Abstract Since the grape skin and seed contain different phenolic substances, the proportion of the skin and seed will affect the wine mouthfeel during the wine making process. During the wine ageing, the interaction between flavanols with anthocyanins is an important reaction and considered linked to astringency. Hence, a major question is whether changing the skin-seed ratio will affect the polymerization of phenolic substances in wine, thus affecting the astringency of wine. To answer this, astringency of wine was studied by changing the content of grape skins and seeds by SDS-PAGE, fluorescence quenching and sensory taste. Besides, acetaldehyde-mediated condensation reaction between different flavan-3-ols and malvidin-3-glucoside were studied in model solution. The result showed that grape skins and seeds contribute differently to astringency sensation, mainly because of the difference in the type and content of flavanols and anthocyanins contained in them. In addition, acetaldehyde-induced flavan-3-ols: anthocyanin mixture presents a strong effect toward the interaction with BSA when compared to other phenolic combinations. Furthermore, it was observed that the protein-binding ability of the polyphenols in red wine has a strong correlation with the wine astringency intensity.

ABSTRACT Background: Dragon′s blood is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, isolated mainly from the trunks of Dracaena trees. Overexploitation of the Dracaena resource has resulted in this plant becoming endangered. This work aimed to assess the potential to use various tissues of the Dracaena cochinchinensis tree, such as leaves and roots, to produce dragon′s blood. Results: We found that many dragon′s blood components accumulated in the bark of trunk and roots of D. cochinchinensis under natural conditions. In addition, small amounts of loureirin A were detected in leaves, suggesting that the leaves could be a potential source of dragon′s blood. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that most of the genes tested in this study, which encoded enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of dragon′s blood flavonoids, were highly expressed in the bark of roots and trunk. Conclusion: We confirmed that the bark of roots and trunk of D. cochinchinensis tree were the main tissues for the synthesis and storage of dragon′s blood under natural conditions. This study demonstrated the potential to extract dragon′s blood from the roots that have been abandoned due to mining difficulties without destroying the tree, a process which would be beneficial to the protection of the endangered wild D. cochinchinensis tree populations.

Abstract A Box-Behnken design was employed to optimize ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction of polysaccharides from perilla leaves. Four independent variables, namely, liquid-to-solid ratio, enzymatic time, enzymatic temperature, and ultrasonic power were investigated. Under the optimal liquid-to-solid ratio of 41:1, enzymatic time of 40 min, enzymatic temperature of 49 °C, and ultrasonic power of 204 W, the experimental polysaccharide yield was 3.84% (n = 3), which was close to the value predicted by response surface methodology (3.9%). Four polysaccharides (PLP1, PLP2, PLP3, and PLP4) were obtained with DEAE-cellulose-52 and Sephadex G-100 chromatography, and their antioxidant activities were investigated with various antioxidant assays in vitro. All the four polysaccharides possessed good antioxidant properties in a concentration-dependent manner, and PLP3 presented the highest antioxidant activity. Thus, the novel polysaccharides extracted from perilla leaves could be promising bioactive macromolecules that can be applied as potential antioxidants in medical and food industries.

Abstract This work focused on the stress response of anisotropic 30SiMn2MoVA steel gun barrel under coupled thermo-mechanical loads, namely, the contact pressure and friction of projectile, thermal load and pressure of propellant gas. The effect of temperature on the mechanical properties of gun barrel was considered. Two thermal-displacement coupled finite element models (FEM) were built by ABAQUS software. The first was the interaction model of projectile and barrel which was to calculate the stress of barrel engraved by copper jacket and steel jacket projectile. The results of barrel in the interaction model, as an initial condition, were imported to the second FEM which was applied with thermal load and pressure of propellant gas. The results show that the rifling at chamber throat has the largest stress and circumferential stress under coupled loads. It gives a request that the gun barrel should have the better circumferential mechanical properties. The plastic deformation of the rifling at the chamber throat is observed which indicates that 30SiMn2MoVA gun barrel has a low service life due to the poor mechanical properties.

