Nitrogen-oxygen co-doped carbon@silica hollow spheres as encapsulated Pd nanoreactors for acetylene dialkoxycarbonylation.

The introduction of heteroatoms into hollow carbon spheres is imperative for enhancing catalytic activity. Consequently, we investigated the utilization of nitrogen-oxygen(N/O) co-doped hollow carbon (C)/silica (SiO2) nanospheres (NxC@mSiO2), which have a large internal volume and a nano-constrained environment that limits metal aggregation and loss, making them a potential candidate. In this study, we demonstrate the synthesis of nitrogen-oxygen (N/O) co-doped hollow carbon spheres using resorcinol and formaldehyde as carbon precursors, covered with silica, and encapsulated with palladium nanoparticles (NPs) in situ. The N/O co-doping process introduced defects on the surface of the internal C structure, which acted as active sites and facilitated substrate adsorption. Subsequent treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) introduced numerous carboxyl groups onto the C structure, increasing the catalytic environment as acid auxiliaries. The carboxyl group is present in the carbon structure, as determined calculations based on by density functional theory, reduces the adsorption energy of acetylene, thereby promoting its adsorption and enrichment. Furthermore, H2O2-treatment enhanced the oxygen defects in the carbon structure, improving the dispersion of Pd NPs and defect structure. The Pd/NxC@mSiO2-H2O2 catalysts demonstrated outstanding performance in the acetylene dialkoxycarbonylation reaction, showcasing high selectivity towards 1,4-dicarboxylate (>93 %) and remarkable acetylene conversion (>92 %). Notably, the catalyst exhibited exceptional selectivity and durability throughout the reaction.

Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Pure Water Using a IEF-11/g-C3N4 S-Scheme Heterojunction.

Construction of S-scheme heterojunction offers a promising way to enhance the photocatalytic performance of photocatalysts for converting solar energy into chemical energy. However, the photocatalytic H2 production in pure water without sacrificial agents is still a challenge. Herein, the IEF-11 with the best photocatalytic H2 production performance in MOFs and suitable band structure was selected and firstly constructed with g-C3N4 to obtain a S-scheme heterojunction for photocatalytic H2 production from pure water. As a result, the novel IEF-11/g-C3N4 heterojunction photocatalysts exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic H2 production performance in pure water without any sacrificial agent, with a rate of 576 µmol/g/h, which is about 8 times than that of g-C3N4 and 23 times of IEF-11. The novel IEF-11/g-C3N4 photocatalysts also had a photocatalytic H2 production rate of up to 92 µmol/g/h under visible light and a good photocatalytic stability. The improved performance can be attributed to the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers, faster charge transfer efficiency and longer photogenerated carrier lifetimes, which comes from the forming of S-scheme heterojunction in the IEF-11/g-C3N4 photocatalyst. This work is a promising guideline for obtaining MOF-based or g-C3N4-based photocatalysts with great photocatalytic water splitting performance.

Comparing the efficacy and safety of medications in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic heart disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of several medications and recommend better drug treatments for adults with HCM. Methods: A review of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL), ClinicalTrials.gov and CNKI databases was conducted for studies on the efficacy and safety of drugs for adults with HCM. A frequentist random effects model was used in this network analysis. Results: This network meta-analysis included 7 studies assessing seven medications, 6 studies evaluating monotherapy and 1 study evaluating combination therapy. Based on the network meta-analysis results, xiaoxinbi formula plus metoprolol (MD -56.50% [-72.43%, -40.57%]), metoprolol (MD -47.00% [-59.07%, -34.93%]) and mavacamten (MD -34.50% [-44.75%, -24.25%]) significantly reduced the resting left ventricular outflow tract gradient (LVOTG) in comparison with placebo. Resting LVOTG could also be reduced with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). The incidence of adverse drug reactions was not significantly different between the placebo group and the treatment group. Conclusion: For adults with HCM, the top 4 treatments included xiaoxinbi formula plus metoprolol, metoprolol, mavacamten and NAC.Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=374222], identifier [CRD42022374222].

Systematic analysis of the aberrances and functional implications of cuproptosis in cancer.

