Waterproof and Moisture-Permeable Polyurethane Nanofiber Membrane with High Strength, Launderability, and Durable Antimicrobial Properties.

Nanofiber membrane has high biological protection function because of its good waterproof and moisture permeability properties. However, this membrane usually lacks active antimicrobial properties, limiting the application in reusable bioprotective textiles. Herein, waterborne polyurethane-capped Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by reducing silver nitrate in water by sodium borohydride in the presence of polyurethane. AgNP-embedded thermoplastic urethane (TPU) nanofiber membrane was prepared by electrospinning a mixed solution of AgNPs and TPU. As-prepared membranes with Ag content of 50-300 mg·kg-1 have an average diameter of 0.75, 0.64, and 0.63 µm and good fiber uniformity. The doping of AgNP-embedded nanomembrane showed increased breaking force probably because of the induced crystallization effect. Test results showed that as-prepared TPU nanofiber membrane with silver content as low as 100 mg·kg-1 showed good washing resistance. The antibacterial rates of E. coli and S. aureus remained 99.99% with 50 times of soaping or chlorine washing. The corresponding waterproof and moisture permeability properties of nanofiber membrane with a thickness of 0.1 mm remained nearly unchanged, i.e., moisture permeability of around 2600 g·m-2 per 24 h and the hydrostatic pressure resistance of around 400 Pa after 50 times of soaping or chlorine washing.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Taxus wallichiana as the medicinal plant from China.

Taxus wallichiana is a member of the family Taxaceae, which is a unique and endangered species in China and is widely used for ornamental, material and medicinal purposes. The complete chloroplast genome of T. wallichiana was found to possess a total size of 128,168 bp. The GC content of T. wallichiana chloroplast genome sequence is 37.3%, the overall nucleotide composition of chloroplast genome sequence is: A of 30.7%, T of 32.0%, C of 19.0% and G of 18.3%. The total of 116 genes were successfully annotated, which contained 83 protein-coding genes, 29 transfer RNA genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. The ML phylogenetic analysis result showed that T. wallichiana was closely related to Taxus baccata in the phylogenetic relationship using the neighbour-joining (NJ) method in this study.

The efficacy and safety of acupuncture for Ramsay Hunt syndrome: A protocol for systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS), also known as Hunt syndrome, is caused by varicella-zoster virus infection. The virus often invades the facial nerve geniculate ganglion to cause peripheral facial paralysis, accompanied by severe ear pain, auricular herpes zoster, tinnitus, deafness, vertigo, and other inner ear neurologic symptoms. The acupuncture has a long history as a traditional treatment of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of Hunt syndrome, with few adverse events and low cost. However, there are few evidences for the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for Hunt syndrome. Hence, we plan this systematic review and meta-analysis protocol to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for Hunt syndrome. METHODS: Four English databases will be searched from their inception to February 2019, including Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, OVID, and 4 Chinese databases, including Chinese Biomedical Literature Database [CBM], China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], CQVIP, and Wanfang. No restriction was imposed for language or publication period. Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) compared any form of acupuncture with/without additional treatment against sham or no treatment or same additional treatment. Data will be extracted and evaluated by 2 reviewers independently. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for data analysis when a meta-analysis is allowed. RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide an evidence of acupuncture for RHS. CONCLUSION: This study will determine whether acupuncture is an effective and safe intervention for RHS. PROSPERO registration number: CRD 42019118283.

In situ formation of Fe3O4/N-doped carbon coating on the surface of carbon fiber with improved electromagnetic wave-absorption property.

