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Tongue diagnosis is a convenient and noninvasive clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), having existed for thousands of years. Prickle, as an essential indicator in TCM, appears as a large number of red thorns protruding from the tongue. The term “prickly tongue” has been used to describe the flow of qi and blood in TCM and assess the conditions of disease as well as the health status of subhealthy people. Different location and density of prickles indicate different symptoms. As proved by modern medical research, the prickles originate in the fungiform papillae, which are enlarged and protrude to form spikes like awn. Prickle recognition, however, is subjective, burdensome, and susceptible to external factors. To solve this issue, an end-to-end prickle detection workflow based on deep learning is proposed. First, raw tongue images are fed into the Swin Transformer to remove interference information. Then, segmented tongues are partitioned into four areas: root, center, tip, and margin. We manually labeled the prickles on 224 tongue images with the assistance of an OpenCV spot detector. After training on the labeled dataset, the super-resolutionfaster-RCNN extracts advanced tongue features and predicts the bounding box of each single prickle. We show the synergy of deep learning and TCM by achieving a 92.42% recall, which is 2.52% higher than the previous work. This work provides a quantitative perspective for symptoms and disease diagnosis according to tongue characteristics. Furthermore, it is convenient to transfer this portable model to detect petechiae or tooth-marks on tongue images.

We report the whole-genome sequence of the endophytic Actinacidiphila bryophytorum strain DS3, which was isolated from the roots of the medicinal plant Dysosma versipellis . The DS3 strain genome consists of a chromosome of 8,265,668 bp, with a GC content of 72.47%, including 7,121 coding sequences.

Migraine is one of the most prevalent and disabling neurological disease. The current treatments are limited. Acupuncture is a promising complementary and replacement therapy, but further clinical evidence is needed. Besides, the influence of acupuncture on migraine is not an immediate effect, the mechanism of this effect is not clear yet. This study is to provide further clinical evidence for the anti-migraine effects of acupuncture and explore the mechanism. Herein, a randomized controlled trial (48 participants in total; 10 normal controls and 38 migraineurs) was performed. The 38 migraine patients were divided into blank control, sham acupuncture, and acupuncture. The baseline characteristics were assessed for 2 weeks before the study. After that, patients were subjected to two courses of treatment, each of which lasted 5 days, with an interval of 1 day between the two courses (11 days in total). Outcome data collection, fMRI measurement, and blood sample collection were performed before and at the end of the treatment period. Effectiveness of treatment was evaluated using pain questionnaire. The fMRI data was analysed. Blood plasma was collected for metabolomics and proteomics studies. Results showed that acupuncture effectively relieves migraine symptoms, and not merely via the placebo effect. The anti-migraine mechanism involves a complex network which is related to regulating the blood oxygen levels, reversing brain energy imbalance and regulating inflammation. Brain regions of migraineurs affected by acupuncture include the limbic system and default mode network, and regions involved in cognitive and emotional processing of pain, sleep, and attention.

It has been over 20 years since the introduction of evidence-based medicine (EBM) into the research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The development of evidence-based TCM research has profoundly influenced the process of clinical research and decision-making, impelling researchers to pay attention to raise evidence quality, accumulate data, and explore appropriate evaluation methods adaptive to TCM original theories and knowledge. In this paper, the authors aim to summarize and review the existing work and seek promising research interests in this field, expecting to inspire more thoughts leading to breakthroughs in the near future.

