Cardioprotective effects of the total flavonoids of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. Root extract on experimental myocardial infarction in mice

Purpose: To study the cardioprotective effects of the total flavonoids from the roots of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. (FHZ) on experimental myocardial infarction in mice.Methods: Ultrasonic-assisted extraction of FHZ was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain a higher extraction yield. Myocardial infarction (MI) was established by ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) branch of the coronary artery in mice. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lipid peroxide (LPO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in the serum of mice were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Furthermore, myocardial infarction size (MIS) was examined by Masson’s Trichrome staining on heart tissues.Results: Optimum extraction conditions of FHZ were as follows: an ethanol concentration of 69.03 %, a liquid-solid ratio of 27.14 g/mL and an extraction time of 30.30 min. The obtained extraction conditions were proven to be accurate and reliable. After treatment with FHZ for 3 and 7 days, the serum level of cTnT in MI mice decreased significantly. Also, the serum levels of CPK, LPO, MDA, and LDH were significantly decreased while SOD level increased in MI mice treated with FHZ. Furthermore, after treatment with FHZ for two weeks, the MIS of MI mice decreased (p < 0.01).Conclusion: RSM is a useful tool to optimize the ultrasonic-assisted extraction conditions for FHZ. Furthermore, FHZ possesses significant cardioprotective effects on experimental myocardial infarction in mice and thus may find application in the clinical management of myocardial infarction.Keywords: Polygonum cuspidatum, Flavonoids, Response surface methodology, Myocardial infarction, Cardioprotectiv

N′-(2-Chloro­benzyl­idene)-4-methyl­benzohydrazide

In the title compound, C15H13ClN2O, the mol­ecule displays a trans conformation with respect to the C=N bond. The two aromatic rings form a dihedral angle of 12.0 (3)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are connected via N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into chains propagating along the c-axis direction

Spatiotemporal Variations of Reference Crop Evapotranspiration in Northern Xinjiang, China

To set up a reasonable crop irrigation system in the context of global climate change in Northern Xinjiang, China, reference crop evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) was analyzed by means of spatiotemporal variations. The ET 0 values from 1962 to 2010 were calculated by Penman-Monteith formula, based on meteorological data of 22 meteorological observation stations in the study area. The spatiotemporal variations of ET 0 were analyzed by Mann-Kendall test, Morlet wavelet analysis, and ArcGIS spatial analysis. The results showed that regional average ET 0 had a decreasing trend and there was an abrupt change around 1983. The trend of regional average ET 0 had a primary period about 28 years, in which there were five alternating stages (high-low-high-low-high). From the standpoint of spatial scale, ET 0 gradually increased from the northeast and southwest toward the middle; the southeast and west had slightly greater variation, with significant regional differences. From April to October, the ET 0 distribution significantly influenced the distribution characteristic of annual ET 0 . Among them sunshine hours and wind speed were two of principal climate factors affecting ET 0

Fingerprint and multi-component quantitative analyses for quality evaluation of Rhizoma coptidis steamed with rice wine

Purpose: To establish a method for the simultaneous determination of multi-components of Rhizoma coptidis steamed with rice wine (RCRW), and to provide a reference for assessing its standard of quality. Method: Chromatographic separation was performed on a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system to determine the characteristic fingerprint of RCRW. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile (A) and 0.1 % trifluoroacetic acid (B), with gradients of B as follows: 15 - 20 % from 0 – 30 min; 20 - 25 % from 30 - 50 min; 25 - 35 % for 50 - 60 min, and 35 % for 60 - 70 min. Results: In the multiple reaction monitoring mode, eight components of RCRW were isolated by HPLCphoto-diode array (PDA) method. A fingerprint of the RCRW was established and 8 peaks were calibrated. The method was further validated in terms of linearity (R2 > 0.9993), precision (relative standard deviation, RSD < 1.51 %); repeatability (RSD < 2.98 %) and stability (RSD < 1.93 %). Mean recovery rate ranged from 96.2 to 103.8 %, while RSD values ranged from 0.92 to 2.88 %. Conclusion: These results show that HPLC-PDA method is accurate and feasible, and that they provide a reference for further comprehensive and effective quality control of RCRW

