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This study investigates syntactic and semantic features of the English concessive construction just because X doesn't mean Y (JB-X DM-Y) grounded in Goldberg's theory of construction grammar. Based on initial data collected from the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), our qualitative analysis proved that: (1) syntactically, there should be an unexpressed pronoun it or that serving as the subject of the DM-Y part. The quantitative analysis revealed the productivity of JB-X DM-Y. In terms of vocabulary, just and mean in the construction can be replaced by the adverb simply and verbs indicating inference or making assertions. In terms of structure, JB-X NEG-VP and JB-X NEG-CLAUSE were widely used, and JB-X QUESTION exhibited certain productivity; and (2) semantically, JB-X DM-Y should be seen as the negation of the construction Y, because X. It presented the meaning of inference denial and concessive meaning, corresponding to the inferential-because construction and causal-because construction. This article provides a systemic discussion about JB-X DM-Y and hopes to provide a basic structure for the future analysis of JB-X DM-Y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new polyketide derivatives, 2-ethoxycarbonyl-endocrocin (1), 6-methoxy-2-ethoxycarbonyl-endocrocin (2) and pannorin C (3), along with sixteen known compounds (4–19) were isolated from a plant endophytic fungus Aspergillus cristatus 2H1. Their structures were elucidated by 1D/2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS data analysis. Compound 3 showed weak antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 20 μg/ml). Compounds 14 and 15 showed effective cytotoxicity on human melanoma A375 cells (IC50 4.13 μM for 14, 3.39 μM for 15). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abnormal expression Dopamine D1 receptor (DRD1) gives rise to the dysfunction of dopaminergic neurotransmitter and may be associated with the occurrence of schizophrenia. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate the DRD1 expression by binding 3'UTR and be involved in the post-transcriptional regulation. We first constructed the pmirGLO-recombined vectors of series of DRD1 gene 3′UTR-truncated fragments and performed the luciferase receptor assay to screen the underlying 3′UTR sequence targeted by miRNAs. Then, we predicted the potential miRNAs binding the target sequence and confirmed their effects using luciferase receptor assay after transfection of the miRNA mimics/inhibitors. We also examined the effects of the miRNA on the endogenous DRD1 expression. We found that the DRD1 3′UTR ranging from –12 to +1135 bp was essential for the post-transcriptional regulation of miRNAs. The deletion of –12 to +154 bp fragment significantly increased the luciferase expression but not the mRNA expression. The miRNA-15a, miRNA-15b and miRNA 16 affected DRD1 expression in HEK293, U87, SK-N-SH and SH-SY5Y cell lines. The miRNA-15a, miRNA-15b and miRNA-16 inhibit the human dopamine D1 receptor expression by targeting 3′UTR –12 to +154 bp. DRD1 3′UTR ranging from –12 to +1135 bp was essential for the post-transcriptional regulation of miRNAs. The deletion of –12 to +154 bp fragment significantly increased the luciferase expression but not the mRNA expression. The miRNA-15a, miRNA-15b and miRNA 16 affected DRD1 expression in different cell lines, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic packaging waste, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has increased significantly in recent decades, arousing a considerable and serious public concern regarding the environment, economy, and policy. Plastic recycling is a useful tool to mitigate this issue. Here, a feasible study was performed to investigate the potential of a novel method for identifying virgin and recycled PET. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was combined with various chemometrics, as a simple and reliable method that achieved a high discrimination rate for 105 batches of virgin PET (v-PET) and recycled PET (r-PET) based on 202 non-volatile organic compounds (NVOCs). Making use of orthogonal partial least-squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) together with non-parametric tests, 26 marker compounds (i.e. 12 intentionally added substances (IAS) and 14 non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) as well as 31 marker compounds (i.e. 11 IAS and 20 NIAS) obtained from positive and combination of positive and negative ionization modes of UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, respectively, were successfully identified. Moreover, 100% accuracy was obtained using a decision tree (DT). Cross-discrimination based on misclassified samples using various chemometrics allowed the prediction accuracy to be improved and to identify a large sample set, thus greatly enhancing the application scope of this method. The possible origins of these detected compounds can be the plastic itself, as well as contamination from food, medicine, pesticides, industry-related substances, and degradation and polymerization products. As many of these compounds are toxic, especially those pesticide related, this indicates an urgent requirement for closed loop recycling. Overall, this analytical method provides a quick, accurate, and robust way to distinguish virgin from recycled PET and thus addresses the issue of potential virgin PET adulteration thereby detecting fraud in the area of PET recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the modulating effects of liquiritin against