Carbon fiber is an absorbing material with high strength, acid and alkali resistance, high temperature resistance, flexibility, and processability and plays an important role in the electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption of civil buildings and military equipment. However, its EM wave-absorption performance is poor because of its large complex permittivity and no magnetic loss ability. In this study, dopamine hydrochloride and FeCl3 were used as precursors, and the Fe3O4/N-doped carbon coating was successfully grown in situ on the surface of short carbon fiber (SCF) via dopamine deposition, autopolymerization, FeCl3 solution immersion, and calcination at high temperature to improve its EM wave-absorption property. The obtained Fe3O4/N-doped carbon particles were uniformly attached to the SCF in the form of a thin layer to constitute a unique hierarchical structure. The Fe3O4/N-doped carbon coating/SCF displayed an excellent EM wave-absorption performance. An effective bandwidth of 8.64 GHz and lowest reflection loss of -31.38 dB at 3 mm were achieved because of the significant reduction in complex permittivity and improvement in complex permeability, wave impedance, and EM loss ability of the SCF. The Fe3O4/N-doped carbon coating is expected to show great potential in EM wave-absorption fields.

[Clinical features of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis].

OBJECTIVE: To determine features of the clinical manifestation in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and to provide a scientific basis for diagnosis of PBC.
 METHODS: A total of 102 patients with PBC treated in the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, from January 2013 to January 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients' general condition, clinical manifestations, serum biochemical and immunological parameters were detected.
 RESULTS: Of the 102 PBC patients, 91 (89.21%) patients were female. The main symptoms in these patients were fatigue, poor appetite, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, pruritus, stomachache, and abdominal distension. The major signs were jaundice, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, edema, and ascites. The main features of serum biochemical parameters in these patients included the increase of alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), especially the GGT. The anti-mitochondrial antibodies-M2 (AMA-M2) in 81 and 21 patients was positive and negative, respectively. The differences between the AMA-MA positive and negative groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). According to clinical manifestation, 102 patients were classified into 2 groups: A non-cirrhosis group (n=56) and a cirrhosis group (n=46). The positive rates in these 2 groups, such as ANA, AMA-M2, anti-gp210, anti-Sp100, anti-Ro52, anti-PML, were 54.35%, 89.13%, 41.30%, 13.04%, 43.38% and 10.87% vs 57.14%, 71.43%, 42.86%, 12.5%, 51.79% and 3.71%, respectively, with no significant difference between them (P>0.05). However, there was significant difference in the positive rate of anti-3E-EPO between the above 2 groups (86.78% vs 58.93%, P<0.05). The positive rates of AMA-M2 and anti-3E-EPO in 30 patients diagnosed by hepatic histopathological examination were higher than those of other antibodies.
 CONCLUSION: PBC mainly affects middle-aged women, and its clinical manifestation is various. The autoantibody tests play an important role in diagnosis of PBC. Checking for AMA-A2 and anti-3E-BPO can improve the positive rate of PBC. Liver histopathological examination may provide useful information on disease severity, which can determine the histological stage when the patient's serum autoantibodies are negative.

Cardioprotective effect of water and ethanol extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza in an experimental model of myocardial infarction.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Salvia miltiorrhiza has long been used in the traditional Chinese formulations for the treatment of heart ischemic diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY: We investigated the cardioprotective effect of purified Salvia miltiorrhiza extract (SME) in an experimental model of acute myocardial infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following induction of acute myocardial infarction in rats by adminstration of isoproterenol, hemodynamic and electrocardiographic parameters were monitored and recorded continuously, cardiac enzymes and parameters of oxidative stress were measured, and histopathological examination of heart tissue was performed. Experiments were performed in rats treated with SME or vehicle, as well as in those treated with Fufang Danshen Tablet (FDT) as a positive control which has previously been shown to prevent myocardial ischemia. RESULTS: Isoproterenol-treated rats showed reductions in left ventricular systolic pressure as well as in maximum and minimum rate of developed left ventricular pressure, together with an increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. They also demonstrated ST-segment elevation, together with increases in serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase, glutamic oxalacetic transaminase, creatine kinase and malondialdehyde, as well as decreases in serum activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Oral administration of SME (29.76 or 59.52 mg/kg) blunted all of the hemodynamic and biochemical changes induced by isoproterenol, as did FDT (1210 mg/kg). The protective effect of SME on isoproterenol-induced myocardial damage was further confirmed by histopathological examination. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that SME affords protection against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction.