FoodEx2 Harmonization of the Food Consumption Database from the Italian IV SCAI Children's Survey.

Estimating the habitual food and nutrient intakes of a population is based on dietary assessment methods that collect detailed information on food consumption. Establishing the list of foods to be used for collecting data in dietary surveys is central to standardizing data collection. Comparing foods across different data sources is always challenging. Nomenclatures, detail, and classification into broad food groups and sub-groups can vary considerably. The use of a common system for classifying and describing foods is an important prerequisite for analyzing data from different sources. At the European level, EFSA has addressed this need through the development and maintenance of the FoodEx2 classification system. The aim of this work is to present the FoodEx2 harmonization of foods, beverages, and food supplements consumed in the IV SCAI children's survey carried out in Italy. Classifying foods into representative food categories predefined at European level for intake and exposure assessment may lead to a loss of information. On the other hand, a major advantage is the comparability of data from different national databases. The FoodEx2 classification of the national food consumption database represented a step forward in the standardization of the data collection and registration. The large use of FoodEx2 categories at a high level of detail (core and extended terms) combined with the use of descriptors (facets) has minimized information loss and made the reference food categories at country level comparable with different food databases at national and international level.

Toward reproducible tumor organoid culture: focusing on primary liver cancer.

Organoids present substantial potential for pushing forward preclinical research and personalized medicine by accurately recapitulating tissue and tumor heterogeneity in vitro. However, the lack of standardized protocols for cancer organoid culture has hindered reproducibility. This paper comprehensively reviews the current challenges associated with cancer organoid culture and highlights recent multidisciplinary advancements in the field with a specific focus on standardizing liver cancer organoid culture. We discuss the non-standardized aspects, including tissue sources, processing techniques, medium formulations, and matrix materials, that contribute to technical variability. Furthermore, we emphasize the need to establish reproducible platforms that accurately preserve the genetic, proteomic, morphological, and pharmacotypic features of the parent tumor. At the end of each section, our focus shifts to organoid culture standardization in primary liver cancer. By addressing these challenges, we can enhance the reproducibility and clinical translation of cancer organoid systems, enabling their potential applications in precision medicine, drug screening, and preclinical research.

Integrating artificial intelligence into the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine industry: a review.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the practical experience and summary of the Chinese nation for thousands of years. It shows great potential in treating various chronic diseases, complex diseases and major infectious diseases, and has gradually attracted the attention of people all over the world. However, due to the complexity of prescription and action mechanism of TCM, the development of TCM industry is still in a relatively conservative stage. With the rise of artificial intelligence technology in various fields, many scholars began to apply artificial intelligence technology to traditional Chinese medicine industry and made remarkable progress. This paper comprehensively summarizes the important role of artificial intelligence in the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry from various aspects, including new drug discovery, data mining, quality standardization and industry technology of traditional Chinese medicine. The limitations of artificial intelligence in these applications are also emphasized, including the lack of pharmacological research, database quality problems and the challenges brought by human-computer interaction. Nevertheless, the development of artificial intelligence has brought new opportunities and innovations to the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. Integrating artificial intelligence technology into the comprehensive application of Chinese medicine industry is expected to overcome the major problems faced by traditional Chinese medicine industry and further promote the modernization of the whole traditional Chinese medicine industry.

Quantification of toxic heavy metals, trace elements and essential minerals contents in traditional herbal medicines commonly utilized in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Traditional herbal medicines and health supplements have been empirically used to treat various disorders but most of them are not standardized and have not been experimentally validated for safety and efficacy. In the present study, various dosage forms of traditional herbal medicines prescribed for specific diseases were collected from local practitioners at different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The collected samples were analyzed for heavy metal, trace elements, and minerals using atomic absorption spectroscopy. All the tested samples contained heavy metals, trace elements and minerals in different concentrations. All the samples were tested positive for the presence of toxic heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The trace elements like cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) were also detected in acceptable range. Similarly, the samples analyzed were rich in some of the essential minerals such as sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) which are necessary for the proper functioning of the body. The hazard quotient (HQ) values were measured for toxic heavy metals to determine their safe ranges for human body. The HQ values were above the permissible range for arsenic (As) in all detected samples while for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), the values ware above in 50 % of the analyzed samples. The detection of toxic metals and their HQ values beyond the permissible limits in different dosage forms raised questions about their quality. This study suggests that evaluation of traditional herbal remedies for the metals contents and their standardization are strongly recommended for quality assurance and protection of public health.

