Network pharmacology analysis and clinical efficacy of the traditional Chinese medicine Bu-Shen-Jian-Pi. Part 3: Alleviation of hypoxia, muscle-wasting, and modulation of redox functions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: The aim of this clinical study is to obtain evidence for the clinical efficacy of Bu-Shen-Jian-Pi formula (BSJP), a traditional Chinese medicine, used for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a relatively rare, progressive and usually fatal disease possibly associated with alterations in tissue redox status, hypoxia, and muscular injury.

Background: The active agents in BSJP formula causing apoptosis, modulation of redox changes, and alterations in the immune status have been studied previously by us using cell cultures. The findings from these investigations have been incorporated into pharmacology databases employed in our analysis of BSJP using network pharmacology analysis/artifical intelligence.

Strengthening Cracked Steel Plates with Shape Memory Alloy Patches: Numerical and Experimental Investigations.

To investigate the retarding effect of bonding the shape memory alloy (SMA) patches on crack propagation in steel plates, both numerical and experimental analyses were conducted in the present study. A compact tension (CT) model was developed to clarify the feasibility of bonding the SMA patch to the reinforcement of the mode Ⅰ, mode Ⅱ, and mode Ⅲ cracks. On this basis, parametric analysis was conducted to investigate the strengthening parameters, i.

Effective Notch-Stress-Based Stress Concentration Factors of the Rib-Deck Weld in Orthotropic Steel Decks Considering the Effect of Asphalt Surfacing.

Effective notch stress (ENS) approaches have many application prospects in fatigue damage assessments; however, an ENS can only be obtained by conducting complex and time-consuming numerical analyses, deterring many engineers from applying such an approach. In terms of the rib-deck weld in orthotropic steel decks (OSDs), predictive formulae for determining the ENS concentration factors (ENS-based SCFs) have been proposed; however, the effect of asphalt surfacing is not involved, which limits their applications in practical engineering. In the present study, refined finite element (FE) models, including asphalt surfacing, were developed to obtain the ENS-based SCFs which could be applied to practical engineering.

Gastrointestinal Talaromyces marneffei infection in a man with AIDS: A case report.

Rationale: Reports of intestinal Talaromyces marneffei infection have increased year by year, but those of gastric infection remain rare. Here, we report disseminated talaromycosis with gastric and intestinal ulcers in an AIDS patient who was treated by antifungal agents and a proton pump inhibitor and achieved a satisfactory outcome.

Patient Concerns: A 49-year-old man developed a gastrointestinal illness with main abdominal distension, poor appetite and a positive HIV infection to our AIDS clinical treatment center.

Slower progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with external application of a Chinese herbal plaster-The randomized, placebo-controlled triple-blinded ALS-CHEPLA trial.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by gradually increasing damage to the upper and lower motor neurons. However, definitive and efficacious treatment for ALS is not available, and oral intake in ALS patients with bulbar involvement is complicated due to swallowing difficulties.

Hypothesis/purpose: This study investigated whether the external plaster application of the herbal composition Ji-Wu-Li efficiently slows ALS progression because prior studies obtained promising evidence with oral herbal applications.

Mechanical Behavior of Foam-Filled Bamboo Composite Tubes under Axial Compression.

In this paper, a new type of polyurethane foam-filled bamboo composite tube is proposed. Axial compression tests were carried out on unfilled and polyurethane foam-filled bamboo composite tubes. The effects of the foam filler, diameter (50 and 100 mm) and number of winding layers (10, 15 and 20 layers) on the failure mode and energy absorption capacity of the tubes were studied.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Symptom Score in Integrative Treatments (ALS-SSIT) for Evaluating Therapeutic Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Prospective Study.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability, validity, sensitivity, and clinical applicability of a new scale-the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptom score in integrative treatments (ALS-SSIT)-for measuring the effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: A total of 160 patients with ALS were enrolled and followed up for 6 months. All patients received TCM.

Use of l-3-n-Butylphthalide within 24 h after intravenous thrombolysis for acute cerebral infarction.

Objective: Observe the clinical efficacy of l-3-n-Butylphthalide (NBP) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients within 24 h after intravenous thrombolysis using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (hereafter termed "IT").

Methods: One-hundred and seventy-eight patients with AIS were divided randomly into two groups: NBP and control. The former was given a NBP injection within 24 h after IT.

Magnetically triggered drug release from nanoparticles and its applications in anti-tumor treatment.

The objective of this study was to describe the magnetic nanoparticle-drug conjugates for improved control of drug delivery and drug release. The widely used anticancer agent Doxorubicin (DOX) was successfully conjugated via amine groups to the carboxylic functional groups coating magnetic nanoparticles (fluidMAG-CMX). Following purification of the nanoparticles, the conjugation of DOX on fluidMAG-CMX was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy and confocal microscopy.

Actigraph evaluation of acupuncture for treating restless legs syndrome.

We evaluated the effects of acupuncture in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) by actigraph recordings. Among the 38 patients with RLS enrolled, 31 (M = 12, F = 19; mean age, 47.2 ± 9.

Shen-zhi-ling oral liquid improves behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Alzheimer's disease.

We evaluated the effects of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Shen-Zhi-Ling oral liquid (SZL) on the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Among 98 patients with AD and BPSD enrolled (mean age, 57.2 ± 8.

The use of integrative therapies in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in shanghai, china.

Objective. To investigate the current use of integrative therapies (IT) in the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods.

Strange attractors and their periodic repetition.

In this paper, we present some important findings regarding a comprehensive characterization of dynamical behavior in the vicinity of two periodically perturbed homoclinic solutions. Using the Duffing system, we illustrate that the overall dynamical behavior of the system, including strange attractors, is organized in the form of an asymptotic invariant pattern as the magnitude of the applied periodic forcing approaches zero. Moreover, this invariant pattern repeats itself with a multiplicative period with respect to the magnitude of the forcing.

Experimental verification of rank 1 chaos in switch-controlled Chua circuit.

In this paper, we provide the first experimental proof for the existence of rank 1 chaos in the switch-controlled Chua circuit by following a step-by-step procedure given by the theory of rank 1 maps. At the center of this procedure is a periodically kicked limit cycle obtained from the unforced system. Then, this limit cycle is subjected to periodic kicks by adding externally controlled switches to the original circuit.