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Exploiting high-performance, low-cost, and robust bifunctional catalysts toward electrochemical water splitting is of great importance, but remains challenging.

Traffic safety is one of the essential fundamentals in the field of ‘advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)’ vehicles. Moreover, these vehicles became popular among many people due to their safety, reliability, and ability to follow traffic rules. Therefore, many car companies seek to improve their safety and intelligence capabilities by conducting experiments in expected and unexpected circumstances. Thus, roads dedicated to these vehicles are being built in many countries to support these industries; However, many of these experiments remain challenging to conduct in certain conditions, especially when various possibilities demand many trials to practice dealing with them. This study uses the ANSYS HFSS algorithm to simulate an ‘ADAS’ scenario. The simulation data will then be extracted and analyzed in MATLAB to determine the ‘direction of arrival (DOA)’ by using the well-known algorithm ‘multiple signal classification (MUSIC)’. After implementing the ‘MUSIC’ algorithm, the results showed high accuracy in determining the ‘DOA’. This research demonstrates that simulation results have a promising potential for accelerating the development of safe autonomous vehicular technology. The same methodology applies to developing new cellular communication technologies such as 5G and 6G antenna beamforming technology.

Drought generally has significant impacts on crops. It is essential to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between crop production and drought degree to provide technical support for drought disaster prevention. In this study, a drought degree index that can reflect the changes in precipitation, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture was developed on the basis of crop yield reduction rate. Four drought scenarios were set up to simulate the effects of meteorological drought on drought degree of crops at different growth stages. A cusp catastrophe model was constructed to analyze the mutation characteristics of the drought degree of maize at different growth stages under different meteorological drought conditions. Xi'an City in China was selected as the study area, and summer maize was selected as the research crop. Precipitation and crop yield data from 1951 to 2010 were used as the fundamental data to investigate drought degree mutation of summer maize. The results show that, under the meteorological drought conditions at the emergence-jointing stage, drought degree may change abruptly, and soil moisture content at the sowing-emergence, jointing-tasseling, and tasseling-mature stages should be kept higher than 39%.

Rational design of efficient, low-cost, and durable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in various pH media is highly desirable but remains challenging. Herein, for the first time, we present a novel hybrid of ruthenium diphosphide encapsulated in P-doped porous carbon (denoted as RuP2@PC) utilizing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates by a multi-step strategy. Unexpectedly, benefitting from the synergistic contribution of highly dispersed ultrafine RuP2 nanoparticles, porous carbon skeleton, and P-dopant, the as-synthesized RuP2@PC exhibits exceptional catalytic activity and superior durability as pH-universal electrocatalysts for the HER. Particularly, a low overpotential of 78.9 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 36.7 mV dec−1 can be achieved in 1.0 M KOH toward the HER. Such outstanding electrocatalytic properties exceed those of commercial Pt/C and rank the catalyst among the best HER electrocatalysts reported until now. Importantly, this work paves a new route in elaborately fabricating efficient and stable electrocatalysts based on MOFs for energy-related fields.

River ecosystem is one of the most important ecosystems, and it provides many ecosystem services for human beings. However, river health has also been damaged by over-exploitation and water pollution. In the process of reservoir operation, the ecological flow demand of rivers should be fully considered and multi-objective ecological dispatch of reservoirs should be implemented. On basis of the traditional particle swarm optimization (PSO), the improved PSO with adaptive random inertia weights (ARIW) is proposed to deal with the problem of ecological optimal operation of the reservoir in the paper. According to the evolutionary process, based on the probability distribution density function of triangle, the inertia weight can be adjusted randomly and adaptively to meet the global or local optimization requirements. By typical mathematical function, the improved PSO algorithm is compared with traditional PSO and genetic algorithm (GA) and is proved to be more efficient and accurate. Taking Panjiakou Reservoir on the mainstream of Luanhe River in China as an example, the multi-objective ecological optimal dispatch of the reservoir has been analysed and calculated with the improved PSO algorithm under different targets years, considering flood control, water supply, and ecological demand. The research results can provide reference for developing rationally Luanhe River water resources, and making scientifically ecological dispatch plan of the Panjiakou reservoir.

Rational design and construction of non-noble electrocatalysts with high efficiency and good stability is one of the hottest fields for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, for the first time, we describe a novel nanocomposite composed of isolated single-atomic Co sites anchored on 3D hollow graphene nanosphere (Co ISAs/GHS) substrates through a reliable SiO2-assisted strategy. As expected, the as-formed Co ISAs/GHSs exhibit a prominent ORR electroactivity in 0.1 M KOH solution, delivering a more positive half-wave potential of 0.82 V, higher selectivity (four-electron-transfer), and superior methanol tolerance along with long-term stability, originating from the unique components and well-designed structural advantages. Remarkably, the presented work provides a myriad of opportunities to develop highly dispersed single-atomic-site catalysts with highly efficient activity for diverse electrocatalysis applications.

Ultrafine Ru nanoparticles dispersed on 3D N-doped carbon hollow nanospheres were firstly prepared by a feasible templating strategy. Due to the synergistic effect of the unique composite and structure, the resulting nanocomposite as a HER catalyst shows extraordinary electrocatalytic performance, superior to that of commercial Pt-C and most previously reported electrocatalysts.

The antioxidative effects of κ-carrageenan oligosaccharides (CO) on the stability of proteins and lipids in mackerel fillets were determined during frozen storage. Electronic nose analysis indicated that CO treatments maintained the stability of the overall volatile flavor profiles in frozen mackerel. Protein oxidation analysis suggested that the incorporation of CO significantly retarded the rapid decrease of Ca2+-ATPase activity and active sulphydryl (A-SH) contents while also effectively inhibiting the increases in carbonyl content and surface hydrophobicity of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) compared to the control treatments. Lipid stability results showed that the peroxide values (PVs), conjugated diene (CD) content, anisidine values (AVs), and thiobarbituric acid index (TBA-i) values of the extracted lipids were also clearly reduced by CO treatments during frozen storage. Fatty acid composition determinations further confirmed that the permeated CO molecules stabilized the polyunsaturated C22:6n3 (DHA) in the lipids, most likely due to their efficient free radical scavenging activities.

As a traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese dragon's blood has multiple effects, such as activating blood to remove blood stasis, softening and dispelling stagnation, astringent and hemostasis, clearing swelling and relieving pain, regulating menstruation and rectifying the blood, so it is calledquot;an effective medicine of promoting blood circulationquot;. It has been widely used clinically to treat a variety of diseases. With the further research on Chinese dragon's blood, its anti-tumor medicinal value is gradually emerging. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Chinese dragon's blood exerts anti-tumor effects mainly by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, inducing DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, inducing senescence and autophagy of tumor cells, inhibiting metastasis and angiogenesis, as well as reversing multidrug resistance. This article focuses on the research progress on anti-tumor effects of Chinese dragon's blood extract and its chemical components, with a view to provide new references for the in-depth research and reasonable utilization of Chinese dragon's blood.

Longxuetongluo Capsule (LTC) that was prepared from the phenolic compound cluster of Chinese dragon’s blood, has been clinically utilized for years towards ischemic stroke. However, LTC therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear, which restricts its further application and promotion. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and to explore the underlying mechanisms of LTC on ischemic stroke rats characterized by cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury. Ischemic stroke rats were simulated by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and LTC therapy was validated by the assays in terms of histological assessments. The plasma metabolite profiling was used to clarify the molecules in respond to the LTC treatment. A total of 13 potential biomarkers contributing to ischemic stroke were observed, and Youden index of 11 biomarkers such as LysoPC, SM, and PE (24:1/18:3) were more than 0.7, which are involved in neuroprotective process. The correlation and pathway analysis showed that LTC was beneficial to ischemic stroke rats via regulating glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism, together with bicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism. Heatmap and ternary analysis indicated the synergistic effect of carbohydrates and lipids may be induced by flavonoid intake from LTC. Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81573572, 81530097), China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA, and Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (Y2020XK24) Declaration of Interests: Authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: All animal experiment protocols were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

