[Network Meta-analysis of 3 kinds of Chinese medicine injections in treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injections( CMI) in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease( AECOPD). PubMed,Cochrane Library,CNKI,CBM,Wan Fang and VIP database( since the date of database establishment to July 2018) were retrieved through computer for controlled randomized trials( CRTs) of 3 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine injections( Chuankezhi Injection,Tanreqing Injection,Xuebijing Injection) for AECOPD. After the methodological quality of included researches were evaluated,and the valid data were extracted,statistical analysis was performed with Stata 14,RevMan 5.3 is used for risk bias map. There were including 4 RCTs and 20 quasi-RCTs,which involving 579 patients.The results of network Meta-analysis showed that: ①there were significant differences in the forced expiratory volume in the first second between the 3 CMI and control groups,and there was no significant difference between CMI; ②3 kinds of CMI adjuvant therapy AECOPD,According to the forced expiratory volume in the first second of the probability ranking results,Tanreqing Injection is more effective,followed by Xuebijing Injection and Chuankezhi Injection. Based on the present evidence,3 kinds of CMI can improve the forced expiratory volume in the first second on the basis of Western medicine routine treatment of AECOPD,having better safty. In addition,the conclusion of this study still needs a large number of RCTs with reasonable design and proper method to confirm it.

[Sorption Mechanism and Site Energy Distribution of Acetaminophen on Straw-derived Biochar].

As one of the large dosages of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), acetaminophen is widely present in the water environment and presents potential environmental risks. Therefore, it is necessary to study the removal mechanism of acetaminophen from the environment. Based on the high-value conversion demand of agricultural straw resources in China, straw-derived biochar prepared by pyrolysis has a good application prospect for the sorption and purification of acetaminophen in water. However, the sorption process and mechanism of straw-derived biochar for acetaminophen remain unclear. Four types of straw (rice, wheat, maize, and bean straw) were chosen as raw materials, and straw-derived biochars were prepared through the pyrolysis method at 400℃ and 500℃. The batch sorption experiments were used to study the sorption of acetaminophen to different sources and different pyrolysis temperature biochars. The effect of humic acid and pH on the sorption process was also studied. The results showed that:based on the Freundlich and site energy distribution models, the sorption of acetaminophen on biochar at 500℃ biochar was significantly higher than that at 400℃ biochar (the sorption coefficient KF was 1.16-2.53 times higher), and 500℃ biochar had more high-energy sorption sites. For high-temperature pyrolysis biochar, the primary sorption mechanism was pore sorption and π-π effect; for low-temperature pyrolysis biochar, the primary sorption mechanism for removing acetaminophen was H-bonding. The presence of humic acid enhanced the sorption of acetaminophen, which was attributed to the strong interaction between the humic acid selected in the experiment and acetaminophen, thus promoting adsorption. The decrease in sorption capacity of biochar caused by the increasing pH was mainly attributed to the pore blockage resulting from the aggregation of acetaminophen molecules. The pore sorption and π-π interaction of acetaminophen on straw-derived biochar could be promoted by increasing pyrolysis temperature. These experiments on humic acid and pH show that straw-derived biochar is not affected by humic acid and has good sorption performance in a low pH environment.

Comparative transcriptome analysis provides insights into grain filling commonalities and differences between foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] varieties with different panicle types.

Grain filling affects grain weight and quality and is among the most critical factors in determining the yield and quality of cereal crops. Though hybrids have larger panicles and numerous spikelets with a larger sink capacity than conventional varieties, data on the grain filling commonalities and differences between foxtail millet varieties with different panicle types remain sparse. In this study, we found that "Zhang Gu 13" (ZG, large panicle) exhibits a significantly higher panicle weight than "Yu Gu 18" (YG, conventional panicle) at the early stage of grain filling, but the weight of YG increased rapidly and gradually overtook ZG during the middle stages. A temporal expression pattern analysis demonstrated that the genes involved in photosynthesis, metabolic pathways, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were downregulated, while those related to peroxisome function, purine metabolism, and zeatin biosynthesis were upregulated during grain filling in both varieties. A total of 6,832 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in both varieties, with the majority identified at the early and late stages. A Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis further revealed that the upregulated DEGs in YG were associated with gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, and plant hormone signal transduction. Photosynthesis-related DEGs, such as photosystem and antenna proteins, were significantly upregulated in ZG. This study provides preliminary insights into the differences in gene expression and molecular mechanisms of grain filling between ZG and YG in the North China summer-sowing region.

