Search

Angina pectoris (AP) is the most common symptom of cardiovascular diseases, which seriously affects the quality of life in cardiovascular patients. Kuanxiong (KX) Aerosol (), a compound preparation that consists of 5 traditional Chinese medicines: Herba Asari , Rhizoma Alpiniae Officinarum, Lignum Santali Albi, Fructus Piperis Longi, and Borneolum, has been used in the treatment of AP for many years, exhibiting a significant curative effect and less side-effect. For the convenience and comprehensive understanding of KX Aerosol, this review systematically summarizes evidence on KX Aerosol in the treatment of AP including the pharmacological effects of its composition, clinical research, animal experiments, and network pharmacology prediction. Meanwhile, we highlight the research limitation of KX Aerosol at present. This review may guide the clinical application of KX Aerosol and further provide a reference for the research of AP.

Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had become widely employed therapeutic procedure for coronary artery disease, stent restenosis limited the benefits of this revascularization and the question how to prevent such events remained unresolved. While numerous empirical observations suggested Tongguan Capsules (通冠胶囊), a patented Chinese Medicine, could decrease frequency and duration of angina pectoris attacks, evidence supporting its efficacy on restenosis remained inadequate. This trial was designed to determine whether Tongguan Capsules would reduce restenosis rate in patients after successful stent implantation. Approximately 400 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary stent deployment were enrolled and randomized to control group or Tongguan Capsules (4.5 g/d) for 3 months. All patients received standard anti-platelet, anti-coagulation and lipid-decreasing treatments, concurrently. The primary clinical endpoint was the 12-month incidence of the major adverse cardiovascular events (defined as cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and recurrence of symptoms requiring additional revascularization). The angiographic end point was restenosis rate at 6 months. This study would provide important evidence for the use of Tongguan Capsules in patients after stent implantation in combination with routine therapies, which may significantly reduce incidence of the restenosis so as to potentially improve the clinical outcomes. (registration number: ChiCTR-TRC- ChiCTR-IIR-17011407)

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic is still ongoing, but the optimal treatment remains unclear. China adopted a series of measures, including widespread screening, strict quarantine and early treatment, combining western medicine with Chinese medicine, leading to rapid control of its spread. Nevertheless, the effects of ( combined ) Chinese medicine in reducing the toll of COVID-19 lack proof from statistics. Objective We conducted a retrospective data analysis to determine whether ( combined ) Chinese medicine is able to affect patient outcomes and to decrease the risk of death in COVID-19 patients. Methods The data were acquired by outputting the formatting information from the HIS system and then extracting and recording it in the database for complete cases. The demographics, disease onset, treatment, survival/death and all of the clinical classifications, groups and definitions were verified by specialists in the clinic, along with the research methodology and statistics, before conducting the statistical analysis. The characteristics of the cohort and the clinical symptoms and signs, prescriptions and outcomes were described and analyzed by the mean ± SD, median, interquartile range and composition ratio. Analysis of variance was used for comparisons between the measurement data sets; otherwise, the rank sum test was used. Counting data were compared between groups using the chi square test and Fisher’s exact test. Tendency matching was adopted to make the general data balance between groups. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare the risk of death among the different groups. Results Four centers were included in our study, and a total of 6,076 patients' clinical records were obtained after combining the data. We included 4567 cases for the descriptive statistics, and the crude case fatality rate was 3.0%. Compared with using only western medicine, (combined) Chinese medicine reduced the risk of death from COVID-19 after adjusting for other prognostic risk factors (HR = 0.135, 95% CI (0.088, 0.208)). Multivariate Cox regression also indicated that when applying the clinical classification of severe/critical, age ≥ 65 years old, coronary heart disease or chronic kidney disease and a time from onset to hospital admission of fewer than 14 days, all of these factors increased the risk of death. Conclusion (Combined) Chinese medicine can significantly reduce the risk of death from COVID-19, but the specific strategy/solution, effects and amount need further exploration in future studies.

