Axial compression stress-strain relationship of lithium slag rubber concrete.

Replacing cement with lithium slag and fine aggregate with rubber in concrete solves waste disposal, reduces material consumption, boosts sustainability, and enhances concrete performance. A set of prismatic concrete specimens with varying proportions were designed and experimentally tested in order to study the compressive stress-strain behavior of lithium slag rubber concrete (LSRC). The main factors affecting the specimens were lithium slag substitution ratio (SL=0%, 10%, 20%, 30%) and rubber substitution ratio (SR=0%, 5%, 10%, 15%). The results demonstrated that the LSRC exhibited good integrity during the damage. Furthermore, the incorporation of lithium slag (LS) was found to effectively compensate for the reduction in compressive strength due to the incorporation of rubber. When 10% of the fine aggregate was replaced with rubber and 20% of the cement was substituted with lithium slag, the axial compressive strength, elastic modulus, and peak strain of the tested specimens increased by 21.57%, 6.92%, and 17.26%, respectively. Compared with ordinary concrete, LSRC has good toughness, impact resistance and durability with minimal loss of strength, and has broad application prospects in engineering fields (such as airports, highways, housing expansion joints, concrete floors and railway concrete sleepers, etc.). Based on the experimental data, simplified modified equations to predict the compressive strength, elastic modulus, peak strain and axial stress-strain constitutive model of LSRC were proposed, so as to promote the development of LSRC.

Potential active fractions and constituents in the flowers of Trollius chinensis Bunge responsible for treating acute pharyngitis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Trollius chinensis Bunge has a long history of use in China as traditional Chinese medicine and functional tea for the treatment of respiratory infections, such as pharyngitis, tonsillitis and bronchitis. Pharyngitis can impact the entire throat and adjacent lymphoid tissues, and may lead to significant systemic complications. However, the active components and mechanism of Trollius chinensis Bunge for treating acute pharyngitis remains unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: Trollius chinensis Bunge is recognized in China both as a medicinal herb and a functional tea. Research into its properties aimed to establish its effectiveness against pharyngitis and to pinpoint the active components and mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 70% ethanol extract from the herb was prepared, which was refined using chromatography through a column containing D101 macroporous resin and varying ethanol solutions. The efficacy of the initial and refined extracts was tested using a rat model of ammonia-induced acute pharyngitis. Pathological examination, HE staining and ELISA were applied to screen activity fraction. The compounds were isolated by silica gel, sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC chromatography from active fraction. All of the isolated compounds were assessed for anti-inflammatory activity by acting on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells in vitro. Cytotoxicity of compounds was detected by CCK-8 assay. The Griess reaction was applied to evaluate the inhibitory effects of isolated compounds on NO production in RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS. TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß and PGE2 levels in macrophage supernatant were detected by ELISA. Molecular docking and western blot analysis were applied to study the anti-inflammatory mechanism of active compound. RESULTS: The fraction extracted with 30% ethanol proved particularly effective, significantly reducing pharyngitis symptoms. This was evidenced by decreased levels of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß and PGE2) and visible improvements in the pharyngeal tissue histology. In pursuit of pharyngitis treatments, 23 phenolic acids and 13 flavonoids were isolated from the 30% ethanol fraction and identified using spectral analysis. Of these, three were newly discovered compounds and eight were first-time isolates from the Trollius genus. These compounds were further investigated for their ability to suppress nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 cells triggered by lipopolysaccharide. Compounds 3, 19, and 26 exhibited strong anti-inflammatory properties. HPLC analysis of the 30% ethanol fraction revealed that orientin was the predominant component, accounting for 44.4% of this fraction. Western blot analysis demonstrated that orientin reduced the expression levels of the protein p-p65 relative to p65, p-IκBα relative to IκBα and iNOS, indicating an anti-inflammatory effect potentially through the modulation of the NF-κB signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: The finding of this study provided strong support for the use of T. chinensis as a potential functional food for treating pharyngitis.

[Anti-breast cancer effect of a mitochondrion-targeted derivative of ergosterol peroxide in vitro and in vivo].

