A Smart Pesticide-Controlled Release Platform with Dual Stimuli-Responsive Functions for Enhanced Treatment of Plant Black Shank.

Realizing controllable input of botanical pesticides is conducive to improving pesticide utilization, reducing pesticide residues, and avoiding environmental pollution but is extremely challenging. Herein, we constructed a smart pesticide-controlled release platform (namely, SCRP) for enhanced treatment of tobacco black shank based on encapsulating honokiol (HON) with mesoporous hollow structured silica nanospheres covered with pectin and chitosan oligosaccharide (COS). The SCRP has a loading capacity of 12.64% for HON and could effectively protect HON from photolysis. Owing to the pH- and pectinase-sensitive property of the pectin, the SCRP could smartly release HON in response to a low pH or a rich pectinase environment in the black shank-affected area. Consequently, the SCRP effectively inhibits the infection of P. nicotianae on tobacco with a controlled rate for tobacco black shank of up to 87.50%, which is mainly due to the SCRP's capability in accumulating ROS, changing cell membrane permeability, and affecting energy metabolism. In addition, SCRP is biocompatible, and the COS layer enables SCRP to show a significant growth-promoting effect on tobacco. These results indicate that the development of a stimuli-responsive controlled pesticide release system for plant disease control is of great potential and value for practical agriculture production.

Associating modifiable lifestyle factors with multimorbidity in community dwelling individuals from mainland China.

AIMS: Lifestyle factors have been well-established as essential targets for fighting individual chronic diseases, but little research has concentrated on multimorbidity from the perspective of multiple lifestyle factors in the Chinese population. Thus, this study aimed to explore the associations of lifestyle factors with the occurrence of multimorbidity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cross-sectional data retrieved from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were used for analysis. Multimorbidity was calculated on a simple count of self-reported chronic conditions. Lifestyle factors included sleep duration, physical activity, alcohol intake, smoking status, and body mass index. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the independent and accumulating effects of lifestyle factors on multimorbidity. Latent class analysis was performed to explore the lifestyle patterns. Six thousand, five hundred, and ninety-one valid subjects were included for analysis. Overall, the community dweller's median number of chronic conditions was 1 (range 1-11) and median number of high-risk lifestyle factors was 2 (range 0-5). All lifestyle factors were associated with the occurrence of multimorbidity but varied between genders. We also identified that participants who accumulated more unhealthy lifestyle factors having a higher likelihood of multimorbidity. 'Physical activity and weight', 'smoke and drink', and 'sleep and weight' dominated high-risk lifestyles were the most common lifestyle patterns. CONCLUSION: This study revealed the associations of unhealthy lifestyle factors and their accumulating effect with multimorbidity in Chinese community dwellers. Three common lifestyle patterns indicated that a holistic approach focused on engaging and changing multiple modifiable lifestyle behaviours within an individual might be more effective in managing multimorbidity.

Menopausal transition experiences and management strategies of Chinese immigrant women: a scoping review.

IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVE: Chinese immigrants are among some of the fastest growing groups in many Western countries, and experience challenges such as language barriers, education gaps, and gender discrimination, which highlights the need for special attention and consideration in Western health care. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize existing research on the menopausal experiences of Chinese immigrant women (CIW). METHODS: This scoping review was written in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, AgeLine, ERIC, ProQuest, Nursing and Allied Health Database, PsycARTICLES, Sociology Database, and Education Research Complete were utilized for the literature search. Articles were included if they examined CIW experiencing menopausal transition. A total of 18 studies were included for review. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Findings suggested that CIW experienced a variety of physical symptoms, including muscle and joint pain, urogenital symptoms, vasomotor symptoms, weight gain, decreased physical strength, vision changes, and skin changes. Muscle and joint pain were particularly prevalent and emphasized. CIW also experienced psycho-behavioral symptoms including emotional changes, depression, memory loss, and sexual dysfunction. However, they had a decreased concern regarding symptoms of sexual dysfunction and decreased libido when compared with women from Western cultures. CIW interpreted menopause as a natural aging process involving the next step in life. Cultural expectations of stoicism and silence may cause immigrant women to be less vocal about their menopause experiences and result in feelings of loneliness. Acculturation may be both a facilitator and a barrier to a healthy menopausal transition. CIW were resistant to Western Medicine management such as hormone therapy but were willing to incorporate traditional medicine into their health care. They believed that a healthy mentality was important and used various psychocognitive strategies to maintain a good quality of life. Healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers need to consider the unique characteristics of CIW's menopausal transition in research, intervention innovation, and practice.

