Cortex phellodendri

Cortex phellodendri is used to reduce fever and remove dampness and toxin. Berberine is an active ingredient of C. phellodendri. Berberine from Argemone ochroleuca can relax airway smooth muscle (ASM); however, whether the nonberberine component of C. phellodendri has similar relaxant action was unclear. An n-butyl alcohol extract of C. phellodendri (NBAECP, nonberberine component) was prepared, which completely inhibits high K+- and acetylcholine- (ACH-) induced precontraction of airway smooth muscle in tracheal rings and lung slices from control and asthmatic mice, respectively. The contraction induced by high K+ was also blocked by nifedipine, a selective blocker of L-type Ca2+ channels. The ACH-induced contraction was partially inhibited by nifedipine and pyrazole 3, an inhibitor of TRPC3 and STIM/Orai channels. Taken together, our data demonstrate that NBAECP can relax ASM by inhibiting L-type Ca2+ channels and TRPC3 and/or STIM/Orai channels, suggesting that NBAECP could be developed to a new drug for relieving bronchospasm

Cross-National Differences in Victimization : Disentangling the Impact of Composition and Context

Varying rates of criminal victimization across countries are assumed to be the outcome of countrylevel structural constraints that determine the supply ofmotivated o¡enders, as well as the differential composition within countries of suitable targets and capable guardianship. However, previous empirical tests of these ‘compositional’ and ‘contextual’ explanations of cross-national di¡erences have been performed upon macro-level crime data due to the unavailability of comparable individual-level data across countries. This limitation has had two important consequences for cross-national crime research. First, micro-/meso-level mechanisms underlying cross-national differences cannot be truly inferred from macro-level data. Secondly, the e¡ects of contextual measures (e.g. income inequality) on crime are uncontrolled for compositional heterogeneity. In this paper, these limitations are overcome by analysing individual-level victimization data across 18 countries from the International CrimeVictims Survey. Results from multi-level analyses on theft and violent victimization indicate that the national level of income inequality is positively related to risk, independent of compositional (i.e. micro- and meso-level) di¡erences. Furthermore, crossnational variation in victimization rates is not only shaped by di¡erences in national context, but also by varying composition. More speci¢cally, countries had higher crime rates the more they consisted of urban residents and regions with lowaverage social cohesion.

A Holistic Perspective on the Dynamics of G035.39-00.33 : The Interplay between Gas and Magnetic Fields

Magnetic field plays a crucial role in shaping molecular clouds and regulating star formation, yet the complete information on the magnetic field is not well constrained owing to the limitations in observations. We study the magnetic field in the massive infrared dark cloud G035.39-00.33 from dust continuum polarization observations at 850 mu m with SCUBA-2/POL-2 at JCMT for the first time. The magnetic field tends to be perpendicular to the densest part of the main filament (F-M), whereas it has a less defined relative orientation in the rest of the structure, where it tends to be parallel to some diffuse regions. A mean plane-of-the-sky magnetic field strength of similar to 50 mu G for F-M is obtained using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. Based on (CO)-C-13 (1-0) line observations, we suggest a formation scenario of F-M due to large-scale (similar to 10 pc) cloud-cloud collision. Using additional NH3 line data, we estimate that F-M will be gravitationally unstable if it is only supported by thermal pressure and turbulence. The northern part of F-M, however, can be stabilized by a modest additional support from the local magnetic field. The middle and southern parts of F-M are likely unstable even if the magnetic field support is taken into account. We claim that the clumps in F-M may be supported by turbulence and magnetic fields against gravitational collapse. Finally, we identified for the first time a massive (similar to 200 M-circle dot, collapsing starless clump candidate, "c8," in G035.39-00.33. The magnetic field surrounding "c8" is likely pinched, hinting at an accretion flow along the filament.Peer reviewe

The TOP-SCOPE Survey of Planck Galactic Cold Clumps : Survey Overview and Results of an Exemplar Source, PGCC G26.53+0.17

