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Catalytic effects of alkali-earth metal oxides (MgO, CaO, SrO and BaO) on the growth of graphene-like carbon nanosheets via catalytic chemical vapor deposition of ethanol at 950 °C under atmospheric pressure were investigated. Both commercially available alkali-earth metal oxides as well as three synthetic MgO catalysts were used in this study. Chemical composition and physico-chemical properties, such as morphology, crystal surface geometry and porosity of catalysts were demonstrated to influence the yield and quality of graphene-like carbon nanosheets. Among investigated oxides, the MgO, CaO and SrO displayed different catalytic ability towards the growth of graphene-like carbon nanosheets determined by chemical compositions. The effect of physico-chemical properties was suggested by different properties of carbon products over synthetic MgO. MgO catalysts synthesized with ammonia produced the lowest defect level (ID/IG = 0.26) while MgO synthesized with urea and ethylene glycol produced the highest yield (12.1% per catalyst mass) of graphene-like carbon nanosheets compared to the other catalysts. The lower defect level and higher graphitization degree were attributed to well-defined morphology with uniform oxide crystal particle size and improvement of crystal orientation along (200) lattice plane in the catalyst. The higher yield was related to the higher porosity of catalysts.

Background: Angiogenesis is a crucial reason for the poor prognosis of corneal diseases. KV11, an undecanoic peptide from Kringle Ⅴ domain derived from apolipoprotein(a) is identified to inhibit angiogenesis significantly. Given the poor permeability and instability of small peptide, we aim to use exosome and its anchoring peptide CP05 to deliver KV11 to alkali-burn cornea tissue and inhibit corneal neovascularization.Methods: In vitro, we tested the effect of EXO-KV11 on inhibition of angiogenesis with the method of tube formation, transwell migration assay and CCK-8. In vivo, we used subconjunctival injection of EXO-KV11 to the alkali-burn cornea-induced corneal neovascularization rat model and fluorescent angiography to directly detect the impact on corneal neovascularization. We also revealed the underlying mechanism by western blot.Results: EXO-KV11 was verified to suppress endothelial cells tube formation, migration and proliferation in vitro by tube formation assay, transwell migration assay and CCK-8 assy. EXO-KV11 was more efficiently delivered to cornea tissue and suppressed more corneal neovascularization in alkali burn-induced corneal neovascularization model. Furthermore, VDAC1 might be potential receptor for KV11 and KV11 stimulated PERK and blocked up autography flux.Conclusions: We used exosomes to delivery KV11 into cells and cornea tissue. We reported that EXO-KV11 could inhibit angiogenesis more than KV11 both in vitro and in vivo. Thus exosome-CP05 drug delivery system has promising prospect in the future.

Fe

The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) root epidermis is a simple model for investigating cell fate specification and pattern formation. In addition to regulatory networks consisting of transcription factors, histone deacetylases are also involved in the formation of cellular patterns. Here, we report thatHistone Deacetylase19 (HDA19) affects the root epidermal cellular pattern through regulation of cortical cell fate by interacting with SCARECROW (SCR). HDA19 binds to the DNA sequence upstream of SCR, as well as to those of several of SCR’s target genes, and regulates their expression. Mutant lines of several SCR target genes show impaired patterns of epidermal differentiation and cortical cell division, similar to that of hda19. This work presents HDA19 and SCR as two further players in the regulation of cortical and epidermal cell specification and describes an additional function for SCR.

The application of graphene-like carbon nanosheets (GCN) for energy storage has attracted tremendous interest in industry. Thus, synthesis pathways producing GCN with high yield, good electrical conductivity and large accessible surface area are interesting option to obtain the desirable electrode materials. Here, a method to increase yield and functional properties of GCN is proposed using Fe-assisted catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) over SrO catalyst. In this process design, the ethanol vapor is passed through iron particle bed before reaching SrO catalyst for a CCVD synthesis at 950 °C. It is found that Fe modified conversion pathways of ethanol producing a material with 65% higher yield, better crystallinity and lower defect density compared to GCN synthesized over SrO only. Furthermore, the higher yield and low density of defects can also be retained in GCN after KOH activation (800 °C) resulting in a 3D hierarchically porous material with 34% higher specific capacitance, 12% higher capacitance retention and lower charge transfer resistance than materials obtained through a conventional CCVD process with SrO only. The obtained data suggest that the proposed Fe-assisted CCVD synthesis is a promising strategy towards the synthesis of advance functional materials, e.g. with applications in supercapacitors. Nanyang Technological University The authors would like to thank the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme (IGP) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for the PhD scholarship.

