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Abstract: Predicting the bioactivity of peptides and proteins is an important challenge in drug development and protein engineering. In this study we introduce a novel approach, the so-called “physics and chemistry-driven artificial neural network (Phys–Chem ANN)”, to deal with such a problem. Unlike the existing ANN approaches, which were designed under the inspiration of biological neural system, the Phys–Chem ANN approach is based on the physical and chemical principles, as well as the structural features of proteins. In the Phys–Chem ANN model the “hidden layers” are no longer virtual “neurons”, but real structural units of proteins and peptides. It is a hybridization approach, which combines the linear free energy concept of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) with the advanced mathematical technique of ANN. The Phys–Chem ANN approach has adopted an iterative and feedback procedure, incorporating both machine-learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. In addition to making more accurate predictions for the bioactivities of proteins and peptides than is possible with the traditional QSAR approach, the Phys–Chem ANN approach can also provide more insights about the relationship between bioactivities and the structures involved than the ANN approach does. As an example of the application of the Phys–Chem ANN approach, a predictive model for the conformational stability of human lysozyme is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: There is still some room for optimizing ambulatory pediatric surgical procedures, and the preoperative and postoperative management quality for pediatric patients needs to be improved., Aim: To discuss the safety and feasibility of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)-based management model for ambulatory pediatric surgical procedures., Methods: We selected 320 pediatric patients undergoing ambulatory surgery from June 2023 to January 2024 at The First People's Hospital of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Of these, 220 received ERAS-based management (research group) and 100 received routine management (control group). General information, postoperative ambulation activities, surgical outcomes (operation time, postoperative gastrointestinal ventilation time, and hospital stay), postoperative pain visual analogue scale, postoperative complications (incision infection, abdominal distension, fever, nausea, and vomiting), and family satisfaction were compared., Results: The general information of the research group (sex, age, disease type, single parent, family history, etc. ) was comparable to that of the control group ( P > 0.05), but the rate of postoperative (2 h, 4 h, and 6 h after surgery) ambulation activities was statistically higher ( P < 0.01), and operation time, postoperative gastrointestinal ventilation time, and hospital stay were markedly shorter ( P < 0.05). The research group had lower visual analogue scale scores ( P < 0.01) at 12 h and 24 h after surgery and a lower incidence of total postoperative complications than the control group ( P = 0.001). The research group had higher family satisfaction than the control group ( P = 0.007)., Conclusion: The ERAS-based management model was safe and feasible in ambulatory pediatric surgical procedures and worthy of clinical promotion., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

The present paper discusses ultrasonic extraction method aided extraction of coumarin from a Mongolian drug, Chagan-sorlo (Radix Glehniae), aiming to study out how much coumarin contained in Chagan-sorlo, and to provide the scientific basis and production guidance for extracting coumarin from Chagan-sorlo. Under different conditions the coumarin in Chagan-sorlo was extracted by ultrasonic, measured and analyzed, and then HPLC was used to carry out the measurement. Result showed that with solvent volume fraction of 70%, extraction time of 20 min, ultrasonic power of 175 W, temperature of 25 degrees C, solid-liquid ratio of 1 : 20, and 80-100 mesh extraction, the coumarin extraction reaches the highest yield.

Metastasis of rectal adenocarcinoma develops by lymphatic or hematogenous spread. The usual sites of metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma include local and distant lymph nodes, the liver and the lungs. The current case report presents a unique case of a mass that was identified in the tonsil by positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), indicating a metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma. Metastatic tumor to the tonsil is extremely rare and to the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have reported a case of tonsil metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma. PET-CT scanners represent an important evolution in technology that is helping to bring anatomical imaging togeother with functional imaging in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Written informed consent was obtained from the patient.

Global warming has become a fact of life, and the night temperature increase higher than during the day. In the present research, to explore the effects of climate warming on element contents of plants, ICP-AES was used for the direct determination of nine kinds of element contents of reproductive branches and vegetative branches of the Mongolian drug Agi, which grew in the day, night and diurnal warming field. The results of the study show that the responses of reproductive branches and vegetative branches to day, night and diurnal warming were not significant different, but the negative response was greater than the positive response. The effects of day warming on the element contents were not significant, but night warming lower the contents of Al, Fe and Mn significantly. There was interaction between day warming and night warming.

Objective: To study the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma., Methods: The clinical and histologic features of 23 cases of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma were analyzed. Immunohistochemical study was also performed in 14 of the cases., Results: The age of patients ranged from 12 to 47 years. Fourteen of them occurred in males. Thirteen cases involved the bony skeleton and 5 cases affected the soft tissue. The patients presented with pain and/or swelling. Histologically, the tumor consisted of a mixture of undifferentiated small round cells and hyaline cartilage. Transition between the two components was demonstrated and growth plate-like cartilage was observed. Immunohistochemical study showed that the small round cells were positive for Sox9 (14/14), CD99 (12/14), vimentin (6/14), CD56 (4/14), CD57 (4/14), neuron-specific enolase (3/14) and desmin(1/14). They were negative for Coll-II, S-100 protein, epithelial membrane antigen, pan-cytokeratin, synaptophysin, chromogranin A, CD34 and c-erbB2., Conclusions: Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor. Thorough histologic examination, when coupled with immunohistochemical findings, is helpful in arriving at a correct diagnosis.

