Yiqi Gubiao pill alleviates chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in rats via upregulation of klotho expression

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Yiqi Gubiao pill (YGP) on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in rats, and the  mechanism of its action.Methods: Six groups of eight-week old male SPF-grade Wistar rats (n = 60) were used (10 rats/group), viz, control, COPD, low-dose YGP, medium-dose YGP, high-dose YGP, and dexamethasone groups. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was induced using a standard method. Graded doses of YGP were prepared by dissolving 100, 200 or 400 pills of Yiqi Gubiao. Lung damage and airway remodeling were determined by histological examination. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure levels of klotho in rat serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The mRNA and protein expressions of klotho in lung tissue were assayed with qRT-PCR) and Western blot assay, respectively.Results: Serum and BALF klotho levels were significantly lower in COPD rats than in control, but the levels were markedly and dose-dependently increased by YGP (p < 0.05). Treatment of COPD rats with YGP led to significant and dose-dependent upregulation of mRNA and protein expressions of klotho (p < 0.05). Moreover, histologic score (index of lung damage) increased in COPD rats, relative to control, but it was dose-dependently decreased by YGP (p < 0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that YGP alleviates COPD in rats via the upregulation of klotho expression. However, the potential use of YGP for COPD still needs further clinical research. Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Klotho, Lungs, Protein expression, Yiqi Gubiao pil

Horizontal heat flux between urban buildings and soil and its influencing factors

The soil temperature near four external walls with different orientations was investigated in spring and summer. In both seasons, the soil temperature was higher in the positions closest to the buildings, suggesting that the buildings were a heat source for the soil surrounding them. Therefore, it could be confirmed that there was lateral heat transfer between the soil and the buildings. Based on this, a soil heat flux plate was set between the soil and the buildings to investigate the horizontal heat flux. The data showed diurnal variations of the horizontal heat flux in both spring and summer. In order to determine the factors that influenced the horizontal heat flux and to provide a basis to understand its mechanism, the correlations between the data of several meteorological factors and the horizontal heat flux were analysed. The results showed that solar radiation was significantly correlated with the horizontal heat flux (p0.05), such as that for soil moisture. The stepwise regression results indicated that the relative importance of these meteorological factors was 48.63, 21.94, 14.44, 8.12 and 6.87% for solar radiation, soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity and soil moisture, respectively, on a diurnal scale

The Effects of Uygur Herb Hyssopus officinalis

It has been proved that Uygur herb Hyssopus offcinalis L. could affect the levels of some cytokines (such as IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, and IFN-γ) in asthmatic mice. By detection of the expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 and the morphological changes, the aim of this research is to reveal the mechanism of Uygur herb Hyssopus offcinalis L. in the process of airway remodeling. It was observed that the expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 increased, but the ratio of MMP-9/TIMP-1 decreased in airway remodeling group. However, the expression of both MMP-9 and TIMP-1 decreased after being treated with dexamethasone and Hyssopus offcinalis L., accompanied by the relieved pathological changes, including collagen deposition, mucus secretion, and smooth muscle proliferation. It is suggested that Uygur herb Hyssopus offcinalis L. could inhibit airway remodeling by correcting imbalance of MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio

Retracted: how to solve the moral dilemma of helping a fallen old man: an economic point of view

Retracted: how to solve the moral dilemma of helping a fallen old man: an economic point of view.[Business, Management and Education 11(2):209-223, 2013

Nomogram for Predicting the Relationship between the Extent of Visceral Pleural Invasion and Survival in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Objective. Although visceral pleural invasion (VPI) has already been incorporated into the TNM staging system, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the prognostic value of the extent of VPI for the survival of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Thus, we utilized the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to assess the correlation between the extent of VPI and survival in NSCLC. Methods. We identified and incorporated the extent of VPI to build a prognostic nomogram in this study. Patients in the SEER database diagnosed with NSCLC (n = 87,045) from 2010 to 2015 were further analyzed and randomly assigned into either the training group (n = 60,933) or validation group (n = 26,112). Clinical variables were calculated by means of multivariate Cox regressions and incorporated into the predictive model. Subsequently, the accuracy and discrimination of nomogram were further assessed through the concordance index (C-index), calibration curves, and Kaplan–Meier curves. Results. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the extent of visceral pleural invasion was an independent and unfavorable prognostic factor. The C-indexes of the training and validation groups were 0.772 (95% CI: 0.770–0.774) and 0.769 (95% CI: 0.765–0.773), respectively, which revealed that the nomogram had sufficient credibility and stable predictive accuracy. The calibration curve displayed consistency between the actual and predictive values in both training and validation groups. Conclusion. The prognostic nomogram with the extent of VPI could offer an accurate risk evaluation for patients with NSCLC. Independent external validation of this research should be conducted in the future