Predictive Value of Serum Creatinine/Cystatin C in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients under Nutritional Intervention.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: As a very common risk of adverse outcomes of the ischemic stroke patients, sarcopenia is associated with infectious complications and higher mortality. The goal of this retrospective study is to explore the predictive value of serum Cr/CysC ratio in acute ischemic stroke patients receiving nutritional intervention. METHODS: We reviewed adult patients with AIS from December 2019 to February 2020. Patients with acute kidney injury were excluded and all patients received nutritional intervention during a 3-month follow-up period. We collected baseline data at admission including creatinine and cystatin C. The primary poor outcome was major disability (modified Rankin Scale score ≥ 4) at 3 months after AIS. RESULTS: A total of 217 patients with AIS were identified for this study. Serum Cr/CysC ratio was significantly correlated with NIHSS at discharge, 1-month modified Rankin Scale score, and 3-month modified Rankin Scale score. During 3 months, 34 (15.70%) patients had a poor outcome after AIS and 11 (5.10%) patients died within 30 days. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, serum Cr/CysC ratio at admission was independently associated with 3-month poor outcomes (OR: 0.953, 95% CI: 0.921-0.986, p = .006) and 30-day mortality (OR: 0.953, 95% CI: 0.921-0.986, p = .006). CONCLUSION: As a blood biochemical indexes reflecting the muscle mass and aiding in risk stratification, Cr/CysC ratio at admission could be used as a predictor of 30-day mortality and long-term poor prognosis in AIS patients.

[The overview of the development of modern burn surgery in China].

Chinese modern burn surgery belongs to the western medicine system. From 1930s, the knowledge of modern burn surgery spread over China. Its development had experienced four stages: enlightening stage, exploratory stage, mature stage, and remodeling stage. Before the 1950s, medical personnel began to study those knowledges. The clinical treatment developed slowly and had little experience. From the 1950s to 1960s, Chinese burn surgery professionals made the painstaking exploration and accumulated rich clinical experiences. The success of severe burns treatment attracted worldwide attention. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, as the regulations of burn diagnosis and treatment established in China, the clinical treatment developed widely. The world's leading therapeutic effects have achieved. The professional education system has been founded, and the professional societies have created. Those made medical personnel can access the scientific research achievement. Therefore, the leading talents emerged. Chinese modern burn surgery entered a mature stage. Since the late-1990s, Chinese modern burn surgery entered a remodeling stage. Besides increasing the cure rate and decrease disability rate of burn gradually, Chinese modern burn surgery need solve new problems such as that standardization of diagnosis and treatment sets up, the scope of diagnosis and treatment expands, professional training improves, etc.

Removal of prometryn from hydroponic media using marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris L.).

The aquatic plant Hydrocotyle vulgaris was evaluated for its efficacy in removing prometryn from nutrient solution. Under optimized experimental conditions, up to 94.0% of the initial prometryn was removed from the hydroponic culture medium by H. vulgaris in 30 days. The concentration of prometryn decreased from the initial level of 0.55 ± 0.013 mg/L to 0.036 ± 0.001 mg/L at the end of the experimental period. The removal kinetics followed first-order kinetic equation (Ct = 0.4569e-0.09t). Half-life (t1/2) of prometryn was greatly shortened from 27.16 days (without plant) to 5.58 days (with H. vulgaris). Approximately 22% of the initial prometryn residue was found in H. vulgaris tissue, while 11.7% was degraded by the plant in 30 days. The metabolites of prometryn detected were 2,4-diamino-1,3,5-triazine (in the hydroponic culture medium) and 2,4,6-trihydroxy-1,3,5-triazine (in plant tissue) after 30 days. The results indicate that H. vulgaris can be used for phytoextraction of prometryn and could potentially be effective in removing other s-trazine pesticides from contaminated aquatic ecosystems.

Simultaneous nutrients and carbon removal from low-strength domestic wastewater with an immobilised-microorganism biological aerated filter.