Resumo Danos a edifícios são a principal causa de mortalidade nos terremotos. O método tradicional de detecção de construções danificadas por terremotos baseado em pixels pode ser afetado pelo ruído speckle. Neste artigo, apresenta-se um método de detecção de mudanças baseado em objetos para a detecção dos dano de terremotos usando dados de radar de abertura sintética (SAR). O método baseia-se em feições de textura em nível de objeto dos dados SAR. Em primeiro lugar, a análise da componente principal é usada para transformar as feições de textura ótimos em feições espaciais adequadas para extrair a mudança central. Posteriormente, as feições espaciais são agrupadas pelo algoritmo Watershed de segmentação, o qual introduz o conceito de orientação do objeto e desenvolve o cálculo do mapa de diferenças no nível do objeto. Tendo amostras de treinamento, é possível treinar os valores de limiar de classificação para diferentes graus de danos por terremoto, e consegue-se realizar a detecção dos edifícios danificados. O método proposto pode visualizar os danos por terremoto de forma eficiente usando imagens do satélite ALOS-1 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite-1). Seu desempenho foi avaliado na cidade de Jiegu, gravemente afetada pelo terremoto Yushu. Os resultados de validação cruzada mostram que a precisão geral é significativamente maior do que aquelas do TDCD e IDCD.

Abstract The damage of buildings is the major cause of casualties of from earthquakes. The traditional pixel-based earthquake damaged building detection method is prone to be affected by speckle noise. In this paper, an object-based change detection method is presented for the detection of earthquake damage using the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The method is based on object-level texture features of SAR data. Firstly, the principal component analysis is used to transform the optimal texture features into a suitable feature space for extracting the key change. And then, the feature space is clustered by the watershed segmentation algorithm, which introduces the concept of object orientation and carries out the calculation of the difference map at the object level. Having training samples, the classification threshold values for different grade of earthquake damage can be trained, and the detection of damaged building is achieved. The proposed method could visualize the earthquake damage efficiently using the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-1 (ALOS-1) images. Its performance is evaluated in the town of jiegu, which was hit severely by the Yushu Earthquake. The cross-validation results shows that the overall accuracy is significantly higher than TDCD and IDCD.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common disease associated with metabolic syndrome and can lead to life-threatening complications like hepatic carcinoma and cirrhosis. Exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist antidiabetic drug, has the capacity to overcome insulin resistance and attenuate hepatic steatosis but the specific underlying mechanism is unclear. This study was designed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms of exenatide therapy on NAFLD. We used in vivo and in vitro techniques to investigate the protective effects of exenatide on fatty liver via fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) in a high-fat (HF) diet-induced NAFLD animal model and related cell culture model. Exenatide significantly decreased body weight, serum glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, serum free fatty acid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels in HF-induced obese rabbits. Histological analysis showed that exenatide significantly reversed HF-induced lipid accumulation and inflammatory changes accompanied by decreased FTO mRNA and protein expression, which were abrogated by PI3K inhibitor LY294002. This study indicated that pharmacological interventions with GLP-1 may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for NAFLD.

Abstract Heparanase activity is involved in cancer growth and development in humans and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the heparanase gene (HPSE) have been shown to be associated with tumors. In this study, we investigated whether SNPs in HPSE were a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by undertaking a comprehensive haplotype-tagging, case-control study. For this, six haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPs) in HPSE were genotyped in 400 HCC patients and 480 controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. A log-additive model revealed significant correlations between the HPSE polymorphisms rs12331678 and rs12503843 and the risk of HCC in the overall samples (p = 0.0046 and p = 0.0055). When the analysis was stratified based on hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier status, significant interactions between rs12331678 and rs12503843 and HBV were observed. Conditional logistic regression analysis for the independent effect of one significant SNP suggested that rs12331678 or rs12503843 contributed an independent effect to the significant association with the risk of HCC, respectively. Our findings suggest that the SNPs rs12331678 and rs12503843 are HCC risk factors, although the potential functional roles of these two SNPs remain to be fully elucidated.

Abstract Background: Von Zumbusch type of generalized pustular psoriasis is a rare variant of psoriasis in children. It can occur in patients with or without psoriasis vulgaris. Objective: The aim of the study was to discuss the precipitating factors, clinical manifestations, laboratory data and therapy of von Zumbusch type of generalized pustular psoriasis in children from southwestern China and to improve the diagnosis and treatment level. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for inpatients aged 14 years old or less with von Zumbusch type of generalized pustular psoriasis in our department from 2005 to 2014. Results: A total of 26 patients were included, of whom four (15.38%) had previous history of psoriasis vulgaris and one (3.85%) had previous history of psoriasis arthropathica. Mean onset age was 6.90 years. Gender distribution was equivalent. Incidence of the disease in summer and autumn was higher than that in winter and spring. Nineteen (73.08%) cases were triggered by infection, two (7.69%) cases were caused by sudden discontinuation of systemic use of corticosteroid. Twenty-four (92.31%) cases had concomitant fever. The initial lesion manifested as non-follicular sterile pustules on erythema. Sixteen patients responded well to acitretin, 11 to Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF), two to cyclosporine, and one to methotrexate. Study limitations: This study is a retrospective one and the number of cases is small. CONCLUSION: Von Zumbusch type of generalized pustular psoriasis is a rare disease in children, infection is the most common precipitating factor, acitretin is the first-line therapy, traditional Chinese medicine TwHF also can be used.

