Based on the interaction between supramolecule of traditional Chinese medicine and enterobacteria, the material basis of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was explored. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were used to characterize the morphological differences of Rhubarb single decoction, Coptis single decoction and Rhubarb and Coptis co-decoction. An in vitro antibacterial model (E. coli, E. faecium and B. subtilis) was established to evaluate the damage effect of the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma on enterobacteria. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the changes of chemical components of single decoctions and co-decoctions. The co-decoction of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma was turbid after decocting. The spherical particles of 300-400 nm were observed under SEM, and the co-decoction was more uniform and stable than that of single decoction. The interaction between supramolecules formed after the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma and enterobacteria was significantly different from that of single decoction. In the process of interaction between supramolecules and enterobacteria, the spherical state was maintained, and the medicinal ingredients in Coptidis Rhizoma or Rhei Radix et Rhizoma were blocked, which could effectively alleviate the damage to enterobacteria. This study provided a reference for subsequent studies on the regulation of intestinal flora homeostasis by the combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma.

The effect of different concentrations of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and Zn²⁺ on the self-assembly of metal complexes was investigated by forming metal complexes, and the properties and assembly mechanisms of the formed carrier-free supramolecular hydrogel were characterised. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and zeta potential were used to characterise the microscopic morphology and stability of the GA-Zn complex hydrogel, which had spherical-like particles of about 1 μm with good stability; the rheometer was used to detect its materialistic properties, which showed excellent stability, self-healing property and reversibility; through in vitro bacterial inhibition, it was found that the GA-Zn carrier-free supramolecular hydrogel has enhanced bacterial inhibition function after assembly. The hydrogel was also found to possess both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacy when evaluated using LPS and H₂O₂ induced RAW 264.7 cell damage models, respectively. The above results suggest that GA-Zn hydrogel not only has good materialistic properties, but also possesses good antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, which has the value of clinical research as a carrier-free multi-functional antimicrobial dressing, and the present study provides a reference for the discovery of novel biomedical materials from active molecules of natural traditional Chinese medicine.

Atopic dermatitis(AD)is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease.For decades,the treatment of AD has been limited to local corticosteroid or calcineurin inhibitors,and light therapy or systemic immunosuppressive drug for moderate to severe AD patients.With the in-depth study of the pathogenesis of AD,many local and systemic targeted therapy drugs are being developed,which may change the treatment options of AD.This review combination with the latest clinical trials give a summarize on the type,mechanism,efficacy and safety of biological targeted therapy for AD,to provide a theoretical basis for the individualized treatment of AD.

Objective To develop a low-oxygen mixed gas generator to make up for the deficiencies of low-pressure chambers and load-resistant hypoxia trainers during pilot hypoxia tolerance testing.Methods The device prepared the low-oxygen gas with the principle of gas separation,which was composed of a Sunsource OLF1100D-220AF air compressor,a SMC IDG75SAM4-03 filter,a buffer tank,an AIR Products PA3010 integrated assembly,a control box,sensors and regulators.The sensors included the pressure sensor,flow sensor,concentration sensor and dew point temperature sensor,and the control box consisted of a main control board,a power supply module,a transmission module,a communication module,a display and a housing.The embedded control software of the device was developed with KEIL 5 and C++.Results The device developed prepared the low-oxygen gas with the volume fraction being 4％to 18％and the maximum error of volume fraction being 0.05％,and the main components of the prepared gas met the technical requirements of medical oxygen as stipulated in GB 8982-2009 Oxygen supplies for medicine and aircraft breathing.Conclusion The low-oxygen gas prepared by the device has its volume fraction precisely controlled and can be used for hypoxia tolerance testing and acclimation training for pilots.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(7):24-28]

Epigenomic imbalance drives abnormal transcriptional processes,promoting the onset and progression of cancer.Although defective gene regulation generally affects carcinogenesis and tumor suppression networks,tumor immunogenicity and immune cells involved in antitumor responses may also be affected by epigenomic changes,which may have significant implications for the development and application of epigenetic therapy,cancer immunotherapy,and their combinations.Herein,we focus on the impact of epigenetic regulation on tumor immune cell function and the role of key abnormal epigenetic processes,DNA methylation,histone post-translational modification,and chromatin structure in tumor immunogenicity,and introduce these epigenetic research methods.We emphasize the value of small-molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modulators in enhancing antitumor immune responses and discuss the challenges of developing treatment plans that combine epigenetic therapy and immuno-therapy through the complex interaction between cancer epigenetics and cancer immunology.

