ObjectiveA qualitative analysis method was established for the composition of Astragali Radix（AR） before and after rice stir-frying. On the basis of systematic characterization of the chemical compositions in AR and stir-fried AR with rice（ARR）， the structures of their major compounds were deduced and identified， and the differential compositions between them were analyzed. MethodsUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS） was used to detect the samples of AR and ARR in positive and negative ion modes， respectively. The compounds were analyzed and identified through self-constructed databases， literature， and reference standards， etc. And the data were analyzed by chemometrics， in order to screen for the differential components between AR and ARR. ResultsA total of 123 compounds were identified in AR and ARR， including 41 flavonoids， 19 terpenoids， 26 organic acids， 8 amino acids， 5 nucleotides， 5 carbohydrates and 19 other compounds. Among them， there were 95 common components in both， 18 unique components in AR， and 10 unique components in ARR. Principal component analysis（PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA） results both showed that there were significant differences in the chemical constituents of AR before and after rice stir-frying， and a total of 26 constituents with differences in the content were screened out， including L-canavanine， L-pyroglutamic acid， L-phenylalanine， cis-caffeic acid， and malonylastragaloside Ⅰ. Among them， 19 constituents of ARR were down-regulated and 7 constituents were up-regulated by comparing with AR. ConclusionThis study clarifies that the chemical composition of AR and ARR is mainly composed of flavonoids， terpenoids， and organic acids， and analyzes the components with significant differences in content between the two in combination with chemometrics， and the differential components are dominated by amino acids， organic acids and terpenoids， which can provide reference for the subsequent quality control and material basis research.

OBJECTIVE To provide suggestions for improving the path and system construction of patient engagement in drug regulation in China. METHODS By reviewing initiatives and experiences from the United States （U. S.）， European Union （EU）， and Japan in promoting patient engagement， this study summarizes the roles and contributions of patients in the entire drug regulatory process internationally. Combining China’s current progress and challenges in patient engagement， specific proposals are formulated to refine regulatory pathways and institutional systems. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS With growing global emphasis on patient engagement as a regulatory strategy， countries or regions such as the U.S.， EU， and Japan have established clear policies， designated oversight agencies， and developed diversified pathways for patient engagement. Patients contribute to regulatory processes through advisory meetings， direct decision-making roles， and leveraging lived experiences and expertise to optimize drug evaluation and monitoring. In contrast， China’s patient engagement remains primarily limited to clinical value- oriented drug development， lacking formal policy guidance. It is recommended that China， based on its existing policy system， further strengthen the construction of a safeguard system for patient engagement， improve the capacity building and pathway models for patient participation in pharmaceutical regulation， and promote the continuous development of patient engagement in pharmaceutical regulation in our country.

Objective To validate the efficacy of the prediction model for difficulty of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) through an independent cohort. Methods A total of 617 patients with achalasia who underwent POEM at the Endoscopy Center of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from January 2021 to December 2023 were included. The general data of patients were collected, and the predictive value of the prediction model for POEM difficulty in the validation cohort was estimated. The stratified analysis was undergone according to the difficulty risk scores. Results In 617 consecutive patients, technical difficulty was observed in 90 cases (14.6%). The predictive model demonstrated moderate discriminatory capacity with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.711 (95%CI 0.643-0.780). Patients were stratified into three risk categories according to the difficulty risk scores: low-risk (＜0.1), medium-risk (0.1-0.25), and high-risk (≥0.25). The corresponding technical difficulty rates were 7.3%, 16.9%, and 51.6%, respectively. Conclusion The prediction model for POEM difficulty built by our center shows good stability and discrimination, and has good clinical application value.

