[Anti-inflammatory effect and its mechanism of Saracae Cortex based on zebrafish model and network pharmacology].

This paper aims to explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of Saracae Cortex by using network pharmacology and molecular docking methods and verify it through the inflammation model of zebrafish. The effective components, potential core targets, and signaling pathways of Saracae Cortex were obtained by using network pharmacology. A lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced inflammation model of zebrafish was established to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous extract and 70% ethanol extract of Saracae Cortex with cell apoptosis rate and reactive oxygen species(ROS) production rate as indicators. q PCR was performed to verify the main targets predicted by network pharmacology. The prediction found that there were 121 potential anti-inflammatory targets in Saracae Cortex. Protein-protein interaction(PPI) analysis showed that Saracae Cortex mainly acted on signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3), vascular endothelial growth factor A( VEGFA), epidermal growth factor( EGF), tumor necrosis factor( TNF),tumor protein p53(TP53), matrix metalloprotein 9(MMP9), c-fos proto-oncogene protein(FOS), estrogen receptor 1(ESR1), cx-c motif chemokine ligand 8(CXCL8), cluster of differentiation 8(CD8), and other targets. Gene Ontology(GO) analysis showed the biological process mainly acted on the inhibition of apoptosis, the positive regulation of gene expression, and the positive regulation of cell proliferation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) analysis showed that the mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1(HIF-1) signaling pathway may play a key role in anti-inflammation of Saracae Cortex. Molecular docking verified that five key compounds had a strong binding force with their corresponding core target. Zebrafish animal experiments showed that Saracae Cortex could significantly inhibit ROS formation and reduce cell apoptosis in juvenile fish caused by inflammation and inhibit the further enhancement of inflammatory response in tissue. In addition, compared with the blank group, the transcription levels of nuclear factor kappa-B(NF-κB), TP53, FOS, adaptor protein complex-1(AP-1), and mitogen-activated protein kinases P38(P38) were significantly up-regulated in the model group. Compared with the model group, the m RNA expression of NF-κB, TP53, FOS, AP-1, and P38 was significantly down-regulated in zebrafish tissue treated with aqueous extract and 70% ethanol extract of Saracae Cortex. Saracae Cortex plays an anti-inflammatory role through multiple components and targets, and its anti-inflammatory effect may be related to the inhibition of the MAPK signaling pathway.

Anion Effects on Spin Crossover Systems: From Supramolecular Chemistry to Magnetism.

The field of anion supramolecular chemistry has received more and more attention in recent years. Anions with diverse types and geometries have been widely used for the synthesis of ionic spin crossover (SCO) complexes. This review is devoted to anion effects on the molecular, supramolecular structures and magnetic properties of discrete SCO compounds. Firstly, typical anions used in the synthesis of these compounds are briefly summarized according to their various geometries. This is followed by a collection of representative examples of anion-based SCO compounds, whose SCO properties are analyzed in terms of supramolecular interactions, geometry and charge of anions. In the third part, anion effects on SCO complexes of different kinds of metal centers and ligands are outlined and finally remarks on the synthesis new type of ionic SCO complexes in the future are described.

Regioselective Dehydrogenative Reverse Prenylation of Indoles with 2-Methyl-2-butene.

Bulk chemical 2-methyl-2-butene, one of the main C5 distillates of the petrochemical industry, has scarcely been utilized directly in synthesizing high-value-added fine chemicals. Herein, we use 2-methyl-2-butene as the starting material to develop a palladium-catalyzed highly site- and regio-selective C-3 dehydrogenation reverse prenylation of indoles. This synthetic method features mild reaction conditions, a broad substrate scope, atom- and step-economies.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 attenuates ventilator-induced lung injury by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pyroptotic pathway.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is caused by overdistension of the alveoli by the repetitive recruitment and derecruitment of alveolar units. This study aims to investigate the potential role and mechanism of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a metabolic regulator secreted by the liver, in VILI development. METHODS: Serum FGF21 concentrations were determined in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia and in a mouse VILI model. Lung injury was compared between FGF21-knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. Recombinant FGF21 was administrated in vivo and in vitro to determine its therapeutic effect. RESULTS: Serum FGF21 levels in patients and mice with VILI were significantly higher than in those without VILI. Additionally, the increment of serum FGF21 in anesthesia patients was positively correlated with the duration of ventilation. VILI was aggravated in FGF21-KO mice compared with WT mice. Conversely, the administration of FGF21 alleviated VILI in both mouse and cell models. FGF21 reduced Caspase-1 activity, suppressed the mRNA levels of Nlrp3, Asc, Il-1ß, Il-18, Hmgb1 and Nf-κb, and decreased the protein levels of NLRP3, ASC, IL-1ß, IL-18, HMGB1 and the cleaved form of GSDMD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that endogenous FGF21 signaling is triggered in response to VILI, which protects against VILI by inhibiting the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD pyroptosis pathway. These results suggest that boosting endogenous FGF21 or the administration of recombinant FGF21 could be promising therapeutic strategies for the treatment of VILI during anesthesia or critical care.