Size and magnetic separation of incineration bottom ash (IBA) are common for ferrous metals recovery, however, their influences on the mineral phase and the element redistribution, and subsequently the induced variation of metal leaching potential herein remain limited understanding. The lack of research in this field may misunderstand IBA performances, cause confused results for comparison among various studies, and potentially lead to biased conclusions. We herein quantitatively investigate the effects of size and magnetic separation on the IBA based on element distribution, leaching behavior, morphology, and mineralogy with statistical analysis. For preparation, sieving was performed with the original IBA (to obtain 7 size-fractions termed as OR1-7, respectively), followed by magnetic separation of each, to further yield magnetic fractions (MF1-7) to discriminate nonmagnetic fractions (NF1-7). In this study, we show that size and magnetic separation may pose significant yet different impacts on different fractions, which would affect their leaching potential concerning their respective downstream applications. The authors would thank for financial supports by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), Jiangsu Special Project for introducing Foreign Talents (BX2019015), and Key Achievement Cultivation Plan Project of Nanjing Forestry University.

The traditional Chinese medicine Shen-ling-bai-zhu-san (SLBZS) is described in “Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang.” SLBZS has been shown to be effective against many gastrointestinal diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of SLBZS on experimental colitis in mice and to define the potential mechanisms. Our data suggest that compared to the model group, SLBZS treatment increases mouse body weight and colon length, decreases the DAI score, and improves colonic injury. SLBZS reduces the production of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-18, and TNF-α) in colon tissue and mouse colonic mucosal epithelial (MCME) cells. Mechanistically, SLBZS inhibits inflammation by inhibiting the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Further mechanistic analyses showed that SLBZS attenuates the expression levels of pyroptosis-related genes, including NLRP3, ASC, and GSDMD-N in the colons of mice. In addition, SLBZS restores the levels of the colon tight junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin, suggesting that it protects colonic barrier integrity and ameliorates the progression of colitis. In this paper, we demonstrate that SLBZS attenuates DSS-induced ulcerative colitis injury in mice via the MAPK/NF-κB and pyroptosis signaling pathway. These results indicate that SLBZS is a potential drug for the treatment of UC.

Background: Probiotics have been associated with the treatment of depression and anxiety. However, the results reported in the literature have been inconsistent, and no meta-analysis specifically reported probiotics used on participants with varying levels of emotional state. Methods: This meta-analysis aimed to study the effectiveness of probiotics on anxious or depressive symptomatology for participants under stress conditions or with a depressive or anxiety disorder diagnosis. Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched through December 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The primary outcomes were depression and anxiety scores. Main inclusion criteria: RCTs of probiotics for participants with a mood or emotional disorder diagnosis or under stress situations; and all participants were adults (age ≥16 years); Assessed by the modified Jadad assessment scale found seven high-quality studies and three low-quality studies. Results: Ten clinical trials (n = 685 total participants) were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies were assessed as low or moderate risk of bias. The meta-analysis showed that probiotics could significantly reduce the depression scale for patients with anxiety and depression, and healthy participants under stress. However, there was no significant difference between the probiotics and placebo groups in the reduction of patient anxiety scores, even if they are depressive or anxious patients or healthy participants under stress. Subgroup analysis revealed that probiotics had significant effect on depressive symptoms just in patients with depression, and no significant change in anxiety in patients, and no improvement in participant performance under stress. Conclusions: Probiotics could alleviate depressive symptoms in patients with a depression diagnosis or depression scores also in anxiety disorder diagnosis, and suggesting that probiotics may be adjunct therapies for mood or emotional disorders. Therefore, it is essential that probiotics could be more involved in the treatment of patients with depression in the future. The evidence of probiotics successfully treating depression is still insufficient, and more high-quality studies on patients with depression are still needed.