cognitive deficits, oxidative damage, and neuronal apoptosis induced by subsequent bilateral intrahippocampal injections of aggregated amyloid-β1–42 (Aβ1–42). This study also explored the molecular mechanisms underlying the above phenomena. Liquiritin was orally administered to rats with Aβ1–42-induced cognitive deficits for 2 weeks. The protective effects of liquiritin on the learning and memory impairment induced by Aβ1–42 were examined in vivo by using Morris water maze. The rats were then euthanized for further studies. The antioxidant activities of liquiritin in the hippocampus of the rats were investigated by biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The apoptosis of the neurons was assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling assay. Liquiritin at doses of 50–100 mg/kg significantly improved the cognitive ability, restored the abnormal activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, and decreased the levels of malondialdehyde，8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and protein carbonyl in the hippocampus of rats with Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, neural apoptosis in the hippocampus of Aβ1–42-treated rats was reversed by liquiritin. Liquiritin can significantly ameliorate Aβ1–42-induced spatial learning and memory impairment by inhibiting oxidative stress and neural apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a new type of fin with built-in interrupted delta winglets is studied in this paper by three-dimensional numerical simulation. In order to ensure reliability of numerical model, plate fin with common-flow-up delta winglets is firstly simulated. The comparison of numerical and experimental results shows a maximum deviation of 11.4% within the entire range of Reynolds number. The computational results show that heat transfer capacity and overall performance increase by 35–60% and 19–64%, respectively. The flow field visualization shows that the interrupted delta winglets can produce longitudinal vortices at the rear of delta winglets and reduce the wake zone behind the tube, so the proposed fin can enhance heat transfer accompanied by low pressure loss. The field synergy theory and entransy dissipation extremum principle are employed on analyzing the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement. The results indicate that enhancement heat transfer mechanism of interrupted delta winglets can be explained as the result of the decrease of synergy angle and reduction of the entransy dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Targeted on accurate and efficient ship detection of Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery, sea-land segmentation is key for the complex port scenes. Despite the importance of this task, current methods are still severely influenced by several limitations, such as high level of image speckle noise, complicated backscattering characteristics. In order to overcome these issues, we propose a sea-land segmentation method of Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery based on multi-source data registration. To be specific, high-resolution optical remote sensing images and high-precision coastline vector data are integrated with Synthetic Aperture Radar images for accurate sea-land segmentation. First, the Pyramid Level-by-level Guided-Histogram of the Orientated Phase Congruency method is developed for the registration of Synthetic Aperture Radar and optical images, making two types of images into the same spatial reference. Following this, the high-precision coastline vector data collected from optical images is transferred to the Synthetic Aperture Radar image, realizing accurate sea-land segmentation. Finally, aiming at ship detection tasks, two quantitative evaluation indicators for sea-land segmentation are proposed: (1) the Absolute Segmentation Accuracy; and (2) the Ship Mis-segmentation Index. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are tested and verified on Gaofen-3 SAR images of Yokosuka Port, Japan. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves an Absolute Segmentation Accuracy of 3.15 pixels, a Ship Mis-segmentation Index of 9.23% and processing time of 82.92 s on average, which reveals that the proposed method outperforms current popular approaches in terms of accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that convection-diffusion equations suffer from the most difficult problems to gain a stable and accurate solution. Sometimes, the convection terms may cause oscillatory behavior of solutions. In this article, the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) scheme is applied to eliminate overshoots and undershoots produced by the convection term in the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method. The accuracy and stability of the present method are discussed using two test cases. The results of the present method are compared with results of other upwind schemes and the finite volume method (FVM) using a high-order upwind scheme. Our analysis shows that the present method, with its simple implementation, can give excellent results for convection-dominated problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two stilbazolium derivatives with different counter-anions (Br- and OH- ) have been designed and synthesised. Different counter-anions cause different aggregation properties. The reason of this difference was investigated through concentration- and temperature-dependent 1H NMR and IR spectra. When the counter-anion is OH- , the stilbazolium derivative exhibits pronounced aggregation properties. The