Shared and distinct prefrontal cortex alterations of implicit emotion regulation in depression and anxiety: An fNIRS investigation.

BACKGROUND: Emotion regulation deficits, particularly in cognitive reappraisal, are crucial in depression and anxiety. However, research on the neural mechanisms of implicit emotion regulation is lacking, and it remains unclear whether these mechanisms are shared or distinct between the two disorders. METHODS: We investigated the neural mechanisms of implicit cognitive reappraisal in 28 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), 25 with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and 30 healthy controls (HC) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Participants completed an implicit cognitive reappraisal task and underwent neuropsychological and clinical assessments. RESULTS: We found that MDD patients reported higher levels of rumination and lower utilization of cognitive reappraisal, while GAD patients reported reduced use of perspective-taking. Notably, both MDD and GAD patients exhibited decreased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) compared to HC participants during implicit cognitive reappraisal. Specifically, inadequate OFC activation was observed in MDD patients, while GAD patients demonstrated OFC deactivation during the task. Furthermore, DLPFC activation showed a negative correlation with depression severity in MDD patients, while OFC activation was positively correlated with perspective-taking in GAD patients. LIMITATIONS: fNIRS has limited depth and spatial resolution. CONCLUSION: Our fNIRS study is the first to reveal shared and distinct neurobiological profiles of depression and anxiety in implicit emotion regulation. These findings underscore the significance of reduced DLPFC/OFC activation in emotion regulation impairment and highlight unique OFC activation patterns in these disorders. These insights have potential implications for developing cognitive-behavioral therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation as treatment approaches.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors in axial chondroblastomas: a retrospective analysis of 61 cases and comparison with extra-axial chondroblastomas.

BACKGROUND: A comprehensive understanding of the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors associated with axial chondroblastoma (ACB) is still lacking. This study aimed to understand the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of axial chondroblastoma (ACB) and compare them with extra-axial chondroblastoma (EACB). METHODS: A retrospective review of our institution's local database was conducted, encompassing a total of 132 CB patients, of which 61 were diagnosed with ACB and 71 with EACB. Immunohistochemistry was employed to evaluate the expression levels of vimentin, S100, and cytokeratin. RESULTS: ACB and EACB shared similar characteristics, with the exception of advanced age, tumor size, elevated Vim expression, incidence of surrounding tissue invasion, and postoperative sensory or motor dysfunction. While wide resection and absence of surrounding tissue invasion consistently showed a favorable association with survival in both ACB and EACB cohorts during univariate analysis, most parameters exhibited differential prognostic significance between the two groups. Notably, the significant prognostic factors for local recurrence-free survival in the ACB cohort included the type of resection and the presence of chicken-wire calcification. In the multivariate analysis of overall survival, the type of resection emerged as a significant predictor in the ACB cohort, whereas in the EACB group, the type of resection and the occurrence of postoperative sensory or motor dysfunction were predictive of overall survival. CONCLUSION: There may exist distinct biological behaviors between ACB and EACB, thereby providing valuable insights into the prognostic characteristics of ACB patients and contributing to enhanced outcome prediction in this particular patient population.

Authenticity and species identification of Fritillariae cirrhosae: a data fusion method combining electronic nose, electronic tongue, electronic eye and near infrared spectroscopy.