Cuproptosis is a novel form of cell death driven by a copper-dependent proteotoxic stress response whose comprehensive landscape in tumors remains unclear. Here, we comprehensively characterized cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) across 33 cancers using multi-omic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), showing complicated and diverse results in different cancers. We also explored the relationships between CRGs and cancer metabolic patterns, pathway activity, and tumor microenvironment (TME), suggesting that they played critical roles in tumor progression and TME cell infiltration. We further established the cuproptosis potential index (CPI) to reveal the functional roles of cuproptosis, and characterized multi-omic molecular features associated with cuproptosis. In clinical applications, we performed a combined analysis of the sensitivity of CRGs and CPI to drug response and immunotherapy. This study provides a rich resource for understanding cuproptosis, offering a broad molecular perspective for future functional and therapeutic studies of multiple cancer pathways mediated by cuproptosis.

Acute coronary syndrome screening in patients presenting with arteriosclerosis in health check-ups: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: This research aimed to develop a simple and effective acute coronary syndrome (ACS) screening model in order to intervene early and focus on prevention in patients presenting with arteriosclerosis. DESIGN: A case-control study. SETTING: The study used a cross-sectional survey to collect data from 2243 patients who completed anonymous electronic medical record (EMR) data and coronary angiography was gathered at a hospital in Shandong Province between December 2013 and April 2016. PARTICIPANTS: Adults 18 years old and above diagnosed as ACS or non-ACS according to the records in hospital EMR database, and with completed basic information (age and sex). PREDICTORS: 54 laboratory biomarkers and demographic factors (age and sex). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A dataset without missing data of all patients' laboratory indicators and demographic factors was divided into training set and validation set after being balanced. After the training set balanced, area under the curve of random forest (AUCRF) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were used for feature extraction. Then two set random forest models were established with the different feature sets, and the process of comparison and analysis was made to evaluate models for the optimal model including sensitivity, accuracy and AUC receiver operating characteristic curves with the internal validation set. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To establish an ACS screening model. RESULTS: An RF model with 31 features selected by LASSO with an AUC of 0.616 (95% CI 0.650 to 0.772), a sensitivity of 0.832 and an accuracy of 0.714 in the validation set. The other RF model with 27 features selected by AUCRF with an AUC of 0.621 (95% CI 0.664 to 0.785), a sensitivity of 0.849 and an accuracy of 0.728 in the validation set. CONCLUSIONS: The established ACS screening model with 27 clinical features provides a better performance for practical solution in predicting ACS.

Silica-Decorated NiAl-Layered Double Oxide for Enhanced CO/CO2 Methanation Performance.

CO/CO2 hydrogenation has attracted much attention as a pathway to achieve carbon neutrality and production of synthetic natural gas (SNG). In this work, two-dimensional NiAl layered double oxide (2D NiAl-LDO) has been successfully decorated by SiO2 nanoparticles derived from SiCl4 and used as CO/CO2 methanation catalysts. The as-obtained H-SiO2-NiAl-LDO exhibited a large specific surface area of 201 m2/g as well as high ratio of metallic Ni0 species and surface adsorption oxygen that were beneficial for low-temperature methanation of CO/CO2. The conversion of CO methanation was 99% at 400 °C, and that of CO2 was 90% at 350 °C. At 250 °C, the CO methanation reached 85% whereas that of CO2 reached 23% at 200 °C. We believe that this provides a simple method to improve the methanation performance of CO and CO2 and a strategy for the modification of other similar catalysts.

A wavelet features derived radiomics nomogram for prediction of malignant and benign early-stage lung nodules.

This study was to develop a radiomics nomogram mainly using wavelet features for identifying malignant and benign early-stage lung nodules for high-risk screening. A total of 116 patients with early-stage solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) (≤ 3 cm) were divided into a training set (N = 70) and a validation set (N = 46). Radiomics features were extracted from plain LDCT images of each patient. A radiomics signature was then constructed with the LASSO with the training set. Combined with independent risk factors, a radiomics nomogram was built with a multivariate logistic regression model. This radiomics signature, consisting of one original and nine wavelet features, achieved favorable predictive efficacy than Mayo Clinic Model. The radiomics nomogram with radiomics signature and age also showed good calibration and discrimination in the training set (AUC 0.9406; 95% CI 0.8831-0.9982) and the validation set (AUC 0.8454; 95% CI 0.7196-0.9712). The decision curve indicated the clinical usefulness of our nomogram. The presented radiomics nomogram shows favorable predictive accuracy for identifying malignant and benign lung nodules in early-stage patients and is much better than the Mayo Clinic Model.

