(Asteraceae), a new species from Xizang (Tibet), China.

, a new species of Asteraceae from the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region of China, is described and illustrated here. Morphologically, it is most similar to but can be distinguished by the combination of monoecious and dioecious individuals, involucral bracts arranged in 3-5 series (with outer series herbaceous and middle to inner series membranous), fimbriate apices on female florets, rough-edged lobes on male florets, and achenes lacking costae. Phylogenetic analyses further support the separation of this new species from related taxa.

Heparan sulfate acts as an activator of the NLRP3 inflammasome promoting inflammatory response in the development of acute pancreatitis.

Background: Accumulating evidence has shown that the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a crucial role in the inflammatory cascades involved in the development of acute pancreatitis (AP). However, the specific agonist responsible for activating the NLRP3 inflammasome in this process has not yet been identified. The purpose of this study is to clarify whether heparan sulfate (HS) works as an NLRP3 inflammasome activator to evoke inflammatory cascades in the progression of AP.

Nafamostat mesilate prevented caerulein-induced pancreatic injury by targeting HDAC6-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Objective: Nafamostat mesilate (NM), a synthetic broad-spectrum serine protease inhibitor, has been commonly used for treating acute pancreatitis (AP) and other inflammatory-associated diseases in some East Asia countries. Although the potent inhibitory activity against inflammation-related proteases (such as thrombin, trypsin, kallikrein, plasmin, coagulation factors, and complement factors) is generally believed to be responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of NM, the precise target and molecular mechanism underlying its anti-inflammatory activity in AP treatment remain largely unknown.

Methods: The protection of NM against pancreatic injury and inhibitory effect on the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation were investigated in an experimental mouse model of AP.

Prevalence and Characterization of Species in Tibetan Antelope ().

is an enteric parasite, which can infect multiple mammals including livestock and wildlife. Tibetan Antelope () is one of the most famous wildlife species, that belongs to the first class protected wild animals in China. However, it has not been known whether Tibetan Antelope is infected with so far.

Baicalin Inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome Activity Via the AMPK Signaling Pathway to Alleviate Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Baicalin has been reported to have ameliorative effects on nerve-induced hypoxic ischemia injury; however, its role in the NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent inflammatory response during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion remains unclear. To investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in baicalin alleviating cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, we investigated the AMPK signaling pathway which regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activity. SD rats were treated with baicalin at doses of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively, after middle cerebral artery occlusion at 2 h and reperfusion for 24 h (MCAO/R).

[New records of medicinal plants in Hubei].

In this paper, we make a report on new records of medicinal plants in Hubei, which include one newly recorded genera and seven newly recorded species and a newly recorded variety. The newly recorded genera is Anoectochilus and its corresponding species is Anoectochilus roxburghii; These newly recorded species are Euphorbia micractina, Astragalus wulingensis, Blumea megacephala, Potentilla saundersiana, Blumea formosana, Lycoris houdyshelii and Colocasia gigantea ; The newly recorded variety is Neottia puberula var. maculata.

Simple and flexible phase compensation for digital holographic microscopy with electrically tunable lens.

In a digital holographic microscopy (DHM) system, different microscope objectives (MOs) will introduce different phase distortions and thus lead to measurement errors. To address this problem, we present a simple and flexible method to compensate all phase distortions by introducing an electrically tunable lens (ETL) in the reference arm for a DHM system with multiple MOs. By exactly controlling the external currents of the ETL, we can change the reference wave front to match the wave front introduced by different MOs without complex alignment or additional numerical postprocessing manipulations.

Type I collagen gel protects murine fibrosarcoma L929 cells from TNFα-induced cell death.

Murine fibrosarcoma L929 cells have been used to test efficacy of proinflammatory cytokine TNFα. In the present study, we reported on protective effect of type I collagen gel used as L929 cell culture. L929 cell grew and proliferated well on collagen gel.

[Isolation and identification of coxsackievirus in Sichuan golden monkey].

A coxsackievirus B strain was successfully isolated by cells culture from cardiac muscle tissues of a dead Sichuan golden monkey with myocarditis from a zoo of Changchun in China. The isolate was consistent with CVB by morphology, physicochemistry test, animal regression test and RT-PCR. Analysis of VP1 partial gene sequence and detection of mice specific serum IgG showed that the strain isolated was a coxsackievirus B3.

[Cloning and sequencing of the GTP cyclohydrolase I function region of azole target enzyme gene in artificially induced resistant Candida albicans].

Objective: To study the relationship between gene mutation of GTP cyclohydrolase I function region in lanosterine 14 alpha-demethylase (14-DM) DNA sequence and drug resistance of Candida albicans.

Methods: One standard strain and 2 isolate strains of Candida albicans were induced artificially by fluconazole plus albendazole. The gene fragments of the 3 strains and another 2 clinical isolates which were resistant to fluconazol were detected by PCR, and then cloned onto pMD-18T vectors to sequence and analyze the change of gene sequence after the induction.

Serological survey on canine coronavirus antibodies in giant pandas by virus neutralization test.

In order to survey the infectious situation of canine coronavirus (CCV) in giant panda population, a virus neutralization test detecting specific antibodies against CCV in giant panda's sera was established by using two-fold dilutions of serum and 100 TCID of the virus. The 62 sera samples of giant pandas, which were gathered from zoos and reserve region of Sichuan Province, China were detected. The neutralization antibody titer of 1:4 was recognized as the positive criterion, 8 sera samples were detected to be positive, and the positive rate was 12.