Soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, t-AUCB, improves salivary gland function by ameliorating endothelial injury.

AIMS: Inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase (t-AUCB) has been used in the experimental therapy of hypertension. This study aimed to investigate whether the secretion of submandibular glands (SMGs) altered in renal hypertensive rats, and to explore whether t-AUCB could improve the salivary secretion. MAIN METHODS: 2-kidney 1-clip Sprague-Dawley rats were used as renal hypertensive animals. t-AUCB treatment was given for 1 week after 8 weeks modeling. Blood pressure, blood perfusion and the secretion of SMGs, and endothelium-dependent relaxation of external maxillary artery were measured to investigate the effects of t-AUCB on the vascular tone and the secretion of SMGs in renal hypertensive rats. SMGs were collected for histological evaluation and the internal arteries were dissected for primary endothelial cells culture. KEY FINDINGS: The blood perfusion and flow rate of SMGs in the renal hypertensive rats were significantly lower than those in the controls. Endothelium-dependent relaxation of the external maxillary artery and AMPK/Akt/eNOS signaling was impaired in hypertensive rats. The glandular morphology and the concentration of salivary ions did not change obviously. t-AUCB treatment ameliorated the secretion of SMGs, the blood perfusion, and the dysfunction of endothelium-dependent relaxation of the external maxillary artery by activating the AMPK/Akt/eNOS pathway in hypertensive rats. SIGNIFICANCE: t-AUCB increases the blood perfusion through ameliorating dysfunction of endothelium-dependent relaxation of SMGs arteries and thus improves the hyposecretion of SMGs in hypertensive rats.

[Scraping on head and face combined with stepping technique of tuina along lower limbs for chronic fatigue syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of scraping on head and face combined with stepping technique of tuina along lower limbs on fatigue symptom and mental state in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. METHODS: A total of 100 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were randomized into an observation group (50 cases, 2 cases dropped off) and a control group (50 cases, 2 cases dropped off). In the control group, oryzanol tablets and compound vitamin B tablets were taken orally, both 2 tablets every time, 3 times every day for 30 days. On the basis of the treatment in the control group, scraping on head and face combined with stepping technique of tuina along lower limbs of three yin meridians of foot were applied in the observation group, once every 3 days, 10 times were required. Before and after treatment, the scores of fatigue scale-14 (FS-14) and somatic and psychological health report (SPHERE) were observed, and the clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated in the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of FS-14 and SPHERE were reduced in the two groups (P<0.05), and the changes of those indexes in the observation group were larger than the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 91.7% (44/48) in the observation group, which was superior to 54.2% (26/48) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Scraping on head and face combined with stepping technique of tuina along lower limbs can improve fatigue symptom and mental state in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

[Treatment of sacroiliac joint dislocation by Zhuang medicine tendon therapy combined with chiropractic manipulation].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical effect of Zhuang medicine tendon therapy combined with chiropractic manipulation in treating sacroiliac joint dislocation. METHODS: From January 2017 to May 2018, 60 patients with sacroiliac joint dislocation were divided into treatment group and control group according to the order of admission. There were 19 males and 11 females in the treatment group, aged from 23 to 52 (38.97±3.23) years old, with a course of 2 h to 5.1 months, with an average of (2.19±1.12) months. There were 14 males and 16 females in the control group, aged from 26 to 50 (39.07±3.30) years old, with a course of 3 h to 6 months, with an average of(2.41±1.05) months. The treatment group was treated with Zhuang medicine tendon therapy combined with chiropractic manipulation, while the control group was treated with conventional acupuncture and massage. Before treatment, the main clinical symptoms of the patients were lumbosacral pain, posterior superior iliac spine not at the same level and accompanied with dyskinesia. The pelvic separation test and the "4" test were positive. After treatment, the curative effect was evaluated according to the improved Macnab standard and the "score of treatment of lumbar diseases". RESULTS: Sixty patients were followed up for an average of 8 months. At the latest follow-up, the clinical effect of modified Macnab was better in the treatment group than in the control group(P<0.01). After treatment, the treatment group was better than the control group on lumbar function score (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of sacroiliac joint dislocation by Zhuang medicine tendon therapy combined with chiropractic manipulation has good clinical effect and is worth further application and development.