This study aims to investigate the effect of Huaier aqueous extract on the growth and metastasis of human non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H1299 cells and its underlying mechanisms. MTT assay was used to detect the effect of Huaier aqueous extract on the proliferation of NCI-H1299 cells. Flow cytometry was used to examine the effect of Huaier aqueous extract on the apoptosis, cell cycle, and ROS level of NCI-H1299 cells. Wound healing assay was used to evaluate the effect of Huaier aqueous extract on the migration ability of NCI-H1299 cells. Western blot was used to detect the levels of proteins involving apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT), and MAPK signaling pathway in NCI-H1299 cells exposed to Huaier aqueous extract. The results showed that Huaier aqueous extract inhibited the proliferation of NCI-H1299 cells, and induced cell-cycle arrest at the phase S. Huaier aqueous extract promoted the apoptosis of NCI-H1299 cells by down-regulating the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Moreover, Huaier aqueous extract increased ROS level and induced ferroptosis in NCI-H1299 cells. EMT played a critical role in cancer metastasis. Huaier aqueous extract reduced the migration ability of NCI-H1299 cells by inhibiting EMT of NCI-H1299 cells. In addition, this study revealed that Huaier aqueous extract inhibited MAPK signaling pathway in human non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H1299 cells, which may be one of Huaier's mechanisms in inhibiting growth and metastasis of NCI-H1299 cells. This study provides a new theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of lung cancer with Huaier, and important reference significance for further studies on the anti-tumor mechanisms of Huaier.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies, which ranks the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The screening of anti-HCC drug with high efficiency and low toxicity from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has attracted more and more attention. As a TCM, Chinese dragon's blood has been used for the treatment of cardiovascular illness, gynecological illness, skin disorder, otorhinolaryngological illness, and diabetes mellitus complications for many years. However, the anti-tumor effect and underlying mechanisms of Chinese dragon's blood remain ill-defined. Herein we have revealed that Chinese dragon's blood EtOAc extract (CDBEE) obviously suppressed the growth of human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Moreover, CDBEE inhibited the migration and invasion of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Additionally, CDBEE displayed good in vitro anti-angiogenic activity. Importantly, CDBEE treatment significantly blunted the oncogenic capability of HepG2 cells in nude mice. Mechanistically, CDBEE inhibited Smad3 expression in human hepatoma cells and tumor tissues from nude mice. Using RNA interference, we demonstrated that CDBEE exerted anti-hepatoma activity partially through down-regulation of Smad3, one of major members in TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. Therefore, CDBEE may be a promising candidate drug for HCC treatment, especially for liver cancer with aberrant TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.

Four new diterpenoids including one cis clerodane-type (1) and three highly oxygenated labdane-type diterpenes (2–4) were isolated from the aerial parts of Leonurus macranthus. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data (NMR, UV, IR, and MS). Compound 1 represents the first example of cis clerodane-type diterpene in the plants of Leonurus genus. Compounds 1 and 4 exhibited weak inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells with IC50 values of 35.8 ± 3.6 μmol/L and 48.6 ± 4.8 μmol/L, respectively

Rational design and exploitation of efficient and inexpensive catalysts for water electrolysis are highly desired, yet very challenging. Herein, for the first time, we report a nanostructured catalyst of nickel phosphides-ruthenium phosphides self-supported on nickel foam (Ni2P-Ru2P/NF) through an in situ growth-phosphorization process. As expected, by virtue of prominent intrinsic activity, rich electrochemically active sites, and high electronic conductivity, the resultant Ni2P-Ru2P/NF exhibits enhanced electrocatalytic behavior for the oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction, which delivers low overpotentials of 160 and 101 mV at 10 mA cm 2 in alkaline media, respectively. Remarkably, the Ni2P-Ru2P/NF can dramatically accelerate full water splitting with an ultralow cell voltage of 1.45 V at 10 mA cm-2, which far exceeds the benchmark Pt-C/NF//RuO2/NF (1.64 V) and ranks among the best electrocatalysts previously reported.

