Differences in their morphology,TLC features and trace element contents of Runex japonicus Hott and R. crispus L. were compared to provide a scientific basis for the differentiation of the two herbs during practical use

After discussing the reason for insufficiency of committee member in current ethical review , and considering the requirement for improving the function of Ethics Review Committee , this paper proposes that Ethics Review Committee should appoint more non -affiliated scientific members to ensure the independence of ethical re-view , thus protecting the rights and beneficence of subjects , and to secure the justice in ethical review of protocols , the paper also discussed the resolutions to address the challenge brought by appointing non -affiliated members .

The particles suspended in seawater have great influence on pollutant migration and transformation in marine environment, while the lipophilic algae toxins enriched by the particles suspended in seawater will lead more serious toxicity to marine filter feeders. In this study, a new method was developed for the simultaneous determination of eight lipophilic algae toxins in suspended particles by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry ( UPLC-MS/MS ) . After extracted with methanol by ultrasonic-assisted extraction, the sample was separated on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (50 mm×2. 1 mm, 1. 7 μm) using gradient elution of acetonitrile and water containing 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate as eluent modifiers. The qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out by electrospray ionization ( ESI) tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring ( MRM) mode. Under the optimal conditions, satisfactory precision (relative standard deviations (RSD≤14. 1%), recoveries (83. 8%-110. 4%) and detection limits (2. 9-103 pg/g) of the method were achieved. Good linearity (R2≥0. 99) was also obtained for all studied analytes. Then, the method was applied to determine the amounts of the eight lipophilic marine toxins in authentic suspended particle samples collected from Qingdao near-shore area. Pectenotoxin 2 ( PTX2 ) was detected in the samples from Shilaoren beach and No. 3 bathing beach with concentration ranges of 717 and 790 pg/g, respectively.

Objective To observe the effects of mitochondrial protectant on hippocampal mito-chondrial function and synaptic plasticity in isoflurane-anesthesia aged mice.Methods Forty-eight fif-teen-month-old male C57BL/6 mice were equally divided into 4 groups (n=12):oxygen+normal sa-line (group CN),oxygen+SS-31 (group CS),isoflurane+normal saline (group IN),and isoflurane+SS-31 (group IS).SS-31(5 mg/kg)or normal saline was intraperitoneally administered with a vol-ume of 0.4 ml/kg 30 min before gas inhalation.After two hours gas inhalation,the hippocampus was removed to determine complex Ⅰ-Ⅳ activities,adenosine triphosphate (ATP)and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP)levels from isolated mitochondria,and measure the content of synapsin-1,PSD-95,NMDAR2A,NMDAR2B,CaMKⅡα and CaMKⅡβ.Results Compared with the group IN,complex Ⅰ activity,ATP and MMP levels were increased,synapsin-1 and PSD-95 were up-regu-lated,whereas NMDAR2B,CaMK Ⅱα and CaMK Ⅱβ were down-regulated in the group IS (P <0.05).No significant difference was observed in the complex Ⅱ-Ⅳ activities and NMDAR2A expres-sion.Conclusion Mitochondrial protectant SS-31 attenuates isoflurane-induced mitochondrial dysfunc-tion and neuron synaptic plasticity impairments in aged mice.

Objective To investigate the expression of parvalbumin (PV)in the cognitive im-pairment mice induced by sevoflurane anesthesia,and to explore whether enriched environment could reverse it.Methods One hundred and forty-four Six-day-old C57BL/6 male mice at postnatal day 6 were randomly divided into the following four groups (n =36):control+standard environment group (group CS),control+enriched environment group(group CE),sevoflurane anesthesia+standard en-vironment group(group SS)and sevoflurane anesthesia+enriched environment group(group SE).An-imals were exposed to 3% sevoflurane plus 30% O 2 or 30% O 2 2 h daily for 3 days from postnatal day 6 (P6)to P8.The exposed pups were randomly allocated to an enriched environment for 2 h daily between P8 and P90 or to a standard environment.Western blotting were used for determining PV ex-pression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus at P9,P14,P42,P60 and P90.Cognitive functions were assessed by performing the open field (P41 ),and fear conditioning tests (P42-43 and P89-90, respectively).Results In the open field test,there was no significant difference in the total travel dis-tance and the time spent in the center of the arena among groups.In the contextual fear condition test, compared with group CS,the group SS only exhibited a reduced freezing response in the contextual test at P43,but not at P90.In the cued fear conditioning test,no difference was observed in the freez-ing time among the four groups.The PV expression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of group SS were significantly lower than that of group CS at P9 and P14 (P <0.001),while recovered at P60 and P90.The PV expression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of group SE were significantly higher than that of group SS at P42 (P <0.05).Linear regression analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the PV expression in the prefrontal cortex and the freezing time induced by envi-ronment (r =0.670 7,P =0.000 1),and there was a positive correlation between the PV expression in hippocampus and the freezing time induced by environment (r = 0.509 6,P = 0.001 9 ). Conclusion The cognitive impairment induced by sevoflurane anesthesia may be associated with the reduction of PV in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.Placement of the sevoflurane-exposed mice in an enriched environment prevented the development of these abnormalities.

