Comparative studies on the toxicological, antiinflammatory and analgesic properties of three sources of Xuedan in mice and their rapid identification by electronic tongue

Purpose: To compare the toxicological, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of three sources of Xuedan, viz, Hemsleya omeiensis (HO), Hemsleya giganth (HG) and Hemsleya dolichocarpa (HD) in mice, and to study their rapid identification based on electronic tongue (E-tongue).Methods: After 7 days of administration, the median lethal doses (LD50) of the three xuedan decoctions in mice were determined. In addition, the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the three xuedans were evaluated in mice using xylene-induced ear edema and acetic acid-induced pain. Furthermore, Etongue technology was used to identify HO, HG and HD. Principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant factor analysis (DFA) were used to analyze the data acquired by E-tongue.Results: The median lethal dose (LD50) values of H. omeiensis, H. gigantha and H. dolichocarpa were 32.3, 17.4 and 13.7g/kg, respectively. Compared with normal control group, the anti-inflammatory effects of Xuedan were obvious in xylene-induced ear edema (p < 0.05), and pain sensation was significantly inhibited in acetic acid-induced writhing test (p < 0.05). Furthermore, E-tongue technology effectively identified HO, HG and HD.Conclusion: H. omeiensis exhibits the highest LD50 value and best analgesic effect among the three sources of xuedan. E-tongue technology is effective and rapid in identifying HO, HG and HD.Keywords: Xuedan, Hemsleya omeiensis, Hemsleya gigantha, Hemsleya dolichocarpa, Antiinflammation, Analgesia, Electronic tongu

Effect of solvent fractions of crude extract of Liushenqu on gastrointestinal motility in guinea pigs, and the underlying mechanism(s)

Purpose: To study the effect of solvent fractions of the crude extract of liushenqu on gastrointestinal motility in guinea pigs, and the mechanism of action. Methods: The effects of solvent fractions of crude extract of liushenqu (LSQ) on receptors in guinea pig isolated small intestinal cells were determined by treatment with different receptor blockers, including diphenhydramine (0.067 mg/mL), atropine sulfate (0.064 mg/mL), propranolol hydrochloride (0.033mg/mL), phentolamine mesylate (0.04mg/mL) and ondansetron hydrochloride (0.048mg/mL), to investigate the possible pharmacological mechanism of action. Results: There was no significant change in the maximum amplitude of muscle tension before and after administration in the control group, petroleum ether fraction group, and dichlormethane fraction group, while muscle tension in the 95 % ethanol and n-butanol fractions significantly increased (p < 0.01). The mean changes in tension were significantly different from that of control group (p < 0.01), but ethyl acetate fraction showed significant intestinal muscle inhibition (p < 0.01). Addition of LSQ did not alleviate the inhibition caused by diphenhydramine, but it significantly reversed the inhibition caused by blockers of cholinergic muscarinic receptor, adrenergic alpha- and beta- receptors, and 5-HT receptor (p < 0.01). Conclusion: These results indicate that n-butanol fraction is the most effective bioactive fraction of LSQ, while ethyl acetate fraction has the opposite effect. In addition, its mechanism of action is related to increase in the amplitude of small intestine smooth muscle contraction and acceleration of small intestine peristalsis

The Existence of Positive Solutions for Boundary Value Problem of the Fractional Sturm-Liouville Functional Differential Equation

We study boundary value problems for the following nonlinear fractional Sturm-Liouville functional differential equations involving the Caputo fractional derivative:   CDβ(p(t)CDαu(t)) + f(t,u(t-τ),u(t+θ))=0, t∈(0,1),  CDαu(0)= CDαu(1)=( CDαu(0))=0, au(t)-bu′(t)=η(t), t∈[-τ,0], cu(t)+du′(t)=ξ(t), t∈[1,1+θ], where   CDα,  CDβ denote the Caputo fractional derivatives, f is a nonnegative continuous functional defined on C([-τ,1+θ],ℝ), 10, and η∈C([-τ,0],[0,∞)), ξ∈C([1,1+θ],[0,∞)). By means of the Guo-Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem and the fixed point index theorem, some positive solutions are obtained, respectively. As an application, an example is presented to illustrate our main results

Cultivation of Paeoniae radix rubra in the wild-like environment and the evaluation of quality for transplanted products

