Tongqiao Huoxue Decoction inhibits ferroptosis by facilitating ACSL4 ubiquitination degradation for neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Background: Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) refers to brain tissue injury caused by the temporary interruption of cerebral blood flow ischemia followed by the restoration of reperfusion, which is the main cause of post-stroke brain injury. A traditional Chinese herbal preparation called Tongqiao Huoxue Decoction (TQHX) has shown promise in reducing CIRI in rats. However, the mechanism of this herbal preparation for CIRI remains unclear.

NBS-Promoted Synthesis of Thiocyanated Aminomaleimides and Site-Selective Intramolecular Cyclization Access to 1,4-Benzothiazepines via S-CN Bond Cleavage.

A transition metal-free concise and efficient protocol for the synthesis of thiocyanated aminomaleimides and benzo[][1,4]thiazepine derivatives has been developed. The method involves an initial α-C-H thiocyanation of aminomaleimides with KSCN and TEMPO-mediated tandem S-CN bond cleavage/intramolecular cyclization substitution processes, which enables the formation of seven-membered S/N-heterocycles. This synthetic strategy provides a reliable method for the synthesis of biologically interesting benzo[][1,4]thiazepine derivatives by using KSCN as sulfur sources as well as expands the application of enaminones thiocyanation reactions in heterocycles synthesis.

Chemodivergence in Fluorine Source-Controlled Cascade Reaction of Aryne Precursors to Synthesize Pyrrolo[3,4-]indoles and 3-Arylated Maleimides.

Reactions allowing chemodivergence prove to be attractive strategies in synthetic organic chemistry. We herein described a highly practical, transition-metal-free, highly regioselective and chemodivergent cascade reaction controlled by fluorine sources, which involved a [3 + 2] cycloaddition or -arylation process between aryne precursors and 3-aminomaleimides. These two pathways led to a wide scope of structurally diverse pyrrolo[3,4-]indoles (19 examples) and 3-arylated maleimides (25 examples) in good-to-excellent yields.

Chitosan modified graphene oxide with MnO deposition for high energy density flexible supercapacitors.

To obtain a flexible composite electrode material with excellent electrochemical performance, chitosan (CS)/graphene oxide (GO) composite pretreated from microwave hydrothermal is adopted as the carbon substrate, and MnO active material is uniformly deposited on their surface through anodic electrodeposition. In this composite system, CS penetrates into graphene sheets as small molecule units, forming NH-C=O groups with GO via dehydration condensation, which effectively inhibits the stacking of GO and improves the specific surface area, conductivity, as well as the wettability of the carbon support. MnO bonding with heteroatom N from CS enables high active material loadings and forms stable three-dimensional network structure, facilitating the enhanced electrochemical performance.

Microwave-assisted DABCO-promoted regioselective [3 + 3] tandem cyclization: synthesis of pyrrolo[3,4-]pyridine-4-ones from trifluoromethyl-alkynyl esters and α-aminomaleimide.

A microwave-assisted DABCO-promoted strategy for the regioselective synthesis of pyrrolo[3,4-]pyridine-4-one derivatives has been developed from the [3 + 3] annulation of α-aminomaleimide with substituted ethyl 2-butynoate. The characteristic features of this methodology include operational simplicity, high regioselectivity, metal-free reaction conditions, and short reaction times. The potential utility of these methods in biological chemistry and medicinal science applications is highlighted.

Base-Promoted [5 + 1 + 3] Cascade Cyclization of -Nitrochalcones, Elemental Sulfur, and Guanidine to Benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-]pyrimidine Frameworks.

An unexpected [5 + 1 + 3] cascade cyclization to the preparation of benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-]pyrimidine derivatives has been disclosed. In the new protocol, -nitrochalcones reacted with elemental sulfur and guanidine promoted by NaOH, which reacted in EtOH for 20 min, providing structurally diverse benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-]pyrimidines with good yields (77-89%) and wide substrate compatibility (33 examples).

