Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy as a powerful method for the analysis of Chinese herbal medicines.

Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) derived from nature have received increasing attention and become more popular. Due to their diverse production processes, complex ingredients, and different storage conditions, it is highly desirable to develop simple, rapid, efficient and trace detection methods to ensure the drug quality. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy has the advantages of being time-saving, non-destructive, usable in aqueous environments, and highly compatible with various biomolecular samples, providing a promising analytical method for CHM. In this review, we outline the major advances in the application of SERS to the identification of raw materials, detection of bioactive constituents, characterization of adulterants, and detection of contaminants. This clearly shows that SERS has strong potential in the quality control of CHM, which greatly promotes the modernization of CHM.

Serum Exosome-Derived miR-139-5p as a Potential Biomarker for Major Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRs) have been suggested to be biomarkers to inform the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD). We have previously shown that exosome-derived miR-139-5p had potential in differentiating between patients with MDD and healthy control (HC) subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To validate the potential of exosome-derived miR-139-5p as a biomarker for MDD, here we recruited 30 patients with MDD and 30 HC subjects, and used TaqMan probes to detect serum exosomal miR-139-5p levels. RESULTS: The data showed that patients with MDD had significantly increased exosomal miR-139-5p levels when compared with controls. Correlation analysis suggested that sex, age, and body mass index did not significantly affect blood exosomal miR-139-5p levels in the tested subjects. The ROC curve showed that serum-derived miR-139-5p had reasonable performance in discriminating patients with MDD and HC subjects, with a sensitivity of 0.867 and specificity of 0.767, and the AUC was 0.807. DISCUSSION: Taken together, these results demonstrated that patients with MDD were accompanied by significantly increased blood exosomal miR-139-5p levels, and exosomal miR-139-5p is a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of MDD.

Hydrazine 5,5'-bitetrazole-1,1'-diolate: a promising high density energetic salt with good properties.

The development of new environmentally friendly energetic compounds with reasonable detonation performance and safety is a long-term target in energetic materials research. A new energetic eco-friendly salt of hydrazine 5,5'-bitetrazole-1,1'-diolate (HA·BTO) is developed based on the reaction of 1H,1'H-5,5'-bitetrazole-1,1'-diolate (BTO) with hydrazine hydrochloride (HA·HCl), and fully characterized. The monocrystal of the title salt is obtained and the structure is determined by powder X-ray diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Results show that the salt belongs to the triclinic space group P1[combining macron] with a relatively high density of 1.912 g cm-3 under 298 K. The properties of the salt are discussed in detail. The thermal decomposition behaviors of the salt are tested, indicating that the salt has good thermal stability with a decomposition temperature above 200 °C. The enthalpy of formation for the salt is dependent on the combustion heat date measured by oxygen bomb calorimetry with a result of 425.6 kJ mol-1, which is the same level as TKX-50, and four times higher than that of RDX. The detonation pressure (P) and detonation velocity (D) of the salt are calculated as 8931 m s-1 and 36.1 GPa, which are higher than those of RDX. In addition, the impact and friction sensitivities are tested through a relevant standard method with a result of 28 J and 120 N, which are better than those of TKX-50. We can draw the conclusion that the salt could provide a promising future in use as a kind of insensitive explosive alternative. The discovery also contributes significantly to the expansion and application of the chemistry of 1H,1'H-5,5'-bitetrazole-1,1'-diolate, as well as N-heterocyclic compounds.

Multiple irritation fibromas after dorsum linguae biopsy.

Irritation fibroma is one of the most frequent occurrences in benign soft tissue growth of the oral cavity. Chronic irritation and trauma are often identified as the causative factors. Recently, we experienced an unusual case of multiple irritation fibromas that occurred in the suture points after dorsum linguae biopsy. To the best of our knowledge, it has not been reported. Hence, the rare case was described and several possible causes were discussed.

Specific lipase-responsive polymer-coated gadolinium nanoparticles for MR imaging of early acute pancreatitis.

Currently, available methods for diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (AP) are mainly dependent on serum enzyme analysis and imaging techniques that are too low in sensitivity and specificity to accurately and promptly diagnose AP. The lack of early diagnostic tools highlights the need to search for a highly effective and specific diagnostic method. In this study, we synthesized a conditionally activated, gadolinium-containing, nanoparticle-based MRI nanoprobe as a diagnostic tool for the early identification of AP. Gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic fatty acid (Gd-DTPA-FA) nanoparticles were synthesized by conjugation of DTPA-FA ligand and gadolinium acetate. Gd-DTPA-FA exhibited low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility when characterized in vitro and in vivo studies. L-arginine induced a gradual increase in the intensity of the T1-weighted MRI signal from 1 h to 36 h in AP rat models. The increase in signal intensity was most significant at 1 h, 6 h and 12 h. These results suggest that the Gd-DTPA-FA as an MRI contrast agent is highly efficient and specific to detect early AP.

[Development and reproduction of B-biotype Bemisia tabaci on four cucurbitaceous host plants].

The study on the development and reproduction of B-biotype Bemisia tabaci on four cucurbitaceous host plants, i. e., cucumber, hairy gourd, bitter cucumber, and sponge gourd, showed that the one generation development duration of B. tabaci was the shortest (19.3 d) on hairy gourd and the longest (29.0 d) on bitter cucumber, the survival rate from egg to adult was the highest (92.85%) on cucumber and the lowest (53.08%) on bitter cucumber, the laid eggs were the most (187.4 eggs per female) on cucumber and the least (30.0 eggs per female) on bitter cucumber, and the longevity was the longest (25.2 d) on cucumber and the shortest (10.9 d) on bitter cucumber. The intrinsic rate of increase (r(m)) on cucumber, hairy gourd, bitter cucumber, and sponge gourd was 0.1453, 0.1429, 0.0616, and 0.1055, respectively. Among the test cucurbitaceous host plants, cucumber was the most suitable host plant for B. tabaci.

[Effect of early nutritional support on plasma superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide in rats with burns in a hot and humid environment].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the changes of plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) in rats with combined stress of burn injury and hot and humid environment. METHODS: The rats with superficial second-degree scald were subjected to intragastric administration of double-distilled water for one week (control group) or treated with ascorbic acid and L-arginine mixed with a-Tocopherol for one week (treatment group). All the rats were exposed to the same hot and humid environment of Td 37+/-0.5 degrees C with relative humidity of 65%+/-5% for 1-2 h. Observation was performed at 1, 2, 4, and 10 h after the heat exposure, respectively. RESULTS: SOD and MDA changes were significantly different between the two groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). In the control group, NO levels at 1 h were significantly different from those measured at 2 and 6 h after the exposure (P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Early nutritional support can significantly reduce the stress organ injuries, and prevent complications following injury in a hot and humid environment.