Polydatin inhibits mitochondrial damage and mitochondrial ROS by promoting PINK1-Parkin-mediated mitophagy in allergic rhinitis.

Polydatin (PD), a natural product derived from Polygonum cuspidatum, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and has significant benefits in treating allergic diseases. However, its role and mechanism in allergic rhinitis (AR) have not been fully elucidated. Herein, we investigated the effect and mechanism of PD in AR. AR model was established in mice with OVA. Human nasal epithelial cells (HNEpCs) were stimulated with IL-13. HNEpCs were also treated with an inhibitor of mitochondrial division or transfected with siRNA. The levels of IgE and cellular inflammatory factors were examined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. The expressions of PINK1, Parkin, P62, LC3B, NLRP3 inflammasome proteins, and apoptosis proteins in nasal tissues and HNEpCs were measured by Western blot. We found that PD suppressed OVA-induced epithelial thickening and eosinophil accumulation in the nasal mucosa, reduced IL-4 production in NALF, and regulated Th1/Th2 balance. In addition, mitophagy was induced in AR mice after OVA challenge and in HNEpCs after IL-13 stimulation. Meanwhile, PD enhanced PINK1-Parkin-mediated mitophagy but decreased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) production, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and apoptosis. However, PD-induced mitophagy was abrogated after PINK1 knockdown or Mdivi-1 treatment, indicating a key role of the PINK1-Parkin in PD-induced mitophagy. Moreover, mitochondrial damage, mtROS production, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and HNEpCs apoptosis under IL-13 exposure were more severe after PINK1 knockdown or Mdivi-1 treatment. Conclusively, PD may exert protective effects on AR by promoting PINK1-Parkin-mediated mitophagy, which further suppresses apoptosis and tissue damage in AR through decreasing mtROS production and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Gemmobacter denitrificans sp. nov., a denitrifying bacterium, isolated from pond water for Litopenaeus vannamei.

A novel Gram-stain-negative strain, designated JM10B15T, was isolated from pond water for Litopenaeus vannamei collected from Jiangmen City, Guangdong province, south PR China. Cells of the strain were aerobic, rod-shaped, and motile by lateral flagella. JM10B15T could grow at 15-40 °C, pH 6.0-9.5, and in 0-3.0 % NaCl, with optimal growth at 25-35 °C, pH 7.5-8.5, and in 0 % NaCl, respectively. Furthermore, this strain grew well on Reasoner's 2A agar but not on nutrient broth agar or Luria-Bertani agar. JM10B15T was a denitrifying bacterium capable of removing nitrites and nitrates, and three key functional genes, nasA, nirS, and nosZ, were identified in its genome. The results of phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences indicated that JM10B15T belonged to the genus Gemmobacter. JM10B15T showed the highest 16S rRNA sequence similarity to Gemmobacter lutimaris YJ-T1-11T (98.8 %), followed by Gemmobacter aquatilis IFAM 1031T (98.6 %) and Gemmobacter serpentinus HB-1T (98.1 %). The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between JM10B15T and the other type strains of genus Gemmobacter were 78.1-82.1 % and 18.4-22.1 %, respectively. The major fatty acids of strain JM10B15T were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω6c and/or C18 : 1 ω7c) and C18 : 1 ω7c 11-methyl. In addition, the major respiratory quinone of this novel strain was Q-10, and the predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, four unidentified phospholipids, three unidentified lipids, and an unidentified aminophospholipid. Results of analyses of the phylogenetic, genomic, physiological, and biochemical characteristics indicated that JM10B15T represents a novel species of the genus Gemmobacter, for which the name Gemmobacter denitrificans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JM10B15T (=GDMCC 1.4148T=KCTC 8140T).

The relationship between dysphagia and frailty among Chinese hospitalized older patients: a serial mediation model through self-perceived oral health and self-reported nutritional status.

