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To explore circulation levels of osteopontin (OPN), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 from patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) for clinical application. A group of 26 subjects with OLP were compared with 26 sex- and age-matched control (NC) subjects. Local lesion tissue was examined for OPN by immunohistochemical analysis. And, serum OPN, proinflammatory TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. The serum concentrations of OPN and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in OLP patients than the NC group (P < 0.05). Although serum concentrations of TGF-beta1 increased slightly, they were not statistically significant. Erosive-form OLP exhibited significantly elevated TGF-beta1 serum levels, compared with reticular-form OLP. The above results suggest that the production of OPN is associated with the inflammatory process of OLP development, and may serve as a potential disease marker of OLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coffee and tea consumption account for most caffeine intake and 2-3 billion cups are taken daily around the world. Caffeine dependence is a widespread but under recognized problem., Objectives: To conduct a systematic review on the genetic susceptibility factors affecting caffeine metabolism and caffeine reward and their association with caffeine intake., Methodology: We conducted PubMed and Embase searches using the terms "caffeine", "reward", "gene", "polymorphism", "addiction", "dependence" and "habit" from inception till 2024. The demographics, genetic and clinical data from included studies were extracted and analyzed. Only case-control studies on habitual caffeine drinkers with at least 100 in each arm were included., Results: A total of 2552 studies were screened and 26 studies involving 1,851,428 individuals were included. Several genes that were involved with caffeine metabolism such as CYP1A2, ADORA2A, AHR, POR, ABCG2, CYP2A6, PDSS2 and HECTD4 rs2074356 (A allele specific to East Asians and monomorphic in Europeans, Africans and Americans) were associated with habitual caffeine consumption with effect size difference of 3% to 32% in number of cups of caffeinated drink per day per effect allele. In addition, ALDH2 was linked to the Japanese population. Genes associated with caffeine reward included BDNF, SLC6A4, GCKR, MLXIPL and dopaminergic genes such as DRD2 and DAT1 which had around 2-5% effect size difference in number of cups of caffeinated drink for each allele per day., Conclusion: Several genes that were involved in caffeine metabolism and reward were associated with up to 30% effect size difference in number of cups of caffeinated drink per day, and some associations were specific to certain ethnicities. Identification of at-risk caffeine dependence individuals can lead to early diagnosis and stratification of at-risk vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women and children, and can potentially lead to development of drug targets for dependence to caffeine., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this work, a water droplet impacting superhydrophobic flexible cantilever beams is systematically studied via experimental methods, aimed at recognizing the significance of the system dynamics that arises from the interplay between substrate oscillation and droplet impact. Influences of the substrate stiffness and the impact Weber number on the substrate oscillation and droplet impact dynamic are the focus particularly. For substrate oscillations, the beam deflection increases with the Weber number but decreases with the beam stiffness, while the oscillation period of the beam is not affected by the impact dynamic. For the droplet impact dynamic, the spreading dynamic is independent of beam oscillation, while the retraction dynamic is closely related to the surface elasticity. The effect of the cantilever beams on the droplet (i.e., promoting or inhibiting the rebound behavior) is dependent on the coupling movement of the water drop and the cantilever beam, which is varied by changing the stiffness of the cantilever beam. The findings of this work will provide a theoretical reference for the application of flexible substrates in the fields of anti-icing and self-cleaning.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with high mortality. Liver resection (LR) is a curative treatment for early-stage HCC, but the prognosis of HCC patients after LR is unsatisfactory because of tumor recurrence. Prognostic prediction models with great performance are urgently needed. The present study aimed to establish a novel prognostic nomogram to predict tumor recurrence in HCC patients after LR., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 726 HCC patients who underwent LR between October 2011 and December 2016. Patients were randomly divided into the training cohort (n = 508) and the testing cohort (n = 218). The protein expression of 14 biomarkers in tumor tissues was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The nomogram predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) was established by a multivariate Cox regression analysis model and was evaluated by calibration curves, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, time-dependent areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUCs), and decision curve analyses in both the training and testing cohorts., Results: Alpha-fetoprotein [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.013, P = 0.002], portal vein tumor thrombosis (HR = 1.833, P < 0.001), ascites (HR = 2.024, P = 0.014), tumor diameter (HR = 1.075, P < 0.001), E-cadherin (HR = 0.859, P = 0.011), EMA (HR = 1.196, P = 0.022), and PCNA (HR = 1.174, P = 0.031) immunohistochemistry scores were found to be independent factors for RFS. The 1-year and 3-year AUCs of the nomogram for RFS were 0.813 and 0.739, respectively. The patients were divided into the high-risk group and the low-risk group by median value which was generated from the nomogram, and Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the high-risk group had a shorter RFS than the low-risk group in both the training (P < 0.001) and testing cohorts (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our newly developed nomogram integrated clinicopathological data and key gene expression data, and was verified to have high accuracy in predicting the RFS of HCC patients after LR. This model could be used for early identification of patients at high-risk of postoperative recurrence., Competing Interests: Competing interest No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article., (Copyright © 2024 First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Reducing the contact time of droplet impacts on surfaces is crucial for various applications including corrosion prevention and anti-icing. This study aims to explore a novel strategy that greatly reduces contact time using a superhydrophobic mesh surface with multiple sets of mutually perpendicular ridges while minimizing the influence of the impacting location. The effects of the impact Weber numbers and ridge spacing on the characteristics of the impact dynamics and contact time are studied experimentally. The experimental results reveal that, for the droplet impact on mesh surfaces, ridges can segment the liquid film into independently multiple-retracting liquid subunits. The retracted subunits provide the upward driving force, which may promote the splashing or pancake bouncing of droplets. At this point, the contact time has a negligible sensitivity for the impacting position and is significantly reduced by up to 68%. Furthermore, the time, dynamic pressure, and energy criteria for triggering splashing and pancake bouncing are proposed theoretically. This work provides an understanding of the mechanism and the design guidelines for effectively reducing the contact time of the impacting droplet on superhydrophobic surfaces.