To improve the efficiency of low-strength domestic wastewater treatment, an immobilised-microorganism biological aerated filter (I-BAF) was established for simultaneous carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The I-BAF performance was systematically evaluated under continuous and intermittent aeration modes. At the optimal condition with an intermittent aeration control schedule of 2 h on/1 h off, the maximum removal rates of COD, NH(4)(+)-N, TN and P were 82.54%, 94.83%, 51.85% and 61.49%, respectively, and the corresponding averaged effluents could meet the first class standards of China. Further analysis of PCR-DGGE profile revealed that members of the gamma and alpha proteobacterium bacterial groups were probably responsible for the nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The I-BAF system showed excellent performance in carbon and nutrients removal, which provided a cost-effective solution for the treatment of low-strength domestic wastewater.

Anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) for treating heavy oil produced water with high concentrations of salt and poor nutrient.

The start-up and operational performance (total 212 days, including the start-up of 164 days) of an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), which is used to treat heavy oil produced water, was studied without the temperature control. Inoculums were mixtures of acclimated sediment taken from a heavy oil produced water treatment plant and digested sludge from a sewage wastewater treatment plant. The rod-shaped and spherical granules with colors of henna and black, in which Clostridia, Methanosarcina and Methanothrx sp. were main populations, were observed in each compartment of ABR after the reactor's successful start-up (day 164). Rhodopseudomonas with the activity of lipase and halotolerant, as a kind of photosynthetic bacteria, was also observed in the first five compartments. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the spherical granule sludge was compact and contained a large amount of organics, amorphous materials, and crystals of Fe(2)O(3), FeS, and CaCO(3), whereas the rod-shaped granule sludge was incompact without crystals of Fe(2)O(3), FeS, and CaCO(3). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the skeleton construction of this rod-shaped granule was filamentous bacteria and amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The ABR, after successful start up, can achieve high average chemical oxygen demand (COD) and oil removals of 65% and 88% for heavy oil produced water with poor nutrient (COD:TN:TP, 1200:15:1) and high salt concentration (1.15-1.46%), respectively. Furthermore, ABR kept stable during 2.5 times the COD level shock load (0.50 kg COD m-3 d-1) for four days.

Identification of small molecule inhibitors of beta-amyloid cytotoxicity through a cell-based high-throughput screening platform.

Calpain activation is hypothesized to be an early occurrence in the sequence of events resulting in neurodegeneration, as well as in the signaling pathways linking extracellular accumulation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides and intracellular formation of neurofibrillary tangles. In an effort to identify small molecules that prevent neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease by early intervention in the cell death cascade, a cell-based assay in differentiated Sh-SY5Y cells was developed using calpain activity as a read-out for the early stages of death in cells exposed to extracellular Abeta. This assay was optimized for high-throughput screening, and a library of approximately 120,000 compounds was tested. It was expected that the compounds identified as calpain inhibitors would include those that act directly on the enzyme and those that prevented calpain activation by blocking an upstream step in the pathway. In fact, of the compounds that inhibited calpain activation by Abeta with IC(50) values of <10 microM and showed little or no toxicity at concentrations up to 30 microM, none inhibit the calpain enzyme directly.

Chinese herbal medicine suxiao jiuxin wan for angina pectoris.

BACKGROUND: Suxiao jiuxin wan is widely used in China for angina pectoris. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review is to determine the effects (benefits and harms) of suxiao jiuxin wan in the treatment of angina pectoris. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials on The Cochrane Library (issue 4 2005), Medline (1995 to 2005), EMBASE (1995 to 2005), the Register of Chinese trials developed by the Chinese Cochrane Centre (to 2006), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (1995 to 2005), and handsearched 83 Chinese journals. We also searched reference lists, databases of ongoing trials and the Internet. Date of last search: November 2005. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of suxiao jiuxin wan compared to standard treatment in people with angina. Studies with a treatment duration > 4 weeks were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently applied the inclusion criteria, assessed trial quality and extracted the data. MAIN RESULTS: Fifteen trials involving 1776 people were included. There was weak evidence that suxiao jiuxin wan compared with nitroglycerin (xiaoxintong) improved ECG measurements (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.27), reduced symptoms (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.13), reduced the frequency of acute attacks of angina (difference in means -0.70, 95% CI -0.90 to -0.50), reduced diastolic pressure (difference in means -3mmHg, 95% CI -5.73 to -0.27) and reduced the need for supplementary nitroglycerin (difference in means of -0.60, 95% CI -0.94 to -0.26). There was also weak evidence that suxiao jiuxin wan compared with Salvia miltiorrhiza (danshen) reduced symptoms (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.31) and improved ECG measurements (RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.84). There was no significant difference when comparing suxiao jiuxin wan with isosorbide dinitrate (xiaosuanyishanlizhi) both for ECG improvement (RR 1.34, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.98) and for symptom improvement (RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.43). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Suxiao jiuxin wan appears to be effective in the treatment of angina pectoris and no serious side effects were identified. However, the evidence remains weak due to poor methodological quality of including studies.

