A review of typical biological activities of glycyrrhetinic acid and its derivatives.

Glycyrrhetinic acid, a triterpenoid compound primarily sourced from licorice root, exhibits noteworthy biological attributes, including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and antioxidant effects. Despite these commendable effects, its further advancement and application, especially in clinical use, have been hindered by its limited druggability, including challenges such as low solubility and bioavailability. To enhance its biological activity and pharmaceutical efficacy, numerous research studies focus on the structural modification, associated biological activity data, and underlying mechanisms of glycyrrhetinic acid and its derivatives.

Neferine inhibits the progression of diabetic nephropathy by modulating the miR-17-5p/nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 axis.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Neferine (Nef) on diabetic nephropathy (DN) and to explore the mechanism of Nef in DN based on miRNA regulation theory.

Methods: A DN mouse model was constructed and treated with Nef. Serum creatinine (Crea), blood urea (UREA) and urinary albumin were measured in mice by kits, and renal histopathological changes and fibrosis were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and Masson staining.

Highly Anthropomorphic Finger Design With a Novel Friction Clutch for Achieving Human-Like Reach-and-Grasp Movements.

In the design of prosthetic hand fingers, achieving human-like movement while meeting anthropomorphic demands such as appearance, size, and lightweight is quite challenging. Human finger movement involves two distinct motion characters during natural reach-and-grasp tasks: consistency in the reaching stage and adaptability in the grasping stage. The former one enhances grasp stability and reduces control complexity; the latter one promotes the adaptability of finger to various objects.

Hybrid Swarming Algorithm With Van Der Waals Force.

This paper proposes a hybrid swarming algorithm based on Ant Colony Optimization and Physarum Polycephalum Algorithm. And the Van Der Waals force is first applied to the pheromone update mechanism of the hybrid algorithm. The improved method can prevent premature convergence into the local optimal solution.

Design and Implementation of Arch Function for Adaptive Multi-Finger Prosthetic Hand.

Although arch motions of the palm substantially contribute to frequent hand grasping, they are usually neglected in the development of prosthetic hands which focuses on digit movements. We designed the arch function for its implementation on an adaptive multi-finger prosthetic hand. The digits from the developed hand can perform adaptive grasping, and two carpometacarpal joints enable the palm of the prosthetic hand to form an arch with the thumb.

Ergonomic Mechanical Design and Assessment of a Waist Assist Exoskeleton for Reducing Lumbar Loads During Lifting Task.

The purpose of this study was to develop a wearable waist exoskeleton to provide back support for industrial workers during repetitive lifting tasks and to assess reductions in back muscular activity. The ergonomic mechanical structure is convenient to employ in different applications. The exoskeleton attaches to the wearer's body with 4 straps, takes only 30 s to put the exoskeleton on without additional help, weighs just 5 kg and is easy to carry.

Clinical analysis of minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy in a single center by a single medical group.

Objective: McKeown esophagectomy followed by cervical and abdominal procedures has been commonly used for invasive esophageal carcinoma. This minimally-invasive operative procedure in the lateral prone position has been considered to be the most appropriate method. We describe our experiences in minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy (MIME) for esophageal cancer.

Marginal Representation Learning With Graph Structure Self-Adaptation.

Learning discriminative feature representations has shown remarkable importance due to its promising performance for machine learning problems. This paper presents a discriminative data representation learning framework by employing a simple yet powerful marginal regression function with probabilistic graphical structure adaptation. A marginally structured representation learning (MSRL) method is proposed by seamlessly incorporating distinguishable regression targets analysis, graph structure adaptation, and robust linear structural learning into a joint framework.

Exploiting Target Data to Learn Deep Convolutional Networks for Scene-Adapted Human Detection.

The difference between sample distributions of public data sets and specific scenes can be very significant. As a result, the deployment of generic human detectors in real-world scenes most often leads to sub-optimal detection performance. To avoid the labor-intensive task of manual annotations, we propose a semi-supervised approach for training deep convolutional networks on partially labeled data.

Short- and mid-term outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic distal pancreatosplenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: A retrospective propensity score-matched study.