AIM: To observe the clinical outcomes of Phorcides analytic engine-assisted topography-guided personalized laser assisted in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)for the treatment of myopia and astigmatism in virgin eyes with the refractive astigmatism significantly deviating from corneal topography.METHODS: Retrospective clinical study. A total of 32 cases(42 eyes)with myopia and astigmatism that received corneal topography-guided personalized LASIK in the Ophthalmology Refractive Surgery Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from December 2019 to March 2021 were selected. The uncorrected distance visual acuity(UDVA), best corrected distance visual acuity(CDVA), refractive state and aberrations before and at 6 mo after surgery were recorded.RESULTS: There were 15 males and 17 females, with an age of 23.00(18.00, 29.25)years old; preoperative sphere was -5.75(-6.25, -4.00)D, and cylinder was -0.75(-1.38, -0.25)D. At 6 mo postoperatively, the UDVA exceeded the preoperative CDVA in 19 eyes(45%). The spherical equivalent(SEQ)of all eyes(100%)was -0.50 to +0.50 D at 6 mo postoperatively, and the postoperative SEQ of 23 eyes(55%)was -0.13 to +0.13 D. There were 33 eyes(79%)had a postoperative astigmatism ≤ 0.25 D, the target-induced astigmatism(TIA)was 0.94±0.96 D, and the surgically induced astigmatism(SIA)was 0.94±0.86 D, with no statistical significance between TIA and SIA(P>0.05). The astigmatism axial deviation ranged from -5° to +5° in 33 eyes(79%)at 6 mo postoperatively. Compared to pre-operation, the total higher-order aberrations and spherical aberrations within the central 6 mm diameter of the anterior corneal surface increased at 6 mo postoperatively(Z=-3.778, P<0.001; Z=-4.929, P<0.001); the postoperative coma aberrations had no change(Z=-1.763, P=0.078); the postoperative trefoil aberrations decreased(Z=-2.490, P=0.013). Compared to pre-operation, the Strehl ratio of the anterior corneal surface increased significantly at 6 mo after surgeries(t=-5.401, P=0.013).CONCLUSION: Using the Phorcides analytic engine to assist topography-guided personalized LASIK for the treatment of myopia and astigmatism in virgin eyes with the refractive astigmatism significantly deviating from topography-measured astigmatism can achieve good therapeutic effects. Postoperative UDVA exceeded preoperative CDVA in nearly half of the eyes, and the quality of postoperative corneal imaging was improved.

Activity cliffs (ACs) are generally defined as pairs of similar compounds that only differ by a minor structural modification but exhibit a large difference in their binding affinity for a given target. ACs offer crucial insights that aid medicinal chemists in optimizing molecular structures. Nonetheless, they also form a major source of prediction error in structure-activity relationship (SAR) models. To date, several studies have demonstrated that deep neural networks based on molecular images or graphs might need to be improved further in predicting the potency of ACs. In this paper, we integrated the triplet loss in face recognition with pre-training strategy to develop a prediction model ACtriplet, tailored for ACs. Through extensive comparison with multiple baseline models on 30 benchmark datasets, the results showed that ACtriplet was significantly better than those deep learning (DL) models without pre-training. In addition, we explored the effect of pre-training on data representation. Finally, the case study demonstrated that our model's interpretability module could explain the prediction results reasonably. In the dilemma that the amount of data could not be increased rapidly, this innovative framework would better make use of the existing data, which would propel the potential of DL in the early stage of drug discovery and optimization.

Objective:To disclose phylogenetic and antigenic characteristics of hemagglutinin (HA) gene of influenza B virus (Victoria) (BV) in the 2023-2024 influenza surveillance season in Beijing, and understand the matching with influenza vaccine component strain.Methods:Pharyngeal swab specimens from influenza like-illness (ILI) in the 2023-2024 influenza surveillance season were collected from surveillance network labs in Beijing and BV strains were isolated through MDCK or chicken embryo culture. After extracting nucleic acid, HA gene was amplified and sequenced. The nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity were conducted and the maximum likelihood method in Mega 5.0 software was used to construct the phylogenetic tree of HA gene. N-glycosylation sites of HA were performed online. Furthermore, three-dimensional structure of HA was available from SWISS-MODEL homologous modeling. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests were performed to analyze antigenic characteristics of HA of BV strains.Results:Fifty-four BV strains were randomly selected to be analyzed further. Compared with the HA gene of this influenza season vaccine strain (B/Austria/1359417/2021), there are three amino acid mutations among all BV strains, two of which are located in two different antigenic determinants. Furthermore, the phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that only one subgroup of 1A.3a.2 was circulating simultaneously. All BV strains are located in Clade 1A.3a.2 subgroup, and in the same subgroup with that of the vaccine component BV strain in 2023-2024. All BV strains have the same glycosylation sites as that of the vaccine component BV strain in 2023-2024. Antigenic analysis showed that all BV strains were antigenically similar with its vaccine strain.Conclusions:In the 2023-2024 influenza surveillance season, the prevalent BV strains in the population in Beijing city are located in Clade 1A. 3a. 2 subgroup. The antigen matching between BV epidemic strains and vaccine BV components is relatively high during this surveillance season.

Objective To explore the mechanism of Lkb1 regulated epithelial regeneration in asthma by airway organoid culture.Methods Lkb1f/f(the control group,n=10)and Scgb1a1CreER;Lkb1f/fmice(the Lkb1 knockout group,n=9)were taken to establish allergic asthma models by aerosol inhalation of ovalbumin(OVA).Bronchial lavage fluid(BALF)and lung tissue were collected.The number of inflammatory cells in BALF were counted.The amount of CLCA3 positive cells was compared by immunofluorescence staining of lung tissue sections.Club cells were selected by flow cytometry for organoid culture.The average diameter of organoids and organoid formation rate were calculated.Expression levels of goblet cell marker CLCA3,cilia cell markers FOXJ1 and AMPK in Club cells were detected by RT-PCR.Results There were no significant differences in the number of macrophages,eosinophils,neutrophils and lymphocytes in BALF between the control group and the Lkb1 knockout group.The number of CLCA3 positive cells were decreased after Lkb1 knockout.Results of organoid culture showed that the average diameter of organoids derived from Club cells and organoid formation rate were decreased after the absence of Lkb1.The expression of FOXJ1 was reduced.After Lkb1 deletion,the expression of AMPKα in Club cells were decreased and the proliferation of Club cells was inhibited.Activation of AMPK,the downstream signaling pathway of Lkb1,could attenuate the effect of Lkb1 deficiency on the regeneration of Club cells.Conclusion Lkb1 promotes the proliferation of airway progenitor cells by AMPK pathway.