This study aims to explore the effect and mechanism of a mitochondrion-targeted derivative of ergosterol peroxide(Mito-EP) on breast cancer. The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay was employed to examine the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells treated with different concentrations(0, 0.075, 0.15, 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, and 2.4 µmol·L~(-1)) of Mito-EP. Cells were grouped for treatment with water(blank control), low, medium, and high concentrations(0.15, 0.3, and 0.6 µmol·L~(-1)) of Mito-EP, and ergosterol peroxide(EP)(0.6 µmol·L~(-1)). After the cells were treated for 48 h, flow cytometry was employed to examine the apoptosis rate, reactive oxygen species(ROS) level, mitochondrial membrane potential, and cell cycle distribution, and the apoptosis, ROS, and mitochondrial membrane potential were observed by laser confocal microscopy. A mouse model bearing subcutaneous xenograft tumor was established by injecting 4T1 cell suspension and used to study the inhibitory effect of Mito-EP on breast cancer. Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of B-cell lymphoma 2(Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax), cytochrome C(Cyt C), cleaved caspase-7, and cleaved caspase-9 in cells and the tumor tissue. The results showed that Mito-EP reduced the proliferation rate of MDA-MB-231 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Compared with the blank control group, EP(0.6 µmol·L~(-1)) caused slight changes in the apoptosis rate, ROS level, and mitochondrial membrane potential. However, Mito-EP increased the apoptosis rate, elevated the ROS level, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, up-regulated the protein levels of Bax, Cyt C, cleaved caspase-7, and cleaved caspase-9, and down-regulated the protein level of Bcl-2(all P<0.05). Moreover, Mito-EP reduced the tumor volume and weight. In summary, Mito-EP may promote apoptosis in breast cancer cells by activating the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.

Nontargeted metabolomic profiling analysis of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus undergoing corn silk treatment.

To explore the corn silk's effect and possible mechanism on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by untargeted metabolomics. Newly diagnosed patients with T2DM admitted to the endocrinology department of the author's hospital from March 2020 to September 2021 were chosen and then allocated to either the intervention or the control group (NC) randomly. Patients in the intervention group were administered corn silk in the same way as the patients in the NC were given a placebo. A hypoglycemic effect was observed, and an untargeted metabolomics study was done on patients of both groups. Compared with the NC, the glycosylated hemoglobin and fasting blood glucose of patients in the intervention group significantly decreased after 3 months of treatment (P < .05), identified using tandem mass spectrometry, and analyzed by orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis. A total of 73 differential metabolites were screened under the conditions of variable important in projection value >1.0 and P < .05. Differential metabolites are mainly enriched in signaling pathways such as oxidative phosphorylation, purine metabolism, and endocrine resistance. Through untargeted metabolomic analysis, it is found that corn silk water extract may reduce blood glucose in patients with T2DM through multiple pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation and purine metabolism.

Study on the Rapid Limit Test for Six Sulfonamide Residues in Food Based on the TLC-SERS Method.

Sulfonamides are not only widely applied in clinics but also highly valued in animal husbandry. Recently, it has become common for sulfonamide residues to exceed the standard limits in food, which can affect human health. Current regulations limit these residues. Therefore, we constructed a new limit test method to rapidly determine the levels of sulfonamide residues. Six sulfonamides were detected using the latest method called TLC-SERS, namely, sulfamethasone (A), sulfamethazine (B), sulfadoxine (C), sulfamethoxydiazine (D), sulfamethoxazole (E), and sulfathiazole (F). The optimal conditions for SERS detection were investigated for these six drugs, and the separation effects of different TLC spreaders on them were compared. Then, we successfully established a separation system using dichloromethane-methanol-ammonia in a ratio of 5:1:0.25 (v/v/v), which provided good separation effects on the six drugs. The residues were preliminarily separated via TLC. A silver sol solution was added to the spot on the silica gel G plate at the corresponding specific shift values, and SERS detection was performed. The sample solution was placed on the spot under a 532 nm laser, and the SERS spectrum was collected and analyzed for the six sulfonamides. The results showed obvious variations in the SERS spectrum among the six sulfonamides, with the LODs being 12.5, 6.4, 6.3, 7.1, 18.8, and 6.2 ng/mL from A to F, respectively, and an RSD of <3.0%. Within 48 h, the SERS signal for each sulfonamide drug was kept stable, with an RSD of <3.0%. The detection results of 20 samples using the TLC-SERS method were consistent with those obtained by UPLC-MS/MS. The established TLC-SERS method is simple and fast, providing a useful reference for the rapid detection of residue limits in food.

