Objective To compare the quality of prepared slices of Herba Ephedrae from different producing areas and to establish reference quality criterion of Herba Ephedrae.Methods Determined the content of Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine in Herba Ephedra Prepared Herbal by HPLC.According to Chinese Pharmacopeia of 2000-year edition,extract,ash,water,impurity and foreign substance were detected; accelerated stability test was performed according to experience.Results The content of Ephedrine in Herba Ephedra is 0.995 %～1.589 %,honey-fried HerbaEphedra is 0.855 %～1.557 %;the content of Pseudoephedrine in Herba Ephedra is 0.560 %～2.087 %,honey-fried Herba Ephedra is 0.508 %～1.902 %; water-soluble extract was 8.83 %～18.30 %and 14.81%～27.45 %, alcohol-soluble extract was 7.74 %～18.83 %and 14.15 %～27.34 %, the total ash content was 6.49 %～10.29 %and 6.34 %～10.24 %and acid-insoluble ash was 0.19 %～0.42 %and 0.18 %～0.42 %in Herba Ephedrae and honey-prepared Herba Ephedrae respectively.The average water content was 8.10 %(s=0.3961)and 4.02 %(s=0.4674)and average content of impurity and foreign substance was 2.02 %(s=0.1954)and 2.01 %(s=0.2209)in Herba Ephedrae and honey-prepared Herba Ephedrae respectively.Conclusion This research will provide a reference criterion for the quality control of prepared slices of Herba Ephedrae.

OBJECTIVETo establish a microwave extraction and UPLC method for simultaneous determination of polydatin, resveratrol, anthraglycoside B, emodin and physicion contained in Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix, in order to provide scientific basis for improving quality standards of Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix.

METHODThe test solutions were prepared in a MDS-8 closed microwave system at 160 degrees C with methanol as the solvent. The UPLC analysis was performed in a Waters Acquity UPLC system. A BEH C18 column (2. 1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 microm) was adopted for gradient elution with acetonitrile and water as the mobile phase. The temperature of column was 30 degrees C, and the detection wavelength was 226 nm.

RESULTThe five active components can be completely extracted in 10 minutes and separated completely in 12 minutes according to UPLC analysis, with a good linearity (r > or = 0. 999 6) within the linear ranges. The average recovery rate was 97.00%-103.7% with RSD < or = 2. 2%. Despite a large difference in content among tested components from Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix, the total content of the five major constituents was relatiely stable (3.683 3%-7.1031%).

CONCLUSIONThe microwave extraction-ultra performance liquid chromatography method in simultaneous determination for contents of five major bioactive components contained in polygoni cuspidati rhizoma et radix is so rapid and highly reproducible that it can be used for quality control and assessment of Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fallopia japonica ; chemistry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Microwaves ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Quality Control

Objective We propose an image-based key frames gating method for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) sequence based on manifold learning to reduce motion artifacts in IVUS longitudinal cuts. Methods We achieved the gating with Laplacian eigenmaps, a manifold learning technique, to determine the low-dimensional manifold embedded in the high-dimensional image space. A distance function was constructed by the low-dimensional feature vectors to reflect the heart movement. The IVUS images were classified as end-diastolic and non-end-diastolic based on the distance function, and the IVUS images collected in end-diastolic stage constitutes the key frames gating sequences. Result We tested the algorithm on 13 in vivo clinical IVUS sequences (images 915 ± 142 frames, coronary segments length 15.24 ± 2.37 mm) to calculate the vessel volume, lumen volume, and the mean plaque burden of the original and gated sequences. Statistical results showed that both the vessel volume and lumen volume measured from the gated sequences were significantly smaller than the original ones, indicating that the gated sequences were more stable;the mean plaque burden was comparable between the original and gated sequences to meet the need in clinical diagnosis and treatment. In the longitudinal views, the gated sequences had less saw tooth shape than the original ones with a similar trend and a good continuity. We also compared our method with an existing gating method. Conclusion The proposed algorithm is simple and robust, and the gating sequences can effectively reduce motion artifacts in IVUS longitudinal cuts.

Objective To investigate the expression level of transforming growth factorβ1 (TGF-β1) and interleukin 17 (IL-17) in patients with allergic conjunctivitis. Methods TGF-β1 and IL-17 expression levels in allergic conjunctivitis patients hospitalized in the author's hospital and a healthy population were detected to explore the expression level in all types of patients with allergic conjunctivitis. Results TGF-β1 and IL-17 levels were significantly higher in patients with allergic conjunctivitis than in healthy population (P<0.01). Among the four clinical subtypes of allergic conjunctivi-tis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis had the highest expression level of TGF-β1 and IL-17 in spring, followed by perennial allergic conjunctivitis and seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, and atopic keratoconjunctivitis had the lowest expression level. However, the differences among the four subtypes were not significant (P>0.05). Conclusion Patients with allergic conjunctivitis have higher TGF-β1 and IL-17 expression levels than normal healthy people. TGF-β1 and IL-17 ex-pression level vary in different subtypes of allergic conjunctivitis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis has higher expression level than other types in spring.

Objective We propose an image-based key frames gating method for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) sequence based on manifold learning to reduce motion artifacts in IVUS longitudinal cuts. Methods We achieved the gating with Laplacian eigenmaps, a manifold learning technique, to determine the low-dimensional manifold embedded in the high-dimensional image space. A distance function was constructed by the low-dimensional feature vectors to reflect the heart movement. The IVUS images were classified as end-diastolic and non-end-diastolic based on the distance function, and the IVUS images collected in end-diastolic stage constitutes the key frames gating sequences. Result We tested the algorithm on 13 in vivo clinical IVUS sequences (images 915 ± 142 frames, coronary segments length 15.24 ± 2.37 mm) to calculate the vessel volume, lumen volume, and the mean plaque burden of the original and gated sequences. Statistical results showed that both the vessel volume and lumen volume measured from the gated sequences were significantly smaller than the original ones, indicating that the gated sequences were more stable;the mean plaque burden was comparable between the original and gated sequences to meet the need in clinical diagnosis and treatment. In the longitudinal views, the gated sequences had less saw tooth shape than the original ones with a similar trend and a good continuity. We also compared our method with an existing gating method. Conclusion The proposed algorithm is simple and robust, and the gating sequences can effectively reduce motion artifacts in IVUS longitudinal cuts.