Poststroke thalamic pain (PSTP) is one of the most common sequelae following stroke. Analgesics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and surgical treatment are conventional treatment methods of PSTP, but these methods have limited efficacy, cost more, and cause a likelihood of adverse reactions. Clinical studies have shown that acupuncture has a significant analgesic effect on PSTP without obvious side effects. But, there is a lack of high-quality evidence concerning its effectiveness and safety to support its use. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture versus Western medicine for the treatment of PSTP to provide evidence to support clinical PSTP treatment. Searches were conducted to identify randomized controlled trials investigating the use of acupuncture for PSTP across six databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang Database, and the Chinese Scientific Journal Database VIP. RevMan 5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis. The results showed that compared with Western medicine, acupuncture had a higher total effective rate for the treatment of PSTP, reduced visual analog scale scores, increased beta-endorphin content, and decreased incidence of adverse reactions. However, the sample sizes of the included studies were insufficient, and the quality of the articles was relatively poor. In future studies, the clinical study design should be standardized and the sample size should be expanded to validate these results.卒中后丘脑疼痛(Poststroke thalamic pain, PSTP)是卒中后最常见的后遗症之一。止痛药、抗抑郁药、抗惊厥药和手术治疗是目前PSTP的常规治疗方法，但这些方法疗效有限、费用高且可能出现不良反应。临床研究表明，针刺治疗PSTP镇痛作用疗效显著，且无明显副作用，但缺乏关于其有效性和安全性的高质量证据支持其使用。本研究旨在系统评价针刺治疗PSTP的有效性和安全性，以期为临床PSTP治疗提供依据。通过检索6个数据库PubMed、Cochrane Library、EMBASE、中国期刊全文数据库(CNKI)、万方数据库(WanFang Data)及维普数据库(VIP)以获取针刺治疗PSTP的随机对照试验(Randomized controlled trials, RCTs)文献。采用RevMan5.3软件对结果进行Meta分析。研究结果表明与西药相比，针刺治疗PSTP总有效率较高，且可改善患者视觉模拟评分(VAS)、提高患者β-内啡肽(β-EP)含量、降低不良反应的发生率。然而，目前相关研究的样本量不足和数据质量不高，还需进一步规范临床研究设计和扩大样本量对结果进行验证。.

Objectives. To review the evidence of acupuncture for acute and preventive treatment of migraine for further awareness of the effect of acupuncture for migraine. Design. An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SR/MAs) for randomized controlled trials. Material and Methods. We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, VIP Chinese Journal Full Text Database, WANFANG Data, and China Biology Medicine disc from their establishment to May 27, 2018. SR/MAs of randomized controlled trials comparing the effect of the acupuncture intervention with another treatment control in migraine patients were included. Results. 428 SRs were identified, and 15 of them were included. Only 4 SR/MAs were assessed by GRADE, which showed certainty of most evidence being low or very low. Assessed by AMSTAR-2, fourteen was critically low rating overall confidence in the results, and 1 was low rating overall confidence in the results. Evidence suggested that acupuncture has a significant advantage of pain improvement, efficacy, and safety relative to blank control, sham acupuncture, or drug treatment, but some of these results are contradictory. Conclusions. We found that acupuncture on treating migraine has the advantage for pain improvement and safety, but the quality of SR/MAs of acupuncture for migraine remains to be improved.

Series Elastic Actuator (SEA) with both security and high performance is used extensively for rehabilitation robots with physical interaction. Human joints applied for motion therapy show variable ...

Objective To assess the reporting quality of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of massage, particularly whether necessary elements related to massage interventions were adequately reported. Methods A total of 8 electronic databases were systematically searched for massage RCTs published in English and Chinese from the date of their inception to June 22, 2020. Quality assessment was performed using three instruments, namely the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) 2010 Checklist (37 items), the CONSORT Extension for NPT (Nonpharmacologic Treatments) 2017 checklist (18 items), and a self-designed massage-specific checklist (16 items) which included massage rationale, intervention and control group details. Descriptive statistics were additionally used to analyse the baseline characteristics of included trials. Results A total of 2,447 massage RCTs were identified, of which most (96.8%) were distributed in China. For the completeness of CONSORT, NPT Extension, and massage-specific checklists, the average reporting percentages were 50%, 10% and 45%, respectively. Of 68 assessed items in total (exclusion of 3 repeated items on intervention), 42 were poorly presented, including 18 CONSORT items, 15 NPT items, and 9 massage-specific items. Although the overall quality of reporting showed slightly improvement in articles published after 2010, the international (English) journals presented a higher score of the CONSORT and NPT items, while the Chinese journals were associated with the increased score of massage-specific items. Conclusion The quality of reporting of published massage RCTs is variable and in need of improvement. Reporting guideline “CONSORT extension for massage” should be developed.