Chinese medicinal herbs for acute bronchitis.

BACKGROUND: Acute bronchitis is one of the most common diagnoses made by primary-care physicians. It is traditionally treated with antibiotics (although the evidence for their effectiveness is weak and modest at best), and other even less effective treatments. Chinese medicinal herbs have also been used as a treatment. OBJECTIVES: This review aimed to summarise the existing evidence on the comparative effectiveness and safety of Chinese medicinal herbs for treating uncomplicated acute bronchitis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, 2007, Issue 1), which includes the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's specialised register; MEDLINE (1966 to March Week 1, 2007); EMBASE (1988 to January 2007); The Chinese Cochrane Centre's Controlled Trials Register (up to January 2007); and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1980 to January 2007). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing Chinese medicinal herbs with placebo, antibiotics or other Western medicines for the treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two review authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. MAIN RESULTS: No studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. One study with 300 participants but uncertain randomisation was analysed . The study showed that treatment with the Chinese medicinal herb Huoke granules leads to a shorter duration of cough, fever and sputum compared to using penicillin and Xiaoer Shangfeng Zhike tangjiang syrup. However, the study also lacked allocation concealment and blinding. There was a high possibility of conflict of interest as the Huoke granules were made by the trial author's hospital. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient quality data to recommend the routine use of Chinese herbs for acute bronchitis. Study-design limitations of the individual studies meant that no conclusion about the benefits of Chinese herbs could be taken. In addition, the safety of Chinese herbs is unknown due to the lack of toxicological evidence on these Chinese herbs, though adverse events were reported in some case reports.

Chinese medicinal herbs for influenza.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is an acute respiratory communicable disease which, during epidemics, can cause high morbidity and mortality. Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, often administered following a particular theory, may be a potential medicine of choice. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of Chinese medicinal herbs in preventing and treating influenza, and to estimate the frequency of adverse effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2007), which includes the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Review Group specialised register; MEDLINE (January 1966 to January 2007); EMBASE (January 1988 to January 2007); CBM (Chinese Biomedical Database) (January 1980 to January 2007); and the Chinese Cochrane Center's Controlled Trials Register (up to January 2007). We also searched Current Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com) and the National Research Register (http://www.update-software.com/National/) for ongoing trials and reference lists of articles. For more information we telephoned and wrote to researchers in the field, as well as trial authors of studies evaluated in the review SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing traditional Chinese medicinal herbs with placebo, no treatment, or chemical drugs normally used in preventing and treating uncomplicated influenza patients. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. MAIN RESULTS: Two studies involving 1012 participants were reviewed. The methodological quality of both studies was 'poor'. Included RCTs separately compared two medicinal herbs with two different antiviral drugs, precluding any pooling of results. 'Ganmao' capsules were found to be more effective than amantadine in decreasing influenza symptoms and speeding recovery in one study, (in which adverse reactions were mentioned in the amantadine group although no data were reported). There were no significant differences between 'E Shu You' and ribavirin in treating influenza, nor in the occurrence of adverse reaction. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The present evidence is too weak to support or reject the use of Chinese medicinal herbs for preventing and treating influenza. More RCTs with good methodological quality, larger numbers of participants and clear reporting are needed in the future. We recommend that all the clinical trials registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register and Chinese journals join in the Joint Statement of Establishing Chinese Clinical Trial Registration and Publishing System.

