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Objective:  This study aimed to investigate clinical features of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in preterm infants with a gestational age (GA) < 34 weeks in China., Study Design:  The clinical data of 434 preterm infants with GA < 34 weeks, treated with iNO in the neonatology departments of eight Class A tertiary hospitals in China over a 10-year period from January 2013 to December 2022, were included in this retrospective multicenter investigation. The infants were divided into three groups based on GA: 24 to 27 weeks (extremely preterm infants), 28 to 31 weeks (very preterm infants), and 32 to 33 weeks (moderate preterm infants). The use of iNO, perinatal data, incidence and mortality of indication for iNO treatment, therapeutic effects of iNO, incidence of short-term complications for iNO treatment, and mortality were compared among these three groups., Results:  Over the past 10 years, the proportion of iNO use was highest in extremely preterm infants each year. The lower the GA, the higher the iNO use rate: 4.20% for GA 24 to 27 weeks, 1.54% for GA 28 to 31 weeks, and 0.85% for GA 32 to 33 weeks. There was no significant difference in the therapeutic effect of iNO among the three groups. The incidence of neonatal pulmonary hemorrhage, neonatal shock, late-onset diseases, retinopathy of prematurity requiring intervention, intracranial hemorrhage (grade 3 or 4), periventricular leukomalacia, neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (≥stage II), and moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia was highest in extremely preterm infants and increased with decreasing GA. Mortality was negatively correlated with GA and birth weight. The highest rate of iNO treatment in 24 to 27 weeks' preterm infants was due to hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF), whereas the highest rate of iNO treatment in 32 to 33 weeks' preterm infants was due to documented persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). The rates of iNO treatment due to HRF and documented PPHN were 54.3 and 60.6%, respectively, in extremely preterm infants, significantly higher than in very preterm and moderate preterm infants (all p  < 0.05). Within the same GA group, the proportion of preterm infants treated with iNO for HRF was lower than that for documented PPHN (all p  < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in mortality between HRF and documented PPHN treated with iNO (all p  > 0.05)., Conclusion:  Among preterm infants with GA < 34 weeks, the rate of iNO usage was highest in extremely preterm infants. However, iNO failed to improve the clinical outcome of extremely preterm infants with refractory hypoxemia, and there was no significant difference in the therapeutic effect of iNO among preterm infants with different GAs., Competing Interests: None declared., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is associated with the development of lung cancer, but the underlying mechanism has not been completely clarified. Here, we used 10 μM BaP to induce malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells, named BEAS-2B-T. Results indicated that BaP (6.25, 12.5 and 25 μM) treatment significantly promoted the migration and invasion of BEAS-2B-T cells. Meanwhile, BaP exposure inhibited ferroptosis in BEAS-2B-T, ferroptosis-related indexes Fe 2+ , malondialdehyde (MDA), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) decreased significantly. The protein level of ferroptosis-related molecule transferrin receptor (TFRC) decreased significantly, while solute carrier family 7 membrane 11 (SLC7A11), ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) increased significantly. The intervention of ferroptosis dramatically effected the migration and invasion of BEAS-2B-T induced by BaP. Furthermore, the expression of YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 1 (YTHDF1) was markedly increased after BaP exposure. YTHDF1 knockdown inhibited BEAS-2B-T migration and invasion by promoting ferroptosis. In the meantime, the contents of Fe 2+ , MDA, LPO and ROS increased significantly, TFRC was markedly increased, and SLC7A11, FTH1, and GPX4 were markedly decreased. Moreover, overexpression of YTHDF1 promoted BEAS-2B-T migration and invasion by inhibiting ferroptosis. Importantly, knockdown of YTHDF1 promoted ferroptosis and reduced BEAS-2B-T migration and invasion during BaP exposure, and overexpression of YTHDF1 increased migration and invasion of BEAS-2B-T by inhibiting ferroptosis during BaP exposure. RNA immunoprecipitation assays indicated that the binding of YTHDF1 to SLC7A11 and FTH1 markedly increased after YTHDF1 overexpression. Therefore, we concluded that BaP promotes the malignant progression of BEAS-2B-T cells through YTHDF1 upregulating SLC7A11 and FTH1 to inhibit ferroptosis. This study reveals new epigenetic and ferroptosis markers for preventing and treating lung cancer induced by environmental carcinogens., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the use of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in hospitalized preterm infants in China over 10 years and its clinical outcomes., Methods: A total of 616 premature infants who were administered iNO in the Neonatology Departments of 5 Class A tertiary hospitals in China for ten years from January 2013 to December 2022 were included retrospectively. Based on their enrollment periods, the patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 from January 2013 to December 2017 and Group 2 from January 2018 to December 2022, respectively. The perinatal characteristics, short-term clinical outcomes, and mortality rates were compared between these two groups., Results: The utilization of iNO in preterm infants grew annually over the past10 years; the utilization of iNO in Group 2 infants increased approximately one-fold when compared with Group 1 (1.52% vs. 0.80%, p < .001), and the increase was greater in gestational age (GA) < 34 weeks compared with 34-36 weeks preterm infants. Moreover, the iNO usage in Group 1 infants with GA < 34 weeks increased from 1.14% to 2.46% and 0.60% to 0.99% in 34-36 weeks preterm infants (p < .001) in Group 2, respectively. Apart from a smaller GA (32.9 w vs. 33.5 w, p < .001) and birth weight (BW, 1900 g vs. 2141 g, p < .001), the initial [14 parts per million (ppm) versus 10 ppm, p < .001] and maximum (15 ppm vs. 10 ppm, p < .001) doses of Group 2 were larger; however, their recent clinical outcomes did not improve with increasing iNO utilization (p > .05)as compared to Group 1, respectively. Although the overall iNO preterm mortality rates over the past 10 years were 25.8%, the mortality rates for preterm infants at 34-36 weeks were significantly lower than for preterm infants at GA < 34 weeks (15.4% vs. 33.8%, p < .001). Nonetheless, no improvement in mortality was observed in Group 2 preterm infants with GA < 34 weeks for the past 5 years when compared with Group 1 (32.9% vs. 35.8%, p > .05) infants, and significantly lower mortality rates were noticed in preterm infants with 34-36 weeks (11.2% vs. 22.7%, p < .001). Patients with hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF) or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) iNO preterm infants did not show lower mortality rates with the increase of iNO use rate (p > .05). The overall mortality rates of preterm PPHN infants with iNO were lower than that of HRF (20.2% vs. 36.5%, p < .001), while the mortality rates of Group 2 preterm PPHN infants with iNO significantly lower than that of HRF (17.7% vs 36.0%, p < .001)., Conclusion: The iNO has been extensively used in Chinese preterm infants over the past 10 years, this increase was more significant in preterm infants with GA < 34 weeks. Moreover, preterm infants using iNO have lower GA and BW, larger initial and maximum doses, and more aggressive strategies in the last past 5 years. Although iNO use in preterm infants with GA of 34-36 weeks has significantly reduced mortality, mortality rates and short-term clinical outcomes of iNO in preterm infants <34 weeks of GA has no obvious improvement. Further studies are required to investigate the efficacy and safety of iNO in preterm infants <34 weeks of GA., (© 2024 The Author(s). Pediatric Pulmonology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of Buyang Huanwu Decoction in treatment of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. A total of 180 SD rats were randomly divided into 5 different groups: sham group, model group, Buyang Huanwu Decoction group, Buyang Huanwu Decoction + miR-26a-5p agomir(agomir) group, Buyang Huanwu Decoction + miR-26a-5p agomir negative control(agomir NC) group. There were 36 rats in each group. Each group was then subdivided into three subgroups for the duration of reperfusion(3, 7, 14 d). A ligature-induced middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) model was carried out on all groups other than sham group. Reperfusion was performed following ischemia for 90 min. Buyang Huanwu Decoction group, agomir group, and agomir NC group were given Buyang Huanwu Decoction twice daily by gavage 24 h after the formation of the model. Sham group and model group were given an equal amount of physiological saline by gavage until the day before sacrifice. At 24 h after ischemia induction, miR-26a-5p agomir was injected into the lateral ventricle in agomir group, miR-26a-5p NC in agomir NC group, and equal amounts of physiological saline in the other groups. 24 h after ischemia induction, BrdU was intraperitoneally injected once daily until the day before sacrifice. Modified neurological severity score(mNSS) was used to evaluate neurological deficits, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride(TTC) staining was used to determine the cerebral infarct volume, TUNEL staining was used to assess the apoptosis of parenchymal ischemic brain tissue, and double immunofluorescence staining was used to examine BrdU/NeuN double positive neurons in the parenchymal ischemic brain tissue to evaluate the neuronal regeneration. We employed a luciferase reporter assay to identify and validate that the target gene of miR-26a-5p is PTEN. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR) was used to assess gene expression levels of PTEN and miR-26a-5p and Western blot to assess the protein levels of PTEN, PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt, and p-Akt. The results revealed that compared with model group, Buyang Huanwu Decoction treatment promoted neural function recovery, reduced the cerebral infarct volume, increased the number of BrdU~+/NeuN~+ neurons, upregulated the expression of miR-26a-5p, regulated the PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and promoted neuronal regeneration in the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats. These effects were significantly enhanced after lateral ventricle injection of miR-26a-5p agomir. The findings prove that Buyang Huanwu Decoction treatment can promote neural function recovery, reduce the cerebral infarct volume, and promote neuronal regeneration in a cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rat model, which is likely to be achieved via miR-26a-5p mediated PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Non-syndromic orofacial clefts (NSOCs) are the most common craniofacial malformation. In the complex aetiology and pathogenesis of NSOCs, genetic factors play a crucial role and IRF6, located at chromosome 1q32.2, is the best documented NSOC susceptibility gene. IRF6 is a key factor in oral maxillofacial development and known to contribute the most in NSOCs. It is essential to conduct a complete review of the existing results on IRF6 to further understand its role in the pathogenesis of NSOCs. Thus, the present authors summarised the research progress on the mechanism of IRF6 in NSOCs from both genetic and functional perspectives in this review.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide, and the development of novel therapeutic strategies for HNSCC requires a profound understanding of tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, HNSCC has a poor prognosis, necessitating the use of genetic markers for predicting clinical outcomes in HNSCC. In this study, we performed single-cell sequencing analysis on tumor tissues from seven HNSCC patients, along with one adjacent normal tissue. Firstly, the analysis of epithelial cell clusters revealed two clusters of malignant epithelial cells, characterized by unique gene expression patterns and dysregulated signaling pathways compared to normal epithelial cells. Secondly, the examination of the TME unveiled extensive crosstalk between fibroblasts and malignant epithelial cells, potentially mediated through ligand-receptor interactions such as COL1A1-SDC1, COL1A1-CD44, and COL1A2-SDC1. Furthermore, transcriptional heterogeneity was observed in immune cells present in the TME, including macrophages and dendritic cells. Finally, leveraging the gene expression profiles of malignant epithelial cells, we developed a prognostic model comprising six genes, which we validated using two independent datasets. These findings shed light on the heterogeneity within HNSCC tumors and the intricate interplay between malignant cells and the TME. Importantly, the developed prognostic model demonstrates high efficacy in predicting the survival outcomes of HNSCC patients., (© 2023 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

