[N′-(3-Meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)nicotinohydrazidato]dimethyl­tin(IV)

In the title complex, [Sn(CH3)2(C14H11N3O3)], the Sn atom is in a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal coordination, with Sn—O distances of 2.138 (2) and 2.176 (2) Å. The dihedral angles between the two chelated benzene rings and the O—Sn—N group are 71.73 (9) and 83.30 (9)°

Bilateral stenting methods for hilar biliary obstructions

OBJECTIVE: There is no consensus regarding the most appropriate methods (i.e., the side-by-side versus the stent-in-stent technique) for placing bilateral stents for malignant hilar biliary obstructions. We aimed to perform a quantitative review of the published data regarding the clinical efficacy of the side-by-side and stentinstent bilateral drainage techniques for hilar biliary obstructions. METHODS: A comprehensive search of several databases was conducted and a fixed-effects or random-effects model was used to pool the data from all of the study end-points. RESULTS: Four clinical trials were identified. A comparison of the side-by-side and stent-in-stent groups revealed no significant differences with respect to the rates of successful placement, successful drainage, early complications, late complications and stent occlusions. There were also no significant inter-group differences in stent patency and patient survival and no publication bias was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the side-by-side technique appears to be similar to that of the stent-instent technique for bilateral drainage in patients with malignant hilar biliary obstructions

Latitudinal and Longitudinal Trends of Seed Traits Indicate Adaptive Strategies of an Invasive Plant

Invasive plants may change their seed traits to adapt to the environment and facilitate their performance. Studies on variation in seed traits among populations of an invader along latitudes/longitudes may assist in revealing how invasive plants cope with variable climates. In this study, we collected seeds of 26 populations of the global invasive plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia along ranges spanning 23° latitudes and 20° longitudes that are highly correlated in its invasive range in China. We measured over 20 seed traits, including seed morphology, phytohormone, nutrients, and germination, and investigated how the climate along the latitudes affects those traits. We found that germination time was significantly delayed with increasing latitude and longitude, while the reversed patterns were true for the germination rate. From low to high latitude, seed size, abscisic acid, and fatty acid were increased, likely affecting seed germination. Our analysis further demonstrated that temperature is the dominant driver of the variability in seed traits and germination. Germination rates of larger seeds in cold ranges were lower, while smaller seeds from warm ranges germinated faster, likely indicating adaptive strategies of the invasive plant in seed trait functional ecology. Together, our findings provide new insights into understanding the seed adaptation strategies during the invasion process and the underlying physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved

Use of Xinfeng capsule to treat abarticular pathologic changes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

AbstractObjectiveTo observe the influence of Xinfeng-capsule (XFC) on abarticular pathologic changes (APCs) and other indices of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and explore the mechanism of action of XFC in improving such changes.MethodsThree-hundred RA patients were divided randomly into a treatment group (n=150) and control group (n=150). A normal control (NC) group (n=90) was also created. Changes in cardiac function, pulmonary function, anemia indices and platelet parameters of RA patients were measured. Curative effects of the two groups were compared, and comparison carried out with the NC group.ResultsIn 300 RA patients, late diastolic peak flow velocity (A peak) was much higher (P<0.01) and early diastolic peak flow velocity (E peak), E/A, and left ventricular fraction shortening much lower (P<0.01) than those in the NC group. Vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity in one second, forced vital capacity (FVC), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), maximal expiratory flow in 50% of VC (FEF50) and FEF75 were lowered remarkably (P< 0.05 or P<0.01). Platelet count (PLT), plateletcrit (PCT) and mean platelet volume (MPV) increased markedly (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and hemoglobin (Hb) level decreased significantly (P<0.05). After XFC treatment, the A peak and PLT and PCT were much lower (P<0.05), and E/A and the number of red blood cells as well as Hb level were much higher (P< 0.05), as were FVC, MVV and FEF50 (P<0.05 or P< 0.01), in the treatment group than those in the NC group. Total score of pain and swelling in joints, uric-acid level and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level were much lower, and superoxide dismutase level as well as the number of CD4 + CD25 + regulation T cells (Treg) and CD4 + CD25 + CD127-Treg were much higher (P<0.05 or P<0.01) in the treatment group than those in the NC group.ConclusionRA patients with pathologic changes in joints also suffer from lower cardiac and pulmonary functions and from parameters of anemia and platelet factors. XFC can improve the symptoms of RA patients, ameliorate their cardiac and pulmonary functions and reduce the parameters of anemia and platelet factors. XFC lowers the immune inflammatory reaction to improve APCs in RA patients

