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Abstract Background Zuogui Wan (ZGW) is a traditional herbal formula used to treat chronic kidney and bone diseases. Previous research has shown that ZGW slows down the aging process of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and improves bone metabolism. However, its role in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, we investigated the therapeutic effects of ZGW and its potential mechanisms in an ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis rat model. Results We observed significant improvements in bone loss and the osteoporotic phenotype in OVX rats treated with ZGW. These findings were confirmed with micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histomorphological analysis. We also discovered that ZGW reversed the macrophage imbalance, which in turn inhibited osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption. Furthermore, RNA-Seq results revealed the active expression of CD51 in BMSCs before and after ZGW therapy, which is associated with macrophage polarization and osteoblastic differentiation. The results also showed that ZGW decreased CD51 + BMSCs levels, which is closely related to the inhibition of osteoblast differentiation and promotion of osteoclast resorption. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that ZGW may improve postmenopausal osteoporosis by restoring macrophage polarization and down-regulating CD51 + BMSCs. In addition, ZGW promoted osteoblast formation and inhibited osteoclast resorption.

Abstract Background Asthma is one of the most common chronic airway diseases in children. Preventing asthma exacerbation is one of the objectives of all asthma action plans. In patients with poor perception, it is difficult to identify acute asthma exacerbations by clinical asthma score, asthma control test or asthma control questionnaire. The aim of this study is to analyze whether children with asthma have changes in peak expiratory flow(PEF)before an acute asthma exacerbation and to evaluate the relationship between PEF and asthma exacerbation. Methods Basic information (including sex, age, atopy, etc.) and clinical information of asthmatic children who registered in the Electronic China Children’s Asthma Action Plan (e-CCAAP) from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2021 were collected. Subjects with 14 consecutive days of PEF measurements were eligible. Subjects in this study were divided into an exacerbation group and a control group. We analyzed the relationship between changes in PEF% pred and the presence of asthma symptoms. Result A total of 194 children with asthma who met the inclusion criteria were included, including 144 males (74.2%) and 50 females (25.8%), with a male-to-female ratio of 2.88:1. The mean age of the subjects was 9.51 ± 2.5 years. There were no significant differences in sex, age, allergy history or baseline PEF between the two groups. In children with and without a history of allergy, there was no significant difference between the variation in PEF at 14 days. Patients who only had a reduced in PEF but no symptoms of asthma exacerbation had the greatest reduction in PEF compared to the other groups. The most common cause of acute exacerbations of asthma is upper respiratory tract infection. Among the causes of acute exacerbations of asthma, the variation in PEF caused by air pollution was significantly higher than that of other causes (P

The monolithically integrated self-driven photoelectric detector (PD) with the light-emitting diode (LED) epitaxial structure completely relies on the built-in electric field in the multi-quantum wells region to separate the photogenerated carriers. Here, we propose a novel superlattices–electron barrier layer structure to expand the potential field region and enhance the detection capability of the integrated PD. The PD exhibits a record-breaking photo-to-dark current ratio of 5.14 × 107, responsivity of 110.3 A/W, and specific detectivity of 2.2 × 1013 Jones at 0 V bias, respectively. A clear open-eyed diagram of the monolithically integrated chip, including the PD, LED, and waveguide, is realized under a high-speed communication rate of 150 Mbps. The obtained transient response (rise/decay) time of 2.16/2.28 ns also illustrates the outstanding transient response capability of the integrated chip. The on-chip optical communication system is built to achieve the practical video signals transmission application, which is a formidable contender for the core module of future large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

