Search Results (28)

In this study, free compression tests were conducted to examine the changes in the strength of soil after adding 24 mm long basalt fiber (1%), lime (3%, 6%, 9% by dry weight), and tuff (10%, 20%, 30% by dry weight) before curing and after 28, 42, and 56 days of curing. Instead of the K + BF 1% + SL 9% mixture, where the SL ratio is high, it has been revealed that T, which has a lower SL content and is environmentally friendly (as in the K + BF 1% + SL 6% + T 10% mixture), can be used considering environmental factors and costs. However, due to the length and cost of experimental studies, the use of artificial intelligence to reduce the need for physical tests/experiments and to accelerate processes will provide savings in terms of labor, time, and cost. Unconfined compressive strength (q_u) prediction was performed using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique. The accuracy of the ANN model was proven using the R and MSE metrics. In addition, a q_u prediction of the mixture with 30% water content was performed according to the curing times. The experimental and predicted q_u values for the curing times were compared and presented. Full article

In this study, a regression model was developed using the thermo-regulated residual refinement regression model (TRRM) analysis method based on three years and four months of in situ data collected from two water-cooled centrifugal chillers installed in A Tower, Seoul, South Korea. The primary objective of this study was to predict the coefficient of performance (COP) of water-cooled chillers under various operating conditions using only the chilled water outlet temperature ($T_2$) and the cooling water inlet temperature ($T_3$). The secondary objective was to estimate the COP under standard temperature conditions, which is essential for the absolute performance evaluation of chillers. The collected dataset was refined through thermodynamic preprocessing, including the removal of missing values and outliers, to ensure high data reliability. Based on this refined dataset, regression analyses were conducted separately for four cases: daytime (09:00–21:00) and nighttime (21:00–09:00) operations of chiller #1 and chiller #2, resulting in the derivation of four final regression equations. The reliability of the final dataset was further validated by applying other regression models, including simple linear (SL), bi-quadratic (BQ), and multivariate polynomial (MP) regression. The performance of each model was evaluated by calculating the coefficient of determination ($R^2$), coefficient of variation of root mean square error (CVRMSE), and the p-values of each coefficient. Additionally, the predicted COP values under the design and standard temperature conditions were compared with the measured COP values to assess the accuracy of the model. Error rates were also analyzed under scenarios where $T_2$ and $T_3$ were each varied by ±1 °C. To ensure robust validation, a final comparison was performed between the predicted and measured COP values. The results demonstrated that the TRRM exhibited high reliability and predictive accuracy, with most regression equations achieving $R^2$ values exceeding 90%, CVRMSE below 5%, and p-values below 0.05. Furthermore, the predicted COP values closely matched the actual measured COP values, further confirming the reliability of the regression model and equations. This study provides a practical method for estimating the COP of water-cooled chillers under standard temperature conditions or other operational conditions using only $T_2$ and $T_3$. This methodology can be utilized for objective performance assessments of chillers at various sites, supporting the development of effective maintenance strategies and performance optimization plans. Full article

Background: The main aim of this study was to identify the differences between subgroups of swimmers based on physiological (peak oxygen uptake—VO₂peak), strength (average tethered swimming force—60F_ave), stroke kinematics (v₁₀₀—swimming speed at 100 m front crawl, stroke rate—SR, stroke length—SL), and anthropometrical (i.e.,: biological age—BA, body height—BH, body mass—BM) factors within swimmers at different levels of maturity (BA). Methods: This study involved 39 female swimmers (age: 12.88 ± 0.54 years, BA: 13.98 ± 1.91 years). Cluster analysis (k-cluster) and stepwise multiple regression was performed. Results: Significant correlations were observed between v₁₀₀ and BA, 60F_ave, AS, VO₂peak. Stepwise multiple regression indicated 60F_ave and VO₂peak as the main explanatory variables of v₁₀₀ (R² = 0.60, p < 0.0001). Cluster analysis allowed us to distinguish three groups of swimmers, differing in BA (cluster 1: 14.07 ± 0.96 years, cluster 2: 17.05 ± 1.53, cluster 3: 11.94 ± 0.95) and v₁₀₀, as well as in BH, FFM, AS. Conclusions: There were differences between cluster groups, with early mature swimmers characterized by the highest BH, FFM, AS, 60F_ave, and VO₂peak. Probably, biologically younger late mature swimmers (cluster 3) are slower than the other 2 groups (cluster 1 and 2) because of being less somatically developed. Based on these study results, coaches should ensure further development of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning among normal mature swimmers with simultaneous focus on improving technique skills among early mature ones. Full article

