Effect of Qilongtoutong granule on calcitonin gene-related peptide, beta-endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenalin in migraine model rats and mice

AbstractObjectiveTo study the effect of Qilongtoutong granule (QLTT) on plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), beta-endorphin (β-EP), 5-HT, dopamine (DA), noradrenalin (NE), and blood viscosity in migraine model rats and mice.MethodsBoth the acute blood stasis model group and nitroglycerin-induced migraine model group included 60 Sprague-Dawley rats. The reserpine-reduced model group had 60 Kunming mice. Rats from each test were grouped into normal control group, model group, Zhengtian pill (ZTP) group, and high, moderate, or low-dose QLTT groups. In the acute blood stasis model test, after gavage for 7 days, rats were given 0.8 mL/kg adrenaline hydrochloride subcutaneously twice, and kept in ice water for 5 min. After fasting for 12 h, rats were anesthetized and blood samples were collected for detection of blood viscosity. In the nitroglycerin-induced migraine group, after gavage for 7 days, rats were intraperitoneally injected nitroglycerin (10 mg/kg), and 4 h later, blood samples were collected from postcava for measuring the plasma CGRP and β-EP levels. In the reserpine-reduced model test, except the normal control group, mice were administered reserpine (0.25 mg/kg, i.h.) for 9 days. Mice received intragastric administration from the third day to the ninth day. One hour after the last gavage, blood and brain tissue samples were obtained. Then, blood clotting time and the contents of neurotransmitters were determined.ResultsQLTT- (3.6, 1.8, and 0.9 g/kg) and ZTP-treated rats had lower blood viscosity than that in model rats under different shear rates (P< 0.01). QLTT- (3.6, 1.8 g/kg) and ZTP-treated rats had significantly lower plasma CGRP levels and higher plasma β-EP levels than those in model rats (P< 0.01). QLTT treatment at dose of 0.9 g/kg had lower plasma CGRP levels as well (P<0.05). QLTT- (5.2, 2.6 g/kg) and ZTP-treated mice had longer blood clotting time than that in model mice (P<0.01). QLTT- (2.6 g/kg) and ZTP-treated mice had higher plasma serotonin (5-HT) levels than those in model mice (P<0.05).ConclusionQLTT-treated animals had lower plasma CGRP level, higher plasma β-EP, 5-HT, higher brain tissue 5-HT, NE, DA levels, and lower blood viscosity than those in the migraine model animals

Consumer Motives and Values: An Exploratory Study of Chinese Middle Classes' Luxury Products Consumption

The purpose of this research is to explore the perceptions of the Chinese middle classes’ luxury consumption and motives for purchasing luxury products. Literature has been reviewed in terms of three aspects: the definition of ‘luxury’, consumer motives and cultural value influence. A framework of co-creating five luxury values from Tynan, McKechnie and Chhuon (2009) is focus of the evaluation and applied to examine Chinese middle classes’ motives for luxury consumption. A qualitative research method is used to conduct the in-depth and semi-structured interviews with eight interviewees who are all from Guangdong Province China and matched the definition of China’s middle class from Wang (2010). The findings of the research reveal that China’s middle class holds different perceptions towards the word ‘luxury’ and think that high price and well-known brand are most important aspects to distinguish the non-luxury and luxury products. Furthermore, it is found that symbolic/expressive and experiential/hedonic values are both discovered as the dominant motives for the Chinese middle classes' luxury products consumption. Also, it is worthwhile to note that luxury consumption motives for China's middle class vary according to gender. In addition, the research found that the middle class in China purchases luxury products with stronger personal orientation by coding a model of personal orientation toward Luxury-Brand Consumption (PO-LBC) (Tsai, 2005). In terms of considering two traditional Chinese cultural value influences (Confucianism and face consciousness) it is believed that enhancing face is a main contributor to purchase luxury products for Chinese middle class

The cortisol awakening response predicts response inhibition in the afternoon of the same day

The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is the rapid increase of cortisol levels 30–45 minutes after awakening in the morning. Numerous studies have indicated the relationship between the CAR and cognition. However, little is known about daily variation in the CAR and cognitive function in healthy adults. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the CAR predicted the response inhibition function on the same day in both behaviour and the dynamic time course of brain processing. The saliva samples of 47 healthy men were collected at three time points: immediately on awakening, 30 minutes and 45 minutes post-awakening in the morning. Participants performed a Go/NoGo task while electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded in the afternoon of the same day. The results showed that a greater CAR was associated with a stronger N2. In the sub-group of CAR responders (n = 33) the CAR was negatively related to the false alarm rate of NoGo-trials. Our findings suggested that the CAR was predictive of the function of response inhibition in both the earlier cognitive step (i.e., conflict monitoring) and the behavioural performance of response inhibition on the same day in healthy men

Study on the technology and properties of 3D bioprinting SF/GT/n-HA composite scaffolds