BACKGROUND: Frailty contributes to adverse outcomes in older adults and places a heavy burden on healthcare resources. Dysphagia is associated with frailty, but the mechanisms by which dysphagia affects frailty in older adults are unclear. This study aimed to investigate a serial mediating effect of self-perceived oral health and self-reported nutritional status in the relationship between dysphagia and frailty among hospitalized older patients in China. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 1200 patients aged ≥ 65 years in the Department of Geriatrics, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital. A structured face-to-face interview was used to survey the following questionnaires: General Information Questionnaire, Tilburg Frailty Indicators (TFI), Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10), 30mL Water Swallow Test (WST), Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), and Short-Form Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF). A total of 980 participants with complete data were included in the analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 28.0 software. Spearman's correlation analysis was used for correlation analysis of study variables. The results of the multivariate linear regression analysis for frailty were used as covariates in the mediation analysis, and the structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the mediating effects among the study variables. RESULTS: Dysphagia, self-perceived oral health, self-reported nutritional status, and frailty were significantly correlated (P<0.001). Dysphagia was found to directly affect frailty (ß = 0.161, 95%CI = 0.089 to 0.235) and through three significant mediation pathways: (1) the path through self-perceived oral health (ß = 0.169, 95%CI = 0.120 to 0.221), accounting for 36.98% of the total effect; (2) the path through self-reported nutritional status (ß = 0.050, 95%CI = 0.023 to 0.082), accounting for 10.94% of the total effect; (3) the path through self-perceived oral health and self-reported nutritional status (ß = 0.077, 95%CI = 0.058 to 0.102), accounting for 16.85% of the total effect. The total mediation effect was 64.77%. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that dysphagia was significantly associated with frailty. Self-perceived oral health and self-reported nutritional status were serial mediators of this relationship. Improving the oral health and nutritional status of hospitalized older patients may prevent or delay the frailty caused by dysphagia.

The biosafety incident response competence scale for clinical nursing staff: a development and validation study.

AIMS: This study was designed to develop a biosafety incident response competence scale and evaluate its validity and reliability among clinical nurses. DESIGN: This study employed a sequential approach, comprising four phases: (1) the establishment of a multidimensional conceptual model, (2) the preliminary selection of the items, (3) further exploration and psychometric testing of the items, (4) the application of the scale among clinical nurses. METHODS: The biosafety incident response competence conceptual model was developed through literature review and the Delphi method. A total of 1,712 clinical nurses participated in the preliminary items selection, while 1,027 clinical nurses were involved in the further psychometric testing from July 2023 to August 2023. The item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to evaluate the construct validity. Reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability, while validity analysis included content validity, structural validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. From September to November 2023, we conducted a survey using the established scale with a total of 4338 valid questionnaires collected. T-test and variance analysis was employed to determine potential variations in biosafety incident response competence based on participants characteristics. RESULTS: The final scale is composed of 4 factors and 29 items, including monitoring and warning abilities, nursing disposal abilities, biosafety knowledge preparedness, and infection protection abilities. The explanatory variance of the 4 factors was 75.100%. The Cronbach's alpha, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were 0.974, 0.945 and 0.840 respectively. The Scale-level content validity index was 0.866. The Average Variance Extracted of the 4 factors was larger than 0.5, the Construct Reliability was larger than 0.7, and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio were less than 0.9. There were significant differences in the scores of response competence among nurses of different ages, working years, titles, positions, departments, marital status and participation in biosafety training (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The biosafety incident response competence scale for nurses exhibits satisfactory reliability and validity, making it a valuable tool for assessing clinical nurses' abilities in responding to biosafety incidents.

A novel simplified approach for endodontic retrograde surgery in short single-rooted teeth.

