Multi-central clinical research into treating 80 cases of chronic thrombocytopenia with qi-supplementing and yin-nourishing therapy and western medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To probe the effects of qi-supplementing and yin-nourishing therapy (blood-increasing decoction and blood generating powder) on chronic thrombocytopenia. METHODS: Two hundred patients with chronic thrombocytopenia were randomly divided into control (n = 100) and test groups (n = 100) with Amino-polypeptide as a basic treatment for both. Test group patients consumed a blood-increasing decoction and blood-generating powder for 1-3 months. Improvements in platelet counts and TCM syndrome were observed. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-four (80 in the test group and 84 in the control group) of 189 total participants were treated for 3 months. The total effective rate in improving TCM syndrome was 95.00% in the test group and 79.76% in the control group (P < 0.05). There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the accumulated score of TCM syndrome between the two groups treated at different time points. The total effective rate of platelet counts was 86.25% in the test group and 59.52% in the control group (P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in platelet counts before and after treatment in the two groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant differences in platelet count between the two groups treated for 1-2 months; however, a significant difference was found between the two groups after treatment for 3 months (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: After a 3-month treatment of chronic thrombocytopenia patients with qi-supplementing and yin-nourishing therapy, TCM syndrome was improved and platelet counts increased with no obvious side effects, and the quality of life of the participants was enhanced with noticeable long-term curative effects.

Meteorological factors and water quality changes of Plateau Lake Dianchi in China (1990-2015) and their joint influences on cyanobacterial blooms.

Cyanobacterial blooms (CBs) in eutrophic lakes can cause various harmful issues to both humans and animals, disturb drinking water supply, and devastate lake ecosystems. Although great progresses have been made in many lakes from China and abroad on CBs prevention, mitigation and control, systematic research on the influencing factors of CBs in hypereutrophic plateau Lake Dianchi over a long time span is so far unavailable. This study comprehensively generalized both meteorological and water quality changes in Lake Dianchi during 1990-2015 on both yearly and monthly basis, separated Caohai from Waihai of Lake Dianchi regarding water quality variations, and investigated the individual and joint influencing meteorological and water quality factors on CBs using Spearman correlation, principal component analysis, and multivariate linear stepwise regression. Four specific lake regions, i.e. Caohai, northern Waihai, central Waihai, and southern Waihai, were respectively analyzed due to significant water quality heterogeneity. Results indicated that mild temperatures, low wind velocities, and hypereutrophic water conditions all favor CBs in Lake Dianchi, and the significant temperature rising trend may exacerbate severer CBs in the future. Despite configuration differences, the first principal components on CBs in the four sub-regions of Lake Dianchi were all consisted of meteorological factors, while water quality parameters especially total phosphorus concentrations contributed to the second principal component. Quantification of joint meteorological and water quality influencing factors on CBs needs further improvement, and largely relies on the accuracy of future weather forecasts, in order to set the goal of water quality improvement in each specific lake region for effective CBs management.

Chinese herbal medicine formula for acute asthma: A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, proof-of-concept trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in asthma management, exacerbations constitute a significant health economic burden. OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine formula entitled PingchuanYiqi (PCYQ) granule, on acute asthma and to explore its possible mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This proof-of-concept study consisted of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with acute asthma (n = 300). Participants with acute mild-to-moderate asthma recruited from seven centers in China were randomly assigned to receive PCYQ or placebo. The primary outcomes were PEF (L/min) and total asthma symptom scores. Furthermore, a panel of cytokines including serum IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ß, IL-17A, IFN-α, IFN-ß, IFN-γ, CRP, CCL-5, IP-10, and PGD2 levels was detected using ELISA. RESULTS: The PCYQ (n = 139) significantly improved the morning PEF on day 4 (349.73 ±â€¯93.92 vs. 313.56 ±â€¯92.91 L/min, P = 0.004) and day 7 (360.42 ±â€¯94.39 vs. 329.52 ±â€¯95.97 L/min, P = 0.023), and the evening PEF on day 4 (352.65 ±â€¯95.47 vs. 320.58 ±â€¯95.30 L/min, P = 0.012) and day 7 (360.42 ±â€¯94.39 vs. 336.86 ±â€¯95.59 L/min, P = 0.029) in comparison with the placebo (n = 143). The PCYQ also improved the clinical symptoms scores and reduced the puffs of short-acting ß2-agonist (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, the PCYQ statistically reduced IL-5, IL-8, IL-1ß and PGD2 in serum. CONCLUSION: The PCYQ as the Chinese herbal medicine formula significantly improves lung function and symptoms of acute asthma, and reduces SABA dosage possibly via decrease of inflammatory biomarkers such as IL-5, IL-8, IL-1ß and PGD2. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN61674768 (http://www.isrctn.com/).

