Antifungal Susceptibility Profile of Candida Albicans Isolated from Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in Xinjiang Province of China.

We investigated the antifungal susceptibility profiles of 207 independent Candida albicans strains isolated from patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in Xinjiang Province of China. Using CLSI M27-A3 and M27-S4 guidelines, anidulafungin and micafungin were the most active drugs against C. albicans showing an MIC50/MIC90 corresponding to 0.016/0.0313 µg/mL, followed by caspofungin (0.25/0.25 µg/mL), posaconazole (0.125/0.5 µg/mL), ravuconazole (0.063/1 µg/mL), itraconazole (0.125/1 µg/mL), amphotericine B (0.5/1 µg/mL), isavuconazole (0.063/2 µg/mL), 5-flucytosine (1/2 µg/mL), voriconazole (0.125/4 µg/mL), and fluconazole (0.5/4 µg/mL). 96.1% (199)-100.0% (207) isolates were sensitive to the three echinocandins tested, amphotericine B and 5-flucytosine. The in vitro activity of triazoles against all isolates tested was variable; itraconazole and voriconazole had reduced the activity to almost half of the isolates (55.1% (114) and 51.2% (106) susceptible, respectively). Fluconazole was active against 76.3% (158) isolates tested. The new triazoles ravuconazole, isavuconazole and posaconazole showed good in vitro potency against 89.9% (186)-95.2% (197) of isolates with the geometric mean MIC (µg/mL) of 0.10, 0.12 and 0.14 µg/mL, respectively. In conclusion, our study indicates that for effective management of systemic candidiasis in Xinjiang Province of China, it is important to determine the susceptibility profiles of isolated C. albicans from patients with VVC.

[A new eremophilane derivative from Senecio dianthus].

A new eremophilane derivative, 4,5,11-trimethyl-9( 10), 7 ( 11) -eremophiladien-8-keto-12-carboxylic acid-beta-D-glucopyranoside( which named dianthuside A) 1 and four known compounds, 5,7,4'-trihydroxy-flavonone-3-0-beta-D-glucoside (2), quercetin-3-0-beta-D-glucoside(3) ,hyperin(4) and rutin(5) have been isolated from the aerial part of Senecio dianthus. Their structures were elucidated by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data analysis. Compounds 2, 4 and 5 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

[Chemical constituents of Paederia pertomentosa].

Five constituents were extracted from the aerial part of Paederia pertomentosa and isolated by column chromatography. Their structures were elucidated by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data analysis. The isolated compounds were identified as 1,2-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone named as paederone (1), paederoside (2), deacetyl asperulosidic acid methyl ester (3), paederosidic acid (4) and methylpaederosidate (5). Compound 1 is a new compound which exhibits a significant inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Compounds 2-5 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

[Pyrolysis and gas emissions characteristics of six tree species in Heilongjiang Province, China]. / 黑龙江省6种乔木叶片热解特性及气体释放特征.

Forest fuels are the basis of fire occurrences, while ground dead fuels are an important part of forest fuels. Undestanding the pyrolysis characteristics and gas emissions of forest fuels is of great significance to explore the effects of forest fire on atmospheric environment and carbon balance, as well as to prevent and combat forest fire. In this study, the thermogravimetric analysis and gas emission analysis were conducted on leaf litter of six tree species (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica, Picea koraiensis, Fraxinus mandshurica, Juglans mandshurica, Quercus mongolica, Betula platyphylla) in Heilongjiang Province to explore the pyrolysis process and combustibility of forest fuels, to analyze their pyrolysis characteristics, pyrolysis kinetics characteristics, gas emission characteristics. A four-dimensional evaluation of their combustibility was conducted based on pyrolysis parameters. The results showed that the pyrolysis temperature of holocellulose in the leaves of those six tree species ranged in 143.31-180.48 ℃ at the beginning and 345.04-394.38 ℃ at the end, lignin pyrolysis temperature ranged in 345.04-394.38 ℃ at the beginning and 582.85-609.31 ℃ at the end. The pyrolysis of the six kinds of arbor blades during the pyrolysis process affected fuel ash content, quality and temperature of the total pyrolysis. The activation energies of two main pyrolysis stages of leaves of six tree species were 18.88-27.08 kJ·mol-1 and 13.25-27.54 kJ·mol-1, respectively, and the pre-exponential factors were 3.13-26.28 min-1 and 1.30-22.55 min-1. The holocellulose activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the pyrolysis stage for P. koraiensis, F. mandshurica, Q. mongolica, and B. platyphylla were greater than that of the lignin pyrolysis stage, while the opposite was true for P. sylvestris var. mongolica and J. mandshurica. The release amounts of CO and CO2 at the pyrolysis stage of the holocellulose was 535.16-880.11 mg·m-3 and 7004.97-10302.05 mg·m-3, and that at the pyrolysis stage of lignin was 240.31-1104.67 mg·m-3 and 20425.60-33946.68 mg·m-3, respectively. The release of CO and CO2 at the pyrolysis stage of healdellulose was less, but mass loss was greater than that at the pyrolysis stage of lignin. In the four-dimensional combustibility ranking of the six tree species leaves, B. platyphylla was the best ignitable, P. koraiensis was the most combustible, and P. sylvestris var. mongolica was the most sustainable and consumable. The ignitability was significantly positively correlated with pyrolysis kinetics parameters of the holocellulose, while the sustainability was negatively correlated with that of lignin.

