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Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic respiratory disorder characterized by chronic inflammation and airway remodeling. Cigarette smoke (CS) and respiratory viruses are major causes of COPD development and exacerbation, but the mechanisms of these compounding factors on inflammation and pathological changes in airway structure still need further investigation. Purpose This work aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of Poly I:C on pathological changes in CS-induced COPD mice, such as airway inflammation and remodeling. Methods From 1 to 8 weeks, the mice were exposed to CS, Poly I:C, or a combination of both. To compare the pathological changes among different groups over time, the mice were sacrificed at week 4, 8, 16, and 24, then the lungs were harvested to measure pulmonary pathology, inflammatory cytokines, and airway remodeling. Results Our data revealed that the fundamental characteristics of COPD, such as pulmonary pathological damage, the release of inflammatory mediators, and the remodeling of airway walls, were observed at week 8 in CS-exposed mice and these pathological changes persisted to week 16. Compared with the CS group, the pathological changes, including decreased lung function, inflammatory cell infiltration, alveolar destruction, and airway wall thickening, were weaker in the Poly I:C group. These pathological changes were observed at week 8 and persisted to week 16 in Poly I:C-induced mice. Furthermore, Poly I:C exacerbated lung tissue damage in CS-induced COPD mice. The decreased lung function, airway inflammation and remodeling were observed in the combined group at week 4, and these pathological changes persisted to week 24. Our research indicated that Poly I:C enhanced the expression of p-P38, p-JNK and p-NF-κB in CS-exposed mice. Conclusion Poly I:C could promote airway inflammation and remodeling in CS-induced COPD mice probably by NF-κB and MAPK signaling.

To construct the risk prediction model of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and verify its effectiveness based on deep learning and back propagation algorithm neural network (BP neural network).Based on the relevant data of 1 326 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the team's previous clinical study, the acute exacerbation, and its risk factors during the stable period and 6 months of follow-up were recorded and analyzed. Combined with previous clinical research data and expert questionnaire results, the independent risk factors of AECOPD after screening and optimization by multivariate Logistic regression including gender, body mass index (BMI) classification, number of acute exacerbation, duration of acute exacerbation and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were used to build the BP neural network by Python 3.6 programming language and Tensorflow 1.12 deep learning framework. The patients were randomly selected according to the ratio of 4:1 to generate the training group and the test group, of which, the training group had 1 061 sample data while the test group had 265 pieces of sample data. The training group was used to establish the prediction model of neural network, and the test group was used for back-substitution test. When using the training group data to construct the neural network model, the training group was randomly divided into training set and verification set according to the ratio of 4:1. There were 849 training samples in the training set and 212 verification samples in the verification set. The optimal model was screened by adjusting the parameters of the neural network and combining the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC), and the sample data of the test group was substituted into the model for verification.The independent risk factors including gender, BMI classification, number of acute exacerbation, duration of acute exacerbation and FEV1 were collected from the team's previous clinical research, and the AECOPD risk prediction model was constructed based on deep learning and BP neural network. After 10 000 training sessions, the accuracy of the AECOPD risk prediction model in the validation set of the training group was 83.09%. When the number of training times reached 8 000, the accuracy basically tended to be stable and the prediction ability reached the upper limit. The AECOPD risk prediction model trained for 10 000 times was used to predict the risk of the validation set data, and the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) analysis showed that the AUC was 0.803. When using this model to predict the risk of the data of the test group, the accuracy rate was 81.69%.The risk prediction model based on deep learning and BP neural network has a medium level of prediction efficiency for acute exacerbation within 6 months in COPD patients, which can evaluate the risk of AECOPD and assist the clinic in making accurate treatment decisions.

Developing new catalysts for efficient degradation of micropollutants in water is of significant importance in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Herein, TiO

Background Since consistent evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not available, this overview aims to summarize and critically evaluate the methodological and evidence quality of systematic reviews (SRs) on this topic. Methods Eight electronic databases were searched to identify relevant SRs of the use of acupuncture in the treatment of COPD from inception to January 2021. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and cross-checked the data. The Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) list was used to assess the methodological quality of SRs. The Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the quality of evidence for the outcomes of interest. Results Nine SRs that conducted quantitative syntheses were included in this overview. The methodological quality of the SRs and the quality of evidence for the main outcome measures were generally unsatisfactory. Only 2 SRs were rated as low methodological quality by AMSTAR 2, and the remaining SRs were rated as critically low quality. The key limitations of the SRs were lack of a protocol and registration or a list of excluded studies. We did not find high-quality evidence to confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture for COPD, and the main reason was that the qualitative data synthesis relied on trials with small sample sizes and critically low quality. Conclusion Acupuncture appears to be an effective therapeutic method for COPD, but the credibility of the results is limited owing to the generally low methodological quality and evidence quality of the included SRs. Further rigorous and comprehensive studies are required to provide robust evidence and draw definitive conclusions.

