ObjectiveTo explore the correlations between botanical characteristics， biological characteristics， growth environment， and medicinal properties of common pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials， thus providing evidence for the theory of quality evaluation through morphological identification and giving insights into the extensive and reasonable application of pteridophytes in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. MethodThe medicine parts， habitats， natures， tastes， and effects of the commonly used pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials were summarized. The commonly used pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials were retrieved from the Pharmacopoeia of China， Dictionary of Chinese Materia Medica， and related literature. Excel 2016， ChiPlot， Cytoscape 3.7.1， SPSS 21.0， and weiciyun software were used for statistical analysis. ResultThe frequency of the habitats followed the trend of streamside wetland>tree trunk and rock crevices>sunslope>water surface. The frequency of medicinal parts presented the trend of whole plant>rhizome>leaf>dried aboveground part>spore. The frequency of natures was in the order of cool>cold>plain>warm>hot， and that of tastes was in an order of bitter>pungent>sweet>bland>salty. The frequency of meridian tropism followed the trend of liver meridian>stomach meridian>lung meridian>kidney meridian>bladder meridian>heart meridian>large intestine meridian>spleen meridian>small intestine meridian. The effects of the pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials followed a frequency trend of clearing heat and detoxifying>promoting urination and relieving stranguria>cooling blood and stopping bleeding>activating blood and resolving stasis>dispelling wind and eliminating dampness. ConclusionThe pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials mainly have a cool nature， a bitter taste， and tropism to the liver meridian. Whole plants and roots are mainly used for medicinal purposes， and most of these plants grow in the wetlands near rivers， under trees， and in tree trunk and rock crevices. The main effects of these medicinal materials are clearing heat and detoxifying， dispelling wind and removing dampness， cooling blood and stopping bleeding， activating blood and resolving stasis， and soothing meridians and dredging collaterals. There are certain correlations between the structures， habitats， medicinal parts， and effects of pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal materials， which provide reference for the development and utilization of pteridophyte-derived Chinese medicinal material resources.

Background Mercury, as a global heavy metal pollutant, poses a serious threat to human health. The toxicity of mercury depends on its chemical form. Distinguishing the forms of mercury in the environment is of great significance for mercury management and reducing human mercury exposure risks. Objective To establish a non-targeted metallomics method based on synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SRXRF) spectroscopy combined with machine learning to screen inorganic mercury (IHg) or methylmercury (MeHg) exposed rice plants. Methods Rice seeds were exposed to ultra-pure water (control group), 0.1 mg·L⁻¹ IHg (IHg group) or MeHg (MeHg group) solutions, respectively. After germination, the seedlings were cultured for 21 d, and rice leaves were collected, dried, weighed, and pressed. The content of metallome in rice leaves was determined by SRXRF. Machine learning models including soft independent modeling cluster analysis (SIMCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and logistic regression (LR) were used to classify the SRXRF full spectra of different groups and find the best model to distinguish rice exposed to IHg or MeHg. Besides, characteristic elements were selected as input parameters to optimize the model by improving computing speed and reducing model calculation. Results The SRXRF spectral intensities of the control group, IHg group, and MeHg group were different, indicating that exposure to IHg and MeHg can interfere the homeostasis of metallome in rice leaves. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) of SRXRF spectra showed that the control group could be well distinguished from the mercury exposed groups, but the IHg group and the MeHg group were mostly overlapped. The accuracy rates of the three models (PLS-DA, SIMCA, and LR) were higher than 98% for the training set, higher than 95% for the validation set, and higher than 94% for the cross-validation set. Besides, the accuracy of the LR model was higher than that of the PLS-DA model and the SIMCA model. Furthermore, the accuracy was 92.05% when using characteristic elements K, Ca, Mn, Fe, and Zn selected by LR to distinguish the IHg group and the MeHg group. Compared with the full spectra model, although the prediction accuracy of the characteristic spectral model decreased, the input parameters of the model decreased by 99.51%, and precision, recall, and F1 score were above 84.48%, indicating that the model could distinguish rice exposed to different mercury forms. Conclusion Non-targeted metallomics method based on SRXRF and machine learning can be applied for high-throughput screening of rice exposed to different forms of mercury and thus decrease the risks of people being exposed to mercury.