This paper focuses on determining the authenticity and identifying the species of Fritillariae cirrhosae using electronic nose, electronic tongue, and electronic eye sensors, near infrared and mid-level data fusion. 80 batches of Fritillariae cirrhosae and its counterfeits (including several batches of Fritillaria unibracteata Hsiao et K.C. Hsia, Fritillaria przewalskii Maxim, Fritillaria delavayi Franch and Fritillaria ussuriensis Maxim) were initially identified by Chinese medicine specialists and by criteria in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. After obtaining the information from several sensors we constructed single-source PLS-DA models for authenticity identification and single-source PCA-DA models for species identification. We selected variables of interest by VIP value and Wilk's lambda value, and we subsequently constructed the three-source fusion model of intelligent senses and the four-source fusion model of intelligent senses and near-infrared spectroscopy. We then explained and analyzed the four-source fusion models based on the sensitive substances detected by key sensors. The accuracies of single-source authenticity PLS-DA identification models based on electronic nose, electronic eye, electronic tongue sensors and near-infrared were respectively 96.25%, 91.25%, 97.50% and 97.50%. The accuracies of single-source PCA-DA species identification models were respectively 85%, 71.25%, 97.50% and 97.50%. After three-source data fusion, the accuracy of the authenticity identification of the PLS-DA identification model was 97.50% and the accuracy of the species identification of the PCA-DA model was 95%. After four-source data fusion, the accuracy of the authenticity of the PLS-DA identification model was 98.75% and the accuracy of the species identification of the PCA-DA model was 97.50%. In terms of authenticity identification, four-source data fusion can improve the performance of the model, while for the identification of the species the four-source data fusion failed to optimize the performance of the model. We conclude that electronic nose, electronic tongue, electronic eye data and near-infrared spectroscopy combined with data fusion and chemometrics methods can identify the authenticity and determine the species of Fritillariae cirrhosae. Our model explanation and analysis can help other researchers identify key quality factors for sample identification. This study aims to provide a reference method for the quality evaluation of Chinese herbs.

Identification of Bletilla striata and related decoction pieces: a data fusion method combining electronic nose, electronic tongue, electronic eye, and high-performance liquid chromatography data.

Introduction: We here describe a new method for distinguishing authentic Bletilla striata from similar decoctions (namely, Gastrodia elata, Polygonatum odoratum, and Bletilla ochracea schltr). Methods: Preliminary identification and analysis of four types of decoction pieces were conducted following the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and local standards. Intelligent sensory data were then collected using an electronic nose, an electronic tongue, and an electronic eye, and chromatography data were obtained via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), support vector machines (SVM), and back propagation neural network (BP-NN) models were built using each set of single-source data for authenticity identification (binary classification of B. striata vs. other samples) and for species determination (multi-class sample identification). Features were extracted from all datasets using an unsupervised approach [principal component analysis (PCA)] and a supervised approach (PLS-DA). Mid-level data fusion was then used to combine features from the four datasets and the effects of feature extraction methods on model performance were compared. Results and Discussion: Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) showed significant differences in the types and abundances of volatile organic compounds between the four sample types. In authenticity determination, the PLS-DA and SVM models based on fused latent variables (LVs) performed the best, with 100% accuracy in both the calibration and validation sets. In species identification, the PLS-DA model built with fused principal components (PCs) or fused LVs had the best performance, with 100% accuracy in the calibration set and just one misclassification in the validation set. In the PLS-DA and SVM authenticity identification models, fused LVs performed better than fused PCs. Model analysis was used to identify PCs that strongly contributed to accurate sample classification, and a PC factor loading matrix was used to assess the correlation between PCs and the original variables. This study serves as a reference for future efforts to accurately evaluate the quality of Chinese medicine decoction pieces, promoting medicinal formulation safety.

Effect of ammonia-oxidizing bacterial strain that survives drought stress on corn compensatory growth upon post-drought rewatering.

