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The variable coefficient Burgers equation was studied with an approximate analytical method under the given initial and boundary conditions. A new-form homotopy was introduced to overcome the problem brought by the variable coefficient, this new-form homotopy enhanced the computational efficiency in comparison with the traditional forms, and gave a consistent analytical solution expression in time domain. Analytical solutions to the variable coefficient Burgers equation in finite space domain were determined respectively, and shock wave formation in finite space domain was also discussed. Convergence of the presented analytical solution was explored in the sense of norm. Based on the Lie transformation group theory, symmetry of the variable coefficient Burgers equation was studied with its infinitesimal generators, conservation law and group invariant solution obtained. The presented solution was directly deduced from the nonlinear partial differential equation without travelling wave transformation. Convergence of the approximate analytical solution was discussed with the so-called 4 h-curve' criteria. Direct numerical simulation with the finite difference method proves accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed exponential homotopy method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Root cortex of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews (Paeoniaceae), known as Moutan Cortex (MC), is known to have anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the constituents absorbed into blood after oral administration of MC remain unknown. A sensitive and rapid method by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS) technology and the MetaboLynxTM software combined with multiple data processing approach (Mdpa) was established to investigate the absorbed constituents in rats after oral administration of MC, providing unique high-throughput capabilities for drug metabolism study. A hyphenated electrospray ionization and quadrupole-time-of-flight analyzer was used for the determination of accurate mass of the fragment ion in negative mode, with excellent MS mass accuracy and enhanced data acquisition. This rapid automated analysis method was successfully applied for screening and identification of the constituents absorbed and metabolized studies of MC after oral administration to rats. A total of 46 peaks were obtained from MC, 41 of which were tentatively characterized. In the VIP-plot of orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis, 23 interesting ions in serum samples were extracted, and 16 parent components and seven metabolites were detected in vivo. The integrative serum pharmacochemistry technique, UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS, and Mdpa method were successfully applied for rapid discovery of multiple components from MC. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, more and more herbal drugs of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) rely on cultivation rather than natural resources because of overexploitation, and the study on quality of cultivated herbal medicines has become a hotspot in the research field of ecology of TCM resources. Though some of molecular biology techniques could improve the contents of secondary metabolites, those chemical compositions may differ from what we require from natural products, resulting in different treatment efficacy. Objective: To explore ways and means of improving TCM quality by means of regulating secondary metabolism from the perspective of natural physiological ecology. Materials and Methods: H2O2 and paraquat as carriers of ROS, propyl gallate as a ROS scavenger, and ethephon as a ROS inductive agent were sprayed on Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. Results: The hypo-concentration ROS could enhance the activities of POD, PPO, as well as CAT, and propyl gallate acted on the opposite side, but they all failed to break the homeostasis between ROS and oxidase activity and to exert any effect on the contents of the schisandrin, deoxyschizandrin, and schisandrin B. The hypso-concentration ROS could break the homeostasis, reduce the activities of POD, PPO, as well as CAT, and improve the quality of S. chinensis fruit. The ethephon could effectively improve the quality of S. chinensis without the limitation of metabolic regulation. Conclusion: The conclusions accord with the hypothesis that ROS regulates secondary metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article offers information on the amplification of nucleocapsid protein (N protein) genes of 10 infectious bronchitis nephritis virus (IBV) in Shandong province in China. It states that the genes have been amplified using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), cloning and sequencing. It emphasizes that point mutations inducing the amino acid substitutions are common in N genes of the 10 isolates.