Paeonone A (1), a unique nonanortriterpenoid, and a new octanortriterpenoid, paeonone B (2), were isolated from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora, together with a known analogue, palbinone (3). Paeonone A (1) is the first example of naturally occurring nonanortriterpenoid with a diketo acid group. Extensive NMR and HRESIMS experiments were applied to identify the structures of 1 and 2, and their absolute configurations were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ECD data. Biological properties of 1-3 were explored against pancreatic lipase and cancer cell lines.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an empirical and subjective medical discipline. The rapid development of information technology requires the objectification of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment. A wearable pulse diagnosis device, which aims at making pulse diagnosis objective, is designed. The device utilizes 7 kind of signals to characterize human health level. This paper especially focuses on the application of sEMG signal in the analysis of muscle tension and classifies muscle tension level using the algorithm of CART. In actual wearing cases, different wearing positions will induce to big difference of sEMG signal. In order to solve the problem above, random forest is applied in a position matching method based on prior calibration. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of the muscle tension level classification algorithm with an accuracy up to 81.4%.

Background Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may improve the prognosis management of cholelithiasis patients after gallbladder-preserving lithotripsy. To explore the evidence for this view, we systematically reviewed the efficacy and safety of TCM for improving the prognosis of cholelithiasis after gallbladder-preserving lithotripsy and performed functional pathway enrichment analysis of TCM target genes. Methods In this systematic review (SRs), we searched six Chinese or international databases to collect randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of TCM in preventing the recurrence of cholelithiasis after gallbladder-preserving lithotripsy. The literature was independently screened by 2 reviewers, who then extracted the data. The Cochrane risk-of-bias and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) tools were used to assess the included studies' risk of bias and quality of evidence, respectively. And, the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses would be conducted on the TCM prescriptions in the included literature to find the effective component and mechanism of TCM in the prognosis management of gallbladderpreserving lithotripsy. Analysis in this research would be conducted by R 3.5.2 software. Results A total of 1,024 articles were retrieved, and 9 RCTs involving 926 participants were included after the step-by-step screening. The risk of bias for each important outcome in all the studies was "uncertain". The meta-analysis showed that compared with blank control, TCM prevented cholelithiasis by decreasing the recurrence rate, complications incidence, gallbladder wall thickness, and gallbladder contraction degree. But, there were no significant differences in the rate of the adverse reaction. The result of the GO and KEGG analysis revealed that the mechanism of prevention of TCM in gallstone recurrence may be related to the cholesterol metabolic pathway and that naringin from Glycyrrhiza may be the effective component in the prevention of recurrence. Conclusions Existing evidence suggests that the use of TCM may reduce the recurrence rate after gallbladder-preserving lithotripsy and this effect may be related to the flavonoid glycoside naringin from Glycyrrhiza uralensis, but more RCTs with high quality in this area may be needed to have a robust conclusion.

Series elastic actuators (SEAs) can improve the performance of robots and ensure their safety; therefore, they are widely applied in rehabilitation robots. To effectively exercise muscles in late rehabilitation training, robots utilize different impedance characteristics according to human muscle conditions. In this study, a novel real-time parallel variable-stiffness control method is proposed. The method predicts the muscle stiffness of the human body during the interaction process, and then adjusts the port stiffness of the SEA as needed to improve strength training. The impedance controller is used to meet the port stiffness and stability requirements during interactions. The predictive stiffness control method not only assesses the stiffness of human muscles in real time but also meets the constraint conditions associated with interaction stability, speed, and position. This control structure enables effective and safe strength training. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the stiffness control method based on muscle stiffness prediction can accurately match the port stiffness and provide interaction stability for effective muscle exercise.

Additional file 1. SPIRIT 2013 checklist.