[Corrigendum] Ethyl gallate suppresses proliferation and invasion in human breast cancer cells via Akt­NF­κB signaling.

Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that, for the cell migration assay data shown in Fig. 3C on p. 1287, the '2.5 µg/ml' and '5.0 µg/ml' panels appeared to be overlapping, such that these data were apparently derived from the same original source where they were intended to show the results from differently performed experiments. Upon asking the authors to provide an explanation, after having referred back to their original data, the authors realized that they had made an inadvertent error in assembling this figure. The revised version of Fig. 3, now showing the correct data for the '5.0 µg/ml' experiment, is shown on the next page. Note that the error made in assembling the data in Fig. 3 did not greatly affect either the results or the conclusions reported in this paper, and all the authors agree to the publication of this corrigendum. The authors regret that this error went unnoticed prior to the publication of their article, and are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for granting them this opportunity to publish a corrigendum. They also apologize to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Oncology Reports 33: 1284­1290, 2015; DOI: 10.3892/or.2014.3682].

Comprehensive overview of different medicinal parts from Morus alba L.: chemical compositions and pharmacological activities.

Morus alba L., a common traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with a centuries-old medicinal history, owned various medicinal parts like Mori folium, Mori ramulus, Mori cortex and Mori fructus. Different medical parts exhibit distinct modern pharmacological effects. Mori folium exhibited analgesic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic action and lipid-regulation effects. Mori ramulus owned anti-bacterial, anti-asthmatic and diuretic activities. Mori cortex showed counteraction action of pain, inflammatory, bacterial, and platelet aggregation. Mori fructus could decompose fat, lower blood lipids and prevent vascular sclerosis. The main chemical components in Morus alba L. covered flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, and amino acids. This article comprehensively analyzed the recent literature related to chemical components and pharmacological actions of M. alba L., summarizing 198 of ingredients and described the modern activities of different extracts and the bioactive constituents in the four parts from M. alba L. These results fully demonstrated the medicinal value of M. alba L., provided valuable references for further comprehensive development, and layed the foundation for the utilization of M. alba L.

Semantic uncertainty Guided Cross-Transformer for enhanced macular edema segmentation in OCT images.

Macular edema, a prevalent ocular complication observed in various retinal diseases, can lead to significant vision loss or blindness, necessitating accurate and timely diagnosis. Despite the potential of deep learning for segmentation of macular edema, challenges persist in accurately identifying lesion boundaries, especially in low-contrast and noisy regions, and in distinguishing between Inner Retinal Fluid (IRF), Sub-Retinal Fluid (SRF), and Pigment Epithelial Detachment (PED) lesions. To address these challenges, we present a novel approach, termed Semantic Uncertainty Guided Cross-Transformer Network (SuGCTNet), for the simultaneous segmentation of multi-class macular edema. Our proposed method comprises two key components, the semantic uncertainty guided attention module (SuGAM) and the Cross-Transformer module (CTM). The SuGAM module utilizes semantic uncertainty to allocate additional attention to regions with semantic ambiguity, improves the segmentation performance of these challenging areas. On the other hand, the CTM module capitalizes on both uncertainty information and multi-scale image features to enhance the overall continuity of the segmentation process, effectively minimizing feature confusion among different lesion types. Rigorous evaluation on public datasets and various OCT imaging device data demonstrates the superior performance of our proposed method compared to state-of-the-art approaches, highlighting its potential as a valuable tool for improving the accuracy and reproducibility of macular edema segmentation in clinical settings, and ultimately aiding in the early detection and diagnosis of macular edema-related diseases and associated retinal conditions.