scanning electron microscope images of xerogels show the characteristic gelation morphologies of 3D fibrous network structures. X-ray diffraction and fluorescence spectroscopy studies have been carried out, and provide more information to define the molecular packing model in gelation states. Finally, the acid-sensing abilities of the xerogel film were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new triterpenes mayteneri A (1), mayteneri B (2), and seven known compounds (3-9) were isolated from stems of Maytenus hookeri Loes. The chemical structures of compounds 1 and 2 were established by 1D, 2D NMR, HRESIMS analysis, and calculating electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The structures of known compounds 3-9 were determined by comparison of their spectral with those reported. Compounds 4-7 showed significant inhibitory activity for NLRP3 inflammasome, with the IC50 values of 2.36–3.44 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic/glycolic acid polymers (PLGA) are widely used for drug delivery systems. The microsphere formulation is the most interesting dosage form of the PLGA-based controlled release devices. In this study, the previously reported PLGA were used to prepare drug-containing microspheres. Progesterone was used as a model drug. The progesterone microspheres were prepared from PLGA having varied compositions and varied molecular weight. The microscopic characterization shows that the microspheres are spherical, nonaggregated particles. The progesterone-containing PLGA microspheres possess a Gaussian size distribution, having average size from 70–134 µm. A solvent extraction method was employed to prepare the microspheres. The microencapsulation method used in this study has high drug encapsulation efficiency. The progesterone release from the PLGA microspheres and the factors affecting the drug release were studied. The release of progesterone from the PLGA microspheres is affected by the properties of the polymer used. The drug release is more rapid from the microspheres prepared using the PLGA having higher fraction of glycolic acid moiety. The drug release from the microspheres composed of higher molecular weight PLGA is faster. The drug content in microspheres also has an effect on the drug release. Higher progesterone content in microspheres yields a quicker initial burst release of the drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of previously-synthesized lactic/glycolic acid polymers (PLGA) with various molar ratios of lactic to glycolic acid and various molecular weights were further studied with regard to their biodegradation behavior, and in particular, the factors affecting the biodegradation rate. The biodegradation of PLGA is affected by many factors including polymer composition, molecular weight, and nature of the incubating media. The biodegradation rate of PLGA containing higher content of lactic acid moiety is lower than those containing a lower content of lactic acid moiety. PLGAs with a higher molecular weight, degrade faster than those with a lower molecular weight, i.e. the molecular weight decreases more rapidly for higher molecular weight PLGAs than their lower molecular weight counterparts. Nature or properties of the hydrolysis/incubating media may have an effect on the biodegradation of PLGAs. A basic medium may slow down the biodegradation of PLGA in comparison with samples in an acidic medium. The rate of pH reduction for the incubating medium can be divided into three deferent phases, giving an inverted S-type pH profile for the non-buffered incubating media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of lactic/glycolic acid polymers with various molar ratios of lactic to glycolic acid and various molecular weights were synthesized using the ring-opening polymerization method. The polymerization conditions for the lactic/glycolic acid polymer synthesis were as follows: 150°C, 700 μm Hg, 3 h, 0.03 wt% of catalyst (stannous 2-ethyl-hexanoate) concentration. The molecular weight of these polymers was controlled by using a molecular weight controller, lauryl alcohol. The synthesized polymers have been characterized with respect to polymer composition, molecular weight, inherent viscosity, and glass transition temperature. The characterization experiments show a good correlation between the polymer compositions and the feed ratios of lactic to glycolic acid. The molecular weight of the lactic/glycolic polymers, ranging from 10 876 to 166 630 D and the intrinsic viscosity of the polymers, ranging from 0.16 to 0.86 dl g[sup -1], are controlled by the amount of molecular weight controller used. The effect of the amount of the molecular weight controller on the polymer molecular weight and the polymer inherent viscosity was studied. Results indicate that the molecular weight and inherent viscosity of the polymers have a log-log linear relationship with the amount of molecular weight controller used. The lactic/glycolic acid polymers are amorphous, glassy, and transparent. The glass transition temperature of the polymers range from 21.95 to 51.29°C, depending on the polymer molecular weight and the composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine residents' subjective mental workload when they enter prescriptions in a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system. Twenty-two residents completed six prescribing tasks in which two factors were manipulated: numerical input method and level of urgency. Data on demographic characteristics, familiarity with CPOE, and pretest performance were collected. The subjective mental workload