BACKGROUND: High technical thresholds, long operative times, and the need for expensive and specialized equipment impede the widespread adoption of endodontic microsurgery in many developing countries. This study aimed to compare the effects of a simplified, cost-effective, and time-efficient surgical approach involving orthograde obturation using biological ceramic material greater than 6 mm combined with apicoectomy for single-rooted teeth with short lengths with those of the conventional and current standard methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five premolars equally categorized into three groups: conventional surgery group, standard surgery group, and modified surgery group. A µCT scan was used to calculate the volume of voids. A micro-leakage test and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were performed to assess the sealing effect. Additionally, four cases of chronic periapical periodontitis in the anterior region were selected, and the patients received either the modified approach or the standard surgery for endodontic microsurgery. RESULTS: The volumes of voids in the apical 0-3 mm of the modified group and the standard group were comparable. The micro-leakage test and SEM examination demonstrated closely bonded fillings in the dentinal walls in both the modified surgery group and standard surgery group. The outcomes of the preliminary application of this modified procedure on patients were successful at the time of the follow-up cutoff. CONCLUSIONS: The modified surgery group exhibited similar root canal filling and apical sealing abilities with the standard procedure for single-rooted teeth with short lengths (< 20 mm). The preliminary application of this modified surgical procedure achieved favorable results.

Genetic evidence for the causal linkage between telomere length and aortic aneurysm risk: A Mendelian randomisation study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence of a clear causal relationship between telomere length and aortic aneurysms is limited by the potential for confounding or reverse causation effects. In this study, we used a Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach to investigate this putative causal association. METHODS: In total, 118 telomere length-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms, identified in 472,174 individuals of European ancestry, were used as the instrumental variables. Summary statistics for genome-wide association studies of aortic aneurysms were obtained from the FinnGen consortium. For the primary MR analyses, the inverse-variance weighted random-effects method was used and was supplemented with multivariable MR, weighted median and MR-Egger approaches. The MR-Egger intercept test, Cochran's Q test and 'leave-one-out' sensitivity analysis were performed to evaluate the horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity and stability of the genetic variants. Forward and reverse MR analyses were performed. RESULTS: All forward univariable MR analyses showed that longer telomere lengths decreased aortic aneurysm risks (total aortic aneurysms: OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.67-0.96, p = .015; thoracic aortic aneurysms: OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.68-0.98, p = .026; abdominal aortic aneurysms: OR = 0.525, 95% CI 0.398-0.69, p < .001), whereas all reverse MR analyses suggested the absence of aortic aneurysm liability on telomere length. The sensitivity analysis results were robust, and no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a possible causal association between telomere length and aortic aneurysms, providing new insights into the involvement of telomere biology in this condition and offering a potential avenue for targeted therapeutic interventions.

Marivirga aurantiaca sp. nov., a halophilic nitrite-reducing bacterium, isolated from intertidal surface sediments.

A novel Gram-stain-negative strain, designated S37H4T, was isolated from an intertidal surface sediment sample collected from Zhanjiang City, Guangdong province, south PR China. Cells of the strain were aerobic, non-flagellated, long rod-shaped and motile by gliding. S37H4T could grow at 4-40 °C, pH 7.0-8.5 and in 2.0-15.0 % NaCl, with optimal growth at 25-30 °C, pH 7.5 and 9.0 % NaCl, respectively. S37H4T was capable of nitrite removal under high-salt conditions, and there were three denitrification genes, nirK, norB and nosZ, in its genome. The results of phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences indicated that S37H4T represented a member of the genus Marivirga and formed a subclade with Marivirga lumbricoides JLT2000T. S37H4T showed the highest 16S rRNA sequence similarity to M. lumbricoides JLT2000T (98.3 %) and less than 97.0 % similarity with other type strains of species of the genus Marivirga. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between S37H4T and the reference type strains of species of the genus Marivirga were 70.7-74.3 % and 18.2-19.2 %, respectively. The major fatty acids of S37H4T were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1G, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c). The major respiratory quinone of this novel strain was MK-7, and the predominant polar lipids were identified as phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid, an unidentified phospholipid and three unidentified lipids. The results of analyses of phylogenetic, genomic, physiological and biochemical characteristics indicated that S37H4T represented a novel species of the genus Marivirga, for which the name Marivirga aurantiaca sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S37H4T (= GDMCC 1.1866T = KACC 21922T).

Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Autologous Tooth Bone Powder and Inorganic Bovine Bone Powder on the Repair of Jaw Defects.

Context: The main pathological features of jaw cysts are bone defects. Obtaining autologous bone for transplantation repair has been associated with postoperative complications, and the amount of bone that dentist can collect is limited. Studies have found that autologous tooth bone powder is safe and has good bone-formation ability and stability. Objective: The study intended to examine the efficacy of implantation of autologous tooth bone powder and inorganic bovine bone powder, after marsupialization and second-stage curettage for large jaw cysts that dentist can't directly remove by surgery in clinical practice. Design: The research team designed a prospective randomized controlled trial. Setting: The study took place in the Head and Neck Surgery Department at Chongqing University Cancer Hospital in Chongqing, China. Participants: Participants were 60 patients at the hospital between 2016 and 2018 who had mandibular cysts that surgical operation couldn't directly remove by surgery in clinical practice. Intervention: At 4 months after curettage, the research team randomly divided participants into three groups: (1) an intervention group who received implants of autologous tooth bone powder into the bone defects, (2) a positive control group who received implants of inorganic bovine bone powder, and (3) a negative control group who received no implants of any material. Outcome Measures: The research team performed: (1) periodontal probing at a fixed anatomical point for the intervention and both control groups postintervention at one day and 4 months after surgery and recorded the changes in probing depth and (2) computed tomography (CT) scans at baseline one day before and postintervention at 4 months after the implantation to determine changes in the bone mineral density and compared them among the three groups. Results: The change in the height of the intervention group's fixed anatomical point postintervention at 4 months after surgery was significantly smaller than that of the positive control group (P < .05). In the CT scan analysis, the differences between the intervention and negative control groups and between the positive and negative control groups were statistically significant (P < .05); however, the difference between the intervention and positive control groups wasn't significant (P > .05). Conclusions: Autologous tooth bone powder and inorganic bovine bone powder can effectively repair bone defects caused by large jaw cysts and that the repaired effect may be better than that of spontaneous osteogenesis. The autologous tooth bone powder was associated with lower levels of bone loss than those seen with use of inorganic bovine bone powder.

Initial experience with 161 extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical cystectomy procedures: Comparison with transabdominal laparoscopic radical cystectomy.

OBJECTIVES: There is substantial concern about traditional transperitoneal laparoscopic radical cystectomy (TLRC) due to multiple postoperative complications. In contrast, extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical cystectomy (ELRC) appears to cause a lower rate of morbidity. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of ELRC and TLRC for bladder cancer (BCa). METHODS: The clinical data of patients undergoing laparoscopic radical cystectomy for BCa from April 2018 to October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, as ELRC and TLRC groups. The postoperative follow-up data of 275 patients were collected and the incidence of postoperative complications and other perioperative outcomes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Surgery was successfully completed in all patients without conversion to open surgery. There was no significant difference in the duration of cystectomy surgery (67.32 ± 23.53 vs 72.17 ± 25.72 min, p = 0.106), intraoperative blood loss (178.06 ± 110.4 vs. 174.56 ± 127.40 ml, p = 0.413), or the number of lymph node dissection (15.1 ± 5.7 vs. 14.5 ± 5.1, p = 0.380) between the two groups. The length of stay (11.6 ± 3.8 vs 14.7 ± 5.6 d, p < 0.001), time to resume food intake after surgery (2.3 ± 0.9 vs 3.0 ± 1.3 d, p < 0.001), and the incidence of ileus (p < 0.001) in the ELRC group were significantly lower than in the TLRC group. CONCLUSIONS: ELRC is a safe procedure that can reduce the incidence of postoperative complications, shorten postoperative hospital stay, reduce the duration of recovery of patients, and, therefore, should be promoted.

