Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent: a case study of Guangzhou, China.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been proposed as significant sources of microplastics (MPs) in freshwater and estuarine environments. WWTPs, even those with high removal efficiencies, release millions of MPs per plant daily. China is the largest plastic producer worldwide, but only a few studies of MP pollution from WWTPs have been carried out in China.

Qingkailing Injection () for Treatment of Children Pneumonia Induced by Respiratory Syncytial Virus: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Qingkailing Injection (, QKL) for treatment of children pneumonia caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Methods: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing QKL with ribavirin injection in the treatment of children pneumonia induced by RSV were searched in PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Chinese VIP database, CNKI and Wanfang databases from their inception to March 2014. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.

One-step generation of mice carrying a conditional allele together with an HA-tag insertion for the delta opioid receptor.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important modulators of many physiological functions and excellent drug targets for many diseases. However, to study the functions of endogenous GPCRs is still a challenging task, partially due to the low expression level of GPCRs and the lack of highly potent and selective GPCR antibodies. Overexpression or knock-in of tagged GPCRs, or knockout of specific GPCRs in mice, are common strategies used to study the in vivo functions of these receptors.

Levofloxacin and proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy versus standard triple first-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Background: Standard triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection fails in up to one quarter of patients. Levofloxacin-based triple therapy may be more efficacious.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to compare levofloxacin and proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy with standard triple therapy for H.

Identification of a novel small-molecule agonist for human G protein-coupled receptor 3.

G protein-coupled receptor 3 (GPR3) is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) predominantly expressed in mammalian brain and oocytes. GPR3 plays important roles in these two organs and is known as a Gαs-coupled receptor-activated constitutively in cells. However, the signal transduction pathway and pharmacological function of GPR3 remain unclear because of the lack of a specific ligand.