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Objective: To explore the effect of shikonin on autophagy and apoptosis of human promyelocytic leukemia cells and its possible mechanism., Methods: Human promyelocytic leukemia cells NB4 in the logarithmic growth phase were divided into control group (untreated NB4 cells), shikonin group (0.3 µmol/L shikonin treatment), 740Y-P group (15 µmol/L PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activator 740Y-P treatment), shikonin+740Y-P group (0.3 µmol/L shikonin and 15 µmol/L 740Y-P co-treatment), after 24 hours of treatment, the cells were used for subsequent experiments. CCK-8 method was used to detect cell viability, monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining to detect the aggregation of autophagic vesicles, flow cytometry to detect cell apoptosis, and Western blot to detect the expression of Beclin1, LC3, p62, Bax, cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway related proteins., Results: Compared with the control group, the purple punctate fluorescence intensity, apoptosis rate, Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, cleaved caspase-3, and Bax protein expression in NB4 cells were increased in the shikonin group, while OD 450 value (24, 48 h) and the expressions of Bcl-2 and p62 proteins were decreased (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the purple punctate fluorescence intensity, apoptosis rate, Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, cleaved caspase-3, and Bax protein expression in NB4 cells were decreased, while OD 450 value (24, 48 h) and the expressions of Bcl-2 and p62 proteins were increased in the 740Y-P group (all P < 0.05). Compared with the shikonin group, the purple punctate fluorescence intensity, apoptosis rate, Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, cleaved caspase-3, and Bax protein expression in NB4 cells were decreased, while OD 450 value (24, 48 h) and the expressions of Bcl-2 and p62 proteins were increased in the shikonin+740Y-P group (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway related proteins p-PI3K, p-Akt, and p-mTOR in NB4 cells were significantly decreased in the shikonin group, while those in the 740Y-P group were increased (all P < 0.05). Compared with the shikonin group, the expressions of p-PI3K, p-Akt, and p-mTOR proteins in NB4 cells were significantly increased in the shikonin+740Y-P group (all P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Shikonin may promote autophagy and apoptosis of NB4 cells by inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

In this study, an overview of systematic reviews/Meta-analysis(SR/MA) of Chinese herbal injections for sepsis was performed to provide references for clinical practice and promote the quality improvement of clinical evidence. Eight Chinese and English databases such as CNKI, Medline, and EMbase were electronically searched for SR/MA of Chinese herbal injections for sepsis from database inception to June 2022. AMSTAR 2, PRISMA 2020, and GRADE system, combined with Recommendations for Clinical Evidence Grading on Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on Evidence Body, were applied to evaluate the methodological quality, reporting quality, and evidence quality of the included articles. Twenty-seven articles of SR/MA were included, containing four Chinese herbal injections(Xuebijing Injection, Shenfu Injection, Shenmai Injection, and Shengmai Injection). AMSTAR 2 checklist showed that the methodological quality of the SR/MA ranged from moderate to very low. Item 2(prior study design) was the critical item with poor scores, and the non-critical items with poor scores were items 3(explain the selection of the study designs), items 10(report on the sources of funding), and items 16(conflicts of interest stated). In terms of PRISMA 2020, items in eight topics with complete reporting of missing&gt;50%, including search strategy, certainty assessment, results of syntheses, certainty of evidence, registration and protocol, support, competing interests, availability of data, code and other materials. The included SR/MA involved 30 outcome indicators. Evidence quality of mortality, APACHE Ⅱ, and safety, the top three outcome indicators, was evaluated, and all of them were graded as the medium level. The lack of random allocation sequence, allocation concealment mechanism, blinding, and trial sample size was the main reason for the reduction of the evidence level. The available evidence shows that Chinese herbal injections can serve as an effective and safe adjunctive treatment for sepsis, which can reduce mortality, inhibit inflammation, improve coagulation function, and regulate immune function, tissue perfusion, and oxygenation in patients with sepsis. However, the quality of SR/MA was suboptimal, and more high-quality SR/MA is needed to provide evidence to support the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal injections in the treatment of sepsis.