Summary Plant organs can adopt a wide range of shapes, resulting from highly directional cell growth and divisions. We focus here on leaves and leaf-like organs in Arabidopsis and tomato, characterized by the formation of thin, flat laminae. Combining experimental approaches with 3D mechanical modeling, we provide evidence that leaf shape depends on cortical microtubule mediated cellulose deposition along the main predicted stress orientations, in particular, along the adaxial-abaxial axis in internal cell walls. This behavior can be explained by a mechanical feedback and has the potential to sustain and even amplify a preexisting degree of flatness, which in turn depends on genes involved in the control of organ polarity and leaf margin formation., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Microtubules and cellulose microfibrils align along the ad-abaxial direction • Microtubule-mediated cell growth anisotropy contributes to leaf flattening • Mechanical feedback accounts for microtubule alignments in the ad-abaxial direction • Final organ shape depends on the degree of initial asymmetry of primordia, How do leaves maintain highly directional cell growth and divisions to form thin, flat laminae? Zhao et al. show that microtubules and cellulose microfibrils align along the main stress direction of internal walls to mediate anisotropic growth. Microtubule-mediated mechanical feedback amplifies an initial asymmetry and maintains directional growth.

Many plant species have thin leaf blades, which is an important adaptation that optimizes the exchanges with the environment. Here, we provide evidence that their three-dimensional geometry is governed by microtubule alignment along mechanical stress patterns in internal walls. Depending on the primary shape of the primordium, this process has the potential to amplify an initial degree of flatness, or promote the formation of nearly axisymmetric, mostly elongating organs, such as stems and roots. This mechanism may explain leaf evolution from branches, which is alternative to Zimmermann’s influential, but widely questioned,telometheory.One Sentence SummaryMechanical feedback controls leaf development in three dimensions

The growth of inbound travel is fully coordinate with the successful urban development. Increasing the number of inbound travelers not only creates more jobs and economic opportunities but also drives the country toward prosperity. Thus, inbound traveler analysis through trajectory pattern mining, a subfield of urban computing, is regarded as a promising solution. This paper introduces large-scale mobile ad requests as an alternative data source of trajectory pattern mining in order to eliminate the limitations of conventional data sources, such as GPS data, cellular data, and IP address data. In addition, to expedite a comprehensive inbound traveler analysis, we build TraVis, a real-world system for efficiently exploring the inbound travelers' activities through the interactive visualization interface. By incorporating various modules, such as mobile users' home country and travel intent prediction, frequent trajectory pattern mining, and interactive visualization, TraVis proves the capability of profiling the travelers' behavior pattern. We use Japan inbound travelers in the case study to present the mining insights, and we also demonstrate the extensive system functionalities. Our system has been assisting Japan government agencies to formulate travel marketing strategies, including tourist experience enhancement and attractions marketing.

Effective management of immunosuppressants is extemely important to improve prognosis of heart transplant recipients. We aim to investigate the effects of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A5 (rs776746) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on serum tacrolimus concentrations/doses (C/Ds, ng/mL per mg/kg) and long-term prognosis in Chinese heart transplant recipients. We detected the CYP3A5 SNPs of 203 consecutive Chinese heart transplant recipients between August 2005 and July 2012, and 55 of them who received tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive therapy were enrolled in this study. The tacrolimus C/Ds at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after transplantation were routinely calculated. X-ray-guided endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) were performed at 1, 3 and 6 months after heart transplantion to evaluate acute rejection degrees. All participants were then followed up annually until May 2018. The designed primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. In 55 heart transplant recipients (43 males and 12 females), CYP3A5 non-expressors (CYP3A5*3/*3, n = 40) had significantly higher tacrolimus C/Ds than expressors (CYP3A5*1/*3, n = 15) at all time points (P

Generally, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be caused by psychology, genes, environment, and gut microbiota. Therefore, IBD therapy should be improved to utilize multiple strategies. Shen Ling Bai Zhu San (SLBZS) adheres to the aim of combating complex diseases from an integrative and holistic perspective, which is effective for IBD therapy. Herein, a systems pharmacology and microbiota approach was developed for these molecular mechanisms exemplified by SLBZS. First, by systematic absorption-distribution-metabolism-excretion (ADME) analysis, potential active compounds and their corresponding direct targets were retrieved. Then, the network relationships among the active compounds, targets, and disease were built to deduce the pharmacological actions of the drug. Finally, an “IBD pathway” consisting of several regulatory modules was proposed to dissect the therapeutic effects of SLBZS. In addition, the effects of SLBZS on gut microbiota were evaluated through analysis of the V3-V4 region and multivariate statistical methods. SLBZS significantly shifted the gut microbiota structure in a rat model. Taken together, we found that SLBZS has multidimensionality in the regulation of IBD-related physiological processes, which provides new sights into herbal medicine for the treatment of IBD.