Exerkine fibronectin type-III domain-containing protein 5/irisin-enriched extracellular vesicles delay vascular ageing by increasing SIRT6 stability.

AIMS: Exercise confers protection against cardiovascular ageing, but the mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study sought to investigate the role of fibronectin type-III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5)/irisin, an exercise-associated hormone, in vascular ageing. Moreover, the existence of FNDC5/irisin in circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their biological functions was explored. METHODS AND RESULTS: FNDC5/irisin was reduced in natural ageing, senescence, and angiotensin II (Ang II)-treated conditions. The deletion of FNDC5 shortened lifespan in mice. Additionally, FNDC5 deficiency aggravated vascular stiffness, senescence, oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction in 24-month-old naturally aged and Ang II-treated mice. Conversely, treatment of recombinant irisin alleviated Ang II-induced vascular stiffness and senescence in mice and vascular smooth muscle cells. FNDC5 was triggered by exercise, while FNDC5 knockout abrogated exercise-induced protection against Ang II-induced vascular stiffness and senescence. Intriguingly, FNDC5 was detected in human and mouse blood-derived EVs, and exercise-induced FNDC5/irisin-enriched EVs showed potent anti-stiffness and anti-senescence effects in vivo and in vitro. Adeno-associated virus-mediated rescue of FNDC5 specifically in muscle but not liver in FNDC5 knockout mice, promoted the release of FNDC5/irisin-enriched EVs into circulation in response to exercise, which ameliorated vascular stiffness, senescence, and inflammation. Mechanistically, irisin activated DnaJb3/Hsp40 chaperone system to stabilize SIRT6 protein in an Hsp70-dependent manner. Finally, plasma irisin concentrations were positively associated with exercise time but negatively associated with arterial stiffness in a proof-of-concept human study. CONCLUSION: FNDC5/irisin-enriched EVs contribute to exercise-induced protection against vascular ageing. These findings indicate that the exerkine FNDC5/irisin may be a potential target for ageing-related vascular comorbidities.

Melatonin safeguards against fatty liver by antagonizing TRAFs-mediated ASK1 deubiquitination and stabilization in a ß-arrestin-1 dependent manner.

Melatonin has been previously shown to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we identified a previously unknown regulatory action of melatonin on apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) signaling pathway in the pathogenesis and development of NAFLD. Although melatonin administration did not alter food intake, it significantly alleviated fatty liver phenotypes, including the body weight gain, insulin resistance, hepatic lipid accumulation, steatohepatitis, and fibrosis in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD mouse model (in vivo). The protection of melatonin against NAFLD was not affected by inactivation of Kupffer cell in this model. In NAFLD mice liver, ASK1 signal cascade was substantially activated, evidence by the enhancement of total ASK1, phospho-ASK1, phospho-MKK3/6, phospho-p38, phospho-MKK4/7, and phospho-JNK. Melatonin treatment significantly suppressed the ASK1 upregulation and the phosphorylation of ASK1, MKK3/6, MKK4/7, p38, and JNK. Mechanistically, we found that lipid stress triggered the interaction between ASK1 and TNF receptor-associated factors (TRAFs), including TRAF1, TRAF2, and TRAF6, which resulted in ASK1 deubiquitination and thereby increased ASK1 protein stability. Melatonin did not alter ASK1 mRNA level; however, it activated a scaffold protein ß-arrestin-1 and enabled it to bind to ASK1, which antagonized the TRAFs-mediated ASK1 deubiquitination, and thus reduced ASK1 protein stability. Consistent with these findings, knockout of ß-arrestin-1 in mice partly abolished the protection of melatonin against NAFLD. Taken together, our results for the first time demonstrate that melatonin safeguards against NAFLD by eliminating ASK1 activation via inhibiting TRAFs-mediated ASK1 deubiquitination and stabilization in a ß-arrestin-1 dependent manner.