A rhodium(III)-catalyzed redox-neutral spiroannulation approach to access the spiro[benzo[ b ][1,4]oxazine-benzo[ c ]chromene skeleton is described in this contribution. A variety of spiro[5.5]-heterocyclic scaffolds were obtained in moderate to excellent yields under mild conditions. Key features of this protocol are good substrate scope, silver-free conditions, low catalyst loadings, easy handling under air and 100% atom economy. Furthermore, scale-up reactions and late-stage derivatizations highlight the potential synthetic utility of this methodology.

With the proliferation of synthetic drugs, research on the mechanism of action of addictive drugs and treatment methods is of great significance. Among them, methamphetamine (METH) is the most representative amphetamine synthetic drug, and the treatment of METH addiction has become an urgent medical and social problem. In recent years, the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicines on METH addiction have gained widespread attention because of their non-addictiveness, multiple targets, low side effects, low cost, and other characteristics. Previous studies have identified a variety of Chinese herbal medicines with effects on METH addiction. Based on the research on METH in recent years, this article summarizes the mechanism of action of METH as the starting point and briefly reviews the Chinese herbal medicine-based treatment of METH., (© 2023. The Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2235371 ( IRF6 V274I) is associated with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) in Han Chinese and other populations but appears to be without a functional effect. To find the common etiologic variant or variants within the haplotype tagged by rs2235371, we carried out targeted sequencing of an interval containing IRF6 in 159 Han Chinese with NSCL/P. This study revealed that the SNP rs12403599, within the IRF6 promoter, is associated with all phenotypes of NSCL/P, especially nonsyndromic cleft lip (NSCLO) and a subphenotype of it, microform cleft lip (MCL). This association was replicated in 2 additional much larger cohorts of cases and controls from the Han Chinese. Conditional logistic analysis indicated that association of rs2235371 with NSCL/P was lost if rs12403599 was excluded. rs12403599 contributes the most risk to MCL: its G allele is responsible for 38.47% of the genetic contribution to MCL, and the odds ratios of G/C and G/G genotypes were 2.91 and 6.58, respectively, for MCL. To test if rs12403599 is functional, we carried out reporter assays in a fetal oral epithelium cells (GMSM-K). Unexpectedly, the risk allele G yielded higher promoter activity in GMSM-K. Consistent with the reporter studies, expression of IRF6 in lip tissues from NSCLO and MCL patients with the G/G phenotype was higher than in those from patients with the C/C phenotype. These results indicate that rs12403599 is tagging the risk haplotype for NSCL/P better than rs2235371 in Han Chinese and supports investigation of the mechanisms by which the allele of rs12403599 affects IRF6 expression and tests of this association in different populations.

A novel palladium(II)-catalyzed intramolecular [2 + 2 + 2] annulation of indolyl 1,3-diynes is described in this contribution. A variety of azepino-fused carbazoles are obtained in moderate to excellent yields. The key to the success of this transformation is the use of a carboxylic acid as an additive. This protocol features broad functional group tolerances, easy handling in air, and 100% atom economy. Furthermore, scale-up reactions, late-stage derivatizations, and photophysical property investigations highlight the potential synthetic utility of this methodology.

