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ObjectiveThis research aims to explore how Puerariae Lobatae Radix regulates sebaceous gland secretion using network pharmacology, and validate its effects on important targets through animal studies.MethodsThis study utilized UPLC-EQ-MS to analyze Puerariae Lobatae Radix extract and identify potential bioactive compounds. Predicted targets of these compounds were obtained from the Swiss Target Prediction database, while targets associated with sebaceous gland secretion were obtained from the GeneCards database. Common targets between the databases were identified and a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established using the STRING platform. The PPI network was further analyzed using Cytoscape software. Pathway enrichment analysis was performed using Reactome, and molecular docking experiments targeted pivotal pathway proteins. Animal experiments were then conducted to validate the regulatory effects of the primary active compounds of Puerariae Lobatae Radix on key pathway proteins.ResultsThis research identified 17 active compounds in Puerariae Lobatae Radix and 163 potential targets associated with the regulation of sebum secretion. Pathway enrichment analysis indicates that these targets may modulate lipid metabolism pathways through involvement in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, SREB, steroid metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism pathways. Molecular docking analysis demonstrates that puerarin and daidzein show favorable binding interactions with key targets in these pathways. Animal experiments demonstrated that the administration of Puerariae Lobatae Radix resulted in a significant reduction in the area of sebaceous gland patches compared to the control group. Histological analysis revealed notable alterations in the structure of sebaceous glands, including reductions in size, thickness, and density. Furthermore, the expression levels of TG, DHT, and IL-6 were significantly decreased in the Puerariae Lobatae Radix group (p < 0.05), and immunoblotting indicated a significant decrease in the expression of PPARG and ACC1 (p < 0.05).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that Puerariae Lobatae Radix can regulate skin lipid metabolism by targeting multiple pathways. The primary mechanism involves inhibiting sebaceous gland growth and reducing TG secretion by modulating the expression of PPARG and ACC1. Puerarin and Daidzein are identified as key bioactive compounds responsible for this regulatory effect. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of Puerariae Lobatae Radix in addressing sebaceous gland-related conditions.

In this article, the disturbance observer‐based proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control protocol is investigated for synchronization of complex networks with probabilistic interval time‐varying delays and multiple disturbances. For the sake of reducing conservatism, a method of probabilistic interval time‐varying delay is proposed by introducing two certain intervals with known probability distributions. Moreover, two different disturbances are taken into account. One of the disturbances is produced by an exogenous system which acts through the input channel, while the other is usual norm‐bounded disturbance. Simultaneously, a disturbance observer is designed to estimate and compensate the disturbance generated by the exogenous system. By constructing an appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii function, a sufficient criterion is obtained to ensure both the exponential synchronization and prescribed H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$ performance index. Finally, the simulation examples are employed to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "live streaming + charity" model is a new model for China's philanthropy, accelerating the new development of China's philanthropy, but there is still a relative paucity of research in the academic community on how charity live streaming affects online charitable donations. In this sense, this study aims to identify the construction of a model of the factors influencing charity live streaming on online charitable donations. This study selected TikTok Live, based on the UTAUT model, combining perceived risk and perceived interactivity, recovered 607 valid questionnaires, and concluded and structural equation modeling to construct an influence factor model to analyze their correlation. The results show that users' performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived interactivity, facilitating conditions, and social influence are significantly positively correlated with online charitable donations, and perceived risk does not negatively affect users' intentions to make online charitable donations. Our findings can provide a basis for live-streaming platforms and relevant social organizations and government departments to develop charity communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third and fourth epidemic waves of avian influenza A(H7N9) human infections in China showed an apparent reduction in incidence compared to the spring 2013 and winter 2013-14 epidemic waves. [...]

