Association between urinary excretion of protein-bound uremic toxins and upper urinary tract calculus

Objective·To investigate the relation between urinary excretion of protein-bound uremic toxins (PBUTs) and upper urinary tract calculus.Methods·Residents aged 18‒80 years in the community of Haitou, Danzhou city in Hainan Province were recruited. Basic information and diet for the last 3 d of the subjects were recorded. Their fasting sera and 24-hour urine samples were collected, and they also underwent ultrasound examination of kidneys and ureters. The subjects with upper urinary calculi detected by ultrasound or a clear history of upper urinary calculi were selected as the calculus group, and the others as the non-calculus group. The biochemical indicators related to the formation of calculus in blood and urine were detected, and the levels of PBUTs, including indoxyl sufate (IS), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and p-cresol sulfate (PCS) in blood and urine, as well as oxalic acid and citric acid in urine were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. The related factors of upper urinary tract calculus formation were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression. The correlations of urine PBUTs with urine uric acid, oxalic acid, and citric acid were analyzed by Spearman correlation test.Results·A total of 117 participants were screened out with 54 people in the calculus group and 63 people in the non-calculus group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, serum indicators, and prevalence of complications such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperuricemia/gout. The 24-hour urine pH, calcium, uric acid, and chlorine in the calculus group were significantly higher than those in the non-calculus group (all P<0.05), while IS was significantly lower than that in the non-calculus group (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that urinary IS (OR=0.929, 95%CI 0.875‒0.986, P=0.016) was related to the calculus formation independently, in addition to urinary calcium. The Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the levels of IAA (r=0.420, P=0.000) and PCS (r=0.307, P=0.001) in 24-hour urine were positively correlated with oxalic acid, PCS was positively correlated with uric acid (r=0.297, P=0.002), and IS was positively correlated with citric acid (r=0.289, P=0.002).Conclusion·In the population, a decrease in urinary excretion of IS may be an independent risk factor for the formation of upper urinary tract calculus, and PBUTs levels are correlated with levels of uric acid, oxalic acid, and citric acid

Efficacy and safety of Jianpishengsui for chemotherapy-related fatigue in patients with non-small cell lung cancer : study protocol for a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-related fatigue (CRF) is a common symptom in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. A Chinese herbal formula cream for oral application, called Jianpishengsui (JPSS), is extensively used in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine as an internal preparation for CRF and is associated with a promising response. Due to the lack of high-quality clinical evidence, a randomized placebo-controlled trial is required to assess the efficacy and safety of JPSS. METHODS/DESIGN: The efficacy and safety of JPSS herbal formula cream will be evaluated through a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. NSCLC patients with CRF will be randomized into two groups at a ratio of 1:1. Each group will receive either 15 g of the oral JPSS herbal formula cream or placebo twice a day from day 6 to day 20 during two courses of paclitaxel + platinum/docetaxel + platinum/pemetrexed + platinum (TP/DP/AP) chemotherapy. The primary endpoint is the difference in the degree of fatigue between baseline (the day before the start of the intervention) and day 42, which will be assessed by the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale score. The secondary endpoints are quality of life (measured by the 43-item European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Lung Cancer C43), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, and Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome score. The toxicity of the treatments will also be evaluated at the same time. All outcomes will be measured at baseline, day 6, day 21, and day 42 of the treatment. DISCUSSION: This randomized trial will investigate the efficacy and safety of JPSS applied for CRF in patients with NSCLC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900023451. Registered on 28 May 2019

Object-based attention in multiple frames of reference

Object-based attention acts as people paying more attention to the stimulus within an object. There are various definitionsof the object, from the original definition at the lower processing level (e.g., the frame), to the high semantic level (e.g.,the Chinese word), to the learned level (e.g., learned object). However, few studies examined the object at the middlerepresentational level - frame of reference (FOR). Here, we modified the classical two-object task to induce two FORswith different salience by four cues in four experiments. Results consistently showed that shorter response time (RT) andlower error rates (ER) in the valid cue condition than that in the invalid cue condition. Whats more, RT was longer andER was lower in the invalid cue within the FOR of high salience condition than that in the invalid cue within the FOR oflow salience condition. Our study verified the existence of object-based attention in FORs at the representational level andoffered a new insight of the mechanism of the FOR-object-based attention

