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Objective To verify and reveal the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) of Gouqi Juhua Fang (GJ Fang) on asthenopia, this experiment studied the nourishing effect of GJ Fang by establishing the yin deficiency of the liver and kidney pattern model. Methods According to body weight, 50 male Kunming mice were randomly divided into five groups (each n = 10): normal group, model group, Qiju Dihuang Pill (QD Pill) group (3.0 g/kg), low-dose GJ Fang group (65.7 mg/kg), and high-dose GJ Fang group (131.4 mg/kg). Each morning, the intervention groups were administered corresponding medicine by gavage, and the normal group and model group were administered the same amount of distilled water by gavage, for 14 days. Each afternoon, the model group and each intervention group were given levothyroxine sodium solution (150 μg/kg) by gavage, and then the tail was clipped about 3 cm from the tip for 5 minutes, for 14 days. The general state of the mice was observed every day, and all mice were weighed on the 1st, 7th, and 14th day. On the 14th day, the temperature tropism was detected. On the 15th day, all mice were sacrificed, and the samples were collected. The thymus index was calculated; the cyclic nucleotides, thyroid hormones, sex hormones, liver function, and immune factors in serum were detected; the energy metabolism enzyme activities and oxidation levels in the liver tissue were also determined. Results Compared with the normal group, the model group showed symptoms of deficiency and heat such as weight loss, dry and hard stools, yellow urine, increased voluntary activities, irritability, active reactions, and the desire to be close to the cold environment. The symptoms both improved to a certain extent in the QD Pill group and GJ Fang group. Compared with the model group, the low- and high-dose GJ Fang group showed the following: The bodyweight of the mice was increased (P<0.05); the contents of cAMP, cGMP, cAMP/cGMP, E2/T, T4, and ALT were decreased (P < 0.05); the thymus index was increased (P<0.05); and the levels of T3 and IL-2 increased (P<0.05). In addition, the contents of MDA and the activities of Na+-++-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase decreased (P<0.05) in the liver. Conclusion GJ Fang and QD Pill both can improve internal heat and endocrine hormone disorders in yin deficiency, reduce the rate of energy metabolism, enhance the immunity and antioxidant factors level, and comprehensively relieve the state of yin deficiency in the liver and kidney, thus relieving asthenopia. Because of the safe formula and clear active ingredients, GJ Fang has the potential to be developed into a safe, stable, controllable, and pattern-differentiated product for asthenopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless network virtualization, which decouples the physical supply process and the service provisioning process, can abstract, isolate, and share the physical infrastructure network equipment. This paper studies the resource virtualization in virtual multiple-input multiple-output single-carrier frequency-division-multiple-access uplink systems, where resources are abstracted to hide the complex details of the fading channel and the link rates are virtualized using the statistical method. Furthermore, the virtual link rates are scheduled and instantiated to different slices with customized delay-bounded quality of service (QoS) provisioning. In this scheme, a physical mobile network operator (PMNO) is in charge of the network resource at the physical layer, while virtual mobile network operators (VMNOs) are responsible for the traffic admission and the slice management at the MAC layer. Furthermore, we build up the resource virtualization problem as a cross-layer Stackelberg game, which has the interactive dual processes based on the QoS exponent: top-to-down sub-game of leaders at the MAC layer and down-to-top sub-game of follower at the physical layer. Using the newly designed functions for PMNO and VMNOs, we develop an effective dynamic algorithm with an iterative dual update to meet the optimization targets of PMNO and VMNOs. Simulation results verify the superiority and stability of delay-bounded QoS guaranteed wireless resource virtualization algorithm developed in this paper in terms of convergence, access rate, and delay-outage probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent aphthous ulcers are the most common recurrent oral mucosal lesions characterized by recurrence and pain. The aim of this research is to evaluate the short-term curative effect of the traditional Chinese medicine “Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral liquid” on mild recurrent aphthous ulcers. A total of 234 patients were divided into a treatment group and a control group. Both groups used vitamin B2 as the basis of treatment. The treatment group took a Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral solution for 8 days while the control group was given a liquid placebo. The ulcer size, pseudomembrane, peripheral congestion, and pain scores of the treatment group were lower than before treatment. The curative effect on the Pudilan group was statistically significant compared with the control group. The final therapeutic effect on the treatment group was better than that on the control group. The healing time of mild recurrent aphthous ulcers can be shortened by Pudilan anti-inflammatory oral liquid, and pain is relieved without adverse reactions. Pudilan provides a new reference drug for the treatment of mild recurrent oral ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a 2102QB diesel engine was retrofitted to run on DME. The effects of EGR on the DME engine power output, DME fuel consumption, and emission characteristics were investigated. Experimental results show that, DME engine power and fuel economy are both improved. The stoichiometric air/fuel ratio of DME is 9/1. DME engine can run properly if the air/fuel ratio is leaner than that due to the introduction of EGR. Only under fuel rich conditions, DME engine power output, fuel economy, HC and CO emissions become worse. NOx emissions can be reduced easily by the use of EGR. Based on the experimental data, the specific NOx emissoin was calculated and then it was used to set the rate of EGR under the ESC 13 operating conditions. By the designed EGR strategies, the DME engine NOx emissions under ESC operating conditions meets the requirement of Euro IV and V. At the mean time, HC and CO emissions of the DME engine were evaluated. The increase of CO and HC emissions require oxidation after treatment to meet their own standards. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2014 34: 881-889, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current influenza vaccines are unable to provide effective protection in many cases, like influenza viruses strain antigenic drift or shift, and the influenza continues to cause significant annual morbidity and mortality. Improving the immune response to influenza vaccination is an unmet need. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its active ingredients are commonly known to have immunomodulatory properties. We therefore compared influenza vaccination alone or formulated with Astragali Radix (Huangqi in Chinese), and several representative ingredients of TCM, including lentinan (polysaccharide), panax notoginseng saponins (saponin), breviscapine (flavone), andrographolide (terpenoid), and a Chinese herbal compound (kangai) for their potential to enhance immune responses to influenza vaccine in mice. We found that all these TCM-adjuvants were able to increase hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation, splenic T cell differentiation, bone marrow dendritic cell maturity, and both Th1 and Th2 cytokine secretion of influenza vaccine to varying degrees, and that had the characteristics of no excessive inflammatory responses and bidirectional regulation simultaneously. Taken together, our findings show that Astragali Radix exerts a more comprehensive effect on vaccine immunity, on both innate and adaptive immunity. The effects of lentinan and andrographolide on adaptive immunity were more significant, while the effects of breviscapine on innate immunity were stronger, and the other two TCM adjuvants were weaker. As the first report of a comprehensive evaluation of TCM adjuvants in influenza vaccines, the results suggest that TCM and their active ingredients are good candidates for enhancing the immune response of influenza vaccines, and that suitable TCMs can be selected based on the adjuvant requirements of different vaccines., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhao, Chen, Wang, Zhang, Lv, Tan, Chen, Tao, Li, Chen, He and He.)

Mental health has become a new challenge in cancer treatment, with a high prevalence of depression in patients with cancer. Albiflorin (AF) and paeoniflorinn (PF) are isomers extracted from the root of Paeoniae Radix Alba (Baishao in Chinese), belonging to the monoterpene glycosides, and multiple studies have been conducted on their antidepression and anti-cancer effects. However, the effects of AF and PF on cancer-related depression are unclear. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate whether the two isomers are able to exert antidepressant-like effects and understand the underlying mechanisms in a rat model, established by combining irradiation with chronic restraint stress and solitary confinement. Our results demonstrate a significant regulation of AF and PF in the pharmacodynamic index, including the peripheral blood, organ index, behavioral traits, and HPA axis, relative to control rats. In serum and cerebral cortex metabonomics analysis, AF and PF showed a significantly restorative trend in abnormal biomarkers and regulating ether lipid metabolism, alanine, aspartate, glutamate metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, carnitine metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism pathway. Eight potential biomarkers were further screened by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The data indicate that AF and PF could effectively ameliorate a depression-like state in the model rats, and the mechanism may be associated with the regulation of the neuroendocrine immune system and disrupted metabolic pathways. Further experiments are warranted to comprehensively evaluate the antidepressant effects of AF and PF in cancer-related depression. This study provides a better insight into the action mechanisms of antidepression of TCM, and provides a new perspective for the therapy of cancer-related depression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflictof interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhao, Zhang, Zhu, He, Fei, Yue, Wang and Wang.)

Clinical studies have indicated that photodynamic therapy (PDT) significantly prolonged the median survival of patients with gliomas. Experimental studies demonstrate that increasing optical energy and photosensitizer dose leads to increased volume of tumor necrosis. However, increasing the light dose delivered to the tumor may increase the risks of inducing permanent neurological deficits. In the current study, we sought to test the behavioral deficits induced in normal rats by brain PDT and the neurorestorative effects of atorvastatin on PDT-induced behavioral deficits. Considering its potential as a combination treatment of brain tumors, we investigated both in vitro and in vivo whether atorvastatin treatment promotes brain tumor growth. Non-tumored Fischer rats received PDT (n=18). Nine of the PDT-treated animals were treated with atorvastatin. Control animals underwent the same surgical procedure, but did not receive Photofrin and laser light. PDT-treated animals had significant behavioral deficits on days 2, 5, 7, 9 and 14 after PDT, compared with surgery controls. PDT-treated animals receiving atorvastatin displayed significantly ameliorated behavioral deficits on days 7, 9 and 14 after PDT, compared to PDT-treated rats. In vitro tumor cell viability and growth were evaluated. Atorvastatin did not affect the growth of glioma cells. Fischer rats with intracranial 7-day-old 9L glioma tumor cell implantation were randomly subjected to no treatment, PDT alone, atorvastatin alone, or combined treatment with atorvastatin and PDT (6 rats/group). Our data indicate that atorvastatin did not promote tumor growth in either PDT treated and non-treated rats. However, atorvastatin significantly reduced the cell damage caused by PDT. To further test the mechanisms underlying the atorvastatin-mediated reduction of functional deficits, we investigated the effects of atorvastatin on angiogenesis and synaptogenesis. Our data demonstrate that atorvastatin significantly induced angiogenesis and synaptogenesis in the PDT-damaged brain tissue. Our data indicate that PDT induces functional deficits. Atorvastatin treatment promotes functional restoration after PDT, but does not promote glioma growth in vitro and in vivo. Atorvastatin reduces astrocyte and endothelial cell damage caused by PDT and induces angiogenesis and synaptogenesis after PDT. Thus consideration and further testing of the combination of atorvastatin and PDT for the treatment of glioma is warranted.