Arene-Arene Coupled Disulfamethazines (or Sulfadiazine)-Phenanthroline-Metal(II) Complexes were Synthesized by In Situ Reactions and Inhibited the Growth and Development of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer through the Synergistic Effect of Antiangiogenesis, Anti-Inflammation, Pro-Apoptosis, and Cuproptosis.

The novel metal(II)-based complexes HA-Cu, HA-Co, and HA-Ni with phenanthroline, sulfamethazine, and aromatic-aromatic coupled disulfamethazines as ligands were synthesized and characterized. HA-Cu, HA-Co, and HA-Ni all showed a broad spectrum of cytotoxicity and antiangiogenesis. HA-Cu was superior to HA-Co and HA-Ni, and even superior to DDP, showing significant inhibitory effect on the growth and development of tripe-negative breast cancer in vivo and in vitro. HA-Cu exhibited observable synergistic effects of antiproliferation, antiangiogenesis, anti-inflammatory, pro-apoptosis, and cuproptosis to effectively inhibited tumor survival and development. The molecular mechanism was confirmed that HA-Cu could downregulate the expression of key proteins in the VEGF/VEGFR2 signaling pathway and the expression of inflammatory cytokines, enhance the advantage of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, and enforce cuproptosis by weakening the expression of FDX1 and enhancing the expression of HSP70. Our research will provide a theoretical and practical reference for the development of metal-sulfamethazine and its derivatives as chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment.

Edge-Guided Contrastive Adaptation Network for Arteriovenous Nicking Classification Using Synthetic Data.

Retinal arteriovenous nicking (AVN) manifests as a reduced venular caliber of an arteriovenous crossing. AVNs are signs of many systemic, particularly cardiovascular diseases. Studies have shown that people with AVN are twice as likely to have a stroke. However, AVN classification faces two challenges. One is the lack of data, especially AVNs compared to the normal arteriovenous (AV) crossings. The other is the significant intra-class variations and minute inter-class differences. AVNs may look different in shape, scale, pose, and color. On the other hand, the AVN could be different from the normal AV crossing only by slight thinning of the vein. To address these challenges, first, we develop a data synthesis method to generate AV crossings, including normal and AVNs. Second, to mitigate the domain shift between the synthetic and real data, an edge-guided unsupervised domain adaptation network is designed to guide the transfer of domain invariant information. Third, a semantic contrastive learning branch (SCLB) is introduced and a set of semantically related images, as a semantic triplet, are input to the network simultaneously to guide the network to focus on the subtle differences in venular width and to ignore the differences in appearance. These strategies effectively mitigate the lack of data, domain shift between synthetic and real data, and significant intra- but minute inter-class differences. Extensive experiments have been performed to demonstrate the outstanding performance of the proposed method.

Research on heart rate extraction method based on mobile phone video.

As an important indicator of human health, heart rate is related to the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, extracting the heart rate from the mobile phone image has become a research hotspot. However, the illumination intensity of the background, frame rate of the video, and resolution of the image influence heart rate detection accuracy. To overcome these problems, this study proposed a novel heart rate extraction method based on mobile video. Firstly, the mobile phone camera is engaged to record the finger video, the region of interest (ROI) is extracted through the iterative threshold, and the pulse signal is obtained according to the grayscale change of the resolution within the ROI. Then, a low-pass and a high-pass Butterworth filters are exploited to filter out the noise and interframes from the extracted pulse signal. Finally, an improved adaptive peak extraction algorithm is proposed to detect the pulse peaks and the heart rate derived from the difference in pulse peaks. The experimental results show that light intensity, frame rate and resolution all have an influence on the heart rate extraction accuracy, with the most obvious influence of light, the average accuracy of the experiment can reach 99.32 % under good lighting conditions, while only 72.23 % under poor lighting conditions. In terms of frame rate, increasing the frame rate from 30 fps to 60 fps, the accuracy is improved by 0.9 %. For the resolution, increasing the resolution from 1080 p to 2160 p, the accuracy is improved by 1.12 %. While comparing the proposed method with existing methods, the proposed method has a higher accuracy rate, which has important practical value and application prospects in telemedicine and daily monitoring.

