Berberine reduces ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial apoptosis via activating AMPK and PI3K-Akt signaling in diabetic rats.

Diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid used in Chinese medicine, exerts anti-diabetic effect by lowering blood glucose and regulating lipid metabolism. It has been reported that BBR decreases mortality in patients with chronic congestive heart failure.

Gigantic swelling of inorganic layered materials: a bridge to molecularly thin two-dimensional nanosheets.

Platy microcrystals of a typical layered material, protonated titanate, have been shown to undergo an enormous degree of swelling in aqueous solutions of various amines, including tertiary amines, quaternary ammonium hydroxides, and primary amines. Introducing these solutions expanded the crystal gallery height by up to ~100-fold. Through systematic analysis, we determined that ammonium ion intercalation is predominantly affected by the acid-base equilibrium and that the degree of swelling or inflow of H2O is controlled by the osmotic pressure balance between the gallery and the solution environment, both of which are relatively independent of electrolyte identity but substantially dependent on molarity.

Acute effects of black carbon and PM₂.₅ on children asthma admissions: a time-series study in a Chinese city.

Epidemiologic evidence for an association between black carbon (BC) and health outcomes is limited. We estimated associations and exposure-response relationships between childhood asthma admission and concentration of BC and PM2.5 (particle less than 2.

Iptakalim confers an antidepressant effect in a chronic mild stress model of depression through regulating neuro-inflammation and neurogenesis.

Depression is a serious mental disorder in the world, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear and the effective cures are scarce. Iptakalim (Ipt), an ATP-sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channel opener that can cross the blood-brain barrier freely, has been demonstrated to inhibit neuro-inflammation and enhance adult hippocampal neurogenesis. But it is unknown whether Ipt is beneficial to therapy of depression by modulating neurogenesis and neuro-inflammation.

Synergy of W18O49 and polyaniline for smart supercapacitor electrode integrated with energy level indicating functionality.

Supercapacitors are important energy storage technologies in fields such as fuel-efficient transport and renewable energy. State-of-the-art supercapacitors are capable of supplanting conventional batteries in real applications, and supercapacitors with novel features and functionalities have been sought for years. Herein, we report the realization of a new concept, a smart supercapacitor, which functions as a normal supercapacitor in energy storage and also communicates the level of stored energy through multiple-stage pattern indications integrated into the device.

The prevalence, clinical correlates and structure of phobic fears in Han Chinese women with recurrent major depression.

Background: Phobic fears are common in the general population and among individuals with major depression (MD). We know little about the prevalence, clinical correlates, and structure of phobic fears in Chinese women with MD.

Methods: We assessed 22 phobic fears in 6017 Han Chinese women with MD.

Age at onset of recurrent major depression in Han Chinese women - a replication study.

Background: The relationship between age at onset (AAO) and major depression (MD) has been studied in US, European and Chinese populations. However, larger sample studies are needed to replicate and extend earlier findings.

Methods: We re-examined the relationship between AAO and the clinical features of recurrent MD in Han Chinese women by analyzing the phase I (N=1848), phase II (N=4169) and total combined data (N=6017) from the CONVERGE project.

Developmental trajectories of schizotypal personality disorder-like behavioural manifestations: a two-year longitudinal prospective study of college students.

Background: Previous evidence has shown that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is part of the schizophrenia spectrum. Few studies have examined latent classes in the developmental trajectories of SPD features over time in individuals with SPD features.

Methods: We adopted a longitudinal prospective study design to follow up a cohort of 660 college students during a two-year period.

Clinical experience with modified Miccoli's endoscopic thyroidectomy for treatment of thyroid carcinoma in 86 cases.

Background: The main purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and relevant applying techniques of total thyroidectomy for thyroid carcinoma with a modified Miccoli's approach.

Methods: Eighty-six patients with thyroid carcinoma consecutively received radical operation from October 2007 to June 2012. A cavity above the gland was constructed by a modified suspension method using the suspension retractor with suction catheter after the pathway making.

Purification of hen egg white ovomacroglobulin using one-step chromatography.

Hen egg white (EW) are one of the most ideal sources of active proteins, and ovomacroglobulin, as a protease inhibitor, has been demonstrated to possess numerous biological properties including antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well as activity for the treatment of keratitis. The objective of this study was to develop a simple and rapid method for the purification of ovomacroglobulin from hen EW on a laboratory scale. Hen EW was diluted with an equal volume of distilled water followed by a two-step PEG precipitation to remove ovomucin and to obtain ovomacroglobulin-rich precipitate.

Semicircular canal morphogenesis in the zebrafish inner ear requires the function of gpr126 (lauscher), an adhesion class G protein-coupled receptor gene.

Morphogenesis of the semicircular canal ducts in the vertebrate inner ear is a dramatic example of epithelial remodelling in the embryo, and failure of normal canal development results in vestibular dysfunction. In zebrafish and Xenopus, semicircular canal ducts develop when projections of epithelium, driven by extracellular matrix production, push into the otic vesicle and fuse to form pillars. We show that in the zebrafish, extracellular matrix gene expression is high during projection outgrowth and then rapidly downregulated after fusion.

Self-decoupled porphyrin with a tripodal anchor for molecular-scale electroluminescence.

A self-decoupled porphyrin with a tripodal anchor has been synthesized and deposited on Au(111) using different wet-chemistry methods. Nanoscale electroluminescence from single porphyrin molecules or aggregates on Au(111) has been realized by tunneling electron excitation. The molecular origin of the luminescence is established by the vibrationally resolved fluorescence spectra observed.