Effect of oxymatrine on liver gluconeogenesis is associated with the regulation of PEPCK and G6Pase expression and AKT phosphorylation.

An increase in liver gluconeogenesis is an important pathological phenomenon in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and oxymatrine is an effective natural drug used for T2DM treatment. The present study aimed to explore the effect of oxymatrine on gluconeogenesis and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with a high-fat diet and streptozotocin for 4 weeks to induce T2DM, and HepG2 cells were treated with 55 mM glucose to simulate T2DM in vitro. T2DM rats were treated with oxymatrine (10 or 20 mg/kg weight) or metformin for 4 weeks, and HepG2 cells were treated with oxymatrine (0.1 or 1 µM), metformin (0.1 µM), or oxymatrine combined with MK-2206 (AKT inhibitor) for 24 h. Fasting blood glucose and insulin sensitivity of rats were measured to evaluate insulin resistance. Glucose production and uptake ability were measured to evaluate gluconeogenesis in HepG2 cells, and the expression of related genes was detected to explore the molecular mechanism. Additionally, the body weight, liver weight and liver index were measured and hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed to evaluate the effects of the disease. The fasting glucose levels of T2DM rats was 16.5 mmol/l, whereas in the control rats, it was 6.1 mmol/l. Decreased insulin sensitivity (K-value, 0.2), body weight loss (weight, 300 g), liver weight gain, liver index increase (value, 48) and morphological changes were observed in T2DM rats, accompanied by reduced AKT phosphorylation, and upregulated expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase). High-glucose treatment significantly increased glucose production and decreased glucose uptake in HepG2 cells, concomitant with a decrease in AKT phosphorylation and increase of PEPCK and G6Pase expression. In vivo, oxymatrine dose-dependently increased the sensitivity of T2DM rats to insulin, increased AKT phosphorylation and decreased PEPCK and G6Pase expression in the liver, and reversed the liver morphological changes. In vitro, oxymatrine dose-dependently increased AKT phosphorylation and glucose uptake of HepG2 cells subjected to high-glucose treatment, which was accompanied by inhibition of the expression of the gluconeogenesis-related genes, PEPCK and G6Pase. MK-2206 significantly inhibited the protective effects of oxymatrine in high-glucose-treated cells. These data indicated that oxymatrine can effectively prevent insulin resistance and gluconeogenesis, and its mechanism may be at least partly associated with the regulation of PEPCK and G6Pase expression and AKT phosphorylation in the liver.

[A review of models of forest fire occurrence prediction in China]. / æˆ‘å›½æž—ç«å‘ç”Ÿé¢„æµ‹æ¨¡åž‹ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

We summarized research progress of forest fire occurrence prediction model in China based on the literature review, from the prospects of forest fire drivers, models of forest fire occurrence probability, models of forest fire occurrence frequency and model validation methods. The main conclusions are: 1) Meteorology, terrain, vegetation, fuel and human activities were the main driving factors of forest fire occurrence and model prediction accuracy. 2) In the models of forest fire occurrence probability, the geographically weighted logistic regression model considered the spatial correlation between model variables, the Gompit regression model could fit the asymmetric structure fire data. The random forest algorithm had a high prediction accuracy without the requirement of multicollinearity test and excessive fitting, which made it as one of the optimal methods of forest fire occurrence probability prediction. 3) Among all the forest fire occurrence frequency models, the negative binomial regression model was suitable for fitting the over discrete data, the zero-inflated model and hurdle model could deal with fire data that contained a large number of zeros. 4) ROC test, AIC test, likelihood ratio test, and Wald test were the most common methods for evaluating the accuracy of fire occurrence probability and frequency models. The study of forest fire occurrence prediction model should be the main focus of the forest fire management. Model selection should base on fire data structure of different forests. More influencing factors should be taken into account to improve the prediction accuracy of model. In addition, it was necessary to further explore the application of other mathematical methods in forest fire prediction, to improve the accuracy of the models.

