The analysis of eligible studies showed that the administration of green tea beverages or extracts resulted in significant reductions in serum TC and LDL-cholesterol concentrations, but no effect on HDL cholesterol was observed.

Oral isoflavone supplementation does not improve endothelial function in postmenopausal women with high baseline FMD levels but leads to significant improvement in women with low baseline FMD levels.

Sulfur compounds in two representative deep crude oils (Ha9, 6598−6710 m; ZS1C, 6861−6944 m) with distinct levels of maturity from Tarim Basin, China, were analyzed by positive-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The thiophenic and sulfidic compounds were selectively separated from the crude oils with high purity and recovery by the methylation/demethylation approach and further characterized in detail by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a sulfur chemiluminescence detector (SCD) and GC−mass spectrometry (MS). The two crude oils have a large difference in sulfur compound composition, which are both unique compared to common crude oils. A homologue series of 1,1-dimethylhexahydrodibenzothiophenes, which has been found as highly resistant organic sulfur compounds in diesel hydrodesulfurization, was detected in Ha9 crude oil. This is the first time that these biomarker-like compounds have been identified in crude oil. Thiadiamondoids (1−3 cages) with more structural isomers than reported oils as well as various acyclic sulfides, which probably derived from alkyl sulfides, were identified in the sulfidic fraction of the ZS1C crude oil, which indicates that the crude oil has an unusual geological history. The selective separation technique would offer broad prospects for geochemical research on sulfur compounds in crude oils, including their compound-specific 34 S and 13 C analyses.

A good understanding of the chemical composition of organic sulfur compounds (OSCs) in petroleum is necessary to develop suitable hydrogenation catalysts and optimize desulfurization refining processes. In this study, sulfur species in crude oils derived from different geological sources were characterized by electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The O 1 S 1 class species (with one oxygen and one sulfur atom in the molecule) strongly responded in positive-ion ESI MS and were considered as sulfoxides. These compounds were separated into polar fractions by chromatographic separation and reduced by LiAlH 4 to obtain corresponding sulfur compounds. The O 1 S 1 class species were confirmed as sulfoxides, which have similar distribution in carbon number and double bond equivalent (DBE) to sulfides in the oils. However, the molecular composition of sulfoxides in different crude oils was largely different. Polar sulfur compounds amount to a considerable proportion (>27%) of total sulfur for all investigated crude oils, while sulfoxides occupied just a small proportion (0.08−5.9% of total sulfur for the investigated oils) of the polar sulfur compounds. Other polar sulfur compounds were found resistant to hydrodesulfurization and should be explored in the following studies.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a major cause of sudden cardiac death. Mutations in the MYBPC3 gene represent the cause of HCM in ~35% of patients with HCM. However, genetic testing in clinic setting has been limited due to the cost and relatively time-consuming by Sanger sequencing. Here, we developed a HCM Molecular Diagnostic Kit enabling ultra-low-cost targeted gene resequencing in a large cohort and investigated the mutation spectrum of MYBPC3. In a cohort of 114 patients with HCM, a total of 20 different mutations (8 novel and 12 known mutations) of MYBPC3 were identified from 25 patients (21.9%). We demonstrated that the power of targeted resequencing in a cohort of HCM patients, and found that MYBPC3 is a common HCM-causing gene in Chinese patients. Phenotype-genotype analyses showed that the patients with double mutations (n = 2) or premature termination codon mutations (n = 12) showed more severe manifestations, compared with patients with missense mutations (n = 11). Particularly, we identified a recurrent truncation mutation (p.Y842X) in four unrelated cases (4/25, 16%), who showed severe phenotypes, and suggest that the p.Y842X is a frequent mutation in Chinese HCM patients with severe phenotypes.