Objective To investigate the role of histone lysine methyltransferase G9a in sevoflurane-induced cognitive impairment in the developing brain of neonatal rats.Methods Thirty-six 5-day-old male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n =12):control group,sevoflurane group and Bix01294 (the inhibitor of histone lysine methyltransferase G9a)group.The rats in the sevoflurane group and the Bix01294 group received 3% sevoflurane anesthesia for 2 hours once a day at postnatal 5-7 days (P5-P7 ).The rats in the Bix01294 group received Bix01294 (10 mg/kg)subcu-taneously at 1 5 min before anesthesia,and the rats in the control group and sevoflurane group received normal saline for injection (0.1 ml)at the same time.The open-field test and fear condition-ing test were performed at P3 5 and P3 9-P41 ,respectively.The tissues of hippocampus were collected at P42 to measure the levels of G9a,histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me 2 )and synapsin 1. Results Compared with the control group,the percentage of freezing time of sevoflurane group was significantly decreased in the contextual fear condition test,while the levels of G9a and H3K9me 2 were significantly increased and the level of synapsin 1 was significantly decreased (P <0.01).How-ever,the percentage of freezing time of Bix01294 group was significantly increased,while the levels of G9a and H3K9me 2 were significantly decreased and the level of synapsin 1 was significantly in-creased compared with the sevoflurane group (P <0.05).There was no difference in the total distance and residence time in the central grid in the open-field test,and the percentage of freezing time in the cued fear condition test among the three groups.Conclusion Histone lysine methyltransferase G9a is involved in the sevoflurane-induced long-term cognitive impairment in developing brain of neonatal rats,which may be associated with the increase of H3K9me 2 and the down-regulation of synapsin 1 in the hippocampus.

AIM:To investigate the effect of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 ( STAT 1 ) on proliferation and interferon-β(IFN-β) sensitivity of human non-small-cell lung cancer H1299 cells.METHODS:STAT1 or EGFP gene was transfected into H1299 cells by the lentiviral vectors system.The cell number was counted under a mi-croscope and cell proliferation was tested by MTT assay.In addition, the cells transfected with STAT1 and EGFP were trea-ted with IFN-βand cell viability was measured by MTT assay.The protein levels of p-STAT1, ICAM-1 and PCNA were de-tected by Western blot.RESULTS: Over-expression of STAT1 inhibited H1299 cell proliferation (P<0.05).H1299 cells transfected with STAT1 gene had a higher sensitivity to IFN-βthan the control cells transfected with EGFP ( P <0.05).Overexpression of STAT1 increased the protein level of p-STAT1, and reduced IACM-1 expression in H1299 cells. Moreover, STAT1 enhanced STAT1 phosphorylation and downregulated the expression of PCNA in H1299 cells treated with IFN-β.CONCLUSION:STAT1 inhibits the proliferation and enhances the IFN-βsensitivity of non-small-cell lung cancer H1299 cells.

The concentrations and distributions of trace metals and rare earth elements (REE) in sediment and mussel samples collected from the India Ocean hydrothermal area were analyzed.The metal correlation between organisms and sediments was investigated, and the ecological and chemical characteristics of REE were also explored.The results showed that, the trace metals in sediments were mainly Fe (96.6 mg/kg), Mn (1.14 mg/kg) and Zn (322.6 μg/kg), and Fe had high ratio of 98.15% by normalized calculation, which indicated that the available sediments in this studying hydrothermal area mainly consisted of iron ore substances.Trace metals and REE distributions all had good correlation between deep-sea sediments and deep-sea mussels, and the correlation coefficients were 0.991 for trace metals and 0.996 for REE.The contents and distributions of metal elements in deep-sea mussels were different from those in offshore mussels.The REE distributions in sediments and mussels showed obvious fractionation phenomenon, and the enrichment of LREE in mussels was significant.Through the REE patterns, Eu and Gd in sediments and mussels all showed anomalies, and Eu had a significant abnormal phenomenon in deep-sea sediments and deep-sea mussels.Besides, δEu values were 9.50, 10.68 and 0.23 in deep-sea sediments, deep-sea mussels and offshore mussels, respectively, and δCe were 2.21, 2.71 and 4.38, which showed that the enrichment sources of REE in offshore mussels and deep-sea mussels were different, and the REE in sediments and mussels from the India Ocean were homologous.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of conservative therapy on prolapse of lumbar intervertebral disc(PLID).Methods 365 PID patients included 78 acute cases and 287 subacute cases.The treating principle for acute cases was eliminating edema and aseptic inflammation,and that for subacute cases was releasing adhesion and removing inflammatory stimulation to nerve root.Results Of 78 acute patients,60 cases(76.9%) healed,18 cases(23.1%) improved;of 287 subacute patients,186 cases(64.8%) healed,101 cases(35.2%) improved,the effective rate of 365 patients was 99.7%.Conclusion Conservative therapy is effect on PLID at acute and subacute periods.

OBJECTIVETo detect alkaloids in Ipecac by direct analysis in real time tandem mass spectrometry (DART-MS) without pre-treatment and chromatographic separation.

METHODUnder the optimum conditions, DART-MS characteristic spectra were collected for tablet of Ipecac powder, Ipecac stems and leaves by full scanning, and secondary spectra were adopted for identifying alkaloids. The multiple reaction monitoring mode was adopted to determine the mass spectrum peak intensity of determinands on the surface of determined samples, in order to calculate their average content in samples.

RESULTSpectra of tablet of Ipecac powder and Ipecac stems showed remarkable ionized ion peaks of emetine and cephaeline at m/z 481 and 467, while spectra of leaves showed ionized ion peaks of other alkaloids at m/z 479 and 465. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis was also demonstrated with good reproducibility and linear relationship.

CONCLUSIONThe mode can play a role in rapid determination of medicinal materials and prepared herbal medicines and real-time rapid quantitative analysis on intermediates and preparations.