The relationship between diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction and leukoaraiosis.

Cognitive dysfunction is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, which often associates with ageing brain as well as neurodegenerative diseases. A growing body of evidence suggests that patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment. In recent years, studies have found that patients with diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction have an increased burden of leukoaraiosis (LA), and larger white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume. With the recent advancement of technologies, multimodal imaging is widely exploited for the precise evaluation of central nervous system diseases. Emerging studies suggest that LA pathology can be used as a predictive signal of white matter lesions in patients with diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction, providing support for early identification and diagnosis of disease. This article reviews the findings, epidemiological characteristics, pathogenesis, imaging features, prevention and treatment of LA pathophysiology in patients with diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction.

Are need for affect and cognition culture dependent? Implications for global public health campaigns: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cultural differences in affective and cognitive intrinsic motivation could pose challenges for global public health campaigns, which use cognitive or affective goals to evoke desired attitudes and proactive health-promoting actions. This study aimed to identify cross-cultural differences in affective and cognitive intrinsic motivation and discuss the potential value of this information for public health promotion. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using cross-culturally validated need for affect (NFA) and need for cognition (NFC) scales was carried out among 1166 Chinese participants, and the results were compared with published data from 980 American participants. Additionally, we assessed a highly prevalent symbolic geriatric health condition, hearing loss, in 500 Chinese community-dwelling seniors. The Chinese NFA scale was developed following the translation-back translation procedure, and the psychometric evaluation was performed by applying confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), correlation analysis and multigroup invariance test. MANOVA and Hedge's g statistic were employed to compare the NFA and NFC levels between individuals from different countries and between Chinese seniors with and without hearing loss. The relation of early hearing intervention intention to NFA and NFC was also explored in the Chinese sample. RESULTS: A basic two-factor model of NFA adequately fit the sample data from Chinese and American cultures. The questionnaire demonstrated reasonable invariance of the factor structure and factor loadings across the groups. Those in the primary Chinese sample had lower NFA and NFC than their American peers. This difference held in the senior sample. Moreover, Chinese seniors with hearing loss had even lower NFA and NFC than those without hearing loss. Their early hearing intervention intention was low but was associated with intrinsic motivation. CONCLUSIONS: The Need for Affect (NFA) construct may be generalized beyond its Western origins. There was a general lack of affective and cognitive intrinsic motivation in Chinese individuals, particularly in seniors with hearing loss, compared with their American peers. These differences point to a potential challenge in framing effective messages for some cultures in the geriatric public health domain. Ideally, recognizing and understanding this challenge will inspire the consideration of novel persuasive strategies for these audiences.

Isolation of active substances and bioactivity of Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai.

In order to obtain the active compounds against third armyworm (Mythimna separata) contained in Aconitum sinomontanum Nakai by solvent partition, successive fractionation on silica gel and bioassay by the conventional leaf disc method, three diterpenoidal alkaloids were isolated for the first time from the roots of A. sinomontanum Nakai. Their structures were established as demethylenedelcorine, 18-O-methylgigactonine and lepenine based on their spectral data and X-ray diffraction analysis. Demethylenedelcorine and 18-O-methylgigactonine exhibited better pesticidal activities against M. separata, while lepenine had the induce-feeding activity against M. separata. The three diterpenoidal alkaloids exhibited bactericidal and fungicidal activities against certain kinds of the tested bacteria and fungi.

(2,4-Dinitro-phen-yl)(1-methyl-1-nitro-ethyl)diazene.

In the title compound, C(9)H(9)N(5)O(6), the azo group adopts a trans conformation and the dihedral angles between the two nitro groups and the benzene ring are 11.6 (3) and 21.3 (3)°.

N-(2,4-Dinitro-phen-yl)-N'-[nitro-(phenyl)-methyl-ene]hydrazine.

The title compound, C(13)H(9)N(5)O(6), contains three nitro groups. It is prepared by the reaction of benzaldehyde 2,4-dinitro-phenyl-hydrazone with nitric oxide at ambient temperature. The imine group is nearly coplanar with the (2,4-dinitro-phen-yl)-hydrazine unit. The second benzene ring and the third nitro group are twisted away from this plane, with dihedral angles of 48.5 (3) and 15.2 (3)°, respectively. Weak intra-molecular N-H⋯O inter-actions are observed.

[Determination of fraxinellone in root bark of Dictamnus dasycarpus by RP-HPLC].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a RP-HPLC method for determination of fraxinellone in Dictamnus dasycarpus. METHOD: RP-HPLC conditions were as follows: AT-LICHROM C18(4.6 mm x 250 mm) column, MeOH-H2O (70:30) as a mobile phase, detection wavelength 240 nm, column temperature 25 degrees C, Flow velocity 0.5 mL x min(-1). RESULT: Linear relationship is very good (r = 0.9999) in 0.018-0.18 mg x mL(-1). The average recovery is 98.9%, RSD is 1.2% (n = 4). CONCLUSION: The method is simple and repeatable and can be used for quantitative analysis of fraxinellone in root bark of D. dasycarpus.

[A single factor analysis of the prognosis of 301 hepatitis failure cases and a study of a scoring system on their prognostic assessment].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the factors related to prognosis of hepatitis failure and to determine the factors which significantly affect it, and to build a scoring system for assessment of the prognosis of hepatitis failure and also to examine its efficacy for clinical use. METHODS: Clinical data from 301 patients were analyzed retrospectively. The correlated degree between those single factors and prognosis of hepatitis failure was explored by logistic regression analysis. Independent risk factors of prognosis and those correlated coefficients, which were from logistic regression analysis, were used to build a scoring system. This system was used in analyzing the clinical data of 275 patients to examine its efficacy of the prognostic assessment. RESULTS: The factors that significantly affected the prognosis of hepatitis failure included age, clinical typing, hepatic coma, total bilirubin, and others (P < 0.01). Some factors, including PTA, blood urea, sodium and hepatic coma, were independent risk factors of prognosis. The scoring system built gave different scores between the effective treatment group and ineffective treatment group with statistical significance (P < 0.01). When the score was less than 40, the probability of a recovery was 76.9%; when the score was 40 to 80, the probability of a recovery was only 12.5%. When the score was more than 80, the probability of a recovery dropped to 0%. CONCLUSIONS: The factors, including PTA, blood urea and sodium and hepatic coma, are important in building a scoring system to assess the prognosis of hepatitis failure. The scoring system we built is very effective in evaluating the prognosis of hepatitis failure.

[Distinguishing Chinese medicinal herbs by chemical oscillating fingerprints].

OBJECTIVE: A new method is found in distinguishing Chinese medicinal herbs. METHODS: Chemical oscillating technology was used to study discrimination of Chinese medicinal herbs. RESULTS: Chemical oscillating fingerprints of over 30 kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs were obtained. CONCLUSION: Chemical oscillating fingerprints can be used to distinguish Chinese medicinal herbs.