Exploration of the utility of different doses of Qingfei Dayuan granules: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Clinical studies have confirmed that Qingfei Dayuan (QFDY) granules are effective in the treatment of influenza and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) caused by pulmonary heat-toxin syndrome (PHTS). Granules of Chinese medicine formulations have become a widely used dosage form in clinical practice. With the continuous optimization of extraction technology, the advantages of Chinese medicine granules have been gradually demonstrated, but the price of Chinese medicine granules is generally higher than that of traditional dosage forms of Chinese medicine, and we support the rational use of the appropriate dosage of QFDY for patients with these conditions.

Effectiveness and safety of Qingfei Dayuan granules for treating influenza and upper respiratory tract infections manifested by the pulmonary heat-toxin syndrome: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Patients diagnosed with influenza and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) have similar clinical manifestations and biochemical indices and a low detection rate of viral pathogens, mixed infection with diverse respiratory viruses, and targeted antiviral treatment difficulty in the early stage. According to the treatment strategy of "homotherapy for heteropathy" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), different diseases with the same clinical symptoms can be treated with the same medicines. Qingfei Dayuan granules (QFDY), a type of Chinese herbal preparation included in the issued by the Health Commission of Hubei Province in 2021, are recommended for patients suffering from COVID-19 with symptoms of fever, cough, and fatigue, among others.

The Overlap Subgroup of Functional Dyspepsia Exhibits More Severely Impaired Gastric and Autonomic Functions.

Goals: A combination of multiple tests was introduced to noninvasively investigate the differences in pathophysiologies among functional dyspepsia (FD) subgroups, including postprandial distress syndrome (PDS), epigastric pain syndrome (EPS), and overlap.

Background: It has not been extensively evaluated whether different pathophysiologies are involved in FD subgroups.

Study: This multicenter study included 364 FD patients fulfilling Rome IV criteria and 47 healthy controls.

The Short-Term Efficacy of Bifidobacterium Quadruple Viable Tablet in Patients With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Potentially Mediated by Metabolism Rather Than Diversity Regulation.

Introduction: The therapeutic effect of probiotics for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was controversial. This study aims to evaluate the short-term efficacy of Bifidobacterium quadruple viable tablet in patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS and explore factors associated with response to probiotics.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial was performed in 15 hospitals.

An iron oxide nanoworm hybrid on an interdigitated microelectrode silica surface to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is abnormal swelling in the abdominal aorta and a prevalent life-threatening disease. This research introduces a new interdigitated microelectrode (IDME)-sensing surface modified by iron oxide nanoworms (IONWs) for detecting the AAA biomarker insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1). A sandwich pattern was formulated with the IGF1 aptamer and IGFBP1 (IGF binding protein-1) on the IONW-constructed IDME hybrid to identify IGF1.

Adverse Outcomes Associated With Corticosteroid Use in Critical COVID-19: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Corticosteroid is commonly used to reduce damage from inflammatory reactions in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aim to determine the outcomes of corticosteroid use in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Ninety six critically ill patients, hospitalized in 14 hospitals outside Wuhan from January 16 to March 30, 2020 were enrolled in this study.

Risk factors for the critical illness in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Background: Prior studies reported that 5 ~ 32% COVID-19 patients were critically ill, a situation that poses great challenge for the management of the patients and ICU resources. We aim to identify independent risk factors to serve as prediction markers for critical illness of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: Fifty-two critical and 200 non-critical SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid positive patients hospitalized in 15 hospitals outside Wuhan from January 19 to March 6, 2020 were enrolled in this study.

LncRNA MACC1-AS1 attenuates microvascular endothelial cell injury and promotes angiogenesis under hypoxic conditions via modulating miR-6867-5p/TWIST1 in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Background: Hypoxia following ischemic stroke is a common cause of brain insults. Mounting evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in regulating certain physiological and pathological processes including ischemic stroke. For the first time, the present study investigated the effects and mechanism of LncRNA MACC1-AS1 on hypoxia-induced human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs).

Investigation of COVID-19-related symptoms based on factor analysis.

Background: The application of factor analysis in the study of the clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was investigated, to provide a reference for basic research on COVID-19 and its prevention and control.

Methods: The data of 60 patients with COVID-19 in Jingzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Second People's Hospital of Longgang District in Shenzhen were extracted using principal component analysis. Factor analysis was used to investigate the factors related to symptoms of COVID-19.

Fabrication of micropatterns on polypropylene films via plasma pretreatment combined with UV-initiated graft polymerization.

In this study, micropatterns on polypropylene films were fabricated via plasma pretreatment and UV-initiated graft polymerization. Firstly, radio-frequency plasma, which does not significantly influence bulk attributes of substrates due to limited penetration depth, was utilized to activate polypropylene films. Then, different sizes of micropatterns of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) were fabricated on the polypropylene films via UV-initiated graft polymerization of hydroxyethyl methacrylate by using photo-masks.

Effects of Chinese herbal cataplasm Xiaozhang Tie on cirrhotic ascites.

Background: Conventional methods of treating cirrhotic ascites are inadequate. We sought to identify a novel, effective approach to relieve the suffering of patients with cirrhotic ascites.

Aim Of The Study: To investigate the efficacy of Xiaozhang Tie, a traditional Chinese herbal cataplasm composed of dahuang (Rheum palmatum L.