Background: Caffeine is one of the most consumed psychoactive substances globally. Caffeine-gene interactions in Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been systematically examined., Objectives: To conduct a systematic review on the interaction between caffeine consumption and genetic susceptibility to PD., Methodology: We conducted PubMed and Embase search using terms "Genetic association studies", "Caffeine", "polymorphism" and "Parkinson's disease", from inception till 2023. Of the initial 2391 studies, 21 case-control studies were included. The demographic, genetic and clinical data were extracted and analyzed., Results: We identified 21 studies which involved a total of 607,074 study subjects and 17 gene loci (SNCA, MAPT, HLA-DRA, NOS1, NOS3, GBA, ApoE, BST1, ESR2, NAT2, SLC2A13, LRRK2, NOS2A, GRIN2A, CYP1A2, ESR1, ADORA2A) have been investigated for the effect of gene-caffeine interaction and PD risk. The genes were identified through PD GWAS or involved in caffeine or related metabolism pathways. Based on the genetic association and interaction studies, only MAPT, SLC2A13, LRRK2, ApoE, NOS2A, GRIN2A, CYP1A2, and ADORA2A have been shown by at least one study to have a positive caffeine-gene interaction influencing the risk of PD., Conclusion: Studies have shown an interaction between caffeine with genetic variants of MAPT, SLC2A13, LRRK2, ApoE, NOS2A, GRIN2A, CYP1A2, and ADORA2A in modulating the risk of PD. Due to the potential limitations of these discovery/pilot studies, further independent replication studies are needed. Better designed genetic association studies in multi-ancestry and admixed cohorts to identify potential shared or unique multivariate gene-environmental interactions, as well as functional studies of gene-caffeine interactions will be useful., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

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.

Background: Genetic association studies have not produced consistent results in restless legs syndrome (RLS)., Objectives: To conduct a systematic review on genetic association studies in RLS to highlight the common gene variants and ethnic differences., Methodology: We conducted Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane search using terms "Genetic association studies" and "restless legs syndrome" for candidate gene-based studies. Out of the initial 43 studies, 18 case control studies (from 2012 to 2022) were included. Thirteen studies including 10794 Caucasian subjects (4984 RLS cases and 5810 controls) and five studies involving 2009 Asian subjects (796 RLS cases and 1213 controls) were tabulated and analyzed. In addition, three Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Asians and Europeans/Caucasians were included for comparisons., Results: In the Asian population, gene variants in BST1, SNCA Rep1, IL1B, BTBD9, and MAP2K5/SKOR1 increased the risk of RLS (odds ratio range 1.2-2.8). In Caucasian populations, examples of variants that were associated with an increased risk of RLS (odds ratio range 1.1-1.9) include those in GABRR3 TOX3, ADH1B, HMOX1, GLO1, DCDC2C, BTBD9, SKOR1, and SETBP1. Based on the meta-analysis of GWAS studies, the rs9390170 variant in UTRN gene was identified to be a novel genetic marker for RLS in Asian cohorts, whereas rs113851554 in MEIS1 gene was a strong genetic factor among the >20 identified gene variants for RLS in Caucasian populations., Conclusion: Our systemic review demonstrates that multiple genetic variants modulate risk of RLS in Caucasians (such as MEIS1 BTBD9, MAP2K5) and in Asians (such as BTBD9, MAP2K5, and UTRN).

While much evidence suggests that type 2 diabetes mellitus increases the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), the relationship between type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and PD is unclear. To study their association, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) using the following statistical methods: inverse variance weighting (IVW), MR-Egger, weight median, and weighted mode. Independent datasets with no sample overlap were retrieved from the IEU GWAS platform. All the MR methods found a lower risk of PD in T1DM (IVW-OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.91-0.96, p = 3.12 × 10 -5 ; MR-Egger-OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.98, p = 1.45 × 10 -2 ; weighted median-OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.98, p = 2.76 × 10 -3 ; and weighted mode-OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.9-0.98, p = 1.58 × 10 -2 ). The findings were then replicated with another independent GWAS dataset on T1DM (IVW-OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95-0.99, p = 3.10 × 10 -3 ; MR-Egger-OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.99, p = 1.08 × 10 -2 ; weighted median-OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, p = 1.88 × 10 -2 ; weighted mode-OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, p = 1.43 × 10 -2 ). Thus, our study provides evidence that T1DM may have a protective effect on PD risk, though further studies are needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms.

Background: Glioma is a prevalent and lethal brain malignancy; despite current treatment options, the prognosis remains poor. Therefore, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. However, research trends and hotspots in glioma immunotherapy have not been systematically analyzed. This study aimed to elucidate global research trends and knowledge structures regarding immunotherapy for glioma using bibliometric analysis., Methods: Publications related to immunotherapy for glioma from 2000-2023 were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection database (WoSCC). We conducted quantitative analysis and visualization of research trends using various tools, including VOSviewer (1.6.18), CiteSpace (5.7 R3), Microsoft Charticulator, and the Bibliometrix package in R., Results: A total of 4910 publications were included. The number of annual publications exhibited an obvious upward trend since 2019. The USA was the dominant country in terms of publication output and centrality. Frontiers in Immunology published the most articles. Harvard Medical School ranked first in productivity among institutions. Sampson, John H. Ph.D. is the most prolific author in the field with 88 articles and a total of 7055 citations. Clinical Cancer Research has the largest total number and impact factor. Analysis of keywords showed immunotherapy, glioblastoma, immunotherapy, and clinical trials as hot topics. The tumor microenvironment, cell death pathways, chimeric antigen receptor engineering, tumor-associated macrophages, and nivolumab treatment represent indicating shifts in the direction of future glioma immunotherapy development., Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis systematically delineated global landscapes and emerging trends in glioma immunotherapy research. This study highlighted the prominence of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T), Programmed Death-1 (PD-1), and nivolumab in current glioma immunotherapy research. The growing emphasis on specific neoantigens and prognostic tumor markers suggests potential avenues for future exploration. Furthermore, the data underscores the importance of strengthened international collaboration in advancing the field., 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 © 2023 Zhang, Yu, Zhao, Jiang, Gao and Wei.)

