The Painlevé Tests, Bäcklund Transformation and Bilinear Form for the KdV Equation with a Self-Consistent Source

The Painlevé property and Bäcklund transformation for the KdV equation with a self-consistent source are presented. By testing the equation, it is shown that the equation has the Painlevé property. In order to further prove its integrality, we give its bilinear form and construct its bilinear Bäcklund transformation by the Hirota's bilinear operator. And then the soliton solution of the equation is obtained, based on the proposed bilinear form

Andrographolide alleviates paraquat-induced acute lung injury by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway

Objective(s): Paraquat (PQ), a highly effective and rapidly non-selective herbicide, mainly targets the lungs and causes acute lung injury (ALI). So far, the scarcity of effective drug candidates against PQ-induced ALI remains a big challenge. Andrographolide (Andro), with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, has been demonstrated to alleviate ALI. Nevertheless, whether Andro could alleviate the PQ-mediated ALI remains unknown. Therefore, this study will explore the effects as well as the possible mechanism of Andro against ALI caused by PQ. Materials and Methods: C57BL/6J mice were injected with 20 mg/kg PQ intraperitoneally to establish an ALI model. PQ-treated MLE-12 cells were applied to a vitro model. Nuclear factor erythroid like-2 (Nrf2) was knocked out to explore the specific effects of the Nrf2/ Heme oxygenase-1 (OH-1) pathway in the protection of Andro against ALI caused by PQ.Results: Andro significantly reduced lung damage and the ratio of Wet/Dry (W/D) weight, decreased MDA, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-ɑ levels, reversed the decrease of CAT and SOD levels, and inhibited apoptosis caused by PQ. Andro obviously increased the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax while reducing caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 levels. Furthermore, Andro dramatically elevated the antioxidant proteins Nrf2, NQO-1, and HO-1 levels compared with the PQ group. This experiment demonstrated that Andro reduced ROS and inhibited apoptosis, induced by PQ in MLE-12 cells, by inducing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation.Conclusion: Andro effectively ameliorates oxidant stress and apoptosis in ALI caused by PQ, possibly through inducing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation

Permanence of a Single Species System with Distributed Time Delay and Feedback Control

We study the permanence of a classofsingle species system with distributed time delay and feedback controls. General criteria on permanence are established in this paper. A very important fact is found in our results; that is, the feedback control is harmless to the permanence of species

Preparation and Tribological Performance of Multi-Layer van der Waals Heterostructure WS₂/h-BN

Van der Waals heterostructures with incommensurate contact interfaces show excellent tribological performance, which provides solutions for the development of new solid lubricants. In this paper, a facile electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly (LBL) technique was proposed to prepare multi-layer van der Waals heterostructures tungsten disulfide/hexagonal boron nitride (vdWH WS2/h-BN). The h-BN and WS2 were modified with poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) to obtain the positively charged PDDA@h-BN and the negatively charged SDBS@WS2, respectively. When the mass ratio of PDDA to h-BN and SDBS to WS2 were both 1:1 and the pH was 3, the zeta potential of PDDA@h-BN and SDBS@WS2 were 60.0 mV and −50.1 mV, respectively. Under the electrostatic interaction, the PDDA@h-BN and SDBS@WS2 attracted each other and stacked alternately along the (002) crystal plane forming the multi-layer (four-layer) vdWH WS2/h-BN. The addition of the multi-layer vdWH WS2/h-BN (1.0 wt%) to the base oil resulted in a significant reduction of 33.8% in the friction coefficient (0.104) and 16.8% in the wear rate (4.43 × 10−5 mm3/(N·m)). The excellent tribological property of the multi-layer vdWH WS2/h-BN arose from the lattice mismatch (26.0%), a 15-fold higher interlayer slip possibility, and the formation of transfer film at the contact interface. This study provided an easily accessible method for the multi-layer vdWH with excellent tribological properties

Association of Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I Polymorphism with Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Qidong Han Population

Aim. To investigate whether HLA class I polymorphisms could influence the clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Qidong Han population. Methods. We genotyped HLA-A, -B, and -C loci of 448 individuals with HBV persistent infection and 140 persons with spontaneous clearance of HBsAg by polymerase chain reaction with sequencing based typing (PCR/SBT). All the individuals were unrelated males enrolled from Qidong Han population and were followed up for 10 years. Results. The frequency of HLA-A * 33:03:01G was increased in persistent HBV infection group ( value is 0.028), while frequency of HLA-B * 13:01:01G was increased in HBsAg clearance group ( value is 0.0004). Conclusion. These findings suggested that the host HLA class I polymorphism is an important factor in determining the outcomes of HBV infection