Migraine is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders worldwide. Current clinical treatment mainly aims to relieve symptoms, and the outcome is primarily evaluated on subjective parameters with a lack of comprehensive and objective evaluation criteria. The development of a core outcome set (COS) may offer a solution to the problems with evaluating the outcome of treatments for migraine. A total of 57 outcome indicators were obtained from the systematic review and semi-constructed interviews. After the two-round Delphi survey and analytic hierarchy process were used to assess the weight of each outcome, 16 core outcomes of acupuncture treatment for migraine treatment were selected. The COS evaluates the degree of relief provided by acupuncture therapy in terms of pain level and symptoms and provides a comprehensive and multidimensional assessment of quality of life, sleep quality, and mental health from the perspective of pain and it presented here could guide the application and precise evaluation of treatment for migraine. Funding Statement: This research was funded by the National key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC1707604) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81674150). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Beijing university of Chinese medicine (Approval no. DZMEC-KY-2018-44).Written informed consent for publication of our research details was obtained from the patients.

Background Acupuncture is widely used worldwide, and systematic reviews on acupuncture are increasingly being published. Although acupuncture systematic reviews share several essential elements with other systematic reviews, some essential information for the application of acupuncture is not covered by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Considering this, we aimed to develop an extension of the PRISMA statement for acupuncture systematic reviews. Methods We used the PRISMA statement as a starting point, and conducted this study referring to the development strategy recommended by the EQUATOR network. The initial items were collected through a wide survey among evidence users and a review of relevant studies. We conducted a three-round Delphi survey and one-day face-to-face meeting to select items and formulate the checklist. After the consensus meeting, we drafted the manuscript (including the checklist) and sent it to our advisory experts for comments, following which the checklist was refined and circulated to a group of acupuncture systematic review authors for pilot test. We also selected a sample of acupuncture systematic reviews published in 2017 to test the checklist. Results A checklist of five new sub-items (including sub items) and six modified items was formulated, involving content related to title, rationale, eligibility criteria, literature search, data extraction, and study characteristics. We clarified the rationales of the items and provided examples for each item for additional guidance. Conclusion The PRISMA for Acupuncture checklist is developed for improving the reporting of systematic reviews of acupuncture interventions. Trial registration We have registered the study on the EQUATOR network (http://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/#91). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12906-019-2624-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bicoryanhunine A (1), isolated from the dried tubers of Corydalis yanhusuo, is the first novel dimeric benzylisoquinoline alkaloid with a 4,7′-coupled biaryl axis. This novel C-4-C-7′ linkage lead to the highest steric hindrance at the biaryl axis, giving rise to a pair of atropo-enantiomers that are well resolved into the anticipated enantiomers, (+)-bicoryanhunine A (1) and (−)-bicoryanhunine A (1), with the help of chiral-phase HPLC. Their structures including the axial configurations were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and experimental and calculated ECD investigations. Bicoryanhunine A (1) was a moderate PD-1/PD-L1 interaction inhibitor with an IC50 value of 14.3 ± 0.67 μM.

Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is a common digestive disease without specific treatment. According to syndrome differentiation, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) classified it into different syndromes and has achieved significant therapeutic effects. In this study, immune repertoire sequencing techniques combined with symptom scores, electronic gastroscopy as well as pathologic changes were used to evaluate the effect and the underlying mechanism of Modified Sijunzi Decoction (MSD) in treating CAG. The results showed that MSD could relieve CAG symptoms, improve pathologic changes in CAG with fatigue and tiredness symptom, but with no help in CAG with reversal heat symptom. Moreover, MSD could regulate immune disorders in CAG with fatigue and tiredness symptom, and 7 TCR biomarkers were explored in CAG patients with immune disorders. All these results indicated that MSD is effective in treating CAG patients with fatigue and tiredness symptom by tonifying the spleen qi, suggesting that CAG treatment based on syndrome differentiation is reasonable.

Examples of reporting items in systematic reviews for Acupuncture. (DOCX 278 kb)

Results of the pilot test of the PRISMA for Acupuncture checklist. (DOCX 27 kb)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality on a global basis. Wenxin Keli (WXKL), a formally classical Chinese patent medicine with obvious efficacy and favorable safety, plays a great role in the management of patients with CVDs. Accumulating evidence from various animal and cell studies has showed that WXKL could protect myocardium and anti-arrhythmia against CVDs. WXKL exhibited its cardioprotective roles by inhibiting inflammatory reaction, decreasing oxidative stress, regulating vasomotor disorders, lowering cell apoptosis, and protection against endothelial injure, myocardial ischemia, cardiac fibrosis, and cardiac hypertrophy. Besides, WXKL could effectively shorten the QRS and Q-T intervals, decrease the incidence of atrial/ventricular fibrillation and the number of ventricular tachycardia episodes, improve the severity of arrhythmias by regulating various ion channels with different potencies, mainly comprising peak sodium current (INa), late sodium current (INaL), transient outward potassium current (Ito), L-type calcium current (ICaL), and pacemaker current (If).