[Correlation study on chemical constitutes of cardiac glycosides in Taxillus chinensis and its Nerium indicum host by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS].

To build up an identification method on cardiac glycosides in Taxillus chinensis and its Nerium indicum host, and evaluate the influence on medicine quality from host to T. chinensis, ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass-mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS)was applied. The samples of T. chinensis(harvested from N. indicum)and its N. indicum host were collected in field. The samples of T. chinensis(harvested from Morus alba)and its M. alba host was taken as control substance. All samples were extracted by ultrasonic extraction in 70% ethanol. Chromatographic separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 C_(18)(2.1 mm×100 mm,1.8 µm)column at 40 ℃. Gradient elution was applied, and the mobile phase was consisted of 0.1% formic acid water and acetonitrile. The 0.5 µL of sample solution was injected and the flow rate of the mobile phase was kept at 0.6 mL·min~(-1) in each run. It was done to identify cardiac glycosides and explore the chemical composition correlation in T. chinensis and its N. indicum host by analyzing positive and negative ion mode mass spectrometry data, elemental composition, cardiac glycoside reference substance and searching related literatures. A total of 29 cardiac glycosides were identified, 28 of it belonged to N. indicum host, 5 belonged to T. chinensis(harvested from N. indicum host), none of cardiac glycoside was identified in T. chinensis(harvested from M. alba host). The result could provide a reference in evaluating the influence in T. chinensis medicine quality from host. It was rapid, accurate, and comprehensive to identify cardiac glycosides in T. chinensis and its N. indicum host by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS.

MiR-135a Protects Vascular Endothelial Cells Against Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury by Inhibiting PHLPP2 to Activate PI3K/Akt Pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Loss of endothelial barrier function plays an important role in the development of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). This study aimed to investigate the effects of miR135a on VILI in a model of mechanical stretch (MS)-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) injury. METHODS: HUVECs were randomly assigned to 7 groups: blank, negative control (NC), NC+MS, miR135a over-expression (mi-miR135a), mi-miR135a + MS, miR135a silencing (si-miR135a) and si-miR135a + MS groups. MS was induced by subjecting cells to cyclic stretch at 20% stretch for 4 h. After 24 h, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured by DCFH-DA fluorescence intensity. Apoptosis was measured using annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide assay with flow cytometry. Inflammatory cytokine levels were determined by ELISA. Barrier integrity was determined using FITC-conjugated dextran assay. Expression levels of PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, Bcl-2 and Bax were examined using western blotting. The interaction between miR135a and PHLPP2 was evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Our results showed that MS reduced cell numbers, increased the number of apoptotic cells, increased ROS, barrier dysfunction and inflammatory cytokines in HUVECs, and reduced p-PI3K and p-Akt expression; silencing of miR135a worsened MS-induced HUVEC injury. However, miR135a over-expression protected HUVECs against MS-induced increases in apoptotic cells, ROS, barrier dysfunction and inflammatory cytokines, which were accompanied by activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Simultaneous silencing of miR135a and PHLPP2 partially salvaged the effects of miR135a silencing, and miR135a was found to interact with PHLPP2. CONCLUSION: miR135a may protect HUVECs from MS-induced injury by inhibiting PHLPP2 to activate PI3k/Akt signaling pathway.

Fibroblast growth factor 10 protects neuron against oxygen-glucose deprivation injury through inducing heme oxygenase-1.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of structurally related heparin-binding proteins with diverse biological functions. FGFs participate in mitogenesis, angiogenesis, cell proliferation, development, differentiation and cell migration. Here, we investigated the potential effect of FGF10, a member of FGFs, on neuron survival in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) model. In primary cultured mouse cortical neurons upon OGD, FGF10 treatment (100 and 1000 ng/ml) attenuated the decrease of cell viability and rescued the LDH release. Tuj-1 immunocytochemistry assay showed that FGF10 promoted neuronal survival. Apoptosis assay with Annexin V+PI by flow cytometry demonstrated that FGF10 treatment reduced apoptotic cell proportion. Moreover, immunoblotting showed that FGF10 alleviated the cleaved caspase-3 upregulation caused by OGD. FGF10 treatment also depressed the OGD-induced increase of caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities. At last, we found FGF10 triggered heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein expression rather than hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling. Knockdown of HO-1 by siRNA partly abolished the neuroprotection of FGF10 in OGD model. In summary, our observations provide the first evidence for the neuroprotective function of FGF10 against ischemic neuronal injury and suggest that FGF10 may be a promising agent for treatment of ischemic stroke.