Consistency in the prevalence and associated factors of frailty determined by two instruments among hospitalised older adults: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the consistency in the prevalence and associated factors of frailty determined by the physical-originated Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses and Loss of weight (FRAIL) scale and the multidimensional Tilburg Frailty Indicators (TFI) scale. BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of frailty and the identification of its associated factors could guide the development and implementation of holistic and individualised treatment plan. However, recommendations regarding the selection of frailty assessment tools are inconclusive. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study, the reporting of which followed the STROBE guidelines. METHODS: A total of 1220 older adults were recruited from a university affiliated tertiary hospital in Xi'an City, Northwest China, and administrated with a social-demographic and health-related information sheet, the FRAIL, the TFI, the Short-Form Mini-Nutritional Assessment, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the 5-level EuroQol 5 dimensions questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the prevalence of frailty and its associated factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical-originated and multidimensional frailty was 55.2% and 77.6%, respectively. The consistency between the two scales was low. Taking the combined use of the two instruments as the reference, the TFI and FRAIL could identify 89.99% and 64.02% of the participants with frailty. Polypharmacy, health-related quality of life and sleep quality were found to be associated with both physical-originated and multidimensional frailty. Nutritional status and level of physical activity were additionally identified as the independent associated factors of multidimensional frailty. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of frailty among hospitalised older adults is high. There is low consistency between the FRAIL and TFI in detecting frailty. The TFI exhibited higher sensitivity in detecting individuals with frailty and its associated factors. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings of this study supported a single use of the TFI for the assessment of frailty in the hospital setting.

A Homo-Mannich Reaction Strategy Enables Collective Access to Ibophyllidine, Aspidosperma, Kopsia, and Melodinus Alkaloids.

We report here a homo-Mannich reaction of cyclopropanol with an iminium ion, generated by an asymmetric allylic dearomatization of indole, to construct a tricyclic hydrocarbazole core, which is shared by a variety of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids across families. Through this approach, an all-carbon quaternary stereogenic center as well as an allyl and a ketone group were installed. Using this functionalized hydrocarbazole as the structural platform, D ring and E rings of different sizes (i.e., five-, six-, and seven-membered) were successively or simultaneously assembled, leading to a collective asymmetric synthesis of seven alkaloids belonging to the ibophyllidine, Aspidosperma, Kopsia, and Melodinus alkaloid families.

Evolution of Transient Luminescent Assemblies Regulated by Trace Water in Organic Solvents.

Trace water in organic solvents can play a crucial role in the construction of supramolecular assemblies, which has not gained enough attention until very recent years. Herein, we demonstrate that residual water in organic solvents plays a decisive role in the regulation of the evolution of assembled structures and their functionality. By adding Mg(ClO4)2 into a multi-component organic solution containing terpyridine-based ligand 3Tpy and monodentate imidazole-based ligand M2, the system underwent an unexpected kinetic evolution. Metallo-supramolecular polymers (MSP) formed first by the coordination of 3Tpy and Mg2+, but they subsequently decomposed due to the interference of M2, resulting in a transient MSP system. Further investigation revealed that this occurred because residual water in the solvent and M2 cooperatively coordinated with Mg2+. This allowed M2 to capture Mg2+ from MSP, which led to depolymerization. However, owing to the slow reaction between trace water/M2/Mg2+, the formation of MSP still occurred first. Therefore, water regulated both the thermodynamics and kinetics of the system and was the key factor for constructing the transient MSP. Fine-tuning the water content and other assembly motifs regulated the assembly evolution pathway, tuned the MSP lifetime, and made the luminescent color of the system undergo intriguing transition processes over time.

Microvirga terricola sp. nov. and Microvirga solisilvae sp. nov, isolated from forest soil.