Chronic Atrophic Gastritis (CAG) is a common digestive disease without specific treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine could achieve significant effects for treatment of CAG. CAG could be divided into different syndromes according to the syndrome differentiation, which has not been widely accepted in western medicine. Our aim is to provide evidence for the existence of syndrome differentiation through comprehensive analysis, combining immunomics techniques with electronic gastroscopy, pathological examination and symptom scores evaluation. According to comparing the changes pre- and after treatment both in spleen qi deficiency and damp-heat syndrome groups, our research try to verify that treatment of TCM works only when the therapies match the corresponding syndromes; or there could be little or no effects through treatment. Clinical Trial Registry: It was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-TRC-14004088). Funding: The trial is financially supported by Natural Science Foundation of China. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that no conflict of interest exists. Ethical Approval Statement: The study was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the requirements of clinical trials by the Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China. The protocol and informed consent were reviewed and approved by the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Clinical Trials and Biomedical Ethics Committee (No. 2013-06-20).

Flower-like ZnO nanostructures were obtained by annealing flower-like ZnOHF by a simple hydrothermal route. The experiments could be carried out under mild conditions in an inexpensive and environmental-friendly way. The surface morphology and microstructure of these as-prepared ZnO nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optical property of the prepared flower-like ZnO nanostructures was investigated by room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra as well. The PL spectra confirmed that ZnO flower-like nanostructures exhibited emission band centered at 382 nm in UV region, which came from the characteristic emission of ZnO. Meanwhile, weak and broad emission peak centered at about 540 nm, which may be come from the defects existed in ZnO nanostructures.

A muscle tension training device that contains series elastic actuators (SEAs) has high safety and control performance in human–machine interaction equipment. Based on the cascade impedance controller and the electromyographic (EMG) sensor signal, this paper proposes a self-adaptive gain-scheduled algorithm. The algorithm automatically adjusts the stiffness gain value according to the muscle force. Simultaneously the stable gain function of the passivity condition can ensure the interaction stability. A cascade impedance controller is the basis for ensuring the stiffness of the port and the stability of the interaction; the gain-scheduled function is derived based on the acquired EMG signal and the pre-set muscle exercise mode. Therefore, the control structure is highly efficient, safe to use and offers diverse strength training modes. The simulation and experimental results show that the stiffness gain-scheduled controller can accurately achieve matching of the force and port stiffness. Furthermore, the interaction process ensures precise stability. The gain-scheduled method can adjust the contact stiffness in real time according to the needs of the experimenter. It changes the way muscles exercise under the original constant stiffness. This method that has a personalized exercise feature provides a new solution for improving dynamic training.

BACKGROUND: We developed an evidence-based medical record for doctor-patient relationship building through an integrated therapy of traditional Chinese and Western medicine (DPEBMR) to assess the efficacy in patients with digestive system diseases. The instrument was categorized into a doctor section and a patient section. In this article, our main goal was to test the validity and reliability of the patient’s section for DPEBMR (DPEBMR-P). METHODS: One hundred patients were recruited. Doctors and patients used a predefined format to jointly record the illness. Cronbach’s α and factor analysis were used to evaluate the reliability and structure validity, respectively. RESULTS: Cronbach’s α of all 12 items from DPEBMR-P was 0.906, which demonstrated high reliability. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.811 and Bartlett’s spherical test value was 452.2 (P