Regulation and standardization of herbal drugs: Current status, limitation, challenge's and future prospective.

Herbal drugs (HD) or traditional drugs have been used worldwide for centuries, especially in the developing countries. Global market of HD reaches billion of USD annually and increases every year. For ensuring the safety and efficacy of HD, the Drug Agency/Authority issues regulations for the registration & application of new HD, their manufacturing processes, controlling and monitoring in the market. The efficacy and safety of HD depend on their whole chemical contents. Quality assessment of HD should be performed using standardization methods according to the current Pharmacopoeias or Materia Medica. Unfortunately, the official methods of the compendia cannot be applied for evaluation of mixed herbs and their preparations.; HD's producers should develop, validate, and standardize the method for the quality assessment of their own specific products. Therefore, assuring the safety and efficacy of HD remains a challenging task due to the complex nature of HD, that typically consist of many constituents of herbs/extracts whose quality may vary among different sources of materials. This present review will describe, compare, and discuss the regulations and standardization methods of HD from US, EU countries, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia. The official standardization methods of HD, their current criteria, limitations, challenge and future prospective will be described and discussed. Official methods for quality assessment of HD should be state of the art, fast, low-cost, accurate and precise, and could be used for evaluation of all kinds of HD.

Bridging the Gap between Field Experiments and Machine Learning: The EC H2020 B-GOOD Project as a Case Study towards Automated Predictive Health Monitoring of Honey Bee Colonies.

Honey bee colonies have great societal and economic importance. The main challenge that beekeepers face is keeping bee colonies healthy under ever-changing environmental conditions. In the past two decades, beekeepers that manage colonies of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) have become increasingly concerned by the presence of parasites and pathogens affecting the bees, the reduction in pollen and nectar availability, and the colonies' exposure to pesticides, among others. Hence, beekeepers need to know the health condition of their colonies and how to keep them alive and thriving, which creates a need for a new holistic data collection method to harmonize the flow of information from various sources that can be linked at the colony level for different health determinants, such as bee colony, environmental, socioeconomic, and genetic statuses. For this purpose, we have developed and implemented the B-GOOD (Giving Beekeeping Guidance by computational-assisted Decision Making) project as a case study to categorize the colony's health condition and find a Health Status Index (HSI). Using a 3-tier setup guided by work plans and standardized protocols, we have collected data from inside the colonies (amount of brood, disease load, honey harvest, etc.) and from their environment (floral resource availability). Most of the project's data was automatically collected by the BEEP Base Sensor System. This continuous stream of data served as the basis to determine and validate an algorithm to calculate the HSI using machine learning. In this article, we share our insights on this holistic methodology and also highlight the importance of using a standardized data language to increase the compatibility between different current and future studies. We argue that the combined management of big data will be an essential building block in the development of targeted guidance for beekeepers and for the future of sustainable beekeeping.

Development and application of the practical training instrument of warming needle moxibustion with quantifiable evaluation. / ä¸€ç§å¯é‡åŒ–è¯„ä»·çš„æ¸©é’ˆç¸å®žè®­æ•™å­¦ä»ªçš„ç ”åˆ¶ä¸Žå®žè·µ.

