Efficacy and Safety of Lianhua Qingke Tablets in the Treatment of Long Coronavirus Disease (COVID) Cough: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Clinical Study

Lianhua Qingke tablets,a patented traditional Chinese medicine that has validated clinical efficacy for treating cough caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection,lack rigorous evidence-based research evaluating their effect on long coronavirus disease(COVID)cough.A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical study was conducted among patients with long COVID cough from 19 hospitals and 23 community health centers in China.Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either Lianhua Qingke tablets or placebo orally for 14 days(four tablets,1.84 g,three times a day).The primary endpoint indicator was the disappearance of cough,with the remission of cough also considered.Among 482 randomized patients,480(full analysis set 480;per-protocol set 470;safety set 480)were included in the primary analysis.According to the full analysis,the time until cough disappearance was significantly shorter in the trial group than in the control group,with a significant increase in the 14-day cough disappearance rate.Accordingly,the time to cough remission was significantly shorter in the trial group than in the control group.The change in the total symptom score was significantly greater in the trial group than in the control group on days 7 and 14,consistent with the results indicated by the visual analog scale(VAS)and cough evaluation test(CET)scores.No serious adverse events were recorded during the study.Lianhua Qingke tablets significantly improved the clinical symptoms of patients with long COVID cough.

A cloud optical and microphysical property product for the advanced geosynchronous radiation imager onboard China's Fengyun-4 satellites: The first version

风云四号作为中国新一代静止气象卫星,提供了高时空分辨率的监测产品。本文介绍风云四号搭载的先进地球同步轨道辐射成像仪AGRI的云光学和微物理特性产品.该产品包含了基于双光谱通道反演的云光学厚度和云粒子有效半径产品,以及基于机器学习的云识别和云相态产品。与时空匹配的主动卫星观测结果对比显示,该产品的云识别和云相态的准确率分别在95%和85%;该产品提供的云光学厚度和云有效粒径与经典的MODIS产品的相关系数达到0.76和0.63.团队将持续优化和更新该云光学和微物理特性定量产品,服务风云四号卫星定量应用。

Knockdown of PGC1α suppresses dysplastic oral keratinocytes proliferation through reprogramming energy metabolism

Oral potentially malignant disorders(OPMDs)are precursors of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).Deregulated cellular energy metabolism is a critical hallmark of cancer cells.Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha(PGC1α)plays vital role in mitochondrial energy metabolism.However,the molecular mechanism of PGC1αon OPMDs progression is less unclear.Therefore,we investigated the effects of knockdown PGC1αon human dysplastic oral keratinocytes(DOKs)comprehensively,including cell proliferation,cell cycle,apoptosis,xenograft tumor,mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA),mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes(ETC),reactive oxygen species(ROS),oxygen consumption rate(OCR),extracellular acidification rate(ECAR),and glucose uptake.We found that knockdown PGC1αsignificantly inhibited the proliferation of DOKs in vitro and tumor growth in vivo,induced S-phase arrest,and suppressed PI3K/Akt signaling pathway without affecting cell apoptosis.Mechanistically,downregulated of PGC1αdecreased mtDNA,ETC,and OCR,while enhancing ROS,glucose uptake,ECAR,and glycolysis by regulating lactate dehydrogenase A(LDHA).Moreover,SR18292(an inhibitor of PGC1α)induced oxidative phosphorylation dysfunction of DOKs and declined DOK xenograft tumor progression.Thus,our work suggests that PGC1αplays a crucial role in cell proliferation by reprograming energy metabolism and interfering with energy metabolism,acting as a potential therapeutic target for OPMDs.

A simultaneous occurrence of pulmonary embolism and cerebral infarction following Micra^(TM)leadless pacemaker implantation

Since the successful implantation of the first cardiac pacemaker(PM)in 1958,PM has been widely used in clinical practice.With the advancement of interventional technology,PMs have become smaller and more effective.Despite continuous improvements,traditional PMs remain associated with a proportional risk of immediate-and short-term complications(9%–12%),[1]which are mainly related to electrodes or pockets.Short-term complications include pneumothorax,cardiac tamponade.

