Efficacy and safety of Shen Gui capsules for chronic heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Although Shen Gui capsules (SGCP) are widely used as an adjuvant treatment for chronic heart failure (CHF), their clinical efficacy and safety remain controversial. Purpose: To assess the efficacy and safety of SGCP in the treatment of CHF through a systematic review and meta-analysis, to provide high-quality evidence for evidence-based medicine. Methods: Seven databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing SGCP for CHF, from inception to 9 January 2023. RCT quality of evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane Handbook for the Evaluation of Intervention Systems to assess risk of bias and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. A meta-analysis with subgroup and sensitivity analyses was performed using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 12. Results: Nine RCTs representing 888 patients with CHF were included in the review. Meta-analysis revealed that SGCP combined with conventional heart failure therapy is more advantageous for improving left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF; mean difference (MD) = 5.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) (3.78, 6.74), p < 0.0000] and increasing effective rate [relative risk (RR) = 1.21, 95%CI (1.14, 1.29), p < 0.001] compared with conventional therapy alone. The experimental treatment also reduced brain natriuretic peptide [MD = -100.15, 95%CI (-157.83, -42.47), p = 0.0007], left ventricular end-diastolic diameter [MD = -1.93, 95%CI (-3.22, -0.64), p = 0.003], and hypersensitive C-reactive protein [MD = -2.70, 95%CI (-3.12,-2.28), p < 0.001] compared with the control group. However, there was not a statistically significant difference in tumor necrosis factor-α [MD = -14.16, 95%CI (-34.04, 5.73), p = 0.16] or left ventricular end-systolic diameter [MD = -1.56, 95%CI (-3.13, 0.01), p = 0.05]. Nor was there a statistically significant between-groups difference in incidence of adverse events (p > 0.05). Conclusion: SGCP combined with conventional heart failure therapy can improve LVEF and increase the effective rate to safely treat patients with CHF. However, further high-quality studies are needed to confirm these findings, due to the overall low quality of evidence in this literature.Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/logout.php, PROSPERO [CRD42023390409].

Ginsenoside Rd Attenuates Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Inflammation and Apoptosis through PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is the leading cause of death worldwide. Ginsenoside Rd (GRd) has cardioprotective properties but its efficacy and mechanism of action in myocardial I/R injury have not been clarified. This study investigated GRd as a potent therapeutic agent for myocardial I/R injury. Oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD/R) and left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery ligation were used to establish a myocardial I/R injury model in vitro and in vivo. In vivo, GRd significantly reduced the myocardial infarct size and markers of myocardial injury and improved the cardiac function in myocardial I/R injury mice. In vitro, GRd enhanced cell viability and protected the H9c2 rat cardiomyoblast cell line from OGD-induced injury GRd. The network pharmacology analysis predicted 48 potential targets of GRd for the treatment of myocardial I/R injury. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the cardioprotective effects of GRd were closely related to inflammation and apoptosis mediated by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, GRd alleviated inflammation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in vivo and inhibited OGD/R-induced apoptosis and inflammation in cardiomyocytes. GRd also increased PI3K and Akt phosphorylation, suggesting activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, whereas LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, blocked the GRd-induced inhibition of OGD/R-induced apoptosis and inflammation in H9c2 cells. The therapeutic effect of GRd in vivo and in vitro against myocardial I/R injury was primarily dependent on PI3K/Akt pathway activation to inhibit inflammation and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. This study provides new evidence for the use of GRd as a cardiovascular drug.

Simple, ultrasensitive detection of superoxide anion radical mutations in melanoma mice with SERS microneedles.

Elevated levels of superoxide anion radicals (O2·-) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, such as cancer, inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases. To determine the O2·- concentration for assisting disease detection, a method based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) combined with transparent polymer microneedles has been developed. Photocrosslinked NOA61 is used to prepare microneedles with sulfhydryl group, which can contribute to anchor gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) functionalized by p-mercaptobenzoic acid (PATP). This work successfully constructed SERS microneedles for in situ detection. A REDOX reaction occurred between PATP and O2·-, resulting in the formation of dimethylaminoborane (DMAB) and a subsequent change in Raman signal. Based on the quantitative relationship between the change of peak area ratio at 1042 cm-1 and 1077 cm-1 and the concentration change of O2·-, a standard curve with a linear range of 0-480 ng/mL was constructed. The SERS microneedles were effectively employed to track melanoma progression in mice, establishing a fundamental correlation between O2·- concentration and melanoma stage, as confirmed by ELISA. The benefits of this approach, including convenience, in situ applicability, and low cost, are anticipated to offer novel insights for non-invasive in situ detection, potentially enhancing disease monitoring and diagnosis.

