Therapeutic Risk and Benefits of Concomitantly Using Herbal Medicines and Conventional Medicines: From the Perspectives of Evidence Based on Randomized Controlled Trials and Clinical Risk Management

Despite increased awareness of the potential of herb-drug interactions (HDIs), the lack of rigorous clinical evidence regarding the significance provides a challenge for clinicians and consumers to make rational decisions about the safe combination of herbal and conventional medicines. This review addressed HDIs based on evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Literature was identified by performing a PubMed search till January 2017. Risk description and clinical risk management were described. Among 74 finally included RCTs, 17 RCTs (22.97%) simply addressed pharmacodynamic HDIs. Fifty-seven RCTs (77.03%) investigated pharmacokinetic HDIs and twenty-eight of them showed potential or actual clinical relevance. The extent of an HDI may be associated with the factors such as pharmacogenomics, dose of active ingredients in herbs, time course of interaction, characteristics of the object drugs (e.g., administration routes and pharmacokinetic profiles), modification of herbal prescription compositions, and coexistence of inducers and inhibitors. Clinical professionals should enhance risk management on HDIs such as increasing awareness of potential changes in therapeutic risk and benefits, inquiring patients about all currently used conventional medicines and herbal medicines and supplements, automatically detecting highly substantial significant HDI by computerized reminder system, selecting the alternatives, adjusting dose, reviewing the appropriateness of physician orders, educating patients to monitor for drug-interaction symptoms, and paying attention to follow-up visit and consultation

A novel image encryption scheme based on Kepler’s third law and random Hadamard transform

In this paper, a novel image encryption scheme based on Kepler’s third law and random Hadamard transform is proposed to ensure the security of a digital image. First, a set of Kepler periodic sequences is generated to permutate image data, which is characteristic of the plain-image and the Kepler’s third law. Then, a random Hadamard matrix is constructed by combining the standard Hadamard matrix with the hyper-Chen chaotic system, which is used to further scramble the image coefficients when the image is transformed through random Hadamard transform. In the end, the permuted image presents interweaving diffusion based on two special matrices, which are constructed by Kepler periodic sequence and chaos system. The experimental results and performance analysis show that the proposed encrypted scheme is highly sensitive to the plain-image and external keys, and has a high security and speed, which are very suitable for secure real-time communication of image data

PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway participates in neuroprotection by dexmedetomidine inhibits neuronic autophagy following traumatic brain injury in rats

Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has been demonstrated to provide neuroprotective effect against brain injury in the central nervous system. However, the underlying mechanism of this neuroprotection remains unclear. In this study, we explored whether Dex has the protective potential in rat models of traumatic brain injury(TBI). More importantly, our study further investigated the role of neuronic autophagy induced by PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in this neuroprotective action. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a diffuse cortical impact injury caused by a modified weight-drop device and Dex (15ug/kg, i.v.) was administered immediately after TBI. Wet-dry weight method was used to evaluate brain edema. Motor function outcome was assessed by Neurologic Severity Score and the spatial learning ability was evaluated in a Morris water maze. The co-localization of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3(LC3) and neuronal nuclei (NeuN), or LC3 and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were analyzed by immunofluorescence respectively. The expression of LC3, Phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt) and p-mTOR were quantified using Western blot analysis. Our results showed treatment of rats exposed to TBI with Dex caused not only marked reduction in cerebral edema, motor and cognitive functions deficits, but also a decrease in LC3 levels and a increase in p-Akt and p-mTOR levels. Taken together, these findings indicated that treatment with Dex after TBI could inhibited neuronic autophagy in the hippocampus mediated by the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, finally promoting neurological recovery.Abbreviations: TBI, Traumatic brain injury; Dex, Dexmedetomidine; LC3, Light chain 3; NeuN, Neuronal nuclei; mTOR, Mammalian target of rapamycin; Akt, Protein kinase

Analisa Kepuasan Konsumen Di Restaurant “X” Di Surabaya

Penelitian ini ditunjukan untuk menganalisa tingkat kesenjangan antara harapan dari konsumen terhadap Kenyataan yang diterima oleh konsumen dan mengukur tingkat kepuasan konsumen di Restoran “X” dengan menggunakan atribut DINESERV. Penelitian ini menggunakan Importance Performance Analysis(IPA). Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah kesenjangan antara harapan dan Kenyataan yang diukur menggunakan atribut DINESERV adalah Kenyataan yang diterima oleh konsumen sangat tidak sesuai dengan harapan konsumen dan konsumen sangat tidak puas terutama dengan atribut Convenience Restoran yaitu Jarak dari Restoran “X” di Surabay

Multifractal analysis of the fracture surfaces of foamed polypropylene/polyethylene blends

