小柴胡颗粒联合盐酸氨溴索雾化对慢性支气管炎急性发作期患者临床疗效的影响

目的:研究小柴胡颗粒联合盐酸氨溴索雾化治疗慢性支气管炎急性发作期的临床效果及对炎症因子的影响。方法:选择2016年1月至2016年7月我院治疗的160例慢性支气管急性发作患者作为研究对象,按照治疗方法将其分为观察组和对照组,对照组使用盐酸氨溴索雾化吸入方式治疗,观察组在此基础上联合服用小柴胡颗粒治疗,观察比较两组患者治疗后临床效率、临床症状消失时间以及治疗前后两组患者肺功能、炎症因子水平的变化。结果:观察组总有效率高于对照组,两组比较差异显著(P0.05);观察组的血清IL-6、IL-8、TFN-α水平明显低于对照组,且肺功能、临床症状消失时间均明显的优于对照组,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:使用小柴胡颗粒联合盐酸氨溴索雾化治疗急性发作期的慢性支气管炎患者能显著的缩短其临床症状消失时间,改善患者的肺功能,提高其临床疗效,可能与其有效抑制炎症反应有关。     

Fractionation of Hevea brasiliensis latex on ficoll density gradients

Fractionation of diluted Hevea brasiliensis latex on iso-osmotic Ficoll density gradients by sedimentation produces a sharp acid phosphatase-rich lutoid band at the density of ca1.04 g/cm³. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is not exclusively located in the Frey-Wyssling complexes as shown earlier by others; its distribution is variable. A complete separation of acid phosphatase and PPO activities can be obtained by flotation in a Ficoll density gradient. Ethephon stimulation of the tree reduces the acid phosphatase and PPO activities. A transient change in lutoid density soon after stimulation is observed. The occurrence of some new enzyme activities and their subcellular localization are reported.     

Disentangling climate change from air pollution effects on epiphytic bryophytes

At the interface between atmosphere and vegetation, epiphytic floras have been largely used as indicators of air quality. The recovery of epiphytes from high levels of SO₂ pollution has resulted in major range changes, whose interpretation has, however, been challenged by concomitant variation in other pollutants as well as climate change. Here, we combine historical and contemporary information on epiphytic bryophyte species distributions, climatic conditions, and pollution loads since the 1980s in southern Belgium to disentangle the relative impact of climate change and air pollution on temporal shifts in species composition. The relationship between the temporal variation of species composition, climatic conditions, SO₂, NO₂, O₃, and fine particle concentrations, was analyzed by variation partitioning. The temporal shift in species composition was such, that it was, on average, more than twice larger than the change in species composition observed today among communities scattered across the study area. The main driver, contributing to 38% of this temporal shift in species composition, was the variation of air quality. Climate change alone did not contribute to the substantial compositional shifts in epiphytic bryophyte communities in the course of the last 40 years. As a consequence of the substantial drop of N and S loads over the last decades, present-day variations of epiphytic floras were, however, better explained by the spatial variation of climatic conditions than by extant pollution loads. The lack of any signature of recolonization delays of formerly polluted areas in the composition of modern floras suggests that epiphytic bryophytes efficiently disperse at the landscape scale. We suggest that a monitoring of epiphyte communities at 10-year intervals would be desirable to assess the impact of raising pollution sources, and especially pesticides, whose impact on bryophytes remains poorly documented.     

Insulin uptake by rat liver endothelium studied in fractionated liver cell suspensions

Summary Cellular distribution of insulin receptors was studied in fractionated rat liver cell suspensions using ¹²⁵1-insulin and a visual probe consisting of latex beads covalently linked to insulin (minibeads). Fractionation was done on metrizamide gradients which yielded two cellular fractions. The large cell fraction consisted mostly of hepatocytes and the small cell fraction consisted of 37% endothelial cells as well as Kupffer cells. The magnitude of insulin uptake by the endothelium-rich small cell fraction was at least double that of the uptake by the hepatocyte-rich fraction. The minibead technique demonstrated that in the small cell fraction only endothelial cells, and not Kupffer cells, were responsible for the insulin uptake. Our findings suggest that liver endothelium may be responsible for the uptake of circulating insulin and its transport to hepatocyte. This emphasizes the presence of a tissue-blood barrier in the liver.Abbreviations PRS phosphate-buffered saline - SEM scanning electron microscopy - TEM transmission electron microscopy     

Evidence supporting the identity of beef heart mitochondrial chloroform-released adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) with coupling factor I

Highly purified mitochondrial chloroform-released beef heart ATPase had molecular weight 330 000, five bands (α, β, γ, δ, ε) in sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and could restore the oxidative-phosphorylation function of A particles. Maximal inhibition (90%) of the enzyme by N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide was achieved at a molar ratio of inhibitor to protein of 30 : 1. Chloroform introduced into an aqueous solution of beef heart coupling factor I protected it from cold inactivation.     

Does Phaeocystis spp. contribute significantly to vertical export of organic carbon?

Phaeocystis spp. cell and colony mass fluxes and their contribution to the vertical particulate organic carbon (POC) export from a wide range of stations were quantified by short-term sediment traps. The compilation of available data, ranging from polar to sub-arctic and boreal regions, revealed that Phaeocystis colonial and single cells frequently are observed in shallow sediment traps at 30–50 m depth (average of 7 ± 11% of POC export). A strong vertical export decline between 40 m and 100 m diminished the contribution of Phaeocystis spp. cell carbon to vertical export of POC to only 3 ± 2% at 100 m depth, with two exceptions (deeper mixed stations). Estimates of potential corresponding mucus contribution increased the average Phaeocystis spp. contribution to <5% of POC export. The vertical flux attenuation efficiency is higher for Phaeocystis spp. than for diatoms. The overall contribution of Phaeocystis spp. to vertical carbon export based on direct investigations of vertical organic carbon export is small.     

The development of quantum dot calibration beads and quantitative multicolor bioassays in flow cytometry and microscopy

The use of fluorescence calibration beads has been the hallmark of quantitative flow cytometry. It has enabled the direct comparison of interlaboratory data as well as quality control in clinical flow cytometry. In this article, we describe a simple method for producing color-generalizable calibration beads based on streptavidin functionalized quantum dots. Based on their broad absorption spectra and relatively narrow emission, which is tunable on the basis of dot size, quantum dot calibration beads can be made for any fluorophore that matches their emission color. In an earlier publication, we characterized the spectroscopic properties of commercial streptavidin functionalized dots (Invitrogen). Here we describe the molecular assembly of these dots on biotinylated beads. The law of mass action is used to readily define the site densities of the dots on the beads. The applicability of these beads is tested against the industry standard, namely commercial fluorescein calibration beads. The utility of the calibration beads is also extended to the characterization surface densities of dot-labeled epidermal growth factor ligands as well as quantitative indicators of the binding of dot-labeled virus particles to cells.