Effect of water soluble humic acid applied to potato foliage on plant growth, photosynthesis characteristics and fresh tuber yield under different water deficits.

Water scarcity is the main limiting factor in agricultural crop production in arid and semi-arid areas in northern China. Humic acid could improve the plant resistance to mitigate the abiotic drought damages, which is a potential strategy to improve the crop production in these regions. An experiment to investigate the effect of water soluble humic acid on plant growth, photosynthesis characteristics and fresh tuber yield of potato under different water deficits was carried out under greenhouse conditions in 2014 and 2015.

Lasiokaurin derivatives: synthesis, antimicrobial and antitumor biological evaluation, and apoptosis-inducing effects.

Herein, a series of lasiokaurin derivatives were designed and synthesized. All the derivatives together with lasiokaurin and oridonin were tested for their antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity. Compound 16 showed the most promising antimicrobial activity with MICs of 2.

Synthesis and β-adrenergic blocking activity of oxime ether hybrids derived from a natural isochroman-4-one.

Aim: In a search for new cardiovascular drug candidates, a series of novel oxime ethers derived from a natural isochroman-4-one were synthesized.

Method: Compounds 3 and 6, derived from the natural antihypertensive compound 7, 8-dihydroxy-3-methyl-isochroman-4-one (XJP), were designed and synthesized. Subsequently, a series of novel isochroman-4-one oxime ether hybrids were prepared by hybridizing various N-substituted isopropanolamine functionalities to isochroman-4-one oxime.

Nicotinic acid inhibits glucose-stimulated insulin secretion via the G protein-coupled receptor PUMA-G in murine islet β cells.

Objectives: Chronic administration of nicotinic acid (NA), a potent antilipidemic compound, aggravates glycemic control in diabetic patients. It is not known if NA has direct effects on islet β cells.

Methods: Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence techniques were used to examine the expression of NA receptor PUMA-G, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (G-PCR) family, in murine islet β cells.