Objective: To investigate the influence of the expressions of apoptosis-related Fas and FasL mRNA and proteins on sperm concentration and motility., Methods: We collected semen samples from 80 adult males and divided them into four groups of an equal number according to sperm concentration and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS): normal, asthenospermia (AS), oligozoospermia (OS) and oligoasthenospermia (OAS). We examined the routine semen parameters, the levels of Fas and FasL proteins and the expressions of Fas and FasL genes in different groups., Results: The sperm concentrations in the normal, AS, OS and OAS groups were (68.11 ± 35.49), (92.21 ± 60.96), (8.55 ± 2.82) and (5.96 ± 3.80) ×10⁶/ml, respectively, and the percentages of PMS were (49.40 ± 13.86)%, (22.12 ± 7.13)%, (40.77 ± 8.41)% and (14.53 ± 9.74), respectively. The Fas protein level was significantly higher in the AS, OS and OAS than in the normal group (［425.03 ± 50.56］, ［442.32 ± 84.88］ and ［448.42 ± 84.79］ vs ［381.07 ± 52.37］ pg/ml, P < 0.05), correlated negatively with sperm concentration (r = －0.377, P < 0.01) and PMS (r = －0.350, P < 0.01), but exhibited no statistically significant differences between the former three and latter group (［166.98 ± 27.39］, ［169.51 ± 32.62］ and ［171.46 ± 32.61］ vs ［167.49 ± 29.91］ pg/ml, P > 0.05). The relative levels of the Fas gene in the normal, AS, OS and OAS groups were 1, (0.88 ± 1.17), (2.55 ± 2.11) and (0.69 ± 0.90) respectively, lower in the AS and OAS than in the normal group, and positively correlated with sperm motility; those of the FasL gene were 1, (1.99 ± 1.81), (2.08 ± 2.06) and (2.03 ± 2.23) respectively, higher in the OS and OAS than in the normal group, and negatively correlated with sperm motility. Compared with the normal group, the expressions of Fas and FasL were down-regulated in the AS but up-regulated in the OS group; the expression of Fas, however, was down-regulated and that of FasL up-regulated in the OAS group. The expression of Fas mRNA was positively correlated with the percentage of PMS (r = 0.355, P = 0.01) and total sperm motility (r = 0.358, P < 0.01), while sperm concentration negatively correlated with the expression FasL mRNA (r = －0.305, P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the other parameters., Conclusions: Fas and FasL are differentially expressed in normal, asthenospermia, oligozoospermia and oligoasthenospermia males. Their up-regulated expressions may promote the apoptosis of spermatogenic and sperm cells and induce oligozoospermia, while their down-regulated expressions may indicate the failure of abnormal spermatogenic and sperm cells to immediately undergo programmed death, which can be one of the causes of asthenospermia.

Even though the twelve meridians are connected with five zang and six fu organs separately according to the record in Huangdi Neijing ( Yellow Emperor ' s Internal Classic ), the relations of meridians with corresponding zangfu organs are different in characteristics. Through comparing the relative characteristics between meridians and zangfu organs, it is believed that the relationship is established earlier and is quite closer between meridians and five zang organs. There is a great correlation between the disorders of five zang organs and the disorders of meridians. The disorders of five zang organs are commonly treated by the corresponding five- shu points of meridians. The relationship between meridians and six fu organs is established relatively late and the correlation between them is not as closer as that between meridians and five zang organs. The disorders of six fu organs are generally treated by the lower he -sea points. The different characteristics of the correlation between meridians and zangfu organs are relevant with the degree of their integration, the philosophical and cultrual factors and the recognition of ancient masters on zangfu organs.

Objective: This review is to systematically summarize the studies examining physical activity questionnaires in children and adolescents and assess the overall validity and reliability, providing evidence on epidemiology research of physical activity in youth. Methods: A meta-analysis was performed using Stata 14.0 software. PubMed/Medline and EMBASE databases using the following terms:'Physical Activity'AND (' Questionnaire'OR'Self-report'OR'Recall') AND'Valid*'AND (' Reliab*'OR'Reproducib*'OR'Sensitiv*'OR'Responsiv*') AND (' Child*' OR'Adolescen*'OR'Youth') were searched from January 2008 to December 2018. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were screened and adopting 'COnsensusbased Standards for the selection of health status Measurement Instruments' to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Results: This review yielded 17 articles on 20 different physical activity questionnaires, the total number of 2 778 participants for validity study and 2 137 participants for reliability study. The combined values of correlation coefficients in validity study were 0.27 (95 %CI : 0.23-0.31) for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, 0.24 (95 %CI : 0.18-0.30) for moderate intensity physical activity, 0.33 (95 %CI : 0.24-0.42) for vigorous intensity physical activity. The combined values of intraclass correlation coefficients in reliability study were 0.75 (95 %CI : 0.68-0.83) for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, 0.56 (95 %CI : 0.46-0.65) for moderate intensity physical activity, 0.68 (95 %CI : 0.61-0.75) for vigorous intensity physical activity. Conclusion: Until now, no questionnaires were identified for good validity and reliability to assess the physical activity level in young population.

The SARS-CoV-2 has been spread to 26 countries around the world since its outbreak. By February 16, 2020, more than 68 000 people had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Researchers from all over the world have carried out timely studies on this public health emergency and produced a number of scientific publications. This review aims to re-analyze and summarize the current research findings in a timely manner to guide scholars in relevant fields to further SARS-CoV-2 research and assist healthcare professionals in their work and decision-making. The SARS-CoV-2 related terms were selected in both English and Chinese and were searched in several major databases, including Pubmed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases. The reference list of each search result was screened for relevance, which was further supplemented to the search results. The included studies were categorized by topics with key characteristics extracted, re-analyzed, and summarized. A total of 301 articles were finally included with 136 in Chinese and 165 in English. The number of publications has rapidly increased since mid-January, 2020, and a peak day was 6th February on which 50 articles were published. The top three countries publishing articles were China, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Lancet and its specialty journals have published the most articles, with contribution also from journals such as New England Journal of Medicine ( NEJM ), The Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ), and Nature . All articles were categorized into epidemiology, clinical diagnosis and treatment, basic research, pregnant women and children, mental health, epidemic prevention & control, and others. The literatures related to SARS-CoV-2 are emerging rapidly. It is necessary to sort out and summarize the research topic in time, which has a good reference value for staff in different positions. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the judgment of the quality of literatures.