Bushings are served as an important component of the power transformers; it's of great significance to keep the bushings in good insulation condition. The infrared images of the bushing are proposed to diagnose the fault with the combination of image segmentation and deep learning, including object detection, fault region extraction, and fault diagnosis. By building an object detection system with the frame of Mask Region convolutional neural network (CNN), the bushing frame can be exactly extracted. To distinguish the fault region of bushings and the background, a simple linear iterative clustering‐based pulse coupled neural network is proposed to improve the fault region segmentation performance. Then, two infrared image feature parameters, the relative position and area, are explored to classify fault type effectively based on the K‐means cluster technique. With the proposed joint algorithm on bushing infrared images, the accuracy reaches 98%, compared with 44% by the conventional CNN classification method. The integrated algorithm provides a feasible and advantageous solution for the field application of bushing image‐based diagnosis.

A copper/Q235 steel/copper composite block with excellent bonding interfaces was prepared by explosive welding which was a promising technique to fabricate laminates. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the interfaces were investigated via the tensile-shear test, optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). The results showed that the shear strength of the upper-interface and lower-interfaces of the welded copper/steel are higher than ~235 MPa and ~222 MPa, respectively. The specimens failed fully within the copper and not at the bonding interface. It was attributed to: (1) no cavities and cracks at the interface; (2) the interface formed a metallurgical bonding including numerous ultra-fine grains (UFGs) which can significantly improve the plastic deformation coordination at the interface and inhibit the generation of micro-cracks.

The use of bioleaching for anaerobically digested sludge (ADS) was found to be ineffective compared to using it for undigested sludge (UDS) for reasons elucidated in this study. Results showed that specific resistance to filtration of ADS increased during bioleaching. The pH value of ADS increased to 7.97 and remained unchanged during bioleaching, while it decreased to 2.98 for UDS. Added Fe2+ was not detected as the energy source for ADS. Higher alkalinity and unavailable Fe2+ in ADS prevented the growth of the Acidithiobacillus species. It was found that sludge pH increased to 8.40 and then stayed within an alkaline range, whereas slime EPS content rapidly increased to 8.13 mg DOC/g VSS. These results indicated that aeration seriously deteriorated the dewaterability of ADS through bioleaching due to the unexpected drastic increase of sludge pH and slime EPS content.

This study began by building a series of high-quality simulation modules of real space clones to obtain comparable data and conditions, and comparing them with data and situations obtained from the real state module to bring the system closer to reality. And the imaging model uses a number of numbers to generate the number of samples to train the neural network model of the plan. Finally, this paper takes the three-phase three column double winding transformer models of the module as an example to evaluate the proposed method of evaluating the design characteristics of the module.

Yangqing Chenfei formula (YCF) has been demonstrated its clinical efficiency on silicosis patients. However, the effect of YCF against silicotic fibrosis and its mechanism remain unclear.This study is aimed to investigate active compounds and molecular mechanism of YCF in treating silicosis.YCF was orally administrated to silicosis rats induced by crystalline silica. The effective fraction of YCF and the compounds was isolated and identified by using macroporous resin and HPLC-MS, respectively. The targets and potential molecular mechanism of YCF against silicotic fibrosis were investigated through pharmacological network and RNA-sequencing analysis and in vitro-experimental validation.YCF could remarkably improve the lung function and pathological changes of silicotic rats, reduce the aggregation of fibrocytes and deposition of ECM, such as collagen I, III, FN, and α-SMA, and suppress the TGF-β/Smad3 signaling. Furthermore, YCF6, the effective fraction derived from YCF, could significantly inhibit fibroblast activation induced by TGF-β. Then, 135 compounds were identified from YCF6 by using HPLC-MS, and Network pharmacology analysis predicted total 941 targets for these compounds. Moreover, 409 differentially expressed genes of fibroblast activation induced by TGF-β were identified. Then, integrated analysis of the 941 targets with 409 differentially expressed genes showed that YCF6 contains multiple compounds, such as tangeretin, L-Malic acid, 2-Monolinolein etc., which inhibits fibroblast activation probably by targeting different proteins, such as PIK3CA, AKT1, JAK2, STAT3, GSK3β, leading to regulate the signal network, such as PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, JAK/STAT signaling pathway, and Wnt signaling pathway. Finally, in vitro experiment indicated that tangeretin, the active compound contained in YCF6, could significantly inhibit TGF-β induced fibroblast activation. Moreover, YCF6 and tangeretin could markedly inhibit the activation of PI3K/AKT, JAK/STAT, and Wnt pathway.YCF contained multiple compounds and targeted various proteins that regulated the fibroblast activation, which might be the molecular mechanisms of it in treating silicosis.