1. Decreasing heart rate during development is known to be the result of parasympathetic nervous system maturation that depresses the pacemaker current ( If) by acetylcholine (ACh). However, a direct effect of ACh on If has been ruled out and the involvement of other secondary messengers, such as cAMP, was verified in previous studies. Therefore, we hypothesized that reduced basal cAMP production in sinoatrial (SA) nodal cells may contribute to the slowing of heart rate after birth. 2. The electrocardiogram and heart rate variability (HRV) were documented and measured in vivo and in vitro (in isolated perfused Langendorff preparations) for rabbits aged 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks. Sinoatrial node action potential (AP) recording and perforated patch-clamp analyses were used to investigate the spontaneous depolarization rate and pacemaker If currents. Concentrations of cAMP in SA nodal tissues were determined by radioimmunoassay. Relative expression of adenylate cyclases (ADCY1, 5) and phosphodiesterases (PDE1A, 4A and 8A) were quantified by real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. 3. Significantly reduced heart rate, but unchanged HRV, was observed in perfused hearts in the older age groups, accompanied with a slowed phase 4 spontaneous depolarization rate (90.5 ± 4.7 vs 49.6 ± 2.6 mV/s for 2 week vs 4 week hearts, respectively; n = 5; P < 0.05), a negative shift of the If threshold potential (−45.5 ± 3.0 vs−51.1 ± 6.0 mV for 2 week vs 4 week hearts, respectively; n = 9; P < 0.05) and decreasing basal levels of SA nodal cAMP (0.31 ± 0.05 vs 0.025 ± 0.002 µmol/L for 2 week vs 4 week hearts, respectively; n = 6; P < 0.05). Gene expression levels of PDE1A, 4A and 8A were increased in the 12 week group compared with the 2 week group 1.5-, 2- and 1.8-fold, respectively ( P < 0.05), with little change in ADCY1 and 5. 4. These data suggest that, in addition to autonomic innervation, slowing of heart rate during postnatal maturation can be attributed to a negative shift of the If activation caused by diminished baseline cAMP content in SA nodal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cortex Phellodendri amurensis (CPA) has high medicinal value in the treatment of kidney-yin deficiency diseases. However, due to the lack of research on the therapeutic material basis of CPA, the current quality control standard for CPA is defective, and the effect of the nourishing kidney-yin of CPA was limited.Purpose: Based on the principle of correspondence between the syndrome and prescriptions, we studied the CPA in ZhibaiDihuang pill (ZBDH) to identify quality markers (Q-markers) of CPA in ZBDH for treating kidney-yin deficiency and seek the potential Q-markers of CPA under nourishing kidney-yin effect combined with the analysis of single CPA.Methods: Taking Chinmedomics as the core strategy, metabonomics analysis and effective component identification were performed by UPLC-MS.Results: A total of 121 chemical components of ZBDH were identified, among which the contents of berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine and magnoflorine changed the most obviously with the addition of CPA. Forty-five components were identified in the blood in the markedly effective state, including berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine and magnoflorine. The therapeutic material basis of ZBDH in the treatment of kidney-yin deficiency was found, and 6 components were found to derive from CPA, including magnoflorine and jatrorrhizine. In addition, seventeen components were identified in the blood in the single CPA treatment, including berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine and magnoflorine.Conclusions: Magnoflorine and jatrorrhizine were the Q-markers of CPA for treating kidney-yin deficiency in the formula of ZBDH and they were also potential Q-markers of the nourishing kidney-yin of CPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Yunnan Baiyao (YNBY) is a traditional Chinese medicine formulae, which has the functions of hemostasis, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, anti-inflammation, etc. Although the presence of Caowu (CW, Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix), the detoxification mechanism of YNBY is still unclear.Purpose: In current study, network pharmacology, toxicological methods and metabolomics technique were applied to explore YNBY in attenuating toxicity of CW.Methods: Prediction of targets and pathways of CW were carried out by commonly used network pharmacological method. Simultaneously, SD rats were orally administrated with CW, processed CW (ZCW), YNBY, and YNBY which lack of CW (QCW) for 15 days. Tissue samples were observed with histopathology. Urine samples were analyzed with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to screen differential metabolites and related metabolic pathways associated with toxicity of CW. Furthermore, by comparing the changes of the metabolite contents, focused the attenuated metabolic pathway. Finally, the network pharmacological and experimental data were integrated to investigate detoxification mechanism of YNBY.Results: A total