The spheroidal wave functions are investigated in the case $m = 1$. The integral equation is obtained for them. There are two kinds of eigenvalues in the differential and corresponding integral equations, and the relation between them is given explicitly. This is the great advantage of our integral equation, which will provide useful information through the study of the integral equation. Also an example is given for the special case, which shows another way to study the eigenvalue problem.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of long-term electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Zusanli (ST36) on cerebral microvessels and neurons in CA1 region of hippocampus in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). A total of 45 male Wistar rats and 45 SHR were randomly grouped, with or without electroacupuncture (EA) at DU20 and ST36, once every other day for a period of 8 weeks. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) was measured once every 2 weeks. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the number of open microvessels in hippocampal CA1 region were detected by Laser Doppler and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Nissl staining and Western blotting were performed, respectively, to determine hippocampus morphology and proteins that were implicated in the concerning signaling pathways. The results showed that the MAP in SHR increased linearly over the observation period and was significantly reduced following electroacupuncture as compared with sham control SHR rats, while no difference was observed in Wistar rats between EA and sham control. The CBF, learning and memory capacity, and capillary rarefaction of SHR were improved by EA. The upregulation of angiotensin II type I receptor (AT1R), endothelin receptor (ETAR), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in SHR rats was attenuated by electroacupuncture, suggesting an implication of AT1R, ETAR, and ET-1 pathway in the effect of EA.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Wenxin Keli (WXKL) alone or combined with Western medicine in treating ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) with heart failure (HF).We searched five databases to identify relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before May 2016. Two review authors independently searched and screened the literature, extracted the data as well as assessed the methodological quality of the included studies by using criteria from the Cochrane Handbook, and analyzed via using Review Manager 5.3 software.Eight studies of WXKL were included. The results of the Meta-analysis showed that WXKL was more significant on the frequency of VPCs (MD=-427.08, 95% CI: -526.73∼-327.43, P0.01), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (MD=-4.12, 95% CI: 2.97∼5.27, P0.01), the total effect of VPCs (RR=0.48, 95% CI: 0.34∼0.69, P0.01) and 6-min walking test (MD=28.05, 95% CI: 19.56∼36.54, P0.01). The treatment group presented a significant reduction at left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVED) (MD=-3.94, 95% CI: -6.57∼-1.31, P0.01) when treatment time was 12 weeks, however, there was no statistical difference at 8 weeks. In addition, the included trials generally showed low methodological quality.Wenxin Keli may be effective and safe for treating VPCs and HF. However, further RCTs of larger scale, multi-center/country, longer follow-up periods, and higher quality are still required to verify the efficacy of Wenxin Keli in ventricular premature beat with heart failure.

There are two kinds of recurrence relations for the spherical functions Plm. The first are those with the same m but different l. The second are those with the same l but different m. The spheroidal functions are extensions of the spherical functions. Recurrence relations of the first kind are obtained for the spheroidal functions in recent studies. Using the shape invariance method in supersymmetric quantum mechanics, we investigate the second type of recurrence relations for the spheroidal functions. The results show that the second kind of recurrence relation can not be extended to the spheroidal functions.

The integrable properties of the spheroidal equations are investigated. The shape-invariance property is proved to be retained for the spheroidal equations, for which the recurrence relations are obtained. This is the extension of the recurrence relation of the Legendre polynomials.

It is well known that observers will be accelerated when they approach the planets. Thus, discussing the properties of accelerating observers in the Schwarzschild space is of sense. For the sake of simplicity, we can construct these observers' world lines by comparing with the observers in the Hawking effect and Unruh effect, whose world lines are both hyperbolic curves in the appropriate coordinates. We do it after defining a certain special null hypersurface in the Kruskal coordinates. Our result shows that these accelerating observers defined in our paper can also detect the radiation with the analogy of the Unruh effect, though locally. Furthermore, we conjecture that, for any null hypersurface in any spacetime, the corresponding observers who can at least locally detect the radiation from it can be found., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected and figures added, the version accepted by Mod.Phys.Lett.A; published version

The entropy of an arbitrarily accelerating black hole is studied. As the metric is neither axisymmetric nor stationary, its entropy is difficult to calculate. We overcome the difficulty via introduction of a new coordinate system in which ĝ00 is zero at the event horizon's surface r = rh, and calculate the entropy locally via the improved brick-wall model, that is, the thin film model with the locally thermal equilibrium satisfied. The results confirm that the entropy is proportional to its area both in the stationary space-time and non-stationary one.

