Chinese Compound Research Articles

Discriminating the measurement attributes of the three versions of Chinese Remote Associates Test

The Remote Associates Test (RAT), a well-known creativity assessment tool, has been widely used because of its ease of implementation and objective scoring. The first Chinese version of the RAT (i.e., Chinese Remote Associates Test, CRAT), was developed in 2004 to assess the creativity of native Mandarin speakers. In addition, three versions of the CRAT have been developed: the Chinese Radical Remote Associates Test (CRRAT), the Chinese Word Remote Associates Test (CWRAT) and the Chinese Compound Remote Associates Test (CCRAT). The lack of empirical studies that illustrate the similarities and differences of the three versions has made it difficult for researchers to choose the most appropriate version for their research. Therefore, this study analyzed the convergent and discriminant validity of the three CRAT versions to distinguish them from each other and identify their distinctive features. Based on the compilation rules of the three versions of the CRAT, this study adopted verbal and graphic divergent-thinking tests and insight problems as criterion-related validity tests. A total of 301 adults participated in the tests. The results showed that the participants’ performance on CCRAT alone was positively correlated with their performance in verbal and graphic divergent-thinking tests. In addition, their CRRAT performance was positively correlated with their performance in graphic divergent thinking as well as insight problem solving. Finally, their CWRAT performance positively predicted their insight problem solving. The results of this study showed that although the three CRAT versions have similar features, they also have attributes that are unique to each version. The empirical results provide information on the criterion-related validity of the three versions of the CRAT, which could be used as a reference to help future researchers decide which version is the most appropriate for their research.

Anticancer activity of emodin is associated with downregulation of CD155

Emodin is a Chinese herb-derived compound that exhibits a variety of pharmacological benefits. Although emodin has been shown to inhibit growth of cancer cells, its antineoplastic function is incompletely understood. CD155 is a member of poliovirus receptor–related (PRR) family of adhesion molecules; it is constitutively expressed on many tumor cell lines and tissues and has diverse functions. CD155 has been reported to mediate activation of T cells via CD226 or inhibition of T cells via T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains (TIGIT). In addition, CD155 may play a critical role through non-immunological mechanisms in cancer. In this study, we tested the ability of emodin to modulate CD155 expression in cancer cells. We found that emodin significantly decreased the expression of CD155 in tumor cells and inhibited tumor cell proliferation and migration, and induced cell-cycle arrest at G2/M phase. The tumor inhibitory effects of emodin were lost with CD155 knockdown. Furthermore, emodin was used to treat mice bearing B16 melanoma. It was shown that emodin attenuated tumor growth accompanied by suppressing CD155 expression. Therefore, we propose that emodin could inhibit tumor growth, and the antineoplastic properties of emodin are at least partially CD155 dependent. Our study provides new insights into the mechanisms by which emodin inhibits tumor growth.

Potential Pharmacokinetic Herb-Drug Interactions: Have we Overlooked the Importance of Human Carboxylesterases 1 and 2?

Herbal products have grown steadily across the globe and have increasingly been incorporated into western medicine for healthcare aims, thereby causing potential pharmacokinetic Herb-drug Interactions (HDIs) through the inhibition or induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. Human Carboxylesterases 1 (CES1) and 2 (CES2) metabolize endogenous and exogenous chemicals including many important therapeutic medications. The growing number of CES substrate drugs also underscores the importance of the enzymes. Herein, we summarized those potential inhibitors and inducers coming from herbal constituents toward CES1 and CES2. We also reviewed the reported HDI studies focusing on herbal products and therapeutic agents metabolized by CES1 or CES2. We searched in PubMed for manuscript published in English after Jan 1, 2000 combining terms "carboxylesterase 1", "carboxylesterase 2", "inhibitor", "inducer", "herb-drug interaction", "inhibitory", and "herbal supplement". We also searched specific websites including FDA and EMA. The data of screened papers were analyzed and summarized. The results showed that more than 50 natural inhibitors of CES1 or CES2, including phenolic chemicals, triterpenoids, and tanshinones were found from herbs, whereas only few inducers of CES1 and CES2 were reported. Systemic exposure to some commonly used drugs including oseltamivir, irinotecan, and clopidogrel were changed when they were co-administered with herb products such as goldenseal, black cohosh, ginger, St. John's Wort, curcumin, and some Chinese compound formula in animals. Nonclinical and clinical studies on HDIs are warranted in the future to provide safety information toward better clinical outcomes for the combination of herbal products and conventional drugs.