Carbon-based electrodes play important roles in constructing efficient capacitive deionization (CDI) devices. Therefore, the rational design of carbon materials with optimized structure, composition, and morphology is crucial for further improving the CDI performance. Herein, a novel N, P co-doped eave-like hierarchical porous carbon (NP-EHPC) for CDI is reported. To prepare the NP-EHPC, the core–shell ZIF-8@AF particles are first prepared through the kinetically-controlled growth of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and polymerization of p-aminophenol and formaldehyde (AF), followed by subsequent pyrolysis and post-doping with phosphorus. Owing to the unique eave-like morphology, presence of abundant mesopores, and co-doping of P and N, the NP-EHPC exhibits a high desalination capacity of 24.14 mg g−1 in 500 mg L−1 NaCl solution at 1.2 V and long cycling stability of over 150 cycles. Moreover, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation results reveal that the co-doping of N and P atoms can greatly enhance the binding energies for Na and Cl atoms and lead to superior electrosorption capacity. This work provides a new insight into the design of high-performance carbon materials for the desalination of brackish water.

This study examined whether socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) enhances students’ algorithmic thinking performance, promotes learning participation and improves students’ learning attitu...

This paper proposes an analytical model for analyzing the electromagnetic performance of axial flux permanent magnet machines (AFPMMs) with the coexistence of static rotor radial deviation and angular eccentricity. Firstly, a quasi-3-D analytical model for the healthy AFPMMs is established using the scalar potential. Then, the analytical model of AFPMMs with the mixed eccentricity is derived by the coordinate transformation and air gap length function. The end effect under the mixed eccentricity is considered by an end coefficient, which improves the accuracy of back EMF by 1.3%. Based on the analytical model, the air gap flux density distribution, back EMF and cogging torque of AFPMMs with different rotor radial distances and angular eccentricities are calculated and compared with the corresponding results obtained by finite element analysis (FEA). The proposed model has higher analysis speed and less computer performance requirement than FEA with the similar accuracy. According to the results, the back EMF reduces obviously as the rotor radial deviation distance increases, and the back EMF almost unchanged as the angular eccentricity becomes serious.

Metal–organic framework (MOF) derived carbon-based nanocatalysts have received great attention in environmental remediation application. However, the aggregation and poor separation characteristics...

Purpose Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is an essential occurrence in COPD management and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Chinese herbal medicine is widely used in the treatment of AECOPD, but high quality randomized controlled trials are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine as adjuvant therapy for patients with AECOPD. Methods This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 378 participants from eight centers in China. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 10 g of Chinese herbal medicine (according to the type of Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome: Sanhanhuayin, Qingrehuatan, or Zaoshihuatan granules) or placebo, two times per day, for 14 days, in addition to conventional medicine. Participants were followed up for 84 days after the treatment. The primary end point was the COPD assessment test (CAT) score. Secondary end points included the Modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) questionnaire and the COPD patient-reported outcome scale (COPD-PRO). We also assessed treatment failure and treatment success rate, length of hospitalization, number of patients with acute exacerbations, number of patients readmitted due to AECOPD, and number of deaths and intubation. Results The between-group difference in the change from baseline for CAT on day 14 (end of treatment) was -2.11 (95% confidence interval [CI], -3.198 to -1.050; P

This research examines whether appropriate choices can be made based on a new goal through unconscious thought. The experimental materials are four mobile phones, one suitable for older adults and the other for younger people. The results of Experiment 1 show that when the goal was changed from judging whether a mobile phone is suitable for older adults to judging whether it is suitable for younger people, the scores of the participants in the unconscious thought group—that mobile phones are objectively suitable for older adults—were significantly higher than those for the group which thought that mobile phones are objectively suitable for young people. In Experiment 2, the immediate decision-making group was added, which ruled out the possibility that the participants had already made a choice during the information presentation process. The results of this study show that unconscious thought can make appropriate new choices based on new goals.