Reactive Oxygen Species Released from Hypoxic Hepatocytes Regulates MMP-2 Expression in Hepatic Stellate Cells

Hypoxia is a common environmental stress factor and is associated with fibrogenesis. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), produced by hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), plays an important role in liver fibrogenesis. However, inconsistent results have been reported on the impact of hypoxia on MMP-2 expression and activity in HSCs. We speculated that cell–cell interaction is involved in the regulation of MMP-2 expression and activity at low oxygen level in vivo. Therefore, in this report we investigated the mechanism by which hypoxic hepatocytes regulates MMP-2 expression in HSCs. Our results showed that the conditioned medium from hypoxia-treated rat hepatocytes strongly induced the expression of MMP-2 mRNA and protein in rat HSC-T6 cells. Reduced glutathione neutralized ROS released from hypoxic hepatocytes, leading to reduced MMP-2 expression in HSC-T6 cells. In addition, phospho-IκB-α protein level was increased in HSC-T6 cells treated with hypoxia conditioned medium, and NF-κB signaling inhibitor inhibited MMP-2 expression in HSC-T6 cells. Taken together, our data suggest that ROS is an important factor released by hypoxic hepatocytes to regulate MMP-2 expression in HSCs, and NF-κB signaling is crucially involved in ROS-induced MMP-2 expression in HSCs. Our findings suggest that strategies aimed at antagonizing the generation of ROS in hypoxic hepatocytes and inhibiting NF-κB signaling in HSCs may represent novel therapeutic options for liver fibrosis

Loss of the Putative Catalytic Domain of HDAC4 Leads to Reduced Thermal Nociception and Seizures while Allowing Normal Bone Development

Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) has been associated with muscle & bone development [1]–[6]. N-terminal MEF2 and RUNX2 binding domains of HDAC4 have been shown to mediate these effects in vitro. A complete gene knockout has been reported to result in premature ossification and associated defects resulting in postnatal lethality [6]. We report a viral insertion mutation that deletes the putative deacetylase domain, while preserving the N-terminal portion of the protein. Western blot and immuno-precipitation analysis confirm expression of truncated HDAC4 containing N-terminal amino acids 1-747. These mutant mice are viable, living to at least one year of age with no gross defects in muscle or bone. At 2–4 months of age no behavioral or physiological abnormalities were detected except for an increased latency to respond to a thermal nociceptive stimulus. As the mutant mice aged past 5 months, convulsions appeared, often elicited by handling. Our findings confirm the sufficiency of the N-terminal domain for muscle and bone development, while revealing other roles of HDAC4

Hypoxia induced by CoC1 2 influencing the expression and the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 in rat hepatic stellate cells.

NRC publication: Ye

Multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann simulation of natural convection with multiple heat sources in a rectangular cavity

Natural convection and heat transfer in square cavity with multiple heat sources was investigated through a Multiple-Relaxation-Time (MRT) collision model and Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) in the current work. The MRT-LBM model was verified by former experiment and numerical findings with different Ra numbers from 103 to 105, which proved the MRT-LBM model is effective to handle the flow and transfer. The heat transfer that developed inside the cavity was analyzed under different width, height and lateral offset of heat source in this paper. Moreover, the change of spacing between two symmetrically distributed heat sources was discussed. The results showed that the heat exchange efficiency was augmented by increasing width, height and spacing of heater, but it was reduced by increasing lateral offset. Specifically, the Nusselt number of upper-wall decreased by increasing height of heat source, and the left and right walls appeared better heat exchange efficiency by height increased. Additionally, the lateral position had the notable influence on the left wall surface of heat source, and the optimum heat exchange efficiency of heat source’s left wall existed in the condition of small lateral offset.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author