Mechanisms on formation of hierarchically porous carbon and its adsorption behaviors.

Using simple one-step carbonization-activation, the residues of paulownia flowers are employed as a precursor to prepare hierarchically porous activated carbon. After investigating the optimum conditions, the obtained paulownia flowers based activated carbon (PFAC) is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area analysis (S(BET)), thermo gravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The PFAC owns a high specific surface area of 1,053 m(2)/g as well as a hierarchically porous structure with a combination of micro-, meso- and macropores. The pore-forming mechanism is discussed according to results of characterization. Using methylene blue as model dye, the adsorption behaviors of PFAC were investigated. We found that the dye could be rapidly adsorbed by hierarchically porous PFAC, and the adsorption capacity of PFAC reached 300 mg/g.

[Clinical Therapeutic Effect of Oblique Needling with Tuina in Relieving Sacroiliac Joint Injury].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of oblique needling in combination with Tuina at the sacroiliac joint for patients experiencing sacroiliac joint injury. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients with sacroiliac joint injury were randomized into routine Tuina group and oblique needling combined with Tuina (Acu+ Tuina) group (n = 60 in each group). For patients of the Tuina group, routine Tuina as rotating, pressing-rubbing, digital pressing, articular moving, etc. was manipulated at Shangliao (BL 31), Ciliao (BL 32), Zhongliao (BL 31), Xialiao (BL 30), Huantiao (GB 30), Zhibian (BL 54), Weizhong (BL 40) and sacroiliac joint area. For patients of the Acu+Tuina group, the anatomical points between the bilateral iliac crests and the sacral joints were punctured obliquely with disposable acupuncture needles. The treatment was conducted for 30 min every time, once daily for 3 weeks except weekends. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI, concerning intensity of pain, lifting, ability to care for oneself, ability to walk, ability to sit, sexual function, ability to stand, social life, sleep quality, and ability to travel) were employed to evaluate the patients' reactions and functional activity changes before and after the treatment. RESULTS: Following the treatment, of the two 60 patients in the Tuina and Acu + Tuina groups, 12 and 26 cases were cured, 20 and 20 experienced marked improvement, 16 and 11 were effective, 12 and 3 invalid, with the effective rates being 80% and 95%, respectively. The effective rate of the Acu+ Tuina group was significantly superior to that of the Tuina group (P<0.05). The VAS scores and OD were considerably decreased in both groups after the treatment and were significantly lower in the Acu+Tuina group than in the Tuina group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Oblique needling the anatomical points in the sacroiliac joint region combined with Tuina manipulation is evidently better than simple Tuina in reducing pain and in improving functional activity and life quality in sacroiliac joint injury patients.

A facile fabrication of amphiphilic Janus and hollow latex particles by controlling multistage emulsion polymerization.

In this paper, we found that morphology controllable compound latex particles could be prepared by controlling the multistage emulsion polymerization. Influences of the content of methacrylic acid (MAA) on preparing the hydrophilic cores and the particles were investigated with the observation of dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) results. The acorn-like latex particles were synthesized by partially encapsulated with hydrophobic polystyrene (PSt)-layer. With adding moderate polarity polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) interlayer, the hydrophilic cores could be fully encapsulated by the hydrophobic PSt-layer, and the core-shell structure formed. After alkali treatment, the acorn-like and core-shell latex particles evolved into amphiphilic Janus and hollow latex particles, respectively. The morphology of latex particles was investigated by TEM, and the forming mechanism of amphiphilic Janus and hollow latex particles was proposed.

Study on effective extraction of chicken feather keratins and their films for controlling drug release.

We report the fabrication of keratin films with porosity using keratin, for controlled drug delivery systems. Feathers are currently an important waste product from the poultry industry, however abandoned down products cause an environmentally difficult disposal problem as they are not efficiently extracted and applied. In this paper, feather keratin was extracted using a high-efficiency method. The yield of pure keratin was up to 90%. Its molecular weight was 20 kDa with low dispersity. The films, based on the extracted keratin, were prepared using a simple method, and showed good mechanical properties. Furthermore, the feather keratin films were used to load and release drugs. The resultant feather keratin biopolymer films were pH-responsive and showed controllable drug-release behavior. In summary, we achieved a simple method to reutilize disused feathers. It could be an attractive candidate for applications in the biomedical field.