Background: Parathyroid adenoma (PA) sometimes recurs after surgery, how to improve the surgical success rate of PA is the key to the treatment of this disease., Aim: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of patients with PA., Methods: Patients who were pathologically confirmed with PA and had undergone surgery for the first time between January 2010 and December 2017 at the Beijing Shijitan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University were included in the study. The clinical features, localization diagnosis, and surgical treatment of these patients were analyzed., Results: Of the 140 patients, 32 were male and 108 were female; 132 cases had one adenoma, and 8 had two adenomas. In addition, 114 cases had clinical symptoms, among which 51, 28, 23, 8, and 4 had urinary system, skeletal system, digestive system, neuromuscular system, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, respectively, while 26 cases had no obvious symptoms. The median level of preoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) was 201.0 pg/mL. The positive detection rate of technetium-99m sestamibi (Tc-99m MIBI) single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT), ultrasound examination, and the combined use of Tc-99m MIBI SPECT/CT and ultrasound examination was 92.9%, 85.5%, and 96.4%, respectively. Open surgery was performed in all patients, and PTH was monitored during surgery. The success rate of surgery was 98.6%. After surgery, 21 cases developed hypocalcemia, 1 case developed temporary hoarseness, and 19 cases had transient hypoparathyroidism but there was no permanent hypoparathyroidism, postoperative hemorrhage, or hematoma in the surgical area., Conclusion: For patients with clinically unexplained skeletal system, urinary system, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, the possibility of PA should be considered. Imaging examinations such as ultrasound and Tc-99m MIBI SPECT/CT could be integrated before surgery to obtain accurate localization diagnosis. Precise preoperative localization, intraoperative PTH monitoring, and delicate surgery to protect the integrity of the PA capsule ensure a minimally invasive and successful surgery., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report., (©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The clinical, neuropsychological, and socioeconomic factors affecting Parkinson's disease (PD) during COVID-19 pandemic across different populations have not been systematically studied. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis of factors that impact the well-being of PD patients during the pandemic., Methods: Medline and Embase were searched for articles published between 2020 and 2022. We conducted random-effects pooling of estimates and meta-regression., Results: Twenty-seven studies involving 13,878 patients from America, Europe, Asia, and Africa were included. There is a high prevalence of decreased physical activity and exercise, and worsening motor and neuropsychiatric symptoms (17-56%). Patients in lower-income countries more frequently reported worsening anxiety (adjusted OR [aOR] 8.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.62-49.28, p = 0.012), sleep (aOR 5.16, 95% CI 1.15-23.17, p = 0.032), and PD symptoms (aOR 3.57, 95% CI 0.96-13.34, p = 0.058). Lockdown was associated with decreased exercise levels (aOR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.78, p = 0.025) and worsening mood (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24-0.95, p = 0.035). Younger age correlated with decreased physical activity (β -0.30, 95% CI -0.53 to -0.07, p = 0.012), exercise (β -0.11, 95% CI -0.15 to -0.07, p &lt; 0.001), worsening PD symptoms (β -0.08, 95% CI -0.15 to -0.01, p = 0.018), and sleep (β -0.14, 95% CI -0.27 to 0, p = 0.044). Female PD patients reported a greater decrease in physical activity (β 11.94, 95% CI 2.17-21.71, p = 0.017) and worse sleep (β 10.76, 95% CI 2.81-18.70, p = 0.008)., Conclusion: This large meta-analysis of PD patients in diverse populations identified a high prevalence of physical and mental worsening during the COVID-19 pandemic, with patients in lower-income countries being exceptionally vulnerable., (© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association.)

Objective: To investigate the clinical diagnostic value of multi-target stool fecal immunochemical test-DNA (FIT-DNA) test in colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenoma (AA). Methods: A total of 235 patients who were undergoing colonoscopy or colorectal cancer surgery in the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from April 2021 to January 2022 were prospectively enrolled. There were 141 males and 94 females, with an average age of (55±13) years (22-86). The patients were divided into two groups, including 215 patients who were first diagnosed but not treated (86 cases of CRC, 12 cases of AA, 25 cases of non-advanced adenoma, 8 cases of hyperplastic or other polyps and 84 apparently healthy cases) and 20 patients in the intervention group (2 cases with a history of CRC surgery, 6 cases with a history of endoscopic surgery, 4 non-CRC patients with special diseases and 8 cases with a history of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy). Fresh stool samples were collected before intestinal preparation or surgery for FIT-DNA test using the matching kit for sample processing and nucleic acid purification. KRAS mutation and methylation of BMP3 and NDRG4 genes were detected by fluorescence probe method, and FIT method was employed to detect fecal occult blood. Colonoscopy or pathological biopsy results were used as the gold standard. And the screening and diagnostic efficacy of FIT-DNA test for colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma were evaluated by receiver operating curve (ROC). Results: The sensitivity of FIT-DNA test for early colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma was 7/7 and 8/12, respectively. And the negative predictive value was 98.1% (104/106) and 93.7% (104/111), respectively. The overall screening sensitivity for both early colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma was 15/19, and the negative predictive value was 96.3% (104/108). Besides, the area under the curves (AUCs) were 0.982 (95% CI : 0.960-1.000, P <0.05), 0.758 (95% CI : 0.592-0.924, P <0.05) and 0.841 (95% CI : 0.724-0.957, P <0.05), respectively. Moreover, the diagnostic sensitivity of FIT-DNA test was 98.8% (85/86) for colorectal cancer, 8/12 for advanced adenoma, and 94.9% (93/98) for both colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma, with a specificity of 88.9% (104/117). The AUCs were 0.968 (95% CI : 0.937-0.997, P <0.05), 0.758 (95% CI : 0.592-0.924, P <0.05) and 0.942 (95% CI : 0.905-0.979, P <0.05), respectively. After the inclusion of intervention group, the overall diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of FIT-DNA test was 91.6% (98/107) and 89.1% (114/128), respectively. Conclusion: FIT-DNA test has a high early screening and diagnostic efficacy for colorectal cancer.