Strategies for High-quality Development of Greenhouse Vegetables in Zibo City,Shandong Province

This investigation report got a clear picture of the general situation of the development of greenhouse vegetable industry in Zibo,and found out the existing problems such as frequent harmful weather,few special varieties and high-grade varieties of greenhouse vegetables,fragmentation of new technology promotion of greenhouse vegetables,low level of intensive seedling raising of vegetables,backward level of facility planting structure and equipment,etc.This paper puts forward the strategies for the future high-quality development of vegetables:promoting the adjustment of vegetable planting structure,rationally arranging vegetables for rotation,strengthening vegetable technical guidance,and innovating vegetable consumption patterns.

Detecting the distribution of and public attitudes to charismatic alien species based on media coverage

Charismatic species are often reported by the media,providing information for detecting population status and public perception.To identify the number and distribution of free-living Black Swan(Cygnus atratus),a charismatic alien species in Chinese mainland and to detect the public and the media attitudes to the species,we analyzed the reports and emotional tendency from media coverage in 2000-2022 using manual reading,crawler extraction and latent Dirichlet allocation.A total of 6654 Black Swans were reported at 711 sites,including 147 individuals at 30 nature reserves.Successful breeding was reported at one-fourth of the total sites,including five nature reserves.The proportion of positive emotional tendency to Black Swans was overwhelming in the reports and was higher than that to alien species in general,suggesting that the public and the media are unaware of the risk of biological invasion.Effective management of invasive species requires the media clarifies the invasion risk of charismatic alien species.Promoting the unity between the harmfulness of abstract concept of alien species and the charisma of a specific alien species among the public help effective management.

Trace element compositions of pyrite and stibnite:implications for the genesis of antimony mineralization in the Yangla Cu skarn deposit,Northwestern Yunnan,China

The Yangla Cu skarn deposit is located in the central part of the Jinshajiang Suture Zone,southwest China,with a total reserve of 150 Mt Cu@1.03%.The newly discovered antimony orebodies at the depth of Yangla are strictly controlled by the stratum,structure,and lithology,which are lenticular and vein-like within the marble fracture zone,which can provide a window into multistage miner-alization and ore genesis at Yangla.Mineralization can be divided into three types,Cu–Pb–Zn(skarn)pyrite,galena,and sphalerite,Cu(porphyry)chalcopyrite and pyrite,and Sb(hydrothermal)stibnite and pyrite.The mineral assem-blages were stibnite+pyrite+calcite+quartz±minor scheelite in antimony ores.This study presents quantitative measurements of the trace element compositions of pyrite and stibnite from the Yangla antimony ores.Analysis of pyrite with electron probe microanalysis(EPMA)showed enrichment in Co,Ni,Sb,As,and Mo,and deficit in its S and Fe contents when compared to the stoichiometric con-centrations of S and Fe in pyrite.The Sb-related pyrite may belong to sedimentary-reworked genesis and may be modi-fied by hydrothermalfluids,thereby presenting a certain dif-ference(i.e.,crystal morphology,texture,and chemical com-position)compared to the skarn and porphyry Cu-related pyrite in the Yangla Cu skarn deposit.Analysis of stibnite with EPMA and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrom-etry showed enrichment in As,Pb,Sn,Pb,Cu,and Zn,and presented much higher Sb contents and slightly lower S con-tents when compared to the stoichiometric concentrations of Sb and S in stibnite.Statistical analysis of the stibnite trace elements showed correlations for the elemental pairs Cu–Pb,As–Sb,and Sn–Pb,and the coupled substitution equations Sb^(3+)↔Cu^(+)+Pb^(2+),Sb^(3+)↔As^(3+),and Sn^(2+)↔Pb^(2+)may be the major factors governed the incorporating Cu,Pb,As and Sn within the stibnite.Moreover,this study preliminary shows that the antimony mineralization may belong to a car-bonate replacement hydrothermal genesis at Yangla.

