Impact of nitrogen application and crop stage on epiphytic microbial communities on silage maize leaf surfaces.

This study aimed to examine the impact of nitrogen (N) fertilization on phyllosphere microorganisms in silage maize (Zea mays) to enhance the production of high-quality silage. The effects of different N application rates (160, 240, and 320 kg ha-1) and maturity stages (flowering and dough stages) on microbial diversity, abundance and physiochemical properties of the leaf surfaces were evaluated in a field experiment. The results showed that N application rates did not significantly impact the abundance of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), aerobic bacteria (AB), yeasts, or molds on the leaf surfaces. However, these microbes were more abundant during the flowering stage compared to the dough stage. Furthermore, the N application rate had no significant impact on inorganic phosphorus, soluble sugar, free amino acids, total phenolic content, and soluble protein concentrations, or pH levels on the leaf surfaces. Notably, these chemical indices were lower during the dough stage. The abundance of Pantoea decreased with higher N application rates, while that of other microorganisms did not changes significantly. The abundance of AB, LAB, yeasts, and molds were positively correlated with soluble sugar, soluble protein, inorganic phosphorus, free amino acids, and total phenolic concentrations on leaf surfaces. Moreover, water loss was negatively correlated with the abundance of AB, LAB, yeasts, and molds, whereas water retention capacity and stomatal density were positively correlated with microbial abundance. We recommend applying an optimal N rate of 160 kg ha-1 to silage maize and harvesting at the flowering stage is recommended.

Electrophysiological mechanisms of motion-style scalp acupuncture for treating poststroke spasticity in rats. / è¿åŠ¨å¤´é’ˆæ³•æŠ—å’ä¸­åŽç—‰æŒ›æ•ˆåº”çš„ç”µç”Ÿç†æœºåˆ¶ç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To observe the effect of motion-style scalp acupuncture (MSSA) on H-reflex in rats with post-stroke spasticity (PSS), so as to explore the electrophysiological mechanisms of MSSA against spasticity. METHODS: A total of 36 male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation, model and MSSA groups, with 12 rats in each group. The stroke model was established by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. After modeling, rats in the MSSA group were treated by scalp acupuncture (manipulated every 15 min, 200 r/min) at ipsilesional "parietal and temporal anterior oblique line" (MS6) for a total of 30 min, the treadmill training (10 m/min) was applied during the needling retention, once daily for consecutive 7 days. The neurological deficits, muscle tone and motor function were assessed by Zea Longa score, modified modified Ashworth scale (MMAS) score and screen test score before and after treatment, respectively. The H-reflex of spastic muscle was recorded by electrophysiological recordings and the frequency dependent depression (FDD) of H-reflex was also recorded. The cerebral infarction volume was evaluated by TTC staining. RESULTS: Compared with the sham operation group, the Zea longa score, MMAS score, cerebral infarction volume, motion threshold, Hmax/Mmax ratio and FDD of H-reflex were significantly increased (P<0.01), while the screen test score was significantly decreased (P<0.01) in the model group. Intriguingly, compared with the model group, the above results were all reversed (P<0.01) in the MSSA group. CONCLUSIONS: MSSA could exert satisfactory anti-spastic effects in rats with PSS, the underlying mechanism may be related to the improvement of nerve function injury, the reduction of spastic muscle movement threshold, Hmax/Mmax ratio and H-reflex FDD.

Visualizing Research Trends and Identifying Hotspots of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Nursing Technology for Insomnia: A 18-Years Bibliometric Analysis of Web of Science Core Collection.

Objective: To explore the research hotspot and frontier direction of TCM nursing of insomnia and provide reference for the follow-up study of the optimal scheme of TCM nursing of insomnia. Background: Insomnia is a common sleep-wake disorder, affects 6-10% of adults and was associated with independent higher risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. TCM Nursing Techniques of insomnia has a long history and has shown a definite impact. However, it's still lack of analysis in the field of the most commonly used and effective techniques, as well as the co-morbidities associated with insomnia. Therefore, the database was searched and analyzed to find effective TCM Nursing Techniques for insomnia and related diseases related to insomnia. Method: Randomized controlled trials on the intervention of TCM Nursing Techniques in insomnia were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection and imported into CiteSpace 5.6.R5 visualization software. The works of literature were co-cited by keywords authors and institutions for visual analysis, and the co-morbidities associated with insomnia of TCM Nursing Techniques in literature was extracted manually. The symptoms of co-morbidities associated with insomnia were imported into Cytoscape 3.9.0 software and clustered by CytoHubba. Result: As of October 20, 2021, the literature published in the last 20 years from Web of Science Core Collection was screened, and the publication period of the included literature was from 2004 to 2021. From 2016 to now, the total number of articles has been increasing. A total of 146 articles were included, and the highest production year was 2020. There is little cooperation between states, institutions, and authors. China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Hong Kong Polytech University are leading countries and institutions in this area. MYUNGHAENG HUR is the most cited author, and J ALTERN COMPLEM MED is the most cited journal. According to cluster analysis and keyword frequency, auricular therapy, aromatherapy, and acupressure are the three most commonly used techniques. While the top five co-morbidities are fatigue, anxiety, depression, pain and hemodialysis. The three frontier topics and the main research directions are sleep quality, comorbid insomnia and clinical trial design. Conclusion: We found that acupressure, aromatherapy, and auricular acupoint therapy are the most commonly used nursing methods of TCM to intervene in insomnia. However, these studies have limitations such as small sample size, lack of objectivity in evaluating sleep quality, and high heterogeneity of intervention measures, which are not conducive to forming TCM clinical nursing guidelines. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt objectified sleep quality evaluation methods, select suitable acupoints according to TCM theories, and design multi-center large-sample clinical trials based on the safety principle of randomized blind control. This study provides an in-depth perspective for insomnia research on TCM Nursing Techniques and includes information for follow-up research on TCM Nursing Techniques of insomnia.