Influenza is an acute respiratory infection that seriously harms the world and public health. Because influenza viruses are prone to mutations and difficult to predict, the World Health Organization has been promoting global continuous strengthening of influenza surveillance to monitor the level of influenza activity and epidemic trends in real time. Establishing baselines and thresholds for influenza epidemic helps to gauge the start and severity of influenza seasons. At present, there are various methods for calculating baseline and threshold, such as annual median value, percentile approach, moving epidemic method, and control chart method. This paper will summarize the methods of establishing influenza baseline or threshold at home and abroad, and hope to provide reference for the establishment of baseline or threshold of influenza in China.

The skin pathologic scar is a skin fibrous proliferative disease characterized by abnormal proliferation of fibroblasts and overdeposition of extracellular matrix. Unclarity of genesis and development mechanism is the main reason that restricts its diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, it has been found that microRNAs play important roles in the regulation mechanism of pathological scars. The competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) have microRNA response elements which can be competitively combined with microRNAs through sponge adsorption. Through the mutual regulation of RNAs, ceRNAs regulate the expression of target gene and participate in the development of disease. Based on the ceRNA hypothesis, this paper systematically reviews the biological functions and clinical significance of ceRNAs in pathological scars of skin, and discusses the role of ceRNAs and " RNA-microRNA-RNA" regulation network in pathologic scars. The ceRNA therapy may become a new model therapy for skin scars in the future.

Objective: To analyze the risk factors of cervical anastomotic leakage after thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy. Methods: 530 patients with esophageal cancer underwent thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy at the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from Jan 2011 to Dec 2015. The demographic, surgical and clinical data of patients were retrospectively analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate risk factors of cervical anastomotic leakage in these patients. Results: A total of 530 patients undergoing thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy were enrolled in this study. There were 421 males and 109 females. The mean age was (59.40±8.08) years old, and 91 patients with cervical anastomotic leakage. Sigle factor analysis revealed that the risk grading by American Society of Aneshesiologists, previous history of chest surgery, respiratory comorbidity, diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the lung, operation time, anastomosis, average days of postoperative hospitalization, death within 30 days after surgery, respiratory complications, pleural effusion or empyema, and poor healing of the incision were statistically associated with cervical anastomotic leakage (all P <0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that previous history of chest surgery, hepatic insufficiency, manual anastomosis, prolonged postoperative hospitalization, and poor healing of the incision were independent risk factors for cervical anastomotic leakage after thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy (all P <0.05). Conclusions: Previous history of chest surgery, hepatic insufficiency, poor healing of the incision, manual anastomosis and prolonged postoperative hospitalization were significantly associated with cervical anastomotic leakage after thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy. It's important to strengthen perioperative nursing and surgical techniques to prevent anastomotic leakage after thoracoscopic-lapacoscopic esophagectomy.

Speciation characteristics of twelve heavy metals in 71 paddy soils from the Jiulong River Basin were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the modified BCR protocol. The risk assessment coding method (RAC), ratio of secondary phase and primary phase (RSP), and geoaccumulation index (I geo ) were applied to evaluate the pollution degree of heavy metals in the area. The results show that most of these elements are abundant in the paddy soils and the speciation characteristics of different heavy metals vary. The elements Cd and Mn mainly exist as acid soluble fractions in the soils, with a mean proportion of 46.2% and 35.2%, respectively; Fe and Pb mainly exist as reducible fractions in the soils, with a mean proportion of 64.5% and 41.5%, respectively; and V, Cr, Ni, As, Co, Sr, Zn, and Cu mainly exist as residual fractions in the soils, with a mean proportion of 79.6%, 78.4%, 73.1%, 67.7%, 51.9%, 49.7%, 45.3%, and 38.4%, respectively. The three pollution assessment methods focus on the acid-soluble phase, secondary phase, and total amount of heavy metals, respectively. All have their own application value and disadvantages of incompletion. The comprehensive analysis of these three pollution assessment methods helps to more accurately and comprehensively assess the pollution characteristics of the heavy metals. The results show that the paddy soils are moderately to severely polluted with Cd; the Mn and Sr pollution is mild to severe; the Zn, Pb, Cu, and Co pollution is mild to moderate; the As and Ni pollution is absent or moderate; and V, Fe, and Cr pollution is non-existent or mild.