A pot experiment was performed under rain-shelter conditions to explore the effects of drought stress and post-drought rewatering on the abundance of an ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) strain in corn (Zea mays L.) rhizosphere soils and the relationship between the AOB strain and corn (Zea mays L.) compensatory growth after drought stress rewatering. Corn seedlings were used as test materials, and one AOB strain was isolated and screened from the soil. The experimental design included six treatments: (1) wet (WT), (2) wet with AOB strain inoculation during wetness (WI), (3) wet with AOB strain inoculation during rewatering (WR), (4) post-drought rewatering (DT), (5) post-drought rewatering with AOB strain inoculation during wetness (DI), and (6) post-drought rewatering with AOB strain inoculation during rewatering (DR). Wetness and drought stress were obtained by keeping the soil water content at 75-80% and 50-55% of the field capacities, respectively. The results showed that the isolated and screened AOB strain (S2_8_1) had 100% similarity to Ensifer sesbaniae. The inoculation of S2_8_1 during the wet period in the DI treatment caused it to colonize the rhizosphere soil. Drought stress decreased its abundance, but rewatering resulted in a great increase. The S2_8_1 in the DI treatment increased the total biomass, water use efficiencies, net photosynthetic rates, rhizosphere soil nitrification rates, leaf cytokinin concentrations, xylem sap cytokinin concentrations, copy number of S2_8_1 in rhizosphere soils, and organic carbon contents in rhizosphere soils by 23, 104, 35, 30, 18, 29, 104, and 23% on day 10 after rewatering compared with WT treatment. In the DI treatment, the increase in rhizosphere soil nitrification rates caused by S2_8_1 during wetness was closely related to the cytokinin delivery from roots to leaves and increased leaf cytokinin concentrations. The increase in leaf cytokinin concentrations improved rewatering corn growth, which caused compensatory growth and increased water use. Compensatory and over-compensatory growths occurred in DT and DR treatments, respectively. Therefore, the coexistence of the strain of AOB with corn in rhizosphere soil increased the corn compensatory growth by regulating soil nitrification and root-induced leaf cytokinin.

[Main characteristics and practical discussions of national drug standards for 196 kinds of Chinese medicine formula granules].

As China is implementing the policy of "Announcement on Ending the Pilot Work of Chinese medicine formula gra-nules", the standard of Chinese medicine formula granules has gradually become the focus of industry development. Up to now, 196 national drug standards for Chinese medicine formula granules have been published by China, which guaranteed the production quality of Chinese medicine formula granules. However, there are still several challenges such as the rational application of national drug standards and the enrichment and improvement of varieties. The basic content of the issued national drug standards for Chinese medicine formula granules was analyzed and compared with the quality standard provisions of the corresponding decoction pieces in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition) in this paper. This paper discussed the main characteristics of paste-forming rate of each medicinal raw materials, "quantity-quality" transformation, equivalent ratio, and so on, and clarified the characteristics of the national standard for Chinese medicine formula granules. This paper provided references for achieving the unified quality control and meeting the overall quality requirements of Chinese medicine formula granules.

[Chinese medicine dispensing granules: history, status quo, and development prospect in "post-pilot era"].

Chinese medicine dispensing granules, the result of the efforts to transform Chinese medicinal decoction pieces in China, features portability and ease of storage. Thus, it is destined to be an indispensible dosage form in the modernization drive of Chinese medicine. The Announcement on Ending the Pilot Project of Chinese Medicine Dispensing Granules was released in February 2021 and relevant regulations went into force in November 2021, which marks the a new journey for the development of Chinese medicine dispensing granules and the beginning of the "post-pilot era". However, it faces the challenges in quality and standard. This study reviewed the history of Chinese medicine dispensing granules, analyzed the technical progress, market, and main problems in development, and proposed suggestions and prospects for its development in the "post-pilot era", which is expected to serve as a reference for its industry development and rational use.