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the effects of HBO (Hyperbaric oxygen) and NGF (Nerve growth factor) on the long-term neural behavior of neonatal rats with HIBD (Neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain damage). Methods: The HIBD model was produced by ligating the right common carotid artery of 7 days old SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats followed by 8% O2 + 92% N2 for 2h. Totally 40 rats were randomly divided into 5 groups including sham-operated group, HIBD control group, HBO treated group, NGF treated group and NGF + HBO treated group. The learning and memory ability of these rats was evaluated by Morris water maze at 30 days after birth, and sensory motor function was assessed by experiments of foot error and limb placement at 42 days after birth. Results: The escape latency of HBO treated group, NGF treated group and NGF + HBO treated group was shorter than that of HIBD control group (p<0.01) and longer than that of sham-operated group. The piercing indexes of 3 treated groups were higher than that of HIBD control group (p<0.01). Conclusion: Hyperbaric oxygen and nerve growth factor treatments may improve learning and memory ability and sensory motor function in neonatal rats after hypoxic ischemic brain damage.

ABSTRACT This study highlights the prevalence of aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme genes and virulence determinants among clinical enterococci with high-level aminoglycoside resistance in Inner Mongolia, China. Screening for high-level aminoglycoside resistance against 117 enterococcal clinical isolates was performed using the agar-screening method. Out of the 117 enterococcal isolates, 46 were selected for further detection and determination of the distribution of aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme-encoding genes and virulence determinants using polymerase chain reaction -based methods. Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis were identified as the species of greatest clinical importance. The aac(6')-Ie-aph(2")-Ia and ant(6')-Ia genes were found to be the most common aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme genes among high-level gentamicin resistance and high-level streptomycin resistance isolates, respectively. Moreover, gelE was the most common virulence gene among high-level aminoglycoside resistance isolates. Compared to Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis harbored multiple virulence determinants. The results further indicated no correlation between aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme gene profiles and the distribution of virulence genes among the enterococcal isolates with high-level gentamicin resistance or high-level streptomycin resistance evaluated in our study.

BACKGROUND: Prunella vulgaris L. is a medical plant cultivated in sloping, sun-shaded areas in China. Recently, owing to air-environmental stress, especially drought stress strongly inhibits plant growth and development, the appropriate fertilizer supply can alleviate these effects. However, these is little information about their effects on P. vulgaris growing in arid and semi-arid areas with limited water and fertilizer supply. RESULTS: In this study, water stress decreased the photosynthetic pigment contents, inhibited photosynthetic efficiency, induced photodamage in photosystem 2 (PS2), and decreased leaf instantaneous WUE (WUEi). The decreased net photosynthetic rate (Pn) under medium drought stress compared with the control might result from stomatal limitations. However, fertilizer supply improved photosynthetic capacity by increasing the photosynthetic pigment contents and enhancing photosynthetic efficiency under water deficit. Moreover, medium fertilization also increased WUEi under the two water conditions, but fertilizer supply did little to alleviate the PS2 photodamage caused by drought stress. Hence, drought stress was the primary limitation in the photosynthetic process of P. vulgaris seedlings, while the photosynthetic characteristics of the seedlings exhibited positive responses to fertilizer supply. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate fertilizer supply is recommended to improve photosynthetic efficiency, enhance WUEi and alleviate photodamage under drought stress.

我们尚不清楚中国目前的方案是否可以实现 2015 年后的全球结核病目标--到 2025 年前将发病率降低 50％ 并将死亡率降低 75％。中国的政策制定者需要保持结核病患病率近期的下降幅度，同时修订调控政策以应对耐药结核病的广泛传播以及对持续进行的医疗改革的影响。 医疗改革有望将患者从结核病防治所转移到指定医院。 我们开发了中国控制结核病的数学模型，以帮助设定适当的目标和优先考虑干预措施，这些都可能会在未来 10 年内实现。 此模型表明，即使在最乐观的情况下--改善结核病防治所中的治疗，引进能够有效治疗药物敏感结核病的新方案和耐多药结核病病例的最佳护理--仍不可能实现目前的全球结核病目标。 然而，降低耐多药结核病的发病率应该是可行的。 我们得出的结论是，如果指定医院中治愈率不能保持在较高的水平，将患者从结核病防治所转移到指定医院有可能会妨碍结核病控制工作。 我们的研究结果可以告知中国的结核病防治规划。