of 44 potential toxicity biomarkers were identified and 14 related pathways were involved in the toxicity of CW. Furthermore, 5 core toxicity biomarkers (2-keto-6-acetamidocaproate, γ-glutamylleucine, prostaglandin E3, 4-hydroxy-5-(3'-hydroxyphenyl)-valeric acid-3'-O-sulphate, and 3,4-dihydroxy- phenylglycol O-sulfate) were regulated to normal condition in YNBY group. Lysine degradation was locked as the core metabolic pathway of detoxification of YNBY. Integrating the predicted results of network pharmacology, ACHE, SLC6A3, SLC6A4 might be the target of protective role of other herbs in YNBY.Conclusion: Network pharmacology combined with metabolomics exhibited a powerful mean to investigate the herbal toxicity and probed into the detoxification mechanism of formulae, which contributes to its safety evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quality control of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has always been a hot issue to TCM. However, due to the complexity of TCM ingredients, the current quality standards of TCM have problems that are difficult to guarantee clinical efficacy. American ginseng, the dried roots of Pawajc quinquefolium L. (Araliaceae), is a valuable herbal medicine due to various pharmacological effects and huge health benefit, which are associated with numerous active ingredients such as ginsenosides. Although a large number of studies have investigated the active ingredients of American ginseng, Q-markers reflecting comprehensive review on its efficacies has yet been unrevealed.Purpose: The study aims to discover the Q-markers of Panax quinquefolius (American ginseng), provides a powerful method to clarify the significant ingredents of TCM and help further discovering extensive quality evaluation model,contributing to a significant improvement of TCM quality standard.Methods: Mice general status, biochemical indexes assay, urine metabolic profile, and serum metabolic profile were utilized for model replication and efficacy evaluation. The in vitro and in vivo constituents of American ginseng using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) with Serum Pharmacochemistry of TCM were in-depth investigated. Q-markers that were associated with core markers of therapeutic effects were excavated by a plotting of correlation between marker metabolites and serum constituents (PCMS) approach.Results: Correlation analysis of 41 blood and urine labeled metabolites with 14 serum components showed that 24-methyl-7-cholesten-3β-ol, zizybeoside II, betulin, ginsenoside Rd, cinnamyl alcohol, pseudoginsenoside F11 is highly correlated with the therapeutic effects of Compound Zaofan Pill (CZP), while pseudoginsenoside F11 and ginsenoside Rd are highly correlated with the therapeutic effects of American ginseng. The six absorbed blood compounds can be considered as potential Q-markers for compound, of which two compounds, such as pseudoginsenoside F11 and ginsenoside Rd, can be considered as potential Q-markers for American ginseng.Conclusion: The study has demonstrated that the Chinmedomics is an effective, comprehensive and fire-new method for discovering the Q-markers of TCM, and it may be more reasonable choices to establish quality standards of TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quality control of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the basis of clinical efficacy. Due to the complexity of TCM, it is difficult to unify the quality control, and hinders the further implementation of the quality standardization of TCM. As a new concept, quality-marker (Q-marker) plays a powerful role in promoting the standardization of quality control system of TCM.Hypothesis/purpose: The present review aims to provide reference and scientific basis for further development of Q-marker and assist standardization of quality control of TCM.Methods: Extensive search of various documents and electronic databases such as Pubmed, Royal Society of Chemistry, Science Direct, Springer, Web of Science, and Wiley, etc., were used to search scientific contributions. Other online academic libraries, e.g. Google Scholars, Scopus and national pharmacology literature were also been employed to learn more relevant information about Q-marker.Results: Q-markers play vital role in promoting the standardization of quality control of TCM. The factors that affect the quality of TCM, the advantages and disadvantages of the analytical techniques commonly used in Q-marker research were reviewed, as well as the systematic research strategies, which were verified by practices.Conclusion: The proposal of Q-marker not only provided a new perspective to break through the bottleneck of current quality control, but also can be used in the evaluation of pharmacological efficiency, therapeutic discovery, toxicology, etc. In addition, the Q-marker analysis strategies summarized in this paper is helpful to standardize the quality control of TCM and promote the internationalization of TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid metabolism has a significant function