Brevibacterium metallicus sp. nov., an endophytic bacterium isolated from roots of Prosopis laegivata grown at the edge of a mine tailing in Mexico.

A Gram-positive, aerobic, nonmotile strain, NM2E3(T) was identified as Brevibacterium based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and had the highest similarities to Brevibacterium jeotgali SJ5-8(T) (97.3 %). This novel bacterium was isolated from root tissue of Prosopis laegivata grown at the edge of a mine tailing in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Its cells were non-spore-forming rods, showing catalase and oxidase activities and were able to grow in LB medium added with 40 mM Cu(2+), 72 mM As(5+) and various other toxic elements. Anteiso-C15:0 (41.6 %), anteiso-C17:0 (30 %) and iso-C15:0 (9.5 %) were the major fatty acids. MK-8(H2) (88.4 %) and MK-7(H2) (11.6 %) were the major menaquinones. The DNA G + C content of the strain NM2E3(T) was 70.8 mol % (Tm). DNA-DNA hybridization showed that the strain NM2E3(T) had 39.8, 21.7 and 20.3 % relatedness with B. yomogidense JCM 17779(T), B. jeotgali JCM 18571(T) and B. salitolerans TRM 45(T), respectively. Based on the phenotypic and genotypic analyses, the strain NM2E3(T) (=CCBAU 101093(T) = HAMBI 3627(T) = LMG 8673(T)) is reported as a novel species of the genus Brevibacterium, for which the name Brevibacterium metallicus sp. nov., is proposed.

Bradyrhizobium guangdongense sp. nov. and Bradyrhizobium guangxiense sp. nov., isolated from effective nodules of peanut.

Seven slow-growing rhizobia isolated from effective nodules of Arachis hypogaea were assigned to the genus Bradyrhizobium based on sharing 96.3-99.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with the type strains of recognized Bradyrhizobium species. Multilocus sequence analysis of glnII, recA, gyrB and dnaK genes indicated that the seven strains belonged to two novel species represented by CCBAU 51649T and CCBAU 53363T. Strain CCBAU 51649T shared 94, 93.4, 92.3 and 94.9 % and CCBAU 53363T shared 91.4, 94.5, 94.6 and 97.7 % sequence similarity for the glnII, recA, gyrB and dnaK genes, respectively, with respect to the closest related species Bradyrhizobium manausense BR 3351T and Bradyrhizobium yuanmingense CCBAU 10071T. Summed feature 8 and C16 : 0 were the predominant fatty acid components for strains CCBAU 51649T and CCBAU 53363T. DNA-DNA hybridization and analysis of phenotypic characteristics also distinguished these strains from the closest related Bradyrhizobium species. The strains formed effective nodules on Arachis hypogaea, Lablab purpureus and Aeschynomene indica, and they had identical nodA genes to Bradyrhizobium sp. PI237 but were phylogenetically divergent from other available nodA genes at less than 66 % similarity. Based in these results, strains CCBAU 51649T ( = CGMCC 1.15034T = LMG 28620T) and CCBAU 53363T ( = CGMCC 1.15035T = LMG 28621T) are designated the type strains of two novel species, for which the names Bradyrhizobium guangdongense sp. nov. and Bradyrhizobium guangxiense sp. nov. are proposed, respectively.

Influence of Dexmedetomidine on the Tourniquet Related Responses in Hypertension Patients Receiving Unilateral Knee Arthroplasty under General Anesthesia.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on the tourniquet related responses in hypertension patients receiving unilateral knee arthroplasty (UKA) under general anesthesia. Results showed that the incidence of tourniquet induced hypertension (TIH), hemodynamics, MAC and EtSEV in DEX group were significantly lower than those in control group, regardless of hypertension. However, significant differences in TIH, hemodynamics, minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) and end-tidal sevoflurane (EtSEV) were not observed between hypertension patients and non-hypertension patients in both control group and DEX group. Moreover, oxygen index (OI) and respiratory index (RI) remained unchanged after deflation and DEX failed to affect OI and RI within 30 min after deflation, regardless of hypertension. Taken together, DEX may significantly improve the hemodynamics, which is independent of pre-existing hypertension.