Il est difficile de savoir si les programmes actuellement menés en Chine permettront d'atteindre les objectifs mondiaux pour l'après-2015 concernant la tuberculose, qui consistent à réduire l'incidence de 50% et la mortalité de 75% d'ici à 2025. Les dirigeants chinois doivent confirmer le récent déclin de la prévalence de la tuberculose, mais aussi revoir les politiques de lutte pour faire face à une épidémie de tuberculose pharmacorésistante et les effets de l'actuelle réforme de la santé. La réforme de la santé est censée prévoir le transfert des patients traités dans des dispensaires antituberculeux vers des hôpitaux expressément désignés. Nous avons élaboré un modèle mathématique de lutte contre la tuberculose en Chine qui aide à définir les objectifs appropriés et à hiérarchiser les interventions qui pourraient être réalisées au cours des dix prochaines années. Ce modèle indique que même dans le scénario le plus optimiste - amélioration du traitement dans les dispensaires antituberculeux, introduction d'un nouveau schéma thérapeutique efficace pour le traitement de la tuberculose sensible et traitement optimal des cas de tuberculose multirésistante -, il paraît difficile d'atteindre les objectifs mondiaux actuels pour la tuberculose. Néanmoins, il devrait être possible de réduire l'incidence de la tuberculose multirésistante. Nous en concluons que le transfert des patients traités dans des dispensaires antituberculeux vers des hôpitaux expressément désignés est susceptible d'entraver les efforts de lutte contre la tuberculose s'il est impossible de maintenir des taux de guérison élevés dans ces hôpitaux. Nos résultats peuvent servir de base à la planification de la lutte contre la tuberculose en Chine.

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It is unclear if current programmes in China can achieve the post-2015 global targets for tuberculosis - 50% reduction in incidence and a 75% reduction in mortality by 2025. Chinese policy-makers need to maintain the recent decline in the prevalence of tuberculosis, while revising control policies to cope with an epidemic of drug-resistant tuberculosis and the effects of ongoing health reform. Health reforms are expected to shift patients from tuberculosis dispensaries to designated hospitals. We developed a mathematical model of tuberculosis control in China to help set appropriate targets and prioritize interventions that might be implemented in the next 10 years. This model indicates that, even under the most optimistic scenario - improved treatment in tuberculosis dispensaries, introduction of a new effective regimen for the treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis and optimal care of cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis - the current global targets for tuberculosis are unlikely to be reached. However, reductions in the incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis should be feasible. We conclude that a shift of patients from tuberculosis dispensaries to designated hospitals is likely to hamper efforts at tuberculosis control if cure rates in the designated hospitals cannot be maintained at a high level. Our results can inform the planning of tuberculosis control in China.

من غير الواضح ما إذا ما كان تحقيق الأهداف العالمية المنشودة لما بعد 2015 ممكنًا فيما يتعلق بمرض السل في الصين من خلال البرامج الحالية، حيث تتمثل هذه الأهداف في تقليل حالات الإصابة بالمرض بنسبة 50% وتقليل حالات الوفاة الناتجة عنه بنسبة 75% مع حلول عام 2025. وإن صناع القرار الصينيين بحاجة إلى الحفاظ على مستوى انخفاض انتشار مرض السل، في الوقت الذي يراجعون فيه سياسات السيطرة على المرض للتعامل بفعالية مع وباء مرض السل المقاوم للأدوية وآثار الإصلاح المستمر في مجال الخدمات الصحية، ومن المتوقع أن تؤدي الإصلاحات في الخدمات الصحية إلى نقل المرضى من مستوصفات علاج السل إلى مستشفيات محددة. وقد وضعنا نموذجًا حسابيًا للسيطرة على مرض السل في الصين للمساعدة في تحديد الأهداف المناسبة وترتيب أولويات التدخلات التي يمكن تنفيذها على مدى العشر سنوات القادمة. ويشير هذا النموذج إلى أنه حتى في حالة حدوث أكثر السيناريوهات تفاؤلًا - ألا وهي تحسين سبل العلاج في مستوصفات علاج مرض السل، وتوفير نظم جديدة فعالة لعلاج السل المستجيب للأدوية، وتوفير الرعاية الصحية المثلى لحالات الإصابة بالسل المقاوم للأدوية المتعددة - من المستبعد الوصول إلى الأهداف العالمية الحالية المتعلقة بمرض السل. وعلى الرغم من ذلك، يجب أن يكون الحد من حالات الإصابة بمرض السل المقاوم للأدوية المتعددة ممكنًا. ونخلص من ذلك بأن نقل المرضى من مستوصفات علاج السل إلى مستشفيات محددة من المرجح أن يعيق الجهود الرامية إلى السيطرة على مرض السل في حالة تعذر الحفاظ على ارتفاع مستوى معدلات التعافي في المستشفيات المحددة. ويمكن الاستفادة من النتائج التي توصلنا إليها في توفير المعلومات اللازمة للتخطيط للسيطرة على مرض السل في الصين.