Peroral endoscopic cardial constriction in gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a major digestive health problem with a high and increasing incidence worldwide. Peroral endoscopic cardial constriction (PECC) was developed by our group to provide a less invasive treatment for GERD.In this preliminary follow-up study, 16 patients were enrolled and 13 patients with GERD were targeted for analysis according to the Los Angeles classification of reflux esophagitis. The GERD health-related quality of life (GERD-HRQL) scale and esophageal pH monitoring were applied to assess clinical efficiency at 3 and 6 months after PECC treatment, respectively.All GERD patients successively received PECC, and no severe treatment-related complication was reported. Before PECC treatment, the GERD-HRQL scale was 19.92 ±â€Š7.89. At 3 and 6 months after treatment, the GERD-HRQL scale was 4.46 ±â€Š4.31 and 5.69 ±â€Š5.07, respectively. DeMeester score was 125.50 ±â€Š89.64 before PECC treatment, and 16.97 ±â€Š12.76 and 20.32 ±â€Š15.22 at 3 and 6 months after PECC treatment. Furthermore, the fraction time of a pH below 4 significantly decreased at 3 and 6 months after PECC treatment. Fraction time at pH <4 was 35.55 ±â€Š26.20 before PECC treatment and 7.96 ±â€Š13.03 and 4.72 ±â€Š3.78 at 3 and 6 months after PECC treatment, respectively. These results suggest that PECC treatment could significantly reduce the GERD-HRQL scale and DeMeester score (P < .01).PECC is a feasible, safe, and effective method to treatment GERD through narrowing the diameter of the cardia and preventing the reflux of stomach contents.

Establishment of animal model of gastroesophageal reflux disease by per-oral endoscopic tunneling: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Although a variety of antireflux procedures and medications are used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), reliable large-animal models of GERD that can be used to objectively compare the efficacy of these treatments are lacking. We developed a method to establish large animal models of GERD by endoscopic sphincterotomy to develop an endoscopic treatment for GERD. METHODS: In this study six flesh swine carcasses were used. A full thickness incision was made at the esophageal site 5 cm above the dentate line by per-oral endoscopic tunneling. Esophageal radiography was conducted before and after surgery to observe changes at the site of the lower esophagus 5 cm above the dentate line and in the cardia. RESULTS: There was no significant change in the diameter of the esophageal site 5 cm above the dentate line before and after surgery, while the cardiac orifice significantly relaxed after surgery and enabled the contrast agent to smoothly travel through. The difference in diameter was statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments showed that it is a minimally invasive and mature technology of establishing GERD animal models by using the per-oral endoscopic tunneling technique, and might be a new method to establishing GERD large animal models.

[Dynamics and prediction models of ground surface dead fuel moisture content for typical stands in Great Xing'an Mountains, Northeast China.] / å¤§å ´å®‰å²­å ¸åž‹æž—åˆ†åœ°è¡¨æ­»å¯ç‡ƒç‰©å«æ°´çŽ‡åŠ¨æ€å˜åŒ–åŠé¢„æµ‹æ¨¡åž‹.

The fuel moisture content dynamics of mixed forest of Populus davidiana-Betula platyphylla, Larix gmelinii, Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica, mixed forest of L. gmelinii-B. platyphylla, B. platyphylla at different slope positions in spring and autumn were investigated in Xilinji Forestry Bureau ofthe Great Xing'an Mountains region. The moisture content prediction models of different stands in different seasons were established and the predicted errors were analyzed.The results showed that the fuel moisture content in the same stand varied with slope position. The mean absolute error of Nelson model (0.13) was lower than that of Simard model (0.14), and was significantly lower than that of meteorological element regression model (0.25). The prediction accuracy of the autumn model was higher than the spring model and spring-autumn mixed model.

[Estimation of carbonaceous gases emission from forest fires in Xiao Xing'an Mountains of Northeast China in 1953-2011].