Solar composting greenhouse for organic waste treatment in fed-batch mode: Physicochemical and microbiological dynamics.

Composting is a sustainable means of managing organic waste, and solar composters offer a viable solution in rural areas lacking connection to municipal power supplies. This study tracked the physicochemical and microbiological changes that occur in a solar composting greenhouse during the treatment of food and green cellulosic waste in fed-batch mode, which remain poorly understood. Solar composting greenhouse performed well on waste reduction and nutrient retention, resulting in a 45.0-58.8% decrease in feedstock volume over 12-day composting cycles, a 41% removal in dry matter after three batches of composting, and 29.5%, 252.9% and 96.6% increase in the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content respectively after 42 days of composting. Batch feeding and composting jointly influenced microbiological succession by altering the physicochemical properties of compost. The contents of nitrogen and phosphorus, pH, and electrical conductivity significantly accounts for variations in culturable microbial populations. The succession of dominant bacterial genera such as Lactobacillus, Pseudoxanthomonas, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas were closely related to pH, cellulose, NH4+-N, carbon content, and temperature. In addition, Pichia kudriavzevii, Thermomyces lanuginosus, and Scopulariopsis brevicaulis successively became the dominant fungal species during composting. Preliminary compost quality assessments showed that solar composting greenhouse has a high potentiality to transform organic waste into organic fertilizer. Additionally, corresponding purposeful suggestions were proposed for future optimization in this system, mainly from a microbiological aspect.

A Smartphone App (mDASHNa-CC) to Support Healthy Diet and Hypertension Control for Chinese Canadian Seniors: Protocol for Design, Usability and Feasibility Testing.

BACKGROUND: This proposed study aims to translate the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension with Sodium (Na) Reduction for Chinese Canadians (DASHNa-CC), a classroom-based, antihypertensive, dietary educational intervention, to an innovative smartphone app (mDASHNa-CC). This study will enable Chinese Canadian seniors to access antihypertensive dietary interventions anytime, regardless of where they are. It is hypothesized that senior Chinese Canadians will be satisfied with their experiences using the mDASHNa-CC app and that the use of this app could lead to a decrease in their blood pressure and improvement in their health-related quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to design and test the usability and feasibility of a smartphone-based dietary educational app to support a healthy diet and hypertension control for Chinese Canadian seniors. METHODS: A mixed-method two-phase design will be used. The study will be conducted in a Chinese immigrant community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Chinese Canadian seniors, who are at least 65 years old, self-identified as Chinese, living in Canada, and with elevated blood pressure, will be recruited. In Phase I, we will design and test the usability of the app using a user-centered approach. In Phase II, we will test the feasibility of the app, including implementation (primary outcomes of accrual and attrition rates, technical issues, acceptability of the app, and adherence to the intervention) and preliminary effectiveness (secondary outcomes of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, health-related quality of life, and health service utilization), using a pilot, two-group, randomized controlled trial with a sample size of 60 participants in a Chinese Canadian community. RESULTS: The study is supported by the Startup Research Grant from Nipissing University, Canada. The research ethics application is under review by a university research ethics review board. CONCLUSIONS: The study results will make several contributions to the existing literature, including illustrating the rigorous design and testing of smartphone app technology for hypertension self-management in the community, exploring an approach to incorporating traditional medicine into chronic illness management in minority communities and promoting equal access to current technology among minority immigrant senior groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03988894; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03988894. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/15545.

Polyphenol-Rich Extracts from Brown Macroalgae Lessonia trabeculate Attenuate Hyperglycemia and Modulate Gut Microbiota in High-Fat Diet and Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.

