Cinnamon and Aspirin for Mild Ischemic Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: A Pilot Trial.

PURPOSE: Cinnamon can reduce levels of blood lipids, blood glucose, and inflammation, which are risk factors for ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA).The goal of this study was to observe the safety and efficacy of aspirin combined with cinnamon in the treatment of patients with mild stroke or TIA. METHODS: This pilot study included patients with mild stroke or TIA treated at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital-Nanhai Hospital between January 2014 and December 2016. The primary end point was recurrent stroke (within 90 days after the first attack; intention-to-treat analysis). The secondary end points included biochemical indices, carotid color Doppler ultrasound, safety indices, and adverse reactions. FINDINGS: A total of 122 patients were included, including 62 in the aspirin-cinnamon group (41 men and 21 women; mean age, 62.0 [3.5] years) and 60 in the aspirin-placebo group (40 men and 20 women; mean age, 63.0 [3.2] years). The number of participants with recurrent stroke was two (3.2%) and nine (15.0%) in the aspirin-cinnamon group and the aspirin-placebo group, respectively (P = 0.002). Compared with aspirin-cinnamon, aspirin-placebo rates of unstable plaque and severe vascular stenosis were higher, whereas the rate of mild vascular stenosis with aspirin-cinnamon was higher than with aspirin-placebo (P < 0.05). One case of mild to moderate upper gastrointestinal bleeding in each group was observed. IMPLICATIONS: Among patients with TIA or mild ischemic stroke, the combination of cinnamon and aspirin could be superior to aspirin alone for reducing the risk of 90-day recurrent stroke.

Application of mixed bacteria-loaded biochar to enhance uranium and cadmium immobilization in a co-contaminated soil.

This research explored the effect of biochar pyrolyzed from five different materials on U and Cd immobilization in soil. The results showed that all biochars improved the soil properties and microbial metabolic activities, and effectively immobilized U and Cd, especially corn stalk biochar. Subsequently, three strains Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, and Citrobacter sp. were mixed in a 3:3:2 proportion as a kind of mixed bacteria (MB9) that could adsorb U and Cd effectively. Two types of MB9-loaded biochar were synthesized by physical adsorption and sodium alginate embed method and referred to as AIB and EIB, respectively. MB9-loaded biochar showed superior U and Cd immobilization performance. At 75 d, the highest reduction in the DTPA- extractable U and Cd (69 % and 56 %) was achieved with the 3% AIB amendment. Additionally, compared to the addition of biochar or MB9 alone, AIB was more effective in promoting celery growth and reducing U and Cd accumulation. Finally, the microbial community structure analysis suggested that the relative abundance of Citrobacter genus and Bacillus genus was significantly increased, suggesting that the mixed bacteria MB9 was successfully colonized. These findings may provide a feasible technology for green and cost-effective remediation of heavy metal contamination in farmland soil.

Usage of microbial combination degradation technology for the remediation of uranium contaminated ryegrass.

Post phytoremediation accumulation of heavy metals in plants is causing an environmental issue worldwide. In this study, we investigated the ability of eight different kinds of microorganisms to degrade and release heavy metals from heavy metal enriched ryegrass, including 5 species of bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus pumilus-I, Bacillus pumilus-II and Bacillus cereus) and 3 of fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trichoderma ressei and Pterula sp. strain QD-1), by growing them under uranium stress and assessing their ability to degrade biomass. After 30 days, the degradation ability of fungi was found better than that of bacteria, while the metal leaching ability of bacteria was found better. The highest degradation rate (upto 60%) was obtained by using P. chrysosporium, Pterula sp. strain QD-1 exhibited the best leaching rate for uranium (upto 77%). The overall degradation rate of lignin and cellulose and hemicellulose was found lower (40% and 60%, respectively). According to the antagonistic characteristics of microbes, we combined different dominant species, in which under optimal conditions the T2 combination (P. chrysosporium, T. reesei, and Pterula sp. strain QD-1 and B. subtilis) was able to degrade 80% of the ryegrass, 51% of lignin, 74% of cellulose and hemicellulose, releasing 78% of U, 90% of Pb and the releasing rate of other heavy metals was more than 95%. FTIR analysis showed the least degradation of lignin, while SEM-EDX analysis of the degradation residues displayed the microstructure of ryegrass being greatly damaged. Only a small amount of U was found in the residues of the researched combinations. This study provides efficient Microbial Combined Degradation Technology for heavy metal enriched biomass, which can effectively deal with heavy metal enriched plants, and provide a basis for the recovery and utilization of heavy metals, avoiding secondary pollution in the environment caused by this type of biomass.