L-Cysteine Provides Neuroprotection of Hypoxia-Ischemia Injury in Neonatal Mice via a PI3K/Akt-Dependent Mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Previous work within our laboratory has revealed that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) can serve as neuroprotectant against brain damage caused by hypoxia-ischemia (HI) exposure in neonatal mice. After HI insult, activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway has been shown to be implicated in neuro-restoration processes. The goal of the current study was to determine whether the neuroprotective effects of H2S were mediated by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. METHODS: The mouse HI model was built at postnatal day 7 (P7), and the effects of L-Cysteine treatment on acute brain damage (72 h post-HI) and long-term neurological responses (28 days post-HI) were evaluated. Nissl staining and Transmission electron microscopy were used to evaluate the neuronal loss and apoptosis. Immunofluorescence imaging and dihydroethidium staining were utilized to determine glial cell activation and ROS content, respectively. RESULTS: Quantitative results revealed that L-Cysteine treatment significantly prevented the acute effects of HI on apoptosis, glial cell activation and oxidative injury as well as the long-term effects upon memory impairment in neonatal mice. This protective effect of L-Cysteine was found to be associated with the phosphorylation of Akt and phosphatase and a tensin homolog deletion on chromosome 10 (PTEN). Following treatment with the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, the neuroprotective effects of L-Cysteine were attenuated. CONCLUSION: PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling was involved in mediating the neuroprotective effects of exogenous H2S against HI exposure in neonatal mice.

Combustion Products of Calcium Carbide Reused by Cu-Based Catalysts for Acetylene Carbonylation.

Sustainable development is a worldwide concern. This work mainly focuses on the reuse of the combustion products of calcium carbide and the influence of different kinds of copper on the acetylene carbonylation reaction. A series of catalysts were prepared by heating the precursors under various atmospheres (air, hydrogen, and nitrogen). The X-ray diffraction and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have been analyzed regarding copper species composition and content in catalysts. The result of the Cu+-promoted reaction was in good agreement with the conducted density functional theory analysis, and we speculate that Cu+ promotes the transfer of electrons in the reaction. Transmission electron microscopy and elemental mapping evaluation confirmed the difference in Cu dispersion. Characterization of catalysts using temperature programmed desorption and pyridine Fourier-transform infrared revealed differences in their acidity. Acidity was found to be favorable for acetylene carbonylation. Selectivity and yield of the CuAlZn-LDO(N) catalyst at 225 °C were 73 and 70%, respectively, and the catalyst showed good stability over two consecutive cycles of reuse.

Trajectories of Haemoglobin and incident stroke risk: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that high or low haemoglobin increases the risk of stroke. Previous studies, however, performed only a limited number of haemoglobin measurements, while there are dynamic haemoglobin changes over the course of a lifetime. This longitudinal cohort study aimed to classify the long-term trajectory of haemoglobin and examine its association with stroke incidence. METHODS: The cohort consisted of 11,431 participants (6549 men) aged 20 to 50 years whose haemoglobin was repeatedly measured 3-9 times during 2004-2015. A latent class growth mixture model (LCGMM) was used to classify the long-term trajectory of haemoglobin concentrations, and hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) according to the Cox proportional hazard model were used to investigate the association of haemoglobin trajectory types with the risk of stroke. RESULTS: Three distinct trajectory types, high-stable (n = 5395), normal-stable (n = 5310), and decreasing (n = 726), were identified, with stroke incidence rates of 2.7, 1.9 and 3.2 per 1000 person-years, respectively. Compared to the normal-stable group, after adjusting for the baseline covariates, the decreasing group had a 2.94-fold (95% CI 1.22 to 7.06) increased risk of developing stroke. Strong evidence was observed in men, with an HR (95% CI) of 4.12 (1.50, 11.28), but not in women (HR = 1.66, 95% CI 0.34, 8.19). Individuals in the high-stable group had increased values of baseline covariates, but the adjusted HR (95% CI), at 1.23 (0.77, 1.97), was not significant for the study cohort or for men and women separately. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that a decreasing haemoglobin trajectory was associated with an increased risk of stroke in men. These findings suggest that long-term decreasing haemoglobin levels might increase the risk of stroke.

