Design, synthesis and anti-tumor activity of asiatic acid derivatives as VEGF inhibitors.

The VEGF receptor is mock-coupled with a known active compound and the active groups of the inhibitor which can bind to VEGF were analyzed. Using asiatic acid as a lead compound, 10 novel skeleton candidate compounds were designed through introduction of the active groups onto the special location and synthesized simultaneously. Furthermore, the structure of these compounds was determined by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and MS and 9 compounds were identified as the new compounds. Moreover, the in vitro anti-tumor activities of these new compounds were determined by MTT assay on two cancer cell lines (HepG2 and SGC-7901). The results showed that compounds I1 and II2 have more potent anticancer activity than positive control drugs such as gefitinib and paclitaxel.

Progress in 'taxonomic sufficiency' in aquatic biological investigations.

The 'taxonomic sufficiency' (TS) approach has been applied to algae, protists, invertebrates, and vertebrates, generally by aggregating species-level abundance data to a higher taxonomic level, where genus-level data are often highly correlated with species-level data and are a valid proxy level. The TS approach offers the possibility of a comparison of data from different geographical areas and highlights the effects of contaminants. The TS approach is stable in the face of different researchers and in the comparison of long-term biological survey data. The effectiveness of the TS approach may increase with increasing environmental gradients or spatial area. The TS approach should be avoided when the spatial area is small and small differences in species-level data are considered important, so as not to cancel out the distribution patterns specific to the local environment of the biological taxa.

Characteristics of zooplankton community structure and its relationship with environmental factors in the South Yellow Sea.

A total of 91 species of zooplankton were sampled from the South Yellow Sea in the summer and autumn of 2019. Copepods were the predominant arthropods. The summer sample (81) contained higher species diversity than the autumn (70). In both seasons, Calanus sinicus, Sagitta enflata, S. crassa, Doliolum denticulatum, and Macrura larva were dominant species. The average abundance of zooplankton in summer and autumn was 424.9 and 52.6 ind./m3, respectively, and the biomass was 207.7 and 107.6 mg/m3, respectively. The Shannon-Wiener index (H') in summer was higher than that in autumn, while the Pielou index (J') and Margalef index (D') were lower than those in autumn. BIOENV showed that water temperature (ST), dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity (Tur), and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) affected the zooplankton community structure in the South Yellow Sea. The concentration of TBBPA increased from offshore to nearshore, with a significant negative impact on diversity in summer.

Discovery of Potent Glucokinase and PPARγ Dual-Target Agonists through an Innovative Scheme for Regioselective Modification of Silybin.

Glucokinase (GK) and PPARγ are important targets for antidiabetic use. Silybin is one of the major active ingredients of Silybum marianum. The regioselective modification of the five hydroxyl groups in the silybin structure has always been a challenge. In this study, we found that silybin was an agonist of GK and PPARγ. A novel synthesis scheme of silybin derivatives was designed, and a series of novel silybin derivatives has been synthesized. The derivative 8d showed relatively strong activation activity for GK and PPARγ in enzyme activity and transactivation assays (GK activation fold: 1.86; PPARγ transactivation activation percentage: 90.32%). This research suggests that silybin and its derivatives could be used as novel GK and PPARγ dual-target agonists.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention among Primary School Teachers: A Study in a City of Guangdong Province of China.

This study aimed to understand the status of knowledge, attitudes, and educational practice of child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention among primary school teachers in a city of Guangdong province of China in order to provide baseline information for CSA prevention training for teachers. Teachers from 8 schools in a city of Guangdong province were surveyed, in May 2019, via an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. On the whole, primary school teachers had positive attitudes toward CSA prevention, but their knowledge and educational practice for CSA prevention were somewhat limited. Results of multiple logistic regression showed that older teachers (40 years or older) (OR = 1.692. 95%CI 1.135, 2.521), classroom teachers (OR = 1.877. 95%CI 1.269, 2.776), and teachers who had participated in training (OR = 4.293. 95%CI 2.907, 6.339) had more educational practice. The findings in this study could provide useful information for developing further CSA prevention education in primary schools.