Amelioration of Experimental Acute Pancreatitis with Dachengqi Decoction via Regulation of Necrosis-Apoptosis Switch in the Pancreatic Acinar Cell

Severity of acute pancreatitis contributes to the modality of cell death. Pervious studies have demonstrated that the herb medicine formula “Dachengqi Decoction” (DCQD) could ameliorate the severity of acute pancreatitis. However, the biological mechanisms governing its action of most remain unclear. The role of apoptosis/necrosis switch within acute pancreatitis has attracted much interest, because the induction of apoptosis within injured cells might suppress inflammation and ameliorate the disease. In this study, we used cerulein (10−8 M)-stimulated AR42J cells as an in vitro model of acute pancreatitis and retrograde perfusion into the biliopancreatic duct of 3.5% sodium taurocholate as an in vivo rat model. After the treatment of DCQD, cell viability, levels of apoptosis and necrosis, reactive oxygen species positive cells, serum amylase, concentration of nitric oxide and inducible nitric oxide syntheses, pancreatic tissue pathological score and inflammatory cell infiltration were tested. Pretreatment with DCQD increased cell viability, induced apoptosis, decreased necrosis and reduced the severity of pancreatitis tissue. Moreover, treatment with DCQD reduced the generation of reactive oxygen species in AR42J cells but increased the concentration of nitric oxide of pancreatitis tissues. Therefore, the regulation of apoptosis/necrosis switch by DCQD might contribute to ameliorating the pancreatic inflammation and pathological damage. Further, the different effect on reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide may play an important role in DCQD-regulated apoptosis/necrosis switch in acute pancreatitis

Analysis of heavy metals in the conversion of lake sediment and restaurant waste by black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)

The risk posed by heavy metals makes it difficult to dispose of sediment contaminants from dredging lakes in China. Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) can convert organic waste, such as restaurant waste and lake sediment, to high-value-added protein feed and fertilizer. Experimental groups were formed in this study to explore the conversion of heavy metals present in the mixture of restaurant waste and lake sediment by black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). The results demonstrated that BSFL could survive in pure sediment with an 84.76% survival rate. Relative to the substrate, BSFL could accumulate 70-90% zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and 20-40% cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The experimental group 2:3, with 40% lake sediment and 60% restaurant waste, was the best group after conversion for 15 days, which showed a 95.24% survival rate of BFSL, 82.20 mg average weight of BFSL, 8.92 mm average length of BFSL, with varying content of heavy metals such as Cu (43.22 mg/kg), Zn (193.31 mg/kg), Cd (1.58 mg/kg), Cr (25.30 mg/kg) Cr, and Pb (38.59 mg/kg) in BSFL. Furthermore, the conversion residue conforms to the relevant standards of organic fertilizer in China and can be used as organic fertilizer. Overall, the present study shows that black soldier flies can improve the resource utilization of lake sediment, especially by reducing the effect of heavy metals

Herbal Formula Modified Buzhong-Yiqi-Tang for Functional Constipation in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background. Herbal formula Modified Buzhong-Yiqi-Tang (MBYT) has been widely used for the treatment of functional constipation in East Asia, but its efficacy and safety are unclear. Methods. The study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MBYT for adult patients with functional constipation. Randomized clinical trials were selected according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results. In total, twenty-five randomized controlled clinical trials were included with 2089 patients. There was evidence that MBYT treatment significantly improved the symptoms of functional constipation compared with stimulant laxatives, osmotic laxatives, and prokinetic agents. Our results also demonstrated that, when used as an adjuvant therapy, MBYT significantly improved the symptoms of functional constipation, when compared with osmotic laxatives alone, prokinetic agents alone, and biofeedback alone. Moreover, patients taking MBYT experienced fewer adverse events compared to the control groups. Conclusion. This review suggests that MBYT appears to have excellent therapeutic effect on adult patients with functional constipation and no serious side effects were identified. However, due to overall limited quality, the therapeutic benefit of MBYT may be substantiated to a limited degree. Better methodological quality and large controlled trials are expected to further quantify the therapeutic effect of MBYT

Simulation of lightning indirect effects and coupling mechanism of helicopter

ObjectiveLightning electromagnetic effects and coupling characteristics are an important analysis basis for the lightning protection design of the electronic and electrical equipment of helicopters.MethodsRP5416 standards, in the CST cable studio based on TLM, the influence factors and rules of the electromagnetic environment and cable coupling level of carrier-borne aircraft under typical lightning strike mode are studied.ResultsThe results show that the establishment of a lightning electromagnetic field is a rapidly changing process which presents complex changes in terms of time, space and structure. The aircraft lightning coupling mechanism is the interaction between the resistive coupling of the lightning flow redistribution and the resonance coupling of the airframe gap, and is strongly dependent on the frequency. The cable induction level is affected by the aircraft skin resistance, lightning current waveform parameters, cable shield impedance and other factors.ConclusionsThis study reveals the mechanism of lightning electromagnetic coupling and the related influence law of the lightning electromagnetic induction of the cable, providing a basis and support for aircraft cable laying and lightning electromagnetic environment protection

Nanomedicines for Overcoming Cancer Drug Resistance

Clinically, cancer drug resistance to chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy remains the main impediment towards curative cancer therapy, which leads directly to treatment failure along with extended hospital stays, increased medical costs and high mortality. Therefore, increasing attention has been paid to nanotechnology-based delivery systems for overcoming drug resistance in cancer. In this respect, novel tumor-targeting nanomedicines offer fairly effective therapeutic strategies for surmounting the various limitations of chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, enabling more precise cancer treatment, more convenient monitoring of treatment agents, as well as surmounting cancer drug resistance, including multidrug resistance (MDR). Nanotechnology-based delivery systems, including liposomes, polymer micelles, nanoparticles (NPs), and DNA nanostructures, enable a large number of properly designed therapeutic nanomedicines. In this paper, we review the different mechanisms of cancer drug resistance to chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, and discuss the latest developments in nanomedicines for overcoming cancer drug resistance

In-Plane Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity of Low-Symmetry PdSe2

Low-symmetry two-dimensional (2D) materials have exhibited novel anisotropic properties in optics, electronics, and mechanics. Such characteristics have opened up new avenues for fundamental research on nano-electronic devices. In-plane thermal conductivity plays a pivotal role in the electronic performance of devices. This article reports a systematic study of the in-plane anisotropic thermal conductivity of PdSe2 with a pentagonal, low-symmetry structure. An in-plane anisotropic ratio up to 1.42 was observed by the micro-Raman thermometry method. In the Raman scattering spectrum, we extracted a frequency shift from the Ag3 mode with the most sensitivity to temperature. The anisotropic thermal conductivity was deduced by analyzing the heat diffusion equations of suspended PdSe2 films. With the increase in thickness, the anisotropy ratio decreased gradually because the thermal conductivity in the x-direction increased faster than in the y-direction. The anisotropic thermal conductivity provides thermal management strategies for the next generation of nano-electronic devices based on PdSe2