Trajectories of Lipids Profile and Incident Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Background The association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides with cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been well studied. No previous studies considered trajectory of these lipids jointly. This study aims to characterize longitudinal trajectories of lipid profile jointly and examine its impact on incident CVD. Methods and Results A total of 9726 participants (6102 men), aged from 20 to 58 years who had lipids repeatedly measured 3 to 9 times, were included in the study. Three distinct trajectories were identified using the multivariate latent class growth mixture model: inverse U-shape (18.72%; n=1821), progressing (66.03%; n=6422), and U-shape (15.25%; n=1483). Compared with the U-shape class, the adjusted hazard ratio and 95% CI were 1.33 (1.05-1.68) and 1.49 (1.14-1.95) for the progressing and inverse U-shape class, respectively. The area under the curve was calculated using the integral of the model parameters. In the adjusted model, total and incremental area under the curve of lipid profile were significantly associated with CVD risk. Furthermore, the model-estimated levels and linear slopes of lipids were calculated at each age point according to the latent class growth mixture model model parameters and their first derivatives, respectively. After adjusting for covariates, standardized odds ratio of slope increases gradually from 1.11 (1.02, 1.21) to 1.21 (1.12, 1.31) at 20 to 40 years and then decreased to 1.02 (0.94, 1.11) until 60 years. Conclusions These results indicate that the lipids profile trajectory has a significant impact on CVD risk. Age between 20 and 42 years is a crucial period for incident CVD, which has implications for early lipids intervention.

Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells attenuate the progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice via miR-let7 mediated infiltration and polarization of M2 macrophage.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the vasculature. Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exert immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive effects; however, the MSCs-exosomes administration on atherosclerosis was unknown. Here, our ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat diet and received intravenous injections of exosomes from MSCs for 12 weeks. After tail-vein injection, MSCs-exosomes were capable of migrating to atherosclerotic plaque and selectively taking up residence near macrophages. MSCs-exosomes treatment decreased the atherosclerotic plaque area of ApoE-/- mice and greatly reduced the infiltration of macrophages in the plaque, associating induced macrophage polarization towards M2. In vitro, MSCs-exosomes treatment markedly inhibited LPS-induced M1 markers expression, while increased M2 markers expression in macrophages. Moreover, miR-let7 family was found to be highly enriched in MSCs-exosomes. Endogenous miR-let7 expression was found in the aortic root of ApoE-/- mice, and MSCs-exosomes treatment further up-regulated miR-let7 levels. In addition, inhibition of miR-let7 in U937 cells significantly inhibited the migration and M2 polarization via IGF2BP1 and HMGA2 pathway respectively in vitro. Our study demonstrates that MSCs-exosomes ameliorated atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- and promoted M2 macrophage polarization in the plaque through miR-let7/HMGA2/NF-κB pathway. In addition, MSCs-exosomes suppressed macrophage infiltration via miR-let7/IGF2BP1/PTEN pathway in the plaque. This finding extends our knowledge on MSCs-exosomes affect inflammation in atherosclerosis plaque and provides a potential method to prevent the atherosclerosis. Exosomes from MSCs hold promise as therapeutic agents to reduce the residual risk of coronary artery diseases.

Single-cell approaches identify the molecular network driving malignant hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal.

Recent advances in single-cell technologies have permitted the investigation of heterogeneous cell populations at previously unattainable resolution. Here we apply such approaches to resolve the molecular mechanisms driving disease in mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), using JAK2V617F mutant myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) as a model. Single-cell gene expression and functional assays identified a subset of JAK2V617F mutant HSCs that display defective self-renewal. This defect is rescued at the single HSC level by crossing JAK2V617F mice with mice lacking TET2, the most commonly comutated gene in patients with MPN. Single-cell gene expression profiling of JAK2V617F-mutant HSCs revealed a loss of specific regulator genes, some of which were restored to normal levels in single TET2/JAK2 mutant HSCs. Of these, Bmi1 and, to a lesser extent, Pbx1 and Meis1 overexpression in JAK2-mutant HSCs could drive a disease phenotype and retain durable stem cell self-renewal in functional assays. Together, these single-cell approaches refine the molecules involved in clonal expansion of MPNs and have broad implications for deconstructing the molecular network of normal and malignant stem cells.

Ginkgolide C Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Inflammatory Injury via Inhibition of CD40-NF-κB Pathway.