Efficacy and Safety of Different Courses of Tongxinluo Capsule as Adjuvant Therapy for Coronary Heart Disease after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Tongxinluo capsule (TXLC) is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the efficacy and safety of different courses of TXLC for CHD after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have not been systematically evaluated yet. The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database were searched from the inception to 26 August 2021. A meta-analysis was performed using a fixed- or random-effects model. The risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mortality, or adverse effects was evaluated by risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Thirty-four studies involving 3652 patients were finally included. After the 6-month treatment, compared with conventional treatment alone, TXLC combined with conventional treatment achieved better efficacy in lowering the risk of angiographic restenosis (RR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.28–0.48, p p p p p p = 0.001), and mortality due to any cardiovascular event (RR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.09–0.80, p = 0.018). After the 12-month treatment, TXLC reduced the recurrence risk of angina (RR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.20–0.80, p = 0.009). However, there was no difference in any outcomes after the 3-month treatment. Besides, no difference was found in the incidence of adverse effects after the 3-month and 6-month treatments (3 months: RR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.35–1.56, p = 0.418; 6 months: RR = 1.71, 95% CI = 0.74–3.93, p = 0.209). The certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate due to the risk of bias, inconsistency, and imprecision. TXLC showed beneficial effects on reducing the adverse cardiovascular events without compromising safety for CHD patients after PCI on the 6-month course. However, due to the unavoidable risk of bias, more high-quality and long-term studies are still needed to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of TXLC in many countries, not only in China

Andrographolide alleviates paraquat-induced acute lung injury by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Paraquat (PQ), a highly effective and rapidly non-selective herbicide, mainly targets the lungs and causes acute lung injury (ALI). So far, the scarcity of effective drug candidates against PQ-induced ALI remains a big challenge. Andrographolide (Andro), with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, has been demonstrated to alleviate ALI. Nevertheless, whether Andro could alleviate the PQ-mediated ALI remains unknown. Therefore, this study will explore the effects as well as the possible mechanism of Andro against ALI caused by PQ. MATERIALS AND METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were injected with 20 mg/kg PQ intraperitoneally to establish an ALI model. PQ-treated MLE-12 cells were applied to a vitro model. Nuclear factor erythroid like-2 (Nrf2) was knocked out to explore the specific effects of the Nrf2/ Heme oxygenase-1 (OH-1) pathway in the protection of Andro against ALI caused by PQ. RESULTS: Andro significantly reduced lung damage and the ratio of Wet/Dry (W/D) weight, decreased MDA, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-ɑ levels, reversed the decrease of CAT and SOD levels, and inhibited apoptosis caused by PQ. Andro obviously increased the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax while reducing caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 levels. Furthermore, Andro dramatically elevated the antioxidant proteins Nrf2, NQO-1, and HO-1 levels compared with the PQ group. This experiment demonstrated that Andro reduced ROS and inhibited apoptosis, induced by PQ in MLE-12 cells, by inducing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation. CONCLUSION: Andro effectively ameliorates oxidant stress and apoptosis in ALI caused by PQ, possibly through inducing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway activation

Effects and Mechanism of the Mycelial Culture Temperature on the Growth and Development of <i>Pleurotus ostreatus</i> (Jacq.) P. Kumm

Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm is the second most cultivated edible mushroom worldwide. Temperature is one of the main environmental factors affecting the growth and fructification of mushrooms. However, the effects of ambient temperature on the growth, development, and production of bag-cultured P. ostreatus are still unclear. In this study, eight ambient temperatures (15 °C, 18 °C, 20 °C, 22 °C, 25 °C, 28 °C, 30 °C, and 32 °C) were used to cultivate P. ostreatus mycelia with cottonseed hull as substrate. Then, the agronomic traits and the activities of substrate-degrading and antioxidant enzymes were determined. The mycelial growth and fructification of P. ostreatus differed significantly under different temperatures, and 22 °C was the optimum temperature for mycelial culture when we comprehensively analyzed all the agronomic traits. The mycelial growth rate and the biological efficiency under 22 °C were 0.56 cm/d and 99.53%, respectively. Furthermore, there were also significant differences in the activities of substrate-degrading enzymes and antioxidant enzymes under different ambient temperatures. The highest activities of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes (laccase, xylanase, and cellulase), amylase, and proteinase at the vegetative growth stage occurred at 15–22 °C, 20–22 °C, and 22–30 °C, respectively. The highest activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase at the vegetative growth stage occurred at 28–30 °C. This study provides a reference temperature for bag-cultured P. ostreatus