LRRC59 promotes the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma by interacting with SRP pathway components and enhancing the secretion of CKAP4-containing exosomes.

Background: As a ribosome receptor, LRRC59 was thought to regulate mRNA translation on the ER membrane. Evidence suggests that LRRC59 is overexpressed in a number of human malignancies and is associated with poor prognoses, but its primary biological function in the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains obscure. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate at the expression changes and functional role of LRRC59 in OSCC. Methods: LRRC59 gene expression and correlation with prognosis of OSCC patients were first examined using the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. Following that, a series of functional experiments, including cell counting kit-8, cell cycle analysis, wound healing assays, and transwell assays, were carried out to analyze the biological roles of LRRC59 in tumor cells. Mechanistically, we employed Tandem Affinity Purification-Mass Spectrometry (TAP-MS) approach to isolate and identify protein complexes of LRRC59. Downstream regulatory proteins of LRRC59 were verified through immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence experiments. Furthermore, we isolated exosomes from OSCC cell supernatant and conducted co-culture experiments to examine the effect of LRRC59 knockdown on OSCC cells. Results: In samples from OSCC patients, LRRC59 was highly expressed and correlated with poor prognoses. Moreover, the gene sets analysis based on TCGA RNA-seq data indicated that LRRC59 seemed to be strongly related with protein secretory and OSCC migration. Upregulated levels of LRRC59 are more prone to lymph node metastasis in OSCC patients. LRRC59 knockdown impaired the ability of OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion invitro. Mechanistically, our TAP-MS data situate LRRC59 in a functional nexus for mRNA translation regulation via interactions with SRP pathway components, translational initiation factors, CRD-mediated mRNA stabilization factors. More importantly, we found that LRRC59 interacted with cytoskeleton-associated protein 4 (CKAP4) and promoted the formation of CKAP4-containing exosomes. We also revealed that the LRRC59-CKAP4 axis was a crucial regulator of CKAP4-containing exosome secretion in OSCC cells for migration and invasion. Conclusions: Therefore, based on our findings, LRRC59 may serve as a potential biomarker for OSCC patients, and LRRC59-induced exosome secretion via the CKAP4 axis may serve as a potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

A data-driven analysis to discover research hotspots and trends of technologies for PFAS removal.

The frequent detection of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in organisms and environment coupled with surging evidence for potential detrimental impacts, have attracted widespread attention throughout the world. In order to reveal research hotspots and trends of technologies for PFAS removal, herein, we performed a data-driven analysis of 3975 papers and 436 patents from Web of Science Core Collection and Derwent Innovation Index databases up to 2023. The results showed that China and the USA led the way in the research of PFAS removal with outstanding contributions to publications. The progression generally transitioned from accidental discovery of decomposition, to experimentation with removal effects and mechanisms of existing methods, and finally to enhanced defluorination and mechanism-driven design approaches. The keywords co-occurrence network and technology classification together revealed the main knowledge framework, which was constructed and correlated through contaminants, substrates, materials, processes and properties. Moreover, adsorption was demonstrated to be the dominant removal process among the current studies. Subsequently, we concluded the principles, advances and drawbacks of enrichment and separation, biological methods, advanced oxidation and reduction processes. Further exploration indicated the hotspots such as alternatives and precursors for PFAS ("genx": 1.258, "f-53b": 0.337), degradable mineralization technologies ("photocatalytic degrad": 0.529, "hydrated electron": 0.374), environment-friendly remediation technologies ("phytoremedi": 0.939, "constructed wetland": 0.462) and combination with novel materials ("metal-organic framework": 1.115, "layered double hydroxid": 0.559) as well as computer science ("molecular dynamics simul": 0.559, "machine learn"). Furthermore, the future direction of technological innovation might lie in high-performance processes that minimize secondary pollution, the development of recyclable and renewable treatment agents, and collaborative control strategies for multiple pollutants. Overall, this study offers comprehensive and objective review for researchers and industry professionals in this field, enabling rapid access to knowledge guidance and insights into research frontiers.

Scientometric analysis of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment: today and tomorrow.

