Comparison of combined virtual reality combined with standing balance training vs. standard practice in patients with hemiplegia: A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether virtual reality (VR)-based dynamic standing balance training improves three elements of sensory integration and investigate whether VR-based dynamic standing balance training results in improved outcomes, especially regarding balance and gait, compared to the standard training method.

Design: This single-blinded, randomized, controlled trial involved 30 patients with hemiplegia. The experimental (EG, n = 15) and control (CG, n = 15) groups received VR augmented-standing balance training or standard standing balance training, respectively, for 20 minutes, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks.

Salvianolic acid B suppresses hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting ceramide glucosyltransferase in hepatic stellate cells.

UDP-glucose ceramide glucosyltransferase (UGCG) is the first key enzyme in glycosphingolipid (GSL) metabolism that produces glucosylceramide (GlcCer). Increased UGCG synthesis is associated with cell proliferation, invasion and multidrug resistance in human cancers. In this study we investigated the role of UGCG in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis.

Bulleyaconitine A is a sensitive substrate and competitive inhibitor of CYP3A4: One of the possible explanations for clinical adverse reactions.

Bulleyaconitine A (BLA), a toxic Aconitum alkaloid, is a potent analgesic that is clinically applied to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and lumbosacral pain. BLA-related adverse reactions occur frequently, but whether the underlying mechanism is related to its metabolic interplay with drug-metabolizing enzymes remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the metabolic characteristics of BLA and its affinity action and mechanism to drug-metabolizing enzymes to reveal whether BLA-related adverse reactions are modulated by enzymes.

Soil domestication by rice cultivation results in plant-soil feedback through shifts in soil microbiota.

Background: Soils are a key component of agricultural productivity, and soil microbiota determine the availability of many essential plant nutrients. Agricultural domestication of soils, that is, the conversion of previously uncultivated soils to a cultivated state, is frequently accompanied by intensive monoculture, especially in the developing world. However, there is limited understanding of how continuous cultivation alters the structure of prokaryotic soil microbiota after soil domestication, including to what extent crop plants impact soil microbiota composition, and how changes in microbiota composition arising from cultivation affect crop performance.

Cellulosic adsorbent functionalized with macrocyclic pyridone pentamer for selectively removing metal cations from aqueous solutions.

Metal selective adsorbent (MCPP-SA-MCC) was synthesized by the reaction of macrocyclic pyridone pentamer (MCPP) with succinic acid anhydride modified microcrystalline cellulose (SA-MCC). Selectivity of the tailor-made adsorbent to metal cations was studied by measuring its competitive adsorption ability to nine metal cations (Ba, Pb, Cd, Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, and Cr). It was found that MCPP-SA-MCC exhibited a patterned recognition of metal cations remarkably correlated with the metal cation radius.