Morphological and Whole-Word Semantic Processing Are Distinct: Event Related Potentials Evidence From Spoken Word Recognition in Chinese.

Behavioral and imaging studies in alphabetic languages have shown that morphological processing is a discrete and independent element of lexical access. However, there is no explicit marker of morphological structure in Chinese complex words, such that the extent to which morpheme meaning is related to word meaning is unknown. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used in the present study to investigate the dissociation of morphemic and whole-word meaning in an auditory-auditory primed lexical decision task. All the prime and target words are compounds consisting of two Chinese morphemes. The relationship between morpheme and whole-word meaning was manipulated while controlling the phonology and orthography of the first syllable in each prime-target pair. A clear dissociation was found between morphemic and whole-word meaning on N400 amplitude and topography. Specifically, sharing a morpheme produced a larger N400 in the anterior-central electrode sites, while sharing whole-word meaning produced a smaller N400 in central-posterior electrode sites. In addition, the morphological N400 effect was negatively correlated with the participants’ reading ability, with better readers needing less orthographic information to distinguish different morphemes in compound words. These findings indicate that morphological and whole-word meaning are dissociated in spoken Chinese compound word recognition and that even in the spoken language modality, good readers are better able to access the meaning of individual morphemes in Chinese compound word processing.

The effect of morphological structure on semantic transparency ratings

Abstract Semantic transparency deals with the interface between lexical semantics and morphology. It is an important linguistic phenomenon in Chinese in the context of prediction of meanings of compounds from their constituents. Given prominence of compounding in Chinese morpho-lexical processes, to date there is no semantic transparency dataset available to support verifiable and replicable quantitative analysis of semantic transparency in Mandarin Chinese. In addition, the relation between semantic transparency and morphological structure has not been systematically examined. This paper reports a crowdsourcing-based experiment designed for the construction of a large semantic transparency dataset of Chinese compounds which includes semantic transparency ratings of both the compound and each constituent root of the compound. We also present an analysis of the effects of morphological structure on semantic transparency using the constructed dataset. Our study found that in a transparent modifier-head compound, the head tends to get greater semantic transparency rating than the modifier. Interestingly, no such effect is observed in coordinative compounds. This result suggests that compounds of different morphological structures are processed differently and that the concept of head plays an important role in the word-formation process of compounding. We advocate that crowdsourcing can be a highly instrumental method to collect linguistic judgments and to construct language resources in Chinese language studies. In addition, the proposed methodology of comparing constituent transparency and word transparency sheds light on the relation between morpho-lexical structure and cognitive processing of lexical meanings.

Restorative effect of modified dioscorea pills on the structure of hippocampal neurovascular unit in an animal model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion

IntroductionA considerable part of old people suffer from Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion (CCH) in their long lives but have no way to change. The Modified Dioscorea Pills (MDP), a Chinese compound herbal prescription, has good clinical efficacy for CCH related diseases such as Vascular Dementia, whereas, what happened and how MDP works in CCH need to be clarified. Here, we investigate the neural inflammation and gliosis, neuronal apoptosis and regeneration in an animal model of CCH and interfered with MDP to explore some mechanisms of this Chinese herbal medication. Methods40 rats were randomly divided into Sham operated Group, Model Group and MDP Group according to a Random Number Table. CCH models were made by the modified 2-VO (two vessels occlusion) operation. The intelligence of rats were measured by Morris Water Maze (MWM) test; H & E staining and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were applied to observe the pathological and ultrastructural changes in hippocampus; The expression of key genes including growth associated protein 43 (GAP-43) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and key protein including Bax, Bcl-2, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB p65), microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP-2), Oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2(Olig-2), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) of hippocampus were detected. ResultsCCH lead to learning and memorial impairment and MDP can partly restore them; Neural inflammation, Neuronal apoptosis and astrocyte hyperplasia were common in Model Group but they were partly reversed by MDP; The expressions of GAP-43mRAN and VEGF mRNA in Model Group were much higher than those in Sham operated Group, but they reached the highest in MDP Group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). ConclusionsThrough regulating the expressions of key genes and proteins, MDP partly restore the intrinsic structure of Neurovascular Unit (NVU) in hippocampus, which revealed one of its therapeutic mechanisms on CCH.