A better understanding of the extent of convergent selection among crops could greatly improve breeding programs. We found that the quantitative trait locus KRN2 in maize and its rice ortholog, OsKRN2 , experienced convergent selection. These orthologs encode WD40 proteins and interact with a gene of unknown function, DUF1644, to negatively regulate grain number in both crops. Knockout of KRN2 in maize or OsKRN2 in rice increased grain yield by ~10% and ~8%, respectively, with no apparent trade-offs in other agronomic traits. Furthermore, genome-wide scans identified 490 pairs of orthologous genes that underwent convergent selection during maize and rice evolution, and these were enriched for two shared molecular pathways. KRN2 , together with other convergently selected genes, provides an excellent target for future crop improvement.

Background There is no consensus on whether initial surgical or non-surgical treatments should be the standard treatment pattern for advanced hypopharyngeal cancer. The aim of the meta-analysis was systematically and quantitatively compare the relative efficacy between initial surgical and non-surgical therapies in patients with advanced-stage hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, the ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Library, and Embase databases from inception to April 10, 2019. Citation screening, data abstraction and quality assessment were performed in duplicate. Meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis (TSA) was used to assess the primary and secondary outcomes. Besides, we used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) to evaluate the certainty of the body of evidence. Results A total of 17 trials was appraised with 2539 patients that complied with inclusion and exclusion criterion. Pooled analyses indicated patients receiving primary surgical and non-surgical therapy did not significantly differ in overall survival (OS) (relative risk [RR] = 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.94 to 1.15), with TSA inconclusive. Additionally, patients treated with primary surgical experienced an increased disease free survival (DFS) probability compared with non-surgical treatment (RR 1.20, 95% CI = 1.05 to1.37), while TSA is inconclusive. Notably, non-surgical management did have a beneficial efficacy on larynx preservation (RR 0.48, 95% CI = 0.33 to 0.70), and TSA also provided conclusive evidence. GRADE indicated the level of evidence was low or very low for primary or secondary outcomes. Conclusion The results of our meta-analysis indicated when compared to surgical treatments, non-surgical therapy for patients with advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma appears to have equivalent efficacy, and it offers an opportunity to preserve laryngeal function. Due to inconclusive evidence by TSA, further investigation with large randomized clinical trials (RCTs) using modern approaches should be undertaken to verify the results of this meta-analysis. Trial registration PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018118563. Registered on December 19, 2018.

The low catalytic efficiency of redox-active cofactor photoregeneration severely limits the performance of photoenzymatic hybrid systems. Herein, we synthesized thiophene-conjugated porous C3N4 nanosheets (CN-ATCN) exhibiting boosted photoregeneration activity of nicotinamide cofactors (NADH and NADPH), which are the most common redox cofactors of oxidoreductases, with regeneration rates of 59.00 μM/min for NADH and 40.99 μM/min for NADPH, ~ 84.3 and 24.7 times higher than those of bulk g-C3N4, respectively. The thin nanosheet structure of CN-ATCN facilitates the exposure of active sites to reactants and favors the diffusion of reactants and products. Upon conjugation of a thiophene moiety into the carbon nitride framework, the optical and photoelectric properties of CN-ATCN were considerably enhanced by an extended π-conjugation system in the frameworks and molecular type II heterojunctions formed between the incorporated and non-incorporated portions of CN-ATCN. Upon coupling NAD(P)H photoregeneration reaction by CN-ATCN with NAD(P)H-dependent enzymatic systems, sustainable synthesis of L-tert-leucine and styrene oxide was achieved with rates of 964 and 14.9 μM/h, respectively.