Background: Robotic distal pancreatectomy exhibits short-term benefits over laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy. The use of minimal invasive techniques to carry out distal pancreatosplenectomy (DPS) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains controversial and has not gained popular acceptance. A comparative study was designed to analyze the short- and mid-term outcomes of robotic DPS (RDPS) versus laparoscopic DPS (LDPS) on patients with PDAC.

Robust Discriminant Regression for Feature Extraction.

Ridge regression (RR) and its extended versions are widely used as an effective feature extraction method in pattern recognition. However, the RR-based methods are sensitive to the variations of data and can learn only limited number of projections for feature extraction and recognition. To address these problems, we propose a new method called robust discriminant regression (RDR) for feature extraction.

[Cadherin switching induced by P120-catenin can promote the migration and invasion of oral squamous cell cancer cells].

Objective: The main goal is to investigate the role of P120-catenin (P120ctn) in cadherin switching, as well as migration and invasion, of oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC) cells.

Methods: The plasmid pGFP-V-RS-P120ctn shRNA was used to transfect TSCCA cells and significantly reduce the expression of P120ctn in these cells. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were conducted to determine the mRNA and protein expression levels of P120ctn, E-cadherin (E-cad), and N-cadherin (N-cad).

A Locality-Constrained and Label Embedding Dictionary Learning Algorithm for Image Classification.

Locality and label information of training samples play an important role in image classification. However, previous dictionary learning algorithms do not take the locality and label information of atoms into account together in the learning process, and thus their performance is limited. In this paper, a discriminative dictionary learning algorithm, called the locality-constrained and label embedding dictionary learning (LCLE-DL) algorithm, was proposed for image classification.

Asynchronous Dissipative State Estimation for Stochastic Complex Networks With Quantized Jumping Coupling and Uncertain Measurements.

This paper addresses the problem of state estimation for a class of discrete-time stochastic complex networks with a constrained and randomly varying coupling and uncertain measurements. The randomly varying coupling is governed by a Markov chain, and the capacity constraint is handled by introducing a logarithmic quantizer. The uncertainty of measurements is modeled by a multiplicative noise.

Evaluation of microvascularization in focal salivary gland lesions by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and Color Doppler sonography.

Objective: To evaluate the dynamic microvascularization of focal salivary gland lesions by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and Color Doppler sonography.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and sixty-eight patients with 183 major salivary gland lesions (mean age, 56 years; age range, 12-83 years) underwent gray-scale ultrasonography (US), Color Doppler (CD) and CEUS. The CD and CEUS patterns were classified into three types (scores 0-3).

IB-LBM simulation of the haemocyte dynamics in a stenotic capillary.

To study the behaviour of a haemocyte when crossing a stenotic capillary, the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method was used to establish a quantitative analysis model. The haemocyte was assumed to be spherical and to have an elastic cell membrane, which can be driven by blood flow to adopt a highly deformable character. In the stenotic capillary, the spherical blood cell was stressed both by the flow and the wall dimension, and the cell shape was forced to be stretched to cross the stenosis.

Forsythoside B protects against experimental sepsis by modulating inflammatory factors.

The present study investigated the effects of Forsythoside B on an experimental model of sepsis induced by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in rats and elucidated the potential mechanism in cultured RAW 264.7 cells. Results showed that Forsythoside B concentration-dependently down-regulated the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and high-mobility group-box 1 protein (HMGB1) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.

A three-year prospective longitudinal cohort study of medical students' attitudes toward anatomy teaching and their career aspirations.

Today's medical students are faced with numerous learning needs. Continuously developing curricula have reduced time for basic science subjects such as anatomy. This study aimed to determine the students' views on the relevance of anatomy teaching, anatomical knowledge, and the effect these have on their career choices.

[Evaluation of five D-dimer assays for the exclusion of venous thromboembolism].

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of five D-dimer assays for the exclusion of suspected venous thromboembolis (VTE).

Methods: The plasma D-dimer levels of 75 suspected VTE patients were tested with ELISA, VIDAS DD, DD Plus, Liatest STAGO DD, and NycoCard DD. The results of the five assays were compared with the gold standard of diagnosis of VTE.