Deconstruction of lignocellulosic plant cell walls to fermentable sugars by biochemical means is impeded by several poorly understood ultrastructural and chemical barriers. Pretreatment is an essential step by altering the morphological and compositional characteristics of biomass to enhance the sugar release during enzymatic hydrolysis. Therefore, getting insight into this field is necessary to improve the conversion of biomass into biofuels. In this review, we highlight our recent understanding on the impact of various promising pretreatments on biomass, with emphasis on the topochemical and ultrastructural changes of plant cell walls that are related to the reduction of recalcitrance and the consequence of saccharification. It will lend support to the scientific research and development with respect to biomass conversion.
Biofuels ; Biomass ; Carbohydrates ; chemistry ; Cell Wall ; ultrastructure ; Fermentation ; Hydrolysis ; Lignin ; chemistry ; Plant Cells ; ultrastructure

ObjectiveTo study the expression of adhesion mol ecules (CD 54 、CD 62p ) on diabetic neuropathy in the STZ induced rats and the effect of cilostazol treatment.MethodsSD rats were divided into four groups: normal control, diabetes control, insulin and cilostaz ol treated group. Sciatic nerve conductive velocity, the level of CD 54 /CD 62p on the surface of mononuclear cell/platelet were examined, and ultrast ructure of sciatic nerve was observed.ResultsCilostazol incr eased sciatic nerve conductive velocity significantly [DM=(20.3?2.2) m/s vs ci lostazol=(28.9?7.9)m/s,(P

According to the sequence of SmLEA gene,a DNA fragment of 1 038 bp upstream of the coding sequence of SmLEA gene was amplified by DNA walking with the genomic DNA of Salvia miltiorrhiz as the template.Sequence analysis showed that the fragment contained some putative cis-elements relating to abiotic stress,ABA,seed specific expression.So the S.miltiorrhiz seedings was treated with 100?mol/L ABA,200mmol/L NaCl,4℃,and subjected to dehydration.The real-time PCR showed that expression levels of SmLEA was increased obviously,which was in accordance with the sequence analysis.

The model of rats irradiated by 60Co-?-ray (60Co) or injected by cyclophosphamide (Cy) was studied. It was found that the contents of monoamine neurotransmitters changes greatly in the hypothalamus in both kinds of model. The contents of noradrenalin (NA) and dopamine (DA), and the ratio of DA to DOPAC increased significantly in hypothalamus of rats irradiated by ""Co. The contents of NA and the ratio of 5-hydroxyamine (5-HT) to 5-hychoxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) decreased markedly in lamus of rats injected by Cy. The author thinks that there is a certain relation between the of monoamine eurotransmitters and the activity of methylation of NA and monoamine oxidase.

The tumor microenvironment (TME), a dynamic and complex local environment, interacts with the tumor cells and is closely related to tumor growth, metastasis, immune escape and drug resistance. Thus, targeting the TME has been a worldwide focus in cancer therapy. Many natural products possess the advantages of multiple targets, multiple pathways and wide pharmacological functions, and are the main source of antitumor drugs. In recent years studies have found that some natural products had advantageous effects on the TME. In this review, we summarize the components and functions of the TME and some natural products that target the TME, with references to the drug therapy of cancer.

China ; Congresses as Topic ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep) questionnaire in measuring the quality of life in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) in China. METHODS: FACT-Hep questionnaire was translated into Chinese and revised properly. From September 2005 to April 2006, one hundred and eighty patients with primary liver carcinoma were admitted and measured by using the Chinese version of FACT-Hep questionnaire, and the reliabilities, validities and responsibilities of the questionnaire were assessed. RESULTS: Correlation coefficient was higher between items and dimension of their corresponding domain (0.5933+/-0.1652) than that between the items and other domains (0.2749+/-0.1922). Six principal constituents were extracted by factor analysis and represented all domains of the questionnaire. The combinations of components were consistent with what was expected. The correlation coefficient of criterion-related validity was 0.828. The test-retest reliability correlation coefficients of physical, social/family, emotion, function, symptom and total questionnaire were 0.731, 0.334, 0.953, 0.786, 0.785 and 0.801 respectively, and the values of Cronbach's alpha were 0.7397, 0.4193, 0.7914, 0.8250, 0.8399 and 0.9161, respectively. There were statistical differences in scores of FACT-Hep questionnaire in different PHC stages or in different Child-Pugh classes (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The FACT-Hep questionnaire can measure the quality of life in patients with PHC with good reliability, validity and responsiveness; it can be used in assessing the disease-specific health-related quality of life of patients with hepatobiliary cancers.

To study the possible mechanism of Sisheng Decoction on spleen deficiency syndrome via the observation of general conditions, immunity and anti-stress function in Dahuang (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei Palmati)-induced mice model.

Objective To study the value of application of histamine provocation test and airway resistance measurement in diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy in preschool children with asthma.Methods Histamine provocation test and airway resistance measurement by the Italian MEFAR MB3 provocating instrument and Germen Microloop lung function instrument for 42 cases who were diagnosed as asthmatic(27 patients with bronchial asthma and 15 cases of cough variant asthma)and 21 healthy cases was compared,and the differences between the 2 groups and the value of therapeutic efficacy were analyzed.Results The resistance ratio of respiratory tract of control group was(97.11?9.09)%,which in asthma and cough variant asthma group was(229.37?57.48)% and(248.80?76.80)%.There was significant difference between the 3 groups(F=48.466 P

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effects of norcantharidin poloxamer 407(NCTD P407) slow released preparation on advanced primary liver cancer by local intratumoral injection. Methods: Fifty six advanced primary liver cancer patients with maximum diameter from 6 to 12 cm were randomly divided into test and control groups. Patients in test group (29 case) were treated by NCTD 407 intratumoral injection under ultrasonic and patients in control group (27 case) by PEI (percutaneous intratumoral absolute ethanol injection). Clinical therapeutic effects were observed respectively and compared. Results: Twelve months survival rates of patients in 2 groups were significantly different, being 31.0% in test group and 22.2% in control group ( P 0.05) in 2 groups. No evident poisonous and side effects were found in either test or control group. Conclusion: NTCD P407 administration exhibits therapeutic effects in relatively big advanced liver cancer because of the high concentration and prolonged action in the tumor foci, its comprehensive therapeutic effect is better than that of absolute ethanol administration. [