This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for pneumoconiosis. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, SinoMed, CNKI, VIP databases and Wanfang Data from their inception to June 1, 2019. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PR for pneumoconiosis was conducted and reported in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed bias risk. All statistical analyses were performed using the RevMan software. Sixteen RCTs with 1307 subjects were ultimately included for analysis. Compared with routine treatment, PR was able to improve the 6-minute walking distance (mean difference (MD) 69.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 61.95–76.25); the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey total score (MD 17.60, 95% CI 13.59–21.61); physical function score (MD 15.45, 95% CI 3.20–27.69); role physical score (MD 17.87, 95% CI 12.06–23.69); body pain score (MD 14.34, 95% CI 10.33–18.36); general health score (MD 20.86, 95% CI 16.87–24.84); vitality score (MD 11.66, 95% CI 0.18–23.13); social function score (MD 9.67, 95% CI 1.27–18.08); mental health score (MD 20.60, 95% CI 13.61–27.59); forced vital capacity (FVC) (MD 0.20, 95% CI 0.12–0.29); forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (MD 0.23, 95% CI 0.09–0.38); FEV1% (MD 5.19, 95% CI 1.48–8.90); maximal voluntary ventilation (MD 4.47, 95% CI 1.14–7.81); reduction in the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire score (MD -9.60, 95% CI -16.40 to -2.80); and the modified Medical Research Council Scale score. Furthermore, PR did not increase the FEV1/FVC (MD 3.61, 95% CI -3.43 to 10.65), nor the emotional score (MD 6.18, 95% CI -23.01 to 35.38) compared with the control. We found no reports of adverse events associated with PR. Thus, to some extent, PR can improve functional capacity and quality of life in patients with pneumoconiosis. However, these results should be interpreted with caution because of high heterogeneity. This trial is registered with registration number CRD42018095266.

Inorganic photocatalyst-enzyme systems are a prominent platform for the photoreduction of CO2 to value-added chemicals and fuels. However, poor electron transfer kinetics and enzyme deactivation by reactive oxygen species in the photoexcitation process severely limit catalytic efficiency. In chloroplast, enzymatic CO2 reduction and photoexcitation are compartmentalized by the thylakoid membrane, which protects enzymes from photodamage, while the tightly integrated photosystem facilitates electron transfer, promoting photocatalysis. By mimicking this strategy, we constructed a novel functionally compartmental inorganic photocatalyst-enzyme system for CO2 reduction to formate. To accomplish efficient electron transfer, we first synthesized an integrated artificial photosystem by conjugation of the cocatalyst (a Rh complex) onto thiophene-modified C3N4 (TPE-C3N4), demonstrating an NADH regeneration rate of 9.33 μM·min-1, 2.33 times higher than that of a homogeneous counterpart. The enhanced NADH regeneration activity was caused by the tightly conjugated structure of the artificial photosystem, enabling rapid electron transfer from TPE-C3N4 to the Rh complex. To protect formate dehydrogenase (FDH) from photoinduced deactivation, FDH was encapsulated into MAF-7, a metal-organic framework (MOF) material, to compartmentalize FDH from the toxic photoexcitation process, similar to the function of the thylakoid membrane. Moreover, the triazole linkers of MAF-7 possess both hydrophilicity and pH-buffering capacity providing a stable microenvironment for FDH, which could enhance enzyme stability in photosynthesis. The synergy between the enhanced electron transfer of TPE-C3N4 for NADH cofactor regeneration and MOF-protection of the redox enzyme enables the construction of a functionally compartmental inorganic photocatalyst-enzyme association system, promoting CO2 photoconversion to formic acid with a yield of 16.75 mM after 9 h of illumination, 3.24 times greater than that of the homogeneous reaction counterpart.

Selective removal of organic pollutants from surface water with high efficiency is crucial in water purification. Here, yolk-shell Co/C nanoreactors (YSCCNs) are facilely synthesized via pyrolysis of controllably etched ZIF-67 by tannic acid, and their degradation performance on multiple pollutants is demonstrated. To present the structure-performance relationship between the designed nanocatalyst and the selective removal of organic pollutants, bisphenol A (BPA) was selected as the targeted pollutant with coexistence of humus acid (HA). For comparison, solid and hollow ZIF-67 derived Co/C nanoparticles denoted as SCCNs and HCCNs, were also tested. The results show that YSCCNs exhibit enhanced BPA degradation rate of 0.32 min-1, which is 23.1% and 45.4% higher than that of HCCNs and SCCNs in HA (10 ppm) system. The essential improvement can be ascribed to the synergetic effects from shell layer (size-exclusion) and core/shell (confinement effect). The degradation mechanism and pathway are further confirmed by radical quenching experiments and liquid chromatography-mass spectrograph (LC-MS), respectively. In addition, some influential factors, including reaction temperature, pH value, and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) dosage are investigated in detail. This work provides a possible way to selectively remove target contaminant from multiple pollutants in complex water system.