Some light green grossular garnets exhibit orange-red luminescence under long-wave and short-wave ultraviolet light. To characterize their luminescence behavior, we studied seven grossular garnets with typical colors ranging from light yellowish-green to intense green by using photoluminescence (PL), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). In the PL spectra of these grossular garnets samples, a broad band exists at about 589 nm and three sharp peaks appear at 697, 702 and 716 nm. The three-dimensional fluorescence spectra reveal two luminescence emissions. They are (1) a broad band near 600 nm; and (2) a series of sharp peaks centered at 697, 702 and 716 nm. In the UV–Vis spectra, two prominent asymmetrical absorption bands near 430 and 605 nm are related to Cr3+ or Cr3+/V3+, and minor absorption peaks at 408 and 419/420 nm are related to Mn2+. EMPA and LA-ICP-MS analysis confirmed the existence of trace elements Ti, V, Cr and Mn. Furthermore, the EPR spectrum excluded the existence of V2+ and V4+ and confirmed the existence of Mn2+, Cr3+ and Fe3+. Regarding V, an interesting phenomenon was reported in which the intensity of luminescence could be suppressed in grossular garnets with higher concentrations of V. These results imply that chromium and manganese are the luminescence activators in grossular garnets, and vanadium is a powerful quencher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problem of multi-robot formation control strategies in environments with obstacles based on deep reinforcement learning methods. To solve the problem of value function overestimation in the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm, this paper proposes an improved multi-agent twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (MATD3) algorithm under the CTDE framework combined with the twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm, which adopts a prioritized experience replay strategy to improve the learning efficiency. For the problem of difficult obstacle avoidance for a robot formation, a hybrid reward mechanism is designed to use different formation maintenance strategies in obstacle areas and obstacle-free areas to achieve the control goal of obstacle avoidance by reasonably changing the formation. The simulation experiments verified the effectiveness of the multi-robot formation control strategy designed in this paper, and comparative simulations verified that the algorithm has a faster convergence speed and more stable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of the adaptive synchronization control is studied for a class of stochastic complex networks with unknown nonlinear coupling strength and derivative coupling. First, in order to deal with the unknown nonlinear coupling strength, Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy method is used to transform the network model into a T–S fuzzy complex network model. Then,a fuzzy adaptive controller and the corresponding adaptive parameter update rate are designed. Subsequently, a new Lyapunov function is constructed, which is related to the derivative coupling. By employing the stochastic analysis technique and Lyapunov stability theory, a sufficient condition is given for exponential stabilization in mean square of the synchronization error system. Finally, the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results is verified through a simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are committed to finding host targets for influenza A therapeutics. The nucleoprotein (NP) plays an important role in influenza A virus replication and is an indispensable part of viral transcription and replication. Exploring endogenous substances that can modulate NP is critical for finding host targets. MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miR) are a novel class of powerful, endogenous gene expression regulators. Herein, we used miRanda to analyse the base complementarity between the NP gene and the 14 host miRNAs reported previously by us. MiRanda predicted that miR‐431‐5p, miR‐744‐3p and miR‐205‐5p could complement the NP gene. To understand the effect of these miRNAs on NP expression, we co‐transfected 293 T cells with NP gene sequence containing above miRNAs binding site or full sequence of NP gene (transfected into pmirGlo or pcDNA3.1 vectors, respectively), and mimics of miR‐205‐5p, miR‐431‐5p and miR‐744‐3p. Dual luciferase reporter gene or Western blotting assays confirmed that miR‐205‐5p and miR‐431‐5p inhibit NP expression by binding with the miRNA binding site of NP gene. Further, we infected Mouse Lung Epithelial (MLE‐12) cells overexpressing miR‐205‐5p and miR‐431‐5p with influenza A virus and performed Western blotting to examine NP expression. We found that NP expression was significantly reduced in MLE‐12 cells overexpressing miR‐205‐5p during influenza A infection. The miR‐205‐5p overexpression‐induced inhibition of influenza A replication could be attributed to the inhibition of NP expression. Further, we administered oseltamivir and Jinchai Antiviral Capsules (JC, an anti‐influenza Chinese medicine) to influenza A virus‐infected MLE‐12 cells and mice. We found that miR‐205‐5p was significantly decreased increased in infected cells and lung tissues, and oseltamivir and JC could up‐regulate miR‐205‐5p. In conclusion, we provide new evidence that miR‐205‐5p plays a role in regulating viral NP protein expression in combating influenza A and may be a potential target for influenza A therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common gynecologic neoplasms. Hypoxia is an essential trigger for activating immunosuppressive activity and initiating malignant tumors. However, the determination of the role of immunity and hypoxia on the clinical outcome of CC patients remains unclear. Methods. The CC independent cohort were collected from TCGA database. Consensus cluster analysis was employed to determine a molecular subtype based on immune and hypoxia gene sets. Cox relevant analyses were utilized to set up a risk classifier for prognosis assessment. The underlying pathways of classifier genes were detected by GSEA. Moreover, we conducted CIBERSORT algorithm to mirror the immune status of CC samples. Results. We observed two cluster related to immune and hypoxia status and found the significant difference in outcome of patients between the