Characterization and Antioxidant Evaluation of Four Kinds of Marine Oils in vitro.

The objective of this study was to characterize the lipid class and fatty acid composition of four kinds of marine oils including Phaeodactylum tricornutum oil (PO), Laminaria japonica oil (LO), krill oil (KO) and fish oil (FO), and evaluate their antioxidant capacities in vitro. The results indicated that compared to other three oils, PO showed the highest contents of total lipids and fucoxanthin (194.70 and 7.48 mg/g dry weight, respectively), the relatively higher content of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (30.94 % in total fatty acids), and total phenolic content (675.88 mg gallic acid equivalent /100 g lipids), thereby contribute to great advantages in scavenging free radicals such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), peroxyl radical, as well as reducing FRAP value. In conclusion, PO should be considered as a potential ingredient for dietary supplement with antioxidant capacity.

[Applying local neural network and visible/near-infrared spectroscopy to estimating available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soil].

To establish the quantitative relationship between soil spectrum and the concentration of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soil, the critical procedures of a new analysis method were examined, involving spectral preprocessing, wavebands selection and adoption of regression methods. As a result, a soil spectral analysis model was built using VIS/NIRS bands, with multiplicative scatter correction and first-derivative for spectral preprocessing, and local nonlinear regression method (Local regression method of BP neural network). The coefficients of correlation between the chemically determined and the modeled available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for predicted samples were 0.90, 0.82 and 0.94, respectively. It is proved that the prediction of local regression method of BP neural network has better accuracy and stability than that of global regression methods. In addition, the estimation accuracy of soil available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was increased by 40.63%, 28.64% and 28.64%, respectively. Thus, the quantitative analysis model established by the local regression method of BP neural network could be used to estimate the concentration of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium rapidly. It is innovative for using local nonlinear method to improve the stability and reliability of the soil spectrum model for nutrient diagnosis, which provides technical support for dynamic monitoring and process control for the soil nutrient under different growth stages of field-growing crops.

Astragaloside IV attenuates inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting TLR4/NF-кB signaling pathway in isoproterenol-induced myocardial hypertrophy.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Astragaloside IV (As IV) is one of the main effective components isolated from the traditional Chinese medical herb Astragalus membranaceus. The protective effect of Astragalus membranaceus on myocardial hypertrophy has been extensively proved. To test the hypothesis that Astragaloside IV can ameliorate the myocardial hypertrophy and inflammatory effect induced by ß-adrenergic hyperactivity, we carried out in vivo and in vitro experiments. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In in vivo study, the isoproterenol (Iso) (5 mg kg(-1) d(-1)) was used as a model of myocardial hypertrophy by intraperitoneal injection. SD rats were randomly assigned to following six groups: A: the control; B: Iso group; C: Iso plus As IV 20 mg kg(-1) d(-1); D: Iso plus As IV 40 mg kg(-1) d(-1); E: Iso plus As IV 80 mg kg(-1) d(-1); F: Iso plus Propranolol 40 mg kg(-1) d(-1). In in vitro study, cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were pretreated with As IV (3, 10, 30 µ mol L(-1)), Propranolol (2 µ mol L(-1)) and BAY11-7082 (5 µ mol L(-1)) for 30 min, and then incubated with Iso (10 µ mol L(-1)) for 48 h. For the rats in each group, the heart mass index (HMI) and the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured. To measure the transverse diameter of left ventricular myocardial cells (TDM), the hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining method was applied. In addition, the volume and the total protein content of cardiomyocytes were measured, the mRNA expression of ANP and TLR4 were quantified by RT-PCR, the protein expression of TLR4, IκBα and p65 were quantified by Western blot, and the level of TNF-α and IL-6 were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: In vivo: Comparing the Iso group to the control, the HMI, LVMI, TDM were significantly increased; the protein expression of TLR4 and p65 were increased, while the IκBα were decreased; the expression of ANP, TLR4 mRNA, and TNF-α, IL-6 in serum were significantly increased. These changes could be partly prevented by As IV and Pro. In vitro: the over-expression of the cell size, total protein content could remarkably down-regulated by As IV and Pro, and the results of RT-PCR, Western blot and ELISA were similar to those of in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: The results of these studies indicate that Astragaloside IV has good protective effect on myocardial hypertrophy induced by isoproterenol. More specifically, the cardioprotection is related to inhibiting the TLR4/NF-кB signaling pathway and the attenuating inflammatory effect.