Objective To optimize the extraction process of flavonoids from Plantago asiatica L.rich in plantagoside by response surface methodology,and to explore the protective effect and mechanism of plantain flavonoids on H2O2-damaged L02 cells.Methods The effects of various parameters,including ethanol concentration,extraction temperature and the liquid-solid ratio on the yield of flavonoids from P.asiatica and the transfer rate of plantagoside were studied by single factor experiment.The central composite design(CCD)and response surface methodology(RSM)were employed on this basic to screen the optimized extraction conditions,which yielded the highest extraction rate of flavonoids from P.asiatica and the maximum transfer rate of plantagoside.The protective effect of flavonoids from P.asiatica on H2O2-damaged L02 cells was assessed through the analysis of cell survival rate,apoptosis rate,mitochondrial membrane potential,malondialdehyde(MDA)and glutathione(GSH)levels,oxide dismutase(SOD)concentration,and the expression levels of HO-1,Nrf2,and SOD proteins.Results The results showed that the highest yield of extraction rate of flavonoids from P.asiatica(1.82％)and the maximum transfer rate of plantagoside(35.01％)were achieved under the optimized extraction condition:extraction temperature of 80 ℃,ethanol concentration of 65％and liquid-solid ratio of 15:1.Flavonoids from P.asiatica extracted under these parameters significantly reduced the apoptosis rate(P<0.001)and the degree of mitochondrial membrane potential damage(P<0.001),increased the expressions of SOD and GSH(P<0.001),and reduced the MDA level(P<0.01,P<0.001)in H2O2-damaged L02 cells at concentrations ranging from 25 to 100 μg·mL-1.In addition,100 μg·mL-1 flavonoids from P.asiatica were found to regulate the expressions of HO-1,Nrf2 and SOD in H2O2-damaged L02 cells.These flavonoids decrease the expressions of HO-1 and Nrf2 proteins,while enhance the expression of SOD protein in H2O2-damaged L02 cells(P<0.05,P<0.01).Conclusion The extraction process for flavonoids from P.asiatica,which was optimized using the response surface method,is operationally simple and yields a high transfer rate of the key active component,plantagoside.This approach offers valuable insights for the actual production of flavonoids from P.asiatica.Besides,flavonoids from P.asiatica could reduce oxidative stress level in H2O2-damaged liver cells,which exhibited a certain protective effect on L02 cells against oxidative damage.This study provides a foundational basis for the development and application of flavonoids from P.asiatica as liver-protective health supplements.

Objective To observe the value of MR lymphangiography(MRL)radiomics for evaluating central conducting lymphatic anomaly(CCLA).Methods Sixty-one patients with complex lymphatic anomaly,including 41 CCLA(group A),20 non-CCLA(generalized lymphatic anomaly and Gorham-Stout disease)and 20 subjects with normal thoracic duct(group B,n=38)were retrospectively enrolled.Cervical and thoracic(combined with abdominal if necessary)MRL was acquired using three-dimensional heavily T2W fast spin echo sequence.ROI was delineated along overall thoracic duct,and radiomics features were extracted.Data sets of group A and B were divided into K subsets using 5-fold cross-validation.The union of(K-1)subset was always used as training set,while the other subsets were used as validation set.Radiomics model was constructed based on support vector machine(SVM)algorithm.Receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn,the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to evaluate the efficacy of SVM model for assessing CCLA.Results The proportions of bifurcation,cystoid change and extension of main thoracic duct,and extension of terminal thoracic duct in group A were all higher,while of normal main and terminal thoracic duct in group A were both lower than those in group B(all P＜0.05).No significant difference of proportions of multiple thoracic ducts,dextral thoracic duct,part of thoracic duct invisible,multiple terminal thoracic ducts,cystoid change of terminal thoracic duct nor terminal thoracic duct pampiniform was found between groups(all P＞0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy,positive predictive,negative predictive and AUC of SVM model for evaluating CCLA in training set was 78.95％,97.56％,88.61％,96.77％,83.33％and 0.920,respectively,which in validation set was 78.95％,83.57％,82.28％,83.33％,81.40％and 0.833,respectively.Conclusion MRL radiomics could be used to effectively evaluate CCLA.