Chemical composition of the volatile oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. from Mianyang in Sichuan Province of China and its sub-chronic toxicity in mice

Purpose: To determine the chemical constituents of the volatile oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. from Mianyang in Sichuan Province of China, and assess the sub-chronic toxicity of the volatile oil in mice.Methods: The volatile chemical components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sixty Kunming mice were divided into six groups of ten mice each. One group served as control (no treatment), two groups were orally administered ρ-cymene at doses of 3 and 7 mg/kg, respectively, for 27 days, while three groups received the volatile oil at doses of 10, 25 and 40 mg/kg, respectively, for the same duration. Sub-chronic toxicity in the mice was evaluated by observing their general behavior, measuring serum levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT), evaluating liver, heart, kidney and thymus indices, and assessing the histological morphology of the organs.Results: The volatile oil contained 14 chemical components, of which α-terpinene and ρ-cymene accounted for 32.89 and 24.25 %, respectively. The volatile oil caused significant (p < 0.05) increase in liver index, and serum AST and ALT levels, and also induced distinct morphological changes in mouse liver, heart and kidney.Conclusion: The main volatile components of the oil are α-terpinene and ρ-cymene. The volatile oil showed dose-dependent toxicity in mice, thus lending some support for the safe use of C. ambrosioides in traditional medicine. Keywords: Chenopodium ambrosioides, Volatile oil, Oral toxicity, AST and ALT, Histopathological change

Molecular characterization of CHST11 and its potential role in nacre formation in pearl oyster Pinctada fucata martensii

Background: C4ST-1 catalyzes the transfer of sulfate groups in the sulfonation of chondroitin during chondroitin sulfate synthesis. Chondroitin sulfate consists of numerous copies of negatively charged sulfonic acid groups that participate in the nucleation process of biomineralization. In the present study, we obtained two CHST11 genes (PmCHST11a and PmCHST11b) which encoded the C4ST-1 and explored the functions of these genes in the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate and in the formation of the nacreous layer of shells. Results: Both PmCHST11a and PmCHST11b had a sulfotransferase-2 domain, a signal peptide and a transmembrane domain. These properties indicated that these genes localize in the Golgi apparatus. Real-time PCR revealed that both PmCHST11a and PmCHST11b were highly expressed in the central zone of the mantle tissue. Inhibiting PmCHST11a and PmCHST11b via RNA interference significantly decreased the expression levels of these genes in the central zone of the mantle tissue and the concentration of chondroitin sulfate in extrapallial fluid. Moreover, shell nacre crystallized irregularly with a rough surface after RNA interference. Conclusions: This study indicated thatPmCHST11a and PmCHST11b are involved in the nacre formation of Pinctada fucata martensii through participating in the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate

Baicalein enhances the osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament cells by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Objective Periodontium regeneration is one of the most important processes for periodontitis therapy. Human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) play a vital role in the repair and regeneration of periodontal tissues. Our study aimed to investigated the mechanisms underlying the promotion of hPLDCs osteogenic differentiation by baicalein. Design hPDLCs were obtained from periodontal ligament (PDL) tissues by primary culture. The MTT assay was used to determine the growth curves of hPDLCs treated with different concentrations of baicalein (1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10\ua0μM). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and Alizarin red S staining were performed to assess osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs administered baicalein. Osteogenic differentiation-related gene and protein expression levels and Wnt/β-catenin pathway signal changes were assessed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. Results The results showed that baicalein decreased the growth of hPDLCs slightly and increased ALP activity and calcium deposition in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), Osterix (OSX) and osteocalcin (OCN) were elevated after baicalein administration. Moreover, baicalein strongly activated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and up-regulated the expression of β-catenin, lymphoid enhancer factor 1 (LEF1) and Cyclin D1. Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK-1) significantly reversed the effects of baicalein on hPDLCs. Conclusions Our findings indicated that baicalein enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs via the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which may represent a potential candidate for periodontitis therapy

MLPerf Inference Benchmark

Machine-learning (ML) hardware and software system demand is burgeoning. Driven by ML applications, the number of different ML inference systems has exploded. Over 100 organizations are building ML inference chips, and the systems that incorporate existing models span at least three orders of magnitude in power consumption and five orders of magnitude in performance; they range from embedded devices to data-center solutions. Fueling the hardware are a dozen or more software frameworks and libraries. The myriad combinations of ML hardware and ML software make assessing ML-system performance in an architecture-neutral, representative, and reproducible manner challenging. There is a clear need for industry-wide standard ML benchmarking and evaluation criteria. MLPerf Inference answers that call. In this paper, we present our benchmarking method for evaluating ML inference systems. Driven by more than 30 organizations as well as more than 200 ML engineers and practitioners, MLPerf prescribes a set of rules and best practices to ensure comparability across systems with wildly differing architectures. The first call for submissions garnered more than 600 reproducible inference-performance measurements from 14 organizations, representing over 30 systems that showcase a wide range of capabilities. The submissions attest to the benchmark's flexibility and adaptability.Comment: ISCA 202

Associations between maternal complications during pregnancy and childhood asthma: a retrospective cohort study

© 2023 The Authors. Published by the European Respiratory Society. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://openres.ersjournals.com/content/9/2/00548-2022Background Studies on the associations between maternal complications during pregnancy and childhood asthma are exclusively conducted in Western countries. The findings are mixed and may not be translated to other populations. We aimed to investigate the associations among the Chinese population and to determine whether the associations were mediated through pre-term birth, caesarean delivery, low birthweight and not breastfeeding in the first 6 months. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 166 772 children in Guangzhou, China. Information on maternal gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes and gestational anaemia during pregnancy was extracted from medical records. Ever-diagnosis of asthma in children aged 6–12 years was obtained by questionnaire. Logistic regression models and mediation analyses were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals for childhood asthma. Results Gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes and gestational anaemia during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of ever-diagnosed childhood asthma: aOR 1.48 (95% CI 1.37–1.60), 1.71 (95% CI 1.65–1.78) and 1.34 (95% CI 1.26–1.45), respectively. A stronger association was observed for two or three gestational complications (aOR 2.02 (95% CI 1.93–2.16)) than one gestational complication (aOR 1.64 (95% CI 1.52–1.77)). The aOR for the three gestational complications was 1.35 (95% CI 1.26–1.45), 1.63 (95% CI 1.58–1.70) and 1.32 (95% CI 1.24–1.43), respectively, after controlling for the mediators, including pre-term birth, caesarean delivery, low birthweight and not breastfeeding in the first 6 months. Conclusions Gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes and gestational anaemia were associated with childhood asthma, and the associations were partially explained by the mediation effects.This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073571 and 81773457 to J. Tang).Published versio