Two Gram-staining-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped strains, designated c23x22T and sex2T, were isolated from forest soil collected from Chebaling National Nature Reserve in Guangdong Province and Limu Mountain National Forest Park in Hainan Province, P. R. China, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that they belonged to the genus Microvirga, and strain c23 x22T was most closely related to 'Microvirga alba' KCTC 72385, while strain sex2T showed close relationship with Microvirga guangxiensis CGMCC 1.7666T. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strains c23 x22T and sex2T and their close relatives, 'M. alba' KCTC 72385 and M. guangxiensis CGMCC 1.7666T, were all below the threshold values for species delimitation. The predominant quinones of the two novel strains were ubiquinone 10, and the major fatty acids contained C19:0 cyclo ω8c and summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c). Their predominant polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. The phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses clearly supported that strains c23 x 22T and sex2T represent two novel species of the genus Microvirga, for which the name Microvirga terricola sp. nov. (type strain c23 x 22T = GDMCC 1.1700T = KCTC 62432T) and Microvirga solisilvae sp. nov. (type strain sex2T = GDMCC 1.1651T = KACC 21311T) are proposed, respectively.

Collective analysis of the expression and prognosis for LEM-domain proteins in prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Mammalian LEM-domain proteins (LEMs) are encoded by seven genes, including LAP2, EMD, LEMD1, LEMD2, LEMD3, ANKLE1, and ANKLE2. Though some LEMs were involved in various tumor progression, the expression and prognostic values of LEMs in prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) have yet to be analyzed. METHODS: Herein, we investigated the expression, survival data, and immune infiltration levels of LEMs in PRAD patients from ATCG, TIMER, LinkedOmics, and TISIDB databases. We also further validated the mRNA and protein expression levels of ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 in human prostate tumor specimens by qPCR, WB, and IHC. RESULTS: We found that all LEM expressions, except for that of LAP2, were markedly altered in PRAD compared to the normal samples. Among all LEMs, only the expressions of ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 were correlated with advanced tumor stage and survival prognosis in PRAD. Consistent with the predicted computational results, the mRNA and protein expression levels of these genes were markedly increased in the PRAD group. We then found that ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 expressions were markedly correlated with immune cell infiltration levels. High ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 expressions predicted a worse prognosis in PRAD based on immune cells. DNA methylation or/and copy number variations may contribute to the abnormal upregulation of ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 in PRAD. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, this study implied that ANKLE1, EMD, and LEMD2 were promising prognosis predictors and potential immunotherapy targets for PRAD patients.

The effects of a nurse-led integrative medicine-based structured education program on self-management behaviors among individuals with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: International guidelines advocate providing prompt structured education to individuals with diabetes at diagnosis. However, among the few eligible structured education programs, heterogeneous intervention regimens and inconsistent findings were reported. Eligible programs for Chinese individuals with diabetes are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a nurse-led integrative medicine-based structured education program on self-management behaviors, glycemic control and self-efficacy among individuals with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Employing a randomized controlled trial, 128 individuals with type 2 diabetes diagnosed in the preceding three to nine months were recruited from four university-affiliated tertiary hospitals in Xi'an City, Northwest China, and randomly allocated to the intervention or control groups after baseline assessments. Participants in the intervention group received a 4-week nurse-led integrative medicine-based structured education program, which is theoretically based on the Health Belief Model and Self-Efficacy Theory, in line with updated diabetes management guidelines, and informed by relevant systematic reviews. Participants in the control group received routine care. Self-management behaviors and self-efficacy were measured with the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities and the Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale at baseline, immediate post-intervention and 12 weeks following the intervention while Glycated Hemoglobin A was measured at baseline and the 12th-week follow-up. The intervention effects were estimated using the generalized estimating equation models. RESULTS: Participants in the intervention group exhibited significantly better self-management performance in specific diet regarding intake of fruits and vegetables at both follow-ups (ß = 1.02, p = 0.011 and ß = 0.98, p = 0.016, respectively), specific diet regarding intake of high-fat foods at the immediate post-intervention follow-up (ß = 0.83, p = 0.023), blood glucose monitoring at the 12th-week follow-up (ß = 0.64, p = 0.004), foot care at both follow-ups (ß = 1.80, p <  0.001 and ß = 2.02, p <  0.001, respectively), and medication management at both follow-ups (ß = 0.83, p = 0.005 and ß = 0.95, p = 0.003, respectively). The intervention also introduced significant improvements in Glycated Hemoglobin A (ß = - 0.32%, p <  0.001), and self-efficacy at both follow-ups (ß = 8.73, p <  0.001 and ß = 9.71, p <  0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The nurse-led integrative medicine-based structured education program could produce beneficial effects on multiple diabetes self-management behaviors, glycemic control and self-efficacy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was retrospectively registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov . on 25/08/2017; registration number: NCT03261895 .

