Toxicities comparison of rotenone and acetone extract of Tephrosiavogelii and Derris trifoliate against Solenopsis invicta

The high rotenone content and the rotenone crude extract of Tephrosia vogelii and Derris trifoliata were evaluated for its efficacy in the control of red imported fire (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta under both laboratory and field conditions. The acetone extracts of D. trifoliata roots and T. vogelii leaves exhibited strong toxicity to macroergate and micrergate of RIFA. When active ingredients of the crude extracts were convert to rotenone, the activity of the acetone extracts were higher than that of rotenone technical material. At the same time, the extracts showed significant inhibitory effect on walking ability and grasping ability of worker ants and stronger than the effect of 98.6% rotenone technical material. Under field conditions, the 0.01% rotenone-bait, formulated with the acetone extract of D. trifoliata roots and T. vogelii leaves, had the same control effect on RIFA as that of 0.01% fipronil-bait when treated after 30 d. The bait formulated with the extract of D. trifoliata exhibited quicker and higher effect on RIFA than that of rotenone technical material. It was showed that the acetone extracts of D. trifoliata roots and T. vogelii leaves are able to control S. invicta under both laboratory and field conditions and can be used as an effective agent against RIFA

The effect of modified observation-teaching-discussion pedagogy combined with microteaching on the critical thinking ability of nursing interns in China: a quasi-experimental study

AimThe aim of this study is to investigate the effect of modified observation-teaching-discussion pedagogy combined with microteaching on improving the critical thinking ability of nursing interns in China.MethodsTwo hundred baccalaureate nursing students practicing in the department of neurosurgery were divided into two groups chronologically, with 100 students per group. The control group received traditional clinical mentoring while their counterparts in the intervention group received mentoring by modified observation teaching discussion pedagogy combined with microteaching. Then, we compared the two groups with respect to theoretical knowledge and nursing operation skills. The Critical Thinking Ability Scale was used to evaluate the critical thinking ability of the two groups of nursing students. Data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software.ResultsFollowing the internship, the scores of nurses in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group for theoretical knowledge, technical skills and critical thinking ability (p < 0.05 for all).ConclusionThe application of modified observation-teaching-discussion pedagogy in combination with microteaching promoted the knowledge, technical skills and critical thinking ability of nursing students in clinical practice

Influence of DPYD

Our meta-analysis aggregated existing results from relevant studies to comprehensively investigate the correlations between genetic polymorphisms in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) gene and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicities in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The MEDLINE (1966∼2013), the Cochrane Library Database (Issue 12, 2013), EMBASE (1980∼2013), CINAHL (1982∼2013), Web of Science (1945∼2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1982∼2013) were searched without language restrictions. Meta-analyses were conducted with the use of STATA software (Version 12.0, Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA). Seven clinical cohort studies with a total of 946 CRC patients met our inclusion criteria, and NOS scores of each of the included studies were ≥5. Our findings showed that DPYD genetic polymorphisms were significantly correlated with high incidences of 5-FU-related toxicity in CRC patients. SNP-stratified analysis indicated that there were remarkable connections of IVS14+1G>A, 464T>A, and 2194G>A polymorphisms with the incidence of marrow suppression in CRC patients receiving 5-FU chemotherapy. Furthermore, we found that IVS14+1G>A, 496A>G, and 2194G>A polymorphisms were correlated with the incidence of gastrointestinal reaction. Ethnicity-stratified analysis also revealed that DPYD genetic polymorphisms might contribute to the development of marrow suppression and gastrointestinal reaction among Asians, but not among Caucasians. The present meta-analysis suggests that DPYD genetic polymorphisms may be correlated with the incidence of 5-FU-related toxicity in CRC patients

Characterization of skin sympathetic nerve activity in patients with cardiomyopathy and ventricular arrhythmia

Background Heightened sympathetic nerve activity is associated with occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia (VA). Objective To investigate the association of skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA) and VA occurrence. Methods We prospectively enrolled 65 patients with severe cardiomyopathy. Of these, 39 had recent sustained VA episodes (VA-1 group), 11 had intractable VA undergoing sedation with general anesthesia (VA-2 group), and 15 had no known history of VA (VA-Ctrl group). All patients had simultaneous SKNA and electrocardiogram recording. SKNA was assessed using an average value (aSKNA), a variable value (vSKNA), and the number of bursts of SKNA (bSKNA). Results The VA-1 group had higher aSKNA and vSKNA compared with the VA-Ctrl group (aSKNA: 1.41 ± 0.53 μV vs 0.98 ± 0.41 μV, P = .003; vSKNA: 0.52 ± 0.22 μV vs 0.30 ± 0.16 μV, P 15% reduction in aSKNA after therapy was associated with a lower subsequent VA event rate (hazard ratio, 0.222; 95% CI, 0.057–0.864; P = .03). Conclusion Patients with VA had increased SKNA as compared with control. Both SKNA and sustained VA could be suppressed by general anesthesia. The aSKNA at baseline was an independent predictor of VA recurrence

