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 calculate and analyze the research and development(R&D)efficiency,as well as the technological achievements transformation efficiency,of ten"Double First-Class"medical universities and ten medical universities in the accumulative science and technology evaluation metrics over the last five years,in order to make recommendations for improving technological achievements transformation management at these universities.Methods The study used both classic data envelopment analysis and super-effectiveness data envelopment analysis models to assess the effectiveness of the R&D stage and technological achievements transformation stage at the selected medical universities.Furthermore,the Malmquist model was used to measure the changes in the efficiency of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the medical universities as a whole.Results Among the 20 medical universities chosen,the output efficiency in the R&D stage was greater than that in the technological achievements transformation stage.Five medical universities were output-effective at the R&D stage,and two medical universities were in the technological achievements transformation stage.The overall efficiency of scientific and technological achievements transformation in medical universities was steadily improving.Conclusion Based on the current situation,medical universities in China should strengthen effective collaboration between industry,academia,and research,establish professional teams for technological achievements transformation,improve the technological achievements transformation management system,improve talent team construction,and increase technological achievements transformation efficiency.

Radiation-induced intestinal injury is caused by high dose of radiation in the abdomen and pelvis. The disease is characterized by complicated pathological mechanisms and poses significant challenges to clinical treatment, seriously affecting the quality of life and health of patients. Current treatments in modern medicine offer limited efficacy and are often associated with adverse side effects. Traditional Chinese medicine monomers inhibit inflammatory factors (e.g., tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β) and regulate the antioxidant enzyme system (e.g., improving the activity of superoxide dismutase) to effectively reduce the symptoms of radiation-induced intestinal injury with minimal side effects. Through targeted delivery of nanoparticles, nanotechnology can accurately deliver the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine to damaged intestinal tissues, thus improving their bioavailability and therapeutic effects. This paper reviews the mechanisms of Chinese medicine monomers in the prevention and treatment of radiation-induced intestinal injury and the application of nanotechnology for enhanced efficiency. The paper also discusses the clinical potential of these approaches. These results provide a reference for future research and clinical practice.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) that causes oral mucosal tissue sclerosis, and even cancer transformation, is a chronic, progressive fibrosis disease. However, despite some advancements in recent years, no targeted antifibrotic strategies for OSF have been approved; likely because the complicated mechanisms that initiate and drive fibrosis remain to be determined. In this review, we briefly introduce the epidemiology and etiology of OSF. Then, we highlight how cell-intrinsic changes in significant structural cells can drive fibrotic response by regulating biological behaviors, secretion function, and activation of ECM-producing myofibroblasts. In addition, we also discuss the role of innate and adaptive immune cells and how they contribute to the pathogenesis of OSF. Finally, we summarize strategies to interrupt key mechanisms that cause OSF, including modulation of the ECM, inhibition of inflammation, improvement of vascular disturbance. This review will provide potential routes for developing novel anti-OSF therapeutics.
Humans ; Oral Submucous Fibrosis/immunology* ; Extracellular Matrix/metabolism* ; Myofibroblasts

Astragali Radix (AR) and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma (NR) are frequently employed in cardiovascular disease treatment. However, the efficacy of the AR-NR medicine pair (AN) in improving cardiac remodeling and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate AN's cardioprotective effect and potential mechanism on cardiac remodeling using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mice and angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) and fibroblasts in vitro. High-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) characterized 23 main components of AN. AN significantly improved cardiac function in the TAC-induced mice. Furthermore, AN considerably reduced the serum levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), cardiac troponin T (CTn-T), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and mitigated inflammatory cell infiltration. Post-AN treatment, TAC-induced heart size approached normal. AN decreased cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area and attenuated the upregulation of cardiac hypertrophy marker genes (ANP, BNP, and MYH7) in vivo and in vitro. Concurrently, AN alleviated collagen deposition in TAC-induced mice. AN also reduced the expression of fibrosis-related indicators (COL1A1 and COL3A1) and inhibited the activation of the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)/mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (Smad3) pathway. Thus, AN improved TAC-induced cardiac remodeling. Moreover, AN downregulated p-dynamin-related protein (Drp1) (Ser616) expression and upregulated mitogen 2 (MFN-2) and optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) expression in vivo and in vitro, thereby restoring mitochondrial fusion and fission balance. In conclusion, AN improves cardiac remodeling by regulating mitochondrial dynamic balance, providing experimental data for the rational application of Chinese medicine prescriptions with AN as the main component in clinical practice.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Mice ; Rats ; Male ; Mitochondrial Dynamics/drug effects* ; Ventricular Remodeling/drug effects* ; Astragalus Plant/chemistry* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Rhizome/chemistry* ; Panax notoginseng/chemistry* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/genetics* ; Humans ; Angiotensin II ; Astragalus propinquus

