14(2Cl) solutions is in the order sodium m-hydroxybenzoate > sodium o-hydroxybenzoate > sodium p-hydroxybenzoate. The different roles of these organic salt isomers arise from the different types of hydrogen bonding formed between 14-3(OH)-14(2Cl) and the organic counter ions.

A heteropoly acid based organic hybrid heterogeneous catalyst, HMQ-STW, was prepared by combining 8-hydroxy-2-methylquinoline (HMQ) with Keggin-structured H 4 SiW 12 O 40 (STW). The catalyst was characterized via elemental analysis, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and potentiometric titration analysis. The catalytic performance of the catalyst was assessed in the ketalization of ketones with glycol or 1,2-propylene glycol. Various reaction parameters, such as the glycol to cyclohexanone molar ratio, catalyst dosage, reaction temperature and time, were systematically examined. HMQ-STW exhibited a relatively high yield of corresponding ketal, with 100% selectivity under the optimized reaction conditions. Moreover, catalytic recycling tests demonstrated that the heterogeneous catalyst exhibited high potential for reusability, and it was revealed that the organic modifier HMQ plays an important role in the formation of a heterogeneous system and the improvement of structural stability. These results indicated that the HMQ-STW catalyst is a promising new type of heterogeneous acid catalyst for the ketalization of ketones., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Quality of life (QOL) throughout menopause has become an outcome variable requiring measurement in clinical care. Staff nurses can provide earlier nursing during the menopausal transition (MT) stage. The purpose of this study was to describe the changes of QOL in different stages of the MT according to The Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW) in Chinese women in community settings. Prospective longitudinal study design was used to analyze QOL of 327 community women age 30-65years old. They were followed up at 1-year. An instrument including the Chinese version of the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to obtain data. A gradual decline in QOL was seen from premenopausal to menopausal transition (MT) and in postmenopausal women. Significant differences were observed in vasomotor, physical and sexual scores at baseline and follow-up (P<0.05). Significant differences in vasomotor scores were observed between baseline and follow-up for women in the premenopausal and Late MT stages (P<0.05). There were significant differences in psychosocial and physical scores between baseline and follow-up in the Late MT stage (P<0.05). Menopause might have a negative impact on QOL independent of age in community-based women in China. There seemed to be a potential model of the relationship of menopause status to change in QOL, but this needs supporting evidence from longer longitudinal studies., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Aims and Objectives: To investigate the relationship between quality of life and social support in female nurses., Background: Nurses play an important role in providing care and managing patients' health in hospitals. However, limited studies have shown an association between quality of life and social support in female nurses in China., Design: Questionnaire survey., Methods: To investigate 320 full-time female nurses in different departments at four comprehensive hospitals in Harbin with a cross-sectional correlational design using questionnaires. A demographic data questionnaire, menopause-specific quality of life questionnaire and social support scale were used., Results: The scores on the physical (36·93 ± 17·65) and psychological (17·57 ± 9·45) subscales were higher than those of the vasomotor (4·88 ± 3·48) and sexual (4·53 ± 3·23) subscales of quality of life. The average score of objective support (25·12 ± 4·32) was higher than those of subjective support (9·80 ± 3·04) and utilisation of social support (7·80 ± 1·97). A significant association between quality of life and social support was found (p < 0·01)., Conclusions: Social support influenced quality of life. Social support as a buffer for pressure can influence individual stress perception, help individuals cope with pressure and reduce the negative impact of stress on mental and physical health, thus improving different aspects of health., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Enhancing social support in an active environment would allow female nurses to enjoy a better quality of life in their clinical practice., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic values of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in breast cancer. Between September 2009 and October 2011, a total of 143 breast cancer patients and 161 healthy people were selected as case group and control group, respectively. After the identification of lesions by conventional ultrasound, all patients underwent CEUS. The CEUS images were analyzed, and time-intensity curves (TICs) were obtained. Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry staining was performed on tissue specimens, according to which the expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), c-erb-B2, p53, and Ki-67 were measured. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to compare CEUS and TIC parameters between the two groups. Compared with the control group, cancer patients showed high enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement or defects in the central region, expansion of lesion diameter after enhancement and crab-like blur lesion edges. The peak intensity (PI), relative start time of enhancement, relative PI, and relative area under the curve in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Logistic analysis showed that the uniformity of enhancement, expansion of lesion diameter, and relative PI were significant diagnostic parameters of breast cancer, with area under the curve being 0.798, 0.776, and 0.919, respectively. There were strong associations between CEUS characteristics and expressions of prognostic factors in breast cancer: the heterogeneous enhancement was common in c-erb-B2-positive tumors; the centripetal enhancement occurred more in ER-negative tumors; perforator vessels were often seen in tumors at high histological grade; perfusion defects were common in ER-negative, c-erb-B2-positive, and Ki-67-positive tumors. CEUS is a useful tool for the early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Next-generation sequencing provides large-scale sequencing data with relative ease and at a reasonable cost, making it possible to identify a large amount of SSR markers in a timely and cost-effective manner. On the basis of the transcriptome database of Sinonovacula constricta obtained by Illumina/Solexa pyrosequencing, 60 polymorphic SSR markers were developed and characterized in 30 individuals. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus ranged from 2 to 7 with an average of 3.75 alleles. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.050 to 1.000 and from 0.050 to 0.836, respectively. Nineteen loci significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.01) after Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests. In addition, interspecific transferability revealed that 20 polymorphic loci in Solen linearis were first characterized in this study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest number of SSRs in S. constricta and the first report of cross-species amplification. These novel polymorphic SSR markers will be particularly useful for conservation genetics, evolutionary studies, genetic trait mapping, and marker assisted selection in the species.