A Selective‑Response Hypersensitive Bio‑Inspired Strain Sensor Enabled by Hysteresis Effect and Parallel Through‑Slits Structures

Flexible strain sensors are promising in sensing minuscule mechanical signals,and thereby widely used in various advanced fields.However,the effective integration of hypersensitivity and highly selective response into one flexible strain sensor remains a huge challenge.Herein,inspired by the hysteresis strategy of the scorpion slit receptor,a bio-inspired flexible strain sensor(BFSS)with parallel through-slit arrays is designed and fabricated.Specifically,BFSS consists of conductive monolayer graphene and viscoelastic styrene–isoprene–styrene block copolymer.Under the synergistic effect of the bio-inspired slit structures and flexible viscoelastic materials,BFSS can achieve both hypersensitivity and highly selective frequency response.Remarkably,the BFSS exhibits a high gage factor of 657.36,and a precise identification of vibration frequencies at a resolution of 0.2 Hz through undergoing different morphological changes to high-frequency vibration and low-frequency vibration.Moreover,the BFSS possesses a wide frequency detection range(103 Hz)and stable durability(1000 cycles).It can sense and recognize vibration signals with different characteristics,including the frequency,amplitude,and waveform.This work,which turns the hysteresis effect into a"treasure,"can provide new design ideas for sensors for potential applications including human–computer interaction and health monitoring of mechanical equipment.

Nondestructive technique for identifying nuclides using neutron resonance transmission analysis at CSNS Back-n

Nondestructive and noninvasive neutron assays are essential applications of neutron techniques.Neutron resonance transmission analysis(NRTA)is a powerful nondestructive method for investigating the elemental composition of an object.The back-streaming neutron line(Back-n)is a newly built time-of-flight facility at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)that provides neutrons in the eV to 300 MeV range.A feasibility study of the NRTA method for nuclide identification was conducted at the CSNS Back-n via two test experiments.The results demonstrate that it is feasible to identify different elements and isotopes in samples using the NRTA method at Back-n.This study reveals its potential future applications.

SDH-FCOS:An Efficient Neural Network for Defect Detection in Urban Underground Pipelines

Urban underground pipelines are an important infrastructure in cities,and timely investigation of problems in underground pipelines can help ensure the normal operation of cities.Owing to the growing demand for defect detection in urban underground pipelines,this study developed an improved defect detection method for urban underground pipelines based on fully convolutional one-stage object detector(FCOS),called spatial pyramid pooling-fast(SPPF)feature fusion and dual detection heads based on FCOS(SDH-FCOS)model.This study improved the feature fusion component of the model network based on FCOS,introduced an SPPF network structure behind the last output feature layer of the backbone network,fused the local and global features,added a top-down path to accelerate the circulation of shallowinformation,and enriched the semantic information acquired by shallow features.The ability of the model to detect objects with multiple morphologies was strengthened by introducing dual detection heads.The experimental results using an open dataset of underground pipes show that the proposed SDH-FCOS model can recognize underground pipe defects more accurately;the average accuracy was improved by 2.7% compared with the original FCOS model,reducing the leakage rate to a large extent and achieving real-time detection.Also,our model achieved a good trade-off between accuracy and speed compared with other mainstream methods.This proved the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Theoretical Models on Interfacial Thermal Conductance of Nanoscale Solid Interfaces in Chips:A Mini Review

With the rapid increase in power density of electronic devices,thermal management has become urgent for the electronics industry.Controlling temperature in the back-end-of-line is crucial for maintaining the reliability of integrated circuits,where many atomic-scale interfaces exist.The theoretical models of interface thermal conductance not only accurately predict the values but also help to analyze the underlying mechanism.This review picks up and introduces some representative theoretical models considering interfacial roughness,elastic and inelastic processes,and electron–phonon couplings,etc.Moreover,the limitations and problems of these models are also discussed.

Resilience Augmentation in Unmanned Weapon Systems via Multi-Layer Attention Graph Convolutional Neural Networks

The collective Unmanned Weapon System-of-Systems(UWSOS)network represents a fundamental element in modern warfare,characterized by a diverse array of unmanned combat platforms interconnected through hetero-geneous network architectures.Despite its strategic importance,the UWSOS network is highly susceptible to hostile infiltrations,which significantly impede its battlefield recovery capabilities.Existing methods to enhance network resilience predominantly focus on basic graph relationships,neglecting the crucial higher-order dependencies among nodes necessary for capturing multi-hop meta-paths within the UWSOS.To address these limitations,we propose the Enhanced-Resilience Multi-Layer Attention Graph Convolutional Network(E-MAGCN),designed to augment the adaptability of UWSOS.Our approach employs BERT for extracting semantic insights from nodes and edges,thereby refining feature representations by leveraging various node and edge categories.Additionally,E-MAGCN integrates a regularization-based multi-layer attention mechanism and a semantic node fusion algo-rithm within the Graph Convolutional Network(GCN)framework.Through extensive simulation experiments,our model demonstrates an enhancement in resilience performance ranging from 1.2% to 7% over existing algorithms.