Jinmaitong, a Traditional Chinese Compound Prescription, Ameliorates the Streptozocin-Induced Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Rats by Increasing Sciatic Nerve IGF-1 and IGF-1R Expression.

Jinmaitong (JMT) is a Traditional Chinese Compound Prescription for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). This study aims to investigate the effect of JMT on the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and the insulin like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) expression in sciatic nerves of diabetic rats. Firstly, the chemical profile of JMT was characterized by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS analysis. A total of 72 compounds were putatively identified. Secondly, streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats were treated with neurotropin (NTP, 2.67 NU/kg/day) or JMT at low-dosage (0.4375 g/kg/day), medium-dosage (0.875 g/kg/day), and high-dosage (1.75 g/kg/day) for continuous 16 weeks. Blood glucose and body weight were detected every 4 weeks during the experiment. The mechanical pain and morphological change on sciatic nerves were detected by pain measurement instrument and microscopy. The IGF-1 level in serum and tissues were measured though ELISA and immunohistochemistry. The mRNA and protein expressions of IGF-1, IGF-1R, peripheral myelin protein zero (P0), and peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) in the tissues were measured by qRT-PCR and western blot. As a result, JMT had no significant effect on body weight, but reduced the fasting blood glucose levels of diabetic rats. Besides, the pathological morphology, mechanical pain thresholds, serum level and tissue expression of IGF-1, mRNA, and protein levels of IGF-1R, P0, and PMP22 were significantly improved in JMT group at middle dosage. In conclusion, JMT could ameliorate the behavioristics and morphology changes in DPN rats by promoting IGF-1 and IGF-1R gene and protein expressions in sciatic nerves, as well as regulating the peripheral nerve remyelination genes P0 and PMP22 expressions, which provides scientific evidence for the clinical application of JMT in DPN patients.

Network analysis and mechanisms of action of Chinese herb-related natural compounds in lung cancer cells

BackgroundChinese herbal medicines (CHMs) are a resource of natural compounds (ingredients) and their potential chemical derivatives with anticancer properties, some of which are already in clinical use. Bei–Mu (BM), Jie–Geng (JG), and Mai–Men–Dong–Tang (MMDT) are important CHMs prescribed for patients with lung cancer that have improved the survival rate. Hypothesis/PurposeThe aim of this study was to systemically investigate the mechanisms of action of these CHM products in lung cancer cells. MethodsWe used a network pharmacology approach to study CHM product-related natural compounds and their lung cancer targets. In addition, the underlying anti-lung cancer effects of the natural compounds on apoptosis, cell cycle progression, autophagy, and the expression of related proteins was investigated in vitro. ResultsIngredient-lung cancer target network analysis identified 20 natural compounds. Three of these compounds, ursolic acid, 2-(3R)-8,8-dimethyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrano(6,5-f)chromen-3-yl)-5-methoxyphenol, and licochalcone A, inhibited the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Signal pathway analyses suggested that these three ingredients may target cellular apoptosis, anti-apoptosis, and cell cycle-related proteins. These three ingredients induced apoptosis through the regulation of the expression of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins, including B-cell lymphoma-2 and full-length and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase proteins. They also induced cell cycle arrest in S and G2/M phases and autophagy in A549 cells. ConclusionThe pharmacological mechanisms of ingredients from MMDT on lung cancer may be strongly associated with their modulatory effects on apoptosis, autophagy, cell cycle progression, and cell proliferation.