Brown macroalgae are an important source of polyphenols with multiple health functions. In this work, polyphenol extracts from Lessonia trabeculate were purified and investigated for the antidiabetic activity in vitro and in vivo. The purified polyphenol extracts exhibited good antioxidant activities, α-glucosidase and lipase inhibition activities (IC50 < 0.25 mg/mL). The HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS analysis indicated that the compounds in polyphenol extracts were mainly phlorotannin derivatives, phenolic acid derivatives, and gallocatechin derivatives. In vivo, C57BL/6J rats treated with polyphenol extracts for 4 weeks had lower fasting blood glucose levels, insulin levels, as well as better serum lipid profiles and antioxidant stress parameters, compared with the diabetic control (DC) group. Histopathology revealed that polyphenol extracts preserved the architecture and function of the liver. Short-chain fatty acid contents in rats' fecal samples with polyphenols administration were significantly recovered as compared with the DC group. Furthermore, the gut microflora of rats was investigated with high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and results indicated that polyphenol extracts had a positive effect on regulating the dysbiosis of the microbial ecology in diabetic rats. All of the results from the study provided a scientific reference of the potentially beneficial effects of L. trabeculate polyphenols on diabetes management.

Monitoring and Analysis of Chinese Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Who Have Stopped Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy.

Discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy after achieving a persistent deep molecular response (DMR) is an urgently needed treatment goal for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients and has been included in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines (version 2.2017) for CML. Indeed, various studies have confirmed the feasibility of discontinuing TKI therapy. In this study, we analyzed data from 45 CML patients who had discontinued TKI therapy. Univariate analysis was performed to predict factors that were potentially related to treatment-free remission (TFR) and identify the differences between early relapse and late relapse. Out of the 45 patients, 20 exhibited molecular relapse after a median follow-up of 18 months (range, 1-54 months), and the estimated TFR at 24 months was 40%. The univariate analysis revealed that a high Sokal score and interruptions or dose reductions during TKI treatment were the only baseline factors associated with poor outcomes. Our results indicate that TKI discontinuation could be successfully put into practice in China.

Hypertension Prevalence, Health Service Utilization, and Participant Satisfaction: Findings From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial in Aged Chinese Canadians.

Responding to high prevalence of hypertension and patients' preference of integrating traditional Chinese medicine for blood pressure control, the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension With Sodium Reduction for Chinese Canadian (DASHNa-CC) intervention was newly designed as a culturally sensitive dietary educational intervention to facilitate middle-aged and senior Chinese Canadians' blood pressure control in community. The aim of this study was to report the hypertension prevalence rate according to the data from blood pressure screening events, to describe the characteristics of health service utilization among aged Chinese Canadians, and to report the evaluation of participant satisfaction to the DASHNa-CC intervention. This study was designed as a pilot randomized controlled trial with a sample size of 60. Among 618 Chinese Canadians participated in blood pressure screening events, 54.5% (n = 337) having various levels of hypertension. Across 2 months, 38 (63.3%) participants made a total of 47 visits to see their family physicians; 20 (33.3%) participants consulted their family members 224 times for lifestyle modifications and hypertension self-management. Various forms of Chinese media were frequently used as sources of health care information, and English media were rarely accessed. Participants highly satisfied with the contents, delivery approaches, and integration of traditional Chinese medicine in the intervention. Results indicated that middle-aged and senior Chinese Canadians have high hypertension prevalence and specific characteristics of health service utilization. It is important to implement interventions, which are culturally tailored, language appropriate, using proper technology and incorporating traditional Chinese medicine, in Chinese Canadian community for hypertension control.

Diet and Blood Pressure Control in Chinese Canadians: Cultural Considerations.

Hypertension is highly prevalent in Chinese Canadians and diet has been identified as an important modifiable risk factor for hypertension. The current anti-hypertensive dietary recommendations in hypertension care guidelines lack examination of cultural factors, are not culturally sensitive to ethnic populations, and cannot be translated to Chinese Canadian populations without cultural considerations. Guided by Leininger's Sunrise Model of culture care theory, this paper investigates how cultural factors impact Chinese Canadians' dietary practice. It is proposed that English language proficiency, health literacy, traditional Chinese diet, migration and acculturation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine influence Chinese Canadians' dietary practices. A culturally congruent nursing intervention should be established and tailored according to related cultural factors to facilitate Chinese Canadians' blood pressure control. In addition, further study is needed to test the model adapted from Sunrise Model and understand its mechanism.