To better understand the evolution of hepadnaviruses, we sampled bats from Guizhou, Henan and Zhejiang provinces, China, and rodents from Zhejiang province. Genetically diverse hepadnaviruses were identified in a broad range of bat species, with an overall prevalence of 13.3%. In contrast, no rodent hepadnaviruses were identified. The newly discovered bat hepadnaviruses fell into two distinct phylogenetic groups. The viruses within the first group exhibited high diversity, with some closely related to viruses previously identified in Yunnan province. Strikingly, the newly discovered viruses sampled from Jiyuan city in the second phylogenetic group were most closely related to those found in bats from West Africa, suggestive of a long-term association between bats and hepadnaviruses. A co-phylogenetic analysis revealed frequent cross-species transmission among bats from different species, genera, and families. Overall, these data suggest that there are likely few barriers to the cross-species transmission of bat hepadnaviruses., Highlights • Diverse hepadnaviruses are identified in a broad range of bat species in China. • Some of them were closely related to those previously identified in China. • The viruses from Jiyuan were most closely related to Gabon bat hepadnaviruses. • Newly discovered viruses did not clustered by bat species or geographic location. • Frequent cross-species transmission among different bat species was observed.

Stachyodin A (1), a rearrangement product of pterocarpan featuring a 6/5/5/6 tetracyclic ring system with an unusual spirotetrahydrofuran ring, and stachyodin B (2), a new dihydrochalcone, along with five known analogues (3–7) were isolated from the roots of Indigofera stachyodes. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of their HRESIMS and NMR spectroscopic data, and their absolute configurations were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data, respectively. Compounds 2–4 showed inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated BV-2 microglial cells.

As an important integral part of traditional Chinese medicine chemical biology( TCMCB),it is of great importance to rapid isolate,and reliably identify the chemical components in herbal medicines. Phytochemical studies on the anti-inflammatory active part of Chinese dragon's blood,the red resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis,resulted in the isolation of two compounds,nordracophane( 1) and dracophane( 2),using LC-MS and chromatographic techniques( Silica gel,ODS and preparative HPLC). The structures,cyclic dihydrochalcane trimers,were elucidated on the basis of 1 D and 2 D NMR,MS,IR and UV spectral analysis. Compound 1 is a new compound,and 2 is isolated from D. cochinchinensis for the first time. Both compounds exhibited significant inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharides( LPS)-stimulated RAW264. 7 cells with IC50 values of( 14. 9±4. 50) and( 9. 0±0. 7) μmol·L-1.

The single-factor test was used to optimize the high-pressure homogenization method to prepare the phenolic extract nanosuspensions(DBNs). The physicochemical properties of the obtained nanosuspensions were characterized and the cumulative release in vitro was evaluated. The results showed that the drug concentration was 0.5 g·L~(-1), the mass concentrations of PVPK30 and SDS were 0.5 and 0.25 g·L~(-1), respectively, the probe ultrasonic time was 5 min, the homogenization pressure was 900 bar, and the number of homogenization was 2 times. The prepared DBNs had an average particle size of(168.80±0.36) nm, polydispersity index(PDI) of 0.09±0.04, stability index(SI) of 0.85, and DBNs were stable for storage within 30 days. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the particle size of the dragon's blood extract was reduced and the uniformity was improved in the obtained nanosuspensions. X-ray diffraction pattern and differential scanning calorimetry showed that the phenolic extract of dragon's blood was still in an amorphous state after being prepared into nanosuspensions. The results of saturated solubility measurement showed that the solubility of DBNs lyophilized powder reached 6.25 g·L~(-1), while the solubility of DB raw powder was only 28.67 mg·L~(-1). The in vitro dissolution experiments showed that DBNs lyophilized powder accumulated in gastrointestinal fluid for 8 h. The release amount was 90%,the cumulative release of the raw powder in the gastrointestinal fluid for 24 h was less than 1%, and the solubility and dissolution rate of the DBNs lyophilized powder were significantly higher than the DB raw powder. The method is simple in process and convenient in operation, and can successfully prepare uniform and stable nanosuspensions to improve its solubility, and provides a research basis for solving the application limitation of dragon's blood extract.