Based on summarizing the essential procedures and elements of traditional manipulation techniques of warming needle moxibustion and determining the quantitative parameters and indicators for evaluating the operation of this acupuncture technique, a training instrument of warming needle moxibustion was developed and adopted in the curriculum teaching of practice. It showed that this instrument could quantify the speed of fixing mugwort ball on the needle handle, the number of the prepared mugwort ball, the duration for anti-vibration, the frequency of anti-vibration and the burning time of mugwort ball. The instrument could objectively evaluate the skills of warming needle moxibustion and the effects of fixing mugwort ball. Besides, it may provide the references to improve the protocol of the future research. The development and application of the practical training instrument of warming needle moxibustion is conductive to cultivate the standardization and accuracy of the technique operation in students, and it is significant for objectif-ying the teaching course of warming needle and teaching assessment, as well as for diversifying the teaching modes. Moreover, it plays an exemplary role in the practical training of other acupuncture and moxibustion techniques.

Views and reviews: fertility preservation from different perspectives.

Fertility preservation for different conditions provides women the chance to buy time that can be invested in improving their well-being, by curing their condition from a holistic perspective, in line with the precepts of modern medicine.

Standardization of zebrafish drug testing parameters for muscle diseases.

Skeletal muscular diseases predominantly affect skeletal and cardiac muscle, resulting in muscle weakness, impaired respiratory function and decreased lifespan. These harmful outcomes lead to poor health-related quality of life and carry a high healthcare economic burden. The absence of promising treatments and new therapies for muscular disorders requires new methods for candidate drug identification and advancement in animal models. Consequently, the rapid screening of drug compounds in an animal model that mimics features of human muscle disease is warranted. Zebrafish are a versatile model in preclinical studies that support developmental biology and drug discovery programs for novel chemical entities and repurposing of established drugs. Due to several advantages, there is an increasing number of applications of the zebrafish model for high-throughput drug screening for human disorders and developmental studies. Consequently, standardization of key drug screening parameters, such as animal husbandry protocols, drug compound administration and outcome measures, is paramount for the continued advancement of the model and field. Here, we seek to summarize and explore critical drug treatment and drug screening parameters in the zebrafish-based modeling of human muscle diseases. Through improved standardization and harmonization of drug screening parameters and protocols, we aim to promote more effective drug discovery programs.

Standardization studies of acupuncture prescriptions: a new approach to translational medicine in acupuncture. / è¯•è®ºé’ˆç¸å¤„æ–¹çš„è§„èŒƒåŒ–ç ”ç©¶.

This paper explores the relationship between the standardization studies of acupuncture prescriptions and translational medicine, elucidating the translational medical concepts in the standardization of acupuncture prescriptions. It emphasizes that the standardization of acupuncture prescriptions is a pivotal link in the transformation of foundational acupuncture research. Considering the current clinical status of acupuncture prescriptions, the paper proposes the elements for standardizing prescriptions to promote the translation of foundational acupuncture research into clinical practice. These elements encompass prescription structure, precise acupoint number, orderly techniques of acupuncture, quantification of procedures, and clarity in efficacy. The goal is to provide a new perspective for the development of translational medicine in acupuncture.