This study briefly introduces the basic theory of sterilization, the characteristics of ethylene oxide sterilization for medical devices and the key factors about sterilization effectiveness, analyzes and compares three methods used in the product release of medical devices sterilized by ethylene oxide: test for sterility, traditional release and parametric release, and focuses on the theoretical basis, feasibility, validation requirements, advantages and disadvantages of parametric release.
Ethylene Oxide ; Sterilization/methods*

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural constitutional monarchy and federal system located in Southeast Asia. The top three diseases that cause deaths are ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory tract infections and stroke. Lower respiratory tract infections, colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease have been the fastest growing diseases in recent years. The health insurance system complements public and private health care system. Traditional medicine in Malaysia includes Malaysian Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Indian Medicine, Islamic Medicine and homeopathy. Although TCM, such as acupuncture, has not been covered by health insurance, it is widely used under the impetus of the local Chinese people. At present, in Malaysia, the TCM public acceptance and education need promotion, and scientific researches need to be improved. It is hoped that in the future, the development of TCM in Malaysia will be better developed and disseminated by promoting TCM relevant legislation, increasing public awareness, focusing on education and training, and carrying out international scientific research cooperation.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction mostly relies on the experience of surgeons. To improve the effectiveness and adaptability of the tension after ACL reconstruction in knee joint rehabilitation, this paper establishes a lateral force measurement model with relaxation characteristics and designs an on-line stiffness measurement system of ACL. In this paper, we selected 20 sheep knee joints as experimental material for the knee joint stability test before the ACL reconstruction operation, which were divided into two groups for a comparative test of single-bundle ACL reconstruction through the anterolateral approach. The first group of surgeons carried out intraoperative detection with routine procedures. The second group used ACL on-line stiffness measurement system for intraoperative detection. After that, the above two groups were tested for postoperative stability. The study results show that the tension accuracy is (- 2.3 ± 0.04)%, and the displacement error is (1.5 ± 1.8)%. The forward stability, internal rotation stability, and external rotation stability of the two groups were better than those before operation (
Animals ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Cadaver ; Joint Instability/surgery* ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rotation ; Sheep

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation of quality of life (QOL) with aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), liver stiffness measurement (LSM), and histopathology after entecavir antiviral therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis. MethodsA total of 95 patients who were diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B and liver fibrosis in The Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University from October 2013 to March 2015 were enrolled, and all patients underwent entecavir antiviral therapy. Before treatment and at weeks 26, 52, and 78 of treatment, SF-36 scale was used to assess QOL, transient elastography was used to measure LSM, and serum APRI was measured. Among these patients, 31 underwent liver biopsy before treatment and at week 78 of treatment to observe the degree of inflammation and fibrosis, and QOL, APRI, LSM, and histopathology were analyzed before and after antiviral therapy. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data at different time points, and a Spearman correlation analysis was performed. ResultsThere was a tendency of increase in QOL after antiviral treatment, and there were significant differences in general health, role-physical, role-motional, bodily pain, social functioning, and vitality at different time points (H=25.084, 8.699, 12.293, 22.874, 12.079, and 10.403, all P＜0.05). There was a tendency of reduction in APRI, with a significant change after treatment (H=60.030, P＜0.01), and there was also a significant reduction in LSM after treatment (H=35.744, P＜0.01). APRI and LSM were negatively correlated with QOL (all P＜0.05). Among the patients who underwent liver biopsy, 22 achieved the improvement in histological inflammation after antiviral therapy, 15 achieved the improvement in fibrosis, 14 achieved the improvement in both inflammation and QOL, and 8 achieved the improvement in both fibrosis and QOL. ConclusionEntecavir antiviral therapy can improve the QOL of patients with chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis, and reductions in APRI and LSM can predict the improvement in QOL in patients with chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis. Improvement in histological inflammation and fibrosis have a certain effect on the improvement in QOL in patients with chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis.

As a carbon-storage compound and osmoprotectant in brown algae, mannitol is synthe-sized and then accumulated at high levels in Saccharina japonica (Sja);however, the underlying con-trol mechanisms have not been studied. Our analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data from Sja shows that mannitol metabolism is a cyclic pathway composed of four distinct steps. A mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (M1PDH2) and two mannitol-1-phosphatases (M1Pase1 and MIPase2) work together or in combination to exhibit full enzymatic properties. Based on comprehensive tran-scriptomic data from different tissues, generations, and sexes as well as under different stress con-ditions, coupled with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and proteomic confirmation, we suggest that SjaM1Pase1 plays a major role in mannitol biosynthesis and that the basic mannitol anabolism and the carbohydrate pool dynamics are responsible for carbon storage and anti-stress mechanism. Our proteomic data indicate that mannitol metabolism remains constant during diurnal cycle in Sja. In addition, we discover that mannitol-metabolism-associated (MMA) genes show differential expression between the multicellular filamentous (gametophyte) and large parenchymal thallus (sporophyte) generations and respond differentially to environmental stresses, such as hyposalineand hyperthermia conditions. Our results indicate that the ecophysiological significance of such dif-ferentially expressed genes may be attributable to the evolution of heteromorphic generations (fil-amentous and thallus) and environmental adaptation of Laminariales.