The anti-diabetic activities, gut microbiota composition, the anti-inflammatory effects of Scutellaria–coptis herb couple against insulin resistance-model of diabetes involving the toll-like receptor 4 signaling pathway

Ethnopharmacological relevanceScutellaria–coptis herb couple (SC) is one of the well-known herb couples in many traditional Chinese compound formulas used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM), which has been used to treat DM for thousands of years in China. Aim of the studyFew studies have confirmed in detail the anti-diabetic activities of SC in vivo and in vitro. The present investigations aimed to evaluate the anti-diabetic activity of SC in type 2 diabetic KK-Ay mice and in RAW264.7 macrophages to understand its possible mechanism. Materials and methodsHigh-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) and LC-LTQ-Orbitrap Pro mass spectrometry were used to analyze the active ingredients of SC extracts and control the quality. A type 2 diabetic KK-Ay mice model was established by high-fat diet. Body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, fasting blood insulin levels, glycosylated hemoglobin and glycosylated serum protein were measured. The effects of SC on total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglyceride (TG) levels were examined. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were measured. Gut microbial communities were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) methods. The expressions of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and MyD88 protein in the colons were measured by western blot. In RAW264.7 macrophages, IL-6, TNF-α, TLR4 and MyD88 protein levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits or western blot, and the mRNA expression of IL-6, TNF-α and TLR4 was examined by the real time PCR. ResultsThe present results showed that the SC significantly increased blood HDL and significantly reduced fasting blood glucose, fasting blood insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, glycosylated serum protein, TC, TG, LPS, IL-6 and TNF-α levels (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) in type-2 diabetic KK-Ay mice. Furthermore, SC could regulate the structure of intestinal flora. Additionally, the expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 protein in the colons were significantly decreased in the model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). However, SC had no significant effect on weight gain. In RAW264.7 macrophages, SC containing serum (SC-CS) (5%, 10% and 20%) significantly decreased IL-6, TNF-α, TLR4 and MyD88 protein levels and the mRNA expression of IL-6, TNF-α and TLR4 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). ConclusionsThe anti-diabetic effects of SC were attributed to its regulation of intestinal flora and anti-inflammation involving the TLR4 signaling pathway. These findings provide a new insight into the anti-diabetic application for SC in clinical settings and display the potential of SC in the treatment of DM.

P450 enzymes-based metabolic interactions between monarch drugs and the other constituent herbs: A strategy to explore compatibility mechanism of Sangju-Yin

BackgroundHerbal compatibility of compound formulas can enhance therapeutic effects or reduce side effects of the monarch drugs, but majority of compatibility mechanisms are still unknown. Sangju-Yin, a well-known Chinese compound formula, is currently used to treat common cold in clinical. PurposeIn this study, we proposed a strategy to explore the compatibility mechanism of Sangju-Yin by investigating P450 enzymes-based metabolic interactions between monarch drugs and the other constituent herbs. MethodsUnder the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory, the constituent herbs of Sangju-Yin were divided into four groups, including monarch drugs, monarch drugs with addition of minister drugs, monarch drugs with addition of minister and adjuvant drugs, as well as the whole recipe, namely monarch drugs with addition of minister, adjuvant and conductant drugs. Their effects on rats in vivo P450 (CYP1A2, CYP2A3, CYP2C6, CYP2C11 and CYP3A1) activities after oral administration were evaluated using probe drug assay based on LC-MS/MS. Moreover, effects of the four groups of herbs on mRNA expression of P450 enzymes after oral administration, as well as in vitro P450 activities after co-incubation, were investigated to explore the underlying mechanisms. ResultsComparing with monarch drugs, addition of different constituent herbs significantly enhanced CYP1A2 and CYP2C6 activities, and inhibited CYP2A3 and CYP3A1 activities, indicating their possible influences on plasma concentrations of active constituents in the monarch drugs. Mechanism study suggested that these herbs affected P450 activities by transcriptional regulation and/or direct interaction with the enzymes. ConclusionThis study clarified the compatibility mechanism of Sangju-Yin from the aspect of P450 enzymes-based metabolic interactions, which would benefit better understanding of the therapeutic basis of Sangju-Yin.