Based on the forest resources investigation data and the forest fire inventory in 1953-2011, in combining with our field research in burned areas and our laboratory experiments, this paper estimated the carbonaceous gases carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) emission from the forest fires in Xiao Xing' an Mountains of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China in 1953-2011. The total carbon emission from the forest fires in the Xiao Xing'an Mountains in 1953-2011 was 1.12 x 10(7) t, and the annual emission was averagely 1.90 x10(5) t, accounting for 1.7% of the annual average total carbon emission from the forest fires in China. The emission of CO2, CO, CH4, and NMHC was 3.39 x 10(7), 1.94 x 10(5), 1.09 x 10(5), and 7.46 x 10(4) t, respectively, and the corresponding annual average emission was 5.74 x 10(5), 3.29 x 10(4), 1.85 x 10(3), and 1.27 x 10(3) t, accounting for 1.4%, 1.2%, 1.7%, and 1.1% of the annual carbonaceous gases emitted from the forest fires in China, respectively. The combustion efficiency and the carbon emission per unit burned area of different forest types decreased in order of coniferous forest > broad-leaved forest > coniferous broadleaved mixed forest. Some rational forest fire management measures were put forward.

[Measurement model of carbon emission from forest fire: a review].

Forest fire is the main disturbance factor for forest ecosystem, and an important pathway of the decrease of vegetation- and soil carbon storage. Large amount of carbonaceous gases in forest fire can release into atmosphere, giving remarkable impacts on the atmospheric carbon balance and global climate change. To scientifically and effectively measure the carbonaceous gases emission from forest fire is of importance in understanding the significance of forest fire in the carbon balance and climate change. This paper reviewed the research progress in the measurement model of carbon emission from forest fire, which covered three critical issues, i. e., measurement methods of forest fire-induced total carbon emission and carbonaceous gases emission, affecting factors and measurement parameters of measurement model, and cause analysis of the uncertainty in the measurement of the carbon emissions. Three path selections to improve the quantitative measurement of the carbon emissions were proposed, i. e., using high resolution remote sensing data and improving algorithm and estimation accuracy of burned area in combining with effective fuel measurement model to improve the accuracy of the estimated fuel load, using high resolution remote sensing images combined with indoor controlled environment experiments, field measurements, and field ground surveys to determine the combustion efficiency, and combining indoor controlled environment experiments with field air sampling to determine the emission factors and emission ratio.

[Applicability of different models in simulating the relationships between forest fire occurrence and weather factors in Daxing' an Mountains].

The Poisson's and Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP) models that meet the data structure of forest fire occurrence were used to explore the relationships between the forest fire occurrence and climate factors in Daxing' an Mountains in 1980-2005. Compared with the ordinary least squares (OLS) model which often produced poor fitting results (R2 = 0.215), the Poisson's and ZIP models operated better, and had better prediction ability on the forest fire occurrence. The AIC and Vuong tests further indicated that ZIP model produced better fitting results, and thus, had better prediction ability than Poisson model.

[Estimation of total carbon-containing gas emission from main tree species in forest fires in Daxing' an mountains].

By the method of emission factor (EF), this paper estimated the total carbon-containing gas emission from five main tree species in Daxing' an Mountains in forest fires from 1980 to 2005. The results showed that different tree species had different EF. Pinus sylvesstris var. mongolica and Populus davidiana had the maximum and minimum EF of CO2, respectively. Larix gmelinii and Betula platyphylla had the maximun EF of CO and C(x)H(y), while B. platyphylla and L. gmelinii had the minimum EF of CO and C(x)H(y). Based on the carbon storage in different organs and the total biomass of the tree, it was estimated that the total emission of CO2, CO and C(x)H(y) from the five tree in the 25 years was 16.58 Tg, 1.61 Tg and 0.54 Tg, and the contributions of L. gmelinii, P. sylvesstris var. mongolica, B. platyphylla, P. davidiana, and Quercus mongolica were 5.00 Tg, 0.63 Tg and 0.05 Tg, 0.225 Tg, 0.023 Tg and 0.003 Tg, 11.22 Tg, 0.83 Tg and 0.41 Tg, 0.0022 Tg, 0.004 Tg and 0.00034 Tg, and 3.12 Tg, 0.13 Tg and 0.062 Tg, respectively.

[Characteristics of gas release during combustion of main arbor and shrub species in Xiaoxing'an Mountain].

