Exploring the mechanism of action of herbal compounding in the treatment of myasthenia gravis based on network pharmacology.

Myasthenia gravis is a major disease in the context of an ageing society, and the discovery of effective herbal compound and herbal active ingredients is a highly promising direction for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. In this study, we selected shujiao, dried ginger and ginseng from the compound ingredients through a network pathology approach. The three ingredients were used to obtain drug targets in Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP), HERB and BATMAN-TCM data and intersected with the disease targets of myasthenia gravis.

Development of an Electronic Stethoscope and a Classification Algorithm for Cardiopulmonary Sounds.

With conventional stethoscopes, the auscultation results may vary from one doctor to another due to a decline in his/her hearing ability with age or his/her different professional training, and the problematic cardiopulmonary sound cannot be recorded for analysis. In this paper, to resolve the above-mentioned issues, an electronic stethoscope was developed consisting of a traditional stethoscope with a condenser microphone embedded in the head to collect cardiopulmonary sounds and an AI-based classifier for cardiopulmonary sounds was proposed. Different deployments of the microphone in the stethoscope head with amplification and filter circuits were explored and analyzed using fast Fourier transform (FFT) to evaluate the effects of noise reduction.

Inhibition of p38 MAPK Mitigates Lung Ischemia Reperfusion Injury by Reducing Blood-Air Barrier Hyperpermeability.

Lung ischemia reperfusion injury (LIRI) is a complex pathophysiological process activated by lung transplantation and acute lung injury. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is involved in breakdown of the endothelial barrier during LIRI, but the mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the function of p38 MAPK in LIRI and .

Mitophagy-Mediated mtDNA Release Aggravates Stretching-Induced Inflammation and Lung Epithelial Cell Injury via the TLR9/MyD88/NF-κB Pathway.

Background: In animal models of ventilation-induced lung injury, mitophagy triggers mitochondria damage and the release of mitochondrial (mt) DNA, which activates inflammation. However, the mechanism of this process is unclear.

Methods: A model of cyclic stretching (CS)-induced lung epithelial cell injury was established.

High Tidal Volume Induces Mitochondria Damage and Releases Mitochondrial DNA to Aggravate the Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether high tidal volume (HTV) induce mitochondria damage and mitophagy, contributing to the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Another aim of the present study was to investigate the role and mechanism of mtDNA in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) in rats.

Methods: Rats were tracheotomized and allowed to breathe spontaneously or mechanically ventilated for 4 h.

Determinants of emergency medical utilization among the elderly population in Taiwan: a national longitudinal cohort study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential determinants for emergency medical utilization by elderly patients in Taiwan. The data were drawn from the 'Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan', a population-based, longitudinal study of a nationally representative random sample of older adults aged 60 years and older, which was conducted from 1989 to 2007. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at the respondents' homes by trained interviewers accompanied by local health workers.