[Progress on historical evolution, clinical application, and pharmacological effects of Dachaihu Decoction and predictive analysis of its quality markers].

Dachaihu Decoction is a classic prescription with the function of harmonizing Shaoyang and purging away internal stasis of heat, which was specially developed by Master ZHANG Zhongjing for the concurrent disease of Shaoyang and Yangming. A large number of international studies have shown that Dachaihu Decoction has liver protection, gallbladder benefit, anti-inflammatory, and other pharmacological effects and is mostly used in modern clinical treatment of acute pancreatitis, acute cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, and other digestive diseases. This paper combined bibliography and statistics and selected the ancient book database and CNKI database to search the relevant literature on Dachaihu decoction, verify the composition and dosage, processing method, main diseases, and modern clinical application, and predict its quality markers(Q-markers) based on the "five principles" of Q-markers. The results suggest that saikosaponin a, baicalin, and 6-gingerol can be selected as potential Q-markers for Dachaihu Decoction, so as to provide a basis for the clinical research of traditional Chinese medicine and the development and application of compound preparations.

Theory of the quasi-steady-state self-focusing of partially coherent light pulses in nonlinear media.

The quasi-steady-state (QSS) self-focusing of partially coherent light pulses (PCLPs) in nonlinear media is studied. The analytical formulas of the QSS self-focusing of PCLPs in nonlinear media (e.g., the beam width, spatial coherence width, and focal length) are presented. The effect of spatial coherence on the focal length and focus moving is investigated in detail. In particular, it is found that a PCLP has more advantages to avoid the optical damage of materials than a fully coherent light pulse.

Propagation formulae and characteristics of partially coherent laser beams in nonlinear media.

Analytical propagation formulae of partially coherent beams (PCBs) in nonlinear media are derived. It is proven that the ABCD law is valid if a new complex beam parameter is adopted, which presents a simple method to study the propagation of PCBs through an optical system in nonlinear media. In self-focusing media, the spatial coherence for the beam spreading case is better than that for the beam self-focusing case, when the propagation distance is longer than the inversion coherence distance. An optimal beam will necessarily involve a trade-off between collimation and spatial coherence when PCBs propagate in self-focusing media.

BOTDA sensors enhanced using high-efficiency second-order distributed Brillouin amplification.

A novel approach for long-distance sensing through Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) assisted by second-order distributed Brillouin amplification (DBA) was proposed and experimentally demonstrated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first BOTDA study that used second-order DBA. Compared with BOTDA assisted by first-order DBA, the proposed approach enhanced the signal-to-noise ratio of the Brillouin trace by ~3 dB for a range featuring minimum sensing intensity. Long-distance sensing with ~5 m spatial resolution and ± 1.6°C measurement uncertainty over ~99 km fiber was successfully realized by employing high-efficiency pumping using ~6 dBm second-order and ~1.5 dBm first-order pumps.

Analysis of all-optical temporal integrator employing phased-shifted DFB-SOA.

All-optical temporal integrator using phase-shifted distributed-feedback semiconductor optical amplifier (DFB-SOA) is investigated. The influences of system parameters on its energy transmittance and integration error are explored in detail. The numerical analysis shows that, enhanced energy transmittance and integration time window can be simultaneously achieved by increased injected current in the vicinity of lasing threshold. We find that the range of input pulse-width with lower integration error is highly sensitive to the injected optical power, due to gain saturation and induced detuning deviation mechanism. The initial frequency detuning should also be carefully chosen to suppress the integration deviation with ideal waveform output.

A new species of Minagenia Banks, 1934 (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) from China, with the key to species.

Minagenia fulvifemoralis Ji et Ma, sp. nov. (Yunnan) is described and figured. Key to five species of the genus Minagenia Banks is given.

Diethyl 4-[4-(dimethyl-amino)phen-yl]-2,6-dimethyl-1,4-dihydro-pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(21)H(28)N(2)O(4), the dihydro-pyridine ring adopts a flattened boat conformation. The mean plane of the dihydro-pyridine ring and the attached benzene ring form a dihedral angle of 85.1 (1) Å. One of two ethyl fragments is disordered between two conformations in a 0.67 (4):0.33 (4) ratio. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules related by translation along the a axis are linked into chains via inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

Expression of ARID1A in polycystic ovary syndrome and its effect on the proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to clarify the expression of ARID1A in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its effect on ovarian granulosa cells (GCs). METHODS: Serum samples were collected from PCOS patients to detect the expression of ARID1A by qRT-PCR. Then, mouse and human ovarian GCs were isolated and divided into several groups according to difference in transfection, and the following experiments were performed: MTT assay, flow cytometry, qRT-PCR, radioimmunoassay, and Western blotting. RESULTS: ARID1A was down-regulated in the serum of PCOS patients and ovarian GCs from PCOS mice. Human and mouse ovarian GCs in the ARID1A group and in cells that were exposed to LY294002, a PI3/Akt pathway inhibitor, showed decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis compared to those in the mock group, and a higher percentage of G0/G1 phase with a lower percentage of S phase or G2/M. Moreover, the expression of steroid metabolism-related genes (3ßHSD,Cyp11a1, StAR and Cyp19a1) in both human and mice PCOS GCs was down-regulatedresulting in lower estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) 48h accumulation. In addition, protein expression of cleaved caspase-3, a main executor of apoptosis, was increased while expression of p-Akt/Akt and cyclin D1 was decreased in GCs from human and mice PCOS. However, the levels of the above indicators in the si-ARID1A group showed inverse changes. Furthermore, LY29400 treatment could reverse the effect of si-ARID1A on the ovarian GCs. CONCLUSION: ARID1A was down-regulated in GCs cells form PCOS women and from PCOS animal models, while ARID1A overexpression can suppress the PI3K/Akt pathway to inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis in ovarian granulosa cells.

[Effect of bismuth glycyrrhizate on experimental gastric ulcers and its mechanisms].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the ulcer-preventive effect of bismuth glycyrrhizate on experimental gastric ulcer and its mechanisms. METHOD: Three kinds of model animals with experimental gastric ulcer were established and gastric mucosal injuries were induced by pyloric ligation in rats, applying ethanol in rats and imposing stress in mice, respectively. The rats were divided into experimental groups treated with bismuth glycyrrhizat 700, 350, 175 mg kg(-1), positive control group treated with cimetidine (200 mg kg(-1), and negative control group treated with 0.1% EDTA. The mice were divided into experimental groups treated with bismuth glycyrrhiza 980, 490, 250 mg kg(-1). The gastric ulcer index, gastric juice volume, acidity, pepsin activity, the level of nitric oxide (NO) in serum and the level of prostaglandin E2 in gastric tissue were measured in rats. RESULT: Bismuth glycyrrhizate was shown to be able to reduce the gastric juice volume, acidity and pepsin activity as well as gastric ulcer index. It could increase the content of NO in serum and the content of prostaglandin E2 in gastric tissue. CONCLUSION: The bismuth glycyrrhizate has antiulcer effect in rats.