In the case of the brick-wall model for a static black hole, the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy is the contributions of the fields in the vicinity of the horizon, which sometimes is called as the improved brick-wall model, or the thin film model. According to this idea, the entropy of the ‘arbitrarily accelerating’ Kinnersley black hole is computed by using the assumption of local equilibrium near the horizon. First, by the generalized tortoise coordinate transformation we get the Hawking radiation temperature and spectrum, which indicates the particle has chemical potential originated from the acceleration of the black hole. Second, we obtain the entropy of the hole, which is proportional to its area with the same geometrical cutoff relationship as in the static case and relies on the notion of the local equilibrium crucially that can be met if the evaporation of the hole is negligible and the change of the acceleration is slow.

Given a null geodesic in Minkowski spacetime, there exists a one-parameter family of observers in 'hyperbolic' motion which approaches the null geodesic as the parameter x0 approaches zero. It is well known that the proper acceleration of the observers in the family approaches infinity as their world line approaches the null geodesic. The main purpose of this paper is to generalize this result to future-complete null geodesics in curved spacetimes.

Circadian clocks are present in most organisms to coordinate daily rhythms in physiology and behavior. The general molecular mechanisms are based on interlocked transcription-translation feedback loops driving rhythms in gene expression of a series of core clock genes. Multiple levels of regulations including transcriptional, posttranscriptional and post-translational mechanisms make circadian clock regulation more complex than once thought. Particularly, accumulating evidences have shown that miRNAs are significant players in regulating various aspects of circadian clock function. In this review, we will summarize the recent findings in the interplay of miRNAs and mammalian circadian clock and discuss future perspectives for research on the role of miRNAs played in circadian timing in health and disease.

Objective. To summarize the characteristics and analysis of relevant factors and to give references for prevention and further study of liver damage associated withPolygonum multiflorumThunb. (HSW), we provide a systematic review of case reports and case series about liver damage associated with HSW.Methods. An extensive search of 6 medical databases was performed up to June 2014. Case reports and case series involving liver damage associated with HSW were included.Results. This review covers a total of 450 cases in 76 articles. HSW types included raw and processed HSW decoction pieces and many Chinese patent medicines that contain HSW. Symptoms of liver damage occur mostly a month or so after taking the medicine, mainly including jaundice, fatigue, anorexia, and yellow or tawny urine. Of the 450 patients, two cases who received liver transplantation and seven who died, the remaining 441 cases recovered or had liver function improvement after discontinuing HSW products and conservative care.Conclusion. HSW causes liver toxicity and may cause liver damage in different degrees and even lead to death; most of them are much related to long-term and overdose of drugs. Liver damage associated with HSW is reversible, and, after active treatment, the majority can be cured. People should be alert to liver damage when taking HSW preparations.

Objective The quality and quantity of published research papers are important in both scientific and technology fields. Although there are several bibliometric studies based on citation analysis, very few have focused on research related to Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. Methods The bibliometric method used in this study included the following focuses: publication outputs for each year, paper type, language of publication, distribution of internationally collaborative countries, sources of funding, authorization number, distribution of institutes regarding collaborative publications, research fields, distribution of outputs in journals, citation data, and h-index. Results A total of 3809 papers published from 1995 to 2012 were extracted from the science citation index (SCI). The cumulative number of papers from all six universities is constantly increasing. The United States attained the dominant position regarding complementary and alternative medicine research. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the greatest participator in collaborative efforts. Research field analysis showed that the research mainly focused on pharmacology pharmacy, chemistry, integrative complementary medicine, plant sciences, and biochemistry molecular biology. The Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine had the most citations. Conclusion In recent years, in terms of SCI papers, the six Traditional Chinese Medicine universities studied here have made great advances in scientific research.

To provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical application and provoke thoughts for future researchers by conducting a comprehensive summary and evaluation of the current evidence profile for the role of Chinese medicine (CM) in treating myocardial infarction (MI). Online databases including PubMed, EMBase, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Medicine (CBM), VIP Journal Integration Platform, and Wanfang database were systematically searched for literatures on CM in treating MI. After screening, studies were categorized into 5 types, i.e. systematic review (SR), randomized controlled trial (RCT), observational study, case report and basic research. General information was abstracted, and the quality levels of these studies and their conclusions were summarized and assessed. A total of 452 studies including 10 SRs, 123 RCTs, 47 observational studies, 28 case reports, and 244 basic researches were selected. Clinical studies centered primarily on herbal decoction and mostly were not rigorously performed. High-quality studies were predominantly on Chinese patent medicines (CPMs) such as Danshen Injection (丹参注射液), Shenmai Injection (参麦注射液), Shengmai Injection (生脉注射液) and Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills (芪参益气滴丸). The most frequently observed pattern of drug combination was decoction plus injection. Results of SRs and clinical studies showed that CM may reduce mortality, decrease risk of complication, reduce myocardial injury, improve cardiac function and inhibit ventricular remodeling. Findings from basic researches also supported the positive role of CM in reducing infarct size and myocardial injury, promoting angiogenesis, preventing ventricular remodeling and improving cardiac function. According to the current evidence body, CM has proven effects in the prevention and treatment of MI. It is also found that the effects of CPMs vary with indications. For instance, Shenmai Injection has been found to be especially effective for reducing the incidence of acute clinical events, while CPMs with qi-nourishing and bloodcirculating properties have been proven to be effective in inhibiting ventricular remodeling. High quality evidence supports the use of CM injection for acute MI and CPM for secondary prevention. Reports on adverse events and other safety outcomes associated with CM for MI are scarce. Sufficient evidence supported the use of CM as an adjuvant to Western medicine for preventing and treating MI. The choice of drug use varies with disease stage and treatment objective. However, the quality of the evidence body remains to be enhanced.

DNA strand displacement which is an approach of dynamic nanotechnology has been widely used in constructing of molecular logic circuit, molecular automata and nanomedicine and so on. DNA strand displacement is enormous capable of implementation of logical calculation which plays a critical role in the acquirement of bio-computer. In our paper, the multi-digit full adder which is based on the reaction of DNA strand displacement is designed and has been verified by simulation of DSD (DNA strand displacement). The accuracy of simulation result further confirmed DNA strand displacement is a valid method for the research of logical bio-chemical circuit.

Background : Type II diabetes has become a serious threat to human health in recent years. Among adults above 20 years old in China, the prevalence rate of diabetes is 9.7%. Thus, it is imperative to study the mechanisms underlying type II diabetes to develop effective therapeutic treatments. Objective : To examine metabolic changes in a rat model of type II diabetes and explore mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in this model. 120 rats were divided into four groups, including a control group, a high-fat diet group (high-fat diet and streptozotocin injection), a TCM group (high-fat diet, streptozotocin injection, followed by TCM administration), and a rosiglitazone maleate group (high-fat diet, streptozotocin injection, followed by rosiglitazone maleate administration). Metabolites in urine samples from 1-3 weeks (time point 1) and 4-6 weeks (time point 2) of drug administration were compared by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results : Our results showed that in the high-fat diet group, at time point 2, the levels of dihydroxybenzoic acid, L-ascorbic acid, D-gluconic acid, octadecanoic acid, and glutaric acid in urine were significantly higher than at time point 1. In the TCM group, at time point 2, the urine levels of L-ascorbic acid were markedly lower than at time point 1. Conclusion : Our studies demonstrated that examining urine metabolic changes provided important insights into the mechanisms underlying type II diabetes as well as the therapeutic effects of TCM. Key words : Type II diabetes; Urine metabonomics; Traditional Chinese Medicine; Rat Model

Electromagnetic fields yielding plane symmetric metrics in higher-dimensional spacetimes are exhausted and classified. It is shown that these EM fields must fall into one of the following two cases: (i)F it =F iz =0,i=1,...,n; (ii)Ftz=0. We give the general solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations in higher dimensions corresponding to electromagnetic fields of case (ii) withF it =F iz , which covers all even-dimensional spacetimes as well as a subcase of odd-dimensional spacetimes.