Chinese Herbal Medicine Liu Jun Zi Tang and Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang for Functional Dyspepsia: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objectives. To assess the efficacy and safety of Liu Jun Zi Tang (LJZT) and Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang (XSLJZT) for treating functional dyspepsia. Methods. Literature searches were carried out on Medline database, Cochrane Library, CNKI database, Chinese Biomedical Literature database, Wanfang database, and VIP database up to July 2012. Hand search for further references was conducted. Study selection, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analyses were performed according to the Cochrane standards. Results. Fifteen publications in total were suitable for inclusion. There was evidence that LJZT compared with prokinetic drugs increased symptom improvement (odds ratio 1.96, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.36). There was also evidence that XSLJZT compared with prokinetic drugs increased symptom improvement (odds ratio 2.63, 95% CI 1.72 to 4.03). No adverse events were reported in LJZT or XSLJZT group in any of these randomized controlled trials. Conclusion. LJZT and XSLJZT might be more effective compared with prokinetic drugs in the treatment of functional dyspepsia, and no side effects are identified in the included trials. However, due to poor methodological quality in the majority of included studies, the potential benefit from LJZT and XSLJZT need to be confirmed in rigorously designed, multicentre, and large-scale trials

Curcumin’s Metabolites, Tetrahydrocurcumin and Octahydrocurcumin, Possess Superior Anti-inflammatory Effects in vivo Through Suppression of TAK1-NF-κB Pathway

Curcumin (CUR), a promising naturally occurring dietary compound, is commonly recognized as the potential anti-inflammatory agent. While the application of CUR was hampered by its low stability and poor systemic bioavailability, it has been suggested that the biological activities of CUR are intimately related to its metabolites. In the current investigation, we aimed to comparatively explore the anti-inflammatory effects of tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), octahydrocurcumin (OHC), and CUR, and to elucidate the underlying action mechanisms on experimental mice models of acute inflammation, i.e., xylene-induced ear edema, acetic acid-induced vascular permeability, and carrageenan-induced paw edema. The results showed that THC and OHC exerted significant and dose-dependent inhibitions on the formation of ear edema induced by xylene and paw edema provoked by carrageenan and inhibited the Evans blue dye leakage in peritoneal cavity elicited by acetic acid. Moreover, THC and OHC treatments were more effective than CUR in selectively inhibiting the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and suppressing nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathways via transforming growth factor β activated kinase-1 (TAK1) inactivation in the carrageenan-induced mouse paw edema model

Pseudorabies gD protein protects mice and piglets against lethal doses of pseudorabies virus

IntroductionPseudorabies (PR) is a highly contagious viral disease caused by the pseudorabies virus (PRV), which can cause disease in a wide range of domestic and wild animals. Studies have shown that new mutant strains have emerged in pig farms in many regions and that commercial inactivated and live attenuated vaccines are becoming less effective at protecting pigs.MethodsPorcine pseudorabies glycoprotein D (gD) gene (GenBank: QEY95774.1) with hexa-His tag to the C terminus for further purification processes was cloned into the lentiviral expression plasmid pLV-CMV-eGFP by restriction enzyme, the resulting plasmid was designated as pLV-CMV-gD. HEK-293T cells with robust and stable expression of recombinant gD protein was established by infection with recombinant lentivirus vector pLV-CMV-gD. We expressed porcine pseudorabies virus gD protein using HEK-293T cells.ResultsWe describe in this study that individual gD proteins produced by a mammalian cell expression system are well immunogenic and stimulate high levels of PRV-specific and neutralizing antibodies in mice and piglets. All mice and piglets survived lethal doses of PRV, significantly reducing the amount of PRV virus in piglets’ lymph nodes, lungs, spleen, and other tissues. It also significantly reduced the time cycle and amount of viral excretion from piglets to the environment through the nasal and anal cavities.DiscussionThe results suggest that PRV gD protein is expected to be a potential candidate for the preparation of genetically engineered PR vaccines for the prevention of PRV infection and the control of PR epidemics

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Properties of Three Actinidia (Actinidia kolomikta, Actinidia arguta, Actinidia chinensis) Extracts in Vitro

