Ligustrazine Injection for Chronic Pulmonary Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective. This study was intended to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ligustrazine injection for chronic pulmonary heart disease (CPHD). Method. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of clinical therapeutic studies on CPHD when using ligustrazine injection were included. Searches were applied to the following electronic databases: the PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CBM, and AMED. No language restriction was used. All trials included were analyzed according to the criteria of the Cochrane Handbook. Review Manager 5.0 software was used for data analysis. Result. 34 RCTs with low methodological quality were included. Compared to conventional medicine treatment alone, ligustrazine injection plus conventional medicine treatment showed improvement in New York Heart Association classification of clinical status (Odds ratio 0.22; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.28) and depression of pulmonary artery hypertension (weighted mean difference −4.77; 95% CI −5.85 to −3.68). Three studies had reported adverse events. No serious adverse effects were reported. Conclusion. While there is some evidence that suggests potential effectiveness of ligustrazine injection for CPHD, the results were limited by the methodological flaws of the studies. High quality studies are needed to provide clear evidence for the future use of ligustrazine injection

Proteome analysis of human colorectal cancer tissue using 2-D DIGE and tandem mass spectrometry for identification of disease-related proteins

Laser capture microdissection and two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis were used to establish the proteomic profiles for tumor and matched adjacent tissues from 12 patients. Differential protein spots were identified by mass spectrometric analysis. The cDNA of the differential protein was transfected into colorectal cancer cells, and the biological behavior of these cells was observed. The proteomic profile in colorectal cancer tissues was significantly different from that in normal adjacent tissues. There was a 1.5-fold difference and 60 differential protein spots between cancer and adjacent tissues. Ten differential protein spots were analyzed. Among them, two protein spots were down-regulated and eight protein spots were up-regulated in the primary tumor tissues. After identification by mass spectrometry, the two down-regulated proteins were carbonic anhydrase II and protein disulfide isomerase, and these eight up-regulated proteins included APC-stimulated guanine nucleotide exchange factor, phosphoglycerate kinase 1, fumarate hydratase, aldolase A, activator protein 2B, glutathione S-transferase A3, Arginase and zinc finger protein 64 homolog. After been transfected with carbonic anhydrase II, the invasive ability, mobility and drug resistance of colon cancer lovo cells were significantly reduced. The proteomic profile was significantly different between colorectal cancer tissues and normal adjacent tissues. The down-regulation of carbonic anhydrase II and protein disulfide isomerase and up-regulation of APC-stimulated guanine nucleotide exchange facto, aldolase A, glutathione S-transferase A3 and arginase were correlated with the onset of colorectal cancer.Key words: Colorectal cancer, proteomics

Spatial Variability and Site-Specific Nutrient Management in a Vegetable Production Area

Soil nutrients showed similar spatial distribution patterns across the study site in Hebei Province and were correlated with vegetable production history and fertilizer application rates. Vegetable crop type and history of fertilizer use were important factors in the development of a regional nutrient management program. NorthceNtral chiNa Abbreviations and notes for this article: N = nitrogen; P = phosphorus; K = potassium; S = sulfur; Ca = calcium; Mg = magnesium; Zn = zinc; Cu = copper; Fe = iron; Mn = manganese; B = boron; NO 3 --N = nitrate-N; NH 4 + = ammonium; GPS = global positioning system; GIS = geographic information system; OM = organic matter; SSNM = site-specific nutrient management; CV = coefficient of variation; FP = farm practice

The Viral TRAF Protein (ORF111L) from Infectious Spleen and Kidney Necrosis Virus Interacts with TRADD and Induces Caspase 8-mediated Apoptosis

Infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) is the type species of the Megalocytivirus genus of the Iridoviridae family. It causes a serious and potentially pandemic disease in wild and cultured fishes. ISKNV infection induces evident apoptosis in mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) and zebrafish (Danio renio). However, the mechanism is still unknown. After a genome-wide bioinformatics analysis of ISKNV-encoded proteins, the ISKNV open reading frame 111L (ORF111L) shows a high similarity to the tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor (TRAF) encoded by fish, mice and mammals, which is essential for apoptotic signal transduction. Moreover, ORF111L was verified to directly interact with the zebrafish TNF receptor type 1 associated death domain protein (TRADD). A recombinant plasmid containing the DNA sequence of ORF111L was constructed and microinjected into zebrafish embryos at the 1–2 cell stage to investigate its biological function in vivo. ORF111L overexpression in the embryos resulted in increased apoptosis. ORF111L-induced apoptosis was clearly associated with significant caspase 8 upregulation and activation. The knockdown of zebrafish caspase 8 expression effectively blocked the apoptosis induced by ORF111L overexpression. Significantly, ORF111L overexpression resulted in much stronger effect on caspase 8 and caspase 3 upregulation compared to zebrafish TRAF2. This is the first report of a viral protein similar to TRAF that interacts with TRADD and induces caspase 8-mediated apoptosis, which may provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of ISKNV infection

