The study, for the first time, also showed that putrescine supplementation decreased the expression and release of GnIH. These effects of upregulating GnRH-I expression and downregulating GnIH expression were confirmed by in vitro experiments using GT1-7 cells. Putrescine supplementation also increased the gonadotropin levels in the serum. To summarize, putrescine can regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis by increasing the GnRH-I, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels and suppressing GnIH levels. This is the first report showing the simultaneous effects of putrescine on the regulation of both GnRH-I and GnIH in the hypothalamus. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.BACKGROUND Cancer surveillance is important in the management of Lynch syndrome. In New South Wales, management guidelines for Lynch syndrome are published on the eviQ website. Benefits of cancer surveillance are maximized through adherence to guidelines. This has yet to be investigated in Sydney. Hence, this study aimed to determine the adherence rate of patients to these guidelines, assess their knowledge of the guidelines and determine potential factors hindering regular colonoscopies in these patients. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among Lynch syndrome patients from the St Vincent’s Hospital Cancer Genetics Unit, Sydney. Patients who appropriately fulfilled our inclusion criteria were mailed a questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed twice to increase the response rate. Demographic and medical information were collected from patient medical records. Patient responses were analysed to determine adherence to the guidelines. BB-2516 in vitro RESULTS Sixty-two individuals were invited to participate in this study. Among them, 47 responded (76%) with two being excluded, due to potential confounding factors. Thirty (67%) had their colonoscopies at recommended intervals, while 15 (33%) had delays. Within these two groups, many were ultimately deemed non-adherent to the guidelines due to over-screening with other tests. In total, 31 (69%) participants were considered over-screening for cancer, leaving only seven (16%) participants fully adherent to the guidelines. Only three (7%) had knowledge of the eviQ guidelines. CONCLUSIONS Adherence to the eviQ guidelines was poor. The majority of participants were being over-screened for cancer. Knowledge of the guidelines needs to be improved. © 2020 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.As a well-known traditional Chinese medicine formula, Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan has long been used for the routine treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the mechanism of Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan in treating Alzheimer’s disease is unclear. Therefore, a nontargeted metabolomics method based on ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry has been established to explore the metabolic variations in the urine of Alzheimer’s disease rats and investigate the therapeutic mechanism of Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan on Alzheimer’s disease. To develop a better rat model of Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid β25-35 was injected into the bilateral hippocampus of Sprague-Dawley rats. Multivariate analysis approaches were applied to differentiate the urine components between the four groups. Thereafter, a targeted metabolomics method was used to verify the identified endogenous metabolites and determine the mechanism of action of Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan. Altogether, 26 potential biomarkers were found, of which 15 biomarkers (10 of which are potential biomarkers found in nontargeted metabolomics) were identified. The results show that Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan mainly affects the pathways of taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and phenylalanine metabolism. Ding-Zhi-Xiao-Wan might play a role in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by mediating antioxidative stress, regulation of energy metabolism, improvement of intestinal microbes, and protection of nerve cells. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Swarming behavior facilitates pair formation, and therefore mating, in many eusocial termites. However, the physiological adjustments and morphological transformations of the flight muscles involved in flying and flightless insect forms are still unclear. Here, we found that the dispersal flight of the eusocial termite Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder led to a gradual decrease in ATP supply from oxidative phosphorylation, as well as a reduction in the activities of critical mitochondrial respiratory enzymes from preflight to dealation. Correspondingly, using three-dimensional reconstruction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the flight muscles were found to be gradually deteriorated during this process. In particular, two tergo-pleural muscles (IItpm5 and IIItpm5) necessary to adjust the rotation of wings for wing shedding behavior were present only in flying alates. These findings suggest that flight muscle systems varied in function and morphology to facilitate the swarming flight procedure, which sheds light on the important role of swarming in successful extension and fecundity of eusocial termites. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.INTRODUCTION To measure direct factor Xa inhibitor (apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban) concentrations, dedicated chromogenic anti-Xa assays are recommended as suitable methods to provide rapid drug quantification. Moreover, the high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) is reported as a reliable quantitative technique. We investigated seven anti-Xa assays and an HPLC-UV method for measurement of apixaban and rivaroxaban levels in patients enrolled in the START-Register. METHODS A total of 127 apixaban and 124 rivaroxaban samples were tested by HPLC-UV and the following anti-Xa assays Biophen DiXaI and Heparin LRT (Hyphen BioMed), Berichrom and Innovance Heparin (Siemens), STA-Liquid Anti-Xa (Stago Diagnostics), Technochrom anti-Xa (Technoclone), and HemosIL Liquid Anti-Xa (Werfen). Each method was performed in one of the participating laboratories Bologna, Cremona, Florence, and Padua. RESULTS Our data confirmed the overestimation of apixaban and rivaroxaban levels by the antithrombin-supplemented anti-Xa method (Berichrom).