Electrocatalytic methods are valuable tools for addressing water pollution and scarcity, offering effective pollutant removal and resource recovery. To investigate the current status and future trends of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment, a detailed analysis of 9417 papers and 4061 patents was conducted using scientometric methods. China emerged as the leading contributor to publications, and collaborations between China and the USA have emerged as the most frequent partnerships. Primary article co-citation clusters focused on oxygen evolution reaction and electrochemical oxidation, transitioning towards advanced oxidation processes ("persulfate activation"), and electrocatalytic reduction processes ("nitrate reduction"). Bifunctional catalysts, theoretical calculations, electrocatalytic combination technologies, and emerging contaminants were identified as current research hotspots. Patent analysis revealed seven types of electrochemical technologies, which were compared using SWOT analysis, highlighting electrochemical oxidation as prominent. The technological evolution presented the pathway of electro-Fenton to combined electrocatalytic technologies with biochemical processes, and finally to coupling with electrocoagulation. Standardized evaluation systems, waste resource utilization, and energy conservation were important directions of innovation in electrocatalytic technologies. Overall, this study provided a reference for researchers to understand the framework of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment and also shed light on potential avenues for further innovation in the field.

Licochalcone A induces mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and interacts with venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia.

The management of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a challenge because of the complexity and heterogeneity of this malignancy. Despite the recent approval of several novel targeted drugs, resistance seems inevitable, and clinical outcomes are still suboptimal. Increasing evidence supports the use of natural plants as an important source of anti-leukemic therapeutics. Licochalcone A (LCA) is an active flavonoid isolated from the roots of licorice, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., possessing extensive anti-tumor activities. However, its effects on AML and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we showed that LCA decreased the viability of established human AML cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. LCA significantly induced mitochondrial apoptotic cell death, accompanied by the downregulation of MCL-1, upregulation of BIM, truncation of BID, and cleavage of PARP. A prominent decline in the phosphorylation of multiple critical molecules, including AKT, glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK3ß), ERK, and P38 was observed upon LCA treatment, indicating PI3K and MAPK signals were suppressed. Both transcription and translation of c-Myc were also inhibited by LCA. In addition, LCA enhanced the cytotoxicity of the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax. Furthermore, the anti-survival and pro-apoptotic effects were confirmed in primary blasts from 10 patients with de novo AML. Thus, our results expand the applications of LCA, which can be regarded as a valuable agent in treating AML.

Microstructure Formation and Characterization of Long-Acting Injectable Microspheres: The Gateway to Fully Controlled Drug Release Pattern.

Long-acting injectable microspheres have been on the market for more than three decades, but if calculated on the brand name, only 12 products have been approved by the FDA due to numerous challenges in achieving a fully controllable drug release pattern. Recently, more and more researches on the critical factors that determine the release kinetics of microspheres shifted from evaluating the typical physicochemical properties to exploring the microstructure. The microstructure of microspheres mainly includes the spatial distribution and the dispersed state of drug, PLGA and pores, which has been considered as one of the most important characteristics of microspheres, especially when comparative characterization of the microstructure (Q3) has been recommended by the FDA for the bioequivalence assessment. This review extracted the main variables affecting the microstructure formation from microsphere formulation compositions and preparation processes and highlighted the latest advances in microstructure characterization techniques. The further understanding of the microsphere microstructure has significant reference value for the development of long-acting injectable microspheres, particularly for the development of the generic microspheres.

Supportive care needs of adults living with a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) at home: a qualitative content analysis.

BACKGROUND: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are common vascular access devices inserted for adults undergoing intravenous treatment in the community setting. Individuals with a PICC report challenges understanding information and adapting to the device both practically and psychologically at home. There is a lack of research investigating the supportive care needs of individuals with a PICC to inform nursing assessment and the provision of additional supports they may require to successfully adapt to life with a PICC. The aim of this study was to identify the supportive care needs of adults with cancer or infection living with a PICC at home. METHOD: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were used to identify supportive care needs of adults living with a PICC at home. Participants were recruited from cancer and infectious diseases outpatient units. Two researchers independently analysed transcripts using content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 15 participants were interviewed (30-87 years old). There were 5 males and 10 females interviewed, 9 participants had a cancer diagnosis and most lived in a metropolitan area. Many participants lived with a partner/spouse at home and three participants had young children. Participants identified supportive care needs in the following eight categories (i (i) Adapting daily life (ii) Physical comfort (iii) Self-management (iv) Emotional impact (v) Information content (vi) Understanding information (vii) Healthcare resources and (viii) Social supports. CONCLUSIONS: Adults living with a PICC at home report a broad range of supportive care needs. In addition to practical and information needs, health consumers may also require support to accept living with a device inside their body and to assume responsibility for the PICC. These findings may provide nurses with a greater understanding of individual needs and guide the provision of appropriate supports.

