Integrated geophysical evidence for a new style of continent-continent collision beneath the western Kunlun in the northwestern China

Along the western Kunlun-Tarim-Tianshan geoscience transect in the northwestern China, an integrated geophysical investigation was carried out. Owing to the abominable natural conditions there, the sounding profile could not cross the whole transect, consequentially, a variety of velocity structures in the transverse and vertical orientations beneath the whole transect were not obtained, such as the case within the western Kunlun orogenic belt. To supply a gap of deep seismic soundings within the western Kunlun orogenic belt, we used the Bouguer gravity anomaly data and the relationship between the compressive wave and the density to obtain the density structure of the crust beneath the western Kunlun and the southern Tarim basin by a forward fitting of gravity anomalies within the two-dimensional polygonal model of uniform medium. The crust of the Tarim basin with a rigid basement was like an asymmetrical arc, whose surface feature was the Bachu uplift in the middle of the Tarim basin. Beneath the conjoint area between the Tarim basin and the western Kunlun belt, there was a V-shape structure located just up to the top of the uplifted Moho. The multi-seismological structures jointly revealed that the face-to-face continent-continent collision beneath the western Kunlun is a new structural style within the continent-continent collision zone, which is a real model proved by the numerical modeling.

Herb induced liver injury by Xianling Gubao Tablets: A case assessed for causality using updated RUCAM and integrated evidence chain

Objective:A typical case of Xianling Gubao(XLGB)Tablets-induced liver injury was systematically studied in the clinic and the laboratory.Methods:A patient with herb-induced liver injury(HILI)and a history of taking XLGB Tablets before disease onset was engaged as the study subject,and the case was diagnosed according to the updated Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method(RUCAM)and the integrated evidence chain(iEC)method recommended by the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Herb-induced Liver Injury(HILI Guidelines).Results:Clinical history,biochemical indexes and imaging tests were used to exclude the influence of fundamental diseases and confusing liver diseases such as viral,alcoholic and autoimmune liver diseases on the diagnosis.Based on an investigation of the patient’s medication history,she was suspected to have HILI caused by XLGB Tablets,as the patient was only taking an oral preparation of XLGB Tablets,and the influence of other drugs on the diagnosis was excluded.This patient with alanine aminotransferase(ALT)3 upper limit of normal(ULN)and a calculated R of 6 was diagnosed with possible acute drug-induced hepatocellular injury.The relationship was considered“highly probable”(score of 9)using the updated RUCAM of 2016.Moreover,the fingerprint similarity between the preparation taken by the patient and a commercially available preparation was 0.99,suggesting that the patient was consuming XLGB Tablets rather than another drug.LC-MS technology and the Agilent Fake TCM-Drugs database were used to investigate the drug,and no chemical additions were found.Examination of the drug for pesticide residues,heavy metals,aflatoxins and other exogenous substances indicated compliance with the content limits of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.Conclusion:In summary,the final diagnosis of XLGB-induced liver injury reached the clinical diagnosis of HILI and was acute severe hepatocellular injury type by the updated RUCAM and iEC.Therefore,this study provides scientific evidence regarding the causality evaluation of compound preparations of traditional Chinese medicines-induced liver injury.