Objective: To observe the effects of raw and charred Agi on hemostasis and its mechanism., Methods: The rabbit bleeding time was measured by traumatic hemorrhage test, and the clotting time was measured by tube test. The rabbit prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thormboplastia time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (FIB), plasma recalcification time (PRT), euglobulin lysis time (ELT), max platelet aggregation rate (MPAR) were measured by solidification method, turbidimetry and tube test to analyze the effects of raw and charred Agi on rabbit coagulation-fibrinolysis system and platelet function., Results: The medium doses and high doses of raw Agi groups, all of the groups of charred Agi decreased rabbit BT obviously (P<0.01 or P<0.05); all of the groups of raw and charred Agi declined rabbits CT (P<0.01 or P<0.05). All of the doses groups of raw and charred Agi had no apparent influences on PT (P>0.05); the high dose of raw Agi group and all of the groups of charred Agi decreased APTT apparently (P<0.01 or P<0.05) and prolonged ELT (P<0.01 or P<0.05); the high doses groups of raw and charred Agi decreased TT apparently (P<0.01 or P<0.05); the medium and high doses groups of charred Agi increased FIB obviously (P<0.01 or P<0.05); the high doses group of charred Agi showed the decreased PRT significantly (P<0.05) and increased MPAR obviously (P<0.01)., Conclusions: Raw Agi can play its role in hemostasis and coagulation by affecting the intrinsic pathway of coagulation and fibrinolytic system. These effects are inhanced after processing drugs; moreover, the charred Agi could increase FIB and MPAR with promoting more in blood coagulation.

The Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet is a traditional Uighur natural herbal medicine, but has not been analyzed and studied in terms of its metal elements. In the experiment, the Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet powder was digested with HNO3 by microwave digestion before determination. The eight metal elements, potassium, nickel, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper and zinc, in Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet were determined by FAAS. The working conditions, accuracy and precision of the method were studied. The linear correlations of standard curves are good (r = 0.999 1-0.999 9). The recovery (n = 6) is 92.25%-110.5%, and the RSD (n = 6) is 0.7%-3.88%. The results showed that there were comparatively rich metal elements, among which are comparatively high calcium (65.84 mg x g(-1)), iron (24.38 mg x g(-1)), magnesium (278.17 mg x g(-1)) and potassium (18.50 mg x g(-1)), in Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet, and the contents of other elements are nickel of 0.004 38 mg x g(-1), manganese of 0.52 mg x g(-1), copper of 0.016 5 mg x g(-1) and zinc of 0.18 mg x g(-1). This provided useful data for discussing the relationship between the content of the metal elements in Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet and its clinical application in cardiovascular and osteoporosis disease.

Objective: To study the clinicopathologic features of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL)., Methods: Two autopsy cases of IVLBCL were retrieved from the archival file. The clinicopathologic features, immunohistochemistry and molecular findings were studied., Results: The deceased were 70-year-old and 50-year-old males. Both of them had complained of a sudden onset of weakness and numbness of lower extremities. The clinical course deteriorated rapidly, with multi-organ failure. They died 85 days and 44 days after the presentation, respectively. Post-mortem examination did not reveal any mass lesion, except the presence of multiple skin and epicardium nodules, ranging from 0.5 cm to 2.5 cm in diameter, in the first patient. Pericardial effusion, ascites and pleural effusion were also observed. Histologically, neoplastic lymphoid cells filled up the small vessel lumina in many organs, including brain, hypophysis, spinal cord, spinal nerve roots, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, digestive tract, pancreas, adrenal, thyroid, testes and lymph nodes. The tumor cells were relatively monotonous and of medium to large in size with round vesicular nuclei and 1 to 3 small basophilic nucleoli. Immunohistochemical study showed that the lymphoma cells expressed B-cell markers CD20 and CD79a, occasionally positive for CD5 and bcl-2 but negative for CD3, bcl-6, CD10, CD30, myeloperoxidase and cytokeratin. In-situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA was negative. The proliferative index, as demonstrated by Ki-67 staining, was about 80%. Molecular study showed the presence of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement in both cases, T-cell receptor-gamma gene rearrangement was not found., Conclusions: IVLBCL may present as neurological disturbance and carries distinctive morphologic characteristics, immunophenotype and molecular findings. The prognosis of this disease is often dismal.

From 2000 to 2004, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) accepted 1 171 applications and funded 160 projects for fundamental research on integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The success rate is 13.64%. Being supported by NSFC, a number of achievements well known in China and abroad have been made, such as acupuncture complementary anaesthesia, treatment of leukemia, viral hepatitis, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, acute abdomen, burns and fracture with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine and their therapeutic mechanisms, and some new concepts and theories have been put forward, such as the theories of activating blood to resolve stagnation, simultaneous treatment of bacteria and toxin, etc. But there still exit some problems in the research of the funded projects. The research ways are mainly combination of different methods instead of integration of both traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The research results are mainly confirmation of traditional Chinese medical theories instead of exploration of their innate regularities. The relationship among disease, syndrome and symptom is not clearly explored. The principal-subordinate relationship between macro- and micro-differentiation of syndromes is not clear. Academic research is short of new ideas. Improper or biased explanation of the theories of traditional Chinese medicine still exists. On analysis of above problems, some preferable aspects of projects for fundamental research on integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine funded by NSFC in future are suggested in this article.