The research of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) drug has attracted more and more attention. Natural products are the important source of active compounds for cancer treatment. A biflavonoid HIS-4 was isolated from Resina draconis in our previous study. MTT assay, hoechst staining, and flow cytometry analysis were used to investigate the effects of HIS-4 on the proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Moreover, the effects of HIS-4 on the migration and invasion ability of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells were evaluated by wound healing assay and Transwell assay. In addition, MTT assay, flow cytometry analyses, Hoechst staining, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and tube formation assay were used to explore the anti-angiogenic activity of HIS-4 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs). Mechanistically, the HIS-4 regulatory of signal pathways in H9 epG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells were analyzed by Western blot. This results showed that HIS-4 suppressed the proliferation of human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Moreover HIS-4 induced their apoptosis of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. HIS-4 inhibited the migration and invasion of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Additionally, HIS-4 exhibited angiogenesis effects. Mechanistically, up-regulation of MAPK signaling pathway and down-regulation of mTOR signaling pathway may be responsible for anti-hepatoma activity of HIS-4. Therefore, HIS-4 may be a promising candidate drug for HCC treatment.

α-solanine, a bioactive component and one of the major steroidal glycoalkaloids in potatoes, has been observed to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. However, the antitumor efficacy of α-solanine on esophageal carcinoma has yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, the antitumor efficacy of α-solanine against human esophageal carcinoma cells was investigated. It was determined that α-solanine inhibited the growth and proliferation of human esophageal EC9706 and Eca109 cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, as well as the cell migration and invasion. In addition, the apoptotic rate was increased in the cancer cells treated with α-solanine in a dose-dependent manner, compared with that of the control group (P

Ten fractions(A-J) were prepared by separation of Longxue Tongluo Capsules(LTC) by using silica gel column chromatography and orthogonal experimental design,showing similar chemical profiles with different abundances of peaks.These ten samples were assessed with UHPLC-QE OrbitrapHRMS for 97 common peaks.For the pharmacological activity experiment,three kinds of in vitro cell models including lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells NO release model,oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation(OGD/R)-treated HUVEC vascular endothelial cells injury model,and OGD/R-treated PC-12 nerve cells injury model were employed to evaluated the bioactivity of each fraction.Based on the contribution of each identified component,grey relation analysis and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were performed to establish component-activity relationship of LTC,identify the potential active components.After that,validation of the potential active components in LTC was carried out by using the same models.The results indicated that 4 phenolic compounds including 7,4'-dihydroxyhomoisoflavanone,loureirin C,4,4'-dihydroxy-2,6-dimethoxydihydrochalcone,and homoisosocotrin-4'-ol,might be the active components for anti-neuroinflammation effect;five phenolic compounds such as 3,5,7,4'-tetrahydroxyhomoisoflavanone,loureirin D,7,4'-dihydroxyhomoisoflavane,and 5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-8-methyflavane,might have positive effects on the vascular endothelial injury;three phenolic compounds including 5,7,4'-trihydroxyflavanone,7,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxyhomoisoflavane,and loureirin D,might be the active components in LTC against neuronal injury.

Trametes robiniophila Murr. (Huaier) is a mushroom with a long history of use as a medicinal ingredient in China and exhibits good clinical efficacy in cancer management. However, the antitumor components of Huaier and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we isolated a proteoglycan with a molecular mass of ∼5.59 × 10(4) Da from Huaier aqueous extract. We named this proteoglycan TPG-1, and using FTIR and additional biochemical analyses, we determined that its total carbohydrate and protein compositions are 43.9 and 41.2%, respectively. Using biochemical assays and immunoblotting, we found that exposing murine RAW264.7 macrophages to TPG-1 promotes the production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent activation of NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Of note, the TPG-1 treatment significantly inhibited the tumorigenesis of human hepatoma HepG2 cells likely at least in part by increasing serum levels of TNFα and promoting leukocyte infiltration into tumors in nude mice. TPG-1 also exhibited good antitumor activity in hepatoma H22-bearing mice and had no obvious adverse effects in these mice. We conclude that TPG-1 exerts antitumor activity partially through an immune-potentiating effect due to activation of the TLR4–NF-κB/MAPK signaling cassette. Therefore, TPG-1 may be a promising candidate drug for cancer immunotherapy. This study has identified the TPG-1 proteoglycan as an antitumor agent and provided insights into TPG-1's molecular mechanism, suggesting a potential utility for applying this agent in cancer therapy.

Fifteen previously undescribed 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone dimers, along with two known analogues were isolated from Chinese agarwood ( Aquilaria sinensis ) by a LC-MS-guided fractionation procedure. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic and spectrometric data (1D and 2D NMR, IR, and HRESIMS). The isolated compounds exhibited significant inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells with IC 50 values in the range 0.6–37.1 μ M.

Two new polyketides, penicilloxalones A (1) and B (2), together with 13 known compounds (3–15), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the solid substrate fermentation cultures of the fungus Penicillium oxalicum MHZ153. The structures of the isolates were determined by spectroscopic analysis and comparison of their spectroscopic and physicochemical data with the literature values. Compounds 7 and 11 showed inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells with IC50 values of 0.9 ± 0.2 μM and 87.9 ± 0.7 μM, respectively.

Background: Angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT 1 R) antagonists are extensively used for blood pressure control in elderly patients with hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of AT 1 R antagonist valsartan on platelet aggregation and the occurrence of cardio-cerebral thrombotic events in elderly patients with hypertension. Methods: Two-hundred and ten patients with hypertension and aged > 60 years were randomized to valsartan (n = 140) or amlodipine (n = 70) on admission. The primary endpoint was platelet aggregation rate (PAR) induced by arachidonic acid at discharge, and the secondary endpoint was the rate of thrombotic events including brain infarction and myocardial infarction during follow-up. Human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were stimulated by angiotensin II (Ang II, 100 nmol/L) with or without pretreatment of valsartan (100 nmol/L), and relative expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and thromboxane B 2 (TXB 2 ) and both p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) and nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) activities were assessed. Statistical analyses were performed by GraphPad Prism 5.0 software (GraphPad Software, Inc., California, USA). Results: PAR was lower after treatment with valsartan (11.49 ± 0.69% vs. 18.71 ± 2.47%, P < 0.001), associated with more reduced plasma levels of COX-2 (76.94 ± 7.07 U/L vs. 116.4 ± 15.89 U/L, P < 0.001) and TXB 2 (1667 ± 56.50 pg/ml vs. 2207 ± 180.20 pg/ml) (all P < 0.001). Plasma COX-2 and TXB 2 levels correlated significantly with PAR in overall patients (r = 0.109, P < 0.001). During follow-up (median, 18 months), there was a significantly lower thrombotic event rate in patients treated with valsartan (14.3% vs. 32.8%, P = 0.002). Relative expression of COX-2 and secretion of TXB 2 with concordant phosphorylation of p38MAPK and NF-kB were increased in HAECs when stimulated by Ang II (100 nmol/L) but were significantly decreased by valsartan pretreatment (100 nmol/L). Conclusions: AT 1 R antagonist valsartan decreases platelet activity by attenuating COX-2/TXA 2 expression through p38MAPK and NF-kB pathways and reduces the occurrence of cardio-cerebral thrombotic events in elderly patients with hypertension.