No está claro si los programas actuales en China pueden alcanzar los objetivos globales para la tuberculosis después de 2015, una reducción del 50% de la incidencia y una reducción del 75% de la mortalidad de aquí a 2025. Los responsables políticos de China necesitan mantener el reciente descenso en la prevalencia de la tuberculosis, al mismo tiempo que revisan las políticas de control para hacer frente a una epidemia de tuberculosis farmacorresistente y los efectos en la reforma sanitaria en curso. Se espera que las reformas sanitarias trasladen los pacientes de los dispensarios para tuberculosis a los hospitales designados. Se ha desarrollado un modelo matemático de control de la tuberculosis en China para ayudar a establecer los objetivos apropiados y priorizar las intervenciones que podrían implementarse en los próximos diez años. Este modelo indica que, incluso en el escenario más optimista (una mejora del tratamiento en los dispensarios para tuberculosis, la introducción de un nuevo y efectivo régimen para el tratamiento de la tuberculosis farmacosensible y la atención óptima en casos de la tuberculosis farmacorresistente), es muy poco probable que se cumplan los objetivos actuales globales para la tuberculosis. Sin embargo, las reducciones en la incidencia de la tuberculosis farmacorresistente deberían ser factibles. Se concluye que es posible que un cambio de los pacientes de los dispensarios para tuberculosis a los hospitales designados obstaculice los esfuerzos de un control para la tuberculosis si las tasas de cura en los hospitales designados no pueden mantenerse en un nivel alto. Nuestros resultados pueden dar información sobre la planificación del control de la tuberculosis en China.

To investigate the effects of Kluyveromyces marxianus M3 isolated from Tibetan mushrooms on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats, female Wistar rats were fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) for 28 d to generate hyperlipidemic models. Hyperlipidemic rats were assigned to four groups, which were individually treated with three different dosages of K. marxianus M3+HCD or physiological saline+HCD via oral gavage for 28 d. The total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the serum and liver of the rats were measured using commercially available enzyme kits. In addition, the liver morphology was also examined using hematoxylin and eosin staining and optical microscopy. According to our results, the serum and liver TC, TG, LDL-C levels and atherogenic index (AI) were significantly decreased in rats orally administered K. marxianus M3 (p <0.01), and the HDL-C levels and anti atherogenic index (AAI) were significantly increased (p <0.01) compared to the control group. Moreover, K. marxianus M3 treatment also reduced the build-up of lipid droplets in the liver and exhibited normal hepatocytes, suggesting a protective effect of K. marxianus M3 in hyperlipidemic rats.

Prunella vulgaris L. (Labiatae) contains a variety of structurally diverse natural products, primarily rosmarinic acid (RA), ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA), which possess a wide array of biological properties. In the present study, P. vulgaris was harvested at three developmental stages (vegetative, full-flowering and mature-fruiting stages), dissected into stem and leaf tissues and assayed for chemical contents using high performance liquid chromatography. Significant changes in the concentrations of the major secondary metabolites (RA, UA and OA) were observed at the different development stages. The highest concentrations of RA, UA and OA were found at the full-flowering stage (15.83 mg/g dry weight (DW) RA, 1.77 mg/g DW UA and 0.65 mg/g DW OA). Among the different aerial parts of the plant, the concentrations of RA, UA and OA were higher in the leaves than in the stems at the different developmental stages. These results suggest that the full-flowering stage is characterized by the highest concentrations of bioactive compounds. Therefore, this stage may be the optimum point for harvesting P. vulgaris plants. In additional, the leaves of P. vulgaris demonstrated higher RA, UA and OA concentrations than the stems, suggesting higher utilization potential.