was measured by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Temporal demand (Mean = 34.48) contributed most to residents' workload on the CPOE task, followed by Performance (Mean = 29.23). No significant associations were found between workload and demographic characteristics, CPOE familiarity, or pretest CPOE performance (p's >.05). A 3 × 2 repeated-measures ANOVA yielded main effects of numerical input method [F (2, 19) = 88.358, p <.001, η2 =.900] and level of urgency [F (1, 21) = 169.654, p <.001, η2 =.890], and interaction of input method and urgency [F (2, 20) = 87.427, p <.001, η2 =.900]. Residents' major sources of workload during the CPOE prescription were temporal demand and performance. Prescriptions entered by the row of numbers exhibited the highest workload. Workload increased with higher level of urgency. It is necessary to emphasize the negative impact of subjective workload, especially in prescription task under urgent situation. Further researches focus on medical staff's workload are encouraged to ensure patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an antibody-mediated, autoimmune neuromuscular disease. Reports have indicated that the CD28/B7 ligand interactions play a crucial role during primary immune responses. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects of the CD28/B7 pathway on the occurrence and development of MG and its associated cytokine factors. An experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) was initially established by immunization of Lewis rats with acetylcholine receptor (AChR) α97-116 peptide. Then the rats were treated with dexamethasone and CTLA4-Ig (used for inhibiting the CD28/B7 pathway). Serum levels of AChR IgG and AChR IgG2b were then detected using ELISA. The clinical features, muscle contraction function, AChR content, expression of CD28, CTLA4, B7.1 and B7.2 in mononuclear cells of peripheral blood and the secretion of cytokines (INF-γ, IL-2, IL-10 and IL-12) in serum of rats were measured. Finally, lymphocyte proliferation upon CTLA4 IgG treatment was examined in vitro. Inhibition of the CD28/B7 pathway and dexamethasone were found to significantly improve clinical symptoms of EAMG rats, reduce serum levels of AChR IgG, AChR IgG2b, INF-γ, IL-2, IL-10 and IL-12, the expression of CD28, CTLA4, B7.1 and B7.2 in mononuclear cells of peripheral blood, and enhance muscle contraction function and AChR content in the muscle in vivo. Meanwhile, CTLA4 IgG could abolish the increased lymphocyte proliferation following AChR stimulation in vitro. Overall, the suppression of the CD28/B7 pathway by CTLA4-Ig can have the potential to retard the occurrence and development of MG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the clinical value of serum complement component 1q (C1q) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels in predicting the response to combined immunotherapy in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. We conducted a retrospective study of 44 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received combined immunotherapy in our hospital. Serum IgG and C1q levels were collected before and three weeks after immunotherapy treatment, together with other data on clinical and demographic characteristics. Twenty seven patients (61.4%) showed partial response (PR), 13 (29.5%) stable disease (SD), and 4 (9.1%) progressive disease (PD). None of the patients presented complete response (CR). The PR group displayed lower IgG and higher C1q levels both before and after immunotherapy than patients showing SD or PD. The IgG reduction (59.3%) and C1q increment (70.3%) in the PR group three weeks post-treatment were significantly larger than those in patients showing SD or PD. Moreover, the pretreatment C1q level and the post-treatment change of C1q levels were strongly associated with the immunotherapy response. High pre- and post-treatment C1q levels and reduced post-treatment IgG levels correlate with efficacy of combined immunotherapy in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Serum baseline C1q level may predict immunotherapy response in such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A meshless local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) approach based on the streamline upwind (SU) idea and the variational multiscale (VMS) concept, called as VMS-SUMLPG method, is herein proposed to solve the convection-dominated problems. In the present VMS-SUMLPG method, the streamline upwind is constructed in the test function to solve the non-self-adjoint matrix. Meanwhile, the VMS concept as a stability term is adopted to alleviate the numerical instability such as spurious oscillations, overshoots, and undershoots. Its numerical accuracy and stability are validated by comparing with the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUMLPG) method and the finite volume method with high-order difference schemes for two classical convection-dominated problems at the Peclet number ranging from 106to 108. It is shown that the numerical solutions of the present VMS-SUMLPG method are accuracy, smoothness, and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To investigate the effects of chromosome polymorphism on the clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization/embryo transfer (IVF/ET)-assisted reproductive technology. The case data of 2740 patients treated between January 2018 and January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were organized into two groups: a case group and a control group. In the case group (n = 81), one or both parents were characterized by