Literature analysis of cutaneous adverse reactions induced by tislelizumab.

OBJECTIVE: Tislelizumab may induce immune-related adverse events, especially adverse skin events. Early detection and timely intervention of cutaneous adverse events are crucial to improve patients' quality of life and reduce the disruption of therapeutic regimens. This study aimed to determine the clinical characteristics of cutaneous adverse reactions to tislelizumab and offer a reference for its rational clinical use. METHODS: Case reports of cutaneous adverse reactions induced by tislelizumab were collected from the relevant databases (up to 31 March 2023). Patient age, sex, primary disease, medication use, occurrence of adverse skin conditions, treatment, and outcomes were recorded and descriptively analysed. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients were enrolled, including six males and seven females, aged 55-79 years, with a median age of 75 years and a mean age of 70.92 ± 8.84 years. The original disease was lung carcinoma in none patients, cervical carcinoma in two, and urothelial carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in one each. The time from the initiation of medication use to the occurrence of cutaneous adverse reactions ranged from 7 to 177 days. Among the 13 patients, 10 showed improvement after drug withdrawal or symptomatic treatment. Two patients died (one died of disease progression and multiorgan failure, one died of acute coronary syndrome), and one patient's adverse skin reactions persisted without treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Tislelizumab-related cutaneous adverse reactions mostly occur after several days to months of treatment. In clinical practice, evaluation and monitoring should be strengthened. More attention should be paid to erythema and rashes, which may be signs of serious adverse skin reactions. Early detection and intervention can ensure the safe use of drugs and provide greater clinical benefits to patients.

The Peptide AWRK6 Alleviates Lipid Accumulation in Hepatocytes by Inhibiting miR-5100 Targeting G6PC.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the leading chronic liver disease, with a worldwide prevalence of more than 25%, and there is no approved drug for NAFLD specifically. In our previous study, the synthetic peptide AWRK6 was found to ameliorate NAFLD in mice. However, the mechanisms involved are still largely unknown. Here, AWRK6 treatment presented an alleviative effect on lipid accumulation induced by oleic acid in hepatocytes. Meanwhile, miR-5100 and miR-505 were found to be elevated by oleic acid induction and reversed by AWRK6 incubation. Further, the miR-5100 inhibitor inhibited oleic acid-induced lipid accumulation, and the alleviation effect of AWRK6 was partially counteracted by miR-5100 mimics. The screening of potential target genes revealed that a catalytic subunit of G6Pase G6PC was significantly inhibited by miR-5100 mimics transfection in both mRNA and protein levels. The direct targeting of miR-5100 on G6PC was verified by a Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay. Moreover, the mRNA and protein levels of G6PC were found to be significantly increased by AWRK6 treatment. These results suggested that the peptide AWRK6 could alleviate lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, partly through reducing miR-5100 to restore one of its targets: G6PC. Thus, AWRK6 has the potential to treat NAFLD. Additionally, miR-5100 is a mediator of lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, which could be targeted by AWRK6.

REST Is Not Resting: REST/NRSF in Health and Disease.

Chromatin modifications play a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression. The repressor element-1 (RE1) silencing transcription factor (REST), also known as neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF) and X2 box repressor (XBR), was found to regulate gene transcription by binding to chromatin and recruiting chromatin-modifying enzymes. Earlier studies revealed that REST plays an important role in the development and disease of the nervous system, mainly by repressing the transcription of neuron-specific genes. Subsequently, REST was found to be critical in other tissues, such as the heart, pancreas, skin, eye, and vascular. Dysregulation of REST was also found in nervous and non-nervous system cancers. In parallel, multiple strategies to target REST have been developed. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive summary of the research progress made over the past 28 years since the discovery of REST, encompassing both physiological and pathological aspects. These insights into the effects and mechanisms of REST contribute to an in-depth understanding of the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of genes and their roles in the development and progression of disease, with a view to discovering potential therapeutic targets and intervention strategies for various related diseases.

Adaptive Evolution Laws of Biofilm under Emerging Pollutant-Induced Stress: Community Assembly-Driven Structure Response.

