N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a good plasma marker for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the heart failure.For decompensated heart failure,the double-cut-point strategy including the diagnostic cut-off point and eliminated cut-off point was suggested,and the diagnostic cut-off point can be further divided according to age to further improve the diagnostic accuracy.If the patient's value was in gray interval,doctors should further analyzed the possible confounders,including age,renal function,BMI et al.Recently,more researches were carried out for NT-proBNP in patients with acute coronary syndrome,and some studies showed that its combination with troponin increased the diagnostic efficacy of acute myocardial infarction.The studies of NT-proBNP were still carried out in other areas including atrial fibrillation,cardiomyopathy,valvular disease,pulmonary embolism et al and had obtained the results of the beneficial clinical applications.

This paper presents the general principles and usual problems involved in the development of Institutional Review Board in research institutions. And suggestions are made in this regard. Meanwhile, it discusses two common difficult issues involved in ethical review.

Obesity often results when regular caloric intake exceeds the energy expenditure. Hypothalamus is the center that regulates feeding and energy balance inside the body, especially the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and ventromedial nucleus (VMN). Acupuncture-moxibustion has achieved significant progress in treating simple obesity, and the relevant studies have revealed the central action mechanism underlying the treatment. By reviewing the literatures associated with the mechanism studies on acupuncture-moxibustion for simple obesity, this article is going to provide clinical and scientific guidance for the treatment of simple obesity with acupuncture-moxibustion.

SUMMARY Regenerationofbonetissue,aswellasothertissues,requiresinvolvementandinteraction of cells,scaffolds and relevant growth factors,among which growth factors play a crucial role in maintai-ning the stability of microenvironment.Nel-like-type 1 molecule (NELL-1 ),a novel growth factor in tis-sue engineering,has been studied intensively in recent years.Researches mainly covered gene and pro-tein structure and their expression profiling,biological function,molecular mechanisms and disease rele-vance.NELL-1 expressed in embryonic tissue is essential for growth and development of bone tissue. NELL-1 presents excellent abilities of inducing bone and cartilage regeneration,especially with high spe-cificity to chondrocyte lineage.Compared with classic osteogenic growth factor bone morphogenetic pro-tein 2 (BMP-2),the process of osteogenesis interacted with NELL-1 exhibits stronger specificity,higher bone density and fewerside effects.Furthermore,a recent study shows synergistic effects of NELL-1 and BMP-2.NELL-1 enhances the osteogenic reaction induced by BMP-2 of cells and notably declines in-flammation response caused by BMP-2.This review evaluates the current research progress of the function and application of NELL-1 by the systematic method of evidence-based medicine.

The poor chemical stability and solubility, easy volatile and other shortcomings of TCM volatile oils can be improved after they are included by cyclodextrin. Therefore, cyclodextrin inclusion technology is widely used in the preparation process of volatile oil. This article reviewed the domain of cyclodextrin inclusion of volatile oils, the types of cyclodextrin, inclusion technologies, characterization for inclusion, components changes before and after inclusion, and dissolution characteristics of cyclodextrin inclusion.

OBJECTIVE:To develop an HPLC method for the determination of Tanshinone ⅡA in Lianchuang pills. METHODS:The chromatographic separation was performed on Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 (250mm?4.6mm,5?m) column with column temperature at 25℃. The mobile phased consisted of methanol-water (75∶25) at a flow rate of 1.0mL?min-1.The detection wavelength was set at 270nm.RESULTS:The linear range of Tanshinone ⅡA was 0.020 2～0.202 0?g(r=0.999 9).The average recovery was 99.79%(RSD=1.01%,n=6). CONCLUSION:The method is simple, rapid and accurate, and it could be used for the quality control of Lianchuang pills.

Objective: To investigate the clustering of health-risk behaviors and its influencing factors among children and adolescents in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, so as to provide insights into the prevention and control of health-risk behaviors among children and adolescents. Methods: Students were randomly sampled from 4 primary schools, 4 junior high schools and 4 senior high schools in Yancheng City using a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method from September to December 2021. Students' demographics and 12 health-risk factors including unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity and attempted smoking were collected using the Student's Health Status and Influencing Factors Questionnaire by Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and factors affecting the clustering of health-risk behaviors were identified using a multivariable linear regression model. Results: A total of 2 925 valid questionnaires were recovered, and the respondents included 1 611 boys (55.08%) and 1 314 girls (44.92%). A total of 2 896 respondents were detected with health-risk behaviors, with a detection rate of 99.09%, and 2 772 respondents were detected with clustering of health-risk behaviors (93.06%). Insufficient sleep, insufficient physical activity and insufficient duration of outdoor activity were predominant patterns of clustering. The median number of health-risk behaviors was 4.00 (interquartile range, 2.00) per capita. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that boys (β=0.232), grade (junior high school, β=0.519; senior high school, β=0.427), urban area (β=0.241), living at school (β=0.395), family structure (single parental family, β=0.188; other families, β=0.344) and father's education level of primary school and below (β=0.369) were factors affecting clustering of health-risk behavior among primary and high school students. Conclusions The detection of health-risk behaviors is high among children and adolescents in Yancheng City, and insufficient sleep, insufficient physical activity and insufficient duration of outdoor activity are predominant health-risk behaviors. Boys, junior high school and above, urban areas, living at schools, single parents, and fathers with a low educational level lead to a high degree of clustering of health-risk behaviors.

Objective: To explore the effects of whole wheat flour on blood glucose and lipid levels and antioxidant capacity of high-fat fed mice. Methods: Thirty-two male C57BL/6J mice at ages of 3 to 4 weeks were randomly divided into 4 groups with 8 mice in each group. The normal control group was fed with ordinary diet, the high-fat diet group was fed with high-fat diet, the whole wheat flour group was fed with high-fat diet and whole wheat flour, and the refined wheat flour group was fed with high-fat diet and refined wheat flour. Nine weeks later, blood was collected from the tail for measurement of fasting blood glucose (FBG), and blood was also collected from the eyeball to determine the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Adipose tissue was taken and weighed after death. Body weight, total food intake, Lee's index, adipose index, blood glucose, blood lipids, and antioxidant indicators were compared among the four groups of mice. Results: Compared with the normal control group, the mice in the high-fat diet group, whole wheat flour group, and refined wheat flour group exhibited increased body weight, total food intake, Lee's index, and adipose index, as well as decreased GSH-Px levels; the high-fat diet group had elevated levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and MDA (all P<0.05). When compared to the high-fat diet group, the whole wheat flour group showed lower Lee's index and adipose index, but the difference was not statistically significant (both P>0.05). Both the whole wheat flour group and the refined wheat flour group had reduced levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, and MDA, as well as increased GSH-Px levels (all P<0.05). Conclusions Whole wheat flour can effectively reduce the body weight of high-fat feeding mice, improve blood lipid levels, and enhance antioxidant capacity. However, there was no significant difference in the effects of whole wheat flour and refined wheat flour on mice during the experimental period.