The low dust temperatures (<14 K) of Planck Galactic cold clumps (PGCCs) make them ideal targets to probe the initial conditions and very early phase of star formation. "TOP-SCOPE" is a joint survey program targeting similar to 2000 PGCCs in J = 1-0 transitions of CO isotopologues and similar to 1000 PGCCs in 850 mu m continuum emission. The objective of the "TOP-SCOPE" survey and the joint surveys (SMT 10 m, KVN 21 m, and NRO 45 m) is to statistically study the initial conditions occurring during star formation and the evolution of molecular clouds, across a wide range of environments. The observations, data analysis, and example science cases for these surveys are introduced with an exemplar source, PGCC G26.53+0.17 (G26), which is a filamentary infrared dark cloud (IRDC). The total mass, length, and mean line mass (M/L) of the G26 filament are similar to 6200 M-circle dot, similar to 12 pc, and similar to 500 M-circle dot pc(-1), respectively. Ten massive clumps, including eight starless ones, are found along the filament. The most massive clump as a whole may still be in global collapse, while its denser part seems to be undergoing expansion owing to outflow feedback. The fragmentation in the G26 filament from cloud scale to clump scale is in agreement with gravitational fragmentation of an isothermal, nonmagnetized, and turbulent supported cylinder. A bimodal behavior in dust emissivity spectral index (beta) distribution is found in G26, suggesting grain growth along the filament. The G26 filament may be formed owing to large-scale compression flows evidenced by the temperature and velocity gradients across its natal cloud.Peer reviewe

Magnetic Fields toward Ophiuchus-B Derived from SCUBA-2 Polarization Measurements

We present the results of dust emission polarization measurements of Ophiuchus-B (Oph-B) carried out using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) camera with its associated polarimeter (POL-2) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. This work is part of the B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations survey initiated to understand the role of magnetic fields in star formation for nearby star-forming molecular clouds. We present a first look at the geometry and strength of magnetic fields in Oph-B. The field geometry is traced over ~0.2 pc, with clear detection of both of the sub-clumps of Oph-B. The field pattern appears significantly disordered in sub-clump Oph-B1. The field geometry in Oph-B2 is more ordered, with a tendency to be along the major axis of the clump, parallel to the filamentary structure within which it lies. The degree of polarization decreases systematically toward the dense core material in the two sub-clumps. The field lines in the lower density material along the periphery are smoothly joined to the large-scale magnetic fields probed by NIR polarization observations. We estimated a magnetic field strength of 630 ± 410 μG in the Oph-B2 sub-clump using a Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi analysis. With this magnetic field strength, we find a mass-to-flux ratio λ = 1.6 ± 1.1, which suggests that the Oph-B2 clump is slightly magnetically supercritical

Clopidogrel Plus Aspirin vs Aspirin Alone in Patients With Acute Mild to Moderate Stroke

Importance Dual antiplatelet therapy has been demonstrated to be superior to single antiplatelet in reducing recurrent stroke among patients with transient ischemic attack or minor stroke, but robust evidence for its effect in patients with mild to moderate ischemic stroke is lacking. Objective To evaluate whether dual antiplatelet therapy is superior to single antiplatelet among patients with mild to moderate ischemic stroke. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a multicenter, open-label, blinded end point, randomized clinical trial conducted at 66 hospitals in China from December 20, 2016, through August 9, 2022. The date of final follow-up was October 30, 2022. The analysis was reported on March 12, 2023. Of 3065 patients with ischemic stroke, 3000 patients with acute mild to moderate stroke within 48 hours of symptom onset were enrolled, after excluding 65 patients who did not meet eligibility criteria or had no randomization outcome. Interventions Within 48 hours after symptom onset, patients were randomly assigned to receive clopidogrel plus aspirin (n = 1541) or aspirin alone (n = 1459) in a 1:1 ratio. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary end point was early neurologic deterioration at 7 days, defined as an increase of 2 or more points in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, but not as a result of cerebral hemorrhage, compared with baseline. The superiority of clopidogrel plus aspirin to aspirin alone was assessed based on a modified intention-to-treat population, which included all randomized participants with at least 1 efficacy evaluation regardless of treatment allocation. Bleeding events were safety end points. Results Of the 3000 randomized patients, 1942 (64.6%) were men, the mean (SD) age was 65.9 (10.6) years, median (IQR) NIHSS score at admission was 5 (4-6), and 1830 (61.0%) had a stroke of undetermined cause. A total of 2915 patients were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. Early neurologic deterioration occurred in 72 of 1502 (4.8%) in the dual antiplatelet therapy group vs 95 of 1413 (6.7%) in the aspirin alone group (risk difference −1.9%; 95% CI, −3.6 to −0.2; P = .03). Similar bleeding events were found between 2 groups. Conclusions and Relevance Among Chinese patients with acute mild to moderate ischemic stroke, clopidogrel plus aspirin was superior to aspirin alone with regard to reducing early neurologic deterioration at 7 days with similar safety profile. These findings indicate that dual antiplatelet therapy may be a superior choice to aspirin alone in treating patients with acute mild to moderate stroke.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0286900

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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