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expression of scavenger receptor A I (SR-A I) protein and mRNA in peritoneal macrophages of atherosclerosis (AS) rabbits., Methods: A total of 26 New Zealand rabbits were used in the present study, among them, 7 were randomly selected to constitute a blank control group, and the rest 19 rabbits were fed with high-fat diet combined with carotid artery balloon injury for establishing AS model. Eight weeks after high-fat forage feeding, one high-fat fed rabbit and one normal rabbit were randomly selected for verifying the success of modeling. HE staining was employed to examine pathological changes of the common carotid artery after paraffin section. Then the rest 18 rabbits were randomly divided into model, EA and medication groups ( n =6 rabbits in each). EA (2 Hz, 1 mA) was applied at "Guanyuan"(ST 25)and bilateral "Zusanli"(ST 36) and "Neiguan" (PC 6) for 20 min. The rabbits of the medication group were treated by gavage of Atorvastatin Calcium (1 mg•kg -1 • d -1 ), and those of the model group treated by gavage of distilled water (2 mL•kg -1 •d -1 ). The treatment was given once daily for 4 weeks, with one day's interval between every two weeks. Three days before termination of the experiments, sterile starch solution (3-4 mL/animal) was injected into the peritoneal cavity, and at the end of the experiment, the peritoneal fluid was collected and centrifugated to be cultivated in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) for collecting the macrophages. The expression of SR-A I protein and mRNA in macrophages was assayed by Western blot and PCR, respectively., Results: HE staining displayed an injury of the inner membrane of the carotid artery marked by observable atherosclerotic plaques, interruption, thickening and uplift, inflammatory cell infiltration, etc. in the AS model rabbits which were relatively milder in both EA and medication groups. The expression levels of SR-A I protein and mRNA were significantly up-regulated in the model group relevant to the blank control group ( P <0.01), and considerably down-regulated in both EA and medication groups compared with the model group ( P <0.01). There were no statistical differences between the EA and medication groups in the decreased levels of expression of SR-A I protein and mRNA ( P >0.05)., Conclusion: EA intervention may improve the severity of atherosclerosis to a certain degree in AS rabbits, which is possibly associated with its effect in inhibiting the expression of SR-A I protein and mRNA in the peritoneal macrophages.

Paraquat (PQ) as a kind of sterile and herbicides, has effects of contact-kill and systemic action, which can be absorbed quickly by green plants and make them wither and die. Therefore, it is widely used in the agricultural production and occupies a large part in our country's pesticide market. PQ poisoning has become one of the most common pesticide poisoning in our country. PQ can be passivated when combining with soil, but it has great toxicity for human. There are still no specific antidotes for PQ poisoning at home and abroad, and the death rate of PQ oral poisoning is up to 95%. Clinically comprehensive treatment is adopted, including gastric lavage, intentional diarrhea, diuresis and blood perfusion. However, the therapeutic effect is not good and the case fatality rate keeps high. It has become one of the hot issues for emergency medicine study to search PQ's special efficiency measures. This paper briefly reviews PQ's poisoning mechanism and its clinical treatment progress to provide new exploration direction and treatment ideas for basic research and clinical treatment of PQ.