Small lesion depiction and quantification accuracy of oncological 18F-FDG PET/CT with small voxel and Bayesian penalized likelihood reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the influence of small voxel Bayesian penalized likelihood (SVB) reconstruction on small lesion detection compared to ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) reconstruction using a clinical trials network (CTN) chest phantom and the patients with 18F-FDG-avid small lung tumors, and determine the optimal penalty factor for the lesion depiction and quantification. METHODS: The CTN phantom was filled with 18F solution with a sphere-to-background ratio of 3.81:1. Twenty-four patients with 18F-FDG-avid lung lesions (diameter < 2 cm) were enrolled. Six groups of PET images were reconstructed: routine voxel OSEM (RVOSEM), small voxel OSEM (SVOSEM), and SVB reconstructions with four penalty factors: 0.6, 0.8, 0.9, and 1.0 (SVB0.6, SVB0.8, SVB0.9, and SVB1.0). The routine and small voxel sizes are 4 × 4 × 4 and 2 × 2 × 2 mm3. The recovery coefficient (RC) was calculated by dividing the measured activity by the injected activity of the hot spheres in the phantom study. The SUVmax, target-to-liver ratio (TLR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), the volume of the lesions, and the image noise of the liver were measured and calculated in the patient study. Visual image quality of the patient image was scored by two radiologists using a 5-point scale. RESULTS: In the phantom study, SVB0.6, SVB0.8, and SVB0.9 achieved higher RCs than SVOSEM. The RC was higher in SVOSEM than RVOSEM and SVB1.0. In the patient study, the SUVmax, TLR, and visual image quality scores of SVB0.6 to SVB0.9 were higher than those of RVOSEM, while the image noise of SVB0.8 to SVB1.0 was equivalent to or lower than that of RVOSEM. All SVB groups had higher CNRs than RVOSEM, but there was no difference between RVOSEM and SVOSEM. The lesion volumes derived from SVB0.6 to SVB0.9 were accurate, but over-estimated by RVOSEM, SVOSEM, and SVB1.0, using the CT measurement as the standard reference. CONCLUSIONS: The SVB reconstruction improved lesion contrast, TLR, CNR, and volumetric quantification accuracy for small lesions compared to RVOSEM reconstruction without image noise degradation or the need of longer emission time. A penalty factor of 0.8-0.9 was optimal for SVB reconstruction for the small tumor detection with 18F-FDG PET/CT.

Impact of total variation regularized expectation maximization reconstruction on the image quality of 68Ga-PSMA PET: a phantom and patient study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of total variation regularized expectation maximization (TVREM) reconstruction on the image quality of 68Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT using phantom and patient data. METHODS: Images of a phantom with small hot sphere inserts and 20 prostate cancer patients were acquired with a digital PET/CT using list-mode and reconstructed with ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) and TVREM with seven penalisation factors between 0.01 and 0.42 for 2 and 3 minutes-per-bed (m/b) acquisition. The contrast recovery (CR) and background variability (BV) of the phantom, image noise of the liver, and SUVmax of the lesions were measured. Qualitative image quality was scored by two radiologists using a 5-point scale (1-poor, 5-excellent). RESULTS: The performance of CR, BV, and image noise, and the gain of SUVmax was higher for TVREM 2 m/b groups with the penalization of 0.07 to 0.28 compared to OSEM 3 m/b group (all p < 0.05). The image noise of OSEM 3 m/b group was equivalent to TVREM 2 and 3 m/b groups with a penalization of 0.14 and 0.07, while lesions' SUVmax increased 15 and 20%. The highest qualitative score was attained at the penalization of 0.21 (3.30 ± 0.66) for TVREM 2 m/b groups and the penalization 0.14 (3.80 ± 0.41) for 3 m/b group that equal to or greater than OSEM 3 m/b group (2.90 ± 0.45, p = 0.2 and p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: TVREM improves lesion contrast and reduces image noise, which allows shorter acquisition with preserved image quality for PSMA PET/CT. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: TVREM reconstruction with optimized penalization factors can generate higher quality PSMA-PET images for prostate cancer diagnosis.