Evaluation of homochiral zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 supported open-tubular column by miniaturized capillary electrochromatography with amperometric detection.

A novel kind of chiral open-tubular (OT) column was established with homochiral zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanomaterials using L-histidine as the chiral carbon center (L-His-ZIF-8). The morphologies of L-His-ZIF-8 nanoparticles and chiral OT column were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of L-His-ZIF-8 concentrations, pH values, and concentrations of the running buffer on the resolution of the selected chiral compounds were investigated based on miniaturized capillary electrochromatography with amperometric detection system (mini-CEC-AD), respectively. The separation performances of the prepared L-His-ZIF-8@OT chiral columns were explored under the optimal conditions, and the RSDs of run-to-run, day-to-day, and column-to-column reproducibility were less than 6.7% using salbutamol raceme as the model enantiomers. The prepared chiral OT columns have been successfully applied to the enantioseparation of one pair of amino acid enantiomers, two pairs of racemic drugs, and three pairs of neurotransmitter enantiomers. Under the optimum conditions, the prepared OT columns were applied to real-world sample analysis of salbutamol aerosol. The limits of detection of salbutamol raceme were 0.90 µg·mL-1 (S/N = 3), and the recovery was 80.4-82.7%. The assay results indicated that this kind of chiral OT column modified with homochiral L-His-ZIF-8 possesses good reproducibility and stability. This developed mini-OT-CEC-AD system has some attractive characteristics of sensitivity and low cost, providing a potential way for the separation of chiral compounds.

Tianzhi granule improves cognition and BPSD of vascular dementia: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tianzhi granule (TZ) is usually used for patients with vascular dementia (VaD) in China. The aim was to assess the effect of TZ by a randomized clinical trial (RCT). METHODS: A 24-week RCT was conducted in 16 centres. Participants were grouped into TZ, donepezil or placebo. The co-primary outcomes were the Vascular Dementia Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (VADAS-cog) and Clinician's Interview-based Impression of Change-plus caregiver information (CIBIC-plus). RESULTS: A total of 543 patients with mild to moderate VaD were enrolled, of whom 242 took TZ granules, 241 took donepezil, and 60 took placebo. The least-squares mean changes from baseline and 95% CI were 6.20 (5.31, 7.09) (TZ group), 6.53 (5.63, 7.42) (donepezil group) and 3.47 (1.76, 5.19) (placebo group), both TZ and donepezil showed small but significantly improvement compared with placebo group. The percent of improvement on the global impression which was measured by CIBIC-plus was 73.71% in TZ and 58.18% in placebo, there was significant different between TZ and placebo group (P = 0.004). No significant differences were observed between TZ and donepezil. No significant differences of adverse events were found. CONCLUSIONS: TZ and donepezil could bring symptomatic benefit for mild to moderate VaD. Trial registration The protocol had retrospectively registered at clinical trial.gov, Unique identifier: NCT02453932, date of registration: May 27, 2015; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02453932?term=NCT02453932&rank=1.

Predictive values of maximum changes of brainstem auditory evoked potentials during microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm.