Phosphorus (P) is critical for maximizing agricultural production and represents an appreciable input cost. Geologic sources of P that are most easily mined are a finite resource, while P transported from agricultural land to surface waters contributes to water quality degradation. Improved knowledge of P timing needs by corn (maize) can help inform management decisions that increase P use efficiency, which is beneficial to productivity, economics, and environmental quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate P application timing on the growth and yield components of corn. Corn was grown in a sand-culture hydroponics system that eliminated confounding plant–soil interactions and allowed for precise control of nutrient availability and timing. All nutrients were applied via drip irrigation and were therefore 100% bioavailable. Eight P timing treatments were tested using “low” (L) and “sufficient” (S) P concentrations. In each of the three growth phases, solution P application levels were changed or maintained, resulting in eight possible combinations, LLL, LLS, LSL, LSS, SLL, SSL, SLS, and SSS, where the first, second, and third letters indicate P solution application levels from planting to V6, V6 to R1, and R1 to R6, respectively. All other nutrients were applied at sufficient levels. Sacrificial samples were harvested at V6, R1, and R6 and evaluated for various yield parameters. Plants that received sufficient P between V6 and R1 produced a significantly higher grain yield than plants that received low P between V6 and R1 regardless of the level of P supply before V6 or after R1. The grain yield of plants that received sufficient P only between V6 and R1 did not differ significantly from plants that received only sufficient P (SSS), due to (1) a greater ear P concentration at R1; (2) an efficient remobilization of assimilates from the stem and leaf to grains between R1 and R6 (source–sink relationship); (3) a higher kernel/grain weight; and (4) less investment into root biomass. Full article

Background/Objectives: Unregulated post-prandial dietary endotoxemia may accumulate over time and underlie the development of chronic disease (e.g., leaky gut, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.), for which oral probiotic supplementation may be a prophylactic. The purpose of this study was to determine if 45 d of oral spore-based probiotic supplementation altered gastrointestinal-associated mRNA expression following a high-fat meal. Methods: A subset of apparently healthy individuals from a larger study who had dietary endotoxemia at baseline completed 45 d of supplementation with either a placebo (rice flour; n = 10) or spore-based probiotic (Megasporebiotic™; Novonesis, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; Bacillus indicus (HU36™), Bacillus subtilis (HU58™), Bacillus coagulans (SC208™), and Bacillus licheniformis (SL-307), and Bacillus clausii (SC109™); n = 10). Venous blood was collected in Paxgene RNA tubes prior to (PRE), 3 h, and 5 h after consumption of a high-fat meal (85% of the daily fat RDA and 65% of the daily calorie needs). Total RNA was analyzed for 579 mRNAs of interest (Nanostring nCounter Sprint; Seattle, WA, USA). After normalization to housekeeping controls and calculation of differential expression relative to PRE and controlled for FDR, 15 mRNAs were determined to be significantly changed at either 3 h and/or 5 h post-prandial in the probiotic group but not in the placebo group. Results: Significant mRNA expressions were associated with gastrointestinal tract barrier function (four mRNAs: BATF3, CCR6, CXCR6, and PDCD2), gastrointestinal immunity (four mRNAs: CLEC5A, IL7, CARD9, and FCER1G), or future IBD risk (seven mRNAs: PD-L1, CSF1R, FAS, BID, FADD, GATA3, and KIR3DL). Conclusions: Collectively, the present findings may support the notion that post-prandial immune response to eating is enhanced following 45 d of probiotic supplementation. Full article

The accurate estimation of nitrogen content in crop plants is the basis of precise nitrogen fertilizer management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging technology has been widely used to rapidly estimate the nitrogen in crop plants, but the accuracy will still be affected by the variety, the growth stage, and other factors. We aimed to (1) analyze the correlation between the plant nitrogen content of winter wheat and spectral, texture, and structural information; (2) compare the accuracy of nitrogen estimation at single versus multiple growth stages; (3) assess the consistency of UAV multispectral images in estimating nitrogen content across different wheat varieties; (4) identify the best model for estimating plant nitrogen content (PNC) by comparing five machine learning algorithms. The results indicated that for the estimation of PNC across all varieties and growth stages, the random forest regression (RFR) model performed best among the five models, obtaining R², RMSE, MAE, and MAPE values of 0.90, 0.10%, 0.08, and 0.06%, respectively. Additionally, the RFR estimation model achieved commendable accuracy in estimating PNC in three different varieties, with R² values of 0.91, 0.93, and 0.72. For the dataset of the single growth stage, Gaussian process regression (GPR) performed best among the five regression models, with R² values ranging from 0.66 to 0.81. Due to the varying nitrogen sensitivities, the accuracy of UAV multispectral nitrogen estimation was also different among the three varieties. Among the three varieties, the estimation accuracy of SL02-1 PNC was the worst. This study is helpful for the rapid diagnosis of crop nitrogen nutrition through UAV multispectral imaging technology. Full article