Word Order Variation in Chinese Compounds

본고는 중국어 합성어의 다양한 어순을 연구하는 것을 목표로 한다. 중국어 합성어의 어순은 일반적으로 동사가 단음절일 때 VON (Verb-Object-Noun)이고 이음절일 때 OVN (Object-Verb-Noun)인데 본고에서는 선행연구들에서 이루어진 분석의 문제점을 드러내고 한걸음 나아간 분석을 제안해 보고자 한다. 본고에서는 중국어 합성어의 구조에는 AgrOP와 경동사가 존재한다고 주장한다. AgrO는 Object Agreement의 약자이며 대격 (accusative case) 부여를 목적으로 하는 특별한 기능 범주이다. 합성어의 목적어가 대격을 받기 위해 AgrOP의 지정어로 이동해야 하는데 중국어의 행위성 (agentive) 자동사는 [CAUSE], [DO] 등 특징을 나타내는 경동사와 동사 어근으로 구성되어 있으므로 중국어 합성어에서 단음절 행위성 자동사는 항상 동사 어근이 되며 [CAUSE], [DO] 등 특징은 하위 층위의 동사로 이동할 필요가 있게 된다. 반면에 이음절 행위성 자동사는 [CAUSE], [DO] 등 특징이 이미 동사 형태에 부여되어 있기 때문에 하위 층위 동사로 이동할 필요가 없다. 이러한 분석에 기반하여 중국어의 VON 과 OVN 합성어뿐만 아니라 SVN (Subject-Verb-Noun) 합성어의 내부 어순까지 유도할 수 있다. 이러한 본고의 고찰은 영어 등 SVO 언어뿐만 아니라 한국어 등 SOV 언어의 합성어 분석에도 적용해 볼 수 있어 여러 유형 언어 분석에 일조하는 바가 있을 것으로 기대한다.

Chinese Medicine Shensong Yangxin Capsule () Ameliorates Myocardial Microcirculation Dysfunction in Rabbits with Chronic Myocardial Infarction.

To investigate the effect of Chinese compound Shensong Yangxin Capsule ( , SSYX) on myocardial microcirculation in myocardial-infarcted rabbits. Myocardial infarction (MI) was established in rabbits by ligation of the left circumflex coronary. Thirty rabbits were randomly divided into the control group, the MI group (model), and the MI treated with SSYX group (MI+SSYX) by a random number table method. After 4 weeks of administration, low-energy real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography (RT-MCE) was conducted to assess the microcirculatory perfusion. Immunofluorescence double staining was used to detect the capillary density. The endothelial ultrastructure was observed with a transmission electron microscope. The mRNA expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelin 1 (ET-1), prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR). The plasmic levels of ET-1, thromboxane A2 (TXA2), nitric oxide (NO) and von willebrand factor (vWF) were examined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). SSYX significantly improved the myocardial blood volume, myocardial micro bubble velocity, and myocardial inflow according to the examination of RT-MCE, and it visibly ameliorated the capillary endothelial structure. Furthermore, compared with the MI group, the plasma levels of TXA2, ET-1 and vWF contents significantly decreased in the MI+SSYX group, and the ET-1 mRNA expression levels of myocardium in the border zone significantly decreased, and the VEGF, PGI2 and eNOS mRNA expression levels significantly increased (all P<0.05). SSYX has favorable advantages in ameliorating the impaired myocardial microcirculation following MI. The mechanisms of the effect are related to the ability of SSYX in balancing the endothelial-derived vasodilators and vasoconstrictors, and up-regulating the expression of VEGF and eNOS.

The Influence of Creativity on Incongruity-Resolution and Nonsense Humor Comprehension

Both creativity and humor are high-level cognitive functions and complex concepts. Although creativity and humor are generally deemed positively correlated, it has been difficult to explicitly identify their relationship with each other. The cognitive process of creativity includes divergent thinking, insight, and remote association, whereas humor comprehension includes incongruity resolution and nonsense humor. The difference between the 2 types of humor is in whether individuals can understand the content of jokes through logical deduction. This study explored the relationship of the different dimensions of cognitive creativity and incongruity-resolution and nonsense humor comprehension. Furthermore, we examined the influence of divergent thinking, insight, and remote association on incongruity-resolution and nonsense humor comprehension. The scores from 103 participants on a divergent thinking questionnaire, an insight problem-solving task, and the Chinese compound remote associate problems test were used to analyze their comprehension of incongruity resolution and nonsense humor. The results showed a positive correlation between remote association and incongruity-resolution humor comprehension, as well as a positive correlation between insight and nonsense humor comprehension. These findings indicate that each dimension of cognitive creativity has a particular way of connecting to various types of humor comprehension.