Aim: The study aims to guide the actual cultivation of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. By establishing indoor and outdoor imitation wild environment, meanwhile, it used the quality inspection of cultivated production to judge the rationality of the scheme. Method: The seeds and rhizomes of Paeonia lactiflora P. were collected in the autumn of 2014, and the seed germination rate was tested under indoor wild-like conditions. In the outdoor wild-like environment, the buds were transplanted, then the roots were harvested in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively. Quantitative determination of paeoniflorin was determined by HPLC. Furthermore, the data on trait determination and component content were compared and analyzed.Results: In the specific indoor environment, the seeds were normally germinated, and their functions consisted of seed in wild regions. Moreover, the content of paeoniflorin in both two sources of Paeonia lactiflora P. roots, and the traits of cultivated products are increasing year by year.Conclusion: The simulated wild environment established the method in this study, which is suitable for the artificial production of wild Paeonia lactiflora P

The efficacy of upfront craniocerebral radiotherapy and epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-positive non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases

The present study aims to investigate the therapeutic value of third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) combined with cranial radiotherapy (RT) in patients with EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastases (BMs).MethodologyThis is a retrospective study that involved 213 patients with EGFR-NSCLC and BMs, with the patients divided into two groups: the upfront cranial RT (ucRT) group (n = 96) and the non-ucRT group (n = 117). All patients were administered with osimertinib, and those in the ucRT group also underwent RT. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and intracranial PFS (IPFS) of the two groups were compared.ResultsThe ucRT group manifested a markedly higher IPFS than the non-ucRT group (29.65 months vs 21.8 months; P < 0.0001). The subgroup analysis revealed that patients with oligometastases (OLOGO-BMs; 1–3 BMs) demonstrated a notably longer OS (44.5 months vs 37.3 months; P < 0.0001), PFS (32.3 months vs 20.8 months; P = 0.6884) and IPFS (37.8 months vs 22.1 months; P < 0.0001) in the ucRT group than in the non-ucRT group. However, for patients with multiple BMs, there was no significant difference in OS (27.3 months vs 34.4 months; P = 0.0710) and PFS (13.7 months vs 13.2 months; P = 0.0516) between the ucRT group and the non-ucRT group; the ucRT group exhibited a higher IPFS (26.4 months vs 21.35 months; P = 0.0028). Cox’s multivariate analysis of patients with OLOGO-BM indicated that the use of ucRT was linked to a better OS (heart rate [HR] = 0.392; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.178–0.863; P = 0.020) and PFS (HR = 0.558; 95% CI: 0.316–0.986; P = 0.044).ConclusionUpfront cerebral cranial stereotactic radiosurgery can improve outcomes in EGFR-positive patients with NSCLC and OLOGO-BM. However, for patients with multiple BMs, the preferable strategy may be pre-treatment with EGFR-TKIs

Research on improved YOLOv8n based potato seedling detection in UAV remote sensing images

IntroductionAccurate detection of potato seedlings is crucial for obtaining information on potato seedlings and ultimately increasing potato yield. This study aims to enhance the detection of potato seedlings in drone-captured images through a novel lightweight model.MethodsWe established a dataset of drone-captured images of potato seedlings and proposed the VBGS-YOLOv8n model, an improved version of YOLOv8n. This model employs a lighter VanillaNet as the backbone network in-stead of the original YOLOv8n model. To address the small target features of potato seedlings, we introduced a weighted bidirectional feature pyramid network to replace the path aggregation network, reducing information loss between network layers, facilitating rapid multi-scale feature fusion, and enhancing detection performance. Additionally, we incorporated GSConv and Slim-neck designs at the Neck section to balance accuracy while reducing model complexity. ResultsThe VBGS-YOLOv8n model, with 1,524,943 parameters and 4.2 billion FLOPs, achieves a precision of 97.1%, a mean average precision of 98.4%, and an inference time of 2.0ms. Comparative tests reveal that VBGS-YOLOv8n strikes a balance between detection accuracy, speed, and model efficiency compared to YOLOv8 and other mainstream networks. Specifically, compared to YOLOv8, the model parameters and FLOPs are reduced by 51.7% and 52.8% respectively, while precision and a mean average precision are improved by 1.4% and 0.8% respectively, and the inference time is reduced by 31.0%.DiscussionComparative tests with mainstream models, including YOLOv7, YOLOv5, RetinaNet, and QueryDet, demonstrate that VBGS-YOLOv8n outperforms these models in terms of detection accuracy, speed, and efficiency. The research highlights the effectiveness of VBGS-YOLOv8n in the efficient detection of potato seedlings in drone remote sensing images, providing a valuable reference for subsequent identification and deployment on mobile devices

Mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a noninferior modality to standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy for the management of 20-40 mm renal calculi: A Multicenter randomized controlled trial