C-based XC binary materials and their (XC)_m/(YC)_n (X, Y ≡ Si, Ge and Sn) superlattices (SLs) have recently gained considerable interest as valuable alternatives to Si for designing and/or exploiting nanostructured electronic devices (NEDs) in the growing high-power application needs. In commercial NEDs, heat dissipation and thermal management have been and still are crucial issues. The concept of phonon engineering is important for manipulating thermal transport in low-dimensional heterostructures to study their lattice dynamical features. By adopting a realistic rigid-ion-model, we reported results of phonon dispersions ${\mathsf{\omega }}_{\mathrm{j}}^{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{L}}\left(\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}\right) \mathrm{o}\mathrm{f} \mathrm{n}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{l} \mathrm{s}\mathrm{h}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{t}-\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d} {\left(\mathrm{X}\mathrm{C}\right)}_{\mathrm{m}}/{(\mathrm{Y}\mathrm{C})}_{\mathrm{n}}\left[001\right] \mathrm{S}\mathrm{L}\mathrm{s}$, for m, n = 2, 3, 4 by varying phonon wavevectors $\left|{\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}}_{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{L}}\right|$ along the growth ${\mathrm{k}}_{||}$ ([001]), and in-plane ${\mathrm{k}}_{\perp }$ ([100], [010]) directions. The SL phonon dispersions displayed flattening of modes, especially at high-symmetry critical points Γ, Z and M. Miniband formation and anti-crossings in ${\mathsf{\omega }}_{\mathrm{j}}^{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{L}}\left(\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}\right)$ lead to the reduction in phonon conductivity ${\mathsf{\kappa }}_{\mathrm{z}}$ along the growth direction by an order of magnitude relative to the bulk materials. Due to zone-folding effects, the in-plane phonons in SLs exhibited a strong mixture of XC-like and YC-like low-energy ${\mathsf{\omega }}_{\mathrm{T}\mathrm{A}}$, ${\mathsf{\omega }}_{\mathrm{L}\mathrm{A}}$ modes with the emergence of stop bands at certain $\left|{\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}}_{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{L}}\right|$. For thermal transport applications, the results demonstrate modifications in thermal conductivities via changes in group velocities, specific heat, and density of states. Full article

With the advancement of urbanization, land resources are becoming increasingly strained, particularly for urban greening purposes. In this context, a large number of newly cultivated lands dominated by construction waste and backfill soil are emerging in cities. Assessing the soil quality of these newly cultivated lands and achieving their rational utilization accurately and quantitatively has become an urgent issue. In this study, soil samples of five land use types, namely newly cultivated land (NCL, control), adjacent cropland (CL), arbor–shrub mixed forest (ASF), arbor forest (AF), and shrubland (SL) were selected around Beijing, China. ASF, AF, and SL are also newly cultivated lands composed of construction waste and backfill before greening. Based on principal component analysis (PCA), a total data set (TDS) and a minimum data set (MDS) were used to construct the soil quality index (SQI) model. Soil quality indicators covering the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and their relationships with land use types were studied with the Partial Least Squares Path Model (PLS-PM). The results were summarized as follows: (1) The soil quality index under different land use types in the Beijing plain area were in the order of arbor–shrub mixed forest (ASF) > arbor forest (AF) > shrubland (SL) > cropland (CL) > newly cultivated land (NCL). (2) Soil organic carbon (SOC), soil water content (SWC), maximum water-holding capacity (MWHC), capillary water-holding capacity (CWHC), Pb, and Cd were identified as the MDS. The MDS of the soil quality assessment model showed a linear relationship with the TDS (y = 0.946x + 0.050, R² = 0.51). (3) Land use types have an indirect impact on soil quality by changing the content of Pb. The chemical indicators’ coefficient (0.602) contributed more to the SQI than did the physical indicators’ (0.259) and heavy metal elements’ (−0.234). In general, afforestation and agricultural production could improve the newly cultivated lands’ soil quality, but afforestation is much better than agricultural production. These results will help to evaluate the SQI in the Beijing plain area objectively and accurately, and they have significant implications for soil restoration and management. Full article

