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A family of novel coordination polymers (CPs) with topological diversity has been prepared based on a bis-terpyridine ruthenium linker. They provide a unique platform for the development of multifarious photofunctions.

Insulin resistance (IR) is one of the essential conditions in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). IR occurs in hepatic cells when the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway is downregulated; thus, activating this pathway can significantly improve insulin sensitivity and ameliorate T2DM. Tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs), a DNA nanomaterial, are synthesized from four single-stranded DNA molecules. tFNAs possess excellent biocompatibility and good water solubility and stability. tFNAs can promote cell proliferation, cell autophagy, wound healing, and nerve regeneration by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway. Herein, we explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of tFNAs on IR. The results displayed that tFNAs could increase glucose uptake and ameliorate IR by activating the IRS-1/PI3K/Akt pathway in glucosamine (GlcN)-stimulated HepG2 cells. By employing a PI3K inhibitor, we confirmed that tFNAs reduce IR through the PI3K/Akt pathway. Moreover, tFNAs can promote hepatic cell proliferation and inhibit GlcN-induced cell apoptosis. In a T2DM mouse model, tFNAs reduce blood glucose levels and ameliorate hepatic IR via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Taken together, tFNAs can improve hepatic IR and alleviate T2DM through the PI3K/Akt pathway, making contribution to the potential application of tFNAs in T2DM.

Yumei Wu,1 Hui Zeng,2 Meiping Zhang,1 Chunyan Li,2 Yuanlin Tang,2 Xiufen Li,1 Shanyou Yuan,3 Qifeng Wei,3 Jinghua Wang,4 Xianjia Ning,4 Xiaoyin Zhang1 1Department of Gastroenterology, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Health Management, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Orthopedics, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China; 4Centre of Clinical Epidemiology, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiaoyin Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, 29 Bulan Road, Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518112, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-755-61222333, Fax +86-755-61238928, Email xhnk_01@163.com Xianjia Ning, Center of Clinical Epidemiology, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, 29 Bulan Road, Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518112, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-755-61222333, Fax +86-755-61238928, Email xning@tmu.edu.cnPurpose: Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common causes of peptic ulcers, gastritis, and gastric cancers. This study investigated sex-specific differences in the prevalence of H. pylori infection and its associated factors among individuals undergoing hospital-based health examinations in southern China.Methods: This study enrolled consecutive healthy individuals who underwent regular health examinations at a hospital physical examination center between September 2020 and September 2021. Anthropometric characteristics and biochemical profiles were measured. All individuals underwent carbon-13 urea breath tests. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the factors associated with H. pylori infection.Results: A total of 5035 individuals (men, 59.1%; women, 40.9%) were included in the analyses. The total rate of H. pylori infection was 35.0% (men, 35.5%; women, 34.3%). In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors identified for H. pylori infections were high fasting blood glucose levels and blood pressure ≥ 160 mmHg in men and older age, high body mass index, and low albumin levels in women.Conclusion: These findings suggest that physicians must be aware of the metabolic factors associated with H. pylori infections in the Chinese population. Early detection of these factors and timely intervention are expected to reduce H. pylori infections and provide a theoretical basis for the primary prevention of several gastrointestinal diseases.Keywords: Helicobacter pylori infection, gastrointestinal disease, sex differences, prevalence, metabolic factors

The key to achieving high efficiencies, high performance, and low costs of adsorption heat pumps/chillers (AHPs/ACs) is to choose a suitable adsorbent. A computational screening of 6013 computation-ready experimental metal–organic frameworks (CoRE-MOFs) is performed for methanol–MOF pairs in AHPs/ACs, and 137 953 hypothetical MOFs (hMOFs) are further directionally screened based on the range of optimal CoRE-MOF descriptors. Compared with the blind screening of CoRE-MOFs (∼13%), ∼80% of hMOFs obtained by the directional screening exhibited high performance in AHPs/ACs, proving the effectiveness of directional screening. Then, the techno-economic analysis (Ctotal) of AHPs/ACs for each MOF was performed based on the equipment cost (Cequipment), cycle cost (Ccycle), and material cost (CMOF). Cequipment accounted for the greatest proportion of Ctotal, but the proportion of Cequipment decreased and the proportion of Ccycle gradually increased as the MOF data set tended to be the materials with better performance. This confirmed the reduction of Ctotal by an effective enhancement of the Ccycle proportion, and that the high manufacturing cost of MOFs would not restrict their widespread use in AHPs/ACs. Among 6 machine learning (ML) algorithms, the random forest could yield the best prediction effect with little effect by the metal type of MOFs, whereas the heat of adsorption and MOF density were two key descriptors to determine Ctotal. 12 lowest-cost CoRE-MOFs and hMOFs were identified for each application, and their average costs in state 2 were only ∼1 USD kJ−1 in AHPs/ACs. Finally, a variant of the well-known MOF (Cu3BTC2) was predicted to possess superior techno-economy, which was confirmed by a parallel methanol adsorption experiment. These comprehensive insights from directional computational screening, ML algorithms to experiment can guide the development of low-cost and high-performance MOFs for AHPs/ACs in a variety of energy conservation and industrial applications.

Insulin resistance (IR) is one of the essential conditions in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). IR occurs in hepatic cells when the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway is downregulated; thus, activating this pathway can significantly improve insulin sensitivity and ameliorate T2DM. Tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs), a DNA nanomaterial, are synthesized from four single-stranded DNA molecules. tFNAs possess excellent biocompatibility and good water solubility and stability. tFNAs can promote cell proliferation, cell autophagy, wound healing, and nerve regeneration by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway. Herein, we explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of tFNAs on IR. The results displayed that tFNAs could increase glucose uptake and ameliorate IR by activating the IRS-1/PI3K/Akt pathway in glucosamine (GlcN)-stimulated HepG2 cells. By employing a PI3K inhibitor, we confirmed that tFNAs reduce IR through the PI3K/Akt pathway. Moreover, tFNAs can promote hepatic cell proliferation and inhibit GlcN-induced cell apoptosis. In a T2DM mouse model, tFNAs reduce blood glucose levels and ameliorate hepatic IR

To assess the role of multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for detecting early changes in macular functions of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy. mfERGs and OCT were used to examine a NPC group (36 NPC patients after radiotherapy without clinically visible radiation retinopathy, 36 eyes) and a normal control group (25 healthy individuals, 25 eyes) with the same procedure and parameters. The two groups of mfERG were summarized by calculating ring averages, response density, N1 amplitude and P1 and N1 latencies were analysed. OCT scan thickness was summarized into ETDRS regions for comparison. Compared with controls, the NPC group had significantly decreased P1 response densities in 1–4 ring regions and N1 amplitudes in 1–3 rings (P

Background Caulis Lonicerae japonicae (CLJ) is often used for the treatment of inflammation such as acute fever, headache, respiratory infection and epidemic diseases. Nevertheless, domestic and foreign researches simply fail to focus on reports of CLJ, especially its anti-inflammatory effects and correlative components. Purpose In this study, we investigated anti-inflammatory effects and serum components of Caulis Lonicerae japonicae (CLJ) in models of acute inflammation and correlative analysis between anti-inflammatory effects and serum components of CLJ in rat serum to analyze the changes in the relative contents of components in serum with time and in the corresponding values to characterize active fractions of CLJ and identify the major active components of CLJ in rats. Study design Active fractions of CLJ were screened using xylene-induced ear oedema mice model. Anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated using carrageenan-induced paw oedema rat model, and then correlative components in rat serum were demonstrated with HPLC-QTOF/MS/MS method explored. Methods HPLC-QTOF/MS/MS was developed to analyze the components absorbed in rat serum after oral administration of CLJ. Results Ethyl acetate extracts (ECLJ) and n-butanol extracts (BCLJ) of CLJ were preliminarily screened as active fractions of CLJ (EBCLJ) using xylene-induced ear oedema mice model, and effectively inhibited edema and values of interleukin-1 (IL-l), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) activities and prostaglandinE2 (PGE2) productions using carrageenan-induced paw oedema rat model. 33 peaks were found in total ion current chromatograms of EBCLJ, and 27 components were observed in EBCLJ-treated rat serum, only 11 of which were correlated with anti-inflammatory effects. Conclusions The present study contributes to the study on the pharmacodynamic basis of CLJ and provides potent evidence for developing CLJ as a safe and promising natural drug in inflammation treatment.