LncRNA HOTAIR influences cell proliferation via miR-130b/PTEN/AKT axis in IDD.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) constitutes the pathological foundation of most musculoskeletal disorders of the spine. Previous studies have noted that cell proliferation is a common feature of IDD. Bioinformatics indicated that aberrantly expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were involved in the development of IDD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function of lncRNA HOTAIR in the proliferation of human nucleus pulposus (NP) cells of IDD in vitro and further clarified its mechanism. The expression of HOTAIR and miR-130b was quantified by qRT-PCR in nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues. Furthermore, NP cells proliferation were assayed by CCK8 and Immunostaining. Dual-luciferase reporter and RIP assay were used to examine the expression of HOTAIR, PTEN, and their co-target gene miR-130b. Western blotting was used to test AKT expression. Our in vitro experiments on human normal NP cells observed that HOTAIR was significantly dysregulated in IDD. Further, HOTAIR can suppress proliferation by directly targeting miR-130b. In addition, Both HOTAIR and PTEN were confirmed to target miR-130b, and miR-130b upregulation reversed the phenomenon of ectopic expression of HOTAIR. More importantly, HOTAIR upregulation significantly reduced CyclinD1 protein expression by PTEN/AKT signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that HOTAIR may bind to miR-130b and subsequently increased CyclinD1 expression via PTEN/Akt pathway. Thereby, HOTAIR could become a potential target for the treatment of IDD.Abbreviations : IDD; intervertebral disc degeneration ncRNAs; non-coding RNAs lncRNAs; long non-coding RNAs miRNAs; microRNAs NP; nucleus pulposus qRT-PCR; quantitative reverse transcription-PCR LBP; Low back pain ORF; open reading frame HOTAIR; Hox transcript antisense intergenic RNA FAF1; Fas-associated protein factor-1 Erk; extracellular signal-regulated kinase TUG1; Taurine Up-regulated Gene 1 HIF1A hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha PI3K; phosphoinositide-3 kinase AIS; adolescent idiopathic scoliosis ECM; extracellular matrix LN;lupus nephritis CT;computed tomography MRI; magnetic resonance imaging PBS; phosphate-buffered salin PBS; phosphate-buffered salin PVDF; polyvinylidene fluoride TBST; Tris-buffered saline Tween ECL; enhanced chemiluminescence RIP; RNA immunoprecipitation.

Metal-free regioselective nitration of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with tert-butyl nitrite.

A metal-free coupling of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with tert-butyl nitrite has been developed. Distinctly from the previous functionalization of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones, this nitration reaction took place selectively at the C7 or C5 position of the phenyl ring, affording a series of 7-nitro and 5-nitro quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones in moderate to good yields. Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that the reaction may involve a radical process.

Neural basis of implicit cognitive reappraisal in panic disorder: an event-related fMRI study.

BACKGROUND: Panic disorder (PD) is thought to be related with deficits in emotion regulation, especially in cognitive reappraisal. According to the cognitive model, PD patients' intrinsic and unconscious misappraisal strategies are the cause of panic attacks. However, no studies have yet been performed to explore the underlying neuromechanism of cognitive reappraisal that occur on an unconscious level in PD patients. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with PD and 25 healthy controls (HC) performed a fully-verified event-block design emotional regulation task aimed at investigating responses of implicit cognitive reappraisal during an fMRI scan. Participants passively viewed negatively valanced pictures that were beforehand neutrally, positively, or adversely portrayed in the task. RESULTS: Whole-brain analysis of fMRI data showed that PD patients exhibited less activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) compared to HC, but presented greater activation in parietal cortex when negative pictures were preceded by positive/neutral vs negative descriptions. Simultaneously, interactive effects of Group × Condition were observed in the right amygdala across both groups. Furthermore, activation in dlPFC and dmPFC was is negatively correlated to severity of anxiety and panic in PD when negative images were preceded by non-negative vs negative descriptions. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional dysregulation in PD is likely the result of deficient activation in dlPFC and dmPFC during implicit cognitive reappraisal, in line with impaired automatic top-down regulation. Correlations between severity of anxiety and panic attack and activation of right dlPFC and dmPFC suggest that the failure to engage prefrontal region during implicit cognitive reappraisal might be associated wtih the severity of anxiety and panic; such functional patterns might be the target of possible treatments.

Mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion associated with respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants.

Mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS) is a clinicoradiologic syndrome typically characterized by transient mild encephalitis or encephalopathy with reversible lesions being found in the splenium of corpus callosum (SCC) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A variety of pathogens including influenza virus, rotavirus, and adenovirus associated with MERS have been reported. However, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related MERS is relatively rare in infants. In this study, we report two Chinese infants who suffered from RSV-related MERS. Both infants manifested as fever, seizure, and altered states of consciousness with confirmed detections of RSV-RNA in the specimens from throat swab. Clinical symptoms/signs such as apnea and shallow breathing were also noted in these two infants. Furthermore, brain MRI images indicated reversible isolated lesions with transiently reduced diffusion in the SCC. Fortunately, both of these two infants recovered completely following treatment within a month. Our study suggests that RSV may serve as a novel causative agent for MERS in infants. Clinicians should focus more attention on RSV-related MERS in infants in order to improve early accurate diagnosis and therapeutic decision making.