Increasing evidence shows that inflammation plays a vital role in the occurrence and development of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Suppression of excessive inflammation can ameliorate impaired cardiac function, which shows therapeutic potential for clinical treatment of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) diseases. In this study, we investigated whether Ginkgolide C (GC), a potent anti-inflammatory flavone, extenuated MI/R injury through inhibition of inflammation. In vivo, rats with the occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery were applied to mimic MI/R injury. In vitro, primary cultured neonatal ventricular myocytes exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) were applied to further discuss the anti-H/R injury property of GC. The results revealed that GC significantly improved the symptoms of MI/R injury, as evidenced by reducing infarct size, preventing myofibrillar degeneration and reversing the mitochondria dysfunction. Moreover, histological analysis and Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity measurement showed that GC remarkably suppressed Polymorphonuclears (PMNs) infiltration and ameliorated the histopathological damage. Furthermore, GC pretreatment was shown to improve H/R-induced ventricular myocytes viability and enhance tolerance of inflammatory insult, as evidenced by suppressing expression of CD40, translocation of NF-κB p65 subunit, phosphorylation of IκB-α, as well as the activity of IKK-ß. In addition, downstream inflammatory cytokines modulated by NF-κB signaling were effectively down-regulated both in vivo and in vitro, as determined by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. In conclusion, these results indicate that GC possesses a beneficial effect against MI/R injury via inflammation inhibition that may involve suppression of CD40-NF-κB signal pathway and downstream inflammatory cytokines expression, which may offer an alternative medication for MI/R diseases.

Two-Dimensional Layered Double Hydroxides for Reactions of Methanation and Methane Reforming in C1 Chemistry.

CH4 as the paramount ingredient of natural gas plays an eminent role in C1 chemistry. CH4 catalytically converted to syngas is a significant route to transmute methane into high value-added chemicals. Moreover, the CO/CO2 methanation reaction is one of the potent technologies for CO2 valorization and the coal-derived natural gas production process. Due to the high thermal stability and high extent of dispersion of metallic particles, two-dimensional mixed metal oxides through calcined layered double hydroxides (LDHs) precursors are considered as the suitable supports or catalysts for both the reaction of methanation and methane reforming. The LDHs displayed compositional flexibility, small crystal sizes, high surface area and excellent basic properties. In this paper, we review previous works of LDHs applied in the reaction of both methanation and methane reforming, focus on the LDH-derived catalysts, which exhibit better catalytic performance and thermal stability than conventional catalysts prepared by impregnation method and also discuss the anti-coke ability and anti-sintering ability of LDH-derived catalysts. We believe that LDH-derived catalysts are promising materials in the heterogeneous catalytic field and provide new insight for the design of advance LDH-derived catalysts worthy of future research.

Cardioprotection of Ginkgolide B on Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Inflammatory Injury via Regulation of A20-NF-κB Pathway.

Inflammation urges most of the characteristics of plaques involved in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). In addition, inflammatory signaling pathways not only mediate the properties of plaques that precipitate ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) but also influence the clinical consequences of the post-infarction remodeling and heart failure. Here, we studied whether Ginkgolide B (GB), an effective anti-inflammatory monomer, improved MI/RI via suppression of inflammation. Left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery induced ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) of rats or A20 silencing mice, as well as hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) induced damages of primary cultured rat neonatal ventricular myocytes or A20 silencing ventricular myocytes, respectively, served as MI/RI model in vivo and in vitro to discuss the anti-I/R injury properties of GB. We found that GB significantly alleviated the symptoms of MI/RI evidently by reducing infarct size, preventing ultrastructural changes of myocardium, depressing Polymorphonuclears (PMNs) infiltration, lessening histopathological damage and suppressing the excessive inflammation. Further study demonstrated that GB remarkably inhibited NF-κB p65 subunit translocation, IκB-α phosphorylation, IKK-ß activity, as well as the downstream inflammatory cytokines and proteins expressions via zinc finger protein A20. In conclusion, GB could alleviate MI/RI-induced inflammatory response through A20-NF-κB signal pathway, which may give us new insights into the preventive strategies for MI/RI disease.

CREBRF is a potent tumor suppressor of glioblastoma by blocking hypoxia-induced autophagy via the CREB3/ATG5 pathway.

Hypoxia induces protective autophagy in advanced glioblastoma cells, and targeting this process may improve the outcome for glioblastoma patients. Recent studies have suggested that the autophagic process is upregulated in glioblastoma cells in response to extensive hypoxia. Here, we describe a novel tumor suppressor in glioblastoma cells, whereby hypoxia downregulated CREBRF expression and acts as a potent inhibitor of autophagy in glioblastoma cells via the CREB3/ATG5 pathway. Our results demonstrate that CREBRF expression negatively correlates with autophagic and HIF-1α levels in different grade gliomas. Given that CREBRF is a negative regulator of CREB3, CREB3 knockdown also repressed hypoxia-induced autophagy in glioblastoma cells in vitro. Collectively, our findings provide new insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying hypoxia-induced glioblastoma cell autophagy and indicate that the hypoxia/CREBRF/CREB3/ATG5 pathway plays a central role in malignant glioma progression.