Multicenter Clinical Randomized Controlled Trial and Network Pharmacology Analysis of Zhenzhu Qingyuan Granules for the Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Zhenzhu Qingyuan Granules through a clinical randomized controlled trial and to analyze the potential action targets and pathways of this formula using network pharmacology.Methods Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)of liver–stomach stagnant heat pattern who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly divided into the control group and the observation group.The control group received oral rabeprazole,whereas the observation group were given Zhenzhu Qingyuan Granules in addition to the rabeprazole.The treatment duration was 8 weeks.Clinical efficacy was observed in both groups after 8 weeks.Network pharmacology was used to analyze the action targets of ZhenzhuQingyuanGranules and the genes related to GERD,and core targets were inferred.Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were conducted to explore the potential mechanisms of this formula.Results The clinical research results showed that the total effective rate in the treatment group was 92.68%,compared with 70.00%in the control group,with a statistically significant difference(p<0.05).After treatment,both Chinese medicine syndrome score and endoscopic score improved in both groups compared with before treatment(p<0.05),and the treatment group showed greater improvement than the control group(p<0.05).Network pharmacology identified effective components of Zhenzhu Qingyuan Granules for treating GERD,including quercetin,luteolin,andβ-sitosterol,with potential action targets such as tumor protein 53(TP53),protein kinase B(AKT1),and tumor necrosis factor.Conclusion Zhenzhu Qingyuan Granules can significantly improve clinical symptoms in patients with GERD of liver–stomach stagnated heat pattern,enhance clinical efficacy,and have high safety.This formula may exert therapeutic effects through multiple targets and pathways.

A Giant Granuloma of the Vocal Process after Double-Lumen Bronchial Catheter Insertion: A Rare Case Report and Literature Review

Background: Double-lumen endotracheal (DLT) is commonly used for one-lung ventilation and lung separation during thoracic surgery. There are case reports of medically induced laryngeal granulomas, mainly in patients after single-lumen endotracheal (SLT) tube intubation and tracheotomy, and giant granulomas of the vocal cords due to double-lumen bronchial tube insertion have rarely been reported. Case presentation: A 49-year-old female patient underwent single-port thoracoscopy after DLT intubation as well as a wedge resection of the lower lobe of the left lung, which caused giant vocal process granulomas (VPGs) postoperatively. Based on a retrospective analysis of the general condition, current medical history, past medical history, and visual laryngoscopic observation of the vocal folds tissue, which ruled out preoperative vocal fold granuloma formation, we hypothesized that double-lumen bronchial catheter intubation may have been the primary cause of her vocal fold granuloma formation. Conclusions: Giant granuloma of the vocal folds after DLT insertion is a rare postoperative complication;therefore, if DLT intubation is to be performed, the anesthesiologist should choose an appropriate intubation plan and deal with it promptly to avoid the risk factors to ensure that the patient’s perioperative period is safe and smooth. In addition, if postoperative complications are encountered, they should be followed up and observed on time.

A New Flexible Multibody Dynamics Analysis Methodology of Deployable Structures with Scissor-Like Elements

There are vast constraint equations in conventional dynamics analysis of deployable structures,which lead to differential-algebraic equations(DAEs)solved hard.To reduce the difficulty of solving and the amount of equations,a new flexible multibody dynamics analysis methodology of deployable structures with scissor-like elements(SLEs)is presented.Firstly,a precise model of a flexible bar of SLE is established by the higher order shear deformable beam element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation(ANCF),and the master/slave freedom method is used to obtain the dynamics equations of SLEs without constraint equations.Secondly,according to features of deployable structures,the specification matrix method(SMM)is proposed to eliminate the constraint equations among SLEs in the frame of ANCF.With this method,the inner and the boundary nodal coordinates of element characteristic matrices can be separated simply and efficiently,especially on condition that there are vast nodal coordinates.So the element characteristic matrices can be added end to end circularly.Thus,the dynamic model of deployable structure reduces dimension and can be assembled without any constraint equation.Next,a new iteration procedure for the generalized-a algorithm is presented to solve the ordinary differential equations(ODEs)of deployable structure.Finally,the proposed methodology is used to analyze the flexible multi-body dynamics of a planar linear array deployable structure based on three scissor-like elements.The simulation results show that flexibility has a significant influence on the deployment motion of the deployable structure.The proposed methodology indeed reduce the difficulty of solving and the amount of equations by eliminating redundant degrees of freedom and the constraint equations in scissor-like elements and among scissor-like elements.