Full-Endoscopic Foraminoplasty Using a Visualized Bone Reamer in the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Retrospective Study of 80 Cases.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has been widely used, before which foraminoplasty is necessary to widen the foramen for subsequent procedures. However, the learning curve of this technology is high, as the use of traditional reamers requires repeated intraoperative fluoroscopy. We sought to compare the clinical outcomes by using the visualized and traditional reamers in PELD foraminoplasty for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: Eighty patients with lumbar disc herniation who were treated with PELD between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups (40 patients in the Visualized Bone Reamer group) and (40 patients in the Traditional Bone Reamer group). Intraoperative fluoroscopy time, cannulation introduction time, visual analog scale, and Macnab criteria score were compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The mean follow-up durations were 17.41 ± 1.47 and 18.37 ± 1.69 months in the visualized and traditional groups, respectively. The average cannulation introduction time and intraoperative fluoroscopy times in the visualized group is significantly lower than those in traditional group (29.20 ± 3.31 vs. 39.85 ± 3.98 minutes, P < 0.001; and 12.30 ± 2.38 vs. 20.65 ±3.51 seconds, P < 0.001, respectively). One patient in the traditional group required reoperation, and no complications occurred in the visualized group. There were no severe durotomies or vascular or visceral injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Full-endoscopic foraminoplasty using a visualized reamer is safe and effective and can decrease intraoperative fluoroscopy time in PELD.

Scutellariabarbata D. Don extraction selectively targets stemness-prone NSCLC cells by attenuating SOX2/SMO/GLI1 network loop.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Scutellariabarbata D. Don extraction (SBE), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been proved effective against various malignant disorders in clinics with tolerable side-effects when administered alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic regimens. AIM OF THIS STUDY: Multi-drug resistance of cancer is attributed to existence of cancer stemness-prone cells that harbor aberrantly high activation of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) cascade. Our previous study has demonstrated that SBE sensitized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells to Cisplatin (DDP) treatment by downregulating SHH pathway. Yet, whether SBE could prohibit proliferation of cancer stemness-prone cells and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be investigated. In this article, we further investigated intervention of SBE on NSCLC cell stemness-associated phenotypes and its potential mode of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CCK-8 and clonal formation detection were used to measure the anti-proliferative potency of SBE against NSCLC and normal epithelial cells. Sphere formation assay and RQ-PCR were used to detect proliferation of cancer stemness cells and associated marker expression upon SBE incubation. Mechanistically, DARTS-WB and SPR were used to unveil binding target of SBE. Immunodeficient mice were implanted with patient derived tumor bulk for in vivo validation of anti-cancer effect of SBE. RESULTS: SBE selectively attenuated proliferation and stemness-like phenotypes of NSCLC cells rather than bronchial normal epithelial cells. Drug-protein interaction analysis revealed that SBE could directly bind with stem cell-specific transcription factor sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) and interfere with the SOX2/SMO/GLI1 positive loop. In vivo assay using patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) model further proved that SBE diminished tumor growth and SOX2 expression in vivo. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that SBE represses stemness-related features of NSCLC cells via targeting SOX2 and may serve as an alternative therapeutic option for clinic treatment.

Comprehensive analysis of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification during the degeneration of lumbar intervertebral disc in mice.