BACKGROUND. Homogeneous microscopic fat within adrenal nodules on chemical-shift MRI (CS-MRI) is diagnostic of benign adrenal adenoma, but the clinical relevance of heterogeneous microscopic fat is not well established. OBJECTIVE. This study sought to determine the prevalence of malignancy in adrenal nodules with heterogeneous microscopic fat on dual-echo T1-weighted CS-MRI. METHODS. We performed a retrospective study of adult patients with adrenal nodules detected on MRI performed between August 2007 and November 2020 at seven institutions. Eligible nodules had a short-axis diameter of 10 mm or larger with heterogeneous microscopic fat (defined by an area of signal loss of < 80% on opposed-phase CS-MRI). Two radiologists from each center, blinded to reference standard results, determined the signal loss pattern (diffuse, two distinct parts, speckling pattern, central loss, or peripheral loss) within the nodules. The reference standard used was available for 283 nodules (pathology for 21 nodules, ≥ 1 year of imaging follow-up for 245, and ≥ 5 years of clinical follow-up for 17) in 282 patients (171 women and 111 men; mean age, 60 ± 12 [SD] years); 30% (86/282) patients had prior malignancy. RESULTS. The mean long-axis diameter was 18.7 ± 7.9 mm (range, 10-80 mm). No malignant nodules were found in patients without prior cancer (0/197; 95% CI, 0-1.5%). Four of the 86 patients with prior malignancy (hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], renal cell carcinoma [RCC], lung cancer, or both colon cancer and RCC) (4.7%; 95% CI, 1.3-11.5%) had metastatic nodules. Detected patterns were diffuse heterogeneous signal loss (40% [114/283]), speckling (28% [80/283]), two distinct parts (18% [51/283]), central loss (9% [26/283]), and peripheral loss (4% [12/283]). Two metastases from HCC and RCC showed diffuse heterogeneous signal loss. Lung cancer metastasis manifested as two distinct parts, and the metastasis in the patient with both colon cancer and RCC showed peripheral signal loss. CONCLUSION. Presence of heterogeneous microscopic fat in adrenal nodules on CS-MRI indicates a high likelihood of benignancy, particularly in patients without prior cancer. This finding is also commonly benign in patients with cancer; however, caution is warranted when primary malignancies may contain fat or if the morphologic pattern of signal loss may indicate a collision tumor. CLINICAL IMPACT. In the absence of prior cancer, adrenal nodules with heterogeneous microscopic fat do not require additional imaging evaluation.

Traditional medicines have greatly contributed to people's health worldwide. However, in recent years, the frequent occurrence of herb-induced liver injury (HILI) has raised public concerns regarding the safety of herbs. HILI not only severely impacts public health, thus increasing its medical burden, but also consumes medical resources. However, the pharmacoepidemiology and risk factors of HILI are still unclear due to the complexity of herbs (medication theory, drug composition, dual properties of drugs and food, etc.). China is the country with the most extensive use of herbs and cases of HILI worldwide. The safety profile of herbs (especially with respect to HILI) has also affected the use of herbs internationally. Therefore, this review focuses on the epidemic situation of HILI in mainland China to compile its characteristics, while focusing on the three main aspects of patients, drugs, and unreasonable prescriptions to explore the potential risk factors. Our objective was to provide a reference for HILI pharmacovigilance and risk prevention and control and contribute to Chinese knowledge of the realisation of the "Medication without Harm" global safe medication strategic goal of the World Health Organization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yang, Ge, Tang, Qin, Zeng, Yao, Xiao, Bai and Tang.)

Herein, we report a facile and efficient synthetic method to construct azepino[1,2- a ]indoles through a novel gold(I)-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation of alkynylindoles. A wide range of functional groups can be well tolerated in this transformation, and the corresponding highly functionalized azepino[1,2- a ]indole skeletons were obtained in moderate to excellent yields. Subsequent oxidation of the products gave the interesting and valuable polycyclic carbazoles, which were widely used as the key building blocks in materials science.

Objectives: To reveal the heterogeneity of different cell types of osteoarthritis (OA) synovial tissues at a single-cell resolution, and determine by novel methodology whether bulk-RNA-seq data could be deconvoluted to create in silico scRNA-seq data for synovial tissue analyses., Methods: OA scRNA-seq data (102,077 synoviocytes) were provided by 17 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty; 9 tissues with matched scRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq data were used to evaluate six in silico gene deconvolution tools. Predicted and observed cell types and proportions were compared to identify the best deconvolution tool for synovium., Results: We identified seven distinct cell types in OA synovial tissues. Gene deconvolution identified three (of six) platforms as suitable for extrapolating cellular gene expression from bulk RNA-seq data. Using paired scRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq data, an "arthritis" specific signature matrix was created and validated to have a significantly better predictive performance for synoviocytes than a default signature matrix. Use of the machine learning tool, Cell-type Identification By Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts x (CIBERSORTx), to analyze rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and OA bulk RNA-seq data yielded proportions of T cells and fibroblasts that were similar to the gold standard observations from RA and OA scRNA-seq data, respectively., Conclusion: This novel study revealed heterogeneity of synovial cell types in OA and the feasibility of gene deconvolution for synovial tissue., (Copyright © 2021 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of serum and cerebrospinal fluid β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with central nervous system invasion after chemotherapy., Methods: 40 patients with leukemia who had been confirmed to have central nervous system infiltration were selected for treatment at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2015 to May 2017, and the serum levels of β2-MG and CSF-β2MG were dynamically monitored and performed statistical analysis., Results: After chemotherapy, the changes in serum β2-MG were not statistically significant (P>0.05); the absolute level of CSF-β2MG and the percentage of relative baseline changes were statistically different in different clinical outcome groups(P<0.05), and the decreasing CSF-β2MG levels suggest a better prognosis, with cut-off values of 1.505 and -25%, respectively., Conclusion: The best cut-off point may be a predictor of complete remission; the reduction of the absolute and relative levels of CSF-β2MG can suggest a good prognosis for patients.

Is gender-emotion stereotype a "one-hundred percent" top-down processing phenomenon, or are there additional contributions to cognitive processing from background clues when they are related to stereotypes? In the present study, we measured the gender-emotion stereotypes of 57 undergraduates with a face recall task and found that, regardless of whether the emotional expressions of distractors were congruent or incongruent with targets, people tended to misperceive the fearful faces of men as angry and the angry faces of women as fearful. In particular, there was a significantly larger effect in the distractor-incongruent condition. The revised process-dissociation procedure analysis confirmed that both automatic and controlled processing have their own independent effects on gender-emotion stereotypes. This finding supports a dual-processing perspective on stereotypes and contributes to future research in both theory and methodology., (Copyright © 2020 Zhu, Fang, Xing, Ma and Yao.)

Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and they are likely to outweigh the motor symptoms and become a major factor affecting the quality of life of PD patients. However, the studies focusing on the non-motor symptoms in Chinese PD patients from different ethnicity are scarce. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment in Chinese PD patients from Han and Hui populations from central China. Seventy-two Han Chinese PD patients (Han PD group) and 71 age-and sex-matched Hui Chinese PD patients (Hui PD group) were enrolled from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University between Sept. 2011 and Aug. 2014 in the study. The neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment were assessed using Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). We found that the proportion of depression, anxiety, apathy, irritability, euphoria and night time behavior disturbances were higher in the Han PD group than in the Hui PD group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). But the proportion of delusion, hallucination, agitation, disinhibition, aberrant motor behavior and change in appetite were not significantly different between the Han PD group and the Hui PD group (P>0.05). The total mean scores of the MMSE from patients in the Han PD group were similar to those in the Hui PD group (P>0.05). However, the subscale scores of recall domain and language domain in the Han PD group were significantly different from those in the Hui PD group (P<0.05). No significant difference was noted in the orientation, memory and calculation domains between the two PD groups (P>0.05). This study first showed the recall domain and language domain were different between the Han PD patients and the Hui PD patients. Depression, anxiety, apathy, irritability, euphoria and night time behavior disturbances were less presented in the Hui PD patients. All these differences may be related to the different ethnicity, which would be helpful for clinical physicians to recognize the different non-motor symptoms in Chinese PD patients with different ethnicity.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of serum procalcitonin in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infection in patients with central nervous system injury. Methods: From October 2014 to February 2017, a retrospective study was performed. A total of 1 852 patients were screened in Department of Intensive Care Unite, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.Among them, 173 patients were identified with different kinds of infection. Finally, a total of 42 patients with pulmonary infection were enrolled. The clinical data of patients with pulmonary infection and central nervous system (CNS) injury was collected. A univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed to study the correlation of serum procalcitonin (PCT) with clinical symptoms and signs of the pulmonary infection, body temperature(T), white blood cell count (WBC), percentage of neutrophils (NEU) and the severity of the pulmonary infection (CPIS). The relationship of serum PCT with type of CNS injury, GCS, and exogenous glucocorticoid was further studied. Results: During the period of pulmonary infection, the peak PCT was 0.83 (0.29, 2.79) μg/L and the CPIS was 5.50 (5.00, 7.00). In 9 of 42 patients, the peak PCT was less than 0.25 μg/L. In 7 of 42 patients, the peak PCT was ranged from 0.25 to 0.5 μg/L. In 12 of 42 patients, PCT was ranged from 0.5 to 2 μg/L. Only 10 patients had a PCT 2-10 μg/L and 4 patients had a PCT more than 10 μg/L. There is no correlation between serum PCT and body temperature, white blood cell, percentage of neutrophils and CPIS. There was no significant differences in patients with PCT<0.5 or ≥0.5 μg/L regarding the body temperature, white blood cell, percentage of neutrophils and CPIS. However, serum PCT in patients with pulmonary infection had independent correlation with the post CNS injury day ( β =0.17, 95% CI (0.02, 0.32), P <0.05). The serum PCT was 1.26 (0.47, 2.7) μg/L and 29.41% patients with a PCT less than 0.5 μg/L within 3 days post CNS injury. Serum PCT level was 0.23 (0.16, 0.39) μg/L, and 77.78% patients with a PCT less than 0.5 μg/L at day 4 to day 7 post-injury. The PCT level was 0.52 (0.33, 1.12) μg/L, and 44.44% patients with a PCT less than 0.5 μg/L at day 8 to day 14. The PCT was 3.26 (2.07, 12.40) μg/L, and no patient with a PCT less than 0.5 μg/L after day 15 post-injury. There were no significant relationship found between serum PCT level and type of the disease and surgery, GCS, and use of exogenous glucocorticoid. Conclusions: Serum PCT had no significant increase and was not able to be used in guiding the antibiotics use in patients with CNS injury and pulmonary infection.

Background: Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) is widely used in more than 120 countries for land management (e.g. rehabilitation of saline lands). A wild ecotype of vetiver grass was found in southern China in the 1950s, but little is known about its adaptability to saline stress. For the purpose of understanding its tolerance to salinity as well as corresponding tolerance mechanisms, in a greenhouse with natural lighting, seedlings were grown in culture solutions and subjected to a range of NaCl concentrations for 18 days., Results: Compared to no NaCl treatment, 200 mM NaCl significantly reduced leaf water potential, leaf water content, leaf elongation rate, leaf photosynthetic rate and plant relative growth rate and increased leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content, but the parameters showed only slight reduction at 150 mM NaCl. In addition, salinity caused an increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes in leaves. Moreover, increasing NaCl levels significantly increased Na + but decreased K + concentrations in both roots and leaves. The leaves had higher K + concentrations at all NaCl levels, but lower Na + concentrations compared to the roots, thereby maintaining higher K + /Na + ratio in leaves., Conclusions: Our results showed that the salinity threshold of this wild vetiver grass is about 100 mM NaCl, i.e. highly tolerant to salt stress. This wild vetiver grass has a high ability to exclude Na + and retain K + in its leaves, which is a critical strategy for salt tolerance.

Background: For the shortage of high-quality general practitioners (GPs) in China's rural areas, Chinese government has taken steps to encourage rural specialists to participate in transition training for future GPs. Specialists' initial participation motivations and their perceived deterrents during training may play important roles for their learning engagement in the transition training. This study aimed at revealing the relationships among the variables of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents in training, and learning engagement., Methods: A questionnaire survey was used in this study. A total of 156 rural specialists who participated in transition training for future GPs filled out the questionnaire, which consisted of the measurements of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents, and learning engagement in training. The data about specialists' demographic variables were collected at the same time., Results: The variance of initial escape/stimulations motivation significantly predicted the variance of learning engagement through the full mediating role of perceived deterrents in training. In addition, initial educational preparation motivations predicted the variance of learning engagement directly., Conclusions: Specialists' initial participation motivations and perceived deterrents in training played important roles for learning engagement in the transition training.

Objective: To investigate the long-term protective effect of breviscapine on the bilateral testes of prepubertal rats after testicular torsion / detorsion., Methods: Thirty-two four-week-old healthy male SD rats were equally randomized into groups A(sham operation),B(normal saline),C(single-dose breviscapine, injected intraperitoneally at 2 mg per kg of the body weight at 30 min before testicular detorsion), and D( continuous-dosing breviscapine, injected intraperitoneally at 2 mg per kg of the body weight at 30 min before testicular detorsion qd for 7 days after surgery). At 6 weeks after establishment of the model of left testicular torsion /detorsion, the rats were sacrificed and the bilateral testes and epididymides harvested for detection of the total antioxidant capacity( TAOC),superoxide dismutase( SOD) level, nitric oxide synthase( NOS) activity, and malondialdehyde( MDA) content in the testis tissue, determination of sperm concentration, viability and motility, and observation of the pathological changes of the testis tissue., Results: Compared with group B, both groups C and D showed obvious increases in the levels of SOD,T-AOC and NOS and the concentration, survival rate and motility of sperm, but a remarkable decrease in the MDA content, with statistically significant differences(P < 0. 05) except in T-AOC, sperm concentration and motility in the contralateral testis of group C and in NOS activity in the bilateral testes of group D. In comparison with the ipsilateral testis of group C,group D exhibited markedly elevated levels of SOD,T-AOC and NOS, increased sperm concentration, viability and motility, and reduced content of MDA in the bilateral testes, with statistically significant differences( P < 0. 05) except in NOS activity in the contralateral testis. Bilateral seminiferous tubule degeneration and interstitial edema were observed in group B, more severe in the injured than in the contralateral testis. Obvious improvement was seen in the post-torsion / detorsion histological changes of the bilateral testis tissue in groups C and D., Conclusion: Breviscapine can obviously protect the bilateral testes of prepubertal rats after testicular torsion / detorsion by removal of oxygen free radicals and reduction of lipid peroxidation injury, and continuous dosing is even more effective than single-dose medication.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C5TX00165J.].