The rebound behaviors of multiple droplets simultaneously impacting a superhydrophobic surface were investigated via lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations. Three rebound regions were identified, i.e., an edge-dominating region, a center-dominating region, and an independent rebound region. The occurrence of the rebound regions strongly depends on the droplet spacing and the associated Weber and Reynolds numbers. Three new rebound morphologies, i.e., a pin-shaped morphology, a downward comb-shaped morphology, and an upward comb-shaped morphology, were presented. Intriguingly, in the edge-dominating region, the central droplets experience a secondary wetting process to significantly prolong the contact time. However, in the center-dominating region, the contact time is dramatically shortened because of the strong interactions generated by the central droplets and the central ridges. These findings provide useful information for practical applications such as self-cleaning, anticorrosion, anti-icing, and so forth.

Cytotoxic T cell antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is reportedly involved in the development of bladder cancer (BC). This research was designed to address the potential link between the +49A/G polymorphism in CTLA-4 gene and BC susceptibility. In total, 355 BC cases and 435 match controls from Chinese Han individuals were included eventually. The PCR-RFLR method was utilized to screen for this polymorphism. The +49A/G polymorphism was shown to increase the risk of BC. Subgroup analyses showed that this polymorphism was linked to an increased susceptibility to BC among individuals aged < 60 years, smokers and drinkers. Additionally, this polymorphism significantly correlated with tumor node metastasis and tumor size (≥3 cm). To sum up, this study reveals that the CTLA-4 +49A/G polymorphism could increase the risk of BC in Chinese Han people. Further large cohort studies with enough sample sizes are urgently warranted to verify the findings of this present study., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Fei Mao et al.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to eluc\idate the preventive and therapeutic effects and the underlying mechanisms of Huoxue Huatan Decoction (HXHT) on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in hyperlipidemic rats., Methods: An I/R model was established in hyperlipidemic Wistar rats. After 4-8 weeks of HXHT treatment, the physical signs of rats were observed. Lipid metabolism, myocardial enzyme spectrum, cardiac function, myocardial histomorphology, and mitochondrial biosynthesis were investigated by a biochemical method, ultrasonography, electron microscopy, pathological examination, real-time PCR, and Western blot., Results: HXHT can affect lipid metabolism at different time points and significantly reduce the levels of cholesterol (CHO), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipid-cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipid-cholesterol (LDL-C) in hyperlipidemic rats ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); it can significantly reduce the levels of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), reduce the myocardial infarct size and myocardial ischemic area, and improve cardiac function. The results of myocardial histomorphology showed that HXHT could protect myocardial cells, relieve swelling, reduce the number of cardiac lipid droplets, and improve myocardial mitochondrial function. HXHT could significantly increase the levels of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), increase CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD) and glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels, and decrease the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) ( P < 0.05); it could increase the mRNA and protein expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and increase the synthesis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) ( P < 0.01)., Conclusion: HXHT can reduce myocardial I/R injury in hyperlipidemic rats. The protective mechanisms may involve a reduction in blood lipids, enhancement of PGC-1α-PPARα pathway activity, and, subsequently, an increase in fatty acid β-oxidation, which may provide the required input for mitochondrial energy metabolism. HXHT can additionally enhance PGC-1α-NRF1-mtTFA pathway activity and, subsequently, increase the antioxidant capacity, promote mtDNA synthesis, and reduce mitochondrial damage. The two pathways use PGC-1α as the intersection point to protect mitochondrial structure and function, reduce I/R-induced injury, and improve cardiac function., (Copyright © 2020 Lin, Tan, He, Guo, Wei, Li, Chen, Chen and Wang.)

Firmiana danxiaensis is an endemic species of Danxia landform in China. Identifying the main driving factors of its distribution can provide scientific basis for the conservation of F. danxiaensis and related habitats. With GeoDetector, we analyzed the correlation (measured by q value) between the spatial distribution of F. danxiaens and its habitat factors in F. danxiaens Nature Reserve in Nanxiong City and the Guangdong Danxia Mountain Tourism Scenic Area (core scenic area). Factors measured in this study included geographical elements (geomorphological type, soil subtype, elevation, slope, aspect) and climatic elements (annual precipitation and annual sunshine hours, mean annual relative humidity and mean annual wind speed). Our results showed that the main habitat factors affecting the spatial distribution of F. danxiaensis were soil subtype, annual sunshine hours, and geomorphologic genesis type. The q values of those three factors were higher than the mean values of all factors. In the pairwise combination of habitat factors, the interaction between geomorphologic genesis types ∩ annual sunshine hours and soil subtypes ∩ annual sunshine hours was enhanced by two factors and the q value was greater than the mean value of all combinations, with a strong correlation. Compared with other factors, the q value of soil subtypes, annual sunshine hours and geomorphologic genesis types were significantly different in the ecological detection of spatial distribution correlation of F. danxiaensis . The spatial distribution of F. danxiaensis was significantly correlated with soil subtypes, geomorphologic genesis types and annual sunshine hours, indicating that the GeoDetector is a useful method for vegetation habitat factor analysis and species distribution prediction.

Background: A host of studies show Leptin (LEP) G19A polymorphism is correlated with the risk of various cancers, but the connection of this polymorphism with bladder cancer (BC) risk has not been reported., Materials and Methods: This association was in explored in a case-control study involving 355 BC cases and 435 controls (all Chinese Han). Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was conducted to genotype LEP G19A polymorphism. Analyses of allele and genotype distribution were evaluated using chi-square test. Continuous data were assessed by an independent samples t test or one-way ANOVA test. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were determined by logistic regression., Results: LEP G19A polymorphism was significantly associated with a lower risk of BC (AA vs GG: adjusted OR, 0.40, 95% CI, 0.20-0.83, P = .013; AA + GA vs GG: adjusted OR, 0.70, 95% CI, 0.52-0.93, P = .015; AA vs GA + GG: adjusted OR, 0.45, 95% CI, 0.22-0.91, P = .026). In addition, A allele was associated with decreased risk for BC (A vs G: OR, 0.70, 95% CI, 0.55-0.89, P = .003). Stratified analyses by females, non-drinkers, and non-smokers all returned considerable relations. Furthermore, LEP G19A polymorphism was correlated with tumor size, tumor node metastasis, and distant metastasis in BC patients., Conclusions: LEP G19A polymorphism is associated with a less risk of BC., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