OBJECTIVE: To study the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification pattern of nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue during intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). METHODS: A standing mouse model was generated, and staining and imaging methods were used to evaluate the IDD model. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) was used to analyze m6A methylation-associated transcripts in the NP, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of methylation-related enzymes and conduct bio-informatics analysis. RESULTS: The standing mouse model caused IDD. Continuous axial pressure changed the expression of related methylases in degenerated NP tissue. Relative to the control group, the expression levels of KIAA1429, METTL14, METTL3, METTL4, WTAP, DGCR8, EIF3A and YTHDC1 in the experimental group were higher, while those of FTO, ELAVL1, HNRNPC1 and SRSF2 were lower. We identified 985 differentially expressed genes through MeRIP-Seq, among which 363 genes were significantly up-regulated, and 622 genes were significantly down-regulated. In addition, among the 9648 genes counted, 1319 m6A peaks with significant differences in methylation were identified, among which 933 were significantly up-regulated, and 386 were significantly down-regulated. Genes and pathways that were enriched in IDD have been identified. CONCLUSION: The results of this study elucidated the m6A methylation pattern of NP tissue in degenerated lumbar intervertebral disc of mice and provided new perspectives and clues for research on and the treatment of lumbar disc degeneration. THE TRANSLATIONAL POTENTIAL OF THIS ARTICLE: As one of the important causes of low back and leg pain, intervertebral disc degeneration brings a huge economic burden to the society, family and medical system. Therefore, understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration is of great significance for guiding clinical treatment. In this study, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing on mice lumbar nucleus pulposus tissues found that differentially expressed genes and changes in the expression of related methylases, confirming that RNA methylation is involved in intervertebral disc degeneration. The process provides new vision and clues for future research on intervertebral disc degeneration.

Development and Validation of a 6-miRNA Prognostic Signature in Spinal Chordoma.

BACKGROUND: Published data have suggested a critical role for microRNA (miRNA) expression in chordoma progression. However, most of these studies focus on single miRNA and no multi-miRNA prognostic signature has been currently established for chordoma. In this study, we sought to develop and validate a 6-miRNA risk score (miRscore) model for survival prediction. METHODS: Medline, Embase, and Google scholar searches (from inception to July 20, 2018) were conducted to identify candidate miRNAs with prognostic value as per predefined criteria. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure miRNA levels in 114 spinal chordoma (54 in the training and 60 in the validation cohort) and 20 control specimens. Subsequently, the miRscore was built based on miRNAs data. RESULTS: Literature searches identified six prognostic miRNAs (miR-574-3p, miR-1237-3p, miR-140-3p, miR-1, miR-155, and miR-1290) with differential expression in tumor tissues. Bioinformatical analysis revealed an important regulatory role for miR-574-3p/EGFR signaling in chordoma and showed that the target genes of these prognostic miRNAs were mainly enriched in transcription regulation, protein binding and cancer-related pathways. In both cohorts, the miRscore was associated with surrounding muscle invasion by tumor and/or other aggressive features. The miRscore model well predicted local recurrence-free survival and overall survival, which remained after adjusting for other relevant covariates. Further time-dependent receiver operating characteristics analysis in the two cohorts found that the miRscore classifier had stronger prognostic power than known clinical predictors and improved the ability of Enneking staging to predict outcomes. Importantly, recursive-partitioning analysis of both samples combined separated patients into four prognostically distinct risk subgroups for recurrence and survival (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest the miRscore as a useful prognostic stratification tool in spinal chordoma and may represent an important step toward future personalized treatment of patients.

[Change laws of water absorption in Chinese herbal pieces and prediction model of relative density for Chinese medicine decoction].

This study aims to explore the change laws of water absorption in Chinese herbal pieces and establish the prediction model of relative density for Chinese medicine compound decoction. Firstly, fitted equations of water absorption and decocting time was established by observing the change laws of water absorption in 36 kinds of Chinese herbal pieces in 12 groups(according to the drug-parts) with decocting time. The r value of the mineral group and other type group was 0.691 2 and 0.663 3, respectively. The r value of the remaining 10 groups was 0.802 2-0.925 4. All P values were less than 0.05(n=21). The formula of the amount of water added was optimized by combining the fitted equations with determined water absorption, and the liquid yield could be controlled in a range of 100%±10%. Secondly, it was determined that the liquid density tester could be used for the rapid determination of relative density of Chinese medicine decoction after methodological study and comparison with the pycnometer method. The linear regression equation between the corrected relative density(y) and extraction ratio(%, x) was built by measuring and analyzing the related parameters such as liquid yield, relative density and extraction ratio in 46 kinds of Chinese herbal pieces. The established equation was y=0.041 3x+1.003 7, r=0.930 9(P <0.01, n=46), with linear range of 1.94%-65.75%. Based on this, the prototype model for predicting relative density of Chinese medicine decoction was established, and the relative densities of 8 Chinese medicine decoctions were within the prediction interval of this model in verification. This study lays a foundation for database construction of Chinese medicine decoction, implementation of personalized decocting mode and rapid quality control of Chinese medicine decoction.