two clusters. A total of 251 candidate genes were extracted from the two clusters and enrolled into Cox relevant analyses. Then, seven hub genes (CCL20, CXCL2, ITGA5, PLOD2, PTGS2, TGFBI, and VEGFA) were selected to create an immune and hypoxia-based risk classifier (IHBRC). The IHBRC can precisely distinguish patient risk and estimate clinical outcomes. In addition, IHBRC was closely bound up with tumor associated pathways such as hypoxia, P53 signaling and TGF β signaling. IHBRC was also tightly associated with numerous types of immunocytes. Conclusion. This academic research revealed that IHBRC can be served as predictor for prognosis assessment and cancer treatment estimation in CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an environmentally friendly and simple one‐pot synthesis method to prepare polyaniline‐silver composite materials is presented by using glucose as the reducing agent. The structure and morphology of the composites are confirmed and characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform‐infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on the SEM micrographs, the polyaniline‐silver composites with typical morphology of intercalated nanoflowers are synthesized for the first time. In addition, the electrical conductivity, oxidation resistance, and antibacterial property of the composites are enhanced compared with those of polyaniline. This study is expected to provide insights and opportunities for improving the preparation methods and conditions of polyaniline‐silver composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical values of single markers and combination in the diagnosis, short-term efficacy and recurrence risk assessment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: Totally 50 patients with I-IVa stage ESCC, 50 healthy controls and 11 patients with recurrent esophageal cancer after comprehensive treatment were enrolled. Serum biomarkers were collected and evaluated. Serum concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before and after treatment. Results: The diagnostic efficacy ROC curve area of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE in esophageal cancer was 0.70, 0.71 and 0.64(all P <0.05), respectively, the sensitivity was 80%, 88.89% and 60% respectively, and the specificity was 53%, 58.5% and 58% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the combined detection were 68% and 78% respectively. The area under ROC curve was 0.75. CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE were significantly higher than the healthy control group and thus can be used as diagnostic markers of esophageal cancer (all P <0.05). After standard treatment, the clinical CR and PR rate of patients with positive CYFRA21-1 or NSE before treatment was significantly lower than that of patients with negative CYFRA21-1 or NSE (X2 = 4.52,P =0.03). A significant negative correlation was found between N stage and clinical efficacy (HR 2.48, 95%CI 1.07-5.73). After comprehensive treatment, the serum CYFRA21-1 and NSE levels in recurrent patients also increased significantly(all P<0.05), indicating these two markers play obvious roles in recurrence monitoring. Conclusion: CYFRA21-1 and NSE may help to predict the response of ESCC to CRT, and play important roles in the diagnosis and recurrence monitoring of esophageal cancer. These markers have a diagnostic value of esophageal cancer when combined with CEA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new event‐based pinning synchronization control strategy for complex dynamical networks with internal delay and transmission delay is investigated. By introducing prescribed performance control schemes, the transient and steady performance of synchronization errors are guaranteed simultaneously. The main results in the article show that, not only exponential synchronization is achieved, but also the transient bounded of synchronization errors is guaranteed based on Lyapunov approach. Furthermore, an efficient event‐based mechanism is derived to avoid the infinitely fast switching of the pinning node set. We also develop a new selection‐algorithm to find certain suitable nodes to be controlled and these selected nodes will be updated online at each triggering instant. At last, the simulation examples are made to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geniposide, an iridoid glycoside purified from the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis , has been reported to possess pleiotropic activity against different diseases. In particular, geniposide possesses a variety of biological activities and exerts good therapeutic effects in the treatment of several strains of the influenza virus. However, the molecular mechanism for the therapeutic effect has not been well defined. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of geniposide on influenza A virus (IAV). The potential targets and signaling pathways of geniposide in the IAV infection were predicted using network pharmacology analysis. According to the result of network pharmacology analysis, we validated the calcium signaling pathway induced by IAV and investigated the effect of geniposide extracted from Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis on this pathway. The primary Gene Ontology (GO) biological processes and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that geniposide has a multi-target and multi-pathway inhibitory effect against influenza, and one of the mechanisms involves calcium signaling pathway. In the current study, geniposide treatment greatly decreased the levels of RNA polymerase in HEK-293T cells infected with IAV. Knocking down CAMKII in IAV-infected HEK-293T cells enhanced virus RNA (vRNA) production. Geniposide treatment increased CAMKII expression after IAV infection. Meanwhile, the CREB and c-Fos expressions were inhibited by geniposide after IAV infection. The experimental validation data showed that the geniposide was able to alleviate extracellular Ca2+ influx, dramatically decreased neuraminidase activity, and suppressed IAV replication in vitro via regulating the calcium signaling pathway. These anti-IAV effects might be related to the disrupted interplay between IAV RNA polymerase and CAMKII and the regulation of the downstream calcium signaling pathway essential for IAV replication. Taken together, the findings reveal a