Traditional Chinese Medicine, Food Therapy, and Hypertension Control: A Narrative Review of Chinese Literature.

Despite the lack of English literature about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) food therapy, there is abundant Chinese literature about the application of food therapy for hypertension control. This paper summarizes basic concepts of TCM, the principles of food therapy and its application for hypertension control according to Chinese literature. In TCM, food is conceptualized according to both nutritional and functional aspects, and can be used to treat illnesses. Four principles of TCM food therapy including light eating, balancing the "hot" and "cold" nature of food, the harmony of the five flavors of food, and consistency between dietary intake and different health conditions, can be used to facilitate hypertension control. Based on a statistical analysis of antihypertensive foods recommended in 20 books on the application of food therapy for hypertension control, the 38 most frequently recommended are celery, tomato, banana, hawthorn, garlic, onion, seaweed, apple, corn, green beans, persimmon, laver, kiwi, watermelon, eggplant, carrots, mushroom, peanut, soy products, sea cucumber, buckwheat, garland chrysanthemum, spinach, honey, dairy products, vinegar, black fungus, jellyfish, green onion, shepherd's purse, soybean, potato, pear, winter melon, bitter melon, oat, pea, and tea. Food therapy emphasizes the therapeutic effects of food, considering its nature, taste, and function on human balanced health, which leads to optimal blood pressure control. Current literature suggests that food therapy is effective in blood pressure control and can be incorporated into blood pressure self-management in the Chinese population.

[Optimization of experimental parameters for quantitative NMR (qNMR) and its application in quantitative analysis of traditional Chinese medicines].

Quantitative NMR (qNMR) is a technology based on the principle of NMR. This technology does not need the references of the determined components, which supplies a solution for the problem of reference scarcity in the quantitative analysis of traditional Chinese medicines. Moreover, this technology has the advantages of easy operation, non-destructiveness for the determined sample, high accuracy and repeatability, in comparison with HPLC, LC-MS and GC-MS. NMR technology has achieved quantum leap in sensitivity and accuracy with the development of NMR hardware. In addition, the choice of appropriate experimental parameters of the pre-treatment and measurement procedure as well as the post-acquisition processing is also important for obtaining high-quality and reproducible NMR spectra. This review summarizes the principle of qHNMR, the various experimental parameters affecting the accuracy and the precision of qHNMR, such as signal to noise ratio, relaxation delay, pulse width, acquisition time, window function, phase correction and baseline correction, and their corresponding optimized methods. Moreover, the application of qHNMR in the fields of quantitation of single or multi-components of traditional Chinese medicines, the purity detection of references, and the quality analysis of foods has been discussed. In addition, the existing questions and the future application prospects of qNMR in natural product areas are also presented.

[Quality standard study on Vigna radiata].

In order to control the quality of Vigna radiata, the quality control method and standard were established in this study. The tests of water content, ash and ethanol-soluble extractives of V. radiata were carried out according to the methods recoded in appendix of Chinese Pharmacopeia (2010 edition, volume 1). The TLC method was established by using vitexin and isovitexin as references, and a mixture of acetate-method-water (10: 1.7 : 1.3) as the developing solvent system on GF254 thin layer plate. The contents of vitexin and isovitexin were determined by HPLC on a Prevail C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column, using acetonitrile: water (23 : 77) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1). The column temperature is 30 degrees C and the detection wavelength is 337 nm. As a result, vitexin, isovitexin and the other constituents were well separated on TLC detected under the UV light (254 nm). The methodology validation for the assay of vitexin and isovitexin presented that they were in good linear correlation in the ranges of 6.12-98 mg x L(-1) and 6.85-109.6 mg x L(-1), with the regression equations of Y = 46.213X - 7.100 (r = 1.000) and Y = 54.515X + 6.829 (r = 1.000), and the average recoveries were 98.2% (RSD 1.9%) and 97.2% (RSD 0.79%), respectively. The content ranges of vitexin and isovitexin from 25 different batches of V. radiata were 1.076-2.062 mg x g(1) and 1.127-2.303 mg x g(-1), respectively. suggesting that the qualities of V. radiata are relatively stable. The ethanol-soluble extractives, water content and total ash of 25 samples varied in the ranges of 13.27% - 18.46%, 9.59% - 12.43% and 2.63% - 3.53%, respectively. All of the above data proved that the established quality of control method V. radiata is specific and accurate, which can be used for the quality control of this drug.