Generally, depression is the result of complex gene-environment interactions. Recent studies have showed that the gut microbiota can affect brain function through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, the underlying mechanism of the microbiota and potential influence of depression remain elusive. We aimed to determine how gut microbiome contributes to the process of depression and further influences the host. Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) is used to establish a depression model. Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is applied to illustrate that depression can be transmitted via microbiota, and metabolism of liver analysis is applied to demonstrate further influence to the liver. We also analyzed the astrocyte activation in the brain by immunofluorescence (IF). Here, we show that the structure of the gut microbiome changes markedly after rats undergo CUMS. Notably, we found that the ratio of Lactobacillus to Clostridium can be a vital index for the development of depression. Depression-like behavior can be duplicated through FMT. Moreover, increased zonulin and fatty acid binding protein-2 indicates that gut barrier integrity is broken after FMT. Subsequently, metabolomics shows that liver metabolic disorder occurs and leads to liver coagulative necrosis. In addition, increased inflammatory cytokine expression and higher astrocyte activation indicate an inflammatory process in the brain. These findings suggest that dysbiosis gut microbiome contributes to development of depression and further causes liver metabolic disorders in a way that may be relevant to the Lactobacillus to Clostridium ratio.

/SummaryThe Arabidopsis root epidermis is a simple model for investigating cell fate specification and pattern formation. In addition to regulatory networks consisting of transcription factors, histone deacetylases are also involved in the cellular patterning process. Here we report HDA19 affects the root epidermal cellular pattern through regulation of cortical cell fate by interacting with SCARECROW. This work reveals two new components in cortical cell specification and uncovers a new facet of SCR function.

Cellular patterning in the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) root epidermis is dependent on positional information, the transmission of which involves histone acetylation. Here, we report that HISTONE DEACETYLASE6 (HDA6) has significant effects on this cellular patterning. Mutation of HDA6 led to ectopic hair cells in the nonhair positions of root epidermis in Arabidopsis, based on an analysis of paraffin sections stained with Toluidine Blue. While HDA6 was present throughout the root tip, epidermis-specific complementation with HDA6 could rescue the hda6 phenotype. Both transcript levels and expression patterns of ENHANCER OF TRIPTYCHON AND CAPRICE1 (ETC1) and GLABRA2 (GL2) in the root tip were affected in hda6. Consistent with these changes in expression, HDA6 directly bound to the promoter regions of ETC1 and GL2, and acetylation of histone H3 on these promoter regions and acetylation of histone H4 on the ETC1 promoter region was increased in the hda6 mutant. Taken together, these results indicate that HDA6 affects the cellular patterning of Arabidopsis root epidermis through altering the histone acetylation status of ETC1 and GL2 promoters and thereby affects the expression of these two components of the core transcription factor network determining epidermal cell fates. Our findings thus provide new insights into the role of histone acetylation in root epidermis cell patterning.

Our previous study has shown heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protects human lens epithelial cells (LECs) against H

Under solvothermal conditions, complexes Ni(HL2) (1) and Ni(L3)center dot MeOH (2 center dot MeOH) (H(3)L2=N-(2-(2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl)picolinamide; H(2)L3=1-(pyridin-2-yl)prop-1-ene-1,2-diyl)bis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene)bis((methan-1-yl-1-ylidene)diphenol) have been synthesized from the reaction of Ni(CH3COO)(2)center dot 4H(2)O with 2-((pyridin-2-ylmethyleneamino)methyl)phenol (HL1) at 70 and 90 degrees C, respectively. The complexes were characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The plausible mechanisms for the formation of H(3)L2 and H(3)L3 via solvothermal in situ metal-ligand reactions were proposed. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The differentiation of hair (H) and non-hair (N) cells in the Arabidopsis thaliana root epidermis is dependent on positional relationships with underlying cortical cells. We previously found that histone acetylation relays positional information and that a mutant altered in the histone deacetylase gene family member HISTONE DEACETYLASE 18 (HDA18) exhibits altered H and N epidermal cell patterning. Here, we report that HDA18 has in vitro histone deacetylase activity and that both mutation and overexpression of HDA18 led to cells at the N position having H fate. The HDA18 protein physically interacted with histones related to a specific group of kinase genes, which are demonstrated in this study to be components of a positional information relay system. Both down- and upregulation of HDA18 increased transcription of the targeted kinase genes. Interestingly, the acetylation levels of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9), histone 3 lysine 14 (H3K14) and histone 3 lysine 18 (H3K18) at the kinase genes were differentially affected by down- or upregulation of HDA18, which explains why the transcription levels of the four HDA18-target kinase genes increased in all lines with altered HDA18 expression. Our results reveal the surprisingly complex mechanism by which HDA18 affects cellular patterning in Arabidopsis root epidermis.