Ten phenylpropanoid amides were isolated from the whole plants of Corydalis edulis Maxim. by various of column chromatographies including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and ODS. Their structures were identified on the basis of physicochemical properties, MS, NMR, and IR spectroscopic data. These compounds were identified as N-trans-sinapoyl-3-methoxytyramine-4'-O-β-glucoside(1), N-trans-sinapoyl-3-methoxytyramine(2), N-trans-sinapoyltyramine(3), N-trans-p-coumaroyltyramine(4), N-trans-sinapoyl-7-hydroxytyramine(5), N-cis-feruloyltyramine(6), N-cis-p-coumaroyltyramine(7), N-trans-feruloyltyramine(8), N-trans-feruloyl-3-methoxytyramine(9), and N-trans-feruloyl-7-hydroxytyramine(10). Compound 1 is a new compound. Compounds 2-7 are obtained from the plants of Papaveraceae for the first time, while compounds 8-10 are firstly isolated from C. edulis.

Bio-adhesive drug delivery system (BDDS) is a novel drug delivery system, which can prolong the retention time of the preparation, improve the stability of the drug, and improve the mucosa absorption and the targeting of the drug. With the development of polymer materials over the past 30 years, BDDS made a great progress. This paper reviews the muco-adhesion theory, adhesive materials, and methods to evaluate muco-adhesive properties and applications in traditional Chinese medicine according to domestic and foreign literatures, in order to provide new ideas for further studies.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Dragon's blood (Chinese name: Xuejie), which comprises red resins obtained from several plants (27 species from 4 families), is drawing worldwide interests in medicinal applications owing to its broad pharmacological spectrum such as promoting blood circulation, regenerating muscle, relieving swelling and pain, maintaining hemostasis, etc. Aim of the study This work aims to evaluate current research progress on phenolic constituents, pharmacological activities, quality control, and metabolism of six Dracaena plants, namely, Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C.Chen, D. cambodiana Pierre ex Gagnep., D. cinnabari Balf. f., D. draco (L.) L., D. loureiroi Gagnep., and D. schizantha Baker, figure out the shortcomings of existing studies, and provide meaningful guidelines for future investigations. Methods Extensive database retrieval, such as SciFinder, PubMed, CNKI, ChemSpider, etc., was performed by using the keywords “Dracaena,” “dragon's blood,” as well as the Latin names of the six Dracaena species. In addition, relevant textbooks, patents, reviews, and documents were also employed to ensure sufficient information is collected. Results Flavonoids and their oligomers are the primary chemical clusters distributed in Dracaena plants. Pharmacological activities including analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and cytotoxic effects; bi-directional regulation effects on hemorheology; and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular effects have been disclosed by modern pharmacological evaluations. The chemical and metabolic profiles after oral administration of dragon's blood extract were preliminarily characterized. However, some of the pharmacological investigations reported only elementary methodologies and unreliable findings, and even worse, some important aspects were questionable or missing in these articles. Conclusions Dragon's blood is a valuable source of bioactive compounds, mainly flavonoids and their oligomers. Its potential therapeutic effects on different diseases are attractive, such as the notable effect on cardiovascular diseases. In future studies, there is an urgent need to test the effect of this extract on appropriate cell lines and animal models to analyze its ethnopharmacological applications; moreover, “composition−effect correlation” methods and omics technologies are demanded for identifying the effective material basis and therapeutic mechanisms before entering into clinical trials. Moreover, attention should be paid to the chemical profiling and quality evaluation of this precious herbal medicine.

To optimize the ethanol extraction process for Shenlian formula. On the basis of the pharmacodynamics index for different extraction process routes, the contents of salvianolic acid B, tanshinone ⅡA and berberine, as well as the extraction ratio in different experimental schemes were used as the ethanol extraction examining indexes, and multi-criterion synthesizing grading method was used for data analysis to optimize and verify the ethanol-extraction process conditions in orthogonal experiment. The optimum ethanol extraction process was as follows: adding 60% ethanol, 10 times amount, extracting for 2.0 h each time for a total of 2 times. This extraction process showed good stability and availability.

