Zein nanoparticles could be distributed significantly in liver after intravenous administration to mice and adequately remained in blood for at least 24h.
This study proposes a new zein nanoparticle ...(ZP) encapsulated 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) that target liver through intravenous delivery. The ZPs were prepared by phase separation process and optimized using uniform experimental design. The physical properties, in vitro drug release and stability of optimal drug-loaded ZPs were studied. The biodistribution and the target efficiency of the particles were investigated in a mouse model. The highest drug loading was obtained using zein: 5-FU, 3:1 (v/v); zein concentration, 12.5mg/ml, pH 9.18, mixing time, 3h and ethanol concentration, 40%. The encapsulation efficiency and the drug loading were 60.7±1.74 and 9.17±0.11 respectively. The size of ZPs and zeta potential were 114.9±59.4nm and −45±0.3mV respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that the drug was encapsulated within the ZPs. A sustained release profile of 5-FU was observed from ZPs. The more stable storage condition of ZPs was at a temperature of 4°C. In vivo, ZPs was mostly accumulated in liver following intravenous injection, and the targeting efficiency increased 31.33%. The relative uptake rate of liver was 2.79. Also, nano-sized ZPs were beneficial for prolonged blood residence (7.2-fold increase). These demonstrated that the drug-loaded ZPs could be efficiently targeted at the liver by intravenous delivery.
To reduce the cost of bacterial cellulose (BC) production, the possibility of using acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) fermentation wastewater with high COD value (18 050 mg l⁻¹) for BC production by ...Gluconacetobacter xylinus was evaluated. After 7 days of fermentation, the highest BC yield (1·34 g l⁻¹) was obtained. The carbon sources including sugars (glucose and xylose), organic acids (acetic acid and butyric acid) and alcohol compounds (ethanol and butanol) were utilized by G. xylinus simultaneously during fermentation. Although the COD decrease ratio (about 14·7%) was low, the highest BC yield on COD consumption (56·2%, g g⁻¹) was relatively high and the remaining wastewater could be used for further BC fermentation. Besides, the environment of ABE fermentation wastewater showed small influence on the BC structure by comparison with the BC products obtained in traditional HS medium using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). Overall, ABE fermentation wastewater is one promising substrate for BC production. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The possibility of using acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) fermentation wastewater for bacterial cellulose (BC) production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus was evaluated in this study. This is the first time that ABE fermentation wastewater was used as substrate for BC fermentation. The results provide detail information of metabolism of G. xylinus in ABE fermentation wastewater and the influence of wastewater environment on the structure of BC samples. Overall, this bioconversion could reduce the cost of BC production greatly.
We present a three-dimensional (3D) extinction map of the southern sky. The map covers the SkyMapper Southern Survey (SMSS) area of ∼14,000 deg2 and has spatial resolutions between 6 9 and 27′. Based ...on the multi-band photometry of SMSS, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer Survey, and the Gaia mission, we have estimated values of the r-band extinction for ∼19 million stars with the spectral energy distribution analysis. Together with the distances calculated from the Gaia data release 2 (DR2) parallaxes, we have constructed a 3D extinction map of the southern sky. By combining our 3D extinction map with those from the literature, we present an all-sky 3D extinction map, and use it to explore the 3D distribution of the Galactic dust grains. We use two different models, one consisting of a single disk and another of two disks, to fit the 3D distribution of the Galactic dust grains. The data is better fitted by a two-disk model, yielding smaller values of the Bayesian Information Criterion. The best-fit model has scale heights of 73 and 225 pc for the "thin" and "thick" dust disks, respectively.
aims to reduce the adult smoking rate from 27.7% in 2015 to 20% by 2030. Achieving this goal requires a review of the tobacco control measures introduced in China to date, the gaps that remain and ...the opportunities ahead. In 2008, the World Health Organization introduced six measures to reduce demand for tobacco called MPOWER. The progress China has made in implementing these measure varies: 1) monitor tobacco use and prevention policies. The surveillance on tobacco use has been rigorous, but the monitoring and evaluation of tobacco control policies needs to be strengthened; 2) protect people from tobacco use: pushes for national tobacco control legislation have stalled, but 18 subnational legislations have passed; 3) offer help to quit tobacco use. The accessibility and quality of cessation services needs to be improved; 4) warn about the dangers of tobacco. While there are no pictorial health warnings, tobacco control advocates have launched a series of anti-smoking media campaigns to inform the public; 5) enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. Legal loopholes and poor enforcement remain challenges; 6) raise taxes on tobacco: cigarettes in China are relatively cheap and increasingly affordable, which demonstrates the need for further tobacco tax increases indexed to inflation and income. China maintains a tobacco monopoly that interferes with tobacco control efforts and fails to regulate tobacco products from the public health perspective. Effective MPOWER measures, which depend upon the removal of tobacco industry interference from policymaking, are key to achieving the goal set by Healthy China 2030.