High nutrient uptake efficiency and high water use efficiency facilitate the spread of Stellera chamaejasme L. in degraded grasslands

Abstract Background Stellera chamaejasme L. is a poisonous plant widely distributes in degraded grasslands in China. The mechanism underlying its spread remains unknown. In some degraded grasslands, S. chamaejasme has gradually replaced previous dominant species, such as Leymus chinensis, Stipa krylovii, Artemisia eriopoda on typical steppes. Apart from its unpalatability by livestock, we hypothesized that the survival strategy (nutrient uptake and water use efficiency) of S. chamaejasme in degraded grasslands could be distinct from other coexisting species in the community. Recently, ecological stoichiometry has been suggested as a new approach for studying the demand for natural resources of plants in a changing world, and the leaf carbon isotopic composition (δ13C leaf) as a rapid and effective high throughput phenotyping method for water use efficiency (WUE), both of which can reveal the survival and adaptive strategies of plants. Therefore, in this study we aimed to fill the knowledge gap concerning ecological stoichiometry in the leaf, stem, and root of S. chamaejasme and its surrounding soil on grasslands with different degrees of degradation, and comparing the leaf nutrient content and δ13C of S. chamaejasme with the coexisting species (L. chinensis, S. krylovii, A. eriopoda) in the communities. Toward this goal, we conducted a field survey in which plants and soils were sampled from four different degraded grasslands on typical steppes in China. Results Our results showed that there is no significant difference of carbon content (C%) and nitrogen content (N%) in leaves of S. chamaejasme in different degraded grasslands, and all element contents and element ratios in stems did not differ significantly. Meanwhile, ecological stoichiometry of S. chamaejasme is distinct from the coexisting species, with low C%, high N% and phosphorus content (P%) in the leaf, indicating high nutrient uptake efficiency of S. chamaejasme in nutrient-poor environments like degraded grasslands. Additionally, S. chamaejasme showed significant higher WUE than other species. Conclusions Our results indicated that high nutrient uptake efficiency and high WUE of S. chamaejasme might together contribute to the spread of S. chamaejasme in degraded grasslands

Polypyrrole/Schiff Base Composite as Electromagnetic Absorbing Material with High and Tunable Absorption Performance

In recent years, Schiff base-related conjugated systems have received extensive attention, but little research has been done in the field of electromagnetic materials. In this work, an organic conjugated system based on polypyrrole/hydrazone Schiff base (PPy/HSB) composites was constructed via a Schiff base synthetic route and their electromagnetic behavior was investigated. The electromagnetic response of PPy/HSB complexes demonstrates fine electromagnetic absorption performance. When the filler loading is 30 wt% in a paraffin matrix, an absorption peak of &minus;43.1 dB was achieved and its effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) was located in the range of 10.88&minus;18.0 GHz. The electromagnetic response behavior of PPy/HSB complexes is explained by models involving electronic structure, multi-polarization and conductive network. The mechanisms of PPy/HSB complexes formation and HSB crystallization are also discussed through the compatibility of PPy/HSB and the structure of HSB. Moreover, the morphology transformation of HSB in the PPy/HSB systems has been studied. This study opens the exploration of organic&ndash;dielectric conjugated systems in the field of electromagnetic materials, and significantly broadens the application range of organic&ndash;dielectric&ndash;dielectric composites

Fluoxetine pretreatment promotes neuronal survival and maturation after auditory fear conditioning in the rat amygdala.

The amygdala is a critical brain region for auditory fear conditioning, which is a stressful condition for experimental rats. Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus, known to be sensitive to behavioral stress and treatment of the antidepressant fluoxetine (FLX), is involved in the formation of hippocampus-dependent memories. Here, we investigated whether neurogenesis also occurs in the amygdala and contributes to auditory fear memory. In rats showing persistent auditory fear memory following fear conditioning, we found that the survival of new-born cells and the number of new-born cells that differentiated into mature neurons labeled by BrdU and NeuN decreased in the amygdala, but the number of cells that developed into astrocytes labeled by BrdU and GFAP increased. Chronic pretreatment with FLX partially rescued the reduction in neurogenesis in the amygdala and slightly suppressed the maintenance of the long-lasting auditory fear memory 30 days after the fear conditioning. The present results suggest that adult neurogenesis in the amygdala is sensitive to antidepressant treatment and may weaken long-lasting auditory fear memory