Chinese medicinal herbs for sore throat.

BACKGROUND: Chinese herbal medicines are commonly used to treat sore throat in China and among Chinese people worldwide. Their efficacy in treating sore throat has not previously been systematically reviewed. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for patients with sore throat. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2006) which contains the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's specialised register; MEDLINE (1966 to August 2006); EMBASE (1980 to August 2006); AMED (1985 to August 2006); the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1975 to August 2006), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1994 to August 2006). SELECTION CRITERIA: We only included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of sore throat with the outcomes of recovery, inefficacy, and adverse events. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: One review author contacted the trial authors of claimed RCTs. Three review authors extracted and analysed the data. MAIN RESULTS: Seven trials involving 1253 participants were included. All trials were identified as being of methodologically poor quality (C category). All of the Chinese herbal preparations in this review were inadequately characterised and were assessed in one trial only. It is highly likely that there was selection bias or detection bias, or both, in all of the included trials. Conflict of interest may have been another factor in producing a positive result in three studies as the prepared drugs were made in the trial author's hospital. We did not perform a meta-analysis and the results of the studies are reported separately. Three formulations were shown to be superior to the control in improving recovery: Ertong Qingyan Jiere Koufuye was more effective than Fufang Shuanghua Koufuye for acute pharyngitis (OR 1.54, 95% Cl 1.11 to 5.74); Yanhouling mixture was more effective than the gentamicin atomised inhalation for acute pharyngitis (OR 5.39, 95% CI 2.69 to 10.81) for acute pharyngitis; and Qinganlan Liyan Hanpian was more effective than Fufang Caoshanhu Hanpian for chronic pharyngitis (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.08 to 4.67). Four four formulations were shown to be equal in efficacy to the control. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on the existing evidence included in this review, the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine for treating sore throat is controversial and questionable. We cannot recommend any kind of Chinese medical herbal formulation as an effective remedy for sore throat, due to the lack of high quality clinical trials.

Surface flow constructed wetland for heavy oil-produced water treatment.

Heavy oil-produced water from China' Liaohe Oilfield was purified in a surface flow constructed wetland (SFCW) during a 3-yr field experiment. Treatment showed high mean removal efficiencies of 80%, 93%, 88% and 86% for COD, oil, BOD and TKN, respectively for reed bed #1 and 71%, 92%, 77%, and 81% for COD, oil, BOD and TKN, respectively for reed bed #2. The results also showed that in the third year of the system's operation, the oil-produced water had mainly positive impacts on the reed's health parameters. Thus, reed can be used as a feasible wetland macrophyte for treating such wastewater, and this SFCW system can operate for a long time.

Puerarin injection for unstable angina pectoris.

BACKGROUND: Puerarin is extracted from the Chinese herb puerariae lobata. Many users of Chinese herbal medicine believe that puerarin has positive effects in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD). In recent years puerarin injection has been widely used to treat CHD and angina pectoris. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of puerarin injection for unstable angina. SEARCH STRATEGY: The following electronic databases were searched: The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register on The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2004), MEDLINE (1995 to 2004), EMBASE (1995 to 2004), CBM (1995 to 2004), Chinese Cochrane Centre Controlled Trials Register (to 2004), Current Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com) and The National Research Register. We also hand searched 60 Chinese traditional medicine journals. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials undertaken on adults with unstable angina evaluating the following types of interventions: Puerarin injection compared to western drugs or placebo, or puerarin injection used with western drugs compared to western drugs alone. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted and analysed independently by two reviewers. Differences in data extraction and analysis were resolved by consensus, referring back to the original article. Study authors were contacted for additional information. Adverse effects information was collected from the trials. MAIN RESULTS: 20 trials involving 1240 people were included. All trials identified were classified as having a high risk of bias because of poor reported methodology. The duration of treatment was 7-20 days and no information supplied suggested longer follow-ups were conducted for any trials. This limited the observation to participants who were not undertaking normal activities of daily living. The primary outcome (death) was not report in any trial. For all the secondary outcome measures, frequency of acute angina attacks, improvements in ECG, doses and incidence of nitroglycerine needed and levels of plasma endothelin, there was no evidence that puerarin had better or worse effects to other conventional treatments. There was strong evidence to suggest that puerarin injection plus western drugs was a better treatment option than western drugs alone. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Puerarin injection may be effective in unstable angina when used in addition to conventional treatments. However, these finding should be interpreted with care because of the very low methodological quality of studies and potential publication bias. In the light of the findings, a more rigorously designed, randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial is needed.