Theoretical calculation of EPR g factors for Ni(3+) ion at the interstitial site of SnO(2) crystal.

The EPR g factors g(x), g(y) and g(z) for Ni(3+) ion at the interstitial site in the rutile-type SnO(2) crystal are calculated from the second-order perturbation formulas of g factors based on the cluster approach for 3d(7) ion in rhombic symmetry. The calculated results are in agreement with the experimental values. The local lattice distortion induced by the impurity Ni(3+) at the interstitial site of SnO(2) is also estimated from the calculations. These results are discussed.

Two bilayer metal-organic frameworks with rare trinuclear heterometal clusters and tunable photoluminescence.

Two bilayer metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) respectively containing trinuclear Pb/K and Cd/Na clusters have been solvothermally synthesized. Photoluminescence studies showed that they exhibit tunable purple-to-red-to-green and purple-to-green luminescence behaviours by variation of excitation light, respectively.

Intramolecular annulation of aromatic rings with N-sulfonyl 1,2,3-triazoles: divergent synthesis of 3-methylene-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans and 3-methylene-2,3-dihydroindoles.

The controllable synthesis of 3-methylene-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans 2 and 3-methylene-2,3-dihydroindoles 5 has been developed through Rh-catalyzed intramolecular annulation of aromatic rings with azavinyl carbenes.

[Efficacy comparison of lumber disc herniation treated with mild moxibustion at Yaoyangguan (GV 3) under different conditions].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the difference in clinical efficacy on lumber disc herniation (LDH) treated with Yaoyangguan (GV 3) between mild moxibustion under thermosensitive condition and that under non-thermo-sensitive condition. METHODS: Fifty-seven LDH patients were selected as the study objects. Mild moxibustion at Yaoyangguan (GV 3) was applied for 45 min each time. Additionally, the conventional acupuncture was given, once a day, for 20 days. At the end of treatment, two groups were classified. A thermosensitive acupoint group (thermosensitive group) was composed of the cases with thermo-sensitization at Yaoyangguan (GV 3) and presenting for > or =4 times in the entire treatment. A non-thermosensitive acupoint group (tranquilization group) was composed of the cases without thermo-sensitization or the frequency of thermo-sensitization <4 times in the entire treatment. The modified Japanese orthopedics association scoring system (M-JOA) was adopted to observe the cases before and after treatment and 6 months after treatment in the two groups. The efficacy was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment and in 6 months after treatment, the score of M-JOA was apparently reduced as compared with that before treatment in the two groups (all P<0.05). The score reducing in the thermosensitization group was more obvious than that in the tranquilization group (both P<0.01). After treatment and in 6 months after treatment, the curative rate and remarkably effective rate were 89.7% (26/29) and 79.3% (23/29), which was better than 71.4% (20/28) and 60.7% (17/28, both P<0.05) in the tranquilization group separately. CONCLUSION: Mild moxibustion at acupoint under thermosensitive condition achieves the better short-term and long-term effects as compared with that under non-thermosensitive condition.

A theoretical study on the temperature dependence of zero-field splitting for the tetragonal Cr3+ center in MgO crystal.

This paper reports a detailed theoretical calculation of the temperature dependence of zero-field splitting D (characterized by ΔD(T)=D(T)-D(0)) for the tetragonal Cr3+ center in MgO crystal by considering both the static contribution due to the thermal expansion of Cr3+ center and the vibrational contribution caused by electron-phonon (including the acoustic and optical phonons) interaction. The vibrational contribution due to the acoustic phonon is calculated using the long-wave approximation similar to the study on the specific heat of crystals and that due to optical phonon is estimated using the single-phonon model. The calculated results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values. From the calculation, it is found that the static contribution ΔDstat(T) (which is often regarded as very small and is neglected in the previous papers) is larger than the vibrational contribution ΔDvib(T) and so the reasonable studies of temperature dependence of zero-field splitting should take both the static and the vibrational contributions into account.

Investigations of the optical spectra and EPR g factors for the tetragonal Cu2+ centers in trigonal ZnCO3 crystal.

Two distinctive theoretical methods, the complete diagonalization (of energy matrix) method (CDM) and the perturbation theory method (PTM), are employed to calculate the optical band positions and EPR g factors g(||), g(perpendicular) for the tetragonal Cu(2+) centers in trigonal ZnCO(3) crystal. The results from the two methods coincide and are also in good agreement with the experimental values. So both the CDM and PTM are adequate for the investigations of optical and EPR data for d(9) ions in crystals. The tetragonal distortion due to the static Jahn-Teller effect for the tetragonal Cu(2+) centers in trigonal Zn(2+) site of ZnCO(3) is also acquired from the calculations. The results are discussed.