Self-healing, antioxidant, and antibacterial Bletilla striata polysaccharide-tannic acid dual dynamic crosslinked hydrogels for tissue adhesion and rapid hemostasis.

Biomaterials capable of achieving effective sealing and hemostasis at moist wounds are in high demand in the clinical management of acute hemorrhage. Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP), a natural polysaccharide renowned for its hemostatic properties, holds promising applications in biomedical fields. In this study, a dual-dynamic-bonds crosslinked hydrogel was synthesized via a facile one-pot method utilizing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-borax as a matrix system, followed by the incorporation of BSP and tannic acid (TA). Chemical borate ester bonds formed around borax, coupled with multiple physical hydrogen bonds between BSP and other components, enhanced the mechanical properties and rapid self-healing capabilities. The catechol moieties in TA endowed the hydrogel with excellent adhesive strength of 30.2 kPa on the surface of wet tissues and facilitated easy removal without residue. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of TA and the preservation of the intrinsic properties of BSP, the hydrogel exhibited outstanding biocompatibility, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. Moreover, it effectively halted acute bleeding within 31.3 s, resulting in blood loss of 15.6 % of that of the untreated group. As a superior hemostatic adhesive, the hydrogel in this study is poised to offer a novel solution for addressing future acute hemorrhage, wound healing, and other biomedical applications.

Medication adherence and pharmaceutical design strategies for pediatric patients: An overview.

Medication adherence in pediatric patients is a key factor in drug development and dosage form design. High medication adherence is not only important to achieve the expected treatment effects but can also effectively reduce medical costs. It is an ongoing task to accurately identify differences in medication adherence between children and adults and analyze the factors related to pediatric medication adherence. This is necessary to guide the development of pediatric drugs. This review focuses on factors that influence pediatric medication adherence as well as pharmaceutical design strategies to improve adherence. Current new dosage forms, new technologies, and new devices are comprehensively summarized in terms of their advantages and limitations.

Methylglyoxal: A newly detected and potentially harmful metabolite in the blood of ketotic dairy cows.

Ketosis causes serious economic losses for the modern dairy industry because it is a highly prevalent metabolic disease among cows in high-producing herds during the transition period. Due to some striking similarities between diabetes in humans and ketosis in dairy cows, there is potential for the use of methylglyoxal (MGO)-commonly used in human diabetics-as a biomarker in dairy cattle. However, currently no data are available about the presence of MGO in the serum of dairy cattle or about the characteristics of its production or its potential contribution in the pathogenesis of ketosis. To determine the potential origin and pathway of formation of MGO, cows in different metabolic conditions [i.e., non-subclinically ketotic dairy cows in early lactation (n = 7), subclinically ketotic dairy cows in early lactation (n = 8), overconditioned dry cows (BCS >4.25, n = 6), and nonlactating heifers (n = 6)] were selected. Serum MGO concentrations were determined and correlated with indicators of the glucose and lipid metabolism and with haptoglobin (Hp) as an inflammatory marker. The serum MGO concentrations in subclinically ketotic cows (712.60 ± 278.77 nmol/L) were significantly greater than in nonlactating heifers (113.35 ± 38.90 nmol/L), overconditioned dry cows (259.71 ± 117.97 nmol/L), and non-subclinically ketotic cows (347.83 ± 63.56 nmol/L). In serum of lactating cows, concentrations of glucose and fructosamine were lower than in heifers and were negatively correlated with MGO concentrations. Even so, concentrations of metabolic and inflammatory markers such as dihydroxyacetone phosphate, nonesterified fatty acids, ß-hydroxybutyrate, acetone, and Hp were remarkably higher in subclinically ketotic cows compared with nonlactating heifers; these metabolites were also positively correlated with MGO. In human diabetics elevated MGO concentrations are stated to originate from both hyperglycemia and the enhanced lipid metabolism, whereas higher MGO concentrations in subclinically ketotic cows were not associated with hyperglycemia. Therefore, our data suggest MGO in dairy cows to be a metabolite produced from the metabolization of acetone within the lipid metabolization pathway and from the metabolization of dihydroxyacetone phosphate. Furthermore, the highly positive correlation between MGO and Hp suggests that this reactive compound might be involved in the proinflammatory state of subclinical ketosis in dairy cows. However, more research is needed to determine the potential use of MGO as a biomarker for metabolic failure in dairy cows.