The two-dimensional multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis is applied to reveal the multifractal properties of the fracture surfaces of foamed polypropylene/polyethylene blends at different temperatures. Nice power-law scaling relationship between the detrended fluctuation function $F_{q}$ and the scale $s$ is observed for different orders $q$ and the scaling exponent $h(q)$ is found to be a nonlinear function of $q$, confirming the presence of multifractality in the fracture surfaces. The multifractal spectra $f(\alpha)$ are obtained numerically through Legendre transform. The shape of the multifractal spectrum of singularities can be well captured by the width of spectrum $\Delta\alpha$ and the difference of dimension $\Delta f$. With the increase of the PE content, the fracture surface becomes more irregular and complex, as is manifested by the facts that $\Delta\alpha$ increases and $\Delta f$ decreases from positive to negative. A qualitative interpretation is provided based on the foaming process.Comment: 8 page

Baicalein inhibits acinar-to-ductal metaplasia of pancreatic acinal cell AR42J via improving the inflammatory microenvironment

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive cancers. Recent research has demonstrated that chronic pancreatitis (CP) is associated with an increased risk of PDAC, partly due to acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM). Baicalein has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects for CP or PDAC, respectively. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of baicalein, and the putative underlying mechanism, on inflammatory cytokines-induced ADM of rat pancreatic acinar cell line AR42J. To investigate ADM and baicalein effects in vitro, AR42J were treated with recombinant rat Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (rTNFα) with or without baicalein for 5 days. Results showed that rTNFα-induced AR42J cells switched their phenotype from dominantly amylase-positive acinar cells to dominantly cytokeratin 19-positive ductal cells. Moreover, expression of the transcripts for TNFα or Hes-1, a Notch target, was up-regulated in these cells. Interestingly, baicalein reduced the population of ADM as well as cytokines gene expression but not Hes-1. Baicalein inhibited NF-κB activation induced by rTNFα in AR42J, but no effect on Notch 1activation. Moreover, baicalein suppressed the secretion of TNFα and Nitric Oxide (NO) in macrophages stimulated with LPS and further inhibited ADM of conditional medium-treated AR42J cells. Baicalein also suppressed the inflammatory response of LPS-activated macrophages, thereby inhibited ADM of AR42J by altering their microenvironment. Taken together, our study indicates that baicalein reduces rTNFα-induced ADM of AR42J cells by inhibiting NF-κB activation. It also sheds new light on Chinese material medica therapy of pancreatitis and thereby prevention of PDAC

Inhibitory Effects of PC-SPESII Herbal Extract on Human Breast Cancer Metastasis

Cancer metastasis is refractory to most forms of chemotherapy. Conventional and alternative drugs, such as Chinese herbal remedies, have been developed to target metastatic cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of PC-SPESII, an herbal formulation, on the migration, invasion, and metastasis of an experimental human breast cancer cell line in vivo and in vitro. PC-SPESII suppressed pulmonary metastasis and tumor growth of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer xenografts without affecting body weight, liver function, and kidney function. PC-SPESII also inhibited MDA-MB-231 cell migration and invasion in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Based on ELISA analysis, secretion of MMP-2 and MMP-9, proteins associated with extracellular matrix degradation, was reduced in response to PC-SPESII treatment. Western blot analysis of whole-cell extracts revealed that the levels of proteolytic proteins associated with matrix and base membrane degradation (MMP-2, MMP-9, and uPA) were decreased and the levels of their endogenous inhibitors (TIMP1 and TIMP2) were increased. Moreover, the p38MAPK and SAPK/JNK signaling pathway, which stimulates proteolytic enzymes and matrix degradation, was inhibited by PC-PSESII. Remarkably, cotreatment with PC-PSESII and p38MAPK or SAPK/JNK inhibitors magnified the antimetastatic phenotype. Our results indicate that PC-PSESII impairs human breast cancer metastasis by regulating proteolytic enzymes and matrix dynamics through the p38MAPK and SAPK/JNK pathway

Ginsenoside Rb1 Reduces Isoproterenol-Induced Cardiomyocytes Apoptosis In Vitro

Cardiomyocytes apoptosis can lead to heart failure. Conventional and alternative drugs, such as Chinese herbal remedies, have been developed to target cardiomyoblast cells apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the effects of ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), an active compound, which is isolated from Notoginseng and Ginseng on isoproterenol-(ISO-) induced apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes and its mechanism in vivo and in vitro. Rb1 reduced the ISO-induced apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes and H9c2 cells. The effect of Rb1 was significantly suppressed by H89 (inhibitor for PKA), but not by C-1 (inhibitor for PKC). Based on in-cell blot analysis, the ISO-induced PKA and PKC expressions were decreased by Rb1, which was inhibited by H89, but not by C-1. The expressions of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were decreased after treatment with both ISO and Rb1, but with no change for caspase-8. Our results indicated that Rb1 reducing ISO-induced rat cardiomyocytes apoptosis may be involved in PKA and caspase-9 pathways