Vitamin A for non-measles pneumonia in children.

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory infections, mostly in the form of pneumonia, are the leading causes of death in children under five years of age in developing countries. Some clinical trials have demonstrated that vitamin A supplementation reduces the severity of respiratory infection and mortality in children with measles. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether adjunctive vitamin A is effective in infants and children diagnosed with non-measles pneumonia. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 4, 2004); MEDLINE (1996 to November Week 3, 2004); EMBASE (1990 to September 2004); LILACS (9 January 2004); CINAHL (1990 to November 2004); Biological Abstracts (1990 to November 2004) and Current Contents (1990 to September 2004); and the Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM) (1994 to November 2004). SELECTION CRITERIA: Only parallel-arm, randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials in which children (younger than 15 years old) with non-measles pneumonia were treated with adjunctive vitamin A were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. Study authors were contacted for additional information. MAIN RESULTS: Five trials involving 1453 infants and children were included. There was no significant reduction in the mortality associated with pneumonia in children treated with vitamin A compared to those who were not (pooled odds ratio (OR) 1.49; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66 to 3.35). In addition, there was a lack of a statistically significant effect on duration of stay in hospital (weighted mean difference (WMD) 0.08; 95% CI -0.43 to 0.59). Vitamin A was associated with a 39% reduction in antibiotic firstline failure (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.42 to 1.01). Children receiving vitamin A were no more likely to experience vomiting (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.45 to 1.33), diarrhoea (OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.31 to 1.05), bulging of the fontanelles (OR 8.25; 95% CI 0.44 to 155.37) or irritability (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.57) than those not receiving vitamin A. There was no statistical significance between vitamin A and placebo groups (OR 0.90; 95% CI -1.10 to 2.90) in chest x-ray results. Disease severity after supplementary high-dose vitamin A was significantly worse in children who received vitamin A compared with placebo. Low-dose vitamin A was associated with a significant reduction in the recurrent rate of bronchopneumonia (OR 0.12; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.46). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The evidence did not suggest a significant reduction with vitamin A adjunctive treatment in mortality, measures of morbidity, nor an effect on the clinical course of pneumonia in children with non-measles pneumonia. However, not all studies measured all outcomes, limiting the number of studies that could be incorporated into the meta-analyses, so that there may have been a lack of statistical power to detect statistically significant differences.

Chinese medicinal herbs for influenza.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is an acute respiratory communicable disease which can cause high morbidity and mortality in an epidemic. Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs following a particular theory may be a potential medicine of choice. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the therapeutic effect and adverse reaction of Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs in treating uncomplicated influenza. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2004); MEDLINE (January 1966 to October 2004); EMBASE (January 1988 to October 2004); CBM (Chinese Biomedical Database) (January 1980 to December 2003); and the Chinese Cochrane Center's Controlled Trials Register (up to December 2003). We also searched Current Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com) and the National Research Register (http://www.update-software.com/National/) for ongoing trials and reference lists of articles. We wrote to researchers in the field, or authors of studies evaluated in the review for more information. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing traditional Chinese medicinal herbs with placebo, or various other Chinese medicinal herbs, or with other current regimes normally used in care or comparing drugs with herbal preparations to simple drugs in treating defined uncomplicated influenza patients. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: At least two reviewers extracted data and assessed trial quality. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven studies with the number of participants ranged from 52 to 479. In total 2,088 participants were included in the review. As the interventions of the included studies were different from each other and most of the studies were of low quality, we did not perform a summary meta-analysis. Some of the studies showed positive results favouring Traditional Chinese medicinal herb treatment compared to antiviral or antipyretic-analgesic drugs or the combination of them. Only three studies mentioned adverse reactions but no detailed data were acquired in the included studies. Eleven studies with the number of participants ranged from 52 to 479, 2,088 in total were included. As the interventions of the included studies were different from each other and most of the studies were of low quality, we failed to perform a summary meta-analysis. Some of the studies showed positive results favouring Traditional Chinese medicinal herb treatment compared to antiviral or antipyretic-analgesic drugs or the combination of them. Only three studies mentioned adverse reactions but no detailed data was acquired in the included studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The small number of included studies and participants, as well as the low quality of most studies, made the evidence far from conclusive for clinical decision making, although traditional Chinese medicinal herbs as a whole seem to be comparatively or more effective compared to different chemical drugs. A certain herbal preparation could not be recommended for there was not enough evidence. More high quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with similar interventions are required to strengthen the evidence for the efficacy and safety of certain herbal preparation.