Synthetic biology research methods which design and build a new artificial biological systems (medicinal plants or microorganisms system) with specific physiological functions through clarifying and simulating the basic law of the biosynthesis of active components of traditional Chinese medicine, is considered to be a potential method to produce an abundant resources of bioactive components. Tanshinones is a kind of diterpene quinone compounds with important pharmacological activities from traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza. This article systematically introduced the research progress of the synthetic biology of S. miltiorrhiza, in order to provide references for studies on other terpenoid bioactive components of traditional Chinese medicines, and give new research strategies for the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine resources.

Repaglinide is a short-acting insulin secretagogue, which often results in considerable interindividual variability in therapeutic efficacy when widely used in a clinical setting. Among various reasons under discussion is genetic polymorphism, especially the genes related to insulin secretion and resistance. Recent studies have described the importance of PPARD in regulating the secretion and resistance of insulin. However, little is known about the impacts of PPARD genetic polymorphism on the efficacy of repaglinide. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the associations of PPARD rs2016520 polymorphism with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) susceptibility and repaglinide therapeutic efficacy in Chinese Han T2DM patients. A total of 338 T2DM patients and 200 healthy subjects were genotyped for PPARD rs2016520 polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. A total of 84 patients with the same genotypes of CYP2C8*3 139Arg and OATP1B1 521TT were randomized to orally take repaglinide for 8 weeks. Then the pharmacodynamic parameters of repaglinide and biochemical indicators were determined before and after repaglinide treatment. No significant difference was found in either allelic frequency (P = 0.298) or genotype distribution (P = 0.151) of PPARD rs2016520 between T2DM patients and healthy subjects. However, T2DM patients carrying genotype TC showed a significantly lower increase in postprandial serum insulin (mU/L) than those with wild-type TT (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that PPARD rs2016520 polymorphism might influence the therapeutic effect of repaglinide rather than T2DM susceptibility in Chinese Han T2DM patients., (© 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

The incidence of PSD patients is very high. To analyze the related factors and incidence of post-stroke depression (PSD). A total of 465 stroke patients were evaluated by a self-designed questionnaire, Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD). The neurologic deficit score was tested using the National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS). A multiple factor analysis with the logistic regression method was carried out to analyze related factors of PSD. A total of 146 cases (31.4%) were identified as suffering from PSD. In addition the stepwise regression analysis showed that important risk factors of PSD included of sex, lesion location, the course of post-stroke and degree of neurological deficit score (all P<0.05). Above mentioned factors about the patients of PSD are very significant and may provide reference for further treating., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Aims: The present study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of a newly adapted Chinese version of an instrument designed to measure structural empowerment among staff nurses., Background: Structural empowerment has been shown to be important to nurses in Western cultures, but its importance in China is unknown., Methods: A convenience sample of 650 staff nurses was selected from six hospitals in Harbin, China. After linguistic adaptation using the forward-backward translation method, the 19-item Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II-CV) was answered by participants. Content validity, Cronbach's alpha, item-to-total correlation and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the translated instrument., Results: In the factor analysis, a six-factor solution was found to be reasonable with the sub-dimensions of structural empowerment that included support (three items), resources (three items), information (three items), opportunity (three items), formal power (three items) and informal power (four items). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total instrument was 0.92 and ranged from 0.68 to 0.86 in the six subscales. The item-to-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.48 to 0.80. The findings also gave support for content validity., Conclusions: Evidence was found to support the reliability and validity of the CWEQ-II-CV scale that measures the quality of the work environment for nurses from a structural empowerment perspective., Implications for Nursing Management: The translated version of CWEQ-II-CV can provide an effective evaluation tool for structural empowerment in the Chinese nursing workplace., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In order to increase the yield and quality of the medicinal plant and enhance the competitive power of industry of medicinal plant in our country, this paper analyzed the status, problem and countermeasure of the tissue culture of medicinal plant on large scale. Although the biotechnology is one of the most efficient and promising means in production of medicinal plant, it still has problems such as stability of the material, safety of the transgenic medicinal plant and optimization of cultured condition. Establishing perfect evaluation system according to the characteristic of the medicinal plant is the key measures to assure the sustainable development of the tissue culture of medicinal plant on large scale.