Biphenyls from aerial parts of Ribes takare

Three new biphenyls, 4,7,8-trimethoxy-2,3-methylenedioxydibenzofuran (1), 7-hydroxy-4,8dimethoxy-2,3-methylenedioxydibenzofuran (2), and 3',5-dimethoxy-3,4-methylenedioxybiphenyl (3), along with eighteen known compounds (4-21) were isolated from the aerial part of Ribes takare D. Don. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. Compound 1 and compound 2 showed mild alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity. (C) 2013 Guo-You Li and Dong-Mei Fang. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved

Introduction of Exogenous Glycolate Catabolic Pathway Can Strongly Enhances Photosynthesis and Biomass Yield of Cucumber Grown in a Low-CO2 Environment

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is very important for photosynthesis of green plants. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is relatively stable, but it drops sharply after sunrise due to the tightness of the greenhouse and the absorption of CO2 by vegetable crops. Vegetables in greenhouses are chronically CO2 starved. To investigate the feasibility of using genetic engineering to improve the photosynthesis and yield of greenhouse cucumber in a low CO2 environment, five genes encoding glyoxylate carboligase (GCL), tartronic semialdehyde reductase (TSR), and glycolate dehydrogenase (GlcDH) in the glycolate catabolic pathway of Escherichia coli were partially or completely introduced into cucumber chloroplast. Both partial pathway by introducing GlcDH and full pathway expressing lines exhibited higher photosynthetic efficiency and biomass yield than wild-type (WT) controls in low CO2 environments. Expression of partial pathway by introducing GlcDH increased net photosynthesis by 14.9% and biomass yield by 44.9%, whereas the expression of the full pathway increased seed yield by 33.4% and biomass yield by 59.0%. Photosynthesis, fluorescence parameters, and enzymatic measurements confirmed that the introduction of glycolate catabolic pathway increased the activity of photosynthetic carbon assimilation-related enzymes and reduced the activity of photorespiration-related enzymes in cucumber, thereby promoting the operation of Calvin cycle and resulting in higher net photosynthetic rate even in low CO2 environments. This increase shows an improvement in the efficiency of the operation of the photosynthetic loop. However, the utilization of cucumber of low concentration CO2 was not alleviated. This study demonstrated the feasibility of introducing the pathway of exogenous glycolate catabolic pathway to improve the photosynthetic and bio-yield of cucumber in a low CO2 environment. These findings are of great significance for high photosynthetic efficiency breeding of greenhouse cucumber

The effect of Pt NPs crystallinity and distribution on the photocatalytic activity of Pt-g-C₃N₄

We thank EPSRC for support through the EPSRC/NSF chemistry programme and the Royal Society for a Wolfson Merit award.Loading of a co-catalyst on the surface of a semiconductor photocatalyst is often carried out without considering the effect of the loading procedure on the final product. The present study looks in detail at the effect that the loading method has on the morphology and final composition of platinum-based nanoparticles by means of XPS and TEM analysis. Additionally, reduction pre-treatments are performed to investigate how the coverage, crystallinity and composition of the NPs affect the photocatalytic H2 evolution. The activity of Pt–g-C3N4 can significantly be enhanced by controlling the properties of the co-catalyst NPs.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

PRRT2 gene mutations associated with infantile convulsions induced by sucking and the genotype-phenotype correlation

IntroductionPRRT2 is a major causative gene for self-limited familial neonatal-infantile epilepsy, paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, and paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia with infantile convulsions. Voluntary movement trigger is prominent in adolescence and adulthood, but the triggers are unknown in infants.MethodsA gene panel designed for targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to screen genetic abnormalities in a cohort of 45 cases with infantile convulsions. The copy number variation was detected by a computational method based on the normalized depth of coverage and validated by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method. The genotype-phenotype correlation of the PRRT2 mutation gene was analyzed.ResultsA de novo heterozygous PRRT2 deletion was identified in a child who had infantile convulsions induced by vigorous sucking. Seizures happened during the change of feeding behavior from breast to formula, which led to hungry and vigorous sucking. Ictal electroencephalograms recorded seizures with focal origination, which provided direct evidence of epileptic seizures in infants with PRRT2 mutations. Seizures stopped soon after the feeding behavior was changed by reducing feeding interval time and extending feeding duration. Data reanalysis on our previously reported cases with PRRT2 mutations showed that six of 18 (33.3%) patients had infantile convulsions or infantile non-convulsion seizures during feeding. The mutations included two truncating mutations (c.579dupA/p.Glu194Argfs*6, and c.649dupC/p.Arg217Profs*8) that were identified in each of the three affected individuals.ConclusionsThis study suggests that feeding, especially vigorous sucking, is potentially a trigger and highlights the significance of feeding behavior in preventing seizures in infants with PRRT2 mutations. Identification of PRRT2 haploinsufficiency mutations in the patients with infantile convulsions induced by sucking suggested a potential genotype-phenotype correlation