An integrated process by ultrasonic enhancement in the deep eutectic solvents system for extraction and separation of chlorogenic acid from Eucommia ulmoides leaves.

This study established an integrated process for the extraction and enrichment of chlorogenic acid(CGA)from Eucommia ulmoides leaves in a deep eutectic solvent system via ultrasonic wave-enhanced adsorption and desorption practices utilizing macroporous resins. Although deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have the advantages of chemical stability, good dissolving capacity, and nonvolatilization, routine solvent recovery operations are not suitable for subsequent separation in this solvent system. Based on the above characteristics, this study integrated the extraction and enrichment processes, in which DESs extracts directly loaded onto the macroporous adsorption resin, avoiding the loss of target components in solvent recovery and redissolution processes. The screening results of solvents and resin types further showed that choline chloride-malic acid (1:1) was the optimal DES, and the NKA-II resin had high adsorption and elution performance for CGA. The viscosities of the DESs were much higher than those of water and conventional organic solvents; thus, the mass transfer resistance was large, which could also affect the adsorption behaviour of the macroporous resin. The thermal and mechanical effects of ultrasound could effectively enhance the efficiency of the mass transfer, adsorption, and desorption in the DES systems. When compared to no sonication treatment, the CGA adsorption at various ultrasonic powers (120-600 W) was examined. At optimal ethanol concentration (60%), the effect of the ultrasonic treatment on the recovery of the DESs (water eluting process) and the desorption capability of CGA were confirmed. The use of three volumes of water elution could recover the DESs without loss of CGA. The adsorption process significantly differed depending on the ultrasonic settings, and the absorption balance time and experimental adsorption capacity at equilibrium were enhanced. Additionally, the adsorption procedure of the NKA-II macroporous resin for CGA under ultrasonic treatment could be clarified by the pseudo second order kinetic equation and the Freundlich isotherm model. Thermodynamic and dynamic parameters indicated that physical adsorption was the main process of the entire procedure, and it was a spontaneous, exothermic, and entropy-reducing physical adsorption process. This study potentially indicates that the use of ultrasonication, as a high-efficiency, environmentally friendly method, can enhance the features of the macroporous resin to better purify target chemicals from a DES extract.

Rapid Limit Test of Eight Quinolone Residues in Food Based on TLC-SERS, a New Limit Test Method.

Residual quinolones in food that exceed their maximum residue limit (MRL) are harmful to human health. However, the existing methods used for testing these residues have limitations; so, we developed a new limit test method called TLC-SERS to rapidly determine the levels of residues of the following: enrofloxacin (A), ciprofloxacin (B), ofloxacin (C), fleroxacin (D), sparfloxacin (E), enoxacin (F), gatifloxacin (G), and nadifloxacin (H). The residues ware preliminarily separated via TLC. The tested compounds' position on a thin-layer plate were labeled using their relative Rf under 254 nm ultraviolet light, and an appropriate amount of nanometer silver solution was added to the position. The silver on the plate was irradiated with a 532 nm laser to obtain the SERSs of the compounds. The results show significant differences in the SERS of the eight quinolones: the LODs of H, A, D, E, C, G, F, and B were 9.0, 12.6, 8.9, 19.0, 8.0, 8.7, 19.0, and 12.6 ng/mL, respectively; and the RSD was ≤4.9% for the SERS of each quinolone. The limit test results of 20 samples are consistent with those obtained via UPLC-MS/MS. The results indicate that TLC-SERS is a specific, sensitive, stable, and accurate method, providing a new reference for the rapid limit test of harmful residues in foods.

Non-imaging method for angle measurement based on an axicon.

A new non-imaging angle measurement method based on an axicon is proposed in this paper. This method uses an axicon that can form a complex light spot with a clear edge and rich feature information after total internal reflection and refraction on the sloped face compared with convergent lenses, which can only form a blurry edge spot. According to the high sensitivity of the beam transformation of the axicon to the incident angle, light spot images with obvious feature variation can be easily obtained to achieve angle measurement with high accuracy. The method based on an axicon can meet the application requirements of multiple angle measurement ranges, and the structure is simple and compact. In the small-angle measurement experiment combined with a telescope module, the measurement resolution can reach 1 ' ' , the mean absolute error is 0.0010°, and the relative error is within 0.25% in the measurement range of 1.6°.