It is usually considered that the resonance frequency of quartz crystal resonator is only related to dynamic inductance L 1 and dynamic capacitance C 1, and load resonance frequency has connection with L 1, C 1 and static capacitance C 0. Hence, the dynamic resistance cannot be measured by frequency. The deduction show that all the frequencies relates to L 1, C 1, C 0 and dynamic resistance R 1. Then, a method for measuring the total equivalent parameters of quartz crystal resonator based on zero phase frequency is proposed in this Letter. The simulation results of advanced design system (ADS) verify the validity of this proposal in theory. After that, the phase-frequency-curves of a quartz crystal resonator with 10 and 5 MHz are measured, which can obtain equivalent parameters of through data processing. The results show that this method has calculated parameters essentially in agreement with nominal parameters. This method does not have reciprocating debugging process, and the test process is simple as well. In addition, the approximate calculation is not used in this method, and it could be widely extent to the field of sensors, such as quartz crystal microbalance sensors, temperature sensors and so on.

Caulis Lonicerae japonicae (CLJ), one of the commonly used herb drugs in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, has been used in China for centuries. A simple and reliable high-performance liquid chromotography (HPLC) fingerprint combined with a chemometrics method was developed to measure CLJ quality. Thirty-six batches of CLJ samples that varied by crop location, time in storage, and harvest season. Differences in chemical composition between CLJ and Flos Lonicerae japonicae (FLJ) were analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS). A total of 42 major constituents were screened and identified, and the fragmentation patterns of some iridoid glycosides, such as L-phenylalaninosecologanin and grandifloroside, were explained for the first time. Next, based on such fingerprint data for CLJ, various chemometrics analysis methods were applied to evaluate intrinsic quality and to identify chemical markers most responsible for quality. Finally, through comprehensive analysis, seven chemical compounds – 5-caffeoylquinic acid, 1,3-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid, epi-loganic acid, sweroside, loganin, vogeloside and grandifloroside – were identified as the most useful chemical markers to evaluate CLJ quality.

Intracerebral hemorrhage is a fatal subtype of stroke, with crucial impact on public health. Surgical removal of the hematoma as an early-stage treatment for ICH can’t improve long-term prognosis remarkably. Liangxue tongyu prescription (LP), a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula, includes eight ingredients and has been used to treat ICH in the clinical. In the study, we elucidated the pharmacological efficacy and therapeutic efficacy of LP to dissect the mechanism of LP against ICH via network analysis and experimental validation. First, we discovered 34 potential compounds and 146 corresponding targets in LP based on network prediction. 24 signal pathway were obtained by the Clue Go assay based on potential compounds in LP against ICH. Second, we found that LP can not only decreased the level of high sensitive C reactive protein (HS-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), NF-kβ, D-dimmer (D2D), estradiol (E2), S-100B, neuron specific enolase (NSE), and interleukin 1 (IL-1) in plasma on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), but also promoted cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis on the glutamate-induced PC12 cell. The compounds including Taurine, Paeonol, and Ginsenoside Rb1 in LP can activate PI3K/AKT pathway. Third, from the three-factor two-level factorial design, compound combinations in LP, such as Taurine and Paeonol, Taurine and Geniposide, Ginsenoside Rg1, and Ginsenoside Rb1, had first-level interactions on cell proliferation. Compound combinations including Taurine and Paeonol, Ginsenoside Rg1 and Ginsenoside Rb1 had as significant increase in efficiency on inhibiting the apoptosis of PC12 cells at the low concentration and up-regulating of PI3K and AKT. Overall, our results suggested that LP had integrated therapeutic effect on ICH due to activities of anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulation, blood vessel protection, and protection neuron from excitotoxicity based on the way of “multi-component, multi-target, multi-pathway,” and compound combination in LP can offer protection neuron from excitotoxicity at the low concentration by activation of the PI3K/Akt signal pathway.

The high stability crystal oscillator has been playing the heart of modern electronic communication equipment for decades, because of its excellent performance and reasonable price. It has three most significant indexes, namely, the aging, the phase noise and the frequency temperature stability. We found that when investigating the frequency temperature stability of high stability quartz crystal oscillator, with the increase of the oven control accuracy, oscillator's frequency temperature characteristic is deteriorating instead of improving. This is considered as a result of the impact of the residual heat effect in crystal resonator. In this case, by reducing the drive level properly, the frequency temperature stability increases accordingly, achieving about 1ppb in the temperature range of −20∼+70°C, which explains the validity of the residual heat effect. Furthermore, after reducing the drive level appropriately, the abatement of oscillator's aging and the improvement of close-to-carrier phase noise's performance signifies that the residual heat effect of crystal resonators may be the limiting factors for improving the performance of high stability quartz crystal oscillator.