In this study, we present a novel optimization model that can automatically and rapidly generate an optimally parallel preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) algorithm for any given linear system on a specific multi-graphics processing unit (GPU) platform. For our proposed model, there are the following novelties: (1) a profile-based performance model for each one of the main components of the PCG algorithm, including the vector operation, inner product, and sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV), is suggested, and (2) our model is general, independent of the problems, and only dependent on the resources of devices, and (3) our model is extensible. For a vector operation kernel, or inner product kernel, or SpMV kernel that is not included in our framework, once its performance model is successfully constructed, it can be incorporated into our framework. Our model is constructed only once for each type of GPU. The experiments validate the high efficiency of our proposed model.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Tongguan Capsules (TGC), a patented Chinese herbal remedy containing Salvia miltiorrhiza, Astragalus membranaceus, Borneolum syntheticum and Grasshopper, has been previously tested in the experimental model of animal hearts subjected to ischemia/reperfusion injury and its cardioprotective effect has been described. Aim of the study This clinical trial was aimed at investigation whether the administration of TGC to patients suffered myocardial infarction (MI), would diminish dilation of the left ventricular (LV) and reduce development of the adverse clinical consequences. Methods Eligible patients were enrolled and randomized 1:1 to TGC (4.5 g/d for 6 months) superimposed on standard treatment for MI, or the control group receiving the standard protocol alone. The outcomes of this trial were valued after 6 months and reported as a mean change from the baseline in LV end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) and as a frequency of MI recurrence, target-vessel revascularization, severity of heart failure or significant arrhythmia that required the additional therapy within 6 months. In addition, arrays with a panel of specific antibodies were used to assess levels of major cytokines and other pathophysiologic markers, that prompted conclusions about the mechanisms of the ultimate clinical outcomes in both patient's subgroups. Results Meaningfully, obtained results indicated that MI patients randomly assigned to the TGC treatment, demonstrated a significant reduction of LVESVI (−4.03 ± 0.73 vs. 1.59 ± 0.43 mL/m2, P Conclusion Addition of TGC to the current conventional treatment of MI patients, significantly reduced their adverse LV remodeling and contributed to the more positive clinical outcome. Trial registration ChiCTR-IPR-17011618.

Infrared small targets detection plays a crucial role in warning and tracking systems. Some novel methods based on pattern recognition technology catch much attention from researchers. However, those classic methods must reshape images into vectors with the high dimensionality. Moreover, vectorizing breaks the natural structure and correlations in the image data. Image representation based on tensor treats images as matrices and can hold the natural structure and correlation information. So tensor algorithms have better classification performance than vector algorithms. Fukunaga-Koontz transform is one of classification algorithms and it is a vector version method with the disadvantage of all vector algorithms. In this paper, we first extended the Fukunaga-Koontz transform into its tensor version, tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform. Then we designed a method based on tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform for detecting targets and used it to detect small targets in infrared images. The experimental results, comparison through signal-to-clutter, signal-to-clutter gain and background suppression factor, have validated the advantage of the target detection based on the tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform over that based on the Fukunaga-Koontz transform.

Background Danlou tablets, a patented Chinese Medicine, have been long approved for the treatment of ischemic heart disease in China. While numerous empirical observations suggested Danlou tablets could decrease frequency and duration of angina pectoris attacks, evidence supporting its efficacy on cardiac remodeling remains inadequate. Therefore, this pilot trial was designed to determine whether Danlou tablets would reduce adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and Results Eligible patients with acute MI were enrolled and randomly assigned to Danlou tablets or placebo groups, superimposed on standard treatment for MI. Then, in addition to assessment of the clinical outcome, the changes in LV volumes were evaluated by a serial echocardiography. In total, 83 patients (Danlou tablets 42 and placebo 41) completed 90 days of treatment and had complete baseline and outcome data. Standard echocardiographic evaluations revealed significant differences in the change of LV end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVi) between group of patients treated with Danlou tablets and the placebo group (−4.49 ± 7.29 vs. −0.34 ± 9.01 mL/m2, P

Background Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has become a widely used therapeutic procedure for coronary artery disease, stent restenosis limits the benefits of this revascularisation. The question of how to prevent such events remains unresolved. Empirical evidence suggests that Tongguan capsules, a patented Chinese Medicine, can decrease frequency and duration of angina pectoris attacks; however, evidence supporting its efficacy on restenosis remains inadequate. We aimed to determine whether Tongguan capsules could reduce restenosis incidence in patients after successful stent implantation. Methods In this single-centre, open-label randomised controlled trial, patients undergoing percutaneous coronary stent deployment who were aged 18–80 years were enrolled from Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine and randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either Tongguan capsules for 3 months (4·5 g/day; Tongguan group) or nothing (control group). All patients received standard anti-platelet, anti-coagulation, and lipid-decreasing treatments, concurrently. The Clinical Research Centre from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine generated separate randomisation schedules using a random number generator. All attending physicians, investigators, and the biostatisticians performing the analysis were masked to treatment assignment. The primary clinical endpoint was the 12-month incidence of any major adverse cardiovascular event (defined as cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or recurrence of symptoms requiring additional revascularisation). The primary angiographic endpoint was restenosis incidence at 6 months. The Clinical Research Ethical Committee at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine approved the research protocol (Z2017008-01). This trial was registered in ChiCTR (ChiCTR-IIR-17011407). All participants provided written informed consent before enrolment. Findings We enrolled 326 patients between Aug 1, 2014, and Dec 1, 2015. Of these patients, 163 were randomly assigned to the Tongguan group and 163 to the control group. Four patients were excluded leaving 322 patients (160 in the Tongguan group and 162 in the control group) for analysis. Compared with the control group, 12-month incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events was reduced in patients treated with Tongguan capsules (12·5% [20 of 160] vs 23·5% [38 of 162], p Interpretation Although not significant, there was a trend towards a reduction in restenosis and therefore more research is needed to establish whether Tongguan capsules can improve clinical outcomes. Further higher quality and more rigorous randomised trials with larger sample size are needed to attain more robust clinical evidences of Tongguan capsules. Funding National Science Foundation (81473471, 81202782, 81573708).