To investigate the variations and sources of n -alkanes and sugars in Taian City during summer, PM 2.5 samples were collected from July 22 to August 19, 2016. The identified n -alkane and sugar sources were investigated using a principal component analysis (PCA) multiple linear regression (MLR) model and a backward trajectory model. The results showed that the mass concentrations of PM 2.5 during summer were (37.2±11.5) μg·m -3 . The mass concentrations of n -alkanes were (83.3±34.7) ng·m -3 , the carbon preference index (CPI) was 1.83, and the relative contribution of wax n -alkanes was 34.7%-69.4%, suggesting that contributions from terrestrial plants were more significant in Taian City. The results showed that the mass concentrations of sugars in Taian City during summer were (73.4±46.6) ng·m -3 . Levoglucan, galactosan, and mannosan were the main saccharides, accounting for 64.0%, 7.1%, and 6.3% of the total concentrations of sugars, respectively, indicating that biomass burning is much more significant in Taian City. The results of the PCA-MLR model suggested that n -alkanes and sugars in Taian City during summer were mostly from terrestrial plants, coal burning and biomass burning. The backward trajectory model showed that the pollution mostly came from the native sources of Shandong province and the inland cities in the south.

The circulating matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) levels are associated with the risk of bladder cancer (BC). MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism may influence the expression of MMP-7 by affecting the transcriptional activity. A case-control study comprising 355 BC patients and 435 age- and gender-matched healthy controls was conducted in a Chinese Han population. The genotype of MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism was determined by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Data revealed that MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism increased the risk of BC under the homozygous and allelic models. However, no association between MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism and BC risk was obtained after adjusting for age, gender, smoking habits and drinking habits. Subgroup analyses showed MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism was associated with increased risk for BC among the smokers and drinkers. Furthermore, AG or GG genotype of -181A/G polymorphism was associated with larger tumor size and lymphatic metastasis in BC patients. To sum up, MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism is not associated with the susceptibility to BC. However, subgroup analyses obtain significant association among the groups of smokers and drinkers. Larger studies in other ethnic groups are needed to ascertain the contribution of MMP-7 gene -181A/G polymorphism to BC risk.

To investigate the diurnal variations and sources of water-soluble compounds in Liaocheng City, PM 2.5 samples were collected between January and February 2017. The PM 2.5 samples were analyzed for the compositions, concentrations, and sources of water-soluble inorganic ions, oxalic acid, and levoglucosan. The sources of these chemical compound were investigated using principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling. The results showed that the mass concentrations of PM 2.5 during the nighttime were higher than those during the daytime, and the average concentrations exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (GB 3095-2012) by more than 1.8 times. Moreover, atmospheric pollution was worse during the day than during the night. SNA (SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , and NH 4 + ) were the dominant species among the inorganic ions, the relative abundance of which with respect to the total concentrations of inorganic ions was 73.4% and 77.1% during the daytime and nighttime, respectively. The ratios of anion to cation equivalents (AE/CE) were less than one, suggesting that the PM 2.5 was slightly alkaline, and the degree of acidity at night was stronger than during the day. The results of the correlation analyses suggested that aqueous-phase oxidation was the major formation pathway of oxalic acid, which is driven by acid-catalyzed oxidation. The oxalic acid was mainly influenced by biomass burning during the winter in Liaocheng City. The results of the PCA-MLR model suggested that water-soluble compounds in Liaocheng City were mostly from vehicular emissions and secondary oxidation, biomass burning, while the impacts of mineral dust and coal burning were relatively minor.

Many clinical studies on Cheezheng Xiaotong Tiegao have been accumulated since it was launched in 1993,but they have not been comprehensively analyzed and evaluated. This study systematically retrieved relevant studies in six databases at home and abroad as of December 2017. This study analyzed the statistics of the included studies in several aspects,including publication time,region,fund,disease category and type of study. In this study,various tools were used to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies,such as the Cochrane collaboration's tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trials,MINORS,IHE,AMSTAR2.The results showed that the literatures were mainly published from 2010 to 2011,and a total of 28 projects were financially supported.The most involved disease was arthropathy. The randomized controlled trials were the majority in the included studies,but the quality was low,and most of the literatures didn't report the allocation concealment and blinding. This study comprehensively reflected the current situations and shortcomings of the clinical studies of Cheezheng Xiaotong Tiegao,and put forward several suggestions,in the expectation of providing a reference for the future clinical research direction of Cheezheng Xiaotong Tiegao.

To investigate the mass concentrations, sources, and health effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient particulate matter (PM) in Liaocheng City during winter, 14 types of PAHs in PM 2.5 were determined from January to February of 2017. The sources of the PAHs were analyzed by using diagnostics ratios and the principal component analysis (PCA)-multiple linear regression (MLR) model,and the health risk of PAHs was assessed by BaP equivalent concentrations (BaP eq ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR). The results showed that the mass concentrations of PAHs in PM 2.5 during winter were (64.89±48.23) ng·m -3 , Fla, Pyr, and Chry were predominant species, accounting for 15.5%, 12.8%, and 12.7% of the total concentrations of PAHs, respectively. Moreover, the ring distribution of the PAHs was dominated by four-ring PAHs. The pollution during the pre-Spring Festival and firework Ⅱwere the most severe during the sampling period. The results of the PCA-MLR model suggested that PAHs originated mostly from coal burning, biomass burning, and vehicle emissions. The toxicity exposure index (TEQ) in Liaocheng City during winter was (6.37±4.92) ng·m -3 . The results of the risk model revealed that the ILCR of adults was higher than that of children, and both groups of ILCR for winter were in the range of the risk threshold. This suggests that a potential risk in terms of inhalation PAH exposure for residents in Liaocheng City.

Diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma on histological examination is challenging. Thousands of differentially expressed lncRNAs were identified on the microarray data between parathyroid cancer and adenoma samples. Four lncRNAs were significantly dysregulated in further validation. The "lncRNA score" calculated from these lncRNAs differentiated parathyroid carcinomas from adenomas. LncRNAs serve as biomarkers for parathyroid cancer diagnosis., Introduction: Diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma (PC) on histological examination is challenging. LncRNA profile study was conducted to find diagnostic biomarkers for PC., Methods: LncRNA arrays containing 91,007 lncRNAs as well as 29,857 mRNAs were used to assess parathyroid specimen (5 carcinomas and 6 adenomas). Bioinformatics analyses were also conducted to compare the microarray results between parathyroid carcinomas and adenomas (PAs). Differentially expressed lncRNAs of 11 PCs and 31 PAs were validated by real-time quantitative PCR., Results: On the microarray data between PC and PA samples (fold change ≥ 2, P < 0.05), 1809 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 1349 mRNAs also were identified. All carcinomas were clustered in the same group by clustering analysis using dysregulated lncRNAs or mRNAs. Four lncRNAs (LINC00959, lnc-FLT3-2:2, lnc-FEZF2-9:2, and lnc-RP11-1035H13.3.1-2:1) identified were significantly dysregulated in further RT-PCR validation. The global "lncRNA score" calculated from the lncRNAs above also differentiated parathyroid carcinomas from adenomas., Conclusions: LncRNA profiling shows distinct differentially expressed lncRNAs in parathyroid neoplasm. They may play a key role in parathyroid cancer and serve as potential biomarkers to distinguish parathyroid cancers from parathyroid adenomas.

In Western countries, the presentation of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) changed from a symptomatic to an asymptomatic disease after the 1970s, whereas in China, only one study has evaluated the changing clinical characteristics and biochemical profiles of PHPT patients. The aim of this study was to explore changes in the clinical characteristics of PHPT in Chinese patients. Overall, 140 consecutive patients with PHPT were studied between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2016. The patients were divided into two groups: 32 consecutive patients from January 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013 were included in group 1, and 108 consecutive patients from April 1, 2013 to June 30, 2016 were included in group 2. The most frequent complaints were ostealgia (46.02%), urolithiasis (41.59%), constipation (25.66%), fatigue (18.58%), polydipsia and polyuria (15.93%) and fracture history (15.04%). The number of cases in group 2 was 3.38-fold greater than that of group 1. The parathyroid hormone (PTH) and fasting blood glucose (FPG) levels were higher in group 1 than those in group 2 (p = 0.039, p < 0.001). In 62.14% of patients with PHPT, the proportion of the first diagnosis due to hypercalcemia found using a multichannel autoanalyzer in group 1 was lower than that found in group 2 (p = 0.039), and the proportion of the first diagnosis due to parathyroid lesions captured using routine neck ultrasonography in group 1 was higher than in group 2 (p = 0.003). The proportion of parathyroid carcinoma cases was higher in group 1 than group 2 (p = 0.036). Cases of PHPT increased with time, but the proportion of parathyroid carcinoma cases was lower in group 1 than that in group 2. Over time, the first diagnosis switched from parathyroid lesions captured by routine neck ultrasound to hypercalcemia found by a multichannel autoanalyser. At our centre, PHPT in Chinese patients still demonstrates classic characteristics.

To investigate molecular composition, mass concentrations, and sources of n -alkanes and sugars which are adsorbed in ambient particulate matters in Liaocheng City during winter, PM 2.5 samples were collected from January 17 to February 15, 2017 at Liaocheng University. 19 kinds (C 18 -C 36 ) of n -alkanes and 10 kinds of sugars were determined using GC-MS. The identification of n -alkane and sugar sources were investigated using principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that the mass concentrations of total n -alkanes in PM 2.5 during the winter were (456.9±252.5) ng·m -3 . During the haze period, the concentrations of n -alkanes were two times higher than those on clear days. Additionally, the concentrations of n -alkanes during fireworks event I and fireworks event Ⅱ were 0.9 times and 1.2 times higher than those on clear days. During the sampling period, the Carbon preference index (CPI) was 1.2±0.1, and the contribution from plant wax concentrations for n -alkanes (% Wax C n ) was between 3.1%~36.0%, indicating that fossil fuels were the major source of n -alkanes in Liaocheng City during the winter. The mass concentrations of saccharides in PM 2.5 during the winter were (415.5±213.8) ng·m -3 . Levoglucosan was the most abundant species, followed by galactosan and mannosan, which accounted for more than 91.6% of total saccharides, indicating that biomass burning was much more significant in Liaocheng City. PCA further suggested that n -alkane and saccharide compounds in atmospheric aerosol during the winter in Liaocheng City were primarily derived from fossil fuel and biomass burning.

To identify the diurnal variation and formation mechanism of dicarboxylic acids and related compounds in PM 2.5 from Heze City, PM 2.5 samples were collected in the winter (December) of 2017, which were subsequently analyzed for dicarboxylic acids, ketocarboxylic acids, α -dicarbonyls, and levoglucosan (Levo). The results showed that the total concentrations of dicarboxylic and ketocarboxylic acids were higher during daytime than those during nighttime. In contrast to the diurnal variation of dicarboxylic and ketocarboxylic acids, the total concentrations of α-dicarbonyls exhibited higher concentrations in nighttime than in daytime. Because α-dicarbonyls are the major precursors of dicarboxylic acids, the opposing patterns suggest that the photochemical oxidation in daytime is stronger than that in nighttime. Oxalic acid (C 2 ) is the dominant species during both day-and nighttime, followed by phahalic acid (Ph), succinic acid (C 4 ), and malonic acid (C 3 ), which is consistent with that in other urban regions. The mass ratios of C 3 /C 4 ( R 2 >0.7) correlated strongly with temperature, indicating that organic compounds in the atmosphere of Heze City are mainly derived from the photochemical oxidation of local emissions rather than long-range transport in winter. C 2 correlated with in-situ pH and SO 4 2- , suggesting that aqueous-phase oxidation was the major formation pathway of C 2 , which is driven by acid-catalyzed oxidation. Since the major SOA (C 2 , glyoxal, and methyglyoxal, secondary organic aerosol) correlated with Levo and the average mass rations of K + /organic carbon was 0.06 (ranging from 0.03 to 0.13), it can be concluded that the dicarboxylic acids and related SOA and K + in Heze City were significantly influenced by biomass burning in winter.