Genome-wide association analysis identified molecular markers associated with important tea flavor-related metabolites

The characteristic secondary metabolites in tea(theanine,caffeine,and catechins)are important factors contributing to unique tea flavors.However,there has been relatively little research on molecular markers related to these metabolites.Thus,we conducted a genome-wide association analysis of the levels of these tea flavor-related metabolites in three seasons.The theanine,caffeine,and catechin levels in Population 1 comprising 191 tea plant germplasms were examined,which revealed that their heritability exceeded 0.5 in the analyzed seasons,with the following rank order(highest to lowest heritabilities):(+)-catechin>(−)-gallocatechin gallate>caffeine=(−)-epicatechin>(−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate>theanine>(−)-epigallocatechin>(−)-epicatechin-3-gallate>catechin gallate>(+)-gallocatechin.The SNPs detected by amplified-fragment SNP and methylation sequencing divided Population 1 into three groups and seven subgroups.An association analysis yielded 307 SNP markers related to theanine,caffeine,and catechins that were common to all three seasons.Some of the markers were pleiotropic.The functional annotation of 180 key genes at the SNP loci revealed that FLS,UGT,MYB,and WD40 domain-containing proteins,as well as ATP-binding cassette transporters,may be important for catechin synthesis.KEGG and GO analyses indicated that these genes are associated with metabolic pathways and secondary metabolite biosynthesis.Moreover,in Population 2(98 tea plant germplasm resources),30 candidate SNPs were verified,including 17 SNPs that were significantly or extremely significantly associated with specific metabolite levels.These results will provide a foundation for future research on important flavor-related metabolites and may help accelerate the breeding of new tea varieties.

Safety of hepatitis B virus core antibody-positive grafts in liver transplantation: A single-center experience in China

BACKGROUND Given the shortage of suitable liver grafts for liver transplantation, proper use of hepatitis B core antibody-positive livers might be a possible way to enlarge the donor pool and to save patients with end-stage liver diseases. However, the safety of hepatitis B virus core antibody positive(HBcAb+) donors has been controversial. Initial studies were mainly conducted overseas with relatively small numbers of HBcAb+ liver recipients, and there are few relevant reports in the population of China's Mainland. We hypothesized that the safety of HBcAb+ liver grafts is not suboptimal.AIM To evaluate the safety of using hepatitis B virus(HBV) core antibody-positive donors for liver transplantation in Chinese patients.METHODS We conducted a retrospective study enrolling 1071 patients who underwent liver transplantation consecutively from 2005 to 2016 at West China Hospital Liver Transplantation Center. Given the imbalance in several baseline variables, propensity score matching was used, and the outcomes of all recipients were reviewed in this study.RESULTS In the whole population, 230 patients received HBcAb+ and 841 patients received HBcAb negative(HBcAb-) liver grafts. The 1-, 3-and 5-year survival rates in patients and grafts between the two groups were similar(patient survival: 85.8% vs 87.2%, 77.4% vs 81.1%, 72.4% vs 76.7%, log-rank test, P = 0.16; graft survival: 83.2% vs 83.6%, 73.8% vs 75.9%, 70.8% vs 74.4%, log-rank test, P = 0.19). After propensity score matching, 210 pairs of patients were generated. The corresponding 1-, 3-and 5-year patient and graft survival rates showed no significant differences. Further studies illustrated that the post-transplant major complication rates and liver function recovery after surgery were also similar. In addition, multivariate regression analysis in the original cohort and propensity score-matched Cox analysis demonstrated that receiving HBcA b+ liver grafts was not a significant risk factor for long-term survival. These findings were consistent in both HBV surface antigen-positive(HBsAg+) and HBsA g negative(HBsAg-) patients.Newly diagnosed HBV infection had a relatively higher incidence in HBsAg-patients with HBcAb+ liver grafts(13.23%), in which HBV naive recipients suffered most(31.82%), although this difference did not affect patient and graft survival(P = 0.50 and P = 0.49, respectively). Recipients with a high HBV surface antibody(anti-HBs) titer(more than 100 IU/L) before transplantation and antiviral prophylaxis with nucleos(t)ide antiviral agents post-operation, such as nucleos(t)ide antiviral agents, had lower de novo HBV infection risks. CONCLUSION HBcA b+ liver grafts do not affect the long-term outcome of the recipients. Combined with proper postoperative antiviral prophylaxis, utilization of HBcAb+ grafts is rational and feasible.

