Electrochemically Enabled Intramolecular Amino- and Oxysulfonylation of Alkenes with Sodium Sulfinates to Access Sulfonylated Saturated Heterocycles.

A practical and efficient electrochemical intramolecular amino- or oxysulfonylation of internal alkenes equipped with pendant nitrogen or oxygen-centered nucleophiles with sodium sulfinate was developed. Under undivided electrolytic cell conditions, a variety of sulfonylated N-heterocycles and O-heterocycles, such as tetrahydrofurans, tetrahydropyrans, oxepanes, tetrahydropyrroles, piperidines, δ-valerolactones, etc., were efficiently prepared from easily accessible unsaturated alcohols, carboxylic acids, and N-tosyl amines without the need for additional metal or exogenous oxidant. The robust electrochemical transformation features excellent redox economy, high diastereoselectivity, and broad substrate specificity, which provide a general and practical access to sulfone-containing heterocycles and would facilitate the related synthetic and biological studies based on this electrosynthesis.

Physiological and molecular mechanisms governing the effect of virus-free chewing cane seedlings on yield and quality.

The effects of increasing yield and quality of virus-free chewing cane seedlings and their physiological and molecular basis were studied in this study. Results showed that compared with infected seedlings (the control), the yield of chewing cane stems grown from virus-free seedlings increased by 21.81-29.93%, stem length increased by 28.66-34.49 cm, internode length increased by 2.16-2.68 cm, the single stem weight increased by 20.10-27.68%, the reducing sugar increased by 0.91-1.15% (absolute value), and sucrose increased by - 0.06-1.33% (absolute value). The decrease in sucrose content did not reach significant level, but all other parameters were reached significant level. The chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters such as stomatal conductance (Gs), net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and transpiration rate (Tr), the activity of photosynthetic key enzymes ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), and gene (pepc, rbcS, and rbcL) expression levels were all greater in virus-free seedlings than infected seedlings. The content of superoxide anion (O2-) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in virus-free seedlings was lower than infected seedlings at the main growth stage. With increased development, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) were gradually higher in virus-free seedlings than infected seedlings. Our results indicate that virus-free seedlings may improve photosynthesis efficiency and promote photosynthesis by increasing chlorophyll content, photosynthetic key enzyme activity, and the gene expression levels in leaves. By increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, reducing the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation, and improving the stress resistance of chewing cane, the virus-free chewing cane seedlings increased yield and quality. Our findings provide a scientific and theoretical basis for the promotion and application of virus-free chewing cane seedlings.

Risk factors of recurrent aphthous ulceration among university students.

Recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) is a common oral mucosal disease. The etiological involves in genetics, vitamin deficiencies, trauma, immune dysfunction and stress. This study was to explore the related risk factors of recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) among college students, and provide basis for further research. We conducted a questionnaire survey among students from three colleges in Wuhu by stratified cluster sampling. The information collected includes general demographic characteristics, dietary habits and so on. The overall prevalence of RAU is 23.30% among college students (23.23% in male and 23.39% in female). There are statistical significance in prevalence of RAU between subjects with RAU and without RAU (P<0.05) the prevalence of RAU in different grade, age, adequate brushing time, good brushing habits, wear dentures or braces, other oral disease, eat barbecue, adequate exercise time is statistic difference. According to the result of multinomial logistic regression analysis, the risk of recurrent aphthous ulceration factors including grade, inadequate brushing time. Tempering was a protective factor of RAU. Some measure should be taken to control dental ulcer, which consist of promoting a correct way of living habits, paying attention to the health conscious diet, strengthen physical exercise, self-decompression and keeping good mentality.

The effects of acupressure on depression, anxiety and stress in patients with hemodialysis: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with end stage renal disease on hemodialysis are affected by physiological and psychological stressors, which contribute to poor quality of life and negative clinical outcomes. Depression, anxiety, and stress are highly prevalent in this population. Effective interventional strategies are required to manage these psychological symptoms. Acupressure has been believed to be one of the complementary therapies that could promote psychological wellbeing. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acupressure on depression, anxiety, stress, and general psychological distress in patients with hemodialysis. DESIGN: Open-label randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Three hemodialysis centers. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 108 patients with hemodialysis were randomly recruited into the acupressure group (n=54) and the control group (n=54). METHOD: The intervention was carried out from January to March 2014. The acupressure group received routine hemodialysis treatment plus 15 min acupressure applied three times a week for four weeks. The control group received only usual care with routine hemodialysis treatment. The outcome measurements were the Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and general psychological distress using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare DASS scales and GHQ-28 scores before and after acupressure intervention. RESULTS: The acupressure group had significantly lower DASS scores and GHQ scores compared to the control group, signifying improvements in depression, anxiety, stress and general psychological distress. The sub-score of the GHQ-28 for social dysfunction, however, were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study indicates that acupressure therapy delivered three times a week for four weeks was able to significantly reduce depression, anxiety, stress, and general psychological distress in patients with hemodialysis. This positive finding suggests that acupressure may have a role in promoting psychological wellbeing of patients. Promoting psychological wellness will improve patients' quality of life, and reduce negative outcomes associated with psychological illnesses and distress experienced by patients with hemodialysis.

Hypoxic preconditioning attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced oxidative stress in rat kidneys.

Chronic hypoxic (CH) preconditioning reduces superoxide-induced renal dysfunction via the upregulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and contents. Endotoxaemia reduces renal antioxidant status. We hypothesize that CH preconditioning might protect the kidney from subsequent endotoxaemia-induced oxidative injury. Endotoxaemia was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 4 mg kg(-1)) in rats kept at sea level (SL) and rats with CH in an altitude chamber (5500 m for 15 h day(-1)) for 4 weeks. LPS enhanced xanthine oxidase (XO) and gp91phox (catalytic subunit of NADPH oxidase) expression associated with burst amount of superoxide production from the SL kidney surface and renal venous blood detected by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence. LPS induced a morphologic-independent renal dysfunction in baseline and acute saline loading stages and increased renal IL-1beta protein and urinary protein concentration in the SL rats. After 4 weeks of induction, CH significantly increased Cu/ZnSOD, MnSOD and catalase expression (16 +/- 17, 128 +/- 35 and 48 +/- 21, respectively) in renal cortex, and depressed renal cortex XO (44 +/- 16%) and renal cortex (20 +/- 9%) and medulla (28 +/- 11%) gp91phox when compared with SL rats. The combined effect of enhanced antioxidant proteins and depressed oxidative proteins significantly reduced LPS-enhanced superoxide production, renal XO and gp91phox expression, renal IL-1beta production, and urinary protein level. CH also ameliorated LPS-induced renal dysfunction in the baseline and acute saline loading periods. We conclude that CH treatment enhances the intrarenal antioxidant/oxidative protein ratio to overcome endotoxaemia-induced reactive oxygen species formation and inflammatory cytokine release.