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Background In order to establish the link between quality traits and genotypes of Blumea balsamifera and specific allele variations, 51 B. balsamifera germplasm resources were used to evaluate the quality traits, EST-SSR markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity, population structure and the correlation between main quality traits and EST-SSR molecular markers. Results (1) There were abundant variations in the main quality traits of the tested materials. The highest coefficient of variation was Eriodictyol (85.5%), followed by carotenoid 3,3’,5,7-tetrahydroxy-4’-methoxyflavanone and Sakuranetin, 11 excellent B. balsamifera germplasms were selected by principal component analysis; (2) Genetic diversity analysis showed that a total of 102 alleles were amplified from 22 pairs of primers, of which the effective alleles accounted for 53.52%, and the average polymorphism information content was 0.488, 9 pairs of primers had high polymorphism (PIC > 0.5), 11 pairs of primers had moderate polymorphism (0.25 Nm was 0.203, which was far less than 1, indicating that there was almost no inbreeding between germplasms; The average Nei diversity index and Shannon information index were 0.542 and 1.023, which showed that the population had a high level of genetic diversity; (3) UPGMA cluster analysis and population structure analysis divided the 51 germplasms into 4 groups, and the germplasms from the same source were often gathered in a group. UPGMA cluster analysis showed that geographic distance affected the genetic relationship of germplasm to some extent; PCA analysis indicated that the genetic background of germplasm with similar geographical distance was similar, and the genetic relationship was closer; The analysis of population structure showed that the geographical origin of germplasm was closely related to the genetic relationship of germplasm, and again confirmed the accuracy of UPGMA cluster analysis; (4) The result of linkage disequilibrium(LD) analysis showed that the markers with D '>0.5 accounted for more than 50%, and the recombination probability between germplasm genes was low, indicating that the level of genetic diversity of the population was high, suggesting that the experimental materials were suitable for association analysis, and (5) The result of correlation analysis between quality traits and EST-SSR markers showed that 23 markers significantly correlated with 6 quality traits were detected, and the variance interpretation rate was 19.33% − 57.86%. Among them, the character Blumeatin had the best correlation with EST-SSR loci, and showed a very significant correlation with Bbf377 marker primer. Conclusion The results could lay a theoretical foundation for the selection and genetic improvement of excellent germplasm of B. balsamifera in the future.

To improve the ventilation and air-conditioning energy efficiency of buildings in hot and dry climates, this paper proposed and experimentally investigated an indirect flash evaporative cooling (IF...

Small Extracellular Vesicles The simultaneous high expression of LAG‐3 and PD‐1 on T cells in cardiac transplantation mouse models and clinical renal transplantation patients provides the possibility to establish immune tolerance by giving their ligand molecules. In article number 2102634 by Bo Jia, Fang Cheng, Hongbo Chen, and co‐workers, small extracellular vesicles derived from bioengineered PD‐L1/FGL1‐expressed mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated with low‐dose FK506 exerted a powerful synergistic inhibitory effect on T cell activation and, therefore, prolonged grafts survival. [Image: see text]

Background Dysregulated long non-coding RNAs participate in the development of diabetic cerebral ischemia. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanism of lncRNA MALAT1 in diabetic cerebral ischemia. Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed to establish diabetic cerebral I/R in vivo. TTC and neurological deficits assessment were performed to assess cerebral ischemic injury. LDH was conducted to detect cytotoxicity. RT-qPCR and western blotting assays were applied to determine mRNA and protein expression. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the pyroptosis of BV2 cells. Immunofluorescence and FISH were conducted for subcellular localization of MALAT1 and STAT1. ELISA was performed to determine cytokine release. Dual luciferase reporter, RIP, and ChIP assays were used to validate the interaction between STAT1 and MALAT1/NLRP3. Results Diabetes aggravated cerebral injury in vivo and in vitro. Diabetic cerebral ischemia induced inflammatory response and inflammation-induced cell pyroptosis. MALAT1 was overexpressed in diabetic cerebral ischemia models in vivo and in vitro. However, knockdown of MALAT1 suppressed inflammatory response and the pyroptosis of BV2 cells. Moreover, MALAT1 interacted with STAT1 to transcriptionally activate NLRP3. Knockdown of STAT1 significantly reversed the effects of MALAT1. Furthermore, STAT1 upregulated MALAT1 expression. Conclusion MALAT1 interacts with STAT1 to promote the pyroptosis of neural cells induced by diabetic cerebral ischemia through regulating NLRP3. Therefore, knockdown of MALAT1 may be a promising therapy for diabetic cerebral ischemia.

Mutations in the plant homeodomain-like finger protein 6 (PHF6) gene are strongly associated with acute myeloid (AML) and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). In this study, we demonstrated that PHF6 can bind to H3K9me3 and H3K27me1 on the nucleolar chromatin and recruit histone methyltransferase SUV39H1 to the rDNA locus. The deletion of PHF6 caused a decrease in the recruitment of SUV39H1 to rDNA gene loci, resulting in a reduction in the level of H3K9me3 and the promotion of rDNA transcription. The knockdown of either SUV39H1 or PHF6 significantly attenuated the effects of increase in H3K9me3 and suppressed the transcription of rDNA induced by the overexpression of the other interacting partner, thereby establishing an interdependent relationship between PHF6 and SUV39H1 in their control of rRNA transcription. The PHF6 clinical mutants significantly impaired the ability to bind and recruit SUV39H1 to the rDNA loci, resulting in an increase in rDNA transcription activity, the proliferation of in vitro leukemia cells, and the growth of in vivo mouse xenografts. Importantly, significantly elevated levels of pre-rRNA were observed in clinical AML patients who possessed a mutated version of PHF6. The specific rDNA transcription inhibitor CX5461 significantly reduced the resistance of U937 AML cells deficient in PHF6 to cytarabine, the drug that is most commonly used to treat AML. Collectively, we revealed a novel molecular mechanism by which PHF6 recruits methyltransferase SUV39H1 to the nucleolar region in leukemia and provided a potential therapeutic target for PHF6-mutant leukemia.

There is an urgent need for developing new immunosuppressive agents due to the toxicity of long‐term use of broad immunosuppressive agents after organ transplantation. Comprehensive sample analysis revealed dysregulation of FGL1/LAG‐3 and PD‐L1/PD‐1 immune checkpoints in allogeneic heart transplantation mice and clinical kidney transplant patients. In order to enhance these two immunosuppressive signal axes, a bioengineering strategy is developed to simultaneously display FGL1/PD‐L1 (FP) on the surface of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). Among various cell sources, FP sEVs derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) not only enriches FGL1/PD‐L1 expression but also maintain the immunomodulatory properties of unmodified MSC sEVs. Next, it is confirmed that FGL1 and PD‐L1 on sEVs are specifically bound to their receptors, LAG‐3 and PD‐1 on target cells. Importantly, FP sEVs significantly inhibite T cell activation and proliferation in vitro and a heart allograft model. Furthermore, FP sEVs encapsulated with low‐dose FK506 (FP sEVs@FK506) exert stronger effects on inhibiting T cell proliferation, reducing CD8+ T cell density and cytokine production in the spleens and heart grafts, inducing regulatory T cells in lymph nodes, and extending graft survival. Taken together, dual‐targeting sEVs have the potential to boost the immune inhibitory signalings in synergy and slow down transplant rejection., MSC‐derived FGL1/PD‐L1 sEVs encapsulated in FK506 exhibited a strong ability to inhibit T cell activation and proliferation, and also induced Tregs in organ recipient mice. An experimental basis for a novel intervention strategy is provided that leverages the function of target delivery sEVs to synergistically enhance two immunosuppression axes and reestablish immune tolerance, ultimately promoting organ acceptance.