Effects of Sini San used alone and in combination with fluoxetine on central and peripheral 5-HT levels in a rat model of depression.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Sini San and fluoxetine on the levels of central and peripheral 5-HT in a rat model of depression, and provide new insight into the treatment of depression with integrated Chinese-Western Medicine. METHODS: A rat model of depression was established by chronic mild stress (CMS). Model rats received either Sini San, fluoxetine, a combination of the two drugs, or no drug treatment. Healthy naive rats were used as controls. Open field and sucrose preference tests were used to assess depression-like behavior. ELISA and immunohistochemistry were used to determine central and peripheral levels of 5-HT. RESULTS: In the group with no drug treatment, central 5-HT expression decreased while peripheral 5-HT concentrations increased as CMS continued. Four weeks after CMS, Sini San alone was less effective in reducing depression-like behavior than fluoxetine alone or in combination with Sini San, but combined use was more effective than fluoxetine alone. Eight weeks after CMS, Sini San alone or in combination with fluoxetine was more effective in reducing depression-like behavior than fluoxetine alone. Furthermore Sini San and fluoxetine used alone or in combination notably increased central 5-HT expression and decreased peripheral 5-HT levels in the rat model. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that there is a synergistic action between the two medicines in the treatment of depression. Sini San exhibited a relatively long lag before its effects were observed; however, by eight weeks the Traditional Chinese Medicine appeared at least as effective as fluoxetine. We suggest that Sini San can replace fluoxetine in the later stages of depression treatment to minimize side effects observed with long-term fluoxetine administration.

The active ingredients of Jiang-Zhi-Ning: study of the Nelumbo nucifera alkaloids and their main bioactive metabolites.

The object of this study was to identify the major active ingredients of the Chinese Traditional Medicine Jiang-Zhi-Ning (JZN) based on the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiles of plasma samples obtained from beagle dogs at different times after intragastric administration of JZN, crude JZN extracts, different extracted fractions, different subfractions of the active fraction and different isolated ingredients. 2-Hydroxy-1-methoxyaporphin (2H1M), an alkaloid from Nelumbo nucifera, one of the herbs that make up JZN, was identified as the constituent showing the major pharmacodynamic effect. The major metabolites of 2H1M were analyzed and identified as N-demethyl-2-hydroxy-1-methoxyaporphine-2-O-glycuronic acid, 2-hydroxy-1-methoxy-aporphine-2-O-glycuronic acid and 2-hydroxy-1-methoxy-aporphine-2-O-sulphate. This study provided a comprehensive insight into the active components of JZN.

Study on TCM Syndrome Identification Modes of Coronary Heart Disease Based on Data Mining.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most important types of heart disease because of its high incidence and high mortality. TCM has played an important role in the treatment of CHD. Syndrome differentiation based on information from traditional four diagnostic methods has met challenges and questions with the rapid development and wide application of system biology. In this paper, methods of complex network and CHAID decision tree were applied to identify the TCM core syndromes of patients with CHD, and to establish TCM syndrome identification modes of CHD based on biological parameters. At the same time, external validation modes were also constructed to confirm the identification modes.

Metabolomics-based study of clinical and animal plasma samples in coronary heart disease with blood stasis syndrome.

The aim of this study is to explore a bridge connecting the mechanism basis and macro syndromes of coronary heart disease with experimental animal models. GC-MS technique was used to detect the metabolites of plasma samples in mini swine models with myocardial infarction (MI) and patients with unstable angina (UA). 30 metabolites were detected in the plasma samples of more than 50 percent of model group and control group in swine, while 37 metabolites were found in the plasma samples of UA patients and healthy control group. 21 metabolites in the plasma samples of swine model and 20 metabolites in patients with UA were found of significant value. Among which, 8 shared metabolites were found of low level expression in both swine model and UA patients. Independent Student's t-test, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchicalcluster analysis (HCA) were orderly applied to comprehend inner rules of variables in the data. The 8 shared metabolites could take place of the 21 or 20 metabolites in classification of swine model with MI and UA patients, which could be considered as a bridge connecting the mechanism basis and macrosyndromes of swine model with MI and UA patients.

The effects of jiang-zhi-ning and its main components on cholesterol metabolism.

To examine how Jiang-Zhi-Ning (JZN) regulates cholesterol metabolism and compare the role of its four main components. We established a beagle model of hyperlipidemia, fed with JZN extract and collected JZN-containing serum 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h later. Human liver cells Bel-7402 were stimulated with 10% JZN-containing serum as well as the four main components of JZN and Atorvastatin. The mRNA expression of LDL receptor (LDL-R), 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoAR), cytochrome P450 7A1 (CYP7A1), and acetyl-Coenzyme A acetyltransferase 2 (ACAT2) was measured by real-time PCR. LDL-R surface expression and LDL-binding and internalization were examined by flow cytometry. The results showed that JZN-containing serum significantly increased the mRNA expression of LDL-R, HMG-CoAR, and CYP7A1 in Bel-7402 cells. All the four components significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of LDL-R and HMG-CoAR and decreased the mRNA and protein expression of ACAT2 in Bel-7402 cells. Hyperinand chrysophanol also markedly increased the mRNA expression of CYP7A1. Stimulation with stilbene glycosidesignificantly increased the surface expression of LDL-R and the binding and internalization of LDL. In conclusion, JZN and its four components have close relationship with the process of cholesterol metabolism, emphasizing their promising application as new drug candidates in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.