Genome-wide identification of Dicer-like, Argonaute and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene families and their expression analyses in response to viral infection and abiotic stresses in Solanum lycopersicum.

Dicer, Argonaute and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase form the core components to trigger RNA silencing. Although tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a dicotyledon model plant, no systematic analysis and expression profiling of these genes in tomato has been undertaken previously. In this study, seven Dicer-like (SlDCLs), 15 Argonaute (SlAGOs) and six RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (SlRDRs) genes were identified in tomato. These genes were categorized into four subgroups based on phylogenetic analyses. Comprehensive analyses of gene structure, genomic localization and similarity among these genes were performed. Their expression patterns were investigated by means of expression models in different tissues and organs using online data and semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Many of the candidate genes were up-regulated in response to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus infection and abiotic stresses. The expression models of tandem gene duplications among SlDCL2s indicated the DCL2 family plays an important role in the evolution of tomato.

Peridural injection of Mailuoning compound liquor for treatment of prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc in 100 cases.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effects of peridural injection of Mailuoning Compound Liquor for prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc (PLID). METHODS: Peridural injection of Mailuoning Compound Liquor (MCL) was given to 100 cases of PLID, once a week, 4 sessions constituting a therapeutic course. By adopting the scoring method, observations were carried out on the total therapeutic effect and changes in the 13 items of the symptoms and signs. RESULTS: After treatment, the JOA scores in this series of patients were markedly enhanced as compared with the scores before treatment, showing significant differences in the paired t test (P<0.05). The sum of the excellent and good rates was 64%, and the total effective rate was 97%. All the scores in the 13 items under observation were significantly raised as compared with the scores before treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Peridural injection of MCL is an effective and safe therapy for PLID, and with shorter treating course, quicker therapeutic effects, and less suffering for the patients.

[Influence of sample loading and test conditions on NIR veracity and study of analysis error source].

The influence of sample test conditions on the NIR veracity was studied with homemade grating diffuse NIR instrument using Yunnan flue-cured tobacco. Deducing analysis error was achieved by model self-emendation when a global NIR model was set up. Without regarding the influence of loading samples and test conditions, the test repetition error, re-loading error and samples tightness error, which were brought by instrument S/N, accounted for 50%, 30% and 20% of the total error, respectively. Depressing sample could reduce errors brought by sample tightness. Changes in test conditions could bring more analysis error, which was larger than the total of repetition error. These results theoretically explain the influence of sample test conditions on the NIR analysis veracity, which can provide basic theory data for farther improvement of homemade instrument and offer a new idea for resolving this problem.

[Influence of sample annum and distribution of chemical values on NIR veracity].

The influence of sample annum and the distribution of sample component on NIR veracity was studied with homemade grating diffuse NIR instrument using Yunnan flue-cured tobacco. Results showed that sample annum had an obvious influence on the total sugar and nicotine models, but had an unconspicuous influence on the total-nitrogen model. Models set up by samples, whose component content distribution was normal school, was better than those set up by even distribution. The conclusion in this study has a significant referenced value for the method and principle to select representative samples to modeling from a large amount of specimens.

[New technology for sample preprocessing in NIR analysis].

Sample's moisture content and granularity would have an important influence on NIR veracity. Preprocesssing methods have been used for NIR analysis to achieve better NIR veracity. With Yunnan flue-cured tobacco as study materials, the authors innovatively applied microwave fast drying technology and home pulverizer to tobacco preprocessing, which could finish the preprocessing in 5 min, faster than the traditional methods such as oven drying and sifting. Results showed that: microwave fast drying technology could improve NIR analysis veracity when samples' moisture content had a wide range; influence of samples' granularity on NIR veracity could be eliminated after 25 s home pulverizer shatter. This study can offer a new method for NIR analysis workers to simplify NIR preprocessing.