in the central nervous system and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age‐related senile disease characterized by central nerve degeneration. The pathological development of AD is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. To reveal the influence of Kai‐Xin‐San (KXS) on lipid metabolism in APP/PSI transgenic mice and potential therapeutic targets for treating AD, brain tissue samples were collected and analyzed by high‐throughput lipidomics based on UPLC–Q/TOF‐MS. The collected raw data were processed by multivariate data analysis to discover the potential biomarkers and lipid metabolic profiles. Compared with the control wild‐type mouse group, nine potential lipid biomarkers were found in the AD model group, of which seven were up‐regulated and two were down‐regulated. Orally administrated KXS can reverse the changes in these potential biomarkers. Compared with the model group, a total of six differential metabolites showed a recovery trend and may be potential targets for KXS to treat AD. This study showed that high‐throughput lipidomics can be used to discover the perturbed pathways and lipid biomarkers as potential targets to reveal the therapeutic effects of KXS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence shows that herbal medicine could be beneficial for the treatment of various diseases. The complexity of chemical components of herbal medicine hinders the development of new herbal drugs, involving bioactive compounds, action mechanism, and uncertain therapeutic targets. Metabolomics has become an important means for future improvement and understanding of herbal medicine from a small-molecule metabolism level. The chinmedomics-based metabolomics strategy shows great potential for understanding metabolic pathways, evaluating curative effects, clarifying mechanisms, and discovering active ingredients. Evidence shows that herbal medicine (HM) could be beneficial for the treatment of various diseases. However, complexities present in HM due to the unclear bioactive compounds, mechanisms of action, undetermined targets for therapy, and nonspecific features for metabolism, are currently an obstacle for the progression of novel drug discovery. Metabolomics could be a potential tool to overcome these issues and for the understanding of HM from a small-molecule metabolism level. The chinmedomics-based metabolomics method assesses the overall metabolism of organisms with a holistic view and shows great potential for understanding metabolic pathways, evaluating curative effects, clarifying mechanisms, discovering active ingredients, and precision medicine. This review focuses on the efficacy evaluation, active ingredient discovery, and target exploration of HM based on metabolomics and chinmedomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ephedrae Herba (Ephedra), known as "MaHuang" in China, is the dried straw stem that is associated with the lung and urinary bladder meridians. At present, more than 60 species of Ephedra plants have been identified, which contain more than 100 compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, sugars, and organic phenolic acids. This herb has long been used to treat asthma, liver disease, skin disease, and other diseases, and has shown unique efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 infection. Because alkaloids are the main components causing toxicity, the safety of Ephedra must be considered. However, the nonalkaloid components of Ephedra can be effectively used to replace ephedrine extracts to treat some diseases, and reasonable use can ensure the safety of Ephedra. We reviewed the phytochemistry, pharmacology, clinical application, and alkaloid toxicity of Ephedra, and describe prospects for its future development to facilitate the development of Ephedra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. Due to the absence of specific early symptoms, most of CRC patients are often diagnosed at late stages. Different screening and diagnostic biomarkers are currently used for risk stratification and early detection of CRC, which might prolong the overall survival. High-throughput technologies have witnessed rapid advancements in the last decade. Consequently, the development of multiple omics technologies, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, and lipidomics, has been widely applied to develop novel biomarkers that could contribute to the clinical management of CRC. In this paper, we aim to summarize the recent advances and future perspectives in using multi-omics technologies in CRC research, and reveal the potential implications of multi-omics for discovering novel biomarkers and enhancing clinical evaluations. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is common Cancer as well as the third leading cause of mortality around the world; its exact molecular mechanism remains elusive. Although CRC risk is significantly correlated with genetic factors, the pathophysiology of CRC is also influenced by external and internal exposures and their interactions with genetic factors. The field of CRC research has recently benefited from significant advances through Omics technologies for screening biomarkers, including genes, transcripts, proteins, metabolites, microbiome, and lipidome unbiasedly. A promising application of omics technologies could enable new biomarkers to be found for the screening and diagnosis of CRC. Single-omics technologies cannot fully understand the molecular mechanisms of CRC. Therefore, this review article aims to summarize the multi-omics studies of Colorectal cancer, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics that may shed new light on the discovery of novel biomarkers. It can contribute to identifying and validating new CRC biomarkers and better understanding colorectal carcinogenesis. Discovering biomarkers through multi-omics technologies could be difficult but valuable for disease genotyping and phenotyping. That can provide a better knowledge of CRC prognosis, diagnosis, and treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a common neurological disorder associated with high disability rates and mortality rates. At present, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) is the only US(FDA)-approved drug for IS. However, due to the narrow therapeutic window and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, r-tPA is currently used in less than 5% of stroke patients. Natural compounds have been widely used in the treatment of IS in China and have a wide range of therapeutic effects on IS by regulating multiple targets and signaling pathways. The keywords "ischemia stroke, traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, natural compounds" were used to search the relevant literature in PubMed and other databases over the past five years. The results showed that JAK/STAT, NF-κB, MAPK, Notch, Nrf2, and PI3K/Akt are the key pathways, and SIRT1, MMP9, TLR4, HIF-α are the key targets for the natural compounds from traditional Chinese medicine in treating IS. This study aims to update and summarize the signaling pathways and targets of natural compounds in the treatment of IS, and provide a base of information for the future development of effective treatments for IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The (co)variance components and corresponding phenotypic and genetic parameters for growth traits and wool traits of economic importance were estimated in the Alpine Merino sheep population maintained at Gansu Provincial Sheep Breeding Technology Extension Station in northwestern China. Data from a maximum of 49,474 animals sired by 526 rams and born from 22,531 ewes over 20 years from 2000 to 2019 were used in this study. Birth type, age of dam, birth year, sex and/or management group, and age at measurement were initially fitted as fixed effects in an animal model with various random effects. Genetic groups were defined for all animals by the sire breed and breed genotype interacted with dam‐strain flocks and were fitted as one of the random effects. Analyses were conducted using a residual maximum likelihood procedure (ASReml). Seven different animal models were fitted for all traits, and the most appropriate model with relevant random effects was selected through log‐likelihood ratio testing. After identifying the appropriate model through single‐trait analysis, bivariate analyses were used to obtain the phenotypic and genetic correlations among the traits. The estimates of additive direct heritability for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), preweaning growth rate (prwADG), postweaning growth rate (powADG), yearling body weight (YWT), average fibre diameter (AFD), greasy fleece weight (GFW), clean fleece weight (CFW), yield (YLD), yearling wool staple length (YSL), coefficient of variation of average fibre diameter (FDcv) and wool visual fineness counts (VFC) were 0.30, 0.18, 0.18, 0.20, 0.29, 0.20, 0.19, 0.20, 0.35, 0.19, 0.16 and 0.13, respectively, with standard errors ranging from 0.02 to 0.05. The corresponding ratios of genetic group variance to additive genetic variance were significant and, respectively, 0.35, 0.80, 0.62, 0.26, 0.13, 1.06, 0.38, 0.64, 0.09, 0.12, 0.06 and 0.58. These results suggest for these traits that there is potential to exploit both the additive genetic variation and between genetic group variation although for most traits the between group variation was smaller than the variation within groups. Favourable genetic correlations were found among the growth traits, and between growth traits and fleece production traits, and among wool traits GFW, CFW, YSL and YLD. This study provides the required estimates of genetic parameters of both growth and wool traits of the new breed for the design of more effective breeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discovery of clinically relevant biomarkers for diseases has revealed metabolomics has potential advantages that classical diagnostic approaches do not. The great asset of metabolomics is that it enables assessment of global metabolic profiles of biofluids and discovery of biomarkers distinguishing disease status, with the possibility of enhancing clinical diagnostics. Most current clinical chemistry tests rely on old technology, and are neither sensitive nor specific for a particular disease. Clinical diagnosis of major neurological disorders, for example Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, on the basis of current clinical criteria is unsatisfactory. Emerging metabolomics is a powerful technique for discovering novel biomarkers and biochemical pathways to improve diagnosis, and for determination of prognosis and therapy. Identifying multiple novel biomarkers for neurological diseases has been greatly enhanced with recent advances in metabolomics that are more accurate than routine clinical practice. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is known to be a rich source of small-molecule biomarkers for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, and is in close contact with diseased areas in neurological disorders, could potentially be used for disease diagnosis. Metabolomics will drive CSF analysis, facilitate and improve the development of disease treatment, and result in great benefits to public health in the long-term. This review covers different aspects of CSF metabolomics and discusses their significance in the postgenomic era, emphasizing the potential importance of endogenous small-molecule metabolites in this emerging field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng is one of the oldest and most generally prescribed herbs in Eastern traditional medicine to treat diseases. Several studies had documented that ginseng leaves have anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties similar to those of ginseng root. The aim of this research was to forecast of the molecular mechanism of ginseng leaves on lung cancer by molecular docking and network pharmacology so as to decipher ginseng leaves' entire mechanism. The compounds associated with ginseng leaves were searched by TCMSP. TCMSP and Swiss Target Prediction databases were used to sort out the potential targets of the main chemical components. Targets were collected from OMIM, PharmGKB, TTD, DrugBank and GeneCards which related to immunity and lung cancer. Ginseng leaves exert its lung cancer suppressive function by regulating the several signaling proteins, such as JUN, STAT3, AKT1, TNF, MAPK1, TP53. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the immunoreaction against lung cancer by ginseng leaves might be related to response to lipopolysaccharide, response to oxidative stress, PI3K-Akt, MAPK and TNF pathway. Molecular docking analysis demonstrated that hydrogen bonding was interaction's core forms. The results of CCK8 test and qRT-PCR showed that ginseng leaves inhibit cell proliferation and regulates AKT1 and P53 expression in A549. The present study clarifies the mechanism of Ginseng leaves against lung cancer and provides evidence to support its clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permeability characteristics of compacted loess is always an important topic in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. This study explored the permeability characteristics of compacted loess under different dry densities and wetting-drying cycles, and found that as the dry density increases, the compacted loess surface became denser, the saturation permeability coefficient and saturation infiltration rate decreased. However, the wetting-drying cycle presented the opposite result. Meanwhile, the evolution of the microstructure was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to explain the change of its permeability characteristics. The size of compacted loess aggregates was quantitatively analyzed by Image-Pro Plus (IPP) software. It showed that the size of compacted loess aggregates for different dry densities were concentrated from 10–100 μm, occupying 65.0%, 58.19%, and 51.64% of the total aggregates area respectively. And the interesting finding was that the area occupied by 10–50 μm aggregates remained basically unchanged with the number of wetting-drying cycles increasing. Therefore, the size of 10–50 μm aggregates represented the transition zone of compacted loess. NMR analyses revealed that with increasing dry density, the volume of macropores in the compacted loess rapidly decreased, the volume of mesopores and small pores increased. Meanwhile, the change in micropores was relatively small. The pore volume of the compacted loess after three wetting-drying cycles increased by 8.56%, 8.61%, and 6.15%, respectively. The proportion of macropores in the total pore volume shows the most drastic change. Variations in aggregate size and connection relationships made it easier to form overhead structures between aggregates, and the increased of macropore volume will form more water channels. Therefore, the change in permeability characteristics of compacted loess is determined by aggregate size, loess surface morphology, and the total pore volume occupied by macropores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]