The effects of salinity on metal toxicity are complex: not only affecting metal bioaccumulation, but also altering the physiology and sensitivity of organisms. In this study, we used a toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TK-TD) model to separate and quantify the dual effects of salinity on copper (Cu) toxicity in a euryhaline clam Potamocorbula laevis . The toxicokinetics of Cu was determined using the stable isotope 65 Cu as a tracer at concentrations (10–500 μg L −1 ) realistic to contaminated environments and at salinities ranging from 5 to 30. At low Cu concentrations (ca. 10 μg L −1 ), Cu bioaccumulation decreased monotonically with salinity, and the uptake rate constant ( k u , 0.546 L g −1 h −1 to 0.213 L g −1 h −1 ) fitted well with an empirical equation, k u = 1/(1.35 + 0.116·Salinity), by treating salinity as a pseudo-competitor. The median lethal concentrations (LC 50 s) of Cu were 269, 224, and 192 μg L −1 at salinity 5, 15, and 30, respectively. At high Cu concentrations (ca. 500 μg L −1 ), elevating salinity were much less effective in decreasing Cu bioaccumulation; whereas Cu toxicity increased with salinity. The increased toxicity could be explained by the increases in Cu killing rates ( k k s), which were estimated to be 0.44–2.08 mg μg −1 h −1 and were presumably due to the osmotic stress caused by the deviation from the optimal salinity of the clams. The other toxicodynamic parameter, internal threshold concentration ( C IT ), ranged from 79 to 133 μg −1 g −1 and showed no clear trend with salinity.

A new 1-D helical chain complex [Cu(H2L)(SO4)]·CH3OH (1) (H2L = N,N-bis(3,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) was synthesized from the reaction of the tripodal tetradentate ligand H2L with CuSO4·5H2O under solvothermal conditions. Complex 1 was fully characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction, elemental analysis and IR spectroscopy. X-ray analysis revealed that complex 1 displays a 1-D helical chain structure with the two adjacent metals being bridged by a sulfate ion. Each CuII ion is penta-coordinated and exhibits a pseudo square pyramidal geometry. The low-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurement for the solid sample of 1 revealed the ferromagnetic CuII⋯CuII interactions.

Under solvothermal conditions, one polynuclear FeIII complex of formula [Fe3{(py)C(ph)O}4Cl4][FeCl4] (1) was synthesized from reaction of phenyl-pyridine-2-yl-methanone oxime (py)C(ph)NOH with FeCl3, and one FeII/FeIII/FeII complex of composition [Fe3{(py)C(ph)NO}6][CH3COO] (2) was prepared from treatment of (py)C(ph)NOH with Fe(OAc)2. The most interesting synthetic feature of complex 1 is the in situ transformation of (py)C(ph)NOH into the (py)C(ph)O− ligand. Complexes 1 and 2 were characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. X-ray analysis revealed that complex 1 contains a V-shaped FeIII core with two terminal FeIII atoms displaying distorted square-pyramidal geometries and one central FeIII ion exhibiting octahedron geometry. Complex 2 is a mixed-valence linear FeII/FeIII/FeII complex with all the three metal centers displaying distorted octahedron geometries. The low-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurement for the solid sample of 1 revealed the weak antiferromagnetic FeIII…FeIII interactions. Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory were performed using the crystal structure of complex 1.

An HPLC method coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was applied to the determination of tanshinone IIA (TanllA), salvianolic acid B (SA-B), protocatechuic acid (PA), protocatechuic aldehyde (PAH), paeoniflorin (PF), and ferulic acid (FA) in Guanxinll prescription. These six compounds were analyzed simultaneously with YMC ODS-AQ column by using an aqueous mobile phase (containing 0.1% acetic acid) modified by methanol in a gradient program. The flow rate was 0.30 mL/min. Triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was optimized in both positive and negative ion multiple reaction monitoring modes for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of the two different types of active components by using a time-segment program. The method gave recoveries of 98.9–102.5% with relative standard deviations of 1.14–2.09% for the spiked herb samples. Limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.21 to 4.28 ng/mL and all the compounds showed good linearity in a relatively wide concentration range. The results indicat...

The synthesis of the anionic organolanthanide complexes supported by H2bppda (H2bppda = N,N′-bis(2-pyrrylmethylidene)-1,2-phenylenediamine) ligand via different synthetic strategies is reported. Treatment of 1:4 mixture of LnCl3(THF)3 and LiN(SiMe3)2 with 2 equivalents of H2bppda in THF gave complexes of the formula [Li(THF)4][Ln(bppda)2]·THF (Ln = Nd (1·THF), Sm (2·THF), Gd (3·THF), Dy (4·THF), Er (5·THF)) and [Li(THF)5][Yb(bppda)2] (6). Reaction of Nd(BH4)3(THF)3 with 2 equivalents of Na2bppda in THF generated [Na(THF)6][Nd(bppda)2] (7) in good yield. Treatment of 1·THF with 1 equivalent of CoCp2 in THF led to the isolation of [CoCp2][Nd(bppda)2] (8). All of the complexes have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and elemental analyses. Complexes 1·THF–5·THF are isomorphous and isostructural, and the geometry of the octa-coordinated Ln3+ ion in [Ln(bppda)2]− unit in these complexes is well described as either distorted dodecahedron or distorted bicapped trigonal prism. Lanthanide contraction was observed in 1·THF–5·THF and 6. The structures of complexes 1·THF, 7 and 8 are different from each other due to the variation of the cationic ions. The ring-opening polymerization reaction of e-caprolactone initiated by 1·THF was conducted; it showed good activity.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the effects of paeoniflorin (PF) on acute myocardial ischemia in rats. Meanwhile, after intravenous and oral administration of PF, the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characters of PF in rats were also studied. Plasma concentration of paeoniflorin was determined using a simple and rapid HPLC method. Nonlinear mixed-effect modeling (NONMEM) method was used for pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) analysis. A two-compartment model with first-order degradation in the absorption compartment was employed for the PK data analysis. The results showed that PF exhibited significant antagonism against acute myocardial ischemia and a PK/PD link model and two IDR models were developed and compared for anticoagulant activity of PF. It was concluded that the integrated PK/PD model could well characterize PK and PD behaviors of PF in rats. Key words: Paeoniflorin, acute myocardial ischemia, anticoagulant activity, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics.

To investigate the common resource of Chinese herbal medicine in western of Luoding City, Guangdong Province, and propose pertinent suggestions concerning the exploitation,utilization and conservation of the medicinal resources.With plant taxonomy method, we selected the JiaYi town as the center for local common Chinese herbal medicine resources, ecological environment and non-governmental investigation of medicinal.There were 123 species of medicinal plants in Jiayi Town, including pteridophyte 11 species, gymnosperm 5 species, dicotyledon 97 species,and monocotyledon 12 species.This region has an excellent ecological environment and forest plant communities preserved relatively intact suitable for the growth of Lingnan Chinese herbal medicine, as well as a profound cultural background of folk medicine. The resources should be actively protected for further rational development and utilization.

The goal of this study is to investigate the population pharmacokinetics of oral tacrolimus in Chinese renal transplant patients and to identify possible relationship between covariates and population parameters. Details of drug dosage history, sampling time and concentration of 802 data points in 58 patients were collected retrospectively. Before analysis, the 58 patients were randomly allocated to either the model building group (n=41) or the validation group (n=17). Population pharmacokinetic data analysis was performed using the nonlinear mixed-effects model (NONMEM) program on the model building group. The pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus was best described by a one compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination. Typical values of apparent clearance (CL/F), apparent volume of distribution (V/F) were estimated. A number of covariates including demographic index, clinical index and coadministration of other drugs were evaluated statistically for their influence on these parameters. The final population model related clearance with POD (post operative days), HCT (haematocrit), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and coadministration of nicardipine and diltiazem. Predictive performance of the final model evaluated with the validation group showed insignificant bias between observed and model predicted concentrations. Typical value of CL/F and V/F was 21.7 L x h(-1) and 241 L, inter-patient variability (RSD) in CL/F and V/F was 41.6% and 49.7%, respectively. The residual variability (SD) between observed and model-predicted concentrations was 2.19 microg x L(-1). The population pharmacokinetic model of tacrolimus in Chinese renal transplant patients was established and significant covariates on the tacrolimus model were identified.