Loess clay based copolymer for removing Pb(II) ions.

Functional monomers, such as acrylic acid and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were supported into loess clay in situ polymerization, which afforded loess clay based copolymer (LC/PAAHM), a new kind of polymer adsorbent for removing Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. Characterization of the polymer adsorbent was carried out by different sophisticated methods, such as Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Zetasizer. Batch experiments were carried out to evaluate the factors affecting the removal efficiency, in which the pH, the adsorbent dosage, temperature and initial Pb(II) concentration all found in positive relevance to the increase of Pb(II) removal efficiency. The removal rate of Pb(II) got to 99% at room temperature and the adsorption capacity got to 356.9 mg/g. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were applied to test the experimental data, and Langmuir and Freundlich models have been applied to study the adsorption equilibrium, respectively.

[Lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion treated with Santong tuina therapy: a multi-central randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the difference in the efficacy on lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion (LIDP) between Santong tuina therapy and conventional tuina therapy. METHODS: Multi-central, random and controlled clinical trial was carried out. One hundred and twenty cases of LIDP were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 60 cases in each one. In observation group, Santong tuina therapy was used. In control group, conventional tuina therapy was adopted. The clinical efficacy was observed in two groups, and lumbar vertebral function was scaled before and after treatment in two groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 95.0% (57/60) in observation group and was 96.7% (58/60) in control group, without significant statistical difference in comparison (P > 0.05). The cured and markedly effective rate was 81.7% (49/60) in observation group and was 63.3% (38/60) in control group, indicating significant statistical difference in comparison (P < 0.05). The self-comparison of lumbar vertebral function before and after treatment presented statistical significance in either observation group (12.25 +/- 3.15, 25.56 +/- 5.27) or control group (13.32 +/- 3.26, 20.46 +/- 4.25, both P < 0.05); additionally, there was significant difference in the comparison between groups after treatment (P < 0.05). The therapy adopted in observation group improved lumbar vertebral function much significantly. CONCLUSION: In the treatment of LIDP, Santong tuina therapy achieves much better clinical efficacy as compared with conventional tuina therapy.

[Promoting high-temperature hydrolysis under alkaline condition].

The effect of alkaline thermal hydrolysis method on excess sludge and its characteristic parameters(such as soluble chemical oxygen demand, volatile fatty acids, ammonia-nitrogen, pH value, sludge concentration, etc.) were investigated. The results show that the addition of alkali can reduce the resistance of the sludge cells to high temperature and enhance the release and the hydrolysis of organic materials from the sludge cells with the increase of temperature, pH value and reaction time. The concentration of SCOD reached 17,950 mg/L and SCOD/TCOD was 0.65 on the conditions of pH 13, 170 degrees C and 75 min. The maximal dissolving rate of suspended solids (SS) was 67% and 72% for volatile suspended solids (VSS) at pH 13 with 60 min. The concentration of SCOD after alkaline thermal hydrolysis treatment increased with the increase of sludge concentration, in which the nice linear relation was reached and the correlation coefficient (R2) was above 0.97. The increasing rate of the SCOD was improving with the increase of the pH value and the SCOD of unit sludge reached 672 mg/g at pH 13. The effect of three factors on the SCOD was investigated through orthogonal experiment at the temperature of 170 degrees C, the importance was sludge concentration,pH value and reaction time in turn.

[Observation on therapeutic effect of Jingjin therapy on migraine].

OBJECTIVE: To observe therapeutic effect of Jingjin therapy on migraine and search for an ideal way for non-medical treatment of migraine. METHODS: One hundred cases of migraine were randomly divided into a observation group and a control group, 50 cases in each group. The observation group were treated with Jingjin therapy, and the control group with oral administration of Nimodipine. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 100.0% in the observation group and 70.0% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). The therapeutic effect for attacking times, attacking lasting time, headache index and accompanied symptoms in the observation group was better than that in the control group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Jingjin therapy has an obvious therapeutic effect on migraine.