Associations of C-reactive protein and fibrinogen with mortality from all-causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer among U.S. adults.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen are associated with an increased risk of death with suggested differences by gender, diet quality and race/ethnicity. However, the current evidence is limited. We used data including 8646 men and 9880 women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Linked Morality cohort (1999-2011) to investigate the associations of CRP and fibrinogen with mortality overall and by gender, race/ethnicity and diet quality. Cox-proportional hazard model was used to quantify the associations. With a median follow-up of 6 years, a strong dose-response relationship was observed between CRP levels and mortality risk in men after multivariable adjustment. For subjects who survived the first two years, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for total mortality across quartiles (from lower to higher) of CRP were 1.97 (95% CI: 0.62-6.33), 1.89 (0.59, 6.06) and 6.34 (2.28-17.7) (P for trend <0.001). For cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, its association with CRP varied by diet quality. For cancer mortality, its association differed by history of cancer, and positive associations were observed only among subjects with history of cancer. In contrast, no such association of CRP with mortality was found in women. For fibrinogen, we observed its positive association with total mortality and the HRs across quartiles of fibrinogen (from lower to higher) were 1.21 (0.88, 1.67), 1.49 (1.22, 1.82) and 1.99 (1.56, 2.55). The association with CVD mortality differed by diet quality whereas no association was found with cancer mortality. Our findings suggest that higher levels of CRP and fibrinogen were associated with lower survival from total and CVD; the associations of CRP with mortality were more pronounced in men than women. Diet quality is an effect modifier for the association of CRP and fibrinogen with CVD mortality.

Discovery of aromatic amides with triazole-core as potent reversal agents against P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major impediment for clinical cancer therapy. 19 novel aromatic amides with triazole-core as MDR reversal agents were designed and synthesized via click chemistry to reverse MDR. Among them, compound 42 was identified as the most promising candidate with high potency (EC50 = 78.1 ±â€¯5.4 nM), low cytotoxity (SI > 1282) and persistent duration in reversing doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in K562/A02 cells. 42 also enhanced the potency of other P-gp associated cytotoxic agents with different structures. In further study, remarkably increased intracellular accumulation of Rh123 and DOX in K562/A02 cells was achieved by compound 42, while CYP3A4 activity had no change by compound 42. These results indicate that compound 42 as a relatively safe modulator of P-gp-mediated MDR has good potential for further development.

Quantifying the sensitivity of feedstock properties and process conditions on hydrochar yield, carbon content, and energy content.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a wet, low temperature thermal conversion process that continues to gain attention for the generation of hydrochar. The importance of specific process conditions and feedstock properties on hydrochar characteristics is not well understood. To evaluate this, linear and non-linear models were developed to describe hydrochar characteristics based on data collected from HTC-related literature. A Sobol analysis was subsequently conducted to identify parameters that most influence hydrochar characteristics. Results from this analysis indicate that for each investigated hydrochar property, the model fit and predictive capability associated with the random forest models is superior to both the linear and regression tree models. Based on results from the Sobol analysis, the feedstock properties and process conditions most influential on hydrochar yield, carbon content, and energy content were identified. In addition, a variational process parameter sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine how feedstock property importance changes with process conditions.

[Spectral characteristics of decomposition of incorporated straw in compound polluted arid loess].

The original loess from western China was used as soil sample, the spectral methods of scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) were used to investigate the characteristics of decomposed straw and formed humic acids in compound polluted arid loess. The SEM micrographs show the variation from dense to decomposed surface, and finally to damaged structure, and the EDS data reveal the phenomenon of element transfer. The newly-formed humic acids are of low aromaticity, helpful for increasing the activity of organic matters in loess. The FTIR spectra in the whole process are similar, indicating the complexity of transformation dynamics of humic acids. The molecular structure of humic acids becomes simpler, shown from 13C NMR spectra. The spectral methods are useful for humic acids identification in loess region in straw incorporation process.