Gut microbiome profoundly affects many aspects of host physiology and behaviors. Here we report that gut microbiome modulates aggressive behaviors in Drosophila. We found that germ-free males showed substantial decrease in inter-male aggression, which could be rescued by microbial re-colonization. These germ-free males are not as competitive as wild-type males for mating with females, although they displayed regular levels of locomotor and courtship behaviors. We further found that Drosophila microbiome interacted with diet during a critical developmental period for the proper expression of octopamine and manifestation of aggression in adult males. These findings provide insights into how gut microbiome modulates specific host behaviors through interaction with diet during development.

There are few effective preventive or therapeutic strategies to mitigate the effects of catastrophic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in humans. Heme oxygenase is the rate-limiting enzyme in heme metabolism; heme oxygenase-2 (HO-2) is a constitutively expressed heme oxygenase. We explored the involvement of HO-2 in a collagenase-induced mouse model of ICH in C57BL/6 wild-type and HO-2 knockout mice. We assessed oxidative stress injury, blood-brain barrier permeability, neuronal damage, late-stage angiogenesis, and hematoma clearance using immunofluorescence, Western blot, MRI, and special staining methods. Our results show that HO-2 reduces brain injury volume and brain edema, alleviates cytotoxic injury, affects vascular function in the early stage of ICH, and improves hematoma absorbance and angiogenesis in the late stage of ICH in this model. Thus, we found that HO-2 has a protective effect on brain injury after ICH.

Swimming biohybrid microsized robots (e.g., bacteria- or sperm-driven microrobots) with self-propelling and navigating capabilities have become an exciting field of research, thanks to their controllable locomotion in hard-to-reach areas of the body for noninvasive drug delivery and treatment. However, current cell-based microrobots are susceptible to immune attack and clearance upon entering the body. Here, we report a neutrophil-based microrobot ("neutrobot") that can actively deliver cargo to malignant glioma in vivo. The neutrobots are constructed through the phagocytosis of Escherichia coli membrane-enveloped, drug-loaded magnetic nanogels by natural neutrophils, where the E. coli membrane camouflaging enhances the efficiency of phagocytosis and also prevents drug leakage inside the neutrophils. With controllable intravascular movement upon exposure to a rotating magnetic field, the neutrobots could autonomously aggregate in the brain and subsequently cross the blood-brain barrier through the positive chemotactic motion of neutrobots along the gradient of inflammatory factors. The use of such dual-responsive neutrobots for targeted drug delivery substantially inhibits the proliferation of tumor cells compared with traditional drug injection. Inheriting the biological characteristics and functions of natural neutrophils that current artificial microrobots cannot match, the neutrobots developed in this study provide a promising pathway to precision biomedicine in the future.

To develop the chromatographic fingerprint of Lonicera japonica (L. japonica) and evaluate the effects of polyploidy on the quality of L. japonica.High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods used to establish the chromatographic fingerprint were developed. The quality of 11 batches of diploid L. japonica and 13 batches of tetraploid L. japonica collected from different regions across China were analyzed. The contents of five active compounds, consisting of chlorogenic acid, rutin, galuteolin, isochlorogenic acid A and quercetin, were further detected in L. japonica.The chromatographic fingerprint established by the optimized HPLC method was verified for qualitative analysis of L. japonica. Quantitative analysis showed that the contents of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, and quercetin in tetraploid plants were higher than those in diploid plants, whereas rutin and galuteolin contents in tetraploid plants were lower than those in diploid plants.The developed HPLC method is suitable for qualitative analysis of L. japonica. Polyploidy was indicated to influence the chemical properties of L. japonica. Tetraploid L. japonica shows potential for utilization as a medicinal plant with different active components.

