Synthesis and Biological Activity of Trolox Amide Derivatives

A series of Trolox amide derivatives were synthesized by modifying the carboxyl groups of Trolox. Thirty target compounds were obtained and characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. Trolox derivatives were employed to explore the potential structure-antioxidant activity relationships. The antioxidant activities of these compounds were evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and hydroxyl radical assays. DPPH scavenging activity test results illustrated that compounds exhibited scavenging activities similar to L-ascorbic acid and Trolox, with compounds 14a, 18a, 24a and 26a in particular exhibiting higher scavenging activities than L-ascorbic acid. The results demonstrated that compounds displayed ABTS scavenging activities similar to L-ascorbic acid and Trolox, with compounds 26a and 29a in particular having potency twofold higher. FRAP assay results indicated that compounds 11a, 19a, 25a, 29a and 30a had activity similar to Trolox. The results revealed that compounds 6a and 19a had similarly high hydroxyl radical-scavenging activities as Trolox. The results of α-glucosidase experiments uncovered that compounds 10a, 25a, 28a and 29a had excellent inhibitory activity, which was similar to that of acarbose and different from Trolox. The results of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase experiments demonstrated that some compounds had weak anticholinesterase activities. 26a and 29a are important Trolox derivatives with better biological activity profiles and deserve further study

Biomarkers associated with functional improvement after stroke rehabilitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

ObjectiveThis study aims to identify blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers that are correlated to the functional improvement of stroke patients after rehabilitation therapy, and provide ideas for the treatment and evaluation of stroke patients.MethodsThe PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched for articles published in the English language, from inception to December 8, 2022.ResultsA total of 9,810 independent records generated 50 high-quality randomized controlled trials on 119 biomarkers. Among these records, 37 articles were included for the meta-analysis (with a total of 2,567 stroke patients), and 101 peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers were included for the qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis results revealed a moderate quality evidence that stroke rehabilitation significantly increased the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in serum. Furthermore, the low-quality evidence revealed that stroke rehabilitation significantly increased the concentration of serum noradrenaline (NE), peripheral blood superoxide dismutase (SOD), peripheral blood albumin (ALB), peripheral blood hemoglobin (HB), and peripheral blood catalase (CAT), but significantly decreased the concentration of serum endothelin (ET) and glutamate. In addition, the changes in concentration of these biomarkers were associated with significant improvements in post-stroke function. The serum BNDF suggests that this can be used as a biomarker for non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) therapy, and to predict the improvement of stroke patients.ConclusionThe concentration of serum BNDF, NE, ET and glutamate, and peripheral blood SOD, ALB, HB and CAT may suggest the function improvement of stroke patients

Effects of exercise interventions on negative emotions, cognitive performance and drug craving in methamphetamine addiction

IntroductionMethamphetamine is currently one of the most commonly used addictive substances with strong addiction and a high relapse rate. This systematic review aims to examine the effectiveness of physical activity in improving negative emotions, cognitive impairment, and drug craving in people with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD).MethodsA total of 17 studies out of 133 found from Embase and PubMed were identified, reporting results from 1836 participants from MUD populations. Original research using clearly described physical activity as interventions and reporting quantifiable outcomes of negative mood, cognitive function and drug craving level in people with MUD were eligible for inclusion. We included prospective studies, randomized controlled trials, or intervention studies, focusing on the neurological effects of physical activity on MUD.ResultsTaken together, the available clinical evidence showed that physical activity-based interventions may be effective in managing MUD-related withdrawal symptoms.DiscussionPhysical exercise may improve drug rehabilitation efficiency by improving negative emotions, cognitive behaviors, and drug cravings.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024530359

Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation Reverses the After-Effects of Contralateral Virtual Lesion on the Suprahyoid Muscle Cortex: Evidence From Dynamic Functional Connectivity Analysis