This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Tiao-Bu Fei-Shen therapies (i.e., Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, Bu-Fei Y i-Shen, Y i-Qi Zi-Shen) on cardiac remodeling of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rats and its mechanisms according to the R-value comprehensive evaluation method. Based on the database of previous experiment of COPD rats, R-value comprehensive evaluation method was used to evaluate the indexes as fellows to discuss efficacy of Tiao-Bu Fei-Shen therapies on cardiac remodeling of COPD rats. ① Indicators of right ventricular morphologic indexes: right ventricular hypertrophy index (RVHI), cardiac muscle sarcomere lengths, bulk density of myocardial mitochondria (Vv), surface area (δ), membrane surface (δm), Vv, δ, δm of heart mitochondria;② Indicators of mechanisms: right ventricular endothelin-1 (ET-1), transforming growth factor-beta ( TGF-β) , vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF ) , basic fibroblast growth factor ( bFGF ) , matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1). The results showed that the sequence of improving effect of right ventricular remodeling at week 20 was Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, Bu-Fei Y i-Shen, aminophylline, and Y i-Qi Zi-Shen; at week 32 and the integrated week 20 and week 32, the sequence of effect was Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, Bu-Fei Y i-Shen, Y i-Qi Zi-Shen, and aminophylline. At integrated week 20 and week 32, Bu-Fei Jian-Pi had significant better intensity correcting effect than aminophylline (P< 0.01). There was no difference between week 20 and week 32. It showed that each treatment group had good long-term effect. For the mechanism of correcting effect on right ventricular remodeling, at week 20, the sequence of comprehensive effect was Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, Bu-Fei Y i-Shen, aminophylline, and Y i-Qi Zi-Shen. And Bu-Fei Jian-Pi had better effect compared with aminophylline and Y i-Qi Zi-Shen (P< 0.01); Bu-Fei Y i-Shen had better effect than Y i-Qi Zi-Shen (P< 0.05). At week 32, the sequence of effect was Y i-Qi Zi-Shen, aminophylline, Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, and Bu-Fei Y i-Shen. At the integrated week 20 and week 32, the sequence of effect was Bu-Fei Jian-Pi, and Bu-Fei Y i-Shen, Y i-Qi Zi-Shen, and aminophylline. Until week 32, the correcting effect of Tiao-Bu Fei-Shen therapies and aminophylline still maintained the same level as at week 20. It indicated that each treatment plan had good long-term effect. It was concluded that Tiao-Bu Fei-Shen therapies can improve the cardiac remodeling of COPD rats and expression of related factors in the cardiac remodeling through the R-value comprehensive evaluation method. And the effect of Bu-Fei Jian-Pi was obvious with good long-term effect.

This study is to investigate the treatment of Jin Chai antiviral capsule for influenza virus FM1/47 (H1N1) infection. The model of pneumonia was established by dropping influenza virus into the nose of normal mice, real-time PCR and Western blot technique were used to detect the virus load and the interferoninducible transmembrane protein3 (IFITM3) in lung of mice at the 1st day, 3rd day, 5th day and 7th day after affected. The results showed that Jin Chai antiviral capsule in large, middle, small dose groups can decrease virus load significantly at each time point, after being affected (P<0.05, P<0.01), Jin Chai antiviral capsule can increase the interferoninducible transmembrane protein3 in lung of mice, large dose groups are significantly higher in expression of IFITM3 compared with model group at each time point (P<0.05, P<0.01). Middle dose groups are significantly higher in expression of IFITM3 compared with model group at the 3th day and the 5th day (P<0.05), small dose groups are significantly higher in expression of IFITM3 compared with model group at the 3th day (P<0.05). It can be concluded that Jin Chai antiviral capsule exerts antiviral effects against influenzavirus by raised expression of IFITM3.

A DNA fragment encoding human interleukin 4 was obtained by PCR from pORF-hIL4 plasmid. The amplified fragment was inserted into prokaryotic expression vector PQE60 and recombinant protein was expressed in E. Coli M15 by adding isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). The hIL-4 protein was present as insoluble inclusion bodies in the bacterial extract. After denaturation of inclusion bodies with 5 mol/L guanidine hydrochloride, the supernate was diluted to get renaturized. Then dialysis and Ni chelating chromatography were used for purification. TF-1 proliferation assay of recombinant human interleukin 4 was performed, and then rhIL-4 was fit to be used for proliferation of human dendritic cells from monocyte in vitro.
Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Inclusion Bodies ; metabolism ; Interleukin-4 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Protein Folding ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; isolation & purification