Effect of Chaiqinchengqi decoction on serum amyloid A in severe acute pancreatitis patients

Objective:To investigate the effect of Chaiqinchengqi decoction(CQCQD) on serum amyloid A (SAA) in severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) patients.Methods:Thirty-five participants enrolled and were randomly assigned into either a treatment condition(n=17,treated with CQCQD) or a control condition(n=18,treated with placebo) 24 hours following the onset of the disease. No statistical difference was observed in either group at baseline.Upon admission,the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation scoreⅡ(APACHEⅡ),SAA,serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6(IL-6) were measured,as well as on the first,3rd and 7lh day and were compared between the two groups.Organ complications,infection,operation rate,mortality and hospital stay were also compared.Results:The duration of acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute hepatitis,acute renal failure,gastrointestinal failure and blood coagulation dysfunction were shorter in the treatment group than in those in the control group(P【0.05).The secondary infection rates and the hospital fees in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group(P【0.05) as well as length of hospital stay(P【0.01).After 3 days of hospitalization,the APACHEⅡ,score SAA levels,serum CRP and IL-6 in the treatment group was lower than those in the control group(P【0.05).SAA was positively correlated with serum CRP(R = 0.346,P = 0.042),Ranson score(R = 0.442,P = 0.008) and serum IL-6(R=0.359,P =0.034).The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of admission SAA predict pancreatic necrosis(PN) was 0.815(95%CI:0.625-0.954;P =0.006).The best cut-off value of admission SAA was 7.85 mg/L with the sensitivity 84.6%and specificity 68.2%.Conclusions:The CQCQD can reduce the duration of organ damage through lowering the SAA in SAP patients and the SAA can early predict the PN and severity of SAP patients.

Magnetic impurity in hybrid and type-Ⅱ nodal line semimetals

We study the Kondo screening of a spin-1/2 magnetic impurity in the hybrid nodal line semimetals(NLSMs) and the type-Ⅱ NLSMs by using the variational method. We mainly study the binding energy and the spin–spin correlation between magnetic impurity and conduction electrons. We find that in both the hybrid and type-Ⅱ cases, the density of states(DOS) is always finite, so the impurity and the conduction electrons always form bound states, and the bound state is more easily formed when the DOS is large. Meanwhile, due to the unique dispersion relation and the spin–orbit couplings in the NLSMs, the spatial spin–spin correlation components show very interesting features. Most saliently, various components of the spatial spin–spin correlation function decay with 1/r^(2) in the hybrid NLSMs, while they follow 1/r^(3) decay in the type-Ⅱ NLSMs. This property is mainly caused by the special band structures in the NLSMs, and it can work as a fingerprint to distinguish the two types of NLSMs.

Kondo screening cloud in a superconductor with mixed s-wave and p-wave pairing states

We study the Kondo screening of a spin-1/2 magnetic impurity coupled to a superconductor,which is fabricated by combination of an s-wave superconductor,a ferromagnet and a semiconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling(RSOC).The proximity induced superconducting states include the s-wave and p-wave pairing components with the aids of RSOC,and the ferromagnet induces a Zeeman field which removes the spin degeneracy of the quasiparticles in the triplet states.Thus,the Kondo screening of magnetic impurity involves the orbital degrees of freedom,and is also affected by the Zeeman field.Using the variational method,we calculate the binding energy and the spin-spin correlation between the magnetic impurity and the electrons in the coexisting s-wave and p-wave pairing states.We find that Kondo singlet forms more easily with stronger RSOC,but Zeeman field in general decreases the binding energy.The spin-spin correlation decays fast in the vicinity of the magnetic impurity.Due to the RSOC,the spatial spin-spin correlation becomes highly anisotropic,and the Zeeman field can induce extra asymmetry to the off-diagonal components of the spin-spin correlation.Our study can offer some insights into the studies of extrinsic topological superconductors fabricated from the hybrid structures containing chains of magnetic impurities.

Application of UiO-66 and its composites for remediation and resource recovery of typical environmental contaminants:a review

UiO-66 series metal-organic framework materials(MOFs)are typical porous materials assembled by Zr^(4+) with a large mass-to-nucleus ratio and terephthalic acid ligands,which form tetrahedral and octahedral cages arranged in a periodic triangular window pattern.Due to the strong interaction between Zr and O,UiO-66 series MOFs exhibit high thermal stability,structural stability,and chemical stability.This article mainly reviews the applications of UiO-66 and its composites in adsorption,photocatalysis,and resource utilization,while exploring the harm of pollutants to human health and the environment.In the first part,the differences in adsorption and removal mechanisms of liquid organic pollutants,heavy metals,and volatile organic compounds(VOCs)are investigated.The results show that organic pollutants are mainly removed by physical adsorption,electrostatic interactions,hydrogen bonding,andπ-πinteractions,while heavy metals are mainly removed by chemical adsorption,electrostatic interactions,reduction,and chelation.VOCs are mainly removed by the pore volume and pore size structure of the material.Heterojunction catalysis can achieve non-toxic treatment of pollutants,and this study mainly focuses on UiO-based composite materials constructed by strategies such as semiconductor composites,ion doping,and metal/dye encapsulation.In the second part,the synergistic effect between the components of UiO-based composite materials promotes the oriented and rapid separation and transfer of earriers at the material interface,thereby promoting the generation of active species such as h^(+),·O_(2)^(-) and·OH,and achieving rapid degradation of pollutants and detoxification of heavy metals.In the third part,heterojunctions can realize the resource utilization of pollutants in water and air,producing energy-type substances such as hydrogen and methanol while solving environmental problems.In addition,this article also summarizes the harm of common typical pollutants to the environment and human health.Finally,the development prospects and unresolved problems of UiO-66-based materials in water remediation,gas purification,and environmental resource utilization are reviewed.

Progress of pyroptosis in acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis(AP)is a complex abdominal disease with high morbidity and mortality that involves a strong local and systemic inflammatory response.When AP develops into severe acute pancreatitis(SAP),it easily leads to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome,which is also one of the main reasons for death in SAP patients.[1]In the past decade,we have made substantial progress in our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism of AP.The mechanism of calcium-mediated acinar cell damage and death has been elucidated.The cytoprotective effects of the unfolded protein response and autophagy in preventing continuous endoplasmic reticulum stress,apoptosis,and necrosis has been shown.The central role of unsaturated fatty acids in causing pancreatic organ failure has also been confirmed.In contrast,we know very little about the mechanism of parenchymal cell death.[2]Early and effective regulation of pancreatic acinar cell death may be an effective treatment for AP.In recent years,a new type of cell death called pyroptosis has become an important research topic in the field of inflammation and immune diseases.Recent studies have shown that pyroptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic parenchymal cell death.Inhibiting pyroptosis can reduce pancreatic damage and has an important impact on the progression of AP.[3,4]This article reviews the research progress on pyroptosis in AP,with a focus on understanding the pathogenesis of AP and providing references for the identification of new therapeutic targets[Supplementary Figure 1,https://links.lww.com/CM9/A630].