Given today’s increasingly intensive agriculture, one key problem area considers the valorization and reuse of wastes from food and agricultural production with minimal impact on the environment. Due to its physicochemical characteristics, biochar (BC) derived from grapevine pruning residue has shown considerable potential for use as an adsorbent. High-value phytochemicals found in abundance in the olive leaf (OL) can be employed in many different industrial sectors. The potential application of BC in the removal of specific polyphenolic components from OL extracts has been investigated in the present study. Water, as the most available and greenest of solvents, was investigated as to its use in the extraction of polyphenols, which was carried out by comparing maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction, and microwave-assisted extraction, considering different temperatures and solid-to-liquid (s/l) ratios. The BC adsorption capacity of selected polyphenols was fitted with both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Freundlich model fitted better relative to OL polyphenols adsorption. Oleuropein was the most abundant compound identified in the extracts, obtaining the highest K_f value (20.4 (mg/g) × (L/g)ⁿ) and R² coefficient (0.9715) in the adsorption on the biochar’s surface. The optimum conditions in the dosage experiment suggest the use of 0.5 g of BC using 3 g/L extracts, with an exception for oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, for which the highest biochar dose (2.5 g) performed better. Considering the compounds’ concentrations and the BC dose, BC from grapevine pruning residues demonstrated a potential use in the uptake of specific polyphenols from olive leaves, making it a promising adsorbent for such applications. Full article

In this work, a 3D printed biocompatible micro-optofluidic (MoF) device for two-phase flow monitoring is presented. Both an air–water bi-phase flow and a two-phase mixture composed of micrometric cells suspended on a liquid solution were successfully controlled and monitored through its use. To manufacture the MoF device, a highly innovative microprecision 3D printing technique was used named Projection Microstereolithography (P$\mu$SL) in combination with the use of a novel 3D printable photocurable resin suitable for biological and biomedical applications. The concentration monitoring of biological fluids relies on the absorption phenomenon. More precisely, the nature of the transmission of the light strictly depends on the cell concentration: the higher the cell concentration, the lower the optical acquired signal. To achieve this, the microfluidic T-junction device was designed with two micrometric slots for the optical fibers’ insertion, needed to acquire the light signal. In fact, both the micro-optical and the microfluidic components were integrated within the developed device. To assess the suitability of the selected biocompatible transparent resin for optical detection relying on the selected working principle (absorption phenomenon), a comparison between a two-phase flow process detected inside a previously fully characterized micro-optofluidic device made of a nonbiocompatible high-performance resin (HTL resin) and the same made of the biocompatible one (BIO resin) was carried out. In this way, it was possible to highlight the main differences between the two different resin grades, which were further justified with proper chemical analysis of the used resins and their hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature via static water contact angle measurements. A wide experimental campaign was performed for the biocompatible device manufactured through the P$\mu$SL technique in different operative conditions, i.e., different concentrations of eukaryotic yeast cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (with a diameter of 5 $\mathsf{\mu }$m) suspended on a PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) solution. The performed analyses revealed that the selected photocurable transparent biocompatible resin for the manufactured device can be used for cell concentration monitoring by using ad hoc 3D printed micro-optofluidic devices. In fact, by means of an optical detection system and using the optimized operating conditions, i.e., the optimal values of the flow rate $FR=0.1$ mL/min and laser input power $P\in \{1,3\}$ mW, we were able to discriminate between biological fluids with different concentrations of suspended cells with a robust working ability $R^2=0.9874$ and $R_{adj}^2=0.9811$. Full article