Objective: To study the adsorption effect of activated charcoal suspension on paraquat (PQ) in gastrointestinal tract of beagles exposed to PQ., Methods: Twenty healthy male beagles were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, with 6 beagles in each group. 20% PQ solution (a dose of 30 mg/kg) was prescribed through stomach for beagles in both groups. After exposure to PQ for 30 minutes, the beagles in experimental group were given activated charcoal suspension (1.0 g/kg of type I activated charcoal powder mixed with 100 mL of normal saline) by gavage, while the control group was only given equal volume of normal saline. After exposure to PQ for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours, blood was collected from hepatic portal veins and peripheral veins to detect the PQ concentration change in the plasma. The toxicokinetics software DAS 2.1.1 was applied to analyze PQ concentration and compare the change in toxicokinetics parameters between the both groups. The change in vital signs including heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and pulse oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) was dynamically monitored 10 minutes before exposure, 4 hours and each day from the 1st to the 7th day after exposure., Results: After exposure to PQ, the poison concentration in the plasma of hepatic portal veins and peripheral veins in the control group rose quickly and reached peak 4 hours later. It fell quickly at first, and fell slowly 8 hours later. But in the experimental group, the increase rate to the peak was significantly slow. Besides, PQ peak fell more obviously than that in the control group and it was about 50% of the control group (μg/L: 123.50±11.67 vs. 255.18±12.29 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 122.35±11.72 vs. 250.86±11.15 in blood from peripheral veins). After 8 hours it fell much more quickly than that of the control group. After exposure to PQ for 48 hours, PQ concentration in the plasma was still lower than that of the control group (μg/L: 0.53±0.18 vs. 15.98±5.58 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 0.31±0.01 vs. 15.03±4.82 in blood from peripheral veins, both P < 0.01). With the toxicokinetics analysis, compared with the control group, the maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUC) of PQ in the plasma of hepatic portal veins and peripheral veins in the experimental group were significantly decreased [Cmax (μg/L): 125.07±9.49 vs. 255.18±12.29 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 123.38±9.52 vs. 250.86±11.15 in blood from peripheral veins; AUC (mg×L -1 ×h -1 ): 1.6±0.2 vs. 3.3±0.4 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 1.5±0.2 vs. 3.2±0.3 in blood from peripheral veins], time to the peak (Tmax) of PQ was slowed (hours: 5.3±1.9 vs. 4.0±0.0 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 4.7±1.5 vs. 4.0±0.0 in blood from peripheral veins), and PQ plasma half-life (t 1/2 ) and mean retention time (MRT) were significantly shortened [t 1/2 (hours): 3.8±1.2 vs. 15.4±3.7 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 3.5±1.0 vs. 15.5±2.7 in blood from peripheral veins; MRT (hours): 8.0±1.5 vs. 13.4±1.2 in blood from hepatic portal veins, 7.6±1.3 vs. 13.3±1.2 in blood from peripheral veins; all P < 0.01]. After exposure to PQ, HR and RR in both the experimental group and the control group increased and reached to the peak about the 4th day and then the increase rate began to slow down gradually; SpO 2 slowed down gradually and reached to the valley about the 4th day and then it began to recover, but the change range of vital signs in the experimental group was smaller than that of the control group, and the parameters were significantly better than those of control group [4-day HR (bpm): 134.50±3.04 vs. 142.00±6.43, 4-day RR (times/min): 31.00±0.58 vs. 34.33±0.94, 4-day SpO 2 : 0.900±0.006 vs. 0.873±0.005, all P < 0.05]., Conclusions: Activated charcoal administrated at 30 minutes after PQ poisoning can slow down the increase rate of PQ concentration in the plasma, decrease the peak concentration and has less influence on vital signs in beagles.

PM 2.5 samples were collected at the southwest suburb of Chengdu in spring (in May 2012 and 2014). The mass concentrations of PM 2.5 were determined by the weight method, and 24 chemical elements in PM 2.5 were analyzed by XRF. To study the pollution characteristics and sources of chemical elements, and the potential ecological risk of heavy metals in PM 2.5 , the Geo-accumulation Index, Enrichment Factor, and Potential Ecological Risk Index methods were applied, respectively. The results indicated that the mass concentrations of PM 2.5 in spring at the southwest suburb of Chengdu were very high, compared with American EPA's Standard and National Standard level-Ⅱ. The detection of chemical element composition in PM 2.5 showed that K and S were the main elements, whereas the contents of Ga, Cs, Co, Cd, and V were the lowest. The differences of elemental concentrations in PM 2.5 showed relatively large differences, when compared with domestic and foreign representative cities. Se, Cd, As, Br, S, Pb, Cl and Zn were present at an extremely high level of geo-accumulation degree, which revealed that the pollution coming from human activities was serious. The analysis results of enrichment factor showed that Se, Cd, As, Br, Cl, Pb, Zn and S elements were highly enriched or hyper accumulated, Cu, Cs, Ni, Ga and Co elements were moderately enriched, and they were mainly from human activities rather than soil dust. Cr, Mn, Ca and V elements were mildly enriched, and they were from both natural sources and human activities. Na, Ti, Al, Si and Mg elements were scarcely enriched, and they were mainly from natural sources. The ecological risk assessment of heavy metals showed that the order of potential ecological risk inedx of heavy metals in PM 2.5 was Cd > As > Pb > Cu > Zn > Ni > Co > Cr > Mn > V > Ti, while the ecological harm degree of Cd was extremely strong, and the whole potential ecological risk degree was very strong.

Objective To investigate the effects of baicalein and U0126 treatment on the apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells and the potential mechanism. Methods HeLa cells were subjected to (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 300) μmol/L baicalein or (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30) μmol/L U0126 treatment for 24 hours. The optimal concentrations of baicalein and U0126 for HeLa inhibition was determined by a cell counting Kit-8 assay. HeLa cells were then treated with these inhibitory concentrations for 24 hours separately or in combination. The cell cycle and the degree of apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. The cell apoptosis index was evaluated by the TUNEL assay. The expressions of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), Bax, and Bcl-2 at the mRNA and protein levels were examined by real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Results Optimal inhibitory concentrations of baicalein and U0126 for HeLa cells were 200 μmol/L and 10 μmol/L, respectively. Compared with the control group, baicalein treatment increased the growth rate of cells in the G0/G1 phase but decreased the S phase. Combination treatment of 200 μmol/L baicalein and 10 μmol/L U0126 for 24 hours further reduced the S phase growth rate. Treatment with 10 μmol/L U0126 or 200 μmol/L baicalein for 24 hours induced cell apoptosis, and the combination treatment induced more apoptosis. Treatment by baicalein alone or in combination with U0126 for 24 hours significantly decreased ERK1/2 and Bcl-2 mRNA expressions, and upregulated Bax mRNA expression. It also downregulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation and Bcl-2 protein expression, while increasing Bax protein expression. Conclusion Both baicalein and U012 appear to inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, and increase the growth rate in the G0/G1 phase but reduce the S phase of HeLa cells. This effect is enhanced when they are used synergistically.