chromosomal polymorphism; in the control group (n = 2659), both parents had normal chromosome karyotyping. The primary outcomes included clinical pregnancy rate (clinical pregnancy rate of fresh transfer cycles = number of clinical pregnancy cycles/number of fresh embryo transfer cycles × 100%) and live birth rate (live birth rate per fresh transfer cycles = number of live births/numbers of fresh embryo transfer cycles × 100%). The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used for statistical analysis. After PSM 1:2 matching for the patients in the two groups, 72 patients were successfully matched. The clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate in the case group were lower than in the control group before PSM (clinical pregnancy rate: 33.30% case group vs. 46.60% control group, p =.020; live birth rate: 30.90% case group vs. 47.90% control group, p =.03). The differences were statistically significant (p <.05). The live birth rate in the case group was also significantly lower than in the control group after PSM (34.98% case group vs. 74.52% control group; p =.028). The correlation coefficient between clinical pregnancy and grouping (i.e. if there was a characteristic chromosome polymorphism) was −.045 (p =.02), while the correlation coefficient between live birth and grouping was −.046. Chromosome polymorphism is weakly negatively correlated with live birth in IVF/ET-assisted reproduction and can significantly reduce the live birth rate of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two three-dimensional (3D) nickel-based metal-organic frameworks (Ni(II)-MOFs), {[Ni(adc)(phen)(H2O)]}n (1, H2adc = 9,10-anthracenedicarboxylic acid, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) and {[Ni(adc)(bpy)]}n (2, bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine), were synthesized via a mixed-ligand strategy under hydrothermal and solvothermal conditions. MOF 1 could be simplified as a binodal tfc topology, while 2 possesses a three-fold interpenetrated framework, which is composed of a 4-connected dia network. The phase purity, molecular vibrations, and thermal stability of 1 and 2 have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Further electrochemical experiments reveal that 1 and 2 exhibit good methanol/ethanol oxidation (MOR/EOR) activities, with the optimal current density reaching up to 21.2 (EOR: 25.3) and 15.8 (EOR: 15.3) mA cm−2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A concise one-step synthetic method was developed to prepare (S)-3,3′-di(pyrrolidinylmethyl)-H8BINOL via Mannich-type reaction. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the yield reached 83% (by recrystallization) and 93% (by column chromatography). This new procedure has reduced the molar ratio of pyrrolidine/paraformaldehyde/(S)-H8BINOL from 58:58:1 to 3:3:1, which simplified the previously reported two-step reaction to a one-step reaction with no need for laborious operations such as cooling and solvent degassing, and avoided discharging a large amount of dioxane-containing waste water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are the production of renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). The current study is to elucidate a mechanism of SIRT2 tyrosine nitration to accelerate the cell apoptosis induced by peroxynitrite (ONOO‾), the most reactive and deleterious RNS type in renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Our results demonstrate that there is a significant enhancement of the 3-nitrotyrosine levels in renal tissues of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) patients and rats that underwent renal I/R, and a positive correlation between the 3-nitrotyrosine level and renal function impairment, indicative of an accumulation of peroxynitrite. Notably, peroxynitrite-evoked nitration of SIRT2 destroyed its enzymatic activity and the capability to deacetylate FOXO3a, and enhanced expression of Bim and caspase3, facilitating renal cell apoptosis in renal ischemia/reperfusion and SIN-1(peroxynitrite donor) treatment in vitro, and these effects were reversed by FeTMPyP, a peroxynitrite decomposition scavenger. Importantly, we identified that the tyrosine 86 is responsible for SIRT2 nitration and inactivation using site-mutation assay and Mass Spectrography analysis. Altogether, these findings point to a novel protective mechanism that an inhibition of SIRT2 tyrosine nitration can be a promising strategy to prevent ischemic renal diseases involving AKI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethyl 6-N-decyloxy-7-ethoxy-4-hydroxyquinoline-3-carboxylate has been synthesized from pyrocatechol in six steps and in 39.3% overall yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pyrrolizidine alkaloid, (2S, 8S)-2-benzyl hexahydro-pyrrodizin-3-one, was synthesized from (L)-proline using diastereoselective benzylation as the key step. The absolute configuration of the target compound was confirmed through 2D H-H COSY and H-H NOESY spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new coordination polymer (CP) [Co(HTATB)(H2O)](DMF)2 (1, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide) based on the {Co2(CO2)4} binuclear secondary building unit (SBU) has been successfully prepared by using a light-harvesting triphenylamine type organic ligand 4,4′,4″-s-triazine-2,4,6-triyltribenzoic acid (H3TATB). Furthermore, complex 1 has significant photocatalytic activity under visible light for the degradation of organic dyes such as rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB) as well as methyl orange (MO) assisted by