The widely used biofilm process in advanced wastewater treatment is currently challenged by numerous exotic emerging pollutants (EPs), and the underlying principle of the challenge is the adaptive evolution laws of biofilm under EP stress. However, there is still a knowledge gap in exploration of the biofilm adaptive evolution theory. Herein, we comprehensively analyzed the morphological variation, community succession, and assembly mechanism of biofilms to report the mechanism underlying their adaptive evolution under sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine stress for the first time. The ecological role of the dominant species was driven as a pioneer and assembly hub by EP stress, and the deterministic processes indicated the functional basis of the transformation. In addition, the characteristic responses of dispersal limitation and homogenizing dispersal adequately revealed the assembly pathways in adaptive evolution and the resulting structural variation. Therefore, the "interfacial exposure-structural variation-mass transfer feedback" mechanism was inferred to underly the adaptive evolution process of biofilms. Overall, this study highlighted the internal drivers of the adaptive evolution of the biofilm at the phylogenetic level and deepened our understanding of the mechanism of biofilm development under EP stress in advanced wastewater purification.

Therapeutic Peptides for Treatment of Lung Diseases: Infection, Fibrosis, and Cancer.

Various lung diseases endanger people's health. Side effects and pharmaceutical resistance complicate the treatment of acute lung injury, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer, necessitating the development of novel treatments. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered to serve as a viable alternative to conventional antibiotics. These peptides exhibit a broad antibacterial activity spectrum as well as immunomodulatory properties. Previous studies have shown that therapeutic peptides including AMPs had remarkable impacts on animal and cell models of acute lung injury, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer. The purpose of this paper is to outline the potential curative effects and mechanisms of peptides in the three types of lung diseases mentioned above, which may be used as a therapeutic strategy in the future.

Highly Dispersed Pt Catalysts on Hierarchically Mesoporous Organosilica@Silica Nanoparticles with a Core-Shell Structure for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrogenation.

Hydrogenation of naphthalene can effectively reduce the content of aromatics in oil and generate high-value products. A series of Pt-based aluminum-modified core-shell-structured hierarchically periodic mesoporous organosilica@mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Pt/Al-x-PMOs@MSNs) were successfully synthesized and tested for the hydrogenation properties, with preferable mass transfer of macromolecular reactants in the pores and increasing the total acidity of the catalysts. Moreover, the physicochemical properties of the core-shell-structured Pt-based catalysts were systematically analyzed using various characterization techniques. At 300 °C, the naphthalene conversion on the Pt/Al-10-PMOs@MSNs catalyst reached up to 100%, the selectivity of trans-decalin reached 83.9%, and the rate constants (k1, k2) and TOF were 13.2 × 10-6 mol·g-1·s-1, 1.7 × 10-7 mol·g-1·s-1, and 218.8 h-1, respectively. In the presence of sulfur, the naphthalene hydrogenation over the Pt/Al-10-PMOs@MSN catalyst first decreased to around 40% and then recovered to the original level, which originated from the synergistic effect of the texture and chemical properties over the Pt/Al-10-PMOs@MSNs with an excellent performance.

Laser transparent multiplexed SERS microneedles for in situ and real-time detection of inflammation.

It is a significant challenge to perform painless invasive detection of inflammation progression in relation to the evolution of pH, redox potential, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in an in situ and real-time manner. In this work, polydopamine-modified, silver nanoparticle-decorated poly (methyl methacrylate) microneedles (AgNPs@PDA@MNs) have been developed as a multiplexed surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) diagnostic platform. Using rhodamine 6G as the Raman signal molecule, the AgNPs@PDA@MNs demonstrated a significant enhancement with reasonable linearity in the range of 10-3-10-9 mol/L and the limit of detection is 1.0 × 10-10 mol/L 4-mercaptobenzoic acid, anthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid and para-aminothiophenol were covalently anchored on AgNPs@PDA@MNs SERS substrate. I1143/I1183, I1606/I1667 and I1143/I1077 were used as assay standards for pH, redox potential and ROS level detection, respectively. The SERS multiplexed transparent microneedles (SERS mtMNs) linearly responded to pH in the range of 4.0-8.0, redox potential in the range of 417.0-599.8 mV, and ROS levels in the range of 0-480 ng/mL, demonstrating a significant ability to detect complex inflammation in vivo, in situ and in real-time.

Application of cinnamic acid in the structural modification of natural products: A review.