Differences in microRNA (miRNA) expression after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have been reported in human and animal models, and miRNAs are being investigated as a new treatment for inflammation and oxidative stress after ICH. In this study, we found that microRNA-183-5p expression was decreased in the mouse brain after ICH. To investigate the effect of miRNA-183-5p on injury and repair of brain tissue after ICH, saline, miRNA-183-5p agomir, or miRNA-183-5p antagomir were injected into the lateral ventricles of 8-week-old mice with collagenase-induced ICH. Three days after ICH, mice treated with exogenous miRNA-183-5p showed less brain edema, neurobehavioral defects, inflammation, oxidative stress, and ferrous deposition than control mice. In addition, by alternately treating mice with a heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) inducer, a HO-1 inhibitor, a nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) activator, and Nrf2 knockout, we demonstrated an indirect, HO-1-dependent regulatory relationship between miRNA-183-5p and Nrf2. Our results indicate that miRNA-183-5p and HO-1 are promising therapeutic targets for controlling inflammation and oxidative damage after hemorrhagic stroke.

In the field investigation of rural dwellings, it was found that thermal feelings are significantly different with varied envelopes even under the same indoor air temperature, and this paper explores the phenomenon in simulation. Based on building thermal investigations in several villages of North China, a typical energy and environment simulation model for rural residences was developed using DeST, and the hourly parameters of temperature and humidity were used to calculate the adaptive thermal comfort (APMV) of the rooms. The results show that the main reason for the different thermal comfort at the same air temperature is the large difference in the inner surface temperature. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the envelope structure, the relationship between it and the APMV value is obtained. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the enclosure structure and getting the correlation between it and the APMV value, it is obtained that when the heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure meets 0.5 W/(m2·K), the indoors can be in thermal comfort. This paper considers that the indoor air temperature cannot represent the APMV to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, and the APMV value should be used to evaluate the thermal comfort of the renovated building and calculate the corresponding energy saving rate.

Stroke is a life-threatening disease that results in significant disability in the human population. Despite the advances in current stroke therapies, a host of patients do not benefit from the conventional treatments. Thus, more effective therapies are required. It has been previously reported that leucine-rich-α2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) is crucial during the formation of new blood vessels in retinal diseases. However, the function of LRG1 in the brain during the neovessel growth process following ischemic stroke has not been fully elucidated and the mechanism underlying its effect on angiogenesis remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to demonstrate whether LRG1 may promote angiogenesis through the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 signaling pathway in ischemic rat brain following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). In the present study, the spatial and temporal expression of LRG1, TGF-β1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) were detected in ischemic rat brain following MCAO using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. CD34 immunohistochemistry staining was used as an indicator of microvessel density (MVD). The RT-qPCR and western blotting results revealed that the levels of LRG1 and TGF-β1 mRNA and protein expression were significantly increased as early as 6 and 12 h after MCAO (P

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of stroke with high morbidity and mortality. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the key enzyme in heme degradation, is highly expressed after ICH, but its role is still unclear. In this study, we used an HO-1 inducer and inhibitor to test the role of HO-1 in different stages of ICH in vivo and in vitro. In the early stage of ICH, high HO-1 expression worsened the outcomes of mice subjected to the collagenase-induced ICH model. HO-1 increased brain edema, white matter damage, neuronal death, and neurobehavioral deficits. Furthermore, elevated HO-1 increased inflammation, oxidative stress, matrix metalloproteinase-9/2 activity, and iron deposition. In the later stage of ICH, long-term induction of HO-1 increased hematoma absorption, angiogenesis, and recovery of neurologic function. We conclude that HO-1 activation mediates early brain damage after ICH but promotes neurologic function recovery in the later stage of ICH.

The sambong (Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC.) leaf was investigated by applying frozen section and thin section technology, and observed through optical microscope. The results showed that the sambong leaf was firstly originated nearby the apical bud at the stem tip. The first leaf grows fast, that the mitosis happens frequently and the cytoplasm manufacture rapidly. The cells in the first few leaves have not yet differentiated into the spongy parenchyma and palisade parenchyma. In the mature leaf, the spongy parenchyma and palisade parenchyma were fully developed. The epidermal hairs were firstly developed on the abaxial side of the first leaf.