(+)-Catechin prevents methylglyoxal-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in EA.hy926 cells.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether (+)-catechin, a strong antioxidant, can prevent methylglyoxal (MGO)-induced cytotoxicity and its mechanism. METHODS: Cytotoxicity, apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) formation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondrial morphology were measured in EA.hy926 cells. RESULT: MGO (4 mM)-induced cytotoxicity was markedly inhibited by (+)-catechin (0.1-4 mM) in 24 h. 1 mM MGO-induced apoptotic cell death (44.7%) was significantly inhibited by 4 mM (+)-catechin (to 24.4%), 1 mM aminoguanidine (AG) (to 28.8%) or 4 mM N-acetylcysteine (NAC) (to 24.3%). (+)-Catechin (4 mM) or AG (4 mM) can inhibit the decrease of MMP induced by MGO (2-8 mM) in 3 h. (+)-Catechin (4 mM) or AG (4 mM) can inhibit MGO (4 mM)-induced mitochondrial swelling in 3 h. However, MGO (4 mM)-induced ROS and H2O2 generation was not prevented by (+)-catechin (4 mM). CONCLUSIONS: (+)-Catechin prevents MGO-induced cytotoxicity in EA.Hy926 cells through inhibiting apoptosis and mitochondrial damage.

[Aging and mixing state of particulate matter during aerosol pollution episode in autumn Shanghai using a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS)].

A single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS) was applied to characterize the size distribution (200 nm-2.0 microm) and chemical compositions of ambient particles during a polluted event from 11th to 18th, November 2011. OCEC, METAL, EC, SECONDARY and K-Na types of particulates were the dominant groups observed in hazy day period, which were 27.4%, 3.4%, 7.3% , 45.6% and 5.4% of the overall measured particles, respectively. The observed five types of particles contained the secondary composition such as 18NH4(+), 80SO3(-), 96SO4(-), 97HSO4(-), 46NO2(-), 62NO3(-) and 125H (NO3) -, showing that they probably went through different aging processes, and the increasing of the SECONDARY particles during the event clearly indicated a secondary aerosol pollution. Heterogeneous reactions of SO2 and particles could be the reason of strong 97HSO4(-) signals in the mass spectrums of OCEC type particles while the existence of organic compounds might have an important influence on the aerosol formation with the gas-phase sulfuric acid. Fresh EC particles in the environment tended to be aging with above-mentioned secondary ions by the analysis of particle size distribution and eventually lead to a particle type conversion from EC to SECONDARY. Organic amine in marine environment was brought to the land by the warm, moist marine air mass that dramatically removed atmospheric SECONDARY and OCEC particles from the air with a heavy rain and leading to the observation of amine particles in the clean day period.

[Forming potential of secondary organic aerosols and sources apportionment of VOCs in autumn of Shanghai, China].

A continuous measurement was conducted in urban area of Shanghai from 1stSeptember to 21st November, 2011. The mass concentration of PM2.5 and the mixing ratio of VOCs were obtained during the period. Four pollution episodes were observed: PD1 (20th-23th September), PD2 (5th-9th October), PD3 (13rd - 18th October), PD4 (10th - 14th November). The average mass concentrations of PM2.5 were (45+/-16), (76+/-46), (57+/-36) and (122+/-92) microg.m-3, respectively. The mixing ratio of VOCs were (30.87+/-30.77) x10(-9), (32.09+/-30.69) x10(-)9, (34.04+/-28.13) x10(-9) and (44.27+/-31.58) x10(-9). Alkane, alkene and aromatic hydrocarbons accounted for 53. 58% , 27. 89% , and 10. 96% of the total VOCs, respectively. The OH radical loss rate (LOH) and the ozone formation potential (OFP) were applied to assess the chemical reactivity of VOCs, the results showed that the alkenes and aromatics were the most important contributors to LOH and OFP in the atmosphere in the urban area of Shanghai, in autumn. Fractional aerosol coefficients (FAC) and the ratio of organic carbon to element carbon (OC/EC) were used to estimate the potential formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in Shanghai, the SOA concentration values obtained by the two methods were 1.43 microg.m-3 and 4.54 microg.m-3, respectively. The value predicted by OC/EC was significantly higher, which was mainly due to the low amount of SOA precursors measured in this study. The aromatics were not only the most important contributors to OFP, but also important SOA precursors. By applying the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, six major sources were extracted to identify the sources of VOCs in autumn in Shanghai, including vehicle exhaust (24.30%), incomplete combustion (17.39%), fuel evaporation (16.01%) , LPG/NG leakage (15.21%) , petrochemical industry (14.00% ), and paint/solvent usage (13.09%). Vehicle exhaust and paint/solvent usage contain abundant aromatics species which are the most important contributors to OFP and important SOA precursors. The above two sources contributed 37.39% of the total VOCs concentration. Hence, these sources should be listed as priority of air pollution control strategy for Shanghai in future.