Binary Star Evolution in Different Environments: Filamentary, Fractal, Halo and Tidal-tail Clusters

Using membership of 85 open clusters from previous studies (Pang et al. 2021a,b, 2022b; Li et al. 2021) based on Gaia DR3 data, we identify binary candidates in the color-magnitude diagram, for systems with mass ratio q > 0.4. The binary fraction is corrected for incompleteness at different distances due to the Gaia angular resolution limit. We find a decreasing binary fraction with increasing cluster age, with substantial scatter. For clusters with a total mass > 200$M_\odot$, the binary fraction is independent of cluster mass. The binary fraction depends strongly on stellar density. Among four types of cluster environments, the lowest-density filamentary and fractal stellar groups have the highest mean binary fraction: 23.6% and 23.2%, respectively. The mean binary fraction in tidal-tail clusters is 20.8%, and is lowest in the densest halo-type clusters: 14.8%. We find clear evidence of early disruptions of binary stars in the cluster sample. The radial binary fraction depends strongly on the cluster-centric distance across all four types of environments, with the smallest binary fraction within the half-mass radius $r_h$, and increasing towards a few $r_h$. Only hints of mass segregation is found in the target clusters. The observed amount of mass segregation is not significant to generate a global effect inside the target clusters. We evaluate the bias of unresolved binary systems (assuming a primary mass of 1$M_\odot$) in 1D tangential velocity, which is 0.1-1$\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$. Further studies are required to characterize the internal star cluster kinematics using Gaia proper motions

Dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw effect on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits

[EN] This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits. A total of 160 45-d-old Laiwu black rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups and fed 0% (Control), 5, 10 or 15% fermented ginger straw in their diet as a replacement for peanut straw powder. The trial lasted for 7 d of adaptation and 43 d for testing. Growth performance was recorded from 52 to 95 d of age (n=5 per treatment with 30 rabbits, 3 males and 3 females per replicate), TTAD of nutrients from 91 to 95 d of age, and gastrointestinal tract development, caecum fermentation and carcass traits were determined at 95 d of age (n=5 per treatment with 10 rabbits, 1 males and 1 females in per replicate).The results showed that the average daily gain and final body weight in the experimental groups (5, 10 and 15% fermented ginger straw) were higher than in the control group (P<0.05). However, the average daily feed intake in the 15% group was higher than in the other groups, while the total tract apparent digestibility of crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre were lower than in the control group (P<0.05), and the relative weights of the stomach, small intestine and caecum content in the 15% substitution group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the thickness of the muscle layer in the 15% substitution group was higher than that in the other groups (P<0.05). Moreover, pH and total volatile fatty acids concentration in the caecal content were similar among the 4 groups (P>0.05). The current work shows that fermented ginger straw could be used as roughage material in fattening rabbit production up to a dietary dose of 10%.This study was supported by Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-43-G-7); Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System (SDAIT-21); Scientific and Technological Problems Project Unveiled by Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SHJB2021-43).Sun, HT.; Wang, Y.; Bai, LY.; Liu, C.; Xu, YH.; Gao, SX.; Jiang, WX.... (2022). Dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw effect on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 30(4):267-276. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2022.1609326727630

Survey on the Knowledge Base of EFL Pre-service Teachers for Phonics Instruction

Phonics which refers to the letter-sound relationship originates in English speaking countries. Phonics instruction is part of early reading instruction. Based on previous literatures, the most suitable one for EFL students is synthetic phonics instruction approach. Since 2011, phonics is required by National English Curriculum in China, literatures indicated that in the actual teaching activities, it is hard to implement phonics instruction, regardless of phonics instruction approaches. The rationale for this is that the in-service teachers and pre-service teachers are short of subject matter content knowledge. Very few studies are conducted to look into in-service EFL teachers and pre-service EFL teachers’ knowledge base to teach phonics. To bridge the gap, this study aims at providing preliminary descriptive data via a survey on pre-service EFL teachers’ knowledge base to teach phonics. To attain this goal, 104 pre-service EFL teachers ranging from the first academic year to the fourth academic year are selected via random sampling technique to fill in the survey. The findings indicate their weak knowledge base for phonics instructions. This study hopes to provide empirical information for policy makers or researchers to look into this matter to take some measures to prepare pre-service EFL teachers to teach phonics in order to promote the implementation of phonics instruction in EFL context in China