Phytodegradation of extra heavy oil-based drill cuttings using mature reed wetland: an in situ pilot study.

Environmental contamination caused by extra heavy oil-based drill cuttings (DCs) is a major problem in the Liaohe Oilfield, northeastern China. To study the potential effectiveness of the mature reed wetland in removing extra heavy oil contained in drill cuttings, biodegradation of extra heavy oils and study of the effects on soil property and ecophysiological and quality indices of reeds were carried out in a 2-year in situ pilot experiment. In the wetland, four reed beds were used to treat drill cuttings in various loadings: 0 (control), 5, 20, and 40 kg/m(2), corresponding to 150, 600, and 1200 g/m(2) extra heavy oil hydrocarbons (HCs). The obtained results demonstrate that the mature reed wetland was effective at degrading extra heavy oils without extra fertilization. Removal efficiencies of reed bed 2 in the 0- to 80-cm soil profile increased with time, from 90.1% (first harvest season) to 95.8% (second harvest season). After 2 years, only 4.2% of the initial hydrocarbons residual was retained in the surface soil. There was no apparent adverse effects on the surface soil property during degradation of extra heavy oils and, actually, the deeper soil property and reed quality indices were improved at the end of the experiment. Phytotoxicity, resulting in reduction of reed yield, was observed in the most heavily treated beds in the first year. However, long-term reed yield recovered robustly. During the 2-year period, reed height and leaf number were slightly inhibited.

Preparation and properties of a selenium-containing catalytic antibody as type I deiodinase mimic.

Conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine is an essential first step in controlling thyroid hormone action. Type I deiodinase (DI) can catalyze the conversion to produce the bulk of serum 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine. Acting as a mimic of DI, a selenium-containing catalytic antibody (Se-4C5) prepared by converting the serine residues of monoclonal antibody 4C5 raised against T4 into selenocysteines, can catalyze the deiodination of T4 with dithiothreitol (DTT) as cosubstrate. The mimic enzyme Se-4C5 exhibited a much greater deiodinase activity than model compound ebselen and another selenium-containing antibody Se-Hp4 against GSH. The coupling of selenocysteine with the combining pocket of antibody 4C5 endowed Se-4C5 with enzymatic activity. To probe the catalytic mechanism of the catalytic antibody, detailed kinetic studies were carried out in this paper. Investigations into the deiodinative reaction revealed the relationship between the initial velocity and substrate concentration. The characteristic parallel Dalziel plots demonstrated that Se-4C5-catalyzed reaction mechanism was ping-pong one, involving at least one covalent enzyme intermediate. The kinetic properties of the catalytic antibody were similar to those of DI, with Km values for T4 and DTT of approximately 0.8 microm and 1.8 mm, respectively, and a Vm value of 270 pmol per mg of protein per min. The activity could be sensitively inhibited by 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) with a K(i) value of approximately 120 microm at 2.0 microm T4 concentration. The PTU inhibition was progressively alleviated with the increasing concentration of added DTT, revealing that PTU was a competitive inhibitor for DTT.

Analysis of terpene compounds in Cimicifuga foetida L. by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection.