Objective: To investigate whether plasma from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) inhibits the suppressive effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on lupus B lymphocytes., Methods: MSCs isolated and expanded from the bone marrow of healthy donors were co-cultured with B cells purified from the peripheral blood of SLE patients in the presence of fetal bovine serum or pooled plasma from SLE patients, and the proliferation and maturation of the B lymphocytes were analyzed., Results: s Co-culture with normal MSCs obviously inhibited the proliferation of lupus B cells and suppressed the maturation of B lymphocytes, which showed lowered expressions of CD27 and CD38. The pooled plasma from SLE patients significantly inhibited the suppressive effects of normal MSCs on B cell proliferation and maturation., Conclusion: Plasma from SLE patients negatively modulates the effects of normal MSCs in suppressing lupus B cell proliferation and maturation to affect the therapeutic effect of MSC transplantation for treatment of SLE. Double filtration plasmapheresis may therefore prove beneficial to enhance the therapeutic effects of MSC transplantation for SLE.

Objectives: To perform retrospective analysis on 20 dead cases related to heroin abuse, and to provide references for the forensic assessment of correlative cases., Methods: Among 20 dead cases related to heroin abuse, general situation, using method of drug, cause of death and result of forensic examination were analyzed by statistical analysis for summarizing the cause of death and pathologic changes., Results: The dead were mostly young adults, with more male than female. The results of histopathological examinations showed non-specific pathological changes. There were four leading causes of death, including acute poisoning of heroin abuse or leakage （13 cases, 65%）, concurrent diseases caused by heroin abuse （3 cases, 15%）, inspiratory asphyxia caused by taking heroin （2 cases, 10%）, and heroin withdrawal syndrome （2 cases, 10%）., Conclusions: The forensic identification on dead related to heroin abuse must base on the comprehensive autopsy, and combine with the qualitative and quantitative analysis of heroin and its metabolites in death and the case information, as well as the scene investigation., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine)

Objective: To investigate the modulatory effect of the MSC derived from low attaching culture systems (suspending MSC) on T lymphocytes and the related mechanisms., Methods: The suspending MSC were generated from mouse compact bones by using low attaching plates and adherent cell culture flasks, respectively. The morphology of suspending MSC was observed under the inverted microscope and the cells were induced to differentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes. Further, the surface antigen profile of MSC was analyzed with flow cytometry. In addition, the culture medium (CM) of suspending MSC and adherent MSC was collected and added into the activated T cell cultures before detection of the proliferation by CFSE assay. Moreover, the modulaory effects of the CM on the T cell-derived cytokines were detected by quantitative PCR. Also, the mRNA expression of cytokines of MSC was detected., Results: The suspending MSC grew in floating cell spheres and differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes in the induction medium. Furthermore, the suspending MSC shared the typical immuno-phenotype with their adherent counterparts. In addition, the results of CFSE assay demonstrated that suspending MSC derived CM suppressed ConA induced T cell proliferation. The results of quantitative PCR revealed that suspending MSC expressed transforming factor β1 and interleukin-6 at a higher level and suppressed the T cell expressing interferon γ and interleukine-17A., Conclusion: The suspending MSC exerted an unique modulatoy effect on T cells, which is quite different to adherent MSC.

Objective: To construct the prokaryotic expression vectors of extracellular domain (β-ED) and intracellular protein kinase domain (β-PKD) of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor beta (IGF1R-β) subunit, purify the fusion proteins GST-IGF1R β-ED and GST-IGF1R β-PKD, and detect their activities., Methods: Human GST-IGF1R β-ED and GST-IGF1R β-PKD coding regions were amplified from human mammary cDNA library by PCR and cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-KG. The fusion proteins GST-IGF1R β-ED and GST-IGF1R β-PKD were expressed in E.coli Rossate and purified by GST-Sepharose 4B beads. The expression of the fusion proteins were detected by Western blotting. The interactions of the proteins with mediator of epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (ERBB2)-driven cell motility (MEMO) protein were identified by GST pull-down assay., Results: GST-IGF1R β-ED and GST-IGF1R β-PKD recombinant plasmids were successfully cloned. Double enzyme digestion and sequencing confirmed that the inserted fragments were identical to the target ones. The fusion proteins were successfully induced in Rossate and Western blotting showed the expression as expected. GST pull-down assay revealed that GST-IGF1R β-PKD could interact with MEMO in vitro., Conclusion: GST-IGF1R β-ED and GST-IGF1R β-PKD were successfully cloned and purified. In addition, GST-IGF1R β-PKD could interact with MEMO in vitro, which demonstrated the good activity of the purified proteins.