Grow and Merge: A Unified Framework for Continuous Categories Discovery

Although a number of studies are devoted to novel category discovery, most of them assume a static setting where both labeled and unlabeled data are given at once for finding new categories. In this work, we focus on the application scenarios where unlabeled data are continuously fed into the category discovery system. We refer to it as the {\bf Continuous Category Discovery} ({\bf CCD}) problem, which is significantly more challenging than the static setting. A common challenge faced by novel category discovery is that different sets of features are needed for classification and category discovery: class discriminative features are preferred for classification, while rich and diverse features are more suitable for new category mining. This challenge becomes more severe for dynamic setting as the system is asked to deliver good performance for known classes over time, and at the same time continuously discover new classes from unlabeled data. To address this challenge, we develop a framework of {\bf Grow and Merge} ({\bf GM}) that works by alternating between a growing phase and a merging phase: in the growing phase, it increases the diversity of features through a continuous self-supervised learning for effective category mining, and in the merging phase, it merges the grown model with a static one to ensure satisfying performance for known classes. Our extensive studies verify that the proposed GM framework is significantly more effective than the state-of-the-art approaches for continuous category discovery.Comment: This paper has already been accepted by 36th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2022

Interleukin-22 ameliorates liver fibrosis through miR-200a/beta-catenin

IL-22 ameliorates liver fibrosis by inhibiting hepatic stellate cells (HSC), and loss of miR-200a is associated with the development of liver fibrosis. The study aimed to investigate the interplay between IL-22 and miR-200a in regulating liver fibrosis in vivo and in vitro. We observed that IL-22 significantly reduced the proliferation of HSC and increased the expression of p-STAT3. β-catenin was identified as a target gene of miR-200a by luciferase reporter assay, and upregulation of miR-200a significantly attenuated the proliferation of HSC and reduced β-catenin expression. IL-22 treatment increased expression of miR-200a and decreased expression of β-catenin in HSC. The expression of p-STAT3 and miR-200a was elevated while β-catenin was decreased in fibrotic rat liver after IL-22 treatment. Expression levels of β-catenin and p-STAT3 were inversely correlated in fibrotic rat liver and HSC. Upregulation of β-catenin suppressed expression of p-STAT3 in HSC. We concluded that IL-22 inhibits HSC activation and ameliorates liver fibrosis through enhancing expression of miR-200a and reducing expression of β-catenin, suggesting there may be a crosstalk between IL-22/STAT3 and β-catenin pathway

Protective effect of omeprazole on gastric mucosal of cirrhotic portal hypertension rats

AbstractObjectiveTo observe the protective effect of omeprazole on gastric mucosal of cirrhotic portal hypertension rats.MethodsAll rats were randomly divided into normal control group, cirrhosis and treatment group. Thioacetamide was used to establish rat model of cirrhotic portal hypertension. The necrotic tissue of gastric mucosa ulcer focus, degree of neutrophils infiltration at the ulcer margin, portal pressure, portal venous flow, abdominal aortic pressure, abdominal aortic blood flow at front end, gastric mucosal blood flow (GMBF), glycoprotein (GP) of gastric mucosa, basal acid secretion, H+back -diffusion, gastric mucosal damage index, NO, prostaglandin E2(PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were determined respectively, and the pathological changes of gastric mucosa were also observed by microscope.ResultsCompared with cirrhosis group and the control group, the ulcer bottom necrotic material, gastric neutrophil infiltration and UI of the treatment group were all decreased significantly (P<0.01), GMBF value, GP values, serum NO, PGE2, TNF-α were all significantly increased.ConclusionsOmeprazole has an important protective effect on gastric mucosal and it can increase gastric mucosal blood flow and related to many factors