Rapid Identification of the Multiple Absorbed Bioactive Components and Metabolites in Rat Serum after Oral Administration of Wu-Jia Sheng-Hua Capsule by UPLC-ESI-MS.

To identify the compounds absorbed in rat serum after the oral administration of Wu-Jia Sheng-Hua (WJSH) capsule, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound prescription, an ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-MS) method, was established. The chromatographic separation of the absorbed compounds and metabolites was achieved with an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.

[Establishment of the detection method for two causative genes of cattle arachnomelia syndrome].

Arachnomelia syndrome (AS) is a recessive inherited disease in cattle. Although the arachnomelia phenotypes are virtually identical in Brown Swiss and Simmental cattle, the causative mutation are different, which are a 1 bp insertion c.363-364insG in the sulfite oxidase (SUOX) gene and a 2 bp deletion c.

Identification of the causative gene for Simmental arachnomelia syndrome using a network-based disease gene prioritization approach.

Arachnomelia syndrome (AS), mainly found in Brown Swiss and Simmental cattle, is a congenital lethal genetic malformation of the skeletal system. In this study, a network-based disease gene prioritization approach was implemented to rank genes in the previously reported ∼7 Mb region on chromosome 23 associated with AS in Simmental cattle. The top 6 ranked candidate genes were sequenced in four German Simmental bulls, one known AS-carrier ROMEL and a pooled sample of three known non-carriers (BOSSAG, RIFURT and HIRMER).

[Erectile function of male rats in different age groups: an experimental study].

Objective: To explore the relationship between aging and erectile function changes in rats in order to establish a rat model of aging-related erectile dysfunction (ED).

Methods: Eighty male Wistar rats were equally divided into four age groups (3-, 6-, 12- and 18-month) and treated with intragastric administration of sildenafil citrate (Sn) for penile erection tests. Twenty 3-month-old female Wistar rats were randomized to four groups as oestrous rat models.

Associations between fine particle, coarse particle, black carbon and hospital visits in a Chinese city.

China is one of the countries with the highest ambient particle levels in the world; however, there have been no epidemiologic studies examining the effects of fine particle (PM2.5), coarse particle (PM10-2.5) and black carbon (BC) simultaneously on morbidity outcomes.

Unusually stable ~100-fold reversible and instantaneous swelling of inorganic layered materials.

Cells can swell or shrink in certain solutions; however, no equivalent activity has been observed in inorganic materials. Although lamellar materials exhibit increased volume with increase in the lamellar period, the interlamellar expansion is usually limited to a few nanometres, with a simultaneous partial or complete exfoliation into individual atomic layers. Here we demonstrate a large monolithic crystalline swelling of layered materials.

Numerical processing efficiency improved in experienced mental abacus children.

Experienced mental abacus (MA) users are able to perform mental arithmetic calculations with unusual speed and accuracy. However, it remains unclear whether their extraordinary gains in mental arithmetic ability are accompanied by an improvement in numerical processing efficiency. To address this question, the present study, using a numerical Stroop paradigm, examined the numerical processing efficiency of experienced MA children, MA beginners and their respective peers.

Sleep problems among adolescent survivors following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China: a cohort study.

Objective: To examine sleep problems and associated risk factors among adolescent survivors following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the deadliest earthquake to strike China in 30 years.

Method: A cohort of students (N = 1,573) in the 7th and 10th grades from Dujiangyan City, 21 kilometers from the epicenter, was followed up periodically for 2 years. Participants were assessed at 12 months (n = 1,398; May 18-22, 2009), 18 months (n = 1,288; November 23-27, 2009), 24 months (n = 1,313; May 17-21, 2010), and 30 months (n = 1,038; November 22-26, 2010) after the earthquake.

New family of lanthanide-based inorganic-organic hybrid frameworks: Ln2(OH)4[O3S(CH2)nSO3]·2H2O (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm; n = 3, 4) and their derivatives.

We report the synthesis and structure characterization of a new family of lanthanide-based inorganic-organic hybrid frameworks, Ln(2)(OH)(4)[O(3)S(CH(2))(n)SO(3)]·2H(2)O (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm; n = 3, 4), and their oxide derivatives. Highly crystallized samples were synthesized by homogeneous precipitation of Ln(3+) ions from a solution containing α,ω-organodisulfonate salts promoted by slow hydrolysis of hexamethylenetetramine. The crystal structure solved from powder X-ray diffraction data revealed that this material comprises two-dimensional cationic lanthanide hydroxide {[Ln(OH)(2)(H(2)O)](+)}(∞) layers, which are cross-linked by α,ω-organodisulfonate ligands into a three-dimensional pillared framework.

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor as a predictor of poor outcome in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Background: Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) are known as important factors, which mediate a variety of functions in terms of vascular homeostasis, inflammation and tissue repair. However, their role in systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) has been less well studied. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the abnormalities of fibrinolysis and degradation of extracellular matrix mediated by uPA and uPAR are directly related to the patients with SIRS.

Enhancement of antiviral activity of human alpha-defensin 5 against herpes simplex virus 2 by arginine mutagenesis at adaptive evolution sites.

Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) infection is still one of the common causes of sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. The prevalence of HSV strains resistant to traditional nucleoside antiviral agents has led to the development of novel antiviral drugs. Human alpha-defensin 5 (HD5), a kind of endogenous antimicrobial peptide expressed in the epithelia of the small intestine and urogenital tract, displays natural antiviral activity.