Compressed natural gas-Diesel dual-fuel combustion mode, the partial replacement of diesel fuel with cleaner fuel, is one of the most important strategies to achieve clean efficient combustion. However, low substitutions conditions face unstable combustion and high emission issues. Thus, the current work investigated the effect of hydrogen blending in natural gas on the combustion and soot emission characteristics experimentally in an optical engine. An optical diagnosis study of its performance, combustion flame development, and soot concentration distribution was conducted at various hydrogen volume rates (0%, 30%) and main injection timing (13°CA BTDC, 10°CA BTDC, 5°CA BTDC). In-cylinder flame images were captured by a high-speed camera and further processed to obtain flame characteristics as well as soot distributions. The results showed that the effect of hydrogen blending is mainly reflected in a change of ignition delay period and more ignition points at the initial combustion stage which improves combustion stability. When hydrogen is added, flame propagation speeds up, the flame distribution is more extensive especially in the first stage combustion, the heat release rate and pressure rise rate increase accordingly. Besides, soot emissions considerably decreased in the central region of the cylinder, especially during the first stages of combustion. When the injection advance angle is large, adding hydrogen results in the ignition delay period is extended, more premixed flames appear, and the maximum pressure increases. When that is small, adding hydrogen shortens the ignition delay period, but the poor diesel atomization results in diffusion combustion.

Compressed natural gas/Diesel dual-fuel combustion mode, the partial replacement of diesel fuel with cleaner fuel, is one of the most important strategies to achieve clean efficient combustion. Thus, the current work investigated the effect of various natural gas substitution ratios on the combustion and soot emission characteristics experimentally in an optical diesel engine. Experiments were performed at different compressed natural gas (CNG) substitution rates of 30%, 50%, 70%, 85% (based on energy) over a wide range of equivalence ratios of the premixed charge. In-cylinder flame images were captured by a high-speed camera and further processed to obtain flame characteristics as well as soot distributions. The results show that the effect of natural gas is reflected mainly in the premixed flame area and a change of the ignition delay period. As the substitution ratio increasing, the pressure and the heat release rate decrease, while the ignition delay period prolongs and the premixed flame distribution is more extensive. Besides, high-temperature regions and the soot volume fraction decrease, especially at higher substitution ratios conditions. Through controlling the natural gas substitution ratios, an efficient and clean combustion mode for dual-fuel engines can be found. In general, higher natural gas substitution rate leads to cleaner combustion trends and more desirable flame characteristics.

Bufadienolides-like chemicals, which mostly composed the active ingredient of Chansu, had been widely discovered to possess anti-inflammatory, tumor-suppressing and antipain activity, but the mechanisms of action were not clearly illuminated. In this research, in order to explore the potential mechanism of bufadienolides-like chemicals on breast cancer, a serious of bioinformatics analysis, included (1) differentially expressed genes identification combined with gene set variation analysis, (2) tissue specific co-expression network construction, (3) differentially regulated sub-networks detection with disease phenome, (4) hub gene selection and it’s relation to survival probability, and (5) similar small molecule detection were performed with gene expression profiles of bufadienolides-like chemicals. Results indicated bufadienolides-like chemicals had the most same target with valproic, estradiol and etc, could disturbed the pathways in RNA splicing, apoptotic process, cell migration, extracellular matrix organization, adherens junction organization, synaptic transmission, Wnt signaling, AK-STAT signaling, BMP signaling pathway and unfolded protein response, and had the potential ability to be used as anticancer, hormones and vasoprotectives agents.

Aberrant c-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) activation is broadly involved in the pathogenesis of several acute and chronic neurological diseases. However, the mechanism of JNK activation leading to aggravation of injury after ICH remains unclear. In this study, we confirmed that using NIMoEsh to inhibit JNK activation effectively reduced the level of brain injury following ICH. We evaluated brain outcomes by histology, immunofluorescence, Luxol fast blue/Cresyl violet staining and other experimental methods. We found that NIMoEsh could significantly inhibit the activity of JNK and thus improve inflammation, white-matter damage and neuronal cell death after ICH in mice. Our results suggest that JNK activation plays an important role of brain damage after acute stage of ICH and that NIMoEsh may be a potential target drug for the treatment of ICH.