Arsenic poisoning is a worldwide endemic disease that affects thousands of people. Currently, the aetiology of the disease is known, but its pathogenesis is uncharacterized and there is no specific treatment. We established a rat model of coal-burning arsenic poisoning by feeding the animals corn powder baked with high arsenic coal. By observing subsequent changes in kidney and immune function, we found that arsenic induces both kidney and immune damage. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between kidney and immune damage. Moreover, Ginkgo biloba, a known immune enhancer, was used as an intervention agent in arsenic poisoned rats to validate the relationship between kidney and immune damage. Meanwhile, we also explored the mechanism of Ginkgo biloba treatment of kidney damage in burning-coal arsenic poisoned rats. We found that Ginkgo biloba enhanced immune function in rats with arsenic poisoning and ameliorated arsenic-induced kidney damage. These results suggest that immune suppression may be one of the mechanisms underlying arsenic-induced kidney damage and that Ginkgo biloba might relieve kidney damage by enhancing immune function.

Objective: To explore whether the inhibitory effect of Genipin on uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2) in mitochondria is involved in energy metabolism of androgen-independent PC3 prostate cancer cells., Methods: PC3 prostate cancer cells were cultured and treated with Genipin at the concentrations of 40, 80, and 160 μmol/L for 48 hours. Then the proliferation of the cells was detected by MTT assay, the expression of UCP-2 mRNA determined by RT-PCR, and the content of intracellular pyruvic acid (PA) and the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in the mitochondria measured by visible spectrophotometry., Results: With the increased concentration of Genipin, the proliferative activity of the PC-3 cells, the expression level of UCP-2 mRNA, the content of intracellular PA and the activity of SDH in the cells were all decreased, namely, with the enhanced inhibitory effect of Genipin on UCP-2, a trend of reduction was observed in the proliferation of the cells, intracellular PA content, and SDH activity in the mitochondria., Conclusion: Genipin is involved in the energy metabolism of androgen-independent PC3 prostate cancer cells by reducing the content of intracellular PA and the activity of SDH in the mitochondria, which may be associated with its inhibitory effect on UCP-2.

The earthy and musty odor problem in aquaculture systems has been a worldwide problem, especially in freshwater aquaculture systems. Geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB), the most common causative agents of the off-flavor in fish, are lipophilic secondary metabolites of cyanobacteria, actinomycetes, and other microorganisms. The odor threshold concentrations for 2-MIB and GSM are approximately 9-42 ng x L(-1) and 4-10 ng x L(-1), and 600 ng x kg(-1) and 900 ng x kg(-1) in the aquaculture water and fish, respectively. With such a low odor threshold concentration, the off-flavor compounds greatly reduce the quality and economic value of aquatic products. This renders the fish, especially some valuable fish produced in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), unmarketable. The study reported the kinetic characteristics of degradation of GSM and 2-MIB by Bacillus subtilis and discussed the impacts of the initial concentration of GSM and 2-MIB (T1, T2) and inoculation amount (T1, T3 ) on the biodegradation rate. The result demonstrated that these two compounds could be degraded by B. subtilis effectively and the biodegradation rate reached more than 90% in T1, T2 and T3 treatments. The biodegradation of these two compounds behaved as a pseudo-first-order kinetics with rate constants (K) in the range of 0.14-0.41. K values indicated that the degradation rate was dependent on the inoculation amount but the start concentration of GSM and MIB. The degradation kinetics showed the maximum specific rate value (u(max)) and the Monod constant (K(s)) were 0.311 and 1.73, however, 2-MIB degradation process did not meet the Monod microbial growth equation (R2 = 0.781).

A general synthetic route to water-soluble PEG-supported organotrifluoroborates has been developed. In the presence of air and catalytic amounts of Pd(OAc)2, the PEG-supported organotrifluoroborates undergo homo-coupling reactions smoothly at room temperature. No additional oxidizing agent, base, or phosphine ligands are required.

Objective: To establish coal arsenic poisoning rat model by feeding the rats with the corn powder baked by high arsenic coal as the main raw material., Methods: Fifty Wistar rats, healthy, were randomly divided into 5 groups according to the figures of their weights, including control group, drinking arsenic poisoning water group, low, medium and high arsenic contaminated grain group, 10 rats for each.Rats in control group and drinking arsenic poisoning water group were fed with standard feed without any arsenic containing. Rats in water group would drink 100 mg/L As2O3 solution and the rats in arsenic grain groups would be fed with the arsenic contaminated grain at the dose of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, respectively. The duration would last for 3 months.General situation and weight were observed. At the same time, the arsenic contents of urine, hair, liver and kidney of the rats in each group were detected, as well as the histopathology changes of liver and kidney, and the ultra structure of liver was observed., Results: The arsenic contents of urine (median(min-max)) of the rats in the arsenic water group, low, medium and high arsenic grain groups were separately 3055.59 (722.43-6389.05), 635.96(367.85-1551.31), 1453.84 (593.27-5302.94) and 3101.11 (666.64-6858.61) µg/g Cr; while the arsenic contents of hair of the rats in the above groups were separately (23.07 ± 10.38), (8.87 ± 3.31), (12.43 ± 6.65) and (25.68 ± 7.16) µg/g; the arsenic contents of liver of the rats in the above groups were separately (5.68 ± 3.13), (2.64 ± 1.52), (3.89 ± 1.76) and (5.34 ± 2.78) µg/g; and the arsenic contents of kidney were separately (6.90 ± 1.94), (3.48 ± 1.96), (5.03 ± 2.08) and (7.02 ± 1.62) µg/g; which were all significantly higher than those in the control group (86.70 (49.71-106.104) µg/g Cr,(1.28 ± 0.37) µg/g, (1.01 ± 0.34) µg/g and (1.82 ± 1.09) µg/g, respectively). The difference showed significance (P < 0.05). Under electron microscope detection, we observed the reduction of mitochondrial, the blurred mitochondrial cristae, some disappeared ridges, the reduced rough endoplasmic reticulum, and irregular uneven nuclear in the liver cells of rats in arsenic contaminated grain group. The contents of aspartate transaminase (AST) and total bile acid (TBA) in medium and high arsenic contaminated grain group were respectively (196.17 ± 46.18), (212.40 ± 35.14) U/L and (11.74 ± 4.07), (19.19 ± 4.68)µmol/L, which were higher than it in the control group (separately (143.10 ± 29.13) U/L and (6.23 ± 2.95)µmol/L). The contents of glutathione-S-transferases(GST), γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT)and blood urea nitrogen (BUN)in high arsenic contaminated grain group were separately (196.21 ± 47.38)U/L, (1.71 ± 0.66)U/L, (9.54 ± 1.95)mmol/L, which were higher than that in the control group ((134.93 ± 24.80 )U/L, (0.75 ± 0.36)U/L, (7.67 ± 1.02)mmol/L, respectively). The contents of cholinesterase (CHE) in low, medium and high arsenic contaminated grain group were separately (259.90 ± 52.71)U/L, (263.44 ± 66.06)U/L and (244.90 ± 36.14)U/L, the contents of total protein(TP) in rats of high arsenic contaminated grain group were (62.64 ± 5.50)g/L, which was all lower than that in the control group ((448.33 ± 59.67)U/L, (69.38 ± 4.24)g/L, respectively). The contents of TBA in high arsenic contaminated grain group ( (19.19 ± 4.68) µmol/L) was higher than that in drinking water arsenic poisoning group ((15.15 ± 2.64)µmol/L). The differences of the above indexes were all significant (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The results showed the arsenic poisoning rat model produced by coal-burning were successfully established.