Accelerating the sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) on the graphics processing units (GPUs) has attracted considerable attention recently. We observe that on a specific multiple-GPU platform, the SpMV performance can usually be greatly improved when a matrix is partitioned into several blocks according to a predetermined rule and each block is assigned to a GPU with an appropriate storage format. This motivates us to propose a novel multi-GPU parallel SpMV optimization model. Our model involves two stages. In the first stage, a simple rule is defined to divide any given matrix among multiple GPUs, and then a performance model, which is independent of the problems and dependent on the resources of devices, is proposed to accurately predict the execution time of SpMV kernels. Using these models, we construct in the second stage an optimally multi-GPU parallel SpMV algorithm that is automatically and rapidly generated for the platform for any problem. Given that our model for SpMV is general, independent of the problems, and dependent on the resources of devices, this model is constructed only once for each type of GPU. The experiments validate the high efficiency of our proposed model.

The Four Great Classical Literatures(FGCL) including Treatise on Febrile Disease, Synopsis Golden Chamber, The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor, and Febrile disease defense are the basis of Chinese knowledge but were being used less and less because of the weak basis and education of the ancient Chinese medical language. For the purpose of letting more TCM doctors can comprehend FGCL better, a system was set up for the seamless connection between the arcane language in FGCL and the modern language. Each sentence in the FGCL that contains formulas will be translated by clinic doctors using literatures reading books on three levels, (primary, middle, senior), by the standards of Terminology of traditional Chinese medicine clinical diagnosis and the systematized nomenclature of human medicine(SNOMED). Finally a Vertical professional search engine was built that contains such parameters as symptoms, syndromes, famous discourses, typical case. The primary results was present on the web (see for http://www.jinhuatuo.com/biaozhun.php). After a period of clinical trials of the database, the system partly meets the need of searching the formulas in FGCL, but still need to be more associated and human-intelligent.

A conventional Internal Model Control (IMC) method cannot be applied to solve the contradiction of the output tracking and the load disturbance rejection performance. In order to overcome the shortcomings of it, two degree freedom (2DOF)-IMC is applied to solve the problem, but the normal 2DOF-IMC has a complex structure. This paper presents the modified 2DOF-IMC method that has a simple structure and control method. The modified 2DOF-IMC is applied in the speed control system of Asynchronous Machine (IM). Rotor flux & speed 2DOF controllers are designed, the robustness performance of the modified 2DOF-IMC is analysed. The performance of the modified 2DOF-IMC has been verified by computer simulation. Theoretical analyses and simulation results show that the output tracking and disturbance regulation characteristics of speed control system are regulated respectively by using controllers based on 2DOF-IMC, the proposed controllers provide very good dynamic response performance.

In a vector-controlled doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), the cross-coupling voltage between the M and the T components of the rotor current impairs the characteristics of DFIG. The principle and the deficiency were analysed for the feedforward and feedback decoupling, and the decoupling control strategy was discussed based on the Internal Model Control (IMC). Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that, with non-synchronous changes of the parameters, the One-Degree-Freedom IMC (1DOF-IMC) decoupling of DFIG still exists coupling in the rotor current. Because of only one parameter, the adjustment is easy, but there is less effective decoupling. In Two- Degree-Freedom IMC (2DOF-IMC) decoupling method, there are two adjustable parameters, but there is still a compromise selection in robust performance, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory decoupling results. Three- Degree-freedom IMC (3DOF-IMC) decoupling is presented, by the feedforward controller, internal model controller and feedback filter, the 3DOF-IMC decoupling is implemented from multiple directions. The simulation showed that the 3DOF-IMC decoupling method has better decoupling and realizes dynamic decoupling control.

In a vector-controlled doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), the cross-coupling voltage between the M and the T components of the rotor current impairs the characteristics of DFIG system. The principle and the deficiencys were analysed for the feedforward and feedback decoupling, and the decoupling control strategy was discussed based on Internal Model Control (IMC). Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the feedforward decoupling performance is affected by the DFIG parameters and the rotor current deviation, the feedback decoupling is only affected by the DFIG parameters deviation, but the DFIG parameters and the rotor current deviation do not affect IMC decoupling effects, the sensitivity of decoupling effects to the DFIG parameters changes is reduced.