Blumea balsamifera (Ai-na-xiang) is used as an important plant source of natural borneol, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this study was to establish the methods based on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for determining the geographical origin of B. balsamifera, as well as developing a method for the quantitative rapid analysis of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). A total of 109 samples were collected from China in 2013 and arbitrarily divided into calibration and prediction sets using the Kennard–Stone algorithm. The l-borneol and total flavone contents of the samples were measured by gas chromatography and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, respectively. The NIR spectra were acquired using an integrating sphere and a partial least squares (PLS) model was built using the optimum wavelength regions, which were selected using a synergy interval partial least-squares (SiPLS) algorithm. The root mean square errors of prediction of the l-borneol and total flavone models were 0.0779 and 2.2694 mg/g, with R2 of 0.9069 and 0.8013, respectively. A discriminant model to determine the geographical origin of B. balsamifera (Guizhou and Hainan) was also established using a partial least squares discriminant analysis method with an optimum pretreatment method. The prediction accuracy rate of the model was 100%. NIR spectroscopy can be used as a reliable and environmentally friendly method to determine the API and the origin of different B. balsamifera samples.

Steep and long slope is an obvious characteristic of mountainous highways. Unreasonable acceleration or deceleration of the vehicles on the slopes will increase the fuel consumption. Improving the performance of the engine or the transmission system has limited energy saving potential, and most fuel-efficient driving assistant systems don’t consider the road conditions. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce an economic driving strategy to optimize vehicle speed profile for commercial vehicles traveling in mountainous areas with consideration of future road conditions. Economic driving strategy based on the energy conservation principle can adapt to various vehicles due to its less dependence on the engine fuel consumption characteristics. The engine brake performance measurement based on the vehicle longitudinal dynamics is achieved by analyzing the vehicle state information during transportation, which reduces the test times in the laboratory or the proving ground. Economic driving strategy will plan optimal speed profiles for commercial vehicles with consideration of future road conditions before the vehicles reach the slopes. Economic driving strategy guides the drivers to adjust vehicle speed reasonably, distribute effectively braking distance of the engine brake and the friction brakes on the slopes. The engine output energy and the brake energy loss can be reduced for improving the vehicle energy utilization rate when the drivers follow economic driving guidance. Semi-physical simulations were carried out to validate the effectiveness of economic driving strategy. The simulation results showed that economic driving strategy could increases the fuel economy by 3.4% to 5.5% averagely compared with the drives without economic guidance. The transportation cost and the abrasions of the friction brakes will be effectively reduced when economic driving strategy is applied to advanced driving assistance systems.

Bufadienolide-like chemicals are mostly composed of the active ingredient of Chansu and they have anti-inflammatory, tumor-suppressing, and anti-pain activities, however, their mechanism is unclear. This work used bioinformatics analysis to study this mechanism via gene expression profiles of bufadienolide-like chemicals: (1) Differentially expressed gene identification combined with gene set variation analysis, (2) similar small -molecule detection, (3) tissue-specific co-expression network construction, (4) differentially regulated sub-networks related to breast cancer phenome, (5) differentially regulated sub-networks with potential cardiotoxicity, and (6) hub gene selection and their relation to survival probability. The results indicated that bufadienolide-like chemicals usually had the same target as valproic acid and estradiol, etc. They could disturb the pathways in RNA splicing, the apoptotic process, cell migration, extracellular matrix organization, adherens junction organization, synaptic transmission, Wnt signaling, AK-STAT signaling, BMP signaling pathway, and protein folding. We also investigated the potential cardiotoxicity and found a dysregulated subnetwork related to membrane depolarization during action potential, retinoic acid receptor binding, GABA receptor binding, positive regulation of nuclear division, negative regulation of viral genome replication, and negative regulation of the viral life cycle. These may play important roles in the cardiotoxicity of bufadienolide-like chemicals. The results may highlight the potential anticancer mechanism and cardiotoxicity of Chansu, and could also explain the ability of bufadienolide-like chemicals to be used as hormones and anticancer and vasoprotectives agents.