Objective: To explore action mechanism of electroacupuncture for coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD) in order to provide experimental support for clinical acupoint selection., Methods: Among sixty clean-grade healthy male Wistar rats, twenty-four cases were randomly selected as a normal control group and an electroacupuncture (EA) preconditioning group, 12 cases in each one. Then rats in the EA preconditioning group and the rest 36 rats were fed with high fat diet for 12 weeks to duplicate the CHD model. When the models were successfully established, the rats were randomly divided into a model control group, an EA group and a medication group, 12 cases in each one. EA was applied with Hwa-to SDZ-IV apparatus in the EA preconditioning group at "Neiguan" (PC 6) and "Xinshu" (BL 15), 1 mA in current intensity, 2 Hz in frequency, 30 min per times, once every other day for 14 weeks. When model was established, the same acupoint and method was used in the EA group for 2 weeks while intragastric administration of atorvastatin mixed suspension, 0.25 mg/kg, once a day, was applied in the medication group for 2 weeks. The content of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in the serum was tested by double antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) while content of lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) in coronary arterial tissue was test by western blot method. Expression of LOX-1 mRNA was tested by fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR)., Results: After model was duplicated successfully, the content of oxLDL in the serum and the expression of LOX-1 and its mRNA in coronary arterial tissue in the model control group were increased significantly compared with those in the normal control group (all P < 0.01). Compared with the model control group, the content of oxLDL in the serum and the expression of LOX-1 and its mRNA in coronary arterial tissue in the EA preconditioning group, EA group and medication group were significantly reduced (all P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) and "Xinshu" (BL 15) could effectively reduce the content of oxLDL in the serum and expression of LOX-1 and its mRAN in coronary arterial tissue in CHD rats. The oxidative modificatory low-density lipoprotein and its specific receptor system could be one of the ways to prevention and treatment of acupuncture for CHD.

The paradigm of a real world study has become the frontiers of clinical researches, especially in the field of Chinese medicine, all over the world in recent years. In this paper, ethical issues which probably exist in real-world studies are raised and reviewed. Moreover, some preliminary solutions to these issues such as protecting subjects during the process of real-world studies and performing ethical review are raised based on recent years' practices to enhance the scientificity and ethical level of real-world studies.

Objective: To study the effects of Guanxinping Tablet (GT) containing serum on H2O2-induced apoptosis and the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) expression in vascular endothelial cells (VECs)., Methods: Rabbits were randomly divided into the normal control group (treated with normal saline, 10 mL/kg), the verapamil group (0. 02 g/kg, 10 mL/kg), the small dose GT group (2; 8 g/kg, 10 mL/kg), the middle dose GT group (5.6 g/kg, 10 mL/kg), and the large dose GT group (11.2 g/kg, 10 mL/kg), 3 in each group. The medication was given to rabbits by gastrogavage for 3 successive days. The gastrogavage was performed twice on the last day with an interval of 2 h. One h after the last medication the peripheral blood was sampled from the vein of the ear edge. The blood was put for 1 h and centrifuged at 2 500 r/min for 30 min. The serum was extracted and deactivated at 56 degrees C for 30 min to prepare the drug containing serum. The apoptosis injury model was established using 100 micromol/L H2O2 induced VECs in the log phase growth. After modeling they were divided into 6 groups, 5 samples in each group, i. e., the normal group (10% vehicle serum culture solution), the model group (10% vehicle serum culture solution +100 micromol/L H2O2), the verapamil group (10% verapamil serum culture solution +100 micromol/L H2O2), the low dose GT group (10% low dose GT culture solution +100 micromol/L H2O2), the middle dose GT group (10% middle dose GT culture solution + 100 micromol/L H2O2), and the high dose GT group (10% high dose GT culture solution + 100 micromol/L H2O2). THE VEC apoptotic rate was detected using flow cytometry. The protein expression of NF-kappaB was detected using Western blot., Results: The VEC apoptosis rate (9.00% +/- 1.18%) and the protein expression of NF-kappaB (0.39% +/- 0.06%) increased more in the model group than in the normal control group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the VEC apoptosis rate of the verapamil group (6.00% +/- 0.18%), the large dose GT group (5.30% +/- 0.08%), and the middle dose GT group (6.83% +/- 0.51%) were obviously lower. The expression of NF-kappaB of each treatment group significantly decreased (the verapamil group: 0.28% +/- 0.03%; the small dose GT group: 0.33% +/- 0.03%; the middle dose GT group: 0.30% +/- 0.03%; the large dose GT group: 0.28% +/- 0.04%, P<0.01, P<0.05)., Conclusions: GT could fight against H2O2-induced VEC cell apoptosis. Its mechanism might be correlated with regulating the expression of NF-kappaB protein.