Abiotic–biological hybrid systems that combine the advantages of abiotic catalysis and biotransformation for the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to value-added chemicals and fuels have emerged as an appealing way to address the global energy and environmental crisis caused by increased CO2 emission. We illustrate the recent progress in this field. Here, we first review the natural CO2 fixation pathways for an in-depth understanding of the biological CO2 transformation strategy and why a sustainable feed of reducing power is important. Second, we review the recent progress in the construction of abiotic–biological hybrid systems for CO2 transformation from two aspects: (i) microbial electrosynthesis systems that utilize electricity to support whole-cell biological CO2 conversion to products of interest and (ii) photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrid systems that integrate semiconductor nanomaterials with CO2-fixing microorganisms to harness solar energy for biological CO2 transformation. Lastly, we discuss potential approaches for further improvement of abiotic–biological hybrid systems.

COVID-19 was raging wildly across China. Although it is a war without gunpowder smoke, it is extremely fierce. Countless Medical staff at the frontline is fighting with death and the virus just to protect those infected who firmly believe in them.This artical describes the work of clinical engineers in Shanxi Province of China to fight against COVID-19.

Diosgenin (DG), a well-known steroidal sapogenin, is present abundantly in medicinal herbs such as Dioscorea rhizome, Dioscorea villosa, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Smilax China, and Rhizoma polgonati. DG is utilized as a major starting material for the production of steroidal drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. Due to its wide range of pharmacological activities and medicinal properties, it has been used in the treatment of cancers, hyperlipidemia, inflammation, and infections. Numerous studies have reported that DG is useful in the prevention and treatment of neurological diseases. Its therapeutic mechanisms are based on the mediation of different signaling pathways, and targeting these pathways might lead to the development of effective therapeutic agents for neurological diseases. The present review mainly summarizes recent progress using DG and its derivatives as therapeutic agents for multiple neurological disorders along with their various mechanisms in the central nervous system. In particular, those related to therapeutic efficacy for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury, neuroinflammation, and ischemia are discussed. This review article also critically evaluates existing limitations associated with the solubility and bioavailability of DG and discusses imperatives for translational clinical research. It briefly recapitulates recent advances in structural modification and novel formulations to increase the therapeutic efficacy and brain levels of DG. In the present review, databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were used for studies of DG and its derivatives in the treatment of central nervous system diseases published in English until December 10, 2019. Three independent researchers examined articles for eligibility. A total of 150 articles were screened from the above scientific literature databases. Finally, a total of 46 articles were extracted and included in this review. Keywords related to glioma, ischemia, memory, aging, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer, Parkinson, and neurodegenerative disorders were searched in the databases based on DG and its derivatives.

Purpose The present study aimed to develop and validate the modified patient-reported outcome scale for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (mCOPD-PRO) for measuring the health status in COPD using both classical test theory and item response theory. Methods A working group was initially established. The conceptual framework of COPD-PRO was modified. Subsequently, items related to COPD were gathered and selected through expert consultation, patient cognitive interviewing, classical test theory methods, as well as the item response theory method. Finally, the formed mCOPD-PRO was evaluated in terms of reliability, content validity, construct validity, criterion validity, known groups validity, and feasibility. Results A total of 155 items were gathered in the item bank, and two rounds of expert consultation, interviews with patients and field survey were conducted. The mCOPD-PRO included 27 items in the physiological, psychological, and environmental domains. The Cronbach's alpha of the instrument was 0.954. The correlation coefficients between the scores of each item and its domain scores ranged from 0.429 to 0.902. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the comparative fit index, incremental fit index, non-normed fit index, standardized root-mean-square residual, and root-mean-square error of approximate were 0.91, 0.91, 0.90, 0.11, and 0.16, respectively. The correlation coefficient between mCOPD-PRO total scores and COPD assessment test scores and the modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale scores was 0.771 and 0.651, respectively. The differences in mCOPD-PRO total scores and domain scores between the mild/moderate group and severe/extremely severe group of patients with COPD were both statistically significant (P

Tanreqing injection is a Chinese medical formula used to treatment of respiratory diseases. In our study, we developed a feasible and accurate strategy applying an ultra-high-performance liquid chr...