The epidemiological and spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of human leptospirosis in Zhejiang Province from 2018 to 2022 were analyzed,to provide a scientific basis for formulating leptospirosis prevention and control strategies.Data on leptospirosis were collected from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention,and analyzed with descriptive epidemiological methods.ArcMap 10.8 software was used for spatial autocorrelation analysis and visual display of the results.SaTScan 10.1.2 software was used for spatiotemporal scanning,to analyze and describe the spatiotemporal aggrega-tion characteristics of leptospirosis.A total of 255 human cases of leptospirosis were reported in Zhejiang Province from 2018 to 2022,including one death;the average annual incidence was 0.084 3/100 000,and the average annual mortality was 0.000 3/100 000.The highest incidence of leptospirosis in Zhejiang occurred from August to October.Most cases were in middle-aged and older people 45-86 years of age(221 cases,86.67％).The number of cases was highest among people 65-69 years of age(57 cases).The male to female ratio was 4.67∶1.The main occupation was farming(190 cases,74.51％).The cumulative number of cases in Wenzhou and Lishui in 3 years(201 cases)accounted for 78.82％of the total cases.The global spatial auto-correlation analysis from 2018 to 2022 showed that the incidence of leptospirosis in the province presented a positive spatial au-tocorrelation.Local spatial autocorrelation analysis indicated that the"high-high"gathering areas were concentrated primarily in Wenzhou,Lishui,and Taizhou in the mountainous and hilly areas of southern Zhejiang Province.Spatiotemporal scanning anal-ysis revealed three clusters with high incidence in southern Zhejiang Province.The incidence of leptospirosis in Zhejiang Prov-ince showed clear regional clustering and seasonality,and the high incidence area was mainly in the mountainous and hilly areas of southern Zhejiang Province.The cases occurred mainly in middle-aged and older male farmers.Health education among rural resi-dents should be strengthened to prevent potential epidemic risks.

Taking berberine (BBR) as an example, to study whether the supramolecular hydrogel formed by berberine and lotus root starch (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn; LRS), a natural polysaccharide, affects the inhibition to Staphylococcus aureus and the ability of biofilm clearance. The chemical structure and rheological properties of BBR@LRS gel were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and rheometer. The in vitro release of supramolecular hydrogel was observed at pH = 1.2 and pH = 7.4. Broth dilution method and biofilm clearence experiment were used to observe the bacteriostasis and biofilm clearance respectively. Cytotoxicity test and in vitro hemolysis test were used to evaluate the biosafety preliminarily. The results showed that the LRS polysaccharide hydrogel could encapsulate BBR, and there was an interaction between them. The BBR@LRS gel had good rheological properties and biosafety, and played a role in solubility enhancement and slow release of BBR, which was stronger than BBR in inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and clearing biofilm. This study provides reference for the effect of natural polysaccharide supramolecular hydrogels on biological functions of active components of traditional Chinese medicine.