ABSTRACTObjectives: High reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels lead to cell death, and the testes are among the most vulnerable organs to oxidative damage. Rg1, an active ingredient extracted from the natural medicine ginseng, has potential anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiapoptotic properties. Our previous studies showed that Rg1 can effectively improve spermatogenic function in mice, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Rg1 on oxidative stress and spermatogonium apoptosis in D-gal-induced testicular toxicity and elucidate the associated mechanism.Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice at 6–8 weeks of age were intraperitoneally injected with D-gal (200 mg/kg) for 42 days to establish a testicular injury model, and on day 16, 40 mg/kg Rg1-rich saline was injected intraperitoneally. Concurrently, we established an in vitro model of D-gal-damaged spermatogonia, which was treated with Rg1.Results: We found that treatment with the ginsenoside Rg1 reduced D-gal-induced oxidative stress and spermatogonium apoptosis in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, we found that Rg1 activated Akt/bad signaling and reduced D-gal-induced spermatogonium apoptosis.Discussion: We provide evidence showing that the antioxidant effect of Rg1 is mediated by the Akt/GSK-3β/NRF2 axis. Based on these findings, we consider Rg1 a potential treatment for testicular oxidative damage.

In order to achieve zero energy consumption of visible light labels, MATLAB and MULTISIM were used to simulate the impedance matching of the receiver, matching the input impedance of the first-order equalization circuit with the internal resistance of solar panel, while expanding the system bandwidth and ensuring the highest output power of the solar panel.The simulation results show that the output power of the solar panel is increased by 86.2% when the input impedance of the equalization circuit matches solar panel, compared to the common 50 Ω.The prototype system of zero-energy optical label of visible light was built.A 15 W LED lamp was used to send characters at 115 200 Baud, and a cadmium telluride solar panel was used to collect energy and receive signals at a distance of 1.3 m.Low-power microcontroller was used to recover data through ADC and computation, and OLED screens were used to display the received label characters.The signal reception, processing computing, and screen display energy of the receiver were all provided by solar panel, without the need for batteries or external power supply.The visible light label display service with zero energy consumption has been implemented.

BackgroundGou Qi Zi (Lycium barbarum) is a traditional herbal medicine with antioxidative effects. Although Gou Qi Zi has been used to prevent premature aging and in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), its mechanism of action in NSCLC remains unclear. The present study utilized network pharmacology to assess the potential mechanism of action of Gou Qi Zi in the treatment of NSCLC.MethodsThe TCMSP, TCMID, SwissTargetPrediction, DrugBank, DisGeNET, GeneCards, OMIM and TTD databases were searched for the active components of Gou Qi Zi and their potential therapeutic targets in NSCLC. Protein-protein interaction networks were identified and the interactions of target proteins were analyzed. Involved pathways were determined by GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analyses using the Metascape database, and molecular docking technology was used to study the interactions between active compounds and potential targets. These results were verified by cell counting kit-8 assays, BrdU labeling, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and qRT-PCR.ResultsDatabase searches identified 33 active components in Gou Qi Zi, 199 predicted biological targets and 113 NSCLC-related targets. A network of targets of traditional Chinese medicine compounds and potential targets of Gou Qi Zi in NSCLC was constructed. GO enrichment analysis showed that Gou Qi Zi targeting of NSCLC was mainly due to the effect of its associated lipopolysaccharide. KEGG pathway analysis showed that Gou Qi Zi acted mainly through the PI3K/AKT1 signaling pathway in the treatment of NSCLC. Molecular docking experiments showed that the bioactive compounds of Gou Qi Zi could bind to AKT1, C-MYC and TP53. These results were verified by experimental assays.ConclusionGou Qi Zi induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of NSCLC in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT1 signaling pathway.

The data rate of the zero-power-consumption visible light communication system is limited due to the solar cell bandwidth limit. A new method has been proposed to improve the data rate of communication systems. The predistortion circuit based on the nonlinear compensation principle of the communication system is added between the transmitter and the receiver to equalize the amplitude–frequency response of the solar cell. Based on the measurement of the original amplitude–frequency response of the system, the zero-pole of the predistortion circuit is calculated, and an accurate equalization circuit is designed by using separate components to expand the 3 dB bandwidth of the system. The test results show that the 3 dB bandwidth of the visible light self-powered communication system is increased from 85 kHz to 750 kHz, and the system bandwidth is expanded by nearly 10 times.