An RP-HPLC method with evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) was developed for the analysis of terpene compounds in traditional Chinese medicine. Actein, 27-deoxyactein and cimicifugoside in a typical Chinese medicine of Cimicifuga foetida L. were quantitatively analyzed. Comparing ELSD with UV detection under the same eluent conditions, the former showed better sensitivity and a more stable baseline. The ELSD responses versus sample size of three terpenes and those in double logarithmic were investigated. The good calibration curves in double logarithmic coordinator for actein, 27-deoxyactein and cimicifugoside were obtained. Three solutions for the extraction of the terpene compounds were also compared, the results indicated that methanol-water (80:20) is the best among them. The method was applied to quantify actein, 27-deoxyactein and cimicifugoside in Cimicifuga foetida L. from Hunan, China. It was shown that ELSD is an effective detection method for the analysis of the non-volatile terpenes in traditional Chinese medicine.

[An abzyme to catalytize the deiodination of thyroxine].

AIM: To mimic an important family of selenoenzymes in organism-thyroxine (T4) deiodinases and prepare a selenium-containing abzyme catalyzing deiodination of T4. METHODS: A anti-T4 monoclonal antibody was generated by hybridoma methodology and converted into a selenium-containing abzyme by the method of chemical modification. The catalytic activity of the enzyme was measured by RIA method. RESULTS: The abzyme displayed a marked activity of catalyzing deiodination of T4 and a higher specificity to the substrate T4 than that of natural enzyme, and the double reciprocal plots of the initial rates of T3 formation vs. T4 concentration yielded a family of parallel lines. The catalytic activity could be sensitively inhibited by 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU), a competitive inhibitor for dithiothreitol (DTT). CONCLUSION: An abzyme with the diodination activity was first prepared and the reaction mechanism of the enzyme was bisubstrate ping-pong one.

Analysis of bioactive components in traditional Chinese medicines by molecular biochromatography with alpha1-acid glycoprotein stationary phase.

Molecular biochromatography with alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) stationary phase was proposed to screen and analyse the biologically active components in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) with extracts from Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae as a tested sample. More than ten peaks were resolved based on their affinity to AGP. The effects of concentrations of acetonitrile, pH, concentration of inorganic salt and temperature on the retention behaviors of several major active components were also investigated, and it was found that the hydrophobic effect is the major contributor to retention. Tanshinone IIA was identified as one of the principal bioactive components, which is the marker for the quality control of Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and a complicated remedy named YiXiTongMai. The amount of tanshinone IIA in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and YiXiTongMai determined by this method was 2.9 mg/g (net weight, RSD 4.9%, n=5) and 0.078 mg/g (net weight, RSD 2.5%, n=3), respectively. The possibility for fast differentiation of the TCM sources was also studied by the comparison of the fingerprint of chromatograms for eight typical TCMs on the AGP column. It was observed that different TCMs showed different fingerprint characteristics. Even for the same plant, Rhizoma cimicifugae from three different geographical sources, although there were common characteristics, distinct differences in types and concentrations of biologically active components were clearly observed. It was shown that molecular biochromatography was an effective and fast way for the analysis and screening of biologically active compounds in traditional Chinese medicines.

Fractionation and analysis of Artemisia capillaris Thunb. by affinity chromatography with human serum albumin as stationary phase.

A method for the screening and analysis of biologically active compounds in traditional Chinese medicine is proposed. Affinity chromatography using a human serum albumin (HSA) stationary phase was applied to separate and analyze the bioactive compounds from Artemisia capillaris Thunb. Five major peaks and several minor peaks were resolved based on their affinity to HSA, two of them were identified as scoparone (SCO, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin) and capillarisin (CAP). CAP shows a much higher affinity to HSA than SCO. The effects of acetonitrile concentration, eluent pH, phosphate concentration and temperature on the retention behaviors of several major active components were also investigated, and it was found that hydrophobicity and eluent pH play major roles in changing retention values. The results demonstrate that the affinity chromatography with a HSA stationary phase is an effective way for analyzing and screening biologically active compounds in traditional Chinese medicine.