Idiomaticity Prediction of Chinese Noun Compounds and Its Applications

Idiomaticity refers to the situation where the meaning of a lexical unit cannot be derived from the usual meanings of its constituents. As a ubiquitous phenomenon in languages, the existence of idioms often causes significant challenges for semantic NLP tasks. While previous research mostly focuses on the idiomatic usage detection of English verb-noun combinations and the semantic analysis of Noun Compounds (NCs), the idiomaticity issues of Chinese NCs have been rarely studied. In this work, we aim at classifying Chinese NCs into four idiomaticity degrees. Each idiomaticity degree refers to a specific paradigm of how the NCs should be interpreted. To address this task, a Relational and Compositional Representation Learning model (RCRL) is proposed, which considers the relational textual patterns and the compositionality levels of Chinese NCs. RCRL learns relational representations of NCs to capture the semantic relations between two nouns within an NC, expressed by textual patterns and their statistical signals in the corpus. It further employs compositional representations to model the compositionality levels of NCs via network embeddings. Both loss functions of idiomaticity degree classification and representation learning are jointly optimized in an integrated neural network. Experiments over two datasets illustrate the effectiveness of RCRL, outperforming state-of-the-art approaches. Three applicational studies are further conducted to show the usefulness of RCRL and the roles of idiomaticity prediction of Chinese NCs in the fields of NLP.

Multi-Channel CNN Based Inner-Attention for Compound Sentence Relation Classification

Relation classification is a vital task in natural language processing, and it is screening for semantic relation between clauses in texts. This paper describes a study of relation classification on Chinese compound sentences without connectives. There exists an implicit relation in a compound sentence without connectives, which makes it difficult to realize the recognition of relation. The major challenges that relation classification modeling faces are how to obtain the contextual representation of sentence and relation dependence features between clauses. To solve this problem, we propose a novel Inatt-MCNN model to extract sentence features and classify relations by combining multi-channel CNN and Inner-attention mechanism. This network structure utilizes CNN to extract local features of sentences and Inner-attention to capture sentence-level feature representations for this relation classification task. Besides, since the Inner-attention is based on Bi-LSTM, the global and long-term dependence semantic information can be well obtained in Inatt-MCNN to promote the model performance. We conduct experiments on two public Chinese discourse datasets: the Chinese compound sentence corpus (CCCS) dataset and the Tsinghua Chinese Treebank(TCT) dataset. Compared with the previous public methods, Inatt-MCNN model has superior performance and achieves the highest accuracy, especially on the CCCS dataset.

Tanreqing injection with ambroxol hydrochloride for heart failure and pulmonary infection in senile degenerative heart disease: a randomized controlled trial