Summary In recent years, metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon materials (CMs), known for their nanoporous structure yielding a high surface area and tunable chemical and physical properties, have drawn great interest in many fields of application, such as energy storage and conversion, environmental remediation, and catalysis. Despite the tremendous efforts involved in their development, several common drawbacks still persist during the carbonization process: (1) the intrinsic nature of micropore-dominated porous structure (limited diffusion), (2) the irreversible aggregation of metal nanoparticles, and (3) the poor control over structural evolution, which largely thwart their performance. To overcome these technical limitations, many new strategies are currently emerging to boost the development of MOF-derived nanoarchitectured CMs (NCMs). These new approaches can be considered new chemistry tools utilizing SiO2, polymers, surfactants, and others. In this review, we focus on the synthetic mechanisms of these new methods by summarizing recent findings related to MOF-derived NCMs.

Defect-engineered UiO-66-NH2 was introduced into a polyamide layer to form a thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane. Simultaneous enhancements in permeance and selectivity to Na2SO4 solution were achieved.

Based upon an international workshop, this perspective evaluates how nano-scale pore structures and unique properties that emerge at nano- and sub-nano-size domains could improve the energy efficiency and selectivity of electroseparation or electrocatalytic processes for treating potable or waste waters. An Eisenhower matrix prioritizes the urgency or impact of addressing potential barriers or opportunities. There has been little optimization of electrochemical reactors to increase mass transport rates of pollutants to, from, and within electrode surfaces, which become important as nano-porous structures are engineered into electrodes. A “trap-and-zap” strategy is discussed wherein nanostructures (pores, sieves, and crystal facets) are employed to allow localized concentration of target pollutants relative to background solutes (i.e., localized pollutant trapping). The trapping is followed by localized production of tailored reactive oxygen species to selectively degrade the target pollutant (i.e., localized zapping). Frequently overlooked in much of the electrode-material development literature, nano-scale structures touted to be highly “reactive” towards target pollutants may also be the most susceptible to material degradation (i.e., aging) or fouling by mineral scales that form due to localized pH changes. A need exists to study localized pH and electric-field related aging or fouling mechanisms and strategies to limit or reverse adverse outcomes from aging or fouling. This perspective provides examples of the trends and identifies promising directions to advance nano-materials and engineering principles to exploit the growing need for near chemical-free, advanced oxidation/reduction or separation processes enabled through electrochemistry.

Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in COPD management. However, detecting the progression from the stable stage to acute exacerbation mainly depends on doctors' judgment of clinical symptoms, and there is no biomarker that can be used for auxiliary clinical diagnosis. In this work, serum samples from COPD patients (n = 82) and healthy subjects (n = 29) were collected and analyzed. Patients with COPD were divided into stable COPD (SCOPD) and AECOPD groups, with the latter comprising subtypes 1 and 2. High-coverage lipidomics profiling of 913 lipids belonging to 19 subclasses was carried out by liquid chromatography-Q-Exactive orbitrap mass spectrometry. We performed 4 cross-comparisons to characterize metabolic disturbances associated with the progression of stable COPD to AECOPD-ie, SCOPD vs healthy subjects, AECOPD vs SCOPD, AECOPD subtype 1 vs SCOPD, and AECOPD subtype 2 vs SCOPD. We tentatively identified 86 lipids with differential abundance among groups, lipids that were altered from the stable stage of disease to AECOPD included sphingolipids, ether-containing glycerophospholipids, phosphatidylglycerols, and glycerol lipids. Three panels of lipid biomarkers specific to AECOPD, AECOPD subtypes 1 and 2 vs SCOPD yielded areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.788, 0.921 and 0.920, respectively, with sensitivity of 77.5%, 80.7% and 91.3%, respectively, and specificity of 75.8%, 97.0% and 87.9%, respectively. The result indicated differences in lipid metabolism may underlie AECOPD and its 2 subtypes and can serve as biomarkers for early diagnosis, and high-coverage lipidomics proved to be an accurate approach to profile the lipid metabolism in biological samples.