Ultraquantum magnetoresistance in Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate β\beta-Ag2Se

The topological semimetal $\beta$-Ag2Se features a Kramers Weyl node at the origin in momentum space and a quadruplet of spinless Weyl nodes, which are annihilated by spin-orbit coupling. We show that single crystalline $\beta$-Ag2Se manifests giant Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the longitudinal magnetoresistance which stem from a small electron pocket that can be driven beyond the quantum limit by a field less than 9 T. This small electron pocket is a remainder of the spin-orbit annihilatedWeyl nodes and thus encloses a Berry-phase structure. Moreover, we observed a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance when the magnetic field is beyond the quantum limit. Our experimental findings are complemented by thorough theoretical band structure analyses of this Kramers Weyl semimetal candidate, including first-principle calculations and an effective k*p model.Comment: A new version based on arXiv:1502.0232

Anti-proliferation effects of Sirolimus sustained delivery film in rabbit glaucoma filtration surgery

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of Sirolimus sustained delivery film on prevention of scar formation in a rabbit model of glaucoma filtration surgery. Methods: Sixty-four New Zealand white rabbits who underwent trabeculectomy in the right eye were randomly allocated to one of the four treatment regimens: Sirolimus sustained delivery film treatment group (Group A), or drug-free film treatment group (Group B), or 30 ng/ml Sirolimus-soaked sponge treatment group (Group C), or no adjunctive treatment group (Group D), and each group consists of 16 rabbits. Intraocular pressure (IOP), morphologic changes of bleb, anterior chamber flare, and corneal endothelial cell count and complications were evaluated over a 28-day period follow-up time. Aqueous humor samples were gathered from Group A, and the concentration of Sirolimus was measured regularly post-operation. Rabbits were sacrificed on the 7th, 14th, and 28th day post-operation separately, and the fibroblast hypertrophy, infiltration of inflammatory, and proliferation of new collagen fiber formation in each group were evaluated with HE and Masson staining. Proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and fibroblast apoptosis were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay at the 28th day post-operation. Results: Both Sirolimus sustained delivery film (Group A) and Sirolimus alone (Group C) were well tolerated in this model, and significantly prolonged bleb survival compared with no drug treatment group (Group B and D; p&lt;0.001). Group A had the longest bleb survival time in comparison with other groups (p&lt;0.001). There were significant differences in IOP readings between Group A and other groups at the last follow-up (p&lt;0.05). The concentration of Group A maintained stable for over 2 weeks, drops from (10.56 +/- 0.05) ng/ml at day 3 to (7.74 +/- 0.05) ng/ml at day 14. The number of corneal endothelial cells of Group A was not statistically significant between pre and post-operation. Histologic examination demonstrated that eyes treated with Sirolimus, especially the Sirolimus sustained delivery film, showed an obvious reduction in subconjunctival fibroblast scar tissue formation compared with no drug treatment groups, and had minimal evidence of inflammatory cell infiltration and new collagen deposition in the subconjunctiva. Immunohistochemistry assay showed that PCNA-expression was lower in the Group A (16.25 +/- 3.24%) compared to other groups (p&lt;0.01). TUNEL assay showed a significant increase in the number of apoptotic fibroblasts around the surgical area in Group A and Group C (9.75 +/- 1.71% and 8.50 +/- 1.92%) compared to the Group B and D (p&lt;0.01). Conclusions: Sirolimus drug sustained delivery film can inhibit inflammatory cell activity, impede fibroblast proliferation activity, and induce fibroblast apoptosis in the filtration surgery sites in rabbit. The results indicate a safe and effective treatment strategy in anti-scaring treatment in glaucoma surgery.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000295289900001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Biochemistry &amp; Molecular BiologyOphthalmologySCI(E)9ARTICLE270-712495-25061