[Clinical application value of Huanglian Jiedu Pills in improving syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin based on phase â ¡ clinical trial study on plasma ATP, 4-HNE, and ACTH levels].

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center phase Ⅱ clinical trial design was used in this study to recruit subjects who were in line with the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin, and were diagnosed as recurrent oral ulcers, gingivitis, and acute pharyngitis. A total of 240 cases were included and randomly divided into a placebo group and a Huanglian Jiedu Pills group. The clinical efficacy of Huanglian Jiedu Pills in treating the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin was evaluated by using the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome scale. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to determine and evaluate the levels of adenosine triphosphate(ATP), 4-hydroxynonenal(4-HNE), and adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) in plasma of the two groups before and after administration and to predict their application value as clinical biomarkers. The results showed that the disappearance rate of main symptoms in the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group was 69.17%, and that in the placebo group was 50.83%. The comparison between the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and the placebo group showed that 4-HNE before and after administration was statistically significant(P<0.05). The content of 4-HNE in the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group decreased significantly after administration(P<0.05), but that in the placebo group had no statistical significance and showed an upward trend. After administration, the content of ATP in both Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and placebo group decreased significantly(P<0.05), indicating that the energy metabolism disorder was significantly improved after administration of Huanglian Jiedu Pills and the body's self-healing ability also alleviated the increase in ATP level caused by the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin to a certain extent. ACTH in both Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and placebo group decreased significantly after administration(P<0.05). It is concluded that Huanglian Jiedu Pills has a significant clinical effect, and can significantly improve the abnormal levels of ATP and 4-HNE in plasma caused by the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin, which are speculated to be the effective clinical biomarkers for Huanglian Jiedu Pills to treat the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin.

[Study on preparation technology of plumula nelumbinis Alkaloid Dripping Pill and determination of content by HPLC].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimum technical parameters through controlling the different factors and the content of Dripping Pill. METHOD: Time of dissolution, spherical degree and pill weight as parameters, the influential factors were investigated by orthogonal test and then to determine the content of liensinine, isoliensinine, neferine in plumula nelumbinis Alkaloid Dripping Pill. RESULT: The optimum condition: 75% PEG4000 as matrix, methyl-silicon oil as refrigerant, 4 cm dripping distance, 10 degrees C refrigerant, 30 drippings per minute. CONCLUSION: The good quality pills can be produced through this process and the HPLC determination method is simple, reliable and can be used in the quality control of plumula nelumbinis Alkaloid Dripping Pill.

[Analysis of Prokaryotic Community Structure in River Waters of the Ningbo Sanjiang Mouth].

The prokaryotic community structure in river waters of the Ningbo Sanjiang Mouth was analyzed for the first time using 16S rRNA gene based-Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing. A total of 215 504 high-quality sequences were obtained, and the results of alpha-diversity analysis revealed that Yongjiang River Watershed (YRW) harbored high diversity and richness of prokaryotic communities. Taxonomic assignment analysis indicated that ß-Proteobacterium, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes dominated in the river water of YRW, and accounted for 78. 88% of the total prokaryotic communities. Hydrological condition may play an important role in influencing the composition and structure of YRW prokaryotic community. In addition, several kinds of sewer- and fecal-pollution indicator bacterial groups were observed in this area with the highest abundance of pollution indicator bacteria occurring in the water sample of Yuyao River, implying that the Yuyao River might have a high potential risk of sewer- and fecal-pollution. Moreover, a total of 76 species and 18 subspecies of potential pathogenic bacteria, which accounted for 2. 19% and 0. 40% of total sequences respectively, were identified using BLASTN analysis with a local pathogenic bacteria database. Overall, this study provided an important basic data for shedding light on the structure and ecological function of YRW prokaryotic community.

Aerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification in a membrane biofilm reactor: treatment performance and the effect of oxygen ventilation.

Aerobic methane-oxidation coupled to denitrification (AME-D) process was successfully achieved in a membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR). PVDF membrane was employed to supply the methane and oxygen for biofilm, which was coexistence of methanotrophs and denitrifier. With a feeding NO3(-)-N of 30 mg/L, up to 97% nitrate could be removed stably. The oxygen ventilation modes impacted the denitrification performance remarkably, resulting in different nitrate removal efficiencies and biofilm microorganism distribution. The biofilm sludge showed a high resistance to the DO inhibition, mainly due to the co-existing methanotroph being capable of utilizing oxygen perferentially within biofilm, and create an anoxic micro-environment. The denitrification of both nitrate and nitrite by biofilm sludge conformed to the Monod equation, and the maximum specific nitrate utilization rate (k) ranged from 1.55 to 1.78 NO3(-)-N/g VSS-d. The research findings should be significant to understand the considerable potential of MBfR as a bioprocess for denitrification.

[Simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal by gas-water alternative membrane bioreactor].

A bench-scale comparative study between gas-water alternative membrane bioreactor (AMBR) and traditional submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) treating synthetic municipal wastewater was conducted with respect to the effects of carbon and nitrogen removal and membrane fouling. The results showed that both the AMBR and the SMBR had very good removal in COD and NH4+ -N of more than 96%. In SMBR, carbon and nitrogen removal was enabled by biomass in bulk liquid, while in AMBR, it was supposed to be functioned mainly by the biofilm attached to the surface of hollow fiber membrane since little sludge was found in the bulk liquid. However, TN removal was 76.94% in AMBR and 52.41% in SMBR, showing a more effective denitrification in AMBR compared to SMBR. Also, AMBR was found to be more effective in membrane fouling alleviation than SMBR through long time investigation of trans-membrane pressure.

[Membrane fouling alleviation characteristics of sludge/water pre-separation MBR].

A long-term operation was conducted to investigate the alleviation of membrane fouling by sludge/water pre-separation membrane bioreactor (S/W-MBR). The variation of trans-membrane pressure (TMP), concentration of sludge and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on S/W-MBR and submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) was also studied. The results showed that the sludge concentration in S/W-MBR was basically identical with that of SMBR's biotic area, while the sludge concentration was significantly decreased in S/W-MBR's membrane area than that of SMBR's. The concentration of EPS was increased with operation time in both two MBRs' biotic area, but it was lower and basically maintained at the level of 15 mg/g in S/W-MBR's membrane area. The S/W-MBR was more capable of alleviating membrane fouling, and it had been cleaned only 2 times while the SMBR who had been cleaned 5 times during the period of about 90 days laboratory performance.