Euphorbia grantii Oliv. standardized extract and its fraction ameliorate doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy in Ehrlich carcinoma bearing mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Euphorbia plants have long been used as traditional medicine in China, Europe, America, Turkey, India, Africa, Iran, and Pakistan because of its high medicinal value and health advantages especially as a remedy for several types of cancer. AIM OF THE STUDY: Doxorubicin (DOX) is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs in cancer chemotherapy, with dose-limiting cardiotoxicity. The development of medicinal approaches to attenuate drug's toxicity represents an area of great concern in cancer research. Because research on this topic is still disputed and limited, we aim to investigate the potential of supplementation with Euphorbia grantii Oliv. on DOX-induced cardiomyopathy in Ehrlich carcinoma bearing mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis of total methanolic extract (TE), and its bioactive dichloromethane fraction (DCMF) was applied for the determination of friedelin. Male BALB/c mice were used to keep the Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. The experiment was performed for a 2-weeks period. RESULTS: A good linearity relationship was found to be with correlation coefficient (r2) value of 0.9924 for the isolated friedelin. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) was found to be 0.00179, and 0.000537 ng/band respectively for friedelin. The amount of friedelin in the TE and DCMF were determined by using calibration curve of standard as 106.32 ± 5.69 µg, and 159.2 ± 4.24 µg friedelin/mg extract, respectively. DOX-induced cardiomyopathy by decreasing the ejection fraction (EF) compared to the Ehrlich and negative control groups. It resulted in a decrease in the EF by 30 and 39% compared to the other groups. High and low doses of the TE and DCMF did not result in significantly different ejection fractions compared to the Ehrlich group. Co-administration of DCMF with DOX ameliorated the alteration in the serum CKMB and LDH levels. As revealed from histopathological study, DOX impairs viability of cardiac myocytes and DCMF could effectively and extensively counteract this action of DOX and potentially protect the heart from severe toxicity of DOX. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, our results indicated that Euphorbia grantii Oliv. would be the best option to reduce DOX adverse effects.

PhyloSophos: a high-throughput scientific name mapping algorithm augmented with explicit consideration of taxonomic science, and its application on natural product (NP) occurrence database processing.

BACKGROUND: The standardization of biological data using unique identifiers is vital for seamless data integration, comprehensive interpretation, and reproducibility of research findings, contributing to advancements in bioinformatics and systems biology. Despite being widely accepted as a universal identifier, scientific names for biological species have inherent limitations, including lack of stability, uniqueness, and convertibility, hindering their effective use as identifiers in databases, particularly in natural product (NP) occurrence databases, posing a substantial obstacle to utilizing this valuable data for large-scale research applications. RESULT: To address these challenges and facilitate high-throughput analysis of biological data involving scientific names, we developed PhyloSophos, a Python package that considers the properties of scientific names and taxonomic systems to accurately map name inputs to entries within a chosen reference database. We illustrate the importance of assessing multiple taxonomic databases and considering taxonomic syntax-based pre-processing using NP occurrence databases as an example, with the ultimate goal of integrating heterogeneous information into a single, unified dataset. CONCLUSIONS: We anticipate PhyloSophos to significantly aid in the systematic processing of poorly digitized and curated biological data, such as biodiversity information and ethnopharmacological resources, enabling full-scale bioinformatics analysis using these valuable data resources.

The Cavernous Nerve Injury Rat Model: A Pictorial Essay on Post-Radical Prostatectomy Erectile Dysfunction Research.

Understanding and addressing post-radical prostatectomy (RP) erectile dysfunction (ED) is of paramount importance for clinicians. Cavernous nerve (CN) injury rat model studies have provided consistently promising experimental data regarding regaining erectile function (EF) after nerve damage-induced ED. However, these findings have failed to translate efficiently into clinical practice, with post-RP ED therapeutic management remaining cumbersome and enigmatic. This disparity highlights the need for further standardization and optimization of the elaborate surgical preparation protocols and multifaceted reporting parameters involved in reliable CN injury rat model experimentation. Even so, despite its technical complexity, this animal model remains instrumental in exploring the functional implications of RP, i.e., surgical lesions of the neurovascular bundles (NVBs). Herein, besides cavernous nerve (CN) dissection, injury, and electrostimulation, multiple pressure measurements, i.e., mean arterial pressure (MAP) and intra-cavernosal pressure (ICP), must also be achieved. A transverse cervical incision allows for carotid artery cannulation and MAP measurements. Conversely, ICP measurements entail circumcising the penis, exposing the ischiocavernous muscle, and inserting a needle into the corporal body. Finally, using an abdominal incision, the prostate is revealed, and the major pelvic ganglia (MPG) and CNs are dissected bilaterally. Specific surgical techniques are used to induce CN injuries. Herein, we provide a narrative and illustrative overview regarding these complex experimental procedures and their particular requirements, reflecting on current evidence and future research perspectives.