Triptolide attenuates idiopathic pneumonia syndrome in a mouse bone marrow transplantation model by down-regulation of IL-17.

Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) accounts for significant morbidity and mortality in patients following bone marrow transplantation (BMT). However, no effective therapy has been identified to reliably treat IPS. Previous studies using mouse BMT models suggest that the pathology of IPS in IFN-γ deficient host involves increased IL-17 levels along with recruitment of donor T cells into lung. Triptolide is a potent immunosuppressive compound isolated from an anti-inflammatory Chinese herbal medicine. Triptolide can significantly inhibit generation of IL-17 by T cells and mediate immunosuppressive effect on autoimmune disease. In the present study, we used a specific murine BMT model (IFN-γ deficient B6 to wildtype B6D2F1) to assess the protective effect of Triptolide on the development of IPS. We observed that IL-17 levels were significantly decreased in the lung after triptolide treatment compared with vehicle group. Furthermore, decreased number of Th17 cells in lung was found to be associated with amelioration of lung histological injury and pulmonary dysfunction. Additionally, neutralization of IL-17 also significantly reduced IPS pathology. Our study implied that triptolide could significantly inhibit donor T cell recruitment into lung, and thus prevent lung dysfunction after BMT usefully and effectively. Our study may shed some light on searching for proper strategies to prevent IL-17 mediated IPS and other Th17 cell-mediated immune pathologies.

Isolation and identification of the antibacterial active compound from petroleum ether extract of neem oil.

From a petroleum ether extract of neem oil (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) the new tetrahydrofuranyl diester 1 was isolated as an anti-bacterial constituent. 1 showed significant activities against three standard bacterial strains, including Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Salmonella enteritidis CMCC (B) 50041.

[Effect of glycyrrhetinic acid on invasive capacity of leukemic cells and activity of gelatinase].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) on the invasive capacity of leukemic cells and the activity of intracellular gelatinase. METHODS: The effect of GA, in different concentrations, on the proliferation of cultured K562 and HL-60 leukemic cells in vitro was determined by MTT assay; that on cell invasive capacity was tested by Transwell cubicle matrigel invasion assay; and that on the activity of gelatinase in cells was detected by gelatin zymography. RESULTS: GA showed significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of K562 and HL-60 leukemic cells; it inhibited the invasive capacity of cells in concentration-dependent manner; and significantly down-regulated the activity of gelatinase A and B in cells. CONCLUSIONS: GA can inhibit invasive capacity of K562 and HL-60 leukemia cells by way of suppressing the activity of gelatinase A and B. This study provides an experimental evidence for preventing extra-medullary infiltration of leukemic cells.

[Recent advances in the study of natural homoisoflavonoids].

Homoisoflavonoid is a special type in flavonoids. There are more than 110 homoisoflavonoid compounds isolated from natural materials. Homoisoflavonoid compounds show many bioactivities on anti-inflammatory, estrogenicy, antiestrogenic, anticancer and angioprotective etc. This paper summarized the plant sources, structural types spectrocopy features and the biology activities of homoisoflavonoids.

Human herpesvirus 7 open reading frame U12 encodes a functional beta-chemokine receptor.

Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), which belongs to the betaherpesvirus subfamily, infects mainly CD4+ T cells in vitro and infects children during infancy. After the primary infection, HHV-7 becomes latent. HHV-7 contains two genes (U12 and U51) that encode putative homologs of cellular G-protein-coupled receptors. To analyze the biological function of the U12 gene, we cloned the gene and expressed the U12 protein in cells. The U12 gene encoded a calcium-mobilizing receptor for the EBI1 ligand chemokine-macrophage inflammatory protein 3beta (ELC/MIP-3beta) but not for other chemokines, suggesting that the chemokine selectivity of the U12 gene product is distinct from that of the known mammalian chemokine receptors. These studies revealed that U12 activates distinct transmembrane signaling pathways that may mediate biological functions by binding with a beta-chemokine, ELC/MIP-3beta.