Natural products can generally exhibit a variety of biological activities, but most show mediocre performance in preliminary activity evaluation. Natural products often require structural modification to obtain promising lead compounds. Cinnamic acid (CA) is readily available and has diverse biological activities and low cytotoxicity. Introducing CA into natural products may improve their performance, enhance biological activity, and reduce toxic side effect. Herein, we aimed to discuss related applications of CA in the structural modification of natural products and provide a theoretical basis for future derivatization and drug development of natural products. Published articles, web databases (PubMed, Science Direct, SCI Finder, and CNKI), and clinical trial websites (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) related to natural products and CA derivatives were included in the discussion. Based on the inclusion criteria, 128 studies were selected and discussed herein. Screening natural products of CA derivatives allowed for classification by their biological activities. The full text is organized according to the biological activities of the derivatives, with the following categories: anti-tumor, neuroprotective, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and other activities. The biological activity of each CA derivative is discussed in detail. Notably, most derivatives exhibited enhanced biological activity and reduced cytotoxicity compared with the lead compound. CA has various advantages and can be widely used in the synthesis of natural product derivatives to enhance the properties of drug candidates or lead compounds.

Hotspots and trends of biological water treatment based on bibliometric review and patents analysis.

In order to reveal the hotspots and trends of biological water treatment from the perspectives of scientific and technological innovation, both of the bibliometric review and patents analysis were performed in this study. The Web of Science Core Collection database and Derwent Innovation Index database recorded 30023 SCI papers and 50326 patents, respectively were analyzed via information visualization technology. The results showed that China ranked the first in both papers and patents, while the United States and Japan had advantages in papers and patents, respectively. It was concluded through literature metrology analysis that microbial population characteristics, biodegradation mechanism, toxicity analysis, nitrogen and phosphorus removal and biological treatment of micro-polluted wastewater were the research hotspots of SCI papers. Activated sludge process and anaerobic-aerobic combined process were the two mainstream technologies on the basis of patent technology classification analysis. Technology evolution path of biological water treatment was also elucidated in three stages based on the citation network analysis. Furthermore, the future directions including research on the law of interaction and regulation of biological phases and pollutants and the technology innovations towards the targeted biotransformation or selective biodegradation of pollutants and resource reuse of wastewater were prospected.

Synthesis and evaluation of in vitro and in vivo anti-Toxoplasma gondii activity of tetraoxane-substituted ursolic acid derivatives.

A series of derivatives of ursolic acid (UA) were synthesised, the anti-Toxoplasma gondii activity was tested, and the selectivity index (SI) of these compounds was calculated to determine the derivative with the best anti-Toxoplasma gondii activity. Compound A7 showed the best activity against the Toxoplasma gondii (IC50 in T. gondii infected GES-1 cells: 9.1 ± 7.2 µM), better than the lead compound UA and the positive control drug Spiramycin. Compound A7 was selected for further in vivo research: A7 was tested for its effect on the inhibition rate of tachyzoites in mice and its biochemical parameters, such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, glutathione, and malondialdehyde were determined. Compound A7 was evaluated for its anti-Toxoplasma activity and partial damage to the liver. Therefore, the results show that compound A7 could be a potential lead compound for developing a novel anti-Toxoplasma gondii molecule.

Biological filtration for wastewater treatment in the 21st century: A data-driven analysis of hotspots, challenges and prospects.

Biological filtration has been widely used in wastewater treatment around the world, yet achieving satisfactory removal of pollutants remains a challenge due to the complexity of water pollution. In order to reveal the hotspots and trends of biological filtration from the perspective of research innovation, 5454 SCI papers and 14,287 patents collected from the Web of Science Core Collection and Derwent Innovation Index database were analyzed by visualization techniques. The results showed that China ranked first in the number of both papers and patents, while the USA and Japan contributed significantly in papers and patents, respectively. Co-occurrence analysis obtained the mapping knowledge domains and demonstrated distinct associations between contaminants ("nitrogen", "pharmaceuticals", "personal care products"), chemicals ("carbon", "activated carbon", "media"), process ("biodegradation", "adsorption" or "ozonation") and characteristics ("kinetics", "performance", "diversity"). Moreover, this review summarized the recent advances of biological filtration media, microorganism and combined process being applied. It was concluded that environmentally friendly biological filtration ("phytoremedi", "microalga", "recirculating aquaculture system"), bio-enhanced biological filtration ("bioaugment", "fungi", "low augment") and emerging pollutants ("emerging contamin", "antibiotic resistance gen", "organic micropollut", "trace organic chem") were the hotspots through data-driven analyses. Technology evolution path of biological filtration generally indicated the transition from conventional biological filtration for nitrogen and phosphorus removal to Fenton-biofiltration combined technology and finally to ozone-biological filtration. Furthermore, the technical innovation direction of the collaborative control of multi-media pollution, the low-carbon biological filtration and short-process technology was prospected. This work can serve as a quick reference for early-career researchers and industries working in the area of biological filtration.