Renin-angiotensin system activation and imbalance of matrix metalloproteinase-9/tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in cold-induced stroke.

AIMS: In the present study, we investigated the roles of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation and imbalance of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9)/tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in cold-induced stroke during chronic hypertension, as well as the protective effects of captopril and recombinant human TIMP-1 (rhTIMP-1). MAIN METHODS: Rats were randomly assigned to sham; 2-kidney, 2-clip (2K-2C); 2K-2C + captopril, and 2K-2C + rhTIMP-1 groups. After blood pressure values had stabilized, each group was randomly divided into an acute cold exposure (ACE) group (12-h light at 22 °C/12-h dark at 4 °C) and a non-acute cold exposure (NACE) group (12-h light/12-h dark at 22 °C), each of which underwent three cycles of exposure. Captopril treatment was administered via gavage (50 mg/kg/d), while rhTIMP-1 treatment was administered via the tail vein (60 µg/kg/36 h). KEY FINDINGS: In the 2K-2C group, angiotensin II (AngII) and MMP-9 levels increased in both the plasma and cortex, while no such changes in TIMP-1 expression were observed. Cold exposure further upregulated AngII and MMP-9 levels and increased stroke incidence. Captopril and rhTIMP-1 treatment inhibited MMP-9 expression and activation and decreased stroke incidence in response to cold exposure. SIGNIFICANCE: The present study is the first to demonstrate that cold exposure exacerbates imbalance between MMP-9 and TIMP-1 by activating the RAS, which may be critical in the initiation of stroke during chronic hypertension. In addition, our results suggest that captopril and rhTIMP-1 exert protective effects against cold-induced stroke by ameliorating MMP-9/TIMP-1 imbalance.

[Investigation of pathogenic bacteria for pulmonary infections and their drug resistance in neurological intensive care unit].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the pathogenic bacterial spectrum responsible for pulmonary infections and their drug resistance in patients admitted to neurological care unit. METHODS: Sputum specimens were obtained from patients who developed pulmonary infections in neurological intensive care unit between January, 2001 and June, 2002 for bacterial culture and isolation. K-B paper disc method was employed for determination of the drug sensitivity of the bacterial isolates. RESULTS: In the 207 strains obtained from the patients, the majority (68.51%) were Gram-negative and 30.91/ Gram-positive bacteria, with fungi detected in one case (0.48%). The major pathogenic bacteria for pulmonary infection were, in the order of frequency, Staphylococcus aureus(14.49%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.49%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (8.7%), Enterobacter cloacae (6.76%), and Enterobacter aerogenes (6.28%). Drug sensitivity tests showed increased drug resistance of the bacteria, but Staphylococcus aureus still remained sensitive to vancomycin and most of the Gram-negative bacillus sensitive to imipenem. CONCLUSION: The major pathogenic bacteria causing pulmonary infections in neurological intensive care unit are Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and their drug resistance is obviously increased, suggesting the necessity of strengthening bacterial surveillance and more adequate clinical use of antibiotics.

[P-JAK2 and P-STAT3 protein expression and cell apoptosis following focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 protein expression of and cell apoptosis following focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. METHODS: A rat models of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion using modified filament method. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of P-JAK2 and P-STAT3 proteins, and TUNEL assay was employed to examine the cell apoptosis. RESULTS: P-JAK2 and P-STAT3 protein expression increased significantly after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. The immunoreactivity was prominent in the peripheral of the ischemic region and reached the peak level at 24 h of reperfusion, followed by slight decrement. The apoptotic cells increased obviously after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, also reaching the peak level at 24 h of reperfusion. CONCLUSION: The expression of phosphorylated JAK2 and STAT3 may be involved in the ischemic cellular events including apoptosis. JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway plays a role in the pathophysiological process of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion cell injury and repair.