Abstract Objective The aim of this review was to assess the benefits and harms of Chinese medicinal herbs for the treatment of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) in adult patients. Methods Our study included only randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We designed a strategy for searching the EMBASE, CENTRAL, PubMed, CBM, CNKI, and VIP. All studies were analyzed using the criteria of the Cochrane Handbook. All studies included were assessed the risk of bias. Review Manager ver. 5.3.5 was used for the data analysis. GRADE profiler was used to evaluate quality. Results Two studies were studied (74 Chinese participants were included). We found that compared with supportive therapies combined with specific therapies, Chinese medicinal formulae plus supportive therapies combined with specific therapies significantly reduced the serum creatinine levels (SCr; two studies, 62 participants: mean difference (MD), -145.93 μmol/L; 95% confidence interval (CI), -236.75 to –55.11; I2=0%) and utilization number of methylprednisolone and prednisone (two studies, 74 participants: MD, -1.64 g; 95% CI, -1.87 to -1.40; I2=0%). Conclusion Our study suggested that there were insufficient evidences to confirm that the use of Chinese medicinal formulae for adults with RPGN was beneficial and safe.

Rapid solidification of the super high-temperature Al2O3/ZrO2 melt was studied by a novel method. The melt was prepared by explosion reaction using Al and Zr(NO3)4 as raw materials and then sprayed to Cu-plate. The heat transfer during the solidification process was analyzed by one-dimensional Finite Element Analysis. The cooling rate of the melt decreased with the increasing distance from the Cu-plate. According to the microstructure evolution, the coating can be divided into four areas: amorphous, nano-crystalline, cellular and dendrite crystal layer. The amorphous and nano-crystalline (50~100 nm) layers can be obtained at the cooling rate of about 1.68~7.76 × 105K/s and 0.48~1.68 × 105K/s, respectively, while the cooling rate of the cellular and dendrite crystal layers were about 0.26~0.48 × 105K/s and 0.14~0.26 × 105K/s, respectively. The microstructure of the hypoeutectic ceramics shows that the nano-crystalline, cellular and dendritic crystals of the Al2O3 phases were embedded in the Al2O3/ZrO2 eutectic matrix.