To evaluate the compatibility laws of effective-component compatibility of Bufei Yishen formula III (ECC-BYF III) in regulating mucus hypersecretion of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).According to the efficacy of the original Chinese medicine, the components of ECC-BYF III were divided into four categories: Buqi (Ginsenoside Rh1+Astragaloside), Bushen (Icariin), Huatan (Nobiletin), and Huoxue (Paeonol). The four categories were divided into 14 groups based on the method of mathematical permutation. (1) The rats were divided into control group, model group, ECC-BYF III, and different components compatibility groups according to the random number table, totaling 17 groups. COPD rat model in stable phase was established by cigarette smoke exposure combined with repeated bacterial infections. The corresponding drugs were given by gavage at the 9th week of modeling, and the samples were collected at the end of the 16th week. The levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and the levels of mucin (MUC) 5AC in lung tissue and BALF were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). (2) Human lung epithelial cells BEAS-2B were divided into blank group, model group, and different components compatibility groups. Hypoxia-induced mucus hypersecretion model of human lung epithelial cells BEAS-2B was established 4 hours after corresponding drug pretreatment. The mRNA expressions of MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC1 were detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The mucus secretion indexes of rats and BEAS-2B cells were evaluated by Region (R) value comprehensive evaluation method.(1) Compared with the control group, MMP-9 in serum and BALF from the model group were significantly increased, the level of TIMP-1 was significantly decreased, and MUC5AC in lung tissue and BALF were significantly increased. The results of R value comprehensive evaluation showed that except for the Buqi and Bushen groups, ECC-BYF III and other components compatibility groups significantly corrected mucus hypersecretion in COPD rats, ECC-BYF III, Bushen Quxie, Fuzheng Huatan, and Quxie groups were much better (R values were 2.15±0.42, 2.11±0.23, 2.16±0.23 and 2.16±0.55, respectively), compared with the model group (R value: 3.00±0.00), the differences were statistically significant (all P0.05). (2) Compared with the blank group, the mRNA expressions of MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC1 increased in the model group. But different components compatibility groups had no significant effects on the mucus secretion of BEAS-2B cells. (3) The comprehensive evaluation results of R value about each in vivo and in vitro index showed that ECC-BYF III, Huoxue, Quxie, Bushen Huoxue, Fuzheng Huatan, Buqi Quxie groups significantly corrected the mucus hypersecretion (R values were 2.30±0.43, 2.33±0.44, 2.12±0.68, 2.27±0.64, 2.24±0.27 and 2.29±0.47, respectively), compared with the model group (R value: 3.00±0.00), the difference was statistically significant (all P0.01). The order was: QuxieFuzheng HuatanBushen HuoxueBuqi QuxieECC-BYF IIIHuoxue.Different components compatibility of ECC-BYF III had different effects on COPD mucus secretion. The components containing Huatan (Nobiletin) or Huoxue (Paeonol) showed a better inhibitory effect on mucus secretion.

Background. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a long-term respiratory disorder marked by restricted airflow and persistent respiratory symptoms. According to previous studies, icariin combined with nobiletin (I&N) significantly ameliorates COPD, but the therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Purpose. The aim of the study is to investigate the therapeutic mechanisms of I&N against COPD using network pharmacology and experimental validation. Methods. The targets of I&N and related genes of COPD were screened and their intersection was selected. Next, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Further, a COPD rat model was established to validate the effect and mechanisms of I&N. Results. 445 potential targets I&N were obtained from SwissTargetPrediction, STITCH 5.0, and PharmMapper databases. 1831 related genes of COPD were obtained from GeneCards, DrugBank, and DisGeNet databases. 189 related genes were screened via matching COPD targets with I&N. 16 highest score targets among 189 targets were obtained according to PPI networks. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of 16 highest score targets suggested that these key genes of I&N were mostly enriched in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, and phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (AKT) pathway. Therefore, the treatments of I&N for COPD were connected with inflammation-related pathways. In in vivo experiments, the studies indicated that I&N improved the lung function and alleviated the damage of pulmonary histopathology. Moreover, I&N reduced levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in lung tissues of COPD rats and inhibited the activation of the MAPK pathway and PI3K-Akt pathway. Conclusions. Icariin combined with nobiletin has therapeutic effects on COPD by inhibiting inflammation. The potential mechanisms of I&N may relate to the MAPK pathway and PI3K-Akt pathway.