Discussion on the construction of standard system of moxibustion method. / æž„å»ºç¸æ³•åŸºæœ¬æ ‡å‡†ä½“ç³»çš„æŽ¢è®¨.

There is no systematic and whole-process system for moxibustion standard development at home and abroad, which restricts the industry innovation and technological progress to a certain extent. The paper reviews the study status and finds that the technical standard is dominant in moxibustion standard development currently, represented by conventional moxibustion, heat-sensitive moxibustion, moxibustion on the Governor Vessel, moxibustion with seed-size moxa cone and herb-isolated moxibustion, etc. There are many gaps in the standards development of moxibustion material and device, equipment building, moxa smoke purification, and management and job. On the basis of explaining the standard framework of moxibustion, it is suggested that the moxibustion standardization should be deepened in the aspects of hierarchical technical operation, material selection, research and development of new devices, personnel training and equipment management.

Advancing herbal medicine: enhancing product quality and safety through robust quality control practices.

This manuscript provides an in-depth review of the significance of quality control in herbal medication products, focusing on its role in maintaining efficiency and safety. With a historical foundation in traditional medicine systems, herbal remedies have gained widespread popularity as natural alternatives to conventional treatments. However, the increasing demand for these products necessitates stringent quality control measures to ensure consistency and safety. This comprehensive review explores the importance of quality control methods in monitoring various aspects of herbal product development, manufacturing, and distribution. Emphasizing the need for standardized processes, the manuscript delves into the detection and prevention of contaminants, the authentication of herbal ingredients, and the adherence to regulatory standards. Additionally, it highlights the integration of traditional knowledge and modern scientific approaches in achieving optimal quality control outcomes. By emphasizing the role of quality control in herbal medicine, this manuscript contributes to promoting consumer trust, safeguarding public health, and fostering the responsible use of herbal medication products.

Utilization of traditional herbal medicine formulas for unexplained female infertility in Korea: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the prescription of traditional herbal medicines for the treatment of unexplained female infertility in Korea. By analyzing the relationships among the prescriptions and between the prescriptions and treatment outcomes, we aimed to confirm the utilization of standardized prescriptions and the effectiveness of this standardization. METHODS: The data were derived from the "support projects" of the local government for infertile women to receive Korean medical treatments. The presciption data of 453 participants from 2017 to 2018 were analyzed. Data preprocessing, frequency analysis, and network analysis were conducted. For network analysis, the characteristics of the herbal medicine prescriptions were used to calculate the degree centrality, closeness centrality and eigenvector centrality. Modularity clustering was also performed for cluster analysis. RESULTS: Fifty different prescriptions were used, among which only 22 were used for participants who became pregnant. The recommended standard prescriptions for support projects were used frequently. "BaeranChacksangBang" showed the highest level of in-degree centrality. Among the prescriptions for participants who became pregnant, "JogyeongJongokTang" and "BaeranChacksangBang" were the most influential nodes. "BaeranChacksangBang", "AnjeonYicheonTang", "YukLinZu" and "JogyeongJongokTang" had high closeness centrality among the prescriptions for participants who became pregnant. Clustering analysis of the prescriptions for participants who became pregnant revealed that the prescriptions showed the best modularity when divided into five groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings depict the utilization of Korean herbal medicine in the real world and the dynamics underlying the herbal medicine prescription patterns for infertile women.

Ghana's herbal medicine industry: prospects, challenges and ways forward from a developing country perspective.