Soil acidification is a major problem in soils of intensive Chinese agricultural systems. We used two nationwide surveys, paired comparisons in numerous individual sites, and several long-term ...monitoring-field data sets to evaluate changes in soil acidity. Soil pH declined significantly (P < 0.001) from the 1980s to the 2000s in the major Chinese crop-production areas. Processes related to nitrogen cycling released 20 to 221 kilomoles of hydrogen ion (H⁺) per hectare per year, and base cations uptake contributed a further 15 to 20 kilomoles of H⁺ per hectare per year to soil acidification in four widespread cropping systems. In comparison, acid deposition (0.4 to 2.0 kilomoles of H⁺ per hectare per year) made a small contribution to the acidification of agricultural soils across China.
The prevalence of diabetes in China is among the highest in the world. For this reason, findings from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study were used to calculate the burden of hyperglycaemia ...and diabetes in China.
Following the general analytical strategy used in GBD 2016, diabetes prevalence and mortality were analyzed by age and gender. Trends in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to diabetes were assessed in 33 province-level administrative units from 1990 to 2016, and similar data were provided for chronic kidney disease (CKD) related to diabetes and, as an overall summarizing measure, for hyperglycaemia expressed as high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG).
From 1990 to 2016, all-age prevalence of diabetes rose from 3.7% to 6.6%, and all-age diabetes and diabetes-related CKD mortality rates increased by 63.5% and 33.3%, respectively, with both rates increasing more rapidly in diabetes patients aged 15–49 years than in any other age groups. In 2016, HFPG became China's sixth leading cause of DALYs, and the attributable DALYs burden was 1802.3/100,000 population. Although the number of diabetes DALYs increased by 95% from 1990 to 2016, age-standardized diabetes DALYs rates increased by only 2.3%. Also, from 1990 to 2016, rates of age-standardized DALYs due to diabetes decreased in 14 provinces, but increased in 19 provinces. High BMI Scores and diets low in whole grains, nuts and seeds were the most important risk factors for diabetes in 2016.
Diabetes and hyperglycaemia constitute a huge health burden in China. The substantial increase in diabetes-related burden represents an ongoing challenge, given the rapidly ageing Chinese population. Thus, a targeted control and preventative strategy needs to be developed at risk factor level to reduce this burden.
Abstract
Solar filaments often exhibit rotation and deflection during eruptions, which would significantly affect the geoeffectiveness of the corresponding coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Therefore, ...understanding the mechanisms that lead to such rotation and lateral displacement of filaments is a great concern to space weather forecasting. In this paper, we examine an intriguing filament eruption event observed by the Chinese H
α
Solar Explorer and the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The filament, which eventually evolves into a CME, exhibits significant lateral drifting during its rising. Moreover, the orientation of the CME flux rope axis deviates from that of the pre-eruptive filament observed in the source region. To investigate the physical processes behind these observations, we perform a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation. Many prominent observational features in the eruption are reproduced by our numerical model, including the morphology of the eruptive filament, eruption path, and flare ribbons. The simulation results reveal that the magnetic reconnection between the flux rope leg and neighboring low-lying sheared arcades may be the primary mechanism responsible for the lateral drifting of the filament material. Such a reconnection geometry leads to flux rope footpoint migration and a reconfiguration of its morphology. As a consequence, the filament material hosted in the flux rope drifts laterally, and the CME flux rope deviates from the pre-eruptive filament. This finding underscores the importance of external magnetic reconnection in influencing the orientation of a flux rope axis during eruption.
Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a rare congenital defect manifesting with varying degrees of pituitary hormone deficiency. The signs and symptoms of PSIS during the neonatal period ...and infancy are often overlooked and therefore diagnosis is delayed. The typical manifestations of PSIS can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging. Several genes in the Wnt, Notch and Shh signalling pathways related to hypothalamic‐pituitary development, such as PIT1, PROP1, LHX3/LHX4, PROKR2, OTX2, TGIF and HESX1, have been found to be associated with PSIS. Nevertheless, the aetiology in the majority of cases still remains unknown. In the present review, we provide an overview of clinical features of PSIS and summarise our current understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms for this rare syndrome. Furthermore, we propose future research directions that may help our understanding of the aetiology of PSIS.
Photochemical smog, characterized by high concentrations of ozone (O3) and fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere, has become one of the top environmental concerns in China. Volatile organic ...compounds (VOCs), one of the key precursors of O3 and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) (an important component of PM2.5), have a critical influence on atmospheric chemistry and subsequently affect regional and global climate. Thus, VOCs have been extensively studied in many cities and regions in China, especially in the North China Plain, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions where photochemical smog pollution has become increasingly worse over recent decades. This paper reviews the main studies conducted in China on the characteristics and sources of VOCs, their relationship with O3 and SOA, and their removal technology. This paper also provides an integrated literature review on the formulation and implementation of effective control strategies of VOCs and photochemical smog, as well as suggestions for future directions of VOCs study in China.
Display omitted
•Characteristics and sources of VOCs in China are reviewed.•Relationship of VOCs with O3 and SOA in China are reviewed.•Integrated literature review on the control strategies of VOCs and photochemical smog is provided.•Future directions of VOC study in China are suggested.
PDF