The total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, vitamin C content, and antioxidant activities of ethanol extracts from different kiwifruit varieties (Actinidia kolomikta, Actinidia arguta, Actinidia chinensis) were determined in this study. Multiple scavenging activity assays including the hydroxyl radical, O2−·radical, DPPH, and the ABTS+ radical scavenging activity assays were used to identify the antioxidant activities of Actinidia extracts. The cell viability of HepG2 and HT-29 cells was also examined in this study. The results demonstrated that the Actinidia kolomikta extract had a higher antioxidant activity than the other two Actinidia extracts. There is a positive correlation between antioxidant activity and the polyphenols and vitamin C content in all three extracts (R2 ≥ 0.712, p < 0.05). The Actinidia arguta extract had the highest inhibitory effect on HepG2 and HT-29 cell growth. These results provide new insight into the health functions of fruit and demonstrate that Actinidia extracts can potentially have health benefits

FAST observations of an extremely active episode of FRB 20201124A: III. Polarimetry

As the third paper in the multiple-part series, we report the statistical properties of radio bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio telescope (FAST) during an extremely active episode between the 25th and the 28th of September 2021 (UT). We focus on the polarisation properties of 536 bright bursts with $\mathrm{S/N}>50$. We found that the Faraday rotation measures (RMs) monotonically dropped from $-579 \ {\rm rad \ m^{-2}}$ to $-605 \ {\rm rad \ m^{-2}}$ in the 4-day window. The RM values were compatible with the values ($-300$ to $-900\ {\rm rad \ m^{-2}}$ ) reported 4 month ago (Xu et al. 2022). However, the RM evolution rate in the current observation window was at least an order of magnitude smaller than the one ($\sim 500\ {\rm rad \ m^{-2}\, day^{-1}}$) previously reported during the rapid RM-variation phase, but is still higher than the one ($\le 1\ {\rm rad \ m^{-2} day^{-1}}$) during the later RM no-evolution phase. The bursts of FRB 20201124A were highly polarised with the total degree of polarisation (circular plus linear) greater than 90polarisation position angles (PAs), degree of linear polarisation ($L/I$), and degree of circular polarisation ($V/I$) can be characterised with unimodal distribution functions. During the observation window, the distributions became wider with time, i.e. with larger scatter, but the centroids of the distribution functions remained nearly constant. For individual bursts, significant PA variations (confidence level 5-$\sigma$) were observed in 33% of all bursts. The polarisation of single pulses seems to follow certain complex trajectories on the Poincar\'e sphere, which may shed light on the radiation mechanism at the source or the plasma properties along the path of FRB propagation.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA

Pairing symmetry and properties of iron-based high temperature superconductors

Pairing symmetry is important to indentify the pairing mechanism. The analysis becomes particularly timely and important for the newly discovered iron-based multi-orbital superconductors. From group theory point of view we classified all pairing matrices (in the orbital space) that carry irreducible representations of the system. The quasiparticle gap falls into three categories: full, nodal and gapless. The nodal-gap states show conventional Volovik effect even for on-site pairing. The gapless states are odd in orbital space, have a negative superfluid density and are therefore unstable. In connection to experiments we proposed possible pairing states and implications for the pairing mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, polished versio

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

A low-noise analog frontend design for the Taiji phasemeter prototype

The Taiji program plans to utilize the laser interferometer to measure the movement at the picometer level between free-floating test masses. As the phase readout equipment, the phasemeter needs to obtain the beat note with an accuracy of mu rad root Hz. The main source of noise in the phasemeter is the analog frontend of the analog to digital converter. A self-designed phasemeter prototype with a low-noise analog frontend, which includes the theme of the pilot tone correction, has been developed and tested for the Taiji program in this Note. The experimental results show that the performance of the developed phasemeter can satisfy the Taiji sensitivity requirement in the whole frequency range. The sensitivity of the board can reach 0.5 mu rad root Hz in the frequency range of 0.1-1 Hz. Therefore, the prototype gives us a good model for the fully functional Taiji phasemeter