Study Objective: To investigate the associations of NOS1AP rs12742393 polymorphism with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and repaglinide therapeutic efficacy in Chinese patients with T2DM., Design: Prospective case-control study., Setting: Academic medical center., Patients: A total of 300 patients with T2DM and 200 healthy volunteers were enrolled to identify NOS1AP rs12742393 genotypes using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Eighty-four patients with various genotypes were randomly selected to receive oral repaglinide as a single-agent therapy (3 mg/day) for 8 weeks., Measurements and Main Results: Anthropometric measurements and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postprandial plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c , fasting serum insulin (FINS), postprandial serum insulin, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol tests were obtained before and after repaglinide treatment. The risk C allelic frequency of NOS1AP rs12742393 was higher in patients with T2DM than in healthy volunteers (p<0.001). Patients with T2DM and genotypes AA and AC at NOS1AP rs12742393 had a significant reduction in FPG (mmol/l) compared with those with genotype CC (p<0.01). Patients with CC homozygotes and AC heterozygotes had a greater increase in FINS (mU/l) than those with wild-type AA (p<0.05). In addition, the carriers of genotype CC at NOS1AP rs12742393 had higher differential values of HOMA-IR compared with genotypes AC and AA carriers (p<0.001). The effects of repaglinide treatment on FPG (p<0.01), FINS (p<0.05) and HOMA-IR (p<0.001) were reduced in patients with T2DM carrying the NOS1AP rs12742393 risk C allele compared with the AA genotype carriers., Conclusion: The NOS1AP rs12742393 polymorphism is associated with therapeutic efficacy of repaglinide in Chinese T2DM patients., (© 2013 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.)

Aims: This study was conducted to adapt the Problem Areas in Psychological Empowerment Scale for use among staff nurses and to evaluate the psychometric properties., Background: Considering the importance of psychological aspects in the administration of nursing, there is a need for validated measurements in this area. Such tools make it possible to understand staff nurses as well as they serve as reliable measures when evaluating medical, psychological and educational interventions., Design: Instrument development., Methods: A convenience sample of 750 staff nurses was systematically selected from six hospitals in Harbin, China. Following the linguistic adaptation using the forward-backward translation method, the 12-item Psychological Empowerment Scale was answered by the selected staff nurses. Statistics covered exploratory factor analysis, content validity, Cronbach's alpha and item-to-total correlation., Results: In the factor analysis, a four-factor solution was found to be reasonable with the subdimensions psychological empowerment-related meaning problems (three items), competence problems (three items), self-determination (three items) and impact problems (three items). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total score was 0.85 and varied between 0.82-0.89 in the four subscales. The item-to-total correlation coefficient was 0.40, and items were excluded with item-to-total correlation coefficient of lower than 0.40. The findings also gave support for the content validity., Conclusions: The Chinese version of the Problem Areas in Psychological Empowerment Scale seems to be reliable and valid outcome for measuring empowerment-related psychological response in staff nurses., Relevance to Clinical Practice: The Psychological Empowerment Scale can be used to evaluate staff nurses' empowerment-related psychological response in clinical., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Based on the conception and theory of ecological niche, authors analyzed the cause of the allelopathy and soil sickness of medicinal plants and the relationship between them. Methods to resolve problems in the cultivating medicinal plant was found, that is to construct the ecological niche based on allelopathy theory and avoid the soil sickness.

To investigate a set of scientific and systematic methods for the sustainable utilization of natural resources of Chinese medicine. To summarize and review the studies on the reservation and sustainable using the resources of Chinese medicine. Five resource types, as well as the relevant reservation modes, are put forward for the Chinese medicine.

Objective: To comparing two kinds habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica with different models., Method: The habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea according essential oil accumulation with two kinds pattern, model pattern and template pattern were carrid and compared., Result: Two habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea maps according essential oil accumulation were gotten., Conclusion: Both model pattern and template pattern were efficient on habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica, but they shoud bu used with different processesd and based different background [corrected]

Objective: To study on the chemical stability of Salvia miltirrhiza hairy root., Method: The rolA gene was detected by PCR in DNA and the chemical contituent variances were detected by HPLC., Result: The rolA gene was found in all the 10 batches of the culfured hairy root. The similarities of the chromatographic fingerprints of the 10 batches are higher than 0. 95., Conclusion: There are no significant differences of the chemical constituents in 10 hairy root samples.