High-Throughput Phytochemical Unscrambling of Flowers Originating from Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) P. K. Hsiao and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bug. by Applying the Intagretive Plant Metabolomics Method Using UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS.

Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) P. K. Hsiao (MO) and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bug. (ME) are two primary sources of the Astragalus herb, also known as "Huangqi" in China, which is widely applied to treat hypertension, glomerulonephritis, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes mellitus. As two different sources of the Astragalus herb, the chemical profiles of MO and ME may be different. Previous studies showed abundant differences in chemical composition between MO and ME. Therefore, the by-products of MO and ME, such as Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) P. K. Hsiao flower (MOF) and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bug. flower (MEF), may have different phytochemical profiles. In this paper, a metabolomics method combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was employed to analyze the components of MOF and MEF. Consequently, the results of principal component analysis (PCA) showed that MOF and MEF could be separated clearly. In total, 31 chemical markers differentiating MOF and MEF were successfully identified, including 22 flavonoids, 8 isoflavones and 1 benzopyran. Among them, the contents of 18 components, including Calycosin, Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, Quercetin, Rutin, Kaempferol, Formononetin, Isomucronulatol and Prim-O-glucosylcimifugin in MEF, were significantly higher than in MOF. In turn, the contents of another 13 components, covering Biochanin A, Tectoridin, Isomucronulatol-7-O-glucoside, Liquiritin, Rhamnetin, etc., were lower in the MEF group than that in the MOF group. It is worth noting that flavonoids, especially flavonoid glycosides, were the primary active chemical ingredients in MOF and MEF. The 18 ingredients in MEF with a higher level carried out diverse activities, like anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-tumor activities, which led us to speculate that MEF may have greater pharmacological effects and potential development prospects than MOF. The present results displayed that the contents of ingredients in the two different species of plants were radically different, and there was significant uniqueness to the components of MOF and MEF. Our study not only provides helpful chemical information for further quality assessment and active mechanism research of MOF and MEF but also offers scientific support for the resource utilization of MOF and MEF.

Modulatory Effects of Co-Fermented Pu-erh Tea with Aqueous Corn Silk Extract on Gut Microbes and Fecal Metabolites in Mice Fed High-Fat Diet.

Pu-erh tea is recognized for its weight loss effects, but its potential association with gut microbiota and metabolites remains unclear. This research explored the alterations in gut flora and metabolite composition upon treatment with a co-fermented Pu-erh tea with an aqueous corn silk extract (CPC) in obese mice by employing integrated 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and untargeted metabolomics processes. For 8 weeks, mice were fed control, high-fat, and high-fat diets which included a 46 mg/mL CPC extract. The CPC extract the alleviated high-fat diet (HFD), it stimulated systemic chronic inflammation, and it reduced the body weight, daily energy consumption, and adipose tissue weight of the mice. It also modified the gut microbiota composition and modulated the Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Allobaculum, Turicibacter, and Rikenella genera. Fecal metabolomics analysis revealed that the CPC extract influenced the caffeine, cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, biotin metabolism pathways, primary bile acid, and steroid biosynthesis. This research revealed that the CPC extract could inhibit HFD-stimulated abnormal weight gain and adipose tissue accumulation in mice, and modulate mice gut microbiota composition and multiple metabolic pathways.

Density-oriented deep eutectic solvent-based system for the selective separation of polysaccharides from Astragalus membranaceus var. Mongholicus under ultrasound-assisted conditions.