Cu(II)-Catalyzed Cascade of -Phenyl--phenylenediamine with Benzaldehyde: One-Step Direct Construction of 2-(1-Phenyl-1-benzo[]imidazol-2-yl)phenols.

A practical protocol for the construction of hydroxylated 2-(1-phenyl-1-benzo[]imidazol-2-yl)phenols (PBIs) from -phenyl--phenylenediamine with benzaldehydes was developed. The cascade reaction was enabled by heating a mixture of the two substrates in the presence of air as an oxidant and anhydrous Cu(OAc) as a catalyst in dimethyl sulfoxide, and a diverse series of PBIs were synthesized in moderate to good yields (69-81%). Furthermore, the synthesis of the PBIs was enabled via a one-pot cascade reaction that proceeded through subsequent dehydration condensation, intramolecular cyclization, and aromatic C-H hydroxylation.

Effect of infection with Aeromonas hydrophila on antioxidant capacity, inflammation response, and apoptosis proteins in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis).

Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) as a serious bacterial disease endangering aquaculture and the Chinese mitten crabs (Eriocheir sinensis) industry. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of A.

Emodin resists to Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 replication via the pathways of Nrf2/Keap1-ARE and NF-κB in the ornamental koi carp (Cyprinus carpio haematopterus).

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) causes high mortality in carp. Emodin has been shown of the effects of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral. In present study, we investigated the preventive effects and mechanism of emodin on CyHV-3 infection.

Evaluation of Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Cystatin C in Early Diagnosis of Chronic Kidney Disease in the Absence of the Gold Standard.

Background: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is considered as a gold standard of kidney function. However, using GFR as the gold standard is not common in clinical practice, because its direct measurement is usually expensive, cumbersome, and invasive. In the present study, we assessed the predictive power of two other biomarkers, Cystatin-C (Cys-C) and Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) for early detection of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in the absence of a gold standard.

Development and internal validation of a multimorbidity index that predicts healthcare utilisation using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Objectives: We aimed to develop and internally validate a measure of multimorbidity burden using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA).

Design: Data from 40 264 CLSA participants (52% men) aged 45-85 years (a mean of 63 years) were analysed. We used logistic regression models to predict overnight hospitalisation in the last 12 months in the development dataset (random two-thirds of the total) and used these to construct 10 multimorbidity indices (5 models, each treated with and without an age interaction term).

Evaluating Latent Tuberculosis Infection Test Performance Using Latent Class Analysis in a TB and HIV Endemic Setting.

Background: Given the lack of a gold standard for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and paucity of performance data from endemic settings, we compared test performance of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and two interferon-gamma-release assays (IGRAs) among health-care workers (HCWs) using latent class analysis. The study was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, a tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) endemic setting Methods: 505 HCWs were screened for LTBI using TST, QuantiFERON-gold-in-tube (QFT-GIT) and T-SPOT.TB.

Comparison of the expected rewards between probabilistic and deterministic analyses in a Markov model.

: In Markov models that evaluate the cost-effectiveness of health-care technologies, it is generally recommended to use probabilistic analysis instead of deterministic analysis. We sought to compare the performance of probabilistic and deterministic analysis in estimating the expected rewards in a Markov model.: We applied Jensen's inequality to compare the expected Markov rewards between probabilistic and deterministic analysis and conducted a simulation study to compare the bias and accuracy between the two approaches.

Predictors of discordant latent tuberculosis infection test results amongst South African health care workers.

Background: The tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-gamma-release-assays (IGRAs) are utilized in screening programmes for presumed latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in health care workers (HCWs). However, inter-test comparison yields high rates of discordance, which is poorly understood. The aim of the study was therefore to identify factors associated with discordance amongst HCWs in a TB and HIV endemic setting.

AtHKT1 gene regulating K state in whole plant improves salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco plants.

The status of K is important for plant health. However, little is known about if high-affinity potassium transporter HKTs may help K retention under salt stress. Here, we determined the effect of Arabidopsis thaliana transporter gene (AtHKT1) on the K status, Na-induced toxicity, and salt tolerance in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.

