[Pollution Characteristics and Sources of Wintertime Atmospheric Brown Carbon at a Background Site of the Yangtze River Delta Region in China].

To investigate the pollution characteristics and sources of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) in Chongming Island, a background site of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China, PM2.5 samples collected from December 2018 to January 2019 were analyzed to determine their chemical compositions and optical properties. The results showed that the light absorption coefficient (Abs365,M) of BrC extracted by methanol at 365 nm was (5.39±3.33) M-1·m-1, which was 1.3 times of the water extracted BrC. Both increased significantly with the increase of pH values, suggesting that less acidic conditions can enhance the light absorption ability of BrC. In winter, both Abs365 and MAE365 (mass absorption efficiency) were higher in the nighttime than in the daytime. A strong linear correlation observed between Abs365 and levoglucosan (R2=0.72) indicated that many light absorbing substances in Chongming Island were derived from biomass burning emissions. During the campaign, nitro-aromatic compounds (NACs) and PAHs accounted for (1.5±1.1) ng·m-3 and (8.3±4.7) ng·m-3, respectively, contributing to 0.1% and 0.067% of the absorption of the total BrC at 365 nm, respectively. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis further showed that biomass and fossil fuel combustions were the main sources of BrC in Chongming Island in winter, accounting for 56% of the total BrC, followed by secondary formation, accounting for 24% of the total BrC, with road dust contributing only 6%.

A pair of sulfonated diarylheptanoid epimers from Kaempferia galanga.

AIM: To discover new bioactive constituents from Kaempferia galanga L. (Zingiberaceae). METHODS: The extract of K. galanga was divided into the chloroform and water-soluble portions. The latter fraction was successively subjected to column chromatography over a D101 macroporous adsorption resin, MCI, Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC to obtain two compounds. RESULTS: Two novel sulfonated diarylheptanoid epimers, namely kaempsulfonic acids A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of K. galanga. Their structures were established by analysis of spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by the comparison of experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy and the computational calculation method, combined with Mo2(OAc)4 induced circular dichroism (ICD). CONCLUSION: The isolates 1 and 2 are new compounds and their absolute configurations were determined for the first time.

[Effects of TNF-α on ICAM-1 and LFA-1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of children with febrile seizures].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of TNF-α on ICAM-1 and LFA-1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of children with febrile seizures (FS). METHODS: Sixteen children with FS and 16 age- and gender-matched healthy children were enrolled. The samples of PBMC from FS children were randomized into two groups with or without TNF-α treatment (TNF-α concentration 1.0 ng/mL). PBMC were purified and cultured with a conventional method in vitro. The expression of ICAM-1 and LFA-1 in PBMC was determined by flow cytometry (FCM). RESULTS: ICAM-1ï¼»(20±9)% vs (14±7)%)ï¼½and LFA-1ï¼»(43±16)% vs (30±16)%ï¼½expression in PBMC in the untreated FS group was significantly higher than that in the normal control group (P<0.05). Compared with the untreated FS group, the treatment with TNF-α remarkably increased the ICAM-1 expressionï¼»(27±11)%ï¼½(P<0.05). PBMC LFA-1 expressionï¼»(52±21)%ï¼½in the TNF-α-treated group was higher than that in the untreated FS group, although there were no statistical differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: TNF-α treatment may increase LFA-1 and ICAM-1 expression in PBMC of children with FS.

[Hypersensitivity syndrome reactions to antiepileptic drugs, clinical characteristic and association with HLA-B*1502].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cutaneous adverse reactions to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), clinical characteristic and the association with HLA-B*1502. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of four cases of antiepileptic drug hypersensitive syndrome (AHS) were performed on the basis of clinical data, cutaneous adverse reactions to carbamazepine (CBZ) (n = 2) including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) (n = 1) and hypersensitivity syndrome (HSS) (n = 1); phenobarbital-induced HSS (n = 1) and oxcarbazepine (OXC)-induced HSS (n = 1). All patients received the examinations of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with sequence specific primers to analyze HLA-B*1502. Two healthy subjects had no history of using antiepileptic drugs as the control. RESULTS: All patients had manifestations of fever, eruption, mucosal involvement and visceral injury. Two cases were diagnosed as Stevens-Johnson syndrome associated with apparent bullae formation. Genotype positive for HLA-B*1502 was association with 2 patients with CBZ/OXC-induced SJS while the other 1 case of CBZ and 1 case of phenobarbital-induced HSS were genotype non-HLA-B*1502. CONCLUSION: AHS usually occurs within 1 to 2 weeks after initiation of AEDs therapy. The typical presentations are fever, eruption and internal organ involvements, etc. The epileptic patients with CBZ/OXC-induced SJS are related with HLA-B*1502 genotype. But it is not found in HSS patients.