Objective To calculate and analyze the research and development(R&D)efficiency,as well as the technological achievements transformation efficiency,of ten"Double First-Class"medical universities and ten medical universities in the accumulative science and technology evaluation metrics over the last five years,in order to make recommendations for improving technological achievements transformation management at these universities.Methods The study used both classic data envelopment analysis and super-effectiveness data envelopment analysis models to assess the effectiveness of the R&D stage and technological achievements transformation stage at the selected medical universities.Furthermore,the Malmquist model was used to measure the changes in the efficiency of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the medical universities as a whole.Results Among the 20 medical universities chosen,the output efficiency in the R&D stage was greater than that in the technological achievements transformation stage.Five medical universities were output-effective at the R&D stage,and two medical universities were in the technological achievements transformation stage.The overall efficiency of scientific and technological achievements transformation in medical universities was steadily improving.Conclusion Based on the current situation,medical universities in China should strengthen effective collaboration between industry,academia,and research,establish professional teams for technological achievements transformation,improve the technological achievements transformation management system,improve talent team construction,and increase technological achievements transformation efficiency.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2022.06.016.].

This study aims at developing a dataset for determining the presence of carotid artery plaques in ultrasound images,composed of 1761 ultrasound images from 1165 participants.A deep learning architecture that combines bilinear convolutional neural networks with residual neural networks,known as the single-input BCNN-ResNet model,was utilized to aid clinical doctors in diagnosing plaques using carotid ultrasound images.Following training,internal validation,and external validation,the model yielded an ROC AUC of 0.99(95%confidence interval:0.91 to 0.84)in internal validation and 0.95(95%confidence interval:0.96 to 0.94)in external validation,surpassing the ResNet-34 network model,which achieved an AUC of 0.98(95%confidence interval:0.99 to 0.95)in internal validation and 0.94(95%confidence interval:0.95 to 0.92)in external validation.Consequently,the single-input BCNN-ResNet network model has shown remarkable diagnostic capabilities and offers an innovative solution for the automatic detection of carotid artery plaques.

Background/Aims: Ubiquitination is widely involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by regulating various cellular processes. However, systematic strategies for screening core ubiquitin-related genes, clarifying their functions and mechanisms, and ultimately developing potential therapeutics for patients with HCC are still lacking. Methods: Cox and LASSO regression analyses were performed to construct a ubiquitin-related gene prediction model for HCC. Loss- and gain-of-function studies, transcriptomic and metabolomics analysis were used to explore the function and mechanism of UBE2S on HCC cell glycolysis and growth. Results: Based on 1,423 ubiquitin-related genes, a four-gene signature was successfully constructed to evaluate the prognosis of patients with HCC. UBE2S was identified in this signature with the potential to predict the survival of patients with HCC. E2F2 transcriptionally upregulated UBE2S expression by directly binding to its promoter. UBE2S positively regulated glycolysis in a HIF-1α-dependent manner, thus promoting the proliferation of HCC cells. Mechanistically, UBE2S enhanced K11-linkage polyubiquitination at lysine residues 171 and 196 of VHL independent of E3 ligase, thereby indirectly stabilizing HIF-1α protein levels by mediating the degradation of VHL by the proteasome. In particular, the combination of cephalomannine, a small molecule compound that inhibits the expression of UBE2S, and PX-478, an inhibitor of HIF-1α, significantly improved the anti-tumor efficacy. Conclusions UBE2S is identified as a key biomarker in HCC among the thousands of ubiquitin-related genes and promotes glycolysis by E3 enzyme-independent ubiquitination, thus serving as a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

Objective:This article analyzed the current situation, similarities and differences and main problems of the registration and management systems of innovative medical devices in China and the United States.Methods:This article summarized the requirements and policies for the registration management of innovative medical devices in China and the United States, as well as the development and differences of the registration of innovative medical devices in China and the United States, and the main problems in the registration management of innovative medical devices in China.Results:At present, the development level of medical device industry in China and the United States was different, facing different development problems, and there were differences in the access standards and management methods of innovative medical devices. The registration management system established for innovative medical devices in China was gradually improving, and to a certain extent, it had promoted the enthusiasm of innovative product research and development and registration applications, but there were also problems such as unclear innovation evaluation scales, insufficient early intervention of review resources, and insufficient utilization of post-marketing data.Conclusions:Drawing on the beneficial experience of breakthrough device registration management in the United States, we will improve the registration management system for innovative products and shorten the review and approval cycle by clarifying the identification criteria for innovative medical devices, promoting the placement of review resources in the R&D stage, and further strengthening the use of post-marketing data and regulatory scientific research.