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ObjectiveRituximab (RTX) has been widely used for primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) in children of frequent relapse or hormonal dependence. The authors applied RTX for childhood PNS in Ningxia for the first time and examined its efficacy.MethodsFrom January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022, 7 PNS children received 3-year RTX dosing with parental consents after poor outcomes of glucocorticoids alone or glucocorticoids plus other immunosuppressants. There were 4 boys and 3 girls with an age range of (4.4-13.0) year. Urinary routine, urinary protein quantification and infection status were regularly monitored for evaluating the treatment effect, safety and expenses.ResultsAll of them were hormonal sensitive with a frequent recurrence. Two to 5 doses of RTX per child were offered over a follow-up period of (9-35) month. Urinary protein stayed long-term negative. There was only 1 relapsing case. Five cases discontinued glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants. No severe infection occurred. The average monthly expense per child after RTX dosing was significantly lower than that before dosing.ConclusionRTX is a safe, economic and effective treatment for PNS children. Early application of RTX may taper glucocorticoids and/or immunosuppressants and minimize adverse reactions.

The inconsistency among the battery cells for electric vehicle affects the performance and life expectancy of the batteries. A mixed optimal control scheme based on capacity balance and voltage balance is proposed. The scheme gives priority to capacity balance, as well as combines with the voltage balance, which makes full use of the advantages of these schemes. In addition, through the practical experiment, especially for lithium iron phosphate battery, it is proved that this strategy achieved higher efficiency and better effect than the traditional balance scheme- voltage equilibrium. This strategy can greatly improve the inconsistency among the battery cells and boost the battery capacity.

Post-anthesis delayed leaf senescence and stay-green leaf phenotype are typically associated with the increasing yield, which offers the potential to increase crop resilience to drought stress. Retarded leaf senescence is beneficial to maintain cereal yield adaptability and stability. Many different management approaches, including fertilization, can modulate leaf senescence as well. The impacts of different long-term fertilization treatments on sorghum post-anthesis leaf senescence, antioxidant enzyme activities, and the yield were explored in 2020 and 2021 in this study. There were five treatments, which included chemical fertilizers of NPK (NPK), NPK plus manure (NPKM), NPK plus manure and straw returning (NPKMS), manure plus straw returning (MS), and fertilizer withdrawn (CK). Fertilizer application enhanced green leaf area per plant, SPAD reading and specific leaf nitrogen (SLN) compared with the control. Compared with NPK, the treatments of NPKM, NPKMS along with MS delayed post-anthesis attenuation of leaf area per plant and enhanced the values of SPAD and SLN in spite of the similar N application for NPK and MS. The treatments of NPK, NPKM, NPKMS, and MS increased antioxidant activities of SOD, POD, and CAT conjugate with a decreasing MDA content compared with the control. Among those, higher antioxidant enzymes activities and lower MDA content were induced by NPKM, NPKMS, and MS than NPK. In conclusion, NPKM, NPKMS, and MS promoted sorghum grain yield due to the increased grain number per panicle. Therefore, long-term application of manure combined with straw returning can not only replace chemical fertilizer but also delay leaf senescence, which leading to high grain yield in sorghum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing on the osmotic mass transfer characteristics of blueberries, air freezing, immersion freezing and ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing were applied to blueberries. The freezing rate, water distribution, calcium content, anthocyanin content, cell membrane permeability and malondialde-hyde content were measured and analyzed. The results showed that compared with air freezing and immersion freezing, ultrasonic-assisted immersion freezing significantly shortened the freezing time of blueberries, and the drip loss after thawing was the lowest, 8.26%, and the water distribution was more similar to that of fresh blueberries. Ultrasonic promoted the permeation migration of exogenous calcium, and the calcium content in whole fruit and pulp increased significantly (P < 0.05); the hardness was better preserved, but the retention rate of anthocyanin decreased, and the cell membrane permeability and malondialdehyde content decreased significantly (P<0.05), which were 54.65% and 9.15 nmol/g FW, respectively. In conclusion, ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing can not only improve freezing rate, reduce lipid membrane peroxidation and maintain the integrity of cell membrane, but also promote the infiltration of solution solute into food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To study the value of serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) combined with direct bilirubin (DB) in the diagnosis of biliary atresia. Methods A total of 667 infants with cholestasis who were hospitalized and treated from July 2010 to December 2018 were enrolled as subjects. According to the results of intraoperative cholangiography and follow-up, they were divided into biliary atresia group with 234 infants and cholestasis group with 433 infants. The two groups were compared in terms of age of onset, sex, and serum levels of total bilirubin (TB), DB, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bile acid (TBA), and GGT. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for indices with statistical significance, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and the optimal cut-off value for diagnosis were calculated. Results The biliary atresia group had a significantly younger age of onset than the cholestasis group (P<0.001). There were no significant differences in sex, ALT, and AST between the two groups (P>0.05), while the biliary atresia group had significantly higher serum levels of TB, DB, TBA, and GGT than the cholestasis group (P<0.05). GGT combined with DB had the highest AUC of 0.892 (95% confidence interval: 0.868-0.916) in the diagnosis of biliary atresia. At the optimal cut-off values of 324.0 U/L for GGT and 115.1 μmmol/L for DB, GGT combined with DB had a sensitivity of 79.8% and a specificity of 83.2% in the diagnosis of biliary atresia. Conclusions GGT combined with DB has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of biliary atresia and can be used as an effective indicator for diagnosis of biliary atresia in infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bELISA) based on a biotinylated nanobody target the S1 protein of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) for detecting the anti-PEDV antibodies and evaluating the immune effect of the vaccine. The gene encoding the single-domain antibody sdAb3 target the PEDV S1 protein was amplified and the Avitag sequence was fused at its 3'-end. The PCR product was cloned into the expression vector pET-21b for expression and purification of the sdAb3-Avitag protein. The purified sdAb3-Avitag fusion protein was biotinylated and its activity was determined. Using the recombinant S1 protein as a coating antigen, a bELISA was established and optimized. Serum samples were tested in parallel by the bELISA and a commercial kit. The recombinant vector pET21b-sdAb3-Avitag was constructed to express the tagged sdAb3. After induction for expression, the biotin-labeled sdAb3 (sdAb3-Biotin) with high purity and good activity was obtained. For the optimized bELISA, the coating concentration of the S1 protein was 200 ng/well, the serum dilution was 1:2 and incubated for 2 h, the dilution ratio of the biotinylated sdAb3 was 1:8 000 and incubated for 30 min, the dilution of the enzyme-labeled antibody was 1:5 000 and incubated for 30 min. The bELISA had no cross reaction with the sera of major porcine viruses including transmissible gastroenteritis virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and showed good specificity and reproducibility. For a total of 54 porcine serum samples tested, the overall compliance rate of the bELISA with a commercial kit was 92.56%. This study developed a rapid and reliable bELISA method, which can be used for serosurveillance and vaccine evaluation for PEDV.