Transcriptomic Analysis of Flower Blooming in Jasminum sambac through De Novo RNA Sequencing.

Flower blooming is a critical and complicated plant developmental process in flowering plants. However, insufficient information is available about the complex network that regulates flower blooming in Jasminum sambac. In this study, we used the RNA-Seq platform to analyze the molecular regulation of flower blooming in J. sambac by comparing the transcript profiles at two flower developmental stages: budding and blooming. A total of 4577 differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the two floral stages. The Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the DEGs in the "oxidation-reduction process", "extracellular region", "steroid biosynthesis", "glycosphingolipid biosynthesis", "plant hormone signal transduction" and "pentose and glucuronate interconversions" might be associated with flower development. A total of 103 and 92 unigenes exhibited sequence similarities to the known flower development and floral scent genes from other plants. Among these unigenes, five flower development and 19 floral scent unigenes exhibited at least four-fold differences in expression between the two stages. Our results provide abundant genetic resources for studying the flower blooming mechanisms and molecular breeding of J. sambac.

Molecular data and ecological niche modeling reveal population dynamics of widespread shrub Forsythia suspensa (Oleaceae) in China's warm-temperate zone in response to climate change during the Pleistocene.

BACKGROUND: Despite its high number of endemic deciduous broad-leaved species in China's warm-temperate zone, far less attention has been paid to phylogeographic studies in this region. In this work, the phylogeographic history of Forsythia suspensa endemic to China's warm-temperate zone was investigated to explore the effect of climate change during the Pleistocene on the distribution of this deciduous broad-leaved species in China. RESULTS: The cpDNA data revealed seven phylogeographical groups corresponding to geographical regions. By contrast, the nrDNA data supported the samples clustered into three groups, which was inconsistent with separate geographical regions supported by cpDNA data. Ecological niche modeling showed that the climatically suitable area during the cold period was larger than that during the warm period. CONCLUSIONS: Both molecular data and ecological niche modeling indicated that F. suspensa expanded to nearby low-elevation plains in the glacial periods, and retreated to mountaintops during interglacial warmer stages. This study thus supported that F. suspensa persisted in situ during the glacial of the Pleistocene with enlarged distribution area, contrary to the hypothesis of long distance southward migration or large-scale range contraction.

Clinical efficacy and safety of transcatheter closure of ruptured sinus of valsalva aneurysm.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of transcatheter closure (TCC) in patients with ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (RSVA). BACKGROUND: RSVA is a rare cardiovascular disease with a varied clinical presentation. The clinical efficacy and safety of TCC for RSVA still remain an ongoing concern. METHODS: From January 2009 to March 2013, 22 patients with RSVA were selected for TCC. Intracardiac pressure and size of cardiac chamber were measured before and post TCC. All patients were followed up by transthoracic echocardiography at 1, 3, 6, 12 months after procedure. RESULTS: RSVA was successfully occluded in 20 patients (19 cases with Amplatzer duct occluder and one with muscular ventricular septal defect occluder). Aortic root angiography showed no shunt in 18 cases and a small residual shunt in two cases. The pressures in the right atrium, right ventricle, and pulmonary artery were significantly decreased after the procedure (P < 0.01), and the aortic pressure was elevated (P < 0.001). The internal diameters of the right atrium, left atrium, and left ventricle were also significantly declined after the procedure (P < 0.05). No complications were found after 18.5 ± 6.5 (range 3-35) months follow-up. Two patients underwent acute surgical aortic valve replacement because of procedure-related aortic valve regurgitation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that TCC is a promising alternative therapy to surgery in appropriate patients with RSVA. However, rare but severe procedure-related complications should be considered in the risk assessment.

Involvement of thalamus in initiation of epileptic seizures induced by pilocarpine in mice.