Objective: To investigate the effects of mRNA transcriptional and protein expressions of protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) on the development of arsenic liver injury caused by coal-burning., Methods: Population study:133 arsenic exposures were selected as arsenic exposure groups including the ward non-patient group (25 cases) , no obvious hepatopathy group (38 cases) , mild (43 cases) and moderate to severe hepatopathy group (27 cases) from the area with endemic arsenism in Guizhou province. Another 34 healthy residents were selected as the control group in non-arsenic pollution village. The urine and peripheral blood were collected from the subjects. The arsenic contents in urine and mRNA expressions of PKCδ in peripheral blood were detected. Animal experiment study:thirty wistar rats were randomly by random number table divided into control group, drinking water arsenic poisoning group and coal-burning arsenic poisoning group (i.e., low, medium and high arsenic contaminated grain group) by random number table method, including 6 rats in each group. The control group was fed normally for 3 months, drinking water arsenic poisoning group and coal-burning arsenic poisoning groups were fed respectively with 10 mg/kg As2O3 solution and different concentrations (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) of arsenic-containing feed which was persisted 3 months. The arsenic contents in urine, mRNA expression levels of PKCδ in peripheral blood and liver tissue and the protein expression levels of phosphorylated protein kinase Cδ(pPKCδ) in liver tissue were detected., Results: The median(quartile) of arsenic contents in urine were 25.58 (18.62-40.73), 56.66 (38.93-76.77), 64.90 (39.55- 98.37) and 75.47 (41.30-109.70) µg/g Cr respectively for the non-patient group, no obvious hepatopathy group, mild and moderate to severe hepatopathy group. The levels were higher than that in the control group (23.34 (17.84-37.45) µg/g Cr) (P < 0.05), except for the ward non-patient group. The arsenic contents in rat urine were 2223.61 (472.98-3976.73), 701.16 (194.01-1300.27), 1060.94 (246.33-2585.47) and 3101.11 (1919.97-5407.07) µg/g Cr, respectively for the drinking water arsenic poisoning group, the low, medium and high dosage arsenic grain contamination groups, all higher than that in the control group (94.32 (22.65-195.25) µg/g Cr) (P < 0.05) . The protein expressions of pPKCδ in liver tissue were 324.83 ± 25.06, 278.50 ± 30.57, 308.83 ± 34.67 and 326.33 ± 35.09, which were significantly higher than that in the control group (240.17 ± 28.07) (P < 0.05) . The protein expression levels of pPKCδ in liver cell membrane were 0.49 ± 0.06,0.33 ± 0.05,0.37 ± 0.06 and 0.50 ± 0.08, which were significantly higher than that in the control group (0.28 ± 0.04) (P < 0.05) . The protein expression levels of pPKCδ in liver cell cytoplasm were 0.38 ± 0.06,0.31 ± 0.05, 0.35 ± 0.05 and 0.36 ± 0.05, which were significantly higher than that in the control group (0.24 ± 0.05) (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The arsenic may regulate protein expressions of pPKCδ and induce its membrane translocation, and cause the development of arsenic liver injury caused by coal-burning.

The treatment of cancer remains one of the most challenging problems for humanity. Boron neutron capture therapy is a binary approach for cancer treatment that is particularly attractive in treating high-grade gliomas and metastatic brain tumors. Among the types of boron-containing molecules used as boron neutron capture therapy agents, boronated carbohydrate derivatives have received significant attention because of their preferential uptake by growing tumor cells. This review provides a summary of the recent developments in the chemistry of carborane-containing carbohydrates.

Aim: To investigate the antioxidative status of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in southeastern Taiwan., Methods: Our study comprised 27 patients with ALD recruited from Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital, located in southeastern Taiwan. Patients with ALD included 12 non-aborigines (12 men) and 15 aborigines (11 men and 4 women). According to the severity of ALD, patients with ALD included 10 with hepatitis (9 men and 1 woman) and 17 with cirrhosis (14 men and 3 women). Twenty-two age- and gender-matched healthy adults served as the control group in this study. Venous blood (10 mL) of each subject was drawn into EDTA-containing tubes after 8 h overnight fasting., Results: Compared to the control group, patients with ALD showed significantly lower erythrocytic catalase (11.1 ± 0.7 U/mg Hb vs 8.0 ± 0.7 U/mg Hb, P < 0.05) and superoxide dismutase (9.5 ± 1.6 U/mg Hb vs 3.0 ± 0.2 U/mg Hb, P < 0.05) activities. Furthermore, the erythrocytic reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio was significantly lower in ALD patients than that in the control group (38.1 ± 5.4 vs 15.7 ± 1.9, P < 0.05). The results revealed that patients with ALD experienced more oxidative stress than those in the control group. The non-aboriginal, but not the aboriginal, ALD group had higher erythrocytic glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity than that in the control group (46.1 ± 7.8 U/g Hb vs 27.9 ± 2.2 U/g Hb, P < 0.05). Hepatitis, but not cirrhosis, ALD patients had higher erythrocytic GPX activity than that in the control group (44.3 ± 8.6 U/g Hb vs 27.9 ± 2.2 U/g Hb, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our results indicate that both ethnicity and the severity of ALD may cause different erythrocytic antioxidative enzyme activities especially GPX activity.

The synthetic potential of stereoselective, palladium-catalyzed hydro(het)arylation reactions of bi-, tri- and tetracyclic (hetero)alkenes in the presence of phospines and arsines as highly efficient ligands was studied. The mechanism of this reductive Heck reaction becomes more complex in the case of benzonorbornenes. Hydroarylation of diazabicyclo-[2.2.1]heptenes provides a stereoselective access to aryldiaminocyclopentanes. Electron-deficient arylpalladium complexes shift the reaction towards the product of a formal 1,2-hydrazidoarylation reaction of 1,3-cyclopentadiene by a stereoselective C-N cleavage. Due to steric reasons, rigid bicyclo[2.2.2]octenes react slower in hydroarylation reactions than the corresponding bicyclo[2.2.1]heptenes. The more flexible bicyclo[4.2.2]decene system already tends to undergo domino-Heck reactions, even under reductive conditions. When a tetracyclic cis-allylcyclopropane is carbopalladated in the presence of formates, the neighboring cyclopropane ring is attacked in the first reported example of a pi,sigma domino-Heck reaction.

A novel strategy combining the advantages of polymer-supports and organotrifluoroborate chemistry for radiotracer preparation is reported.

Tetrabutylammonium tribromide (TBATB) has been found to be a unique bromodeboronation reagent for organotrifluoroborates. When compared to previously reported bromodeboronation methods, the mild and metal-free reaction conditions tolerate a wider range of functional groups. High regio- and chemoselectivity are observed in the presence of both unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds and aldehyde functional groups. An efficient synthetic route to (Z)-dibromoalkenes from terminal alkynes has been developed using the TBATB-mediated bromodeboronation as a key step.