A novel chitosan-based microcapsule containing patchouli oil was developed by a non-toxic procedure for the purpose of improving the stability of patchouli oil and achieving a durable controlled release effect. The microcapsules were characterized in case of morphology, particle size and size distribution, infrared spectrum, and the drug controlled-release properties of microcapsules were investigated under constant temperature of 25 °C. The results indicated that the microcapsules were spherical in shape with good dispersibility and smooth surface, and the particle size of microcapsules ranged from 1 to 10 ?m. The controlled-release of patchouli oil could still be remained about 60% in the microcapsules after 10 days, which demonstrated that the stability of patchouli oil were effectively improved after being encapsulated in microcapsules. It is believed that this study will not only provide a novel chitosan-based microcapsule production containing patchouli oil, but also promote the applications of microcapsule technology for improving the bioavailability of active volatile oils.

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) evolved through thousands of years of practice and was popular not only among the Chinese population, but also most countries in the world. Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. as a traditional treatment for wound healing in Li Nationality Medicine has a long history of nearly 2000 years. This study was to evaluate the effects of total flavonoids from Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. on skin excisional wound on the back of Sprague-Dawley rats, reveal its chemical constitution, and postulate its action mechanism. The rats were divided into five groups and the model groups were treated with 30% glycerol, the positive control groups with Jing Wan Hong (JWH) ointment, and three treatment groups with high dose (2.52 g·kg−1), medium dose (1.26 g·kg−1), and low dose (0.63 g·kg−1) of total flavonoids from B. balsamifera. During 10 consecutive days of treatment, the therapeutic effects of rates were evaluated. On day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, and day 10 after treatment, skin samples were taken from all the rats for further study. Significant increases of granulation tissue, fibroblast, and capillary vessel proliferation were observed at day 7 in the high dose and positive control groups, compared with the model group, with the method of 4% paraformaldehyde for histopathological examination and immunofluorescence staining. To reveal the action mechanisms of total flavonoids on wound healing, the levels of CD68, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and hydroxyproline were measured at different days. Results showed that total flavonoids had significant effects on rat skin excisional wound healing compared with controls, especially high dose ones (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the total flavonoid extract was investigated phytochemically, and twenty-seven compounds were identified from the total flavonoid sample by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry/diode array detector (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/DAD), including 16 flavonoid aglucons, five flavonoid glycosides (main peaks in chromatogram), five chlorogenic acid analogs, and 1 coumarin. Reports show that flavonoid glycoside possesses therapeutic effects of curing wounds by inducing neovascularization, and chlorogenic acid also has anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities; we postulated that all the ingredients in total flavonoids sample maybe exert a synergetic effect on wound curing. Accompanied with detection of four growth factors, the upregulation of these key growth factors may be the mechanism of therapeutic activities of total flavonoids. The present study confirmed undoubtedly that flavonoids were the main active constituents that contribute to excisional wound healing, and suggested its action mechanism of improving expression levels of growth factors at different healing phases.

Thermal stratification phenomena are observed in piping systems of pressurized water reactors, especially in the pressurizer surge line. As a result of the thermal stratification induced thermal stresses, fatigue problems can occur in the pipework. US NRC requirements have also identified flow stratification in surge lines as a phenomenon that must be considered in the design basis of surge lines. In this paper, a new method to reduce thermal stratification is proposed. As we all know, heat pipe is a simple device with no moving parts and can transfer large quantities of heat over fairly large distance. The new method is that using heat pipes to weaken the thermal stratification. In order to validate the new method, a simple experiment and theoretical analysis was taken. The results show that, the temperature difference of thermal stratification with heat pipes is smaller than the stratification without heat pipes. A design scheme was also given at the end of paper.Copyright © 2013 by ASME