To obtain the content level and treatment efficiency of typical antibiotics in wastewater treatment in large-scale dairy farms in Tianjin, the SPE-UPLC-MS/MS (ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometry combined with solid-phase extraction for pretreatment) technology was utilized to investigate and monitor seven typical antibiotics in wastewater from 12 large-scale dairy farms in Tianjin. Antibiotic residues were detected in 12 large-scale dairy farms before and after wastewater treatment. In the wastewater before treatment, the detection rates of tilmicosin (TIL), oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC), sparfloxacin (SPA), sulfathiazloe (STZ), ofloxacin (OFL), and sarafloxacin hydrochloride (SAR) were all 100%, whereas the detection rate of sulfadiazine (SDZ) was 83.33%. Among them, TIL and OTC were the main antibiotic components in untreated wastewater, the concentrations were 25.21 μg·L -1 and 9.87 μg·L -1 , respectively. The detection rates of SDZ and OFL in the treated wastewater dropped to 25.00% and 41.66%, respectively. The main components were TIL and OTC and the concentrations were 11.30 μg·L -1 and 3.71 μg·L -1 , respectively. There were significant decreases in the concentrations. The treatment effect on antibiotics from different farms ranged from 24.95% to 81.05%. The comprehensive treatment effect of the anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) treatment process was better than that of the anoxic-oxic (AO) treatment process. OFL, SAR, and OTC were the main high-risk pollutants in treated wastewater. Each large-scale dairy farm contained one or more antibiotic with RQ s >1, and their emissions pose an ecological risk to the environment.

Peripheral neurogenic tumors can be featured by entering-and-exiting-nerve sign,which,however,is rarely seen in patients with spinal schwannoma. In this article we report a spinal schwannoma case with entering-and-exiting-nerve sign.

The anti-tumor activities and mechanism of Erythrina variegata L. extract were investigated. Firstly, the MTT method was used to evaluate the inhibitory activity of the Erythrina variegata L. extract on proliferation of cancer cell lines. Moreover, in order to determine its anti-tumor effect in vivo, the Lewis lung cancer mice model was established. By comparing the relative tumor proliferation rates, growth curves, inhibition rates of different groups, the anti-tumor effect was evaluated. Furthermore, the anti-tumor mechanism of Erythrina variegata L. extract was studied by using G-quadruplex stability experiment. In the in vitro anti-liver cancer experiment, the Erythrina variegata L. extract has shown obvious anti-tumor effect on various tumor cells. And in the in vivo experiment, it exhibited significant anti-tumor effect. Besides, from the result of G-quadruplex stability experiment, we can see that the quadruplex structure show increasing T(m) values with increasing amounts of Erythrina variegata L. extract.