Objective: To investigate Bartonella infection in rodent hosts from different environments and types of climate in Fujian coastal regions. Genetypes of the Bartonella strains was also studied to provide scientific basis for prevention and control of the correlated diseases., Methods: By random sampling method, we selected six study sites in Fujian southeastern coastal regions. Rodents were captured by cages to Isolate Bartonella strains. Bartonella-like isolates were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The 379 bp fragment of gltA gene was sequenced and the growth and development tree was constructed to determine Bartonella species. Distribution of Bartonella species in the different area and related hosts was also analysed., Results: Bartonella species were isolated from 188 of 1161 small animals including five rodent species. The infected animals were grouped into 2 genera and 2 orders. They were Suncus murinus, Rattus norvegicus, Rattus flavipectus, Mus musculus and Rattus rattus. The overall prevalence of Bartonella bacteremia was 16.19% in the most prevalent species of rodents in Fujian southeastern coastal regions including 21.43% in Suncus murinus, 13.54% in Rattus norvegicus and 18.27% in Rattus flavipectus. Rodents in every investigated areas were infected by Bartonella species (9.25% in Ningde, 9.52% in Fuzhou, 9.38% in Putian, 28.18% in Quanzhou, 17.42% in Xiamen and 13.33% in Zhangzhou). There were significant differences among infected rates in different annual accumulated temperature districts (chi(2) = 12.93, P < 0.001). Isolates from rodents were clustered in three genotypes (B. elizabethae, B. qeenslandensis and B. tribocorum A, B)., Conclusion: The local rodents in Fujian southeastern coastal regions were widely infected by Bartonella spp. Differences among the prevalent species of Bartonella in Fujian southeastern coastal region, Yunan and Beijing were noticed. Our findings suggested there was a need to study the prevalence, related vectors and the molecular organism of Bartonella spp.

3beta,6beta-dihydroxyolean-12-en-27-oic acid (1) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from the rhizomes of Astilbe chinensis. To evaluate the in vivo antitumor potential and to elucidate its immunological mechanisms, effect of 1 on the growth of mouse-transplantable tumors, and the immune response in naive and tumor-bearing mice were investigated. The mice inoculated with mouse tumor cell lines were orally treated with 1 at the doses of 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg for 10 days. The effects of 1 on the growth of mouse-transplantable S180 sarcoma and H22 hepatoma, splenocyte proliferation, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity, natural killer (NK) cell activity, and production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) from splenocytes in S180-bearing mice were measured. Furthermore, the effect of 1 on 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions and the sheep red blood cell (SRBC)-induced antibody response in naive mice were also studied. Compound 1 could not only significantly inhibit the growth of mouse transplantable S180 sarcoma and H22 hepatoma, increase splenocytes proliferation, CTL and NK cell activity, and the level of IL-2 secreted by splenocytes in tumor-bearing mice, but also remarkably promote the DTH reaction and enhance anti-SRBC antibody titers in naive mice. These results suggested that 1 could improve both cellular and humoral immune response, and could act as antitumor agent with immunomodulatory activity.

There is a pressing need for new and more efficient boron delivery agents to tumor cells for use in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). A class of boronated unnatural cyclic amino acids has demonstrated a remarkable selectivity toward tumors in animal and cell culture models, far superior to currently used agents in clinical BNCT. One of these amino acids, 1-amino-3-boronocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (ABCPC), has shown a tumor to blood ratio of 8 and a tumor to normal brain ratio of nearly 21 in a melanoma bearing mouse model. This work represents further biological characterization of this compound for tumor targeting in an EMT6 murine mammary carcinoma mouse model and a T98G human glioblastoma cell line. Female BALB/c mice bearing EMT6 tumors were injected with the fructose complex form of racemic mixtures of cis and trans isomers of ABCPC in identical concentrations. Boron concentrations were measured in the tumor, blood, brain, skin, and liver tissues at 1, 3, and 5 h post-injection. These observations revealed a remarkable difference in racemic mixtures of cis and trans isomers in tumor targeting by boron. This implies that further separation of the L and D forms of this compound may enhance tumor targeting to an even higher degree than that provided by the racemic mixtures. Since the uptake measurements were made in homogenized tumor and normal tissues, little is known about the subcellular location of the boron arising from the various isomeric forms of the amino acid. To study subcellular delivery of boron from ABCPC in T98G human glioblastoma cells, we employed secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) based technique of ion microscopy, which is capable of quantitatively imaging isotopic (elemental) gradients in cells and tissues at 500 nm spatial resolution. The T98G cells were exposed to the nutrient medium containing 100 ppm boron equivalent of a mixture of both L and D isomers of ABCPC in the form of a fructose complex for 1 h. Following this treatment, the cells were fast frozen, freeze-fractured, and freeze-dried for SIMS analysis. Within an hour of exposure, ABCPC provided partitioning of intracellular to extracellular boron of 3/1. SIMS imaging revealed that boron from ABCPC was distributed throughout the cell, including the nucleus. This level of boron delivery within an hour of exposure is superior to p-boronophenylalanine (BPA) and sodium borocaptate (BSH), which have been previously studied by SIMS in the same cell line. These encouraging observations provide compelling support for further isomeric separations of ABCPC into the D and L forms for enhanced tumor targeting and continued testing of these compounds as new boron carriers in BNCT.

Alkoxide C-O bond cleavage occurs readily at room temperature in the presence of titanium(IV) halide. Capture of the resultant carbocation by alkynes provides an efficient route to trisubstituted (E)-alkenyl halides with high stereoselectivity.

Objective: To understand the dietary nutrients among rural stranded children., Methods: 2551 children aged 2 to 7, including 1278 stranded children in the rural areas and another 127 children served as controls were selected, using multistage stratified cluster random sampling. Dietary survey was performed with three-day weighing dietary method and questionnaire on food intake. Data on diet were analyzed and evaluated by the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) recommend by Chinese Nutrition Society, to evaluate the levels on energy and nutrient intake among stranded children in the rural areas., Results: The dietary pattern among rural stranded children mainly consisted of grains and vegetables, but the intakes of animal products, fruits, and snacks were significantly less than in the control group. The intakes of three major energy-producing nutrients were below the recommend nutrient intake. Minerals as calcium, zinc, selenium, kalium and vitamins as vitamin A, B1, B2 were insufficient. Most of the rural stranded children took nutrients insufficiently, with 50% lack of adequate energy and 80% of protein, 90% of minerals (calcium, zinc etc.) and vitamins (vitamin BI and vitamin B2 etc.). Sources from high quality protein was insufficient, only consisting 35% of the total protein, but overabundant (over 64%) from the plants. The intake of plant-sources iron was overabundant, accounted for 87%., Conclusion: The dietary pattern was unsatisfactory with insufficient intake of energy-sources proteins and some nutrients. The sources of energy, protein, and iron were mostly obtained from underbalanced foods. It is necessary to improve the dietary nutrients status among rural stranded children aged 2-7 years.

An alternate reaction mechanism for the boron tribromide mediated deprotection of aryl propargyl ethers based on the isolation of a key boron-containing byproduct is proposed. On the basis of the new mechanistic insight, we discovered that HBBr(2) x SMe(2) can also be used for cleaving aryl propargyl ethers.

The effects of SOD contained silkworm powder on immune regulation and inhibition against Hepatoma 22 tumor cells in vivo were investigated. The activity of natural killer cell (NK) and the ConA-stimulated spleen proliferation were measured. The results found that the SOD-contained silkworm powder caused an enhancement on NK cell activity, which implied this material modulated the immune system in mice in vivo. The NK cell activities of Hepatoma 22 tumor modeled mice treated with silkworm powder including SOD were increased significantly compared to a modeled control and silkworm powder without SOD, reaching 36.18%. In addition, the ConA-stimulated spleen proliferation of SOD treated mice was higher than that of the controls. The treatment of SOD contained silkworm powder presented 40.3% of average inhibition rate to Hepatoma 22 tumor, showing stronger inhibition against tumor. There were no significant difference in body weight between modeled control and SOD silkworm powder feeding in Hepatoma 22 tumor modeled mice, suggesting the SOD silkworm powder is safety as an inhabitant to tumor. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that administration of silkworm powder containing SOD results in activation of NK cells and immunity, suggesting the silkworm powder containing SOD plays a positive role in tumor inhibition.