BACKGROUND: Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) have been widely monitored to prevent hearing loss (HL) during microvascular decompression (MVD) for hemifacial spasm (HFS); however, their predictive value is still unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive values of the maximum changes in BAEPs and define the best warning indicator and a cutoff value (CV) during HFS-MVD. METHODS: The clinical data of 93 HFS-MVD patients were retrospectively analysed. The maximum change rates of the latency and amplitude of waves I, III, and V and the interpeak latencies (IPLs) I-III, I-V, and III-V, when BAEPs change most during MVD, were defined. Pure tone audiometry was performed to evaluate hearing loss (HL). Logistic regression, propensity score, receiver operating curve (ROC), and area under the curve (AUC) were used to identify the predictive value of relevant indexes and to determine the CV (with the largest Youden index) of the best index at different levels of HL. RESULTS: The AUCs of BAEPs for predicting HL were 0.98, 0.92, and 0.84 for 50 dB, 30 dB, and 10 dB, respectively. The amplitude of wave V (AwV) was the best single predictive index at all three HL levels. The CV of AwV was 55% (50 dB), 46% (30 dB), and 34% (10 dB). At 50 dB HL, the predictive value of IPLs I-V (AUC 0.89 with CV 0.6 ms) was better than that of LwV (AUC 0.82 with CV 1 ms). CONCLUSION: BAEPs can predict HL well. AwV is the best single predictive index of all BAEPs. The reduction of AwV by 34% (watching), 46% (reporting), and 55% (warning) can be used as a sliding-scale warning sign. In addition, IPLs I-V (> 0.6 ms) and LwV (> 1 ms) should also be observed and reported during MVD.

[Simultaneous determination of four anthraquinones in Polygonum multiflorum by QAMS].

A simple, specific and selective quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker(QAMS) method for simultaneous determination of anthraquinones and anthraquinone glycosides in Polygonum multiflorum was developed. Four main anthraquinones and its glycosides, emodin, emodin-8-O-ß-D-glucoside, physcion and physcion-8-O-ß-D-glucoside were selected as analytes to evaluate the quality of P. multiflorum. Emodin was used as the internal standard, and the relative correction factors(RCFs) between emodin and the other three anthraquinones were calculated. Comparison of the contents of the four components in 30 batches of P. multiflorum from different regions and 12 batches decoction pieces from different manufacturers by QAMS and external standard method(ESM) showed that there was no significant difference between QAMS and ESM for quantification of the four main components by using relative error results, and the QAMS method was accurate and reliable, and had a good repeatability. In addition, compared with the results calculated by the difference method between total anthraquinone and free anthraquinone in the content determination of P. multiflorum in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the results of direct determination combined anthraquinone by QAMS were very close to that by measured the external standard method. Therefore, simultaneous quantification of four main anthraquinones by using QAMS is suitable to evaluate the quality of P. multiflorum. Then the optimized assay method of the combined anthraquinone contents showed simple and feasible, which could be replaced and improved the quantification method of the combined anthraquinone in the current Chinese Pharmacopeia.

Hymenobacter metallilatus sp. nov., isolated from abandoned lead-zinc ore.

An aerobic, non-motile, Gram-stain-negative, red-to-pinkish and rod-shaped bacterium, designated 9PBR-2T, was isolated from an abandoned lead-zinc ore sample collected from Meizhou, Guangdong Province, PR China. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 9PBR-2T belongs to the genus Hymenobacter and was most closely related to Hymenobacter rigui KCTC 12533T (98.0 %), Hymenobacter swuensis KCTC 32018T (97.8 %) and Hymenobacter perfusus LMG 26000T (97.6 %). The calculated average nucleotide identity values based on whole genome sequences between strain 9PBR-2T and closely related type strains ranged from 81.3 to 84.1 %. Correspondingly, the digital DNA-DNA hybridization values ranged from 25.5 to 28.1 %. The major fatty acids of strain 9PBR-2T were iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, C16:1ω5c, summed feature 3 (C16:1ω6c and/or C16:1ω7c) and summed feature 4 (iso-C17:1 I and/or anteiso-C17:1 B). It contained menaquinone 7 (MK-7) as the major isoprenoid quinone and phosphatidylethanolamine as the major polar lipid. The genomic DNA G+C content based on whole genome sequence was 59.8 mol%. Characterization based on phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic analyses clearly indicated that strain 9PBR-2T represents a novel species of the genus Hymenobacter, for which the name Hymenobactermetallilatus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 9PBR-2T (=GDMCC 1.1492T=JCM 32699T).