Studies have suggested that thalamus is involved in temporal lobe epilepsy, but the role of thalamus is still unclear. We obtained local filed potentials (LFPs) and single-unit activities from CA1 of hippocampus and parafascicular nucleus of thalamus during the development of epileptic seizures induced by pilocarpine in mice. Two measures, redundancy and directionality index, were used to analyze the electrophysiological characters of neuronal activities and the information flow between thalamus and hippocampus. We found that LFPs became more regular during the seizure in both hippocampus and thalamus, and in some cases LFPs showed a transient disorder at seizure onset. The variation tendency of the peak values of cross-correlation function between neurons matched the variation tendency of the redundancy of LFPs. The information tended to flow from thalamus to hippocampus during seizure initiation period no matter what the information flow direction was before the seizure. In some cases the information flow was symmetrically bidirectional, but none was found in which the information flowed from hippocampus to thalamus during the seizure initiation period. In addition, inactivation of thalamus by tetrodotoxin (TTX) resulted in a suppression of seizures. These results suggest that thalamus may play an important role in the initiation of epileptic seizures.

Spatial and seasonal variations of the air pollution index and a driving factors analysis in china.

In this study, the daily air pollution index (API) of 110 cities based on ground monitoring was conducted on the 2011 data set from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China. The pollutant concentrations, seasonal variations, and spatial autocorrelations were evaluated. The results show that the major principal pollutants in China are inhalable particles. In addition, the total number of clean days (API ≤ 50) is apparently smaller in the northern cities than in the southern cities as a result of fuel utilization and large-scale organized central heating. Seasonally, air pollution is most severe in winter and is caused by low-frequency rainfall, strong northwest winds, dry climate, and high energy consumption; this is followed by spring, which is a season of frequent sandstorms. According to spatial autocorrelation analysis, clusters with high API value agglomeration (High-High clusters) are mainly concentrated in the middle and northern parts of China, whereas clusters with low API agglomeration (Low-Low clusters) are principally concentrated in the southern parts of China due to a favorable climate and abundant rainfall. Meteorological data, including wind speed and temperature, have great impacts on API. The air quality effects of industrial structure, energy use, urban greening, and traffic congestion were also analyzed. With the ecological function of purifying the air, industries that use natural resources and urban greening could help to reduce API, whereas secondary industry and gas use, which have a positive coefficient, increase the API value. The risk of exposure to poor air quality is largest in the winter, smallest in the summer, and remains relatively unchanged in the spring and autumn.

Efficacy and safety of mesenchymal stromal cell treatment from related donors for patients with refractory aplastic anemia.

BACKGROUND AIMS: This study evaluated the feasibility, safety and immunological effects of the intravenous administration of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from a related donor in patients with refractory aplastic anemia (AA). METHODS: A mean of 6 × 10(5)/kg (range, 5.0-7.1 × 10(5)) MSCs were injected intravenously to 18 patients, including 14 patients with nonsevere AA and four patients with severe AA who were refractory to prior immunosuppressive treatment. The outcomes of patients treated with MSCs were evaluated and compared with a historic control cohort, including 18 patients with refractory AA. RESULTS: Two patients had injection-related adverse events, including transient fever and headache. No major adverse events were reported during the follow-up period. An immunological analysis revealed an increased proportion of CD4(+)CD25(+) FOXP3(+)regulatory T cells in peripheral mononuclear cells. Following up for 1 year, six of 18 patients (33.3%) achieved a complete response or a partial response to MSC treatment. In six patients, two achieved a complete response including a recovery of three hematopoietic cell lines after MSCs therapy at days 88 and 92, two patients achieved only a red cell recovery with hemoglobin levels >100 g/L at days 30 and 48 and two patients had only a platelet recovery with a platelet count of >60 × 10(9)/L at days 54 and 81. In the control cohort, only one patient (5.56%) achieved a partial response during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: The data from the present study suggest that treatment with MSCs from a related donor may be a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with refractory AA. The trial has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: identifier NCT01305694.

[Purification and identification of impurities in vinorelbine bitartrate].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chemical constituents of impurities in Vinorelbine Bitartrate. METHODS: The impurities were isolated and purified by silica gel column chromatographies, and their structures were identified on the basis of their physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data. RESULTS: Three compounds were isolated from Vinorelbine Bitartrate, and their structures were identified as Vinorelbine Bitartrate 3',4'-epoxy vinorelbine (1), 3',4'-oxidevinoerlbine (2) and 6'-N-mthyl-17-bormovinoerlbine (3). CONCLUSION: Compounds 2 and 3 are obtained as the impurities in Vinorelbine Bitartrate for the first time.