Objective: To investigate effects of Chinese herb-compound on blood rheology and circulatory system of rabbits under simulated weightlessness in order to provide bases for protecting against the influence of simulated weightlessness on cardiovascular function., Method: Rabbits were exposed to head-down tilt (HDT -20 degrees) for 9 d to simulate weightlessness. The effect of Chinese herb-compound on indices related to blood rheology, blood-fat and orthostatic tolerance in these rabbits were examined., Result: After head-down tilt, hematocrit value and red blood cells deformability decreased significantly; cholesterol and low density lipoprotein increased markedly; plasma fibrinogen content and triglyceride showed increasing trend. Administration of the Chinese herb-compound didn't improve the blood rheology indices, but showed a trend to decrease triglyceride and to inhibit the increase of cholesterol. In the head-up tilt (HUT) plus lower body negative pressure (LBNP) experiment, orthostatic tolerance time of the rabbits in the control group decreased, and myocardial ischemic changes in ECG, such as dropped ST segment, inverse T wave, and arrhythmia were observed. While in the Chinese herb-compound group, the heart rate of the rabbits kept smooth, ischemic changes in ECG were not clear, and orthostatic tolerance time increased., Conclusion: The Chinese herb-compound shows an effect of preventing orthostatic tolerance from decreasing, and improves blood-fat metabolism. It regulates different human systems on the whole, and increases ability of adaptation to ill environment.

Objective: To investigate effects of Chinese herb compound on myocardial SDH, ATP-ase and energy reserves in tail-suspended rats., Method: Male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=10 each): (A) normal control group; (B) tail-suspended group; (C) tail-suspended + Chinese Medical herb compound group. Rats in group B and C were tail-suspended (-30 degrees) for 5 d to simulate weightlessness. All rats B were decapitated after the experiment. Myocardial SDH (method of Anderson N-BT), ATP-ase (method of Wachstein and Meisel) and energy reserves (method of HPLC) were examined., Result: Compared with rats in groups A and C, SDH activity increased, SDH staining deepened, value of OD SDH enhanced, ATP-ase activity and OD value increased and enhanced significantly (P<0.01) but value of myocardial energy reserves decreased in group B rats., Conclusion: Tail-suspension strengthens compensatory oxidation metabolism of cardiac muscle and activates SDH and ATP-ase, at the same time decrease, myocardial energy reserves. Normal are maintained the low level of metabolism by the medical herb compound used which shows a protecting effects through mitigation, tranguilization and replenishment of Qi.

Objective: To study the effects of short-term simulated weightlessness on human vectorcardiogram (VCG)., Method: Seven d -6 degrees head-down bed rest (HDBR) was used to simulate weightlessness. Eight healthy males, aged 19-21, served as the subjects. VCG was recorded before and on day 1, 3, 7 of HDBR., Result: QRS loop in the horizontal plane rotated counterclockwise, while QRS loop in the right sagittal plane rotated clockwise during HDBR (P<0.05 or P<0.01). QRS-T angle in the horizontal and right sagittal plane increased significantly during HDBR., Conclusion: Seven d HDBR leads to changes of VCG parameters, which were all in normal ranges and in accordance with the volume changes of atrium and ventricle, but obviously different from those resulted from pathological ventricular thickening and myocardial ischemia.

Objective: To investigate effects of Qiang Gu Kang Wei prescription on bone morphology in tail-suspended rats., Method: Rats were tail-suspended (-30 degrees) for 21 d to simulate weightlessness. The effects of this prescription on thickness of periost and cortex at epiphyseal plate of tibial shaft and 3 mm under it were examined. The effects of this prescription on histology and ultrastructure of tibia were also observed., Result: Compared with the normal control, cortex at both epiphyseal plate of tibial shaft and 3 mm under it in suspended rats thinned significantly (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Histological observation showed that in bone of suspended rats, uncalcific matrix was more, bone cells' number was lower and their appearance was more infantile, osteoblasts were less and smaller, while osteoclasts were more and larger, haversian system of transection also showed more irregular than in bone of normal control. Ultrastructure observation showed that the function of osteoblasts was inhabited and that of osteoclasts was active. All the three doses groups of the prescription could increase cortex at either epiphyseal plate of tibial shaft or 3 mm under it (P<0.01 or P<0.05) compared with the tail-suspended group. The appearance of bone in the three groups was improved as well under optical or electron microscope., Conclusion: This prescription could improve abnormal change in bone morphology resulted from being tail-suspended in rats and make it normal.