italic>Tussilago farfara L. is a perennial herb of Tussilago genus in the Compositae family. Its dried buds and leaves have good biological activities and have a long history of medicinal use in China and Europe. In this paper, we investigated the whole chloroplast genome characteristics, sequence duplication, structural variation and phylogeny of the Tussilago farfara L. After sequencing the Tussilago farfara L. chloroplast genome using Illumination technology, the complete Tussilago farfara L. chloroplast genome was further obtained by assembly and annotation, followed by a series of inverted repeat-large single copy/small single copy region contraction and expansion analysis, genome sequence variation, etc. The sequences of 13 homologous plants downloaded from NCBI were used to construct a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree. The results showed that the total GC content of the chloroplast genome was 37.4% and the length was 150 300 bp; 125 genes were annotated, including 82 protein-coding genes, 35 tRNAs and 8 rRNAs; 148 (simple sequence repeats, SSR) loci were detected, and the relative synonymous codon usage showed that 31 codons out of 64 codons had a usage of >1. In the phylogenetic analysis, the chloroplast genomes of the seven species of Asteraceae, including the Yulin Tussilago farfara L., were highly conserved, and the sequence variation of the (large single-copy, LSC) and (small single-copy, SSC) regions was higher than that of the (inverted repeat, IR) region. This is in general agreement with the reported phylogeny of Yulin Tussilago farfara L. In this study, we obtained a high quality chloroplast genome and analyzed its genome characteristics, codon preference, SSR characteristics, SC/IR boundary, sequence variation and phylogeny, which can provide a basis for species identification, genetic diversity analysis and resource development of this medicinal plant.

Objective: This study was to investigate the main characteristics and related factors of wideband absorbance (WBA) in children with normal hearing and to obtain age-specific reference range of WBA. Methods: 384 children between 0-12 years old (615 ears) who visited the Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University from October 2019 to February 2021 were enrolled, including 230 males (376 ears) and 154 females (239 ears), with totally 306 left ears and 309 right ears. Wideband tympanometry (WBT) was performed and normative WBA data were analyzed by SPSS 24.0 statistical software. Repeated measures and multivariate analysis of variance were applied to the data from 16 points at 1/3-octave frequencies (226, 324, 408, 500, 667, 841, 1 000, 1 297, 1 682, 2 000, 2 670, 3 364, 4 000, 5 339, 6 727 and 8 000 Hz) to evaluate the effects of frequency, age, external auditory canal pressures, gender and ear on WBA. Results: According to the WBT frequency-absorbance curve, the subjects were divided into seven groups: 1-month old group, 2-month old group, 3-month old group, 4-5 month old group, 6-24 month old group,>2-6 year old group and>6-12 year old group. The WBA of normal-hearing children underwent a series of developmental changes with age at both ambient pressure and tympanometric peak pressures. WBA results for 1-month group and 2-month old group exhibited a multipeaked pattern, with the peaks occurring around 2 000 and 4 897 Hz, and a notch around 3 886 Hz. WBA results for 3-month group and 4-5 month old group exhibited a single broad-peaked pattern, with the peak occurring between 2 000-4 757 Hz. The WBA of 1-month old group to 4-5 month old group decreased gradually at low frequency (226-408 Hz) and 6 727 Hz, and increased at middle to high frequency (2 670-4 000 Hz). The WBA of 6-24 month old group were significantly lower than that of 2-month old group to 4-5 month old group at all frequencies except 3 364 and 4 000 Hz. WBA results for 6-24 month old group,>2-6 year old group and>6-12 year old group exhibited a single-peaked pattern, and the peak frequency of WBA moved to the lower frequency successively. From 6-24 month old group to>6-12 year old group, the WBA gradually increased at low to middle frequencies (667-2 670 Hz) and 8 000 Hz, and decreased at middle to high frequencies (3 364-5 339 Hz). Among the 16 frequencies of all age groups, the difference between WBA under ambient pressure and tympanometric peak pressure were -0.09-0.06, and 43.75%-81.25% frequency points had statistically significant difference, which was mainly manifested in that WBA under ambient pressure were lower than that under tympanometric peak pressure at 226-1 682 Hz. There was no significant ear effect on all of the age groups. Similarly, there was no significant gender effect except for 3-month old group and 4-5 month old group. Conclusions: The WBA of normal-hearing children measured at ambient pressure and tympanometric peak pressure varied across the frequencies with age from 1 month to 12 years old, and different frequencies followed different change patterns (increase vs. decrease) in WBA. There was also significant external auditory canal pressures effect on all of the age groups. The establishment of age-specific reference range of WBA for 0-12 years old normal-hearing children in this study would be useful for clinical practice of determining normative data regarding WBT.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Child ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant ; Child, Preschool ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Acoustic Impedance Tests/methods* ; Ear ; Reference Values ; Ear Canal

Humans ; Gemcitabine ; Neoplasms