new facet of the mechanism by which geniposide fights IAV in a way that depends on CAMKII replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a distributed state observer, the problem of output feedback synchronisation control for a class of discrete-time delayed complex dynamical networks is studied. In order to solve the energy consumption and communication constraints, dynamic event-triggered mechanisms on sensor and controller sides are proposed by introducing two internal dynamical variables, respectively. Compared with traditional static event-triggered schemes, it effectively reduces the frequency of controller and observer update. Meanwhile, the effects of quantisation occurring in both input and output channels are considered. By means of the linear matrix inequality approach, the distributed state observer and output feedback controller of delayed complex dynamical networks can be designed simultaneously. The exponentially ultimately boundedness of synchronisation errors and estimation errors of complex dynamical networks is guaranteed via the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the circuit realisations for the proposed dynamic event-triggered synchronisation control approach are given, and the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results is demonstrated through the simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BAOXIN Pill was reported to be effective clinically for chronic heart failure based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), invigorating qi and activating blood. The present study evaluated preclinically the effects of the improved dosage form, BAOXIN Granules, on cardiac hypertrophy. Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) was performed in mice to model cardiac hypertrophy by aortic stenosis for 4 weeks. The sham and TAC group were intragastrically administrated with saline as the controls. Two treatment groups were administrated orally with 10 mg/kg⋅d Enalapril (positive control) or 0.77 g/kg⋅d BAOXIN Granules for 4 weeks respectively. The effects were evaluated by echocardiography, morphology, and biological markers for cardiac function. The specific genes involved in inflammation and fibrosis were also examined for their expressions to investigate the pathways involved in early heart failure. Just as Enalapril, BAOXIN Granules administration markedly attenuated left ventricular hypertrophy and improved heart function as evidenced by echo cardiography, morphology. Accordingly, the biomarkers of the early stage heart failure, ANP, BNP and β-MHC, were decreased in the two treatment groups. We also found that mRNA expressions of some inflammatory factors and fibrosis associated genes were down-regulated in the tissue of heart after treatment. BAOXIN Granules may protect the heart from myocardial hypertrophy caused by increasing left ventricular afterload. It can suppress both inflammatory reaction and collagen deposition during pressure overload. BAOXIN Granules is advised to be tested in clinical trials for heart failure in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human brucellosis has become a major public health problem in China. However, the available clinical data on brucellosis cases are limited. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical charts of 2041 patients with confirmed human brucellosis and prospectively recorded their outcomes by telephone interview. These patients were admitted to the Sixth People’s Hospital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region between 1st January and 31st December 2014. Data on these patients were collected from hospital medical records. Results: Many patients presented with fatigue (67%), fever (64%), arthralgia (63%) and sweating (54%). High erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (69%), high C-reactive protein (CRP) (39%), high alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (33%) and high aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (20%) were the most common laboratory findings, especially in acute patients. There was evidence of focal involvement in 90% of patients. A total of 61.5% of brucellosis patients recovered. Multivariate logistic regression analyses suggested that the risk factors key to unfavorable prognosis were: age≥45 years (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.36–2.24), back pain (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.16–1.94) and joint tenderness (OR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.13–2.65). The increasing duration of the illness increased the risk of poor prognosis. Conclusion: Patients with brucellosis showed different characteristics in different clinical stages. In China, the chronicity rate of human brucellosis is high. The risk of poor prognosis is increased in patients aged 45 years or older, patients who have had brucellosis for a substantial period of time, and patients with back pain or joint tenderness. The clinical management of brucellosis should be improved to include sensitive diagnostic methods for subacute and chronic brucellosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the finite‐time control problem is studied for discrete time‐varying systems with randomly occurring non‐linearity and missing measurements. The randomly occurring non‐linearity is modelled according to a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability. The missing measurements phenomenon is assumed to occur in a random way and the missing probabilities are time‐varying with known upper and lower bounds. Two sufficient conditions are established for the existence of the state feedback and output feedback controllers, which guarantee the finite‐time stochastic stability of the closed‐loop systems. The recursive linear matrix inequality approach is employed to design the desired controller gains. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the model predictive control problem is investigated for a class of discrete-time systems with random delay and randomly occurring nonlinearity. The randomly occurring nonlinearity, which describes the phenomena of a class of nonlinear disturbances occurring in a random way, is modeled according to a Bernoulli distributed white sequence with a known conditional probability. Moreover, the random delay is governed by a discrete-time finite-state Markov chain. The approach of delay fractioning is applied to the controller synthesis. It is shown that the proposed model predictive controller guarantees the stochastic stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, a numerical simulation is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important factors which affect the properties and applications of conducting polymers, the electrical conductivity of a poly(3,4-ethylenedoxy-thiophene)/ poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) blend was adjusted by using various amount of an organic solvent (N,N-dimethyl formamide, DMF) as an additive. The conductivities of PEDOT: PSS thin films can be increased dramatically, from 1.0 S to 32.1 S cm−1, with a 2/1 volume ratio of PEDOT: PSS/DMF loading after totally removing the organic solvent by annealing the film at 80° for 48 h in a vacuum oven. The optical contrasts of transmissive and reflective devices assembled using DMF-modified PEDOT: PSS as active layers exhibited a close relationship with the conductivity of PEDOT: PSS. Interestingly, high conductivity of PEDOT: PSS enhanced the contrast of a transmissive device, while high conductivity of PEDOT: PSS decreased the contrasts of a reflective device. The underlying reason is related to the different electrochromic mechanisms of these two types of device configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT The poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) (PDMA) were synthesized through interfacial polymerization method using three various organic solvent/water reaction systems. As comparison with conventional chemical polymerized PDMA, the interfacial polymerization can produce uniform nanoparticular PDMA, especially for using high density (higher than water) solvent as organic phase. The capacitive performances of interfacial polymerized PDMA can be benefited from its uniform morphologies and loose packing structure. The specific capacitance of interfacial polymerized PDMA using carbon tetrachloride is 194 Fg−1 at current density of 50 mA cm−2, which has 59% enhancement over 122 Fg−1 of conventional PDMA at the same current density. The energy density of interfacial polymerized PDMA is 39 Wh kg−1 at current density of 5 mA cm−2 and the power density is 28,421 W kg−1 at current density of 50 mA cm−2. The energy density has improvement in different extent as comparison with that of conventional PDMA. The enhanced capacitive performances can be attributed to the increased ionic conductivity induced by the loose molecular packing structure and uniform morphology produced by the interfacial polymerization process. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40666. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays, the teaching campus websites both domestic and abroad emphasize more on teaching materials and neglect their entertainment elements. Therefore, students’ initiatives as well as the interactions between students are affected. To solve the problem, a four-layer framed campus website which integrates teaching and entertainments is proposed in this paper to bring together the efforts of teachers and students in the construction a brand new teaching and leaning platform. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Shufeng Jiedu capsules (SFJDC), a patented herbal drug composed of eight medicinal plants, is used for the treatment of different viral respiratory tract infectious diseases. Based on its antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory activity in acute lung injury, SFJDC might be a promising candidate for the treatment of COVID-19.Purpose: To evaluate the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties and to discover the mechanism of action of SFJDC as a potential drug for the treatment of COVID-19. Furthermore, the study should determine the clinical effectiveness of SFJDC for the treatment of COVID-19.Design: We analyzed the antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects of SFJDC in a HCoV-229E mouse model on lung index, virus load in the lung, the release of cytokines, and on T- and B-lymphocytes. The mechanism of action was further investigated by network analysis. Additionally, we investigated data from a clinical pragmatic real-world study for patients with confirmed COVID-19, to evaluate the clinical effect of SFJDC and to determine the best time to start the treatment.Results: SFJDC significantly reduced the virus load in the lung of HCoV-229E mice (from 1109.29 ± 696.75 to 0 ± 0 copies/ml), decreased inflammatory factors IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in the lung, and increased the amount of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in the blood compared to the model group. Network analysis revealed that SFJDC reduces the activity of NFκB via several signaling pathways. Quercetin, wogonin, and polydatin bind directly to the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2. Clinical data showed that SFJDC, added to standard antiviral therapy (AVD), significantly reduced the clinical recovery time of COVID-19 and fatigue (from 3.55 ± 4.09 to 1.19 ± 2.28 days) as well as cough (from 5.67 ± 5.64 to 3.47 ± 3.75) days compared to AVD alone. SFJDC therapy was significantly more effective when used within the first 8 days after the onset of symptoms.Conclusion: SFJDC might be a promising drug for the treatment of COVID-19, but large-scale randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials are needed to complement the real-world evidence. It might be beneficial to start SFJDC treatment as early as possible in suspected cases of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of finite-time adaptive synchronization is investigated for two different delayed neural networks with unknown parameters. Two adaptive control approaches are designed in order to synchronize the neural networks in finite time. The first controller fully involves the information of time-varying delay and the second one is delay-independent under the case that time-varying delay is unknown. By utilizing the Lyapunov stability theory, sufficient conditions are proposed to guarantee the finite-time synchronization of the addressed neural networks. In addition, the settling time for synchronization is estimated. Finally, two numerical simulations are used to illustrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]