Progress on pravastatin and its safety in prevention and treatment of preeclampsia / 中华围产医学杂志

Preeclampsia is the main cause of poor maternal-fetal outcomes. A series of cell and animal experiments, and a small number of clinical studies have shown that pravastatin can prevent and treat preeclampsia by regulating angiogenesis, increasing the expression of heme oxygenase, and stimulating the production of nitric oxide without any reported adverse effects during pregnancy. We review the latest progress on the mechanism, effect, and safety of pravastatin in the prevention and treatment of preeclampsia.

Progress and perspective on development of non-model industrial bacteria as chassis cells for biochemical production in the synthetic biology era / 生物工程学报

The development and implement of microbial chassis cells can provide excellent cell factories for diverse industrial applications, which help achieve the goal of environmental protection and sustainable bioeconomy. The synthetic biology strategy of Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) plays a crucial role on rational and/or semi-rational construction or modification of chassis cells to achieve the goals of "Building to Understand" and "Building for Applications". In this review, we briefly comment on the technical development of the DBTL cycle and the research progress of a few model microorganisms. We mainly focuse on non-model bacterial cell factories with potential industrial applications, which possess unique physiological and biochemical characteristics, capabilities of utilizing one-carbon compounds or of producing platform compounds efficiently. We also propose strategies for the efficient and effective construction and application of synthetic microbial cell factories securely in the synthetic biology era, which are to discover and integrate the advantages of model and non-model industrial microorganisms, to develop and deploy intelligent automated equipment for cost-effective high-throughput screening and characterization of chassis cells as well as big-data platforms for storing, retrieving, analyzing, simulating, integrating, and visualizing omics datasets at both molecular and phenotypic levels, so that we can build both high-quality digital cell models and optimized chassis cells to guide the rational design and construction of microbial cell factories for diverse industrial applications.

Impact of different hemoglobin on postoperative cognitive functions in female patients undergoing laparo- scopic surgery / 实用医学杂志

Objective To explore the impact of different hemoglobin on postoperative cognitive functions in female patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. Methods 215 female patients who were underwent laparoscopic total hysterectomy or laparoscopic myomectomy from January 2016 to December 2016 in our hospital were selected. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to their hemoglobin:Group N with normal hemoglobin ,Group A with hemoglobin concentration of 9 ~ 11 g/L ,and Group B with hemoglobin concentration of 6 ~ 9 g/L. Same anesthesia and recovery plan were performed in all patients. Basic and operative information were recorded. The score of MoCA on the day before surgry ,the day after surgry ,3 days after surgry and 30 days after surgry were recorded. Blood samples were collected on the day before surgry and the day after surgry for the determina-tion of serum S-100β protein and IL-6 concentrations. Results No significant difference was found in basic and operative information among three groups. The recovery time was much longer in Group B than that in Group N. No difference were found among three group in the score of MoCA on the day before surgry and 30 days after surgry ,while the score in the day after surgry and 3 days after surgry were lower in Group B com-pared with Group N. The incidence of POCD were higher in Group B compared with Group N. Compared with the day before surgry ,the concentration of serum S-100β protein and IL-6 were much higher. And compared with Group N ,the concentration of serum S-100β protein was higher in Group A and B in the day after surgry , while IL-6 was higher in Group B. The concentration of serum S-100βprotein and IL-6 were much higher in Group B compared with Group A in the day after surgry. Conclusion Female patients with hemoglobin concen-tration of 6 ~ 9 g/L are susceptible to POCD ,which might be contributed by operative central nerve system damage induced by excessive inflammation.

Different dose and effects of dexmedetomidine in preventing shivering after general anesthesia for laparoscopic surgery / 实用医学杂志

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate different dosages and effects of dexmedetomidine for prevention of postanesthetic shivering. Methods One-hundred twenty patients scheduled for laparoscopic surgery were randomly allocated in four groups: before the operation, slowly injected 0.9% normal saline (group S, dexmedetomidine 0.5 μg/kg (group D0.5), dexmedetomidine 0.75 μg/kg (group D0.75), dexmedetomidine 1.0 μg/kg(group D1.0). HR and rectal temperature[C2] were continually monitered during and after operation, time to extubation was measured. Grades of shivering were recorded. Pain evaluation was assessed by a visual analogue scale, sedation was evaluated by Modified Observer′s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation scale. Results The patients in group S showed a significantly higher HR and postoperative incidence of shivering than those in group D0.75 and group D1.0, (P < 0.05). but the extubation time in groupd D0.75 and group D1.0 were longer than patients in group S (P<0.05). Conclusion Slowly injected dexmedetomidine 0.75 μg/kg or 1.0 μg/kg can prevent postanesthetic shivering in laparoscopic surgery effectively.

Effects of leachate accumulation on landfill stability in humid regions of China.

Leachate levels are important to landfill stability and safety. High leachate or water levels often lead to landfill instability, which can cause accidents. Here a case study of a landfill located in a humid region of southern China is presented. Leachate distribution and quality were systematically analyzed, and the effect of leachate level on waste-mass stability was assessed. Boreholes were drilled in the field, samples were analyzed in the laboratory, and a simulation was performed. In addition, the safety and stability of the landfill was evaluated. The leachate level in the landfill was 9-19m, which was higher than the top of the dam crest (8-20m). Leachate accounted for more than 1/4 of the total landfill storage capacity. The contaminant concentration of the leachate samples collected directly from the waste body was very high, with large variation among the samples. The mean concentrations of NH(3)-N, BOD, and COD from the waste body were 5404, 14,136, and 22,691mg/L, nearly 2.7, 2.4, and 1.8 times the mean concentrations in the leachate pond, respectively. Three series of shear strength parameters were used in a slope stability analysis, and a limit equilibrium method was used to calculate the factor of safety (Fs). The analysis showed that Fs could be affected by potential anisotropy in the shear strength of the waste. The minimum values of Fs corresponding to series I were 1.84 and 1.17 for units capital I, Ukrainian and II, respectively. The Fs value of unit II was significantly lower than the safe design value (1.25). In addition, Fs decreased with increase in the normalized height of the leachate level, h/H, where h is the height of the leachate mound and H is the maximum thickness of the landfill. If the h/H values of units I and II are kept below 50% and 40%, respectively, a safe design value of 1.25 for Fs can be guaranteed. Therefore, some measures to prevent risk should be considered.