The cellular patterning of Arabidopsis root epidermis is a well-characterized system for study of how single-layered cells are arranged in a particular spatial order. Previously, we found that histone acetylation plays an important role in regulating epidermal differentiation by relaying positional information. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, we screened all available mutants of both HDAC and HAT families. Analyses of mutants of HDAC family members revealed that among single mutants, only HDA6, HDA18 and HDA19 exhibited ectopic H cells at the N position. Similarly, among HAT family members, only single mutants for GCN5 and HAF2 exhibited altered epidermal phenotypes, which were unexpectedly similar to the phenotypes observed in HDAC mutants. Based on these results, together with the previous findings regarding the regulatory mechanisms of HDA18 and HDA6, we proposed that homeostasis of histone acetylation is important for robustness of the regulatory network responsible for the cellular patterning of the Arabidopsis root epidermis.

The Arabidopsis root has a unique cellular pattern in its single-layered epidermis. Cells residing over the intercellular spaces between underlying cortical cells (H position) differentiate into hair cells, whereas those directly over cortical cells (N position) differentiate into non-hair cells. Recent studies have revealed that this cellular pattern is determined by interactions of six patterning genes CPC , ETC , GL2 , GL3 / EGL3 , TTG , and WER , and that the position-dependent expression of the CPC , GL2 , and WER genes is essential for their appropriate interactions. However, little is known about how the expressions of the pattern genes are determined. Here we show that trichostatin A (TSA) treatment of germinating Arabidopsis seedlings alters the cellular pattern of the root epidermis to induce hair cell development at nonhair positions. The effects of TSA treatment are rapid, reversible, concentration-dependent, and position-independent. TSA inhibition of histone deacetylase activity results in hyperacetylation of the core histones H3 and H4, and alters the expression levels and cell specific expression of the patterning genes CPC , GL2 and WER . Analysis of histone deacetylase mutant cellular patterning further verified the participation of histone acetylation in cellular patterning, and revealed that HDA18 is a key component in the regulatory machinery of the Arabidopsis root epidermis. We propose a working model to suggest that histone acetylation may function in mediating a positional cue to direct expression of the patterning genes in the root epidermal cells.

To prepare 8-chloro-adenosine (8-Cl-A) long circulation liposomes with high entrapped efficiency and prolonged action-time of 8-Cl-A in vivo.To prepare 8-Cl-A long circulation liposomes of nanometer size by improved multiple emulsion. The entrapped efficiency, size and size distribution of 8-Cl-A long circulation liposomes were determined, and its pharmacokinetics in rats was evaluated.The entrapped efficiency of 8-Cl-A long circulation liposomes was 62.70% and mean diameter of the liposomes was 79.9 nm. The pharmacokinetics studies indicated that 8-Cl-A long circulation liposomes showed higher drug concentration and larger AUC values than that of 8-Cl-A after iv to rats.8-Cl-A long circulation liposomes could prolong the action-time of 8-Cl-A in vivo.

A sensitive HPLC method with simple extraction was developed for simultaneous determination of huperzine A (HupA) and huperzine B (HupB) in Huperzia serrata, H. crispata, H. miyoshiana, and Lycopodiastrum casuarinoides. In order to avoid conventional multiple-step and time-consuming sample preparation methods, direct reflux extraction with alkaline chloroform was adopted. The quantitative determination was conducted by reversed-phase HPLC with a photodiode array detector set at 308 nm. Separation was performed on a Luna C18 column (250 4.6 mm id, 5 m) with methanol0.2 aqueous acetic acid (18 + 82, v/v) mobile phase. The method was validated for accuracy, reproducibility, precision, and limits of detection and quantification. Quantification of the two active compounds in the samples was performed by this newly developed method, and the content of HupA and HupB varied substantially among four different species. The satisfactory results indicated that the developed method can readily be utilized for quality control of the species of Huperziaceae and Lycopodiaceae containing the two compounds.