3'-Methoxypuerarin (3'-MOP) is an isoflavone extracted from radix puerariae. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and the mechanism of 3'-MOP in the protection of hippocampal neurons against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. I/R injury was induced by a modified four-vessel occlusion model. Rats were randomly divided into an I/R group, an I/R + 3'-MOP group and a control group. Histological changes in the neurons of the hippocampal CA1 region were observed with hematoxylin and eosine (H&E) staining. The apoptotic neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area were counted with the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining. The results showed that compared with the I/R group, 3'-MOP increased the number of surviving neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region (P < 0.001) and markedly reduced the number of apoptotic pyramidal neurons (P < 0.001) after I/R injury. In conclusion, 3'-MOP can protect hippocampal neurons against I/R injury by inhibiting apoptosis.

α-solanine, a bioactive component and one of the major steroidal glycoalkaloids in potatoes, has been observed to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. However, the antitumor efficacy of α-solanine on esophageal carcinoma has yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, the antitumor efficacy of α-solanine against human esophageal carcinoma cells was investigated. It was determined that α-solanine inhibited the growth and proliferation of human esophageal EC9706 and Eca109 cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, as well as the cell migration and invasion. In addition, the apoptotic rate was increased in the cancer cells treated with α-solanine in a dose-dependent manner, compared with that of the control group (P

In order to describe how a conduction calorimeter works, a novel model, namely the interfacial model of a conduction calorimeter, has been proposed in this paper. Based on the model, a corresponding analog thermo-analytical curve equation has also been established. For verification of its validity, thermo-analytical curves of alkaline hydrolysis of ethyl propionate and ethyl acetate have been measured at 25°C, respectively. The data calculated by this model are in reasonable agreement with those read from the thermo-analytical curves.

Due to the thermal delay of calorimeter, the measured thermoanalytical curve was distorted. A method to modify the distorted thermoanalytical curve into the real thermoanalytical curve from which the kinetic parameter can be obtained directly has been established in this paper. The theoretical equation for calorimeter, in which the delay of sensing has been considered, and the thermo-kinetic research method for faster reactions, namely the modifier method of distorted thermoanalytical curve, have been suggested. The thermo-kinetics of a few faster reaction systems has been studied with this method and the validity of the theory and method has been verified by the experimental results.

On the basis of thermo-kinetic theories, a novel thermo-kinetic research method, the time-parameter method for simple-order reactions, has been proposed in this paper. In order to test the validity of this method, the saponification of ethyl buryate and ethyl benzoate in aqueous ethanol solvent and the formation of hexamethylenetetramine in aqueous solution have been studied. The rate constants calculated with this method are in agreement with those in the literature. Therefore, the time-parameter method is believed to be correct.

The effects of micellar solutions on bimolecular reactions were studied in detail using a newly established nonlinear dynamic model with a far-from-equilibrium reaction scheme, by which the incorporation of organic substrates with the micellar phase was imitated. Through the linear stability analysis of the steady state solutions given by the rate equation of the change of substrate concentration within a micellar phase with time, it leads to some explicit relationships between the incorporated substrate concentration and the relevant parameters. Based on this model the micellar effects on the kinetics of the alkaline hydrolysis of esters have been interpreted. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Difficulties likely exist in optimal reservoir operation along with discreteness and nonlinear constraints. The purpose of this paper is to aim at overcoming these defects. The particle swarm optimization algorithm with optimizing ability in the continuous field is suggested for reservoirs optimal operation to solve the bottleneck in the optimizing process caused by discreteness. Moreover, in order to tackle the nonlinear constraint problem, this article use annealing penalty function and chaos variation operator to efficiently improve the shortcomings on reservoir optimal operation. The results show that the particle swarm optimization algorithm is applicable to optimal reservoir operation.