The origin of the extraordinary stability of mercury catalysts on the carbon support: the synergy effects between oxygen groups and defects revealed from a combined experimental and DFT study

Thermal stability of HgCl2 has a pivotal importance for the hydrochlorination reaction as the loss of mercuric compounds is toxic and detrimental to environment.Here we report a low-mercury catalyst which has durability over 10000 h for acetylene hydrochlorination under the industrial condition.The stability of the catalyst is carefully analyzed from a combined experimental and density functional theory study.The analysis shows that the extraordinary stability of mercury catalyst is resulted from the synergy effects between surface oxygen groups and defective edge sites.The binding energy of HgCl2 is increased to be higher than 130 kJ/mol when adsorption is at the edge site with a nearby oxygen group.Therefore,the present study revealed that the thermal stability problem of mercury-based catalyst can be solved by simply adjusting the surface chemistry of activated carbon.Furthermore,the reported catalyst has already been successfully applied in the commercialized production of vinyl chloride.

Treatment of the acute thromboembolic event during endovascular embolization of intracranial aneurysm

Objective:The study aimed to discuss the treatment of acute thromboembolic event(TE)during endovascular embolization of intracranial aneurysms.Methods:Between April 2013 and April 2019,158 patients with 167 intracranial aneurysms were treated with endovascular embolization in our hospital,in which 9 cases of acute TEs occurred during the embolization procedures.The clinical data,radiological findings and treatments of the 9 patients were reviewed and analyzed.Results:The TEs occurred at the aneurysmal neck in 3 patients,at distal part of the parent artery in 3,in the stent in 2,and at the proximal part of the parent artery in 1.Intra-arterial(IA)infusion of tirofiban were performed in 6 patients,mechanical thromboectomy(MT)with a stent in 2 patients,and combined use of the two methods in 1 patients.According to the modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction(mTICI)score,7 patients had recanalization of 2b/3a,1 patients had recanalization of 1,and 1 patients had recanalization of 0.At discharge,the mRS score was 0 in 3 patients,1 in 3 patients,and 2,3,4 in 1 patient each.6 months after the endovascular treatment,the mRS score was 0 in 5 patients,1 in 2 patients,and 3 in 1 patient.Conclusions:IA tirofiban and MT are effective remedies for the acute TE during endovascular embolization of intracranial aneurysm,reasonable selection of which may improve the prognosis of patients.

Mechanism underlying carbon tetrachloride-inhibited protein synthesis in liver

AIM: To study the mechanism underlying carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced alterations of protein synthesis in liver. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given CCl4 (1 mL/100 g body weight) and 3H-leucine incorporation. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the liver, in vitro response of hepatocyte nuclei nucleotide triphosphatase (NTPase) to free radicals, and nuclear export of total mRNA with 3'-poly A+ were measured respectively. Survival response of HepG2 cells to CCl4 treatment was assessed by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium. Km and Vmax values of nuclear envelope NTPase activity in liver of rats treated with CCl4 were assayed by a double-reciprocal plot. RESULTS: The protein synthesis was inhibited while the MDA level was signif icantly increased in liver of rats treated with CCl4. In addition, CCl4 decreased the NTPase binding capacity of nuclear envelope (Km value) in cultured HepG2 cells. Moreover, in vitro ferrous radicals from Fenton's system suppressed the NTPase activity of liver nuclear envelope in a dose-dependent manner. Down-regulation of the nuclear envelope NTPase activity indicated a lower energy provision for nucleocytoplasmic transport of mRNA molecules, an evidence in CCl4-treated HepG2 cells correspondingly supported by the nuclear sequestration of poly (A)+ mRNA molecules in morphological hybridization research. CONCLUSION: Inhibition of mRNA transport, suggestive of decreased NTPase activity of the nuclear envelope, may be involved in carbon tetrachloride-inhibited protein synthesis in liver.