Contralateral intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) can potentially improve swallowing disorders with unilateral lesion of the swallowing cortex. However, the after-effects of iTBS on brain excitability remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the alterations of temporal dynamics of inter-regional connectivity induced by iTBS following continuous TBS (cTBS) in the contralateral suprahyoid muscle cortex. A total of 20 right-handed healthy subjects underwent cTBS over the left suprahyoid muscle motor cortex and then immediately afterward, iTBS was applied to the contralateral homologous area. All of the subjects underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) pre- and post-TBS implemented on a different day. We compared the static and dynamic functional connectivity (FC) between the post-TBS and the baseline. The whole-cortical time series and a sliding-window correlation approach were used to quantify the dynamic characteristics of FC. Compared with the baseline, for static FC measurement, increased FC was found in the precuneus (BA 19), left fusiform gyrus (BA 37), and right pre/post-central gyrus (BA 4/3), and decreased FC was observed in the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCC) (BA 29) and left inferior parietal lobule (BA 39). However, in the dynamic FC analysis, post-TBS showed reduced FC in the left angular and PCC in the early windows, and in the following windows, increased FC in multiple cortical areas including bilateral pre- and postcentral gyri and paracentral lobule and non-sensorimotor areas including the prefrontal, temporal and occipital gyrus, and brain stem. Our results indicate that iTBS reverses the aftereffects induced by cTBS on the contralateral suprahyoid muscle cortex. Dynamic FC analysis displayed a different pattern of alteration compared with the static FC approach in brain excitability induced by TBS. Our results provide novel evidence for us in understanding the topographical and temporal aftereffects linked to brain excitability induced by different TBS protocols and might be valuable information for their application in the rehabilitation of deglutition

China’s factor reallocation effect considering energy

ABSTRACT: Decomposing growth rate of total factor productivity (TFP) into internal growth effect and the effect of factor reallocation formed by the flow of capital, labor and energy between sectors, we took 23 subsectors as the research object and adopted the multi-sector growth accounting framework (MSGAF) to verify the ‘structural bonus hypothesis’ from 2005 to 2017. The study drew the following conclusions: First, internal growth effect represented by sectoral technology progress was still the main contributor to TFP growth of the overall economy, but the contribution rate had decreased. Second, the reallocation effect of capital changed from structural burden to structural bonus. Third, the reallocation effect of labor showed a trend of first rising and then falling, changing from structural bonus to structural burden. Forth, the effect of energy reallocation was gradually emerging, with a shift from structural burden to structural bonus. Based on these research results, we argue that more attention should be paid to the efficiency of factor reallocation in addition to the technology progress. The inefficiency of factor reallocation caused by imperfect market and asymmetric information would partially offset the effect of technology progress and hinder the high-quality economic development. In view of the reallocation of capital, labor and energy, we propose the following suggestions: For capital, macro-control and market mechanism should be comprehensively accounted for. Further, capital must be allocated per the principle of profit maximization to ensure that its elasticity and allocation efficiency will be improved. The reallocation of labor should not only be limited to the 3-sector level. More attention should be paid to the marginal output differences within the secondary sector. For energy, attention should be paid to the elasticity of energy output between sectors to avoid inefficient allocation. It is also necessary to accelerate the phase-out of industries with high energy consumption and high pollution, promote the development of low energy industries to encourage ‘energy conservation and emission reduction’ as well as ‘green development’ by increasing the effect of energy reallocation

Editorial for Special Issue “Land Use Change and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Relationships, Interactions, and Management”

Land use has become a highly attractive research topic for understanding human–environment interactions in the Anthropocene [...

Editorial for Special Issue “Land Use Change and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Relationships, Interactions, and Management”

Land use has become a highly attractive research topic for understanding human–environment interactions in the Anthropocene [...

Waste-to-Energy in China: Key Challenges and Opportunities

China—the largest developing country in the world—is experiencing both rapid economic maturation and large-scale urbanization. These situations have led to waste disposal problems, and the need to identify alternative energy sources. Waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion processes, a source of renewable energy, are expected to play an increasingly important role in China’s sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW). The purpose of this research is to investigate the key problems and opportunities associated with WTE, to provide recommendations for the government. This paper begins by describing China’s current MSW management situation and analyzing its waste disposal problems. The major challenges associated with China’s WTE incineration are then discussed from economic, environmental and social points of view. These include the high costs associated with constructing necessary facilities, the susceptibility of facilities to corrosion, the lower heating value of China’s MSW, air pollutant emissions and especially public opposition to WTE incineration. Since discarded waste can be used to produce energy for electricity and heat—thus reducing its volume and the production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—with government policies and financial incentives, the use of WTE incineration as a renewable energy source and part of a sustainable waste management strategy will be of increasing importance in the future. The paper concludes by summarizing the management, economic and social benefits that could be derived from developing the country’s domestic capacity for producing the needed incineration equipment, improving source separation capabilities, standardizing regulatory and legal responsibilities and undertaking more effective public consultation processes