Onion peels (OP) are rich in bioactive compounds with a plethora of benefits for human health, but this valuable material is often wasted and underutilized due to its inedibility. Likewise, grapevine pruning residues are commonly treated as agricultural waste, but biochar (BC) obtained from this material has favorable characteristics as an adsorbent. This study investigated the potential of BC in removal of targeted polyphenolic compounds from OP extracts. The OP extracts were obtained adhering to green chemistry principles using deionized water amplified by three methods: maceration (MAC), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE). The extraction efficiency on the polyphenolic profile and antioxidant capacity was investigated with different extraction temperatures and solid-to-liquid (s/l) ratios. For further analysis, UAE at 90 °C with an s/l ratio of 1:100 was used due to higher polyphenolic compound yield. The BC adsorption capacity of individual polyphenols was fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Quercetin-3,4′-diglucoside obtained the highest R² coefficient in both models, and the highest q_max value. The optimum conditions in the dosage experiment suggested an amount of 0.5 g of BC using 3 g/L extracts. The studied BC showed a high affinity for targeted phytochemicals from OP extracts, indicating its potential to be applied for the green adsorption of valuable polyphenolic compounds. Full article

(1) Background: The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)- based clot waveform analysis (CWA) quantitatively extends information obtained from the APTT waveform through its derivatives. However, pre-analytical variables including reagent effects on the CWA parameters are poorly understood and must be standardized as a potential diagnostic assay. (2) Methods: CWA was first analysed with patient samples to understand reagent lot variation in three common APTT reagents: Pathromtin SL, Actin FS, and Actin FSL. A total of 1055 healthy volunteers were also recruited from seven institutions across the Asia-Pacific region and CWA data were collected with the Sysmex CS analysers. (3) Results: CWA parameters varied less than 10% between lots and the linear mixed model analysis showed few site-specific effects within the same reagent group. However, the CWA parameters were significantly different amongst all reagent groups and thus reagent-specific 95% reference intervals could be calculated using the nonparametric method. Post-hoc analysis showed some degree of influence by age and gender with weak correlation to the CWA (r < 0.3). (4) Conclusions: Reagent type significantly affects APTT-based CWA with minimal inter-laboratory variations with the same coagulometer series that allow for data pooling across laboratories with more evidence required for age- and gender-partitioning. Full article

Mechanochemistry is one of the ten great discoveries of green chemistry methods for synthesizing new substances. A drug substance from the fluoroquinolone group was exposed to high-intensity mechanical impacts using a laboratory knife mill for 21 min and constantly monitored by analyzing samples extracted every 3 min with DLS, SLS, LALLS, 2D-LS, optical and digital microscopy, FTIR, and Spirotox methods. A dispersity phenomenon was detected in an area where catastrophic dislocations formed and multiplied via laser methods. The positive correlation between the temperature of deformation and stress was demonstrated, similar to a typical stress–strain curve of a Bochvar–Oding curve and Young’s modulus: the angular coefficient of the straight section to OX was tgα = 10 min⁻¹. Z-Average, ζ-potential, and polydispersity index dependences were represented as discontinuous periodic oscillations analogous to the defect and impurity transitions near the dislocation core. Deformation r from the high-intensity mechanical impact resulted in covalent bonds showing hyper- and hypochromic effects under FTIR spectra, a bathochromic shift of the maximum, and an oscillation emission at 3240 cm⁻¹. A 2D-LS fingerprint diagram obtained via the topological convolution of the light scattering matrix made it possible to distinguish the off-loading samples from the native substance. The investigation of the dissolution kinetics in water via laser diffraction led to conclusions about the limiting diffusion stage and the acceleration of the mechanoactivation of the solid body’s dissolution under both linear and plastic deformation. The acceleration of ^obsE_a of the cell death process in the temperature range from 296 to 302 K indicated a significant (2.5-fold) decrease in the toxicity of the aqueous 9 mM (1:3) sample solution at 21 min compared to that of the native levofloxacin. Adherence to the mechanochemistry laws provides an opportunity for drug repositioning to change their brand status by identifying new physicochemical and biological properties. Full article

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for utilising telehealth as a major mode of healthcare delivery, with increasing interest in the use of tele-platforms for remote patient assessment. In this context, the use of smartphone technology to measure squat performance in people with and without femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome has not been reported yet. We developed a novel smartphone application, the TelePhysio app, which allows the clinician to remotely connect to the patient’s device and measure their squat performance in real time using the smartphone inertial sensors. The aim of this study was to investigate the association and test–retest reliability of the TelePhysio app in measuring postural sway performance during a double-leg (DLS) and single-leg (SLS) squat task. In addition, the study investigated the ability of TelePhysio to detect differences in DLS and SLS performance between people with FAI and without hip pain. Methods: A total of 30 healthy (nfemales = 12) young adults and 10 adults (nfemales = 2) with diagnosed FAI syndrome participated in the study. Healthy participants