The amounts of CO2, CO, CxHy, SO2 and NO released from the combustion of 10 arbor and 9 shrub species in Liangshui Forest Farm of Xiaoxing'an Mountain were determined, with the release amounts and emission factors of these gases calculated. The results showed that the released CO2, the total amount of carbon-containing gases, and the mean value of the total amount of the 5 gases during combustion were larger for arbors than for shrubs, being 1277.04 and 1149.06 mg x g(-1), 1476.27 and 1147.18 mg x g(-1), and 1486.21 and 1459.67 mg x g(-1), respectively, while an opposite pattern of the mean release of CO, NO and SO2 was observed, being 231.58 and 282.93 mg x g(-1), 3.61 and 5.03 mg x g(-1), and 6.32 and 7.46 mg x g(-1) for the arbor and shrub species, respectively. The emission factors of CO2 and CO were also larger for arbors than for shrubs, being 2.8853 and 2.7718, and 0.4558 and 0.2425, respectively.

[Estimation of carbon release from shrubs, herbages and litters in Daxing' an Mountains by forest fires in 1980-1999,].

By using emission factor (EF), this paper estimated the carbon release and the emission of carbon-containing gases from the shrubs, herbages and litters in main forest types in Daxing' an Mountains by forest fires in 1980-1999. The results showed that the EF of shrubs, herbages and litters differed in different forest types, with the maximum and minimum EF of CO2 being 93.08% and 82.56%, respectively in Ledum palustre - Larix gmelinii forest and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica forest, the maximum EF of CO and C(X)H(Y) being 10.25% and 0.84%, respectively in P. sylvestris var. mongolica forest, and the minimum EF of CO and C(X)H(Y) being 6.55% and 0.30%, respectively in L. palustre - L. gmelinii forest. Combined with the data of biomass and carbon storage of shrubs, herbages and litters in different forests, it was estimated that the total carbon release from shrubs, herbages and litters by forest fires from 1980 to 1999 accounted for 6.56 Tg and 0.33 Tg x a(-1), occupying 11.55%-16.30% of the total annual emissions in China by forest fires, and the emission of CO2, CO and C(x)H(y) was 22.03 Tg, accounting for 85.20%, 14.21% and 0.59% of the total carbon-containing gases emission, respectively.

[A prediction model for forest fire-burnt area based on meteorological factors].

Based on statistic analysis theory, the occurrence patterns of forest fire in Heilongjiang Province were studied, and the prediction model for forest fire-burnt area was established based on meteorological factors. The results showed that most of forest fires in Larix gmelinii forest region occurred from April to June and in October, and those in broadleaved Korean pine forest region mainly occurred from March to June and in October. By adopting the values of average wind speed, relative humidity and mean temperature, it was predicted that in L. gmelinii forest region, the first three months with greater probability of larger fire occurrence were March, May and June in order, while in broadleaved Korean pine forest region, they were May, March and April. The average precision of the model was 63.3%, suggesting that it could be used to predict the burnt area by forest fires.

[Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, eotaxin and vascular endothelial growth factor in nasal polyps after endoscopic surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To study the different expression of VCAM-1, eotaxin and VEGF in nasal polyp tissues and in the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity after endoscopic surgery and its significance. METHODS: Paraffin sections of nasal polyps and the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity were studied with immunohistochemical technique and HE staining. RESULTS: (1) Abundant eosinophils were observed in the nasal polyps, however, it was rarely seen in the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity (t = 2.891, P <0.05). (2) The positive expression of VCAM-1 and eotaxin was in nasal polyps and nasal mucosa of operative cavity, and both of the positive area were not statistically significant (t = - 2.051, P > 0.05), but their average density of light was decreased in the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity (t = 3.670, P = 0.05). The positive glandular of eotaxin were increased after endoscopic surgery (t = -2.899, P < 0.05). (3) Expression of VEGF was similar in both groups (t = - 0.037, 0.825, P > 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: (1) It is suggested that the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity was different from the nasal polyps. (2) The positive expression of VCAM-1 and eotaxin in the nasal mucosa of the operative cavity after endoscopic surgery indicates that eotaxin may up-regulate the expression of VCAM-1 in vessel endothelium and promote adhesion and migration of eosinophils, as a result, to lead to the recurrence of nasal polyps. The glandulous expression of eotaxin may play a key role in the early stage. (3) The expression of VEGF in nasal mucosa after surgery may contribute to the growth of blood vessel and induce increasing of vascular permeability and tissue edema. This may be an important factor in the process of nasal polyp recurrence.