Investigating rectal toxicity associated dosimetric features with deformable accumulated rectal surface dose maps for cervical cancer radiotherapy.

Background: Better knowledge of the dose-toxicity relationship is essential for safe dose escalation to improve local control in cervical cancer radiotherapy. The conventional dose-toxicity model is based on the dose volume histogram, which is the parameter lacking spatial dose information. To overcome this limit, we explore a comprehensive rectal dose-toxicity model based on both dose volume histogram and dose map features for accurate radiation toxicity prediction.

[Systematic Evaluation and Meta-analysis on Acupuncture for Peptic Ulcer].

Objective: To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for peptic ulcer.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for peptic ulcer were searched from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Database, Chinese Scientific and Technological Journals (VIP), China Biomedicine (CBM), PubMed and the Cochrane Library from the establishment time of databases to September, 2016. Data extraction and quality evaluation were implemented for the literature which met the inclusive criteria.

[Effect of Electroacupuncture on Cerebro-cortex Caspase-3 Expression and Blood Lipid Levels in Hyperlipemia Rats with Cerebral Ischemia].

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of "Fenglong" (ST 40), "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6) plus manual acupuncture (MA) stimulation of "Shuigou" (GV 26) and "Baihui" (GV 20) on Caspase-3 protein expression in the cerebral cortex of rats with hyperlipemia and cerebral ischemia(HL-CI),so as to reveal its mechanisms underlying improvement of HL-CI.

Methods: Forty-five rats were randomly divided into normal control,sham operation,model,EA group I(EA+MA was given for 14 days, i.e.

Comprehensive target geometric errors and margin assessment in stereotactic partial breast irradiation.

Background: Recently developed stereotactic partial breast irradiation (S-PBI) allows delivery of a high biologically potent dose to the target while sparing adjacent critical organs and normal tissue. With S-PBI tumoricidal doses, accurate and precise dose delivery is critical to achieve high treatment quality. This study is to investigate both rigid and non-rigid components of target geometric error and their corresponding margins in S-PBI and identify correlated clinical factors.

Modeling conditional dependence among multiple diagnostic tests.

When multiple imperfect dichotomous diagnostic tests are applied to an individual, it is possible that some or all of their results remain dependent even after conditioning on the true disease status. The estimates could be biased if this conditional dependence is ignored when using the test results to infer about the prevalence of a disease or the accuracies of the diagnostic tests. However, statistical methods correcting for this bias by modelling higher-order conditional dependence terms between multiple diagnostic tests are not well addressed in the literature.

Taking Costs and Diagnostic Test Accuracy into Account When Designing Prevalence Studies: An Application to Childhood Tuberculosis Prevalence.

Background: When planning a study to estimate disease prevalence to a pre-specified precision, it is of interest to minimize total testing cost. This is particularly challenging in the absence of a perfect reference test for the disease because different combinations of imperfect tests need to be considered. We illustrate the problem and a solution by designing a study to estimate the prevalence of childhood tuberculosis in a hospital setting.

Understanding the effects of conditional dependence in research studies involving imperfect diagnostic tests.

When two imperfect diagnostic tests are carried out on the same subject, their results may be correlated even after conditioning on the true disease status. While past work has focused on the consequences of ignoring conditional dependence, the degree to which conditional dependence can be induced has not been systematically studied. We examine this issue in detail by introducing a hypothetical missing covariate that affects the sensitivities of two imperfect dichotomous tests.

[Effects of Direct Moxibustion of "Ganshu"(BL 18) on the Contents of T cells in Peripheral Blood in Rats with Precancerous Lesion of Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma].

Objective: To observe the effect of moxibustion stimulation of "Ganshu"(BL 18) region on contents of T cells in the peripheral blood in rats with Diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), so as to explore its effective in improving immunoregulatory function.

Methods: Seventy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group (=10), model group(=15), direct moxibustion-15 s group(=15), direct moxibustion-30 s group (=15) and ginger-separated moxibustion group(=15). The primary HCC precancerous lesion model was established by intraperitoneal injection of DEN (50 mg/kg), once every 3 days for 10 weeks.