Background: Cyathula officinalis Kuan is widely used in the clinics for the treatment of blood stasis in China. Objective: To evaluate the improving blood rheology and anti-inflammatory properties of C. officinalis Kuan extract (CO) and its active fraction (ACO) on acute blood stasis model Wistar rats and characterize the correlative constituents. Materials and Methods: CO at 0.26, 0.53, and 1.04 g/kg and ACO at 0.38, 0.75, and 1.5 g/kg were administered to acute blood stasis model Wistar rats for 3 days. Whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the plasma were measured. HPLC-QTOF/MS/MS method was used to identify the major constituents of ACO; the properties of two representative components (cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV) from ACO on thrombin-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells damage model were also assessed by the levels of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), endothelin (ET), malondialdehyde (MDA), COX-2, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results: CO and ACO significantly reduced whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and levels of IL-6, NO, TNF-α, and COX-2 in vivo. Forty compounds were identified from ACO, mainly as phytoecdysteroids and saponins. Cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV could significantly inhibit levels of TXA2, ET, MDA, and COX-2 and promote the activities of eNOS and SOD in vitro. Conclusion: CO and ACO possessed significant improving blood rheology and anti-inflammatory effects on acute blood stasis model rats and the representative components Cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV showed significant anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticoagulant effects in vitro. SUMMARY Cyathula officinalis Kuan is widely used in the clinic for the treatment of blood stasis in ChinaThe C. officinalis Kuan extract and the active fraction of C. officinalis Kuan (ACO) possessed significant improving blood rheology and anti-inflammatory effects on acute blood stasis model ratsForty compounds were identified from ACO, mainly as phytoecdysteroids and saponins Abbreviations used: TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine, CO: Cyathula officinalis Kuan extract, ACO: Active fraction of Cyathula officinalis Kuan, ROS: Reactive oxygen species, IL-6: Interleukin-6, TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alpha, NO: Nitric oxide, COX-2: Cyclooxygenase-2, TXA2: Thromboxane A2, ET: Endothelin, MDA: Malondialdehyde, eNOS: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase, SOD: Superoxide dismutase, ESI: Electronic spray ionization, ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, HUVECs: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells, DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium, MMP: Matrix metalloproteinase.

Background: Cyathula officinalis Kuan is widely used in the clinics for the treatment of blood stasis in China. Objective: To evaluate the improving blood rheology and anti-inflammatory properties of C. officinalis Kuan extract (CO) and its active fraction (ACO) on acute blood stasis model Wistar rats and characterize the correlative constituents. Materials and Methods: CO at 0.26, 0.53, and 1.04 g/kg and ACO at 0.38, 0.75, and 1.5 g/kg were administered to acute blood stasis model Wistar rats for 3 days. Whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the plasma were measured. HPLC-QTOF/MS/MS method was used to identify the major constituents of ACO; the properties of two representative components (cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV) from ACO on thrombin-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells damage model were also assessed by the levels of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), endothelin (ET), malondialdehyde (MDA), COX-2, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results: CO and ACO significantly reduced whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and levels of IL-6, NO, TNF-α, and COX-2 in vivo. Forty compounds were identified from ACO, mainly as phytoecdysteroids and saponins. Cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV could significantly inhibit levels of TXA2, ET, MDA, and COX-2 and promote the activities of eNOS and SOD in vitro. Conclusion: CO and ACO possessed significant improving blood rheology and anti-inflammatory effects on acute blood stasis model rats and the representative components Cyasterone and chikusetsusaponin IV showed significant anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticoagulant effects in vitro. Abbreviations used: TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine, CO: Cyathula officinalis Kuan extract, ACO: Active fraction of Cyathula officinalis Kuan, ROS: Reactive oxygen species, IL-6: Interleukin-6, TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alpha, NO: Nitric oxide, COX-2: Cyclooxygenase-2, TXA2: Thromboxane A2, ET: Endothelin, MDA: Malondialdehyde, eNOS: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase, SOD: Superoxide dismutase, ESI: Electronic spray ionization, ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, HUVECs: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells, DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium, MMP: Matrix metalloproteinase.