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Background Euphorbia lathyris L., a Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is commonly used for the treatment of hydropsy, ascites, constipation, amenorrhea, and scabies. Semen Euphorbiae Pulveratum, which is another type of Euphorbia lathyris that is commonly used in TCM practice and is obtained by removing the oil from the seed that is called paozhi, has been known to ease diarrhea. Whereas, the mechanisms of reducing intestinal toxicity have not been clearly investigated yet. Methods In this study, the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) in combination with the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomic method was applied to investigate the effects of Euphorbia lathyris L. on the protein expression involved in intestinal metabolism, in order to illustrate the potential attenuated mechanism of Euphorbia lathyris L. processing. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the intestine after treated with Semen Euphorbiae (SE), Semen Euphorbiae Pulveratum (SEP) and Euphorbiae Factor 1 (EFL1) were identified. The bioinformatics analysis including GO analysis, pathway analysis, and network analysis were done to analyze the key metabolic pathways underlying the attenuation mechanism through protein network in diarrhea. Western blot were performed to validate selected protein and the related pathways. Results A number of differentially expressed proteins that may be associated with intestinal inflammation were identified. They mainly constituted by part of the cell. The expression sites of them located within cells and organelles. G protein and Eph/Ephrin signal pathway were controlled jointly by SEP and SE. After processing, the extraction of SEP were mainly reflected in the process of cytoskeleton, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. Conclusions These findings suggest that SE induced an inflammatory response, and activated the Interleukin signaling pathway, such as the Ang/Tie 2 and JAK2/ STAT signaling pathways, which may eventually contribute to injury result from intestinal inflammatory, while SEP could alleviate this injury by down-regulating STAT1 and activating Ang-4 that might reduce the inflammatory response. Our results demonstrated the importance of Ang-4 and STAT1 expression, which are the target proteins in the attenuated of SE after processing based on proteomic investigation. Thus iTRAQ might be a novel candidate method to study scientific connotation of hypothesis that the attenuated of SE after processing expressed lower toxicity from cellular levels.

Notopterol, isoimperatorin, volatile oil and extract （water and ethanol) were used as the research objects in this study to investigate the effects of different softening method, slice thickness and drying methods on the quality of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices, and the experimental data were analyzed by homogeneous distance evaluation method. The results showed that different softening, cutting and drying processes could affect the content of five components in Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix incisum. The best processing technology of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices was as follows: non-medicinal parts were removed; mildewed and rot as well as moth-eaten parts were removed; washed by the flowing drinking water; stacked in the drug pool; moistening method was used for softening, where 1/8 volume of water was sprayed for every 1 kg of herbs every 2 h; upper part of herbs covered with clean and moist cotton, and cut into thick slices (2-4 mm) after 12 h moistening until appropriate softness, then received blast drying for 4 h at 50 ℃, and turned over for 2 times during the drying. The process is practical and provides the experimental basis for the standardization of the processing of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix, with great significance to improve the quality of Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix slices.

Study on the standardization of Chinese materia medica is an important action for modernization and globalization for traditional Chinese medicine. Standardization on the processing of Chinese herbal pieces is an important part in the study on standardization of Chinese materia medica, so it is of great significance to establish the technical processing standards of Angelicae Sinensis Radix pieces for improving its quality. In this study, single factor experiment was designed to optimize the softening, cutting and drying processes of Angelicae Sinensis Radix. With ferulic acid, Angelicae Sinensis Radix polysaccharide, volatile oil and extracts (water and ethanol) content as the quality index, the effects of different softening, cutting and drying processes on the contents of the five components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix were analyzed, and the normalized distance evaluation method was used to analyze the experimental data. The results showed that the content of five components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix was affected by different softening methods and drying temperature, but the thickness of slice had little effect on the content. The best preparation process for Angelicae Sinensis Radix was as follows: Non-medicinal parts were removed; mildewed and rot as well as moth-eaten parts were removed; washed by the flowing drinking water; stacked in the drug pool; moistening method was used for softening, where 125 mL water was sprayed for every 1 kg of herbs every 2.5 h; upper part of herbs covered with clean and moist cotton, and cut into thin slices (1-2 mm) after 15 h moistening until appropriate softness, with disk thickness of 1-2 cm, then received blast drying for 6 h at 55 ℃, and turned over for 2 times during the drying.

A new, simple and compact experimental laser scanning imaging system is introduced for underwater imaging, and the characteristics of the system are analyzed in this paper. The system consists of the illuminator, optical scanning system, optical receiving system, narrow band filters, high-sensitivity gated image sensor, synchronous control and data acquisition system and power supply and cooling system. The illuminator is a lump-pumped, Q-switched, frequency doubled Nd:YAG pulsed laser operating at 532 nm with a frequency of 50 Hz. The receiver is a self-made gated intensified charge coupled device (ICCD). As a result, gated super Gen-II image intensifier and PAL format charge-coupled device (CCD) camera are assembled to meet the requirements. The coupling gated ICCD has a sensitivity of approximated 10 -5 lx, and the minimum gate width can reach to 40 ns. And a set of scanning structure which only uses one mirror is used in the experimental system. In addition, the performance parameters are listed. Finally, the detection capabilities of the imaging system are theoretically analyzed in typical seawater. The analysis indicates that the detection depth of the system can reach to 16 m in the clear seawater.