Metabonomics, a newly developing subject secondary to genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, is an important constituent part of systems biology. It is believed to be the final direction of the systems biology. It can be directly applied to understand the physiological and biochemical states by its "metabolome profile" as a whole. Therefore, it can provide a huge amount of information different from those originating from other "omics". In the modernization of Chinese materia medica research, the application of metabonomics methods and technologies has a broad potential for future development. Especially it is of important theoretical significance and application value in holistic efficacies evaluation, active ingredients studies, and safety research of Chinese materia medica.

Objective: To explore the analysis methods for composite traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitutions., Methods: The epidemiological data of TCM constitutions were collected from 974 volunteers via a cross-sectional survey. The samples were classified into 9 constitution types according to the maximal standardized scores of imbalanced constitutions. The correlation matrix of 9 constitutions was computed. The standardized scores of 9 constitutions of all the volunteers were ranked respectively, and the composite status of every two constitutions was observed using cross tabulation. The constitution types of all the volunteers were transformed into ternary code of 9 digits, and the composite status of 3 or more than 3 kinds of constitution types was analyzed., Results: According to the maximal standardized scores of imbalanced constitutions, of 974 volunteers, 227, 148, 218, 102, 31, 81, 44, 97 and 26 volunteers had balanced constitution, qi-deficiency constitution, yang-deficiency constitution, yin-deficiency constitution, phlegm-dampness constitution, heat-dampness constitution, blood stasis constitution, qi-stagnation constitution, and inherited special constitution, respectively. The standardized scores of balanced constitution were negatively correlated with those of imbalanced constitutions, while there was a positive correlation between the standardized scores of every two imbalanced constitutions. Among the 8 imbalanced constitutions, one kind of imbalanced constitutions was usually complicated with another kind of imbalanced constitutions. The number of qi-deficiency constitution complicated with yang-deficiency constitution, qi-deficiency constitution complicated with yin-deficiency constitution, and yin-deficiency constitution complicated with yang-deficiency constitution ranked the top three. The constitution types of 974 volunteers were transformed into a total of 465 ternary codes, showing a total of 465 kinds of constitution types; the simplex constitution, the approximately simplex constitution, and the composite constitution of two or more than two types were found in 259, 130, and 585 volunteers, respectively., Conclusion: Cross tabulation can show the composite status of every two constitutions, while the ternary code can show the composite status of three or more than three constitutions.

Ajuga decumbens Thunb. is superficially similar to Prunella vulgaris Linn. and has been used as a substitution of the latter for along time. Systematical studies on external and internal structure were carried out on the two species. By means of studies on root, stem, leaf, flower and seed, morphological characters of histology were examined and described.

Objective: To study the pharmacodynamics of qiangyi jiangtang capsules (QJC) to offer the scientific foundation for clinical treatment to model rats of diabetes millitus induced by high lipid forage and streptozotocin., Methods: The model rats of diabetes mellitus were induced by intraperitoneal injection of 0.6% streptozotocin (30 mg/kg body weight) given to Wistar rats after feeding with high lipid forage for a month and followed by fasting for 18 hours. Rats with level of blood glucose over 10.0 mmol/L 5 days after modelling was regarded as the successful model. Besides, a group of blank control was set up with rats fed with general forage and injected with equal volume of citric acid buffer solution. The successfully modelled rats were randomly divided into the model group, the positive control group and the high (2.0 g/kg), middle (1.2 g/kg) and low (0.4 g/kg) dose QJC treated groups. Meanwhile, the same volume of normal saline was given to rats in the blank control group and the model group, while Matfarmin (0.5 g/kg) was given to the rats in the positive control group. The levels of blood glucose (BG), serum fructose amine (SFA), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured after one month of medication, and the amount of water drinking and food intake were measured at the second and the fourth week of the treatment., Results: The levels of BG, SFA, HbA1c, the amount of water drinking and food intake in the 3 QJC treated groups were obviously lower than those in the model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01)., Conclusion: QJC could remarkably lower the levels of BG, HbA1c, SFA and the amount of food intake and water-drinking of DM model rats, it is a Chinese herbal preparation worthy of further development and research.

In this article, the authors analyze the surface of a piece of porcelain shred in Xuande Period by SRXRF, and the result shows that each peak area of elements differs in distribution pattern. According to the relationship between element peak area and color variation, and yellow fleck in glaze, it is possible to divide 13 elements, i.e. K, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Hg, Rb, Sr, Y and Zr, into three groups. This phenomenon will indicate how to search the "finger elements" in each dynasty; at the same time, it will present important information for research on the forming mechanism of yellow flecks in glaze.

In the history of traditional Chinese medicine, some literati mastered medicine. By analyzing several typical representatives. It can be seen that the reasons for such phenomenon are: 1) the theories of medicine and literature are interlinked on the basis of literature; 2) a good doctor and good prime ministers have the same social status and reputation; 3) morally good doctors fulfill the duty of loyalty, filial piety and comfort much more than good prime ministers on ethics; 4) healthy care and health preserving are action aspiring for fundamentality of life. Thus, this is the result from literati's crudition and edification of traditional Chinese culture.