H2O2. Furthermore, the anti-osteoporosis activity of complex 1 was evaluated. First, the inhibitory effect of complex 1 on the BMSCs apoptosis was measured by Annexin V-FITC/PI method. Then, the RT-PCR was performed to detect the relative expressions level of wnt/β-catenin and PPARγ after complex 1 treatment. The hypothesis that arises from the experimental observation has been further investigated by using molecular docking simulation, where the possible binding interactions between the ligand and Wnt protein are studied explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the influence of budget hotel characteristics on room rates in Shanghai, China, using a hedonic price model. The data of hotels' characteristics and room rates were obtained from Qunar. The structure, location, and reputation characteristics of hotels are found to significantly influence room rates. There are significant differences in characteristics between budget hotels and high-end hotels, and the influences of these characteristics on room rates vary. The results of this study will not only be helpful for consumers' decision-making, but also contribute toward a better understanding of rational rating for the hotel managers, improving consumer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the prognosis of adult severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients with absolute neutrophil count (ANC) values of zero prior to immunosuppressive therapy (IST). Methods: Patients with ANC values of zero prior to IST were separated from very SAA and analyzed in a prospective study. All patients received IST with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA). Results: A significantly lower response rate (RR) was identified in patients with ANC = 0 prior to IST when compared to patients with SAA after both 3 and 6 month periods or compared to those with vSAA at 3 months only. The efficacy of IST was inversely related to ANC = 0. The overall survival rate of the 'zero' group was significantly lower than that of the vSAA or SAA groups. Overall survival was closely associated with response to IST, and was inversely related to ANC = 0. Discussion: In SAA patients, ANC is associated with prognosis, the elucidated overall survival improvement in patients without ANC = 0 occurred in conjunction with decreased infection-related mortality. Our study revealed that adult patients with ANC = 0 prior to IST responded poorly to IST, suggesting that having a very low number of neutrophils was a highly predictive factor for efficacy and survival of SAA patients treated with IST. Conclusion: Adult SAA patients with ANC = 0 had a very poor prognosis and new therapeutic regimens may result in better outcome for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The primary aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the survival predication value of preoperative prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in patients with gastric cancer. The second aim was to explore the relationship between preoperative PNI and clinicopathological features. Methods: A systematic search of the electronic databases identified studies that investigated the association of preoperative PNI with short or long-term outcomes among patients after gastrectomy for cancer. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of results was conducted. Results: Twenty-five studies with a total of 14,403 patients with gastric cancer met inclusion criteria for this review. Pooled analysis demonstrated that low preoperative PNI was associated with significantly reduced overall survival (HR 1.81, 95% CI: 1.56–2.09; P = 0.000), cancer-specific survival (HR 1.61, 95% CI: 1.24–2.10; P = 0.000), and recurrence-free survival (HR 1.82, 95% CI: 1.20–2.77; P = 0.005). In addition, risk of postoperative complications (POCs) and mortality was significantly higher in patients with lower preoperative PNI (RR 1.77, 95% CI: 1.44–2.17; P = 0.000 and RR 5.14, 95% CI: 2.23–11.79; P = 0.000, respectively). Conclusion: This study suggests that patients with low preoperative PNI may have a high incidence of POCs and poor prognosis following gastrectomy for cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato leaves with symptoms of foliar diseases were collected from eight different geographical areas in southern China. A total of 109 Alternaria isolates were recovered and identified to three species according to morphological characteristics, nucleotide sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis. Three Alternaria species were recovered, of which A. tenuissima was the most common, followed by A. alternata and A. solani. Pathogenicity tests indicated that all species caused foliar symptoms on potato cultivar ‘Favorite’. Compared with earlier results reported in 2010-2013 in northern China, the proportion of A. alternata isolates was notably increased, while the number of A. solani isolates was lower. This study provides a survey of the Alternaria species composition associated with potato foliar diseases in southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study characterized the genetic variations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to elucidate the maternal genetic structure of Liaoning Han Chinese. A total of 317 blood samples of unrelated individuals were collected for analysis in Liaoning Province. The mtDNA samples were analyzed using two distinct methods: sequencing of the hypervariable sequences I and II (HVSI and HVSII), and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the coding region. The results indicated a high gene diversity value (0.9997 ± 0.0003), a high polymorphism information content (0.99668) and a random match probability (0.00332). These samples were classified into 305 haplotypes, with 9 shared haplotypes. The most common haplogroup was D4 (12.93%). The principal component analysis map, the phylogenetic tree map, and the genetic distance matrix all indicated that the genetic distance of the Liaoning Han population from the Tibetan group was distant, whereas that from the Miao group was relatively close. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The exposed level of vitamin A in plasma might be exceeded due to the both inadvertent and clinical utilization. The adverse effects of vitamin A have been frequently reported, however, the mechanism remains unclear. The inhibition of vitamin A on the activity of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) was determined usingin vitroincubation system to explain the adverse effects of vitamin A from a new perspective. 2. UGT supersomes catalyzed glucuronidation of 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU), trifluoperazine (TFP), and cotinine was used as the probe reaction to evaluate the inhibition of vitamin A toward UGT isoforms, and 100 μM of vitamin A significantly inhibited the activity of all the tested UGT isoforms. Vitamin A exerted competitive inhibition on the activity of UGT1A1, 2B4, 2B7, and 2B15, and the inhibition kinetic parameters (Ki) were calculated to be 31.1, 16.8, 2.2, and 11.6 μM for UGT1A1, 2B4, 2B7, and 2B15.In silicodocking method was used to try to elucidate the inhibition mechanism of vitamin A toward UGT2B7. The results showed the significant contribution of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interaction on the UGT2B7 inhibition by vitamin A. 3. The present study provides a new perspective for the adverse effects of vitamin A through reporting the inhibition of vitamin A on the activity of important phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes UGTs, which benefits our deep understanding of mechanism of vitamin A's adverse effects when high exposure of vitamin A occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Endometrial injury usually results in intrauterine adhesion (IUA), which is an important cause of infertility and recurrent miscarriage in reproductive women. There is still lack of an effective therapeutic strategy to prevent occurrence of IUA. Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a potent repair factor for epithelial tissues. Here, a temperature-sensitive heparin-modified poloxamer (HP) hydrogel with affinity to KGF (KGF-HP) was used as a support matrix to prevent IUA and deliver KGF. The rheology of KGF-HP hydrogel was carefully characterized. The cold KGF-HP solution was rapidly transited to hydrogel with suitable storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) for the applications of uterus cavity at temperature of 33 °C.In vitrorelease demonstrated that KGF was released from HP hydrogels in sustained release manner for a long time.In vivobioluminescence imaging showed that KGF-HP hydrogel was able to prolong the retention of the encapsulated KGF in injured uterus of rat model. Moreover, the morphology and function of the injured uterus were significantly recovered after administration of KGF-HP hydrogel, which were evaluated by two-dimensional ultrasound imaging and receptive fertility. Not only proliferation of endometrial glandular epithelial cells and luminal epithelial cells but also angiogenesis of injured uterus were observed by Ki67 and CD31 staining after 7 d of treatment with KGF-HP hydrogel. Finally, a close relatively relationship between autophagy and proliferation of endometrial epithelial cells (EEC) and angiogenesis was firstly confirmed by detecting expression of LC3-II and P62 after KGF treatment. Overall, KGF-HP may be used as a promising candidate for IUA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Fructus psoraleae(FP) is the dried ripe seeds ofPsoralea corylifoliaL. (Fabaceae) widely used in Asia, and has been reported to exert important biochemical and pharmacological activities. The adverse effects of FP remain unclear. The present study aims to determine the inhibition of human carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) by FP’s major ingredients, including neobavaisoflavone, corylifolinin, coryfolin, psoralidin, corylin and bavachinin. 2. The probe substrate of CES1 2-(2-benzoyl-3-methoxyphenyl) benzothiazole (BMBT) was derived from 2-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) benzothiazole (HMBT), and human liver microsomes (HLMs)-catalyzed BMBT metabolism was used to phenotype the activity of CES1.In silicodocking method was employed to explain the inhibition mechanism. 3. All the tested compounds exerted strong inhibition towards the activity of CES1 in a concentration-dependent behavior. Furthermore, the inhibition kinetics was determined for the inhibition of neobavaisoflavone, corylifolinin, coryfolin, corylin and bavachinin towards CES1. Both Dixon and Lineweaver–Burk plots showed that neobavaisoflavone, corylifolinin, coryfolin and corylin noncompetitively inhibited the activity of CES1, and bavachinin competitively inhibited the activity of CES1. The inhibition kinetic parameters (Ki) were calculated to be 5.3, 9.4, 1.9, 0.7 and 0.5 μM for neobavaisoflavone, corylifolinin, coryfolin, corylin and bavachinin, respectively. In conclusion, the inhibition behavior of CES1 by the FP’s constituents was given in this article, indicating the possible adverse effects of FP through the disrupting CES1-catalyzed metabolism of endogenous