In this paper,the structures, data sources, data codes of "the spacial analysis database of geoherbs" based 3S technology are introduced, and the essential functions of the database, such as data management, remote sensing, spacial interpolation, spacial statistics, spacial analysis and developing are described. At last, two examples for database usage are given, the one is classification and calculating of NDVI index of remote sensing image in geoherbal area of Atractylodes lancea, the other one is adaptation analysis of A. lancea. These indicate that "the spacial analysis database of geoherbs" has bright prospect in spacial analysis of geoherbs.

Objective: To find the development rules of microbial community in rhizoma sphere of the cultivated Atractylodes lancea., Method: Total bacteria, fungi and actinomyces were counted by CFU x g(-1) though dilution plate method. And genomic DNA of microbes were extracted and amplified by primers of E. coli's 27f and 1492r to get the 16S rDNA, then the restriction endonuclease Hinf was used to digest the 16S rDNA., Result: Total bacteria, fungi and actinomyces in 2-year old soil were lower than in 1-year old soil, they decreased 46. 14%, 49. 25%, 31.88% respectively and made the ratio of themselves changed. At the same time, all the 8 soil samples got fine 16S rDNA bands, which were about 1500 bp. And the main bands of most of the samples were found at 1000 bp, but the weak bands of each were different although most bands in the same year samples were more similar than in different year ones., Conclusion: It is indicated that the change of soil microbial community may has some relation to the continous cropping barrier of A. lancea.

This paper summarized the aspects of the soil deterioration due to continuous growth of medicinal plants, such as nutrition insufficient, pH variation, harmful salt accumulating, harmful microbe and allelopathic substance increasing, soil physics and chemistry properties variation. And the ways to prevent and rehabilitate the deteriorated soil was indicated, which included anti-adversity species selecting, scientific management such as whorl cropping, nutrient elements supplement, usage of physical methods, nutrient liquid cultivating and VAM inoculating etc.

Objective: To find the status and changes of the soil nutrients in rhizosphere of Atractylodes lancea., Method: Total nitrogen (total N), available K, available P, organic matter (ORG), available nitrogen and pH in rhizosphere soil of the wild growing A. lancea in 3 sites, MS, LT and MFS, and the cultivated ones with different ages in LT were detected., Result: The contents of total nitrogen (total N), available K, available P, organic matter (ORG), available nitrogen and pH value in rhizosphere soil were significant different between MS, LT and MFS (P < 0.01). The results of the 6 detected parameters in MS were the lowest, in MFS were the highest and in LT were in the middle. The total N, ORG and available N in the cultivated A. lancea were lower than that in the wild ones (P < 0.01) and available P and pH value in the cultivated A. lancea were higher than that in wild ones (P < 0.01) and there was no difference in available K between the wild and cultivated ones in LT (P > 0.05); 3 available P in rhizosphere soil of the two years old A. lancea were higher than of the one year old A. lancea (P < 0.01) and there were no difference of total N, ORG, available N, available K and pH value in rhizosphere soil of A. lancea between one year and two years plant (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: It is indicated that the growth of A. lancea in Mt. Mao is faced nutrient stress.

According to the successful experience of studying on crops, this paper introduced the conception of the core collection of medicinal plants, and analyzed the characteristic and the way to construct it. Studies on the core collection would fulfill the management and utilize the germplasm resources conveniently and provide a new idea and a method to study on the germplasm resources of medicinal plants. It is necessary to study on the core collection for the development of the germplasm resources of medicinal plants.

Objective: To study the habitat characteristics for the growth of Atractylodes lancea., Method: The leading factors for the growth of A. lancea are determined after stepwise regression, and the limiting factor are determined by field study, literature search,and weather records. The mean values of leading factors and the limiting factors of A. lancea for 30 years were applied to do spatial interpolation using IDIRIEIW softwares. An overlay was prerformed using data obtained in Mt. Maoshan and the general habitat of A. Iancea., Result: It was found that precipitation is one of the dominant climate factors that affects the quality of A. lancea. High temperature was one of the limiting factor which influences the living of A. lancea. The best habitat was determined to be: annual mean temperature more than 15 degrees C, monthly mean minimum temperature between - 2- -1 degrees C, monthly mean maximum temperature about 32 degrees C, lowest tolerable temperature - 17- -15 degrees C, drought season 1 - 2 months, annual mean precipitation between 1000 - 1160 mm., Conclusion: Mt. Maoshan was characterized by having high temperature, short drought season and adequate precipitation. The growth of A. Lancea is a result of environmental stress.