To investigate seasonal variations in the chemical compositions of aerosols in Ji'nan City, PM 2.5 samples were collected during summer and winter in 2015. The sampling period lasted one month during each season. PM 2.5 samples were analyzed for the composition, concentration, and sources of water-soluble inorganic ions, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC). Results showed that mass concentrations of PM 2.5 in winter were about twice those in summer, and concentration levels varied between fine and excellent. The concentrations of total water-soluble inorganic ions were also higher in winter than in summer, with SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , and NH 4 + being the dominant species and well correlated with each other. NH 4 + in PM 2.5 mostly existed in the form of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and NH 4 NO 3 in both summer and winter. There was strong secondary oxidation of SO 2 and NO 2 . The sulfate oxidizing rate (SOR) was higher in summer than in winter, while the nitrate oxidizing rate (NOR) showed the opposite trend. The ratio of anions to cations in both summer and winter were less than one, suggesting that PM 2.5 were slightly alkaline. The ISORROPIA-Ⅱ mode showed that acidity in winter was stronger than in summer. Concentations of OC and EC were both higher in winter than in summer. The ratios of OC to EC and WSOC to OC and estimated concentrations of secondary organic carbon (SOC) showed that secondary pollution was more serious in winter than in summer. Principal component analysis(PCA)indicated that the major sources contributing to inorganic ions were secondary oxidation and biomass burning in summer, and coal combustion and secondary pollutants formed by chemical oxidation of precursors emitted from coal combustion in winter.

Objective: To explore the value characteristics of preoperative and intra-operative ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid adenoma,and to further clarify the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid adenoma. Method: A total of 62 cases of parathyroid adenoma confirmed by postoperative pathology from March 2016 to November 2017 were collected, and the pre-operative ultrasound parameters were analyzed;and 26 cases were detected by intra-operative ultrasound. Result: In 62 cases of parathyroid adenoma, 58 cases of parathyroid adenoma were diagnosed by ultrasound before operation,and the sensitivity was 93.54%. Among the 26 cases,the lesions of 24 cases were detected by intra-operative ultrasound,and the sensitivity was 92.31%. Conclusion: Preoperative ultrasonography has a high diagnostic value for the qualitative diagnosis and location diagnosis of parathyroid adenoma, and intra-operative ultrasound can help to detect lesions quickly and safely, which is of great significance to shorten the operation time and improve the safety of operation. It is an important development space of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid glands., 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 Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objective: To determine critical reference value (cut-off value) of serum pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) and neuron specific enolase(NSE) in the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer(SCLC). To evaluate the clinical significance of serum levels of ProGRP and NSE in diagnosis and differential diagnosis in SCLC. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-two SCLC patients, 163 non small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients , 193 benign pulmonary disease patients and 140 healthy people visiting in National Cancer Hospital were analyzed retrospectively from January 2014 to July 2017.The levels of serum ProGRP and NSE of people were determined using electrochemiluminescent immunoassay respectively . Reference value ranges of the makers were determined by using the method of ROC curves. Results: In NSCLC group, benign lung disease group, healthy control group and mixed group (NSCLC+ lung benign diseases+ healthy control group) as a reference, the cut-off values were 58.3, 62.3, 57.8, 61.3 ng/L. In the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of SCLC and NSCLC, benign lung diseases, healthy controls and mixed group, AUC of ProGRP was 0.940 (0.919-0.961), 0.941 (0.921-0.960), 0.959 (0.944-0.975), 0.946 (0.928-0.963) respectively. The sensitivities of ProGRP were 86.4%, 84.9%, 86.4% and 84.7% respectively. The specificities of ProGRP were 95.7%, 96.9%, 99.3%, 98% respectively. In all groups the Youden's index of ProGRP and NSE were 0.821 vs 0.612, 0.818 vs 0.674, 0.857 vs 0.810, 0.827 vs 0.674. In healthy controls, no statistically significant difference was found between ProGRP and NSE ( P >0.05) in the diagnosis of AUC. However, in the remaining 3 groups, the ProGRP diagnosis of AUC was significantly greater than that of NSE ( P <0.01). Compared with single marker detection, the sensitivity of combined detection of ProGRP and NSE in diagnosis of SCLC increased to 95.5%, 94%, 96.6% and 94% in each group. There was no significant difference between ProGRP and ProGRP+ NSE in the diagnosis of AUC when compared with the NSCLC group and the mixed group ( P >0.05). However, when combined with a healthy control group and a benign lung disease group, the ProGRP+ NSE combination was the highest for AUC diagnosis, compared with ProGRP and NSE ( P <0.01). In the SCLC ED group serum ProGRP and NSE levels[776.33(3 103.4)ng/L, 52.14(60.59)μg/L]were higher than those in the SCLC LD group[295.59(799.65)ng/L, 23.36(22.97)μg/L], respectively (all P <0.001). The serum ProGRP levels of N0, N1, N2 and N3 in TNM staging were 113.0(343.65), 167.04(724.56), 427.42(1 388.62), 735.99(1 709.95)ng/L respectively (all P <0.001). Serum ProGRP and NSE levels were not statistically different between the sex groups and the age groups (all P >0.05). Conclusion: To establish the cut-off value of serum ProGRP is helpful for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of SCLC.

Background . Traditional Chinese Medicine is extensively used in China and HuoxueAnshen Recipe (HAR) was formulated according to its method in treating CHD accompanied with insomnia in clinic. However, there are few studies related to the effect of HAR on myocardial injury and sleep disorders. Purpose . To investigate the effects of HAR on sleep deprivation- (SD-) induced myocardial I/R injury. Methods . Male Wistar rats receiving a daily gavage of HAR or vehicle were exposed to SD intervention while control rats had normal sleep. Then all rats were exposed to myocardial I/R. Hormone, vascular endothelial, and inflammatory related factors were detected before and after I/R, while cardiac injury, cardiac function, myocardial infarct size, and apoptosis were detected after I/R. Results . Levels of neuropeptide Y, vascular endothelial and inflammatory related factors were significantly increased while melatonin was decreased in vehicle-treated SD rats but not in HAR-treated SD rats after SD. In addition, cardiac injury, cardiac dysfunction, myocardial infarct size, and myocardial apoptosis were deteriorated in vehicle-treated SD rats but were ameliorated in HAR-treated SD rats after I/R. Conclusion . HAR not only improved SD-induced hormone disorders, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction, but also alleviated I/R injury, which supports protective usage in CHD and psychocardiology.