The water extraction and ethanol precipitation method is an extraction method based on the solubility characteristics of polysaccharides that offers wide applicability in the extraction and separation of plant polysaccharides. However, this method leads to large amounts of proteins, nucleic acids, pigments, and other impurities in the polysaccharides products, which makes downstream purification complicated and time-consuming. In this study, a green, high-density natural deep eutectic solvents was used for the high-purity extraction and separation of polysaccharides from Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch) Bge. var. Mongholicus (Bge.) Hsiao roots under ultrasound-assisted conditions. In this study, 16 different natural deep eutectic solvents were designed to screen the best solvent for extracting Astragalus polysaccharides (APSs). Based on the yield and recovery of APSs, a natural deep eutectic solvents composed of choline chloride and oxalic acid with a molar ratio of 1:2 was selected. The related factors affecting polysaccharides extraction and solvent precipitation were investigated. To improve the operating methodology, single-factor trials, a Plackett-Burman design, and a Box-Behnken design were used. The optimal extraction process conditions were obtained as follows: water content of 55%, liquid-solid ratio of 24 mL/g, ultrasonic irradiation time of 54 min, ultrasonic irradiation temperature of 50 °C, ultrasonic irradiation power of 480 W, ethanol precipitation time of 24 h, and ethanol concentration of 75%. Under optimal extraction conditions, the recovery of APSs was 61.4 ± 0.6 mg/g. Considering the special matrix characteristics of A. membranaceus var. Mongholicus roots, physical-technology-based ultrasonic waves promote penetration, and the mass transfer function also solves the bottleneck of high-viscosity deep eutectic solvents in the extraction stage. In comparison with the conventional method, the proposed method based on deep eutectic solvents isolation can significantly increase APSs recovery, which is beneficial to simplifying the process of polysaccharides purification by using solvent properties to separate extracts and reduce impurities in APSs.

A fast sample entropy for pulse rate variability analysis.

Sample entropy is an effective nonlinear index for analyzing pulse rate variability (PRV) signal, but it has problems with a large amount of calculation and time consumption. Therefore, this study proposes a fast sample entropy calculation method to analyze the PRV signal according to the microprocessor process of data updating and the principle of sample entropy. The simulated data and PRV signal are employed as experimental data to verify the accuracy and time consumption of the proposed method. The experimental results on simulated data display that the proposed improved sample entropy can improve the operation rate of the entropy value by a maximum of 47.6 times and an average of 28.6 times and keep the entropy value unchanged. Experimental results on PRV signal display that the proposed improved sample entropy has great potential in the real-time processing of physiological signals, which can increase approximately 35 times.

Corrigendum on: A life-threatening arrhythmia detection method based on pulse rate variability analysis and decision tree.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1008111.].

Effect of stigma maydis polysaccharide on the gut microbiota and transcriptome of VPA induced autism model rats.

Stigma maydis polysaccharide (SMPS) is a plant polysaccharide that participates in immune regulation and gastrointestinal motility. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disorders, and ASD patients often present intestinal microflora imbalance problems; however, there is no effective treatment method. This study explores the effect of SMPS intervention on the gut microbiota in autism model rats as well as the potential action pathways. Female Wistar rats were intraperitoneally injected with sodium valproic acid (VPA) or normal saline at embryonic day 12.5 to establish an autism model or normal control in their offspring. The offspring prenatally exposed to VPA were randomly assigned to the VPA and the SMPS groups. The SMPS group was administered SMPS from E0.5 to postnatal day (PND) 21. We performed 16S rRNA and transcriptomics analyses to reveal the gut microbiota (GM) and differentially expressed genes in the autism model rats in response to SMPS intervention. SMPS intervention significantly improved the diversity and structure of the GM in autism model rats compared with the VPA rats. Moreover, the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group was increased after SMPS intervention. Transcriptome sequencing showed that 496 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after SMPS administration compared with the VPA group. Meanwhile, gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of DEGs was showed that the SMPS group had significant 653 GO terms. SMPS intervention had a major influence on oxidative phosphorylation, retrograde endocannabinoid signaling, thermogenesis, ribosome, protein digestion and absorption, renin-angiotensin system, calcium signaling pathway, glycosphingolipid biosynthesis-ganglio series, and propanoate metabolism pathways. Overall, this study suggests that SMPS interventions in early life may have an impact on gut microbiota, and then affect the transcriptomics levels of the hippocampal tissue in the VPA-induced autism model rats. It provides scientific evidence for the role of the microbe-gut-brain axis in ASD research.