Background: High quality of evidence comparing mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mPNL) with standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy (sPNL) for the treatment of larger-sized renal stones is lacking. Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of mPNL and sPNL for the treatment of 20–40 mm renal stones. Design, setting, and participants: A parallel, open-label, and noninferior randomized controlled trial was performed at 20 Chinese centers (2016–2019). The inclusion criteria were patients 18–70 yr old, with normal renal function, and 20–40 mm renal stones. Intervention: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy PNL was performed using either 18 F or 24 F percutaneous nephrostomy tracts. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The primary outcome was the one-session stone-free rate (SFR). The secondary outcomes included operating time, visual analog pain scale (VAS) score, blood loss, complications as per the Clavien-Dindo grading system, and length of hospitalization. Results and limitations: The 1980 intention-to-treat patients were randomized. The mPNL group achieved a noninferior one-session SFR to the sPNL group by the one-side noninferiority test (0.5% [difference], p < 0.001). The transfusion and embolization rates were comparable; however, the sPNL group had a higher hemoglobin drop (5.2 g/l, p < 0.001). The sPNL yielded shorter operating time (–2.2 min, p = 0.008) but a higher VAS score (0.8, p < 0.001). Patients in the sPNL group also had longer hospitalization (0.6 d, p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in fever or urosepsis occurrences. The study's main limitation was that only 18F or 24F tract sizes were used. Conclusions: Mini mPNL achieves noninferior SFR outcomes to sPNL, but with reduced bleeding, less postoperative pain, and shorter hospitalization. Patient summary: We evaluated the surgical outcomes of percutaneous nephrolithotomy using two different sizes of nephrostomy tracts in a large population. We found that the smaller tract might be a sensible alternative for patients with 20–40 mm renal stones. This multicenter, parallel, open-label, and noninferior randomized controlled trial showed that mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy achieved noninferior stone-free rate with advantages of reduced blood loss, less postoperative pain, and shorter hospitalization. Mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy should be considered a sensible alternative treatment of 20–40 mm renal stones.grants from high-level development funding of Guangzhou Medical Universit

Perspectives on the professional development of testing professionals in China — a mixed methods study of the roles of Chinese testing professionals in facilitating backwash effect

This study stems from my desires to understand the critical role of testing professionals in China in facilitating quality education through positive backwash. This role is critical in contemporary China, not only due to its traditionally high-stakes exam and test-driven education system, but also its recent national strategic educational development plan with a goal to prepare for 21st century talents with critical thinking to support national development and global competition. These reasons, along with the decentralization trend of the Chinese testing system and the insufficient pre-professional training in testing, highlight a need for critical inquiry into the professional development (PD) of testing professionals in China. The main goal of this study was to assess the perceived PD needs testing professionals in China have and the reasons behind them, and to analyze and critique in what ways the PD needs can contribute to a better testing system in China. A needs assessment was conducted via an online survey in a purposefully selected province-level testing agency in China, followed by in-depth interviews with selected testing scientists (survey participants) and key-decision makers (from the testing agency), as well as outside testing experts (i.e., scholars from academic or research settings, or upper-level authorities from the testing agency). A total of 37 testing professionals completed the survey with a response rate of 77.0%. An in-depth follow-up interview was conducted with 11 testing professionals including four testing scientists, four key-decision makers, and three external experts. The researcher, as a Chinese who experienced K-16 education in China as well as western graduate school training, was also used as a participant to analyze the meaning of those perceived PD needs. Based on the integrated survey and interview data, eight salient PD needs were discovered, including: (1) measurement, statistics, and computation, (2) testing research and research methods, (3) making better use of test score information (maximizing test use) and analyzing post-test data, (4) assessment and evaluation, (5) management, (6) educational context of testing, (7) communication, collaboration, personal, and training (CCPT) skills, and (8) social and educational responsibilities. The interview data indicated that, overall, the majority of testing professionals appeared to be motivated to meet their current or future job requirements, rather than to contribute to a better testing system. Further, the interview data supported that reforming the outdated testing notions and values, and adjusting the relationship of testing organizations with the government appear to be the two most prominent challenges in Chinese testing; with them being adequately addressed, it would positively contribute to testing system reform, and thus benefit the next generations’ education, and even national development. I believe that testing professionals are called to hold strong social and educational responsibilities (as their most important PD need) to advocate for reform in these two areas. They are expected to position them as educators and change agents by working out creative ways to reach out to and educate multiple testing audiences. The study ends by reflecting on the complexities of Chinese testing as well as the implications and limitations of the PD of testing professionals in reforming the Chinese testing system