The herbal medicine industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. However, no detailed assessments have been undertaken on how to achieve the benefits of this industry for developing countries. This study examined the herbal medicine industry in Ghana, with a particular focus on its prospects, challenges and ways forward. The prospects of the medicinal plant trade are huge, and include reducing the national health budget, being a source of foreign and domestic income, as well as creation of employment and poverty reduction. However, the industry is currently inundated with several challenges, such as registration of herbal medicine products and practitioners, a lack of clinical trials for herbal products, standards and quality control issues, shortage of raw plant materials for production, and insufficient scientific research to support traditional claims on the pharmacological effects of medicinal plants. I propose a number of interventions to address these challenges: increased government support, capacity building initiatives, improved regulation of herbal medicines, application of modern technology in the manufacturing of herbal products, large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants, and improved packaging and branding for herbal medicines. Both the national government and the private sector have crucial roles to deliver in the development of the herbal medicine industry in a country like Ghana.

Application of the herbal chemical marker ranking system (Herb MaRS) to the standardization of herbal raw materials: a case study.

INTRODUCTION: Phytochemical standardization of herbal materials involves establishing consistent levels of one or more active ingredients or markers. It ensures the authenticity and quality of herbal materials, extracts, and their products. This research aimed to apply the herbal chemical marker ranking system (Herb MaRS) originally proposed for quality assurance of complex herbal products to establish markers for controlling the quality of herbal raw materials. METHODS: The assessment of compounds for suitability as markers was based on the Herb MaRS, with minor modifications as follows: for more objective scoring, evidence of biological activity of the potential marker compound(s) was determined at three levels based on the number of symptoms of the disease condition a compound can treat or alleviate: (i) one symptom (1 point), two symptoms (2 points), and 3 or more symptoms (3 points). The reported concentrations of the compounds were also scored as follows: concentration not determined (0 points), concentration ≥ 5 ppm (1 point), concentration ≥ 50 ppm (2 points) and availability of analytical standards (1 point). Finally, the compounds were scored for the availability of an analytical method (1 point). The compounds were scored from 0 to 8, where 8 indicated the most suitable chemical marker. RESULTS: The selected markers were as follows: aromadendrine, α-terpineol, globulol, and 1,8-cineol (in Eucalyptus globulus Labill. ); aloin, aloe emodin, acemannan (in Aloe barbadensis (L.) Burm.f. ), lupeol, lupenone, betulinic acid, betulin, and catechin (in Albizia coriaria Oliv.); mangiferin, catechin, quercetin, and gallic acid (in Mangifera indica L.); polygodial (in Warburgia ugandensis Sprague); azadirachtin, nimbin, nimbidin (in Azadirachta indica A. Juss. ); and 6,8,10-gingerols, and 6-shogaol (in Zingiber officinalis Roscoe). CONCLUSIONS: Herb MaRS can be efficiently applied to select marker compounds for quality control of herbal materials. However, for herbs whose phytochemicals have not been sufficiently researched, it is difficult to establish evidence of activity, and there are no analytical standards and/or methods; this is the case for plants exclusively used in Africa. The markers identified should be incorporated into chromatographic fingerprints, their quantitative methods developed, and evaluated for applicability at the various stages of the production chain of herbal medicines; then, they can be included in future local plant monographs. There is also a need to build local capacity to isolate marker compounds, particularly those that are not sold by current vendors.

Application of digital-intelligence technology in the processing of Chinese materia medica.

Processing of Chinese Materia Medica (PCMM) is the concentrated embodiment, which is the core of Chinese unique traditional pharmaceutical technology. The processing includes the preparation steps such as cleansing, cutting and stir-frying, to make certain impacts on the quality and efficacy of Chinese botanical drugs. The rapid development of new computer digital technologies, such as big data analysis, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and cloud computing artificial intelligence, has promoted the rapid development of traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing industry with digitalization and intellectualization. In this review, the application of digital intelligence technology in the PCMM was analyzed and discussed, which hopefully promoted the standardization of the process and secured the quality of botanical drugs decoction pieces. Through the intellectualization and the digitization of production, safety and effectiveness of clinical use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) decoction pieces were ensured. This review also provided a theoretical basis for further technical upgrading and high-quality development of TCM industry.