Simultaneous removal of nutrient and sulfonamides from marine aquaculture wastewater by concentrated and attached cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in an algal biofilm membrane photobioreactor (BF-MPBR).

Microalgae based wastewater treatment has attracted increasing attention for its many advantages in recent years. In this study, a novel microalgae biofilm membrane photobioreactor (BF-MPBR) was developed for the efficient microalgae cultivation and the removal of nutrient and sulfonamides (SAs) from marine aquaculture wastewater. Two BF-MPBRs with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day and 2 days respectively were continuously operated for 70 days without harvesting microalgae. Concentrated and attached culture of marine Chlorella vulgaris was achieved in these continuous flow BF-MPBRs due to the suspended solid carriers and microfiltration membrane module in the reactors. The algal biomass productivity achieved in BF-MPBRs with HRT of 1 day and 2 days were 14.02 and 22.03 mg L-1 day-1, respectively. In addition, at the end of the cultivation, 60.4% and 45.0% of microalgae were fixed into algal biofilm in BF-MPBRs with 1 day and 2 day HRT, respectively. Compared with batch cultivation, more efficient nutrient and SAs removal performance was achieved in BF-MPBRs, although the HRT of the BF-MPBRs used in this study was only 1 or 2 days. During the stable operation stage of the BF-MPBRs, the reduction in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethazine (SMZ) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) were found in the range of 91.0-99.6%, 92.1-98.4%, 61.0-79.2%, 50.0-76.7% and 60.8-82.1%, respectively. Therefore, nutrient and SAs were simultaneously and efficiently removed from marine aquaculture wastewater by microalgae cultivation in BF-MPBR.

Protective Effect of Hydroxysafflor Yellow A on Inflammatory Injury in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the attenuating effect of Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on inflammatory injury in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: Rats were randomly assigned to 7 groups according to body weight including normal control group, HSYA blank group (76.8 mg/kg), COPD group, COPD+HSYA (30, 48, 76.8 mg/kg) groups and COPD+dexamethasone (2 mg/kg), 10 in each group. Passive cigarette smoke and intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharides were used to establish a COPD model in rats. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of lung tissue sections was used, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to assay mRNA levels of some cytokines in lung tissues, the cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot analysis was used to determine phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) levels in lung tissues, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 protein levels in lung tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Lung alveolar septa destruction, alveolus fusion, inflammatory cell infiltration, and bronchiole exudation were observed. These pathological changes were alleviated in the COPD+HSYA group. The mRNA expression of inflammatory factors were significantly increased in lung tissues from COPD rats (all P<0.01) and were inhibited by HSYA. Levels of inflammatory cytokines in BALF of COPD rats were significantly increased (all P<0.01) which were inhibited by HSYA (all P<0.01, 48, 76.8 mg/kg). The levels of p38 MAPK phosphorylation and p65 in lung tissues of COPD rats were significantly increased (all P<0.01) and were suppressed by HSYA (all P<0.01, 48, 76.8 mg/kg). CONCLUSIONS: HSYA could alleviate inflammatory cell infiltration and other pathological changes in the lungs of COPD rats. HSYA inhibited inflammatory cytokine expression, and increase phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and NF-κB p65 in the lungs of COPD rats. The protective mechanism of HSYA to inhibit COPD inflammation might be by attenuating NF-κB and p38MAPK signal transduction.

Acupuncture for Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Context • Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is one of the most common complaints among young women. Acupuncture has been widely applied as a therapeutic modality in China and abroad for PD; however, the evidence for its benefits is still not convincing. Objective • The study intended to conduct a systematic review of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the evidence regarding the use of acupuncture in treating PD. Design • The research team retrieved reports for RCTs published in 7 databases from their inception to March 2016, with no language restrictions: PubMed, Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database, the Chinese Biomedical database, and the Wanfang database. Setting • The study was conducted at the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Beijing, China). Participants • Participants in the reviewed studies were women aged 14 to 49 y who had received a diagnosis of PD in the absence of any visible pelvic pathology. Interventions • The types of acupuncture included traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture, ear acupuncture, scalp acupuncture, superficial acupuncture, electrosuperficial acupuncture, wrist-ankle acupuncture, and abdominal acupuncture. Outcome Measures • The primary outcome was pain relief measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS), a verbal rating scale (VRS), or a numerical rating scale (NRS). The secondary outcomes included (1) overall improvement as measured by the short-form McGill pain questionnaire or symptom scale based on the Clinical Study Guideline for New Developed Chinese Medicine, (2) menstrual distress as measured by the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, (3) quality of life as measured by a validated scale (eg, the short-form 36), and (4) adverse effects. Results • Twenty-three trials enrolling a total of 2770 patients were included in the review. Overall, most trials were of poor quality. Among the trials, only 6 were evaluated as having a low risk of bias, 3 of which indicated that acupuncture was statistically more effective than sham acupuncture-mean difference (MD), -3.51; 95% confidence interval (CI), -5.27 to -1.75; P < .0001; I², 0%-or no treatment-MD, -21.95; 95% CI, -25.45 to -18.45; P < .00001; I², 0%-on the VAS (0 to 100 mm). Acupuncture also showed superiority to the control arms on the VRS, the NRS, and the McGill pain questionnaire, but those findings had been influenced by methodological flaws. Conclusions • The available evidence suggests that acupuncture may be effective for PD and justifies future high-quality studies.

Acupuncture for hot flashes in women with breast cancer: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture is applied worldwide in treating hot flashes (HFs), which may be a common complication experienced by women with breast cancer (BC). Although researches associated with the effect of acupuncture for HFs have been done by many people, there is a lack of comprehensive evaluation of the effect of this therapy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture for HFs in women with BC. METHODS: Seven databases (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wan Fang Database) were searched from their inceptions to June 2015 without language restrictions. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were aggregated to evaluate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for HFs in women with BC. RESULTS: Twelve RCTs were identified at last, and all of the studies agreed on the potential therapeutic effect of acupuncture for HFs in women with BC. However, three trials showed significant difference compared with the controls. One research demonstrated an encouraging trend, and six did not find any difference between acupuncture and controls. Another two trials got a negative result compared with hormone therapy. The meta-analysis indicated a difference in the number of HFs after treatment and during follow-up compared with the controls. Three trials reported Kupperman index scores, and meta-analysis showed significant difference between acupuncture and controls after treatment and during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture seems to be an effective therapy for HFs in women with BC; however, there was insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of acupuncture. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously, because of the poor quality and small number of included studies.

The Effects of Needling Fenglong (ST40) and Neiguan (PC6) on IL-17 of ApoE-Gene-Knockout Mice's Liver.

The aim of the present paper was to observe the effects of needling ST40 and PC6 on IL-17 of ApoE(-/-) mice with fatty liver. Forty male ApoE(-/-) mice were randomized into Needling-Acupoint Group, Simvastatin Intragastric Administration Group, Needling Nonacupoint Group, and Model Group. Each was fed with high fat diet for 8 weeks since 16 weeks of age; after 8 weeks of intervention, mice were sacrificed and tested for various examinations. Result showed that the body weight, TC, and serum IL-17 in Needling-Acupoint Group decreased. Compared with Model Group, the immunohistochemical expressions of IL-17 in liver tissue were significantly decreased among the other three groups. In conclusion, acupuncture was able to lower the expression of IL-17 level both in serum and liver tissue in ApoE(-/-) mice, which is helpful to reduce the inflammation and defers the progress from fatty liver to cirrhosis.