Natural killer cell (NK) is known as a major immune system in body through mediating cell death via several possible pathways, and one of three subpopulations of lymphocytes functioning as scavenger of tumor, virus infected cells etc. Our present results found that the SOD-contained silkworm larvae powder caused an enhancement of the effect on NK cell cytotoxicity, which implied this material modulated the immune system in mice in vivo. The NK cell activities of S180 tumor modeled mice treated with silkworm powder including SOD were enhanced significantly ranging from 30% to 48%, respectively, compare to a distilled water feeding control and silkworm powder without SOD. Meanwhile, the ConA-stimulated splenocyte proliferation of all three treated groups was higher than that of the control both in T cells or B cells. The average tumor weight of S180 modeled mice treated with doses of SOD-contained silkworm powder was lighter than that of water control showing the tumor inhibition rates (IR) reached to 22.51% to 37%, respectively. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that administration of silkworm larvae powder containing SOD results in activation of NK cells and immune T-cell and B-cell, suggesting the silkworm larvae powder containing SOD play a positive role in tumor inhibition.

Aim: To study the effect of icariin (ICA) on the intermediate and advanced activation of murine T lymphocytes stimulated by concanvalin A (ConA) in vitro., Methods: Single cell suspensions were prepared from murine lymphoid nodes under germ free condition. The drug toxicity of ICA on T lymphocytes was measured by MTT after 24 h. Before they were stimulated by ConA (the final concentration was 5 mg/L), T cells were treated with different concentrations of icariin for 4 h. The expression of CD25 and CD71, the marker of intermediate and advanced activation of T lymphocytes, were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) combined with two-colour immunofluorescent staining of cell surface antigen after 24 h and 30 h. The change of cytokine contents such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in the supernatant of intermediate activation was measured by Luminex 100., Results: ICA at the final concentration of 0.3, 1.5, 3.0 micromol/L inhibited the expression of CD25 with dose-dependent effect but it had no effect on that of CD71. ICA decreased the secretion of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 but increased that of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma., Conclusion: ICA can not only decrease CD25, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 but also enhance the cell-mediated immunity reaction. So it may have a function of two-way regulation of immune balance.

Aim: To study the effect of shuanghuanglian injection on the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes in mice in vitro., Methods: The toxic effect of SHL on lymphocytes in mice was estimated by MTT test; Double-fluorescent plus flow cytometry to analyze the effect of SHL on the activation of T lymphocytes in mice stimulated by ConA in vitro; MTT test and CFDA-SE plus flow cytometry were used to detect the effect of SHL on the proliferation of T lymphocytes in mice induced by ConA in vitro., Results: SHL had little side effect on lymphocytes in mice in vitro; At the mass concentration of 60, 80, 100, 120 mg/L, SHL inhibited the activation of T lymphocytes in mice stimulated by ConA in vitro (P<0.01); Both MTT test and CFDA-SE stain sign that SHL inhibited the activation of T lymphocytes in mice induced by ConA in vitro at the mass concentration of 60, 80, 100, 120 mg/L (P<0.01)., Conclusion: SHL can inhibit the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes in mice in vitro.

Objective: To investigate the effects of Forskolin on activation, proliferation, and cell-cycle distribution of murine CD3+ T lymphocytes, and study the mechanisms of its immunosuppressive effect., Methods: Singel cell suspensions were prepared from murine lymph nodes. Fluorescence conjugated monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry were used to detect the expression of CD69 activated by Con A, the proliferation index of activated mouse T lymphocytes was analyzed by CFDA-SE staining, the distribution of the cell cycle was analyzed by PI staining., Results: Forskolin (10(-7), 10(-6), 10(-5) M) could inhibit both the expression of CD69 on CD3+ T lymphocytes and T lymphocyte proliferation index stimulated by Con A in a dose-dependent manner. The C0/G1 of T lymphocytes increased but the S, G2/M phase decreased., Conclusion: Forskolin can inhibit the activation and proliferation of murine T lymphocytes in vitro, and arrest activated T lymphocytes from G0/G1 to S or G2/M. Forskolin is a potential immunosupressive agent.

To develop a small molecule-based tracer for in vivo apoptosis imaging, dansylhydrazone (DFNSH) was synthesized in 93% yield in less than 30 min. The biological evaluation showed that DFNSH selectively binds to paclitaxel-induced apoptotic cancer cells. The high magnification fluorescent images demonstrate that DFNSH is localized within the cytoplasm of cells that bound Alexa 488 labeled annexin V on the plasma membrane. [(18)F]-DFNSH ([(18)F]-3) was synthesized and isolated in 50-60% radiochemical yields, based on [K/K(222)](18)F, with a synthesis time of 50 min (EOB). The straightforward preparation of fluorine-18 labeled 3 makes it a promising tracer for PET imaging of apoptosis.

A boron trihalide mediated alkyne-aldehyde coupling reaction leading to stereodefined 1,3,5-triaryl-1,5-dihalo-1,4-pentadienes is described. The study led to the discovery of a direct substitution of hydroxyl groups by stereodefined alkenyl moieties using alkenylboron dihalides. During the investigation, it was also discovered that, at low temperatures, the reaction of BCl3 with alkynes produces monovinylboron dichloride rather than the reported divinylboron chloride. A modified reaction mechanism for the boron trichloride mediated alkyne-aldehyde coupling reaction is now proposed. The reaction temperature and mode of addition have been found to have dramatic affects on the stereochemistry of the diene products.

The reaction of aryl aldehydes with allylsilanes in the presence of boron trihalides produces haloallylated products. Mechanistic details are presented.

The reaction of alkoxides with boron trichloride results in the generation of cations in the absence of Brønsted acids. The absence of a Brønsted acid can make a difference in subsequent transformations such as allylation reactions.

Background: Central venous catheterization is an important procedure for infant patients for a number of different purposes, including nutritional support, surgical operation, hemodynamic monitoring, and multiple lines for critical care medications. Subclavian vein catheterization (SVC) is one of the central vein catheterization techniques. SVC can be performed from 4 different locations: right supraclavicular (RSC), left supraclavicular (LSC), right infraclavicular (RIC), and left infraclavicular (LIC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness and complication risks of these 4 SVC locations in infants., Methods: In our pediatric intensive care unit, which is part of a tertiary medical center, a well-trained fellow doctor performed the following catheterizations: 21 RSC, 24 LSC, 24 RIC, and 22 LIC, for a total of 91 SVC operations in infants. The patients were placed in the Trendelenburg position. The site of puncture was decided by the operator. Statistical significance was analyzed according to Fisher's exact test and 2-sample t test., Results: The overall success rate was 90.1% (82 out of 91 operations). No statistically significant differences were noted among these 4 groups, either in the success or complication rate. There were 6 cases of arterial puncture (5 supraclavicular and 1 infraclavicular, p = 0.09), 2 cases of pneumothorax (1 RSC and 1 RIC), and 2 cases of malpositioned catheter (1 RSC and 1 RIC). There was no mortality., Conclusion: In our study, we found that there was no statistically significant difference among the 4 SVC locations in effectiveness of operation or in risk of complication. There was a tendency to damage the subclavian arteries through the supraclavicular route.

The reaction of alkynylboron dihalides with benzylic, allylic, and propargylic alcohols provides an efficient route to internal acetylenes. Isomerization of the product alkynes does not occur under the reaction conditions.