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Background and purpose: Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major factor underlying the high mortality and morbidity rates in stroke patients. Our previous study found that the combination of Astragalus membranaceus extract and ligustrazine (Ast+Lig) treatment could protect brain tissues against inflammation in rats with thrombolytic cerebral ischemia. Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) is implicated in brain damage induced by cerebral I/R injury. Methods:We used in vivo and in vitro models of cerebral I/R injury for middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion in mice and oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation in primary rat cerebral cortical neurons to evaluate the protective effects of Ast+Lig on cerebral I/R injury, and whether the protective mechanism was related to the regulation of NMDAR-ERK/CREB signaling.Results: Treatment with Ast+Lig, or MK-801 (an inhibitor of NMDAR) significantly ameliorated neurological deficits, decreased infarct volumes, suppressed neuronal damage and Ca 2+ influx, and maintained the mitochondrial membrane potential in vivo and in vitro following cerebral I/R injury based on 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride staining, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescent staining. Furthermore, treatment with Ast+Lig evidently prevented the upregulation of NR2B, but not NR2A, in vivo and in vitro following cerebral I/R injury based on western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analyses. Moreover, treatment with Ast+Lig significantly increased the phosphorylation of ERK and CREB, as well as increasing their mRNA expression levels in vivo and in vitro following cerebral I/R injury.

Background: There are currently two treatment strategies mainly for high-risk patients: percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) and aggressive medical management (AMM). However, the choice between PTAS or AMM remains controversial for patients with stroke or intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). Methods: The investigators searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane library databases. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the PTAS and AMM for patients with stroke or ICAS were selected. RevMan 5.3 was used to analyze the results and risk of bias. The primary endpoints are stroke and death within 30 days after enrollment, or ischemic stroke in the territory of the qualifying artery beyond 30 days, and entire follow-up endpoints. The secondary outcomes were the disabling or fatal stroke, and incidence of death within 3 years. Results: Four studies, 989 patients were included in this article. The AMM group was superior in the entire follow-up endpoint (OR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.79). The AMM also better in primary endpoint within 30 days (OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.61). There was no significant difference beyond 30 days (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.63, 1.86). The remaining outcomes, such as stroke and death, were not significantly different (P>0.05). Conclusion: This meta-analysis shows AMM is significantly more effective than PTAS in subjects with ICAS because of the high rate of periprocedural OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.61) and entire follow-up (OR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.79) stroke from PTAS and the fact that PTAS offers no benefit over AMM beyond 30 days (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.63, 1.86).

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Social satisfaction has become an important factor to help an enterprise succeed. A new way to measure social satisfaction called social license has been proposed recently. Based on the concept of CSR (Cooperation Social Responsibility), SLO (Social License to Operate) was put forward in the 1990s. However, the concept of SLO was just used in a limited range of industries such as the mining industry. Yet this concept has not been well developed or utilized in cases like site selecting analysis and satisfaction survey. In this study, SLO will be explained and tested in the food industry and a specific survey will be done to analyze the feasibility of this concept as well as crucial factors that influence the assess of social satisfaction. There is ample evidence suggesting that the SLO, as a measurement of social satisfaction, is quite supportive in decision making for food industry companies.