Oolong tea made from tea plants from different locations in Yunnan and Fujian, China showed similar aroma but different taste characteristics.

Consistent aroma characteristics are important for tea products. However, understanding the formation of tea aroma flavor and correspondingly proposing applicable protocols to control tea quality and consistency remain major challenges. Oolong tea is one of the most popular teas with a distinct flavor. Generally, oolong tea is processed with the leaves of tea trees belonging to different subspecies and grown in significantly different regions. In this study, Yunnan and Fujian oolong teas, green tea, black tea, and Pu-erh tea were collected from major tea estates across China. Their sensory evaluation, main water-soluble and volatile compounds were identified and measured. The sensory evaluation, total polysaccharide, caffeine, and catechin content of Yunnan oolong tea was found to be different from that of Fujian oolong tea, a result suggesting that the kinds of tea leaves used in Yunnan and Fujian oolong teas were naturally different. However, according to their aroma compounds, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) of the volatile compounds showed that the two types of oolong teas were similar and cannot be clearly distinguished from each other; they are also different from green, black, and Pu-erh teas, a result indicating that the same oolong tea processing technology applied to different tea leaves results in consistent aroma characteristics. The PCA analysis results also indicated that benzylalcohol, indole, safranal, linalool oxides, ß-ionone, and hexadecanoic acid methyl ester highly contributed to the distinct aroma of oolong tea compared with the other three types of teas. This study proved that the use of the same processing technology on two kinds of tea leaves resulted in a highly consistent tea aroma.

Comparative analysis of volatiles difference of Yunnan sun-dried Pu-erh green tea from different tea mountains: Jingmai and Wuliang mountain by chemical fingerprint similarity combined with principal component analysis and cluster analysis.

BACKGROUND: Modern instrumental analysis technology can provide various chemical data and information on tea samples. Unfortunately, it remains difficult to extract the useful information. We describe the use of chemical fingerprint similarities, combined with principal component and cluster analyses, to distinguish and recognize Pu-erh green teas, which from two tea mountains, Wuliang and Jingmai, in the Pu-erh district of Yunnan province. The volatile components of all 20 Pu-erh green teas (10 Wuliang and 10 Jingmai teas) were extracted and identified by headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). RESULTS: Sixty-three volatiles (including alcohols, hydrocarbons, ketones, and aldehydes) were identified in the 20 Pu-erh green teas, and differences in compound compositions between them were also observed. Through fingerprint similarity, combined with principal component and cluster analyses, the 20 Pu-erh green teas were differentiated successfully based on their volatile characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the GC-MS combined with chemical fingerprint and unsupervised pattern recognition method is suitable for the investigation of the volatile profiling and evaluating the quality and authenticity of teas related to the different origins.Graphical abstractDifferentiate Pu-erh green teas from different tea mountains by using chemical fingerprint similarity and multivariate statistical methods.

Insight into the Spectrum of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Urban Han Chinese Population by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography.

OBJECTIVES: Highlighted the spectrum of coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic population by Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) and developed a surrogation of expensive CTA to early detect coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS: Three hundred and seven self-referred urban Han Chinese asymptomatic individuals underwent coronary CTA were consecutively enrolled. Total plaque score (TPS), Segment stenosis score (SSS) and Coronary Artery Disease severity (CADS) were used to measure and illustrate the spectrum of atherosclerosis burden by mapping their incidence and proportion onto coronary artery tree. Logistic regression model was further used to explore the association between lipid biomarkers and TPS (SSS) for developing a surrogation of CTA to early detect coronary atherosclerosis. RESULTS: We found that the incidence of TPS, SSS and CADS were up to 71.34%, 68.08%, and 71.34%; and high-risk individuals reached up to 11.07%, 15.31% and 16.29% respectively. All TPS, SSS and CADS were much higher in male than female, and have trend of increasing with age. The most lesion segment emerged on proximal LAD, followed by proximal RCA, mid LAD, proximal LCX, and mid RCA with mixed plaque as dominant. HDL-C was a predictor to both TPS [OR: 0.12 (0.02-0.82)] and SSS [OR: 0.15 (0.03-0.76)], and could identify the serious atherosclerosis subjects of TPS or SSS score >5 (AUC 0.73 and 0.70). CONCLUSIONS: The atherosclerosis plaque burden was about one in ten as high-risk individuals in this specific urban Han Chinese population. As potential surrogation of CTA, HDL-C was recognized as a significant predictor to atherosclerosis burden and revealed a good performance for identifying high-risk individuals.