Background and objective: Degenerative changes in the heart with age and decreased immune function mean that older adult patients with heart failure are vulnerable to infection by pathogenic bacteria. Tanreqing injection, a traditional Chinese compound medicine, has the functions of clearing heat, eliminating phlegm, and detoxifying, and can be used to treat pulmonary infection. We hypothesized that Tanreqing injection combined with ambroxol hydrochloride, a mucolytic drug, may effectively alleviate pulmonary infection and improve cardiac function in older adult patients with heart failure and pulmonary infection caused by degenerative heart disease. Participants and methods: This prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled clinical trial will include 320 patients with heart failure combined with pulmonary infection induced by senile degenerative heart disease from Sanya People’s Hospital, Sanya, China. All patients will receive conventional anti-heart failure treatment, and will be equally and randomly divided into a control group and a trial group. Patients in both groups will be treated with intravenous infusion of ambroxol hydrochloride, while patients in the trial group will additional receive Tanreqing injection. The treatment period will be 7 days. Patient recruitment and data collection will begin on July 1, 2019 and end on August 30, 2021. Analysis of the results will be performed from September 10–30, 2021. This study is scheduled to end on December 30, 2021. The study protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Sanya People’s Hospital in October 2015 (approval No. S2015-065-03). Study protocol version is 1.0. This study will be performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent to participate will be obtained from participants or their family members. Results: The primary outcome measure is total effective rate after 7 days of treatment. Secondary outcome measures are change from baseline in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular fractional shortening, number of pathogenic bacteria in the lung, serum procalcitonin level, and C-reactive protein level after 7 days of treatment, as well as incidence of adverse reactions after 7 days of treatment. In a pilot study among 120 patients with senile heart failure conducted from May 2016 to October 2017, patients were randomly assigned to trial and control groups (n = 60 per group). Gram-positive bacteria were found to be the main pathogens responsible for pulmonary infection in senile patients with heart failure, with a positive rate of 53.7% in both control and trial groups. After treatment, the number of pathogenic bacteria in the trial group was markedly lower than that in the control group (11 strains versus 17 strains). Furthermore, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, and left ventricular ejection fraction were significantly lower (P Conclusion: The results of this planned study will confirm whether Tanreqing injection combined with ambroxol hydrochloride can markedly improve cardiac function in senile patients with heart failure and mitigate pulmonary infection caused by pathogenic bacteria. This study will also identify adverse drug reactions associated with the study treatment. Trial registration: This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on April 29, 2019 (registration number: ChiCTR1900022879).

Adjoint inversion of Chinese non-methane volatile organic compound emissions using space-based observations of formaldehyde and glyoxal

Abstract. We used the GEOS-Chem model and its adjoint to quantify Chinese non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emissions for the year 2007, using the tropospheric column concentrations of formaldehyde and glyoxal observed by the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2A (GOME-2A) instrument and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) as quantitative constraints. We conducted a series of inversion experiments using different combinations of satellite observations to explore their impacts on the top-down emission estimates. Our top-down estimates for Chinese annual total NMVOC emissions were 30.7 to 49.5 (average 41.9) Tg yr−1, including 16.4 to 23.6 (average 20.2) Tg yr−1 from anthropogenic sources, 12.2 to 22.8 (average 19.2) Tg yr−1 from biogenic sources, and 2.08 to 3.13 (average 2.48) Tg yr−1 from biomass burning. In comparison, the a priori estimate for Chinese annual total NMVOC emissions was 38.3 Tg yr−1, including 18.8 Tg yr−1 from anthropogenic sources, 17.3 Tg yr−1 from biogenic sources, and 2.27 Tg yr−1 from biomass burning. The simultaneous use of glyoxal and formaldehyde observations helped distinguish the NMVOC species from different sources and was essential in constraining anthropogenic emissions. Our four inversion experiments consistently showed that the Chinese anthropogenic emissions of NMVOC precursors of glyoxal were larger than the a priori estimates. Our top-down estimates for Chinese annual emission of anthropogenic aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylene) ranged from 5.5 to 7.9 Tg yr−1, 2 % to 46 % larger than the estimate of the a priori emission inventory (5.4 Tg yr−1). Three out of our four inversion experiments indicated that the seasonal variation in Chinese NMVOC emissions was significantly stronger than indicated in the a priori inventory. Model simulations driven by the average of our top-down NMVOC emission estimates (which had a stronger seasonal variation than the a priori) showed that surface afternoon ozone concentrations over eastern China increased by 1–8 ppb in June and decreased by 1–10 ppb in December relative to the simulations using the a priori emissions and were in better agreement with measurements. We concluded that the satellite observations of formaldehyde and glyoxal together provided quantitative constraints on the emissions and source types of NMVOCs over China and improved our understanding on regional chemistry.