In this paper, three kinds of natural polymer materials, silk fibroin (SF), gelatin (GT), and nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA), are mixed as 3D printing bioink to mimic protein polysaccharide and collagen fibers in natural articular cartilage. By changing the SF content, SF/GT/n-HA composite scaffolds with different ratios are prepared using 3D bioprinting technology. The microstructure and morphology, biological properties and mechanical properties of composite scaffolds are characterized. The results show that the printing precision of the bioink with 10% SF is best, and the composite scaffold with 10% SF also exhibits better mechanical properties, whose tensile elastic modulus is 10.60 ± 0.32 MPa and the compression elastic modulus is 1.22 ± 0.06 MPa. These studies are helpful to understand the interaction between SF, GT and n-HA, and provide a theoretical basis for the preparation of better silk fibroin-based composite scaffolds

Deep Reinforcement Learning-based Multi-objective Path Planning on the Off-road Terrain Environment for Ground Vehicles

Due to the energy-consumption efficiency between up-slope and down-slope is hugely different, a path with the shortest length on a complex off-road terrain environment (2.5D map) is not always the path with the least energy consumption. For any energy-sensitive vehicles, realizing a good trade-off between distance and energy consumption on 2.5D path planning is significantly meaningful. In this paper, a deep reinforcement learning-based 2.5D multi-objective path planning method (DMOP) is proposed. The DMOP can efficiently find the desired path with three steps: (1) Transform the high-resolution 2.5D map into a small-size map. (2) Use a trained deep Q network (DQN) to find the desired path on the small-size map. (3) Build the planned path to the original high-resolution map using a path enhanced method. In addition, the imitation learning method and reward shaping theory are applied to train the DQN. The reward function is constructed with the information of terrain, distance, border. Simulation shows that the proposed method can finish the multi-objective 2.5D path planning task. Also, simulation proves that the method has powerful reasoning capability that enables it to perform arbitrary untrained planning tasks on the same map

Meta-Analysis for the evaluation of perioperative enhanced recovery after gynaecological surgery

Objectives: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in gynaecological surgery and provide a scientific basis for its clinical promotion and application in the Chinese population. Material and methods: Systematic retrieval from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP database and other Chinese literature databases. Studies on ERAS application with a randomised controlled trial in gynaecological surgery were included in the present report. Outcome indicators: hospitalisation time, postoperative ambulation time, postoperative feeding time, postoperative exhaust time, postoperative defecation time, operation time, postoperative blood loss, postoperative morbidity, patient satisfaction, hospitalisation expenses, etc. The meta-analysis was performed using the Revman 5.3 software. Results: A total of 24 studies were included in the analysis. The results showed that, compared with the traditional group, the ERAS group had a lower hospitalisation time (SMD = −1.67, 95% CI = −2.03 ~ −1.30, p &lt; 0.0001), postoperative ambulation time (SMD = −4.16, 95% CI = −5.12 ~ −3.20, p &lt; 0.0001), postoperative feeding time (SMD = −7.36, 95% CI = −9.67 ~ −5.05, p &lt; 0.0001), postoperative exhaust time (SMD = −2.59, 95% CI = −3.15 ~ −2.03, p &lt; 0.0001), postoperative defecation time (SMD = −2.23, 95% CI = −2.88 ~ −1.57, p &lt; 0.0001), postoperative morbidity (OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.15 ~ 0.31, p &lt; 0.0001) and hospitalisation expenses (SMD = −0.53, 95% CI = −0.78 ~ −0.28, p &lt; 0.0001). The patient satisfaction was significantly improved (odds ratio = 8.11, 95% CI = 4.96 ~ 13.24, p &lt; 0.0001), and there were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss and operation time between the two groups. Conclusions: The application of the ERAS protocol in gynaecological surgery significantly improves the effectiveness and safety of the procedure. Thus, it can be promoted and applied in clinical practice in China

MYCN Amplification Is Associated with Repressed Cellular Immunity in Neuroblastoma: An In Silico Immunological Analysis of TARGET Database

Purpose: RNA and DNA sequencing data are traditionally used to discern intrinsic cellular pathways in cancer pathogenesis, their utility for investigating the tumor microenvironment (TME) has not been fully explored. This study explores the use of sequencing data to investigate immunity within the TME. Experimental design: Here, we use immune cell fraction estimation analysis to determine the immune profiles in the microenvironment of neuroblastoma (NB) based on RNA-seq data in the TARGET database. The correlation between immune cell transcripts and prognosis in pediatric NB is also investigated. Results: In silico analysis revealed a strong inverse correlation between MYCNamplification and leukocyte infiltration. This finding was validated by immunohistochemistry analysis in tumor samples. Moreover, the abundance of CD4 T cells strongly associated with better patient survival regardless of MYCN gene amplification, while those of CD8 T cells, NK or B cells do not. Based on characteristic cytokine expression of CD4 subsets in tumors, the Th2 rather than Th1 levels were associated with better prognosis. Conclusion: We found that the in silico analysis of TARGET database reflected tumor immunity and was validated by the immunohistochemical tumor data. Our results reveal the association of MYCN amplification with repressed cellular immunity and the potential prognostic value of infiltrating CD4 T cell transcripts in pediatric NB. This analysis illustrates the potential role of MYCN in NB as a regulator of immune privilege and characterizes the power of in silico analysis for delineating cancer immunology and risk stratification