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This study developed a rapid, accurate, objective and economic method to identify and evaluate the quality of Alismatis Rhizoma (AR) commodities. Traditionally, the identification of plant species and geographical origins of AR commodities mainly relied on experienced staff. However, the subjectivity and inaccuracy of human identification negatively impacted the trade of AR. Besides, liquid chromatographic methods such as ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the major approach for the determination of triterpenoid contents in AR was time-consuming, expensive, and highly demanded in manoeuvre specialists. In this study, the combination of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and chemometrics as the method was developed and utilised to address the two common issues of identifying the quality of AR commodities. Through the discriminant analysis (DA), the raw NIR spectroscopy data on 119 batches samples from two species and four origins in China were processed to the best pre-processed data. Subsequently, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and random forest (RF) as the major chemometrics were used to analyse the best pre-processed data. The accuracy rates by OPLS-DA and RF were respectively 100% and 97.2% for the two species of AR, and respectively100% and 94.4% for the four origins of AR. Meanwhile, a quantitative correction model was established to rapidly and economically predict the seven triterpenoid contents of AR through combining the partial least squares (PLS) method and NIR spectroscopy, and taking the triterpenoid contents measured by UPLC as the reference value, and carry out spectral pre-processing methods and band selection. The final quantitative model correlation coefficients of the seven triterpenoid contents of AR ranged from 0.9000 to 0.9999, indicating that prediction ability of this model had good stability and applicability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Researchers continue to explore drug targets to treat the characteristic pathologies of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some drugs relieve the pathological processes of AD to some extent, but the failed clinical trials indicate that multifunctional agents seem more likely to achieve the therapy goals for this neurodegenerative disease. Herein, a novel compound named melatonin-trientine (TM) has been covalently synthesized with the natural antioxidant compounds melatonin and the metal ion chelator trientine. After toxicological and pharmacokinetic verification, we elucidated the effects of intraperitoneal administration of TM on AD-like pathology in 6-month-old mice that express both the β-amyloid (Aβ) precursor protein and presenilin-1 (APP/PS1). We found that TM significantly decreased Aβ deposition and neuronal degeneration in the brains of the APP/PS1 double transgenic mice. This result may be due to the upregulation of iron regulatory protein-2 (IRP2), insulin degrading enzyme (IDE), and low density lipoprotein receptor related protein 1 (LRP1), which leads to decreases in APP and Aβ levels. Additionally, TM may promote APP non-amyloidogenic processing by activating the melatonin receptor-2 (MT2)-dependent signaling pathways, but not MT1. In addition, TM plays an important role in blocking γ-secretase, tau hyperphosphorylation, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and metal ion dyshomeostasis. Our results suggest that TM may effectively maximize the therapeutic efficacy of targeting multiple mechanisms associated with AD pathology., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations within the FMS-like receptor tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) can be found in up to 25% to 30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and confer a poor prognosis. Although FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have shown clinical responses, they cannot eliminate primitive FLT3-ITD+ AML cells, which are potential sources of relapse. Therefore, elucidating the mechanisms underlying FLT3-ITD+ AML maintenance and drug resistance is essential to develop novel effective treatment strategies. Here, we demonstrate that FLT3 inhibition induces histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) upregulation through FOXO1- and FOXO3-mediated transactivation in FLT3-ITD+ AML cells. Upregulated HDAC8 deacetylates and inactivates p53, leading to leukemia maintenance and drug resistance upon TKI treatment. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of HDAC8 reactivates p53, abrogates leukemia maintenance, and significantly enhances TKI-mediated elimination of FLT3-ITD+ AML cells. Importantly, in FLT3-ITD+ AML patient-derived xenograft models, the combination of FLT3 TKI (AC220) and an HDAC8 inhibitor (22d) significantly inhibits leukemia progression and effectively reduces primitive FLT3-ITD+ AML cells. Moreover, we extend these findings to an AML subtype harboring another tyrosine kinase-activating mutation. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that HDAC8 upregulation is an important mechanism to resist TKIs and promote leukemia maintenance and suggests that combining HDAC8 inhibition with TKI treatment could be a promising strategy to treat FLT3-ITD+ AML and other tyrosine kinase mutation-harboring leukemias., (© 2020 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Cathodic polarization antifouling deserves attention because of its environmentally friendly nature and good sustainability. It has been proven that cathodic voltages applied on metal substrates exhibit outstanding antifouling effects. However, most metals immersed in marine environment are protected by insulated anticorrosive coatings, restricting the cathodic polarization applied on metals. This study developed a conducting polypyrrole (PPy)/acrylic resin coating (σ = 0.18 Scm -1 ), which can be applied in cathodic polarization antifouling. The good stability and electro-activity of PPy in the negative polarity zone in alkalescent NaCl solution were verified by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry (CA), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), demonstrating the feasibility of PPy as cathodic polarization material. Furthermore, the antifouling effects of PPy/acrylicresin coating on 24-h old Escherichia coli bacteria (E. coli) which formed on PPy/acrylic resin-coated plastic plate were measured under different cathodic potentials and treatment time, characterized by fluorescent microscope. The results suggest that at cathodic potential around -0.5 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)), there was little trace of attached bacteria on the substrate after 20 min of treatment. PPy/acrylicresin-coated substrates were also subjected to repeated cycles of biofilm formation and electrochemical removal, where high removal efficiencies were maintained throughout the total polarization process. Under these conditions, the generation of hydrogen peroxide is believed to be responsible for the antifouling effects because of causing oxidative damage to cells, suggesting the potential of the proposed technology for application on insulated surfaces in various industrial settings., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are effective treatments for infertility and are widely used at infertility clinics. Although ICSI is generally considered safe, some studies have suggested an excess occurrence of major birth defects resulting from the procedure. Here, we present a rare case of a boy with multiple orofacial malformations who was conceived by ICSI. We suggest therefore that the risk of genetics abnormalities should be discussed in detail with the parents and sufficient informed consent should be obtained before starting ICSI procedures.