Compaction Uniformity Evaluation of Subgrade in Highway Based on Principal Components Analysis and Back Propagation Neural Networks

This paper proposes a comprehensive method for the compaction uniformity evaluation of subgrade in highways based on the principle components analysis and BP neural network. A field test on resilient and Young’s moduli of subgrade during compaction is performed on Zun-Qin highway. The moduli representing the compaction uniformity are the key factors in the principal component analysis, and the components are used as input in Back Propagation (BP) neural networks. The degree of variation and synthesis score of moduli in three subgrade sections are discussed, and the results show that the comprehensive method has a good performance in evaluating the compaction uniformity of the subgrade. The insight from this study provides a novel evaluation method and incites a better understanding of the compaction uniformity of subgrade in highways

Correlation analysis of norepinephrine dose on enteral nutrition tolerance and prognosis in patients with septic shock

Abstract Background To explore correlation between the dose of norepinephrine and the timing of starting enteral nutrition in septic shock (SS) patients. Methods Totally 150 SS patients treated with enteral nutrition (EN) in Shiyan People’s Hospital from Dece20 to July 2022 were included in this retrospective analysis. Patients were divided into tolerance group (n = 97) and intolerance group (n = 53) according to whether EN was tolerated or not. The study indexes include baseline characteristics [gender, age, weight, body mass index (BMI), scores of acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II system (APACHE II), comorbidity, time in-hospital, prognosis], clinical indexes [mean arterial pressure (MAP), time of mechanical ventilation (MV), norepinephrine dose at the time of starting EN, using of sedative drug, gastrointestinal motility drugs and cardiotonic drugs], EN indexes (timing of starting EN, speed of EN infusion, calorie of EN per day, EN target percent), and gastrointestinal intolerance index [residual gastric volume > 250 ml, vomiting, aspiration, gastrointestinal bleeding, blood lactic acid (BLA)]. Student-t test and Mann-Whitney test were used for test of measurement data. Chi-square test and fisher exact test were used for comparison of categorical data. Results There were 51 (52.58%) male and 46 (47.42%) female patients with a median age of 66.4 ± 12.8 years old in tolerance group. There were 29 (54.72%) male and 24 (45.28%) female patients with a median age 67.3 ± 12.5 years old in intolerance group. The weight and BMI were significantly higher in intolerance group than those of tolerance group (both P  0.05). Before the overlapping time of EN and norepinephrine, there were significantly more patients receiving gastrointestinal motility drugs in intolerance group compared with tolerance group (58.49% vs. 20.62%, P  250ml (9.28% vs. 37.74%, P  2mmol BLA rising (43.40% vs. 8.25%, P < 0.001) in intolerance group than those of tolerance group. Patients in tolerance group had significantly lower time of starting EN (40.97 ± 9.53 vs. 49.85 ± 11.61 h, P < 0.001), dose of NE(0.23 ± 0.07 vs. 0.28 ± 0.10 ug/kg/min, P = 0.049), mortality in hospital (18.56% vs. 49.06%, P < 0.001) and mortality in ICU (16.49% vs. 37.74%, P < 0.001) compared with intolerance group. The EN target percent (92.78% vs. 56.60%, P < 0.001) and calorie of EN during overlapping period (20.22 ± 5.99 vs. 16.21 ± 2.52 kcal/kg/day, P < 0.001) in tolerance group were significantly higher than those of intolerance group. Conclusions SS patients should be comprehensively evaluated according to their condition. Obese patients are more prone to EN intolerance, and those who can tolerate EN should be implemented as soon as possible. The use dose of NE is significantly related to EN tolerance. When the use dose is low, EN tolerance is greater