Simultaneous determinations of four major bioactive components in Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd and Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extracts by LC–MS/MS: Application to its herb–herb interactions based on pharmacokinetic, tissue distribution and excretion studies in rats

BackgroundAcacia catechu (L.f.) Willd (ACW) and Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG) are two famous herbs and often used in many traditional Chinese compound prescriptions. In clinical practice, ACW-SBG couple as a famous traditional herb couple, was widely used for treating infantile cough, phlegm and fever which caused by pulmonary infection. Meanwhile, a standardized bioflavonoid composition-UP446 with ACW extract and SBG extract has been used in both special nutritional products and joint care dietary supplements. However, its herb-herb interactions based on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) study had not been investigated. PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate potential pharmacokinetic, tissue distribution and excretion interactions between ACW and SBG, and to provide useful information for the development of suitable dosage forms and clinical applications. Study design and methodsA sensitive and reliable LC-MS/MS method was established to the quantification of four major bioactive components in rat biological samples. The method was validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, range, selectivity, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), recovery, and matrix effect. All validation parameters met the acceptance criteria according to regulatory guidelines. Based on this, we obtained and compared the parameters about pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and excretion of four major bioactive components in this study. ResultsThis work revealed that the parameters including plasma pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and excretion of (+)-catechin (C), (-)-epicatechin (EC), baicalin (BL) and baicalein (BLE) in single administration had significant differences compared co-administration. The results illustrated that interactions between two herbs are related to the effect of competitive gastrointestinal absorption inhibition and drug metabolism by liver metabolic enzymes. Moreover, the alteration of C and EC in the tissue of lung maybe could enhance the pharmacological activity for treating pulmonary infection. ConclusionThis is the first report to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and excretion of co-administration of ACW or SBG to rats and compared its properties of four major bioactive components. The results demonstrate that herb –herb interactions occurred in this herb couple.

Angioedema and Hemorrhage After 4.5-Hour tPA (Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator) Thrombolysis Ameliorated by T541 via Restoring Brain Microvascular Integrity.

Background and Purpose- tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) is the only recommended intravenous thrombolytic agent for ischemic stroke. However, its application is limited because of increased risk of hemorrhagic transformation beyond the time window. T541 is a Chinese compound medicine with potential to attenuate ischemia and reperfusion injury. This study was to explore whether T541-benefited subjects underwent tPA thrombolysis extending the time window. Methods- Male C57BL/6 N mice were subjected to carotid artery thrombosis by stimulation with 10% FeCl3 followed by 10 mg/kg tPA with/without 20 mg/kg T541 intervention at 4.5 hours. Thrombolysis and cerebral blood flow were observed dynamically until 24 hours after drug treatment. Neurological deficit scores, brain edema and hemorrhage, cerebral microvascular junctions and basement membrane proteins, and energy metabolism in cortex were assessed then. An in vitro hypoxia/reoxygenation model using human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells was used to evaluate effect of T541 on tight junctions and F-actin in the presence of tPA. Results- tPA administered at 4.5 hours after carotid thrombosis resulted in a decrease in thrombus area and survival rate, whereas no benefit on cerebral blood flow. Study at 24 hours after tPA administration revealed a significant angioedema and hemorrhage in the ischemia hemisphere, a decreased expression of junction proteins claudin-5, zonula occludens-1, occludin, junctional adhesion molecule-1 and vascular endothelial cadherin, and collagen IV and laminin. Meanwhile, ADP/ATP, AMP/ATP, and ATP5D (ATP synthase subunit) expression and activities of mitochondria complex I, II, and IV declined, whereas malondialdehyde and 8-Oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine increased and F-actin arrangement disordered. All the insults after tPA treatment were attenuated by addition of T541 dose dependently. Conclusions- The results suggest T541 as a potential remedy to attenuate delayed tPA-related angioedema and hemorrhage and extend time window for tPA treatment. The potential of T541 to upregulate energy metabolism and protect blood-brain barrier is likely attributable to its effects observed.

Compound Words Reflect Cross-Culturally Shared Bodily Metaphors.

Parts of the body are often embedded in the structure of compound words, such as heartbreak and brainchild. We explored the relationships between the semantics of compounds and their constituent body parts, asking whether these relationships are largely arbitrary or instead reflect deeper metaphorical mappings shared across languages and cultures. In three studies, we found that U.S. English speakers associated the English translation equivalents of Chinese compounds with their constituent body parts at rates well above chance, even for compounds with highly abstract meanings and even when accounting for the semantic relatedness of the compounds and body parts. English speakers in India and Chinese speakers in Hong Kong showed similar intuitions about these associations. Our results suggest that the structure of compound words can provide insight into cross-culturally shared ways of connecting meaning to the body.