substances and xenobiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nanocomposite film of nitrate glycerol ether cellulose (NGEC)/graphene oxide (GO) was presented by a casting/evaporation technique. The effect of GO contents on mechanical properties of the NGEC/GO films was studied. Compared with pristine NGEC, the integration of 0.5 wt% GO resulted in 40%, 38% and 44% increase in Young's modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break of the NGEC/GO film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern China has one of the world's largest population of patients needing transfusions. Transfusion and chelation are not uniformly available and no magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessment data exists to date. A total of 153 young β-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients were assessed using a validated 1.5T scanner in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China (PRC). Their median age was 13 (range 7 to 30), and most patients were young (22.0% age <10, 73.0% age <15, 88.0% age <18). Erratic health care made estimation of total transfusion and chelation exposure impossible. Despite their early age, 24.0% had severe cardiac hemosiderosis [T2*<10 milliseconds (ms)], at ages as early as 8 years old. Median heart iron was 1.68 mg/g dry weight (range 0.19-7.66) and increased with age ( p = 0.017), while liver iron was 22.2 mg/g dry weight (range 3.15 to 39.2). Serum ferritin levels were poor predictors of heart and liver, or pancreatic R* and pituitary R* values. Magnetic resonance imaging scans are needed to screen very young β-TM patients with immediate risk of premature cardiac death in developing nations and triage them to more intensive treatment. This is particularly important in countries with a large number of patients and limited resources. Our data suggests that in developing countries, there is no lower limit for thalassemia MRI scanning programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) accumulation is a common phenomenon in greenhouse soil for vegetables. Excessive P accumulation in soil usually decreases the yield and quality of vegetables as well as potentially polluting water environments. Ninety-eight tomato and 48 cucumber greenhouses were investigated in the eight main vegetable production areas of Hebei Province, China. Soil Olsen-P, the electrical conductivity (EC), the pH value, the organic matter of the soil, and the cropping years of these greenhouses were investigated and analyzed in order to better understand the status of soil P accumulation and positively find effective ways to solve the excessive phosphate accumulation problem. The investigation showed that the ratio was above 70% for all of the greenhouses where the soil Olsen-P exceeded 90 mg·kg-1 (upper bound of soil Olsen-P optimum value in greenhouse) in the 0-20 cm surface soil in the investigated greenhouses. There was a significant positive correlation between the soil Olsen-P content and the soil EC, between the soil Olsen-P and the cropping years, and the Olsen-P had a significant negative correlation with the soil pH value. It is concluded that supplying phosphate fertilizer excessively induced the soil EC to ascend and the pH value to descend, which increases the possibility of the soil secondary salinization and soil degeneration. The significant positive correlation between the soil organic content and the soil Olsen-P contents suggests that supplying organic fertilizer might mobilize soil residual phosphate. This also provides a good way to solve the problem of soil P accumulation. In order to further explore the threshold content of soil Olsen-P demanded by tomato and cucumber under the high soil Olsen-P condition, two tomato greenhouses (T1, T2) in Dingzhou and two cucumber greenhouses (C1, C2) in Wuqiang were researched. All of the greenhouses had ranges of soil Olsen-P content that were between 150 and 300 mg·kg-1, which far exceeded the 90 mg·kg-1 ideal. The P fertilizer application rates showed positive correlations with the soil Olsen-P contents and EC values in cucumber and tomato greenhouses in the current season. Analyzing T1 and T2 results showed that tomato was sensitive to the high soil Olsen-P contents ranging from 230.64 to 729.42 mg kg-1 at the seedling stage (15 days after transplanting; DAT) and from 199.41 to 531.42 mg kg-1 at the fruiting stage (90 DAT), because the yields correlated negatively with soil Olsen-P contents at each growth stage. It is suggested that the maximum soil Olsen-P threshold content for tomato should be lower than 230 mg·kg-1 at the seedling stage and lower than 199 mg·kg-1 at the fruiting stage. But cucumber yield did not change significantly as soil Olsen-P content rose from 248.75 to 927.62 mg kg-1, 212.40 to 554.07 mg kg-1, 184.48 to 455.90 mg kg-1, and 128.42 to 400.96 mg kg-1 at the seedling stage (15 DAT), early fruiting stage (50 DAT), middle fruiting stage (140 DAT), and late fruiting stage (235 DAT), respectively, suggesting that the maximal soil Olsen-P threshold content was lower than 249, 212, 185, and 128 mg·kg-1 at each growth stage, respectively. The relationship between fruit qualities and soil Olsen-P contents at each growth stage was not evident. Activities of soil alkaline phosphatase (ALP) decreased as soil Olsen-P supply was raised in T1, T2, and C1 at the seedling stage. It is concluded that in an excess soil Olsen-P condition tomato yield decreases strongly as soil ALP activity decreases, whereas ALP activity has little direct effect on cucumber yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]