Resin transfer molding (RTM) is a popular manufacturing technique that produces fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. In this paper, a model-assisted flow front control system is developed based on real-time estimation of permeability/porosity ratio using the information acquired by a visualization system. In the proposed control system, a radial basis function (RBF) network meta-model is utilized to predict the position of the future flow front by inputting the injection pressure, the current position of flow front, and the estimated ratio. By conducting optimization based on the meta-model, the value of injection pressure to be implemented at each step is obtained. Moreover, a cascade control structure is established to further improve the control performance. Experiments show that the developed system successfully enhances the performance of flow front control in RTM. Especially, the cascade structure makes the control system robust to model mismatch.

The tumour-initiating cell (TIC) model accounts for phenotypic and functional heterogeneity among tumour cells. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory molecules frequently aberrantly expressed in cancers, and may contribute towards tumour heterogeneity and TIC behaviour. More recent efforts have focused on miRNAs as diagnostic or therapeutic targets. Here, we identified the TIC-specific miRNAs, miR-1246 and miR-1290, as crucial drivers for tumour initiation and cancer progression in human non-small cell lung cancer. The loss of either miRNA impacted the tumour-initiating potential of TICs and their ability to metastasize. Longitudinal analyses of serum miR-1246 and miR-1290 levels across time correlate their circulating levels to the clinical response of lung cancer patients who were receiving ongoing anti-neoplastic therapies. Functionally, direct inhibition of either miRNA with locked nucleic acid administered systemically, can arrest the growth of established patient-derived xenograft tumours, thus indicating that these miRNAs are clinically useful as biomarkers for tracking disease progression and as therapeutic targets.

Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor (AchEI) is the most extensive in all anti-dementia drugs. The extracts and isolated compounds from the Valeriana genus have shown anti-dementia bioactivity. Four new sesquiterpenoids (1-4) and a new monoterpenoid (5) were isolated from the root of Valeriana officinalis var. latiofolia. The acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitory activity of isolates was evaluated by modified Ellman method in vitro. Learning and memory ability of compound 4 on mice was evaluated by the Morris water maze. The contents of acetylcholine (Ach), acetylcholine transferase (ChAT) and AchE in mice brains were determined by colorimetry. The results showed IC50 of compound 4 was 0.161 μM in vitro. Compared with the normal group, the learning and memory ability of mice and the contents of Ach and ChAT decreased in model group mice (P<0.01), while the AchE increased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, Ach and ChAT in the positive control group, the high-dose group and the medium-dose group increased (P<0.01), while the AchE decreased (P<0.01). Compound 4 can improve the learning and memory abilities of APPswe/PSΔE9 double-transgenic mice, and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of the relative enzyme in the cholinergic system., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To determine the process parameters of optimal water-extraction and ethanol precipitation method for Xuanbi'antong (XBF) extract, which is a clinically experience formula for coronary disease. Orthogonal test L9(34) was conducted for the study of XBF water-extraction and ethanol precipitation process. Extractum, salvianolic acid B, rhizoma coptidis alkaloid, paeoniflorin, puerarin, ginsenoside Rb₁, ginsenosides and echinacoside were selected as marker components and multi-index comprehensive weighted score was used to select and verify optimal water-extraction and ethanol precipitation process. The optimal extraction process was as follows： XBF was added with 10 times distilled water, decocted for half an hour for 3 times. The best ethanol-precipitation process was established where the ethanol was added up to 70% and precipitated for 24 hours in 1.12 extract density (20 ℃). The optimized water-extraction and ethanol precipitation method is stable and reliable, and can provide reference for further development and utilization of the formula., 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.)

Splenic artery aneurysm, one of the most common visceral aneurysms, accounts for 60% of all visceral aneurysm cases. Open surgery is the traditional treatment for splenic artery aneurysm but has the disadvantages of serious surgical injuries, a high risk of complications, and a high mortality rate.We report a case who was presented with splenic artery aneurysm. A 54-year-old woman complained of upper left abdominal pain for 6 months. An enhanced computed tomography scan of the upper abdomen indicated the presence of splenic artery aneurysm. The splenic artery aneurysm was located under digital subtraction angiography and a 6/60 mm stent graft was delivered and released to cover the aneurysm. An enhanced computed tomography scan showed that the splenic artery aneurysm remained well separated, the stent graft shape was normal, and the blood flow was unobstructed after 1 year.This case indicates a satisfactory efficacy proving the minimal invasiveness of stent graft exclusion treatment for splenic artery aneurysm., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

Bile duct stones are a serious and the third most common complication of the biliary system that can occur following liver transplantation. The incidence rate of bile duct stones after liver transplantation is 1.8%-18%. The management of biliary stones is usually performed with endoscopic techniques; however, the technique may prove to be challenging in the treatment of the intrahepatic bile duct stones. We herein report a case of a 40-year-old man with rare, complex bile duct stones that were successfully eliminated with percutaneous interventional techniques. The complex bile duct stones were defined as a large number of bile stones filling the intra- and extrahepatic bile tracts, resulting in a cast formation within the biliary tree. Common complications such as hemobilia and acute pancreatitis were not present during the perioperative period. The follow-up period was 20 mo long. During the postoperative period, the patient maintained normal temperature, and normal total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels. The patient is now living a high quality life. This case report highlights the safety and efficacy of the percutaneous interventional approach in the removal of complex bile duct stones following liver transplantation.

Valeriana spp. is a flowering plant that is well known for its essential oils, iridoid compounds such as monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, amino acids, and lignanoids. Valeriana spp. exhibits a wide range of biological activities such as lowering blood pressure and heart rate, antimyocardial ischemia reperfusion injury, antiarrhythmia, and regulation of blood lipid levels. This review focuses on the chemical constituents and cardiovascular activities of Valeriana spp.