Objective: To investigate the effect of "Qiang Gu Kang Wei" prescription on bone metabolism in simulated weightless rats., Method: Male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups: 1) free active control (FAC); 2) tail-suspended control (TS); 3) tail-suspended and treated with large dose of the prescription (TS + L) (30 g/kg); 4) tail-suspended and treated with middle dose of the prescription (TS + M) (20 g/kg); 5) tail suspended and treated with small dose of the prescription (TS + S) (10 g/kg). The experiment lasted 3 weeks. The effect of the prescription on bone biomechanical properties, bone density, bone mineral contents, and bone biochemical markers of bone metabolism were examined., Result: Bone biomechanical properties, bone density, total and bound bone gla protein (BGP) of serum all increased significantly in three groups treated with the prescription., Conclusion: "Qiang Gu Kang Wei" prescription prevents bone loss, hence maintains bone density and bone biomechanical properties under simulated weightlessness.

Objective: To investigate effects of "Qiang Gu Kang Wei" prescription on biochemical indices of bone and related organs in tail-suspended rats., Method: Rats were tail-suspended (-30 degrees) for 21 d to simulate weightlessness. The effect of this prescription on biochemical indices such as Ca, P in serum, osteocalcin (BGP) in serum and bone, oxyproline hydroxyproline (Hyp) in bone, alkaliphosphatase (ALP) in serum, small intestine and bone in these rats were examined., Result: Comparing with the normal control, serum Ca decreased significantly (P<0.05) while serum P showed only a trend to decrease, at the same time BGP dropped in both serum and bone (P<0.05) and Hyp dropped only in bone (P<0.05). There was significant decrease of ALP activity in serum, small intestine and bone (P<0.01 or P<0.05) in suspended rats. The prescription showed different effects with different doses. In all the three dose groups (30 g/kg, 20 g/kg, 10 g/kg) Ca and P in serum levels increased (P<0.01 or P<0.05), BGP in serum and bone improved (P<0.05) or showed only a trend to increase. ALP activity increased in serum, small intestine and bone (P<0.05). Increase of Hyp in bone was found in the middle and the small dose groups (P<0.05)., Conclusion: This prescription shows an effect of improving biochemical indices in bone and related organs such as serum and small intestine in tail-suspended rats. But no distinct concentration-dependence was found.

Objective. To study the effects of active fractions from Lycopus lucidus (L. F04) on erythrocyte rheology so as to investigate its mechanism of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Method. The effects of L. F04 on erythrocytes deformability, aggregation, liquidity of membrane were examined in the present study and the blood stasis animal model of rats made by injecting high molecular weight dextran (HMWD) was used. Result. HMWD injection decreased red blood cells deformability (P<0.05) and liquidity of membrane (P<0.01) and increased erythrocytes aggregation (P<005). Compared with the model, both L. F04 0.612 g/kg and 0.306 g/kg improved red blood cells deformability (P<0.05), inhibited erythrocytes aggregation (P<0.05), and showed the trend of improving liquidity of membrane. But there was no concentration-dependence. Conclusion. L. F04 can significantly improve the deviant erythrocyte rheology characteristics.

Objective. To investigate the effects of Qiang Gu Kang Wei compound on hemorheology in tail-suspended rats. Method. Rats were tail-suspended (-30 degrees) for 21 d to simulate weightlessness. The effect of the compound on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), hematocrit value (HCT), plasma fibrinogen content (PFC), blood viscosity, red blood cells deformability and erythrocytes aggregation were examined. Result. PFC, whole blood reducing viscosity (eta h), whole blood viscosity (eta b), erythrocyte rigid index (IR) and maximum aggregation index (MAXD) increased significantly (P<0.01 or P<0.05 ) and maximum deformity index (DImax) (P<0.01) decreased significantly in suspended rats as compared with the normal control. Different doses of the compound showed different effects. The small dose group (10 g/kg) inhabited eta h and eta b (P<0.01 or P<0.05) of all shear rates, abnormal IR and MAXD (P<0.01); The middle dose group (20 g/kg) decreased PFC (P<0.01); The big dose group (30 g/kg) inhabited eta h and eta b (P<0.01 or P<0.05) of high shear rates, decreased IR (P<0.01), and improved DImax (P<0.01). Conclusion. This compound could improve hemorheology in tail-suspended rats. But there was no concentration-dependence.