[Expert consensus on clinical application of Chinese herbal medicine decoction pieces (First Edition)].

Chinese herbal medicine decoction pieces(CHMDP), one of the main forms of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in clinic, have been widely used. However, the irrational use is increasingly serious due to the lack of the indicators for judging the rational use of CHMDP in medical institutions and the codes and standards for the clinical use of CHMDP. In order to regulate the rational clinical use of CHMDP, improve the clinical efficacy and ensure the drug safety for the patients, clinical pharmaceutical experts and clinical medical experts from 40 third-grade class-A hospitals nationwide were organized to give the "expert consensus on clinical application of CHMDP" in terms of prescription writing, combined use of drugs, use of special drugs, and drug use for special population. Detailed analysis and argumentation were conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations, Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition, Chinese Pharmacopoeia Code Notice for Clinical Use of Medicine, Administrative Regulations for Prescriptions, Administrative Specifications for Hospital Prescription Review(interim), and Chinese Traditional Medicine Prescription Format and Writing Specifications, as well as relevant project findings.

[A rapid identification of authenticity and specifications of Chinese medicine Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus based on E-eye technology].

The quality of traditional Chinese medicine tablets is correlated with clinical efficacy and drug safety, and plays a great role in promoting the development of traditional Chinese medicine. However, the existing traditional artificial identification and modern instrument detection in terms of accuracy and timeliness have both advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, how to quickly and accurately identify the quality of traditional Chinese medicine tablets has become a high-profile issue. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of the application of electronic eye technology in the study of rapid identification of traditional Chinese medicine quality. A total of 80 batches of samples were collected and tested by Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus for traditional empirical identification(M_1) and modern pharmacopeia(M_2). The optical data was collected from electronic eyes, and the chemical metrology was used to establish suitable discrimination models(M_3). Four authenticity and commodity specification models, namely identification analysis(DA), minimum bidirectional support vector machine(LS-SVM), partial minimum two-multiplier analysis(PLS-DA), main component analysis identification analysis(PCA-DA), were established, respectively. The accuracies of the authenticity identification models were 82.5%, 90.0%, 96.2% and 93.8%, while the accuracies of the commodity specification identification models were 89.3%, 96.0%, 90.7% and 97.3%, respectively. The models were well judged, the authenticity identification was based on the final identification model of PLS-DA, and the commodity specification was based on the final identification model of PCA-DA. There was no significant difference between its accuracy and M_1, and the time of determination was much shorter than M_2(P<0.01). Therefore, electronic-eye technology could be used for the rapid identification of the quality of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus.

Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy with lesions distributed predominantly in the entire spinal cord.

Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy has been considered a novel central nervous system autoimmune disease characterized by relapse and responsiveness to corticosteroid with a specific GFAP-Immunoglobulin G (IgG) being noted in cerebrospinal fluid. We report the case of a 21-year-old girl presenting with dysuria and weariness, who subsequently developed blurry vision, slight dysphagia, slurred speech, and sensory abnormality. GFAP-IgG was detected in her cerebrospinal fluid. Magnetic resonance imaging using both T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images revealed a rare finding of lesions distributed mainly in the entire spinal cord rather than typical brain lesions. After treating with corticosteroids, her clinical symptoms were alleviated, and the spinal cord lesion enhancement was reduced. Our observations extend the clinical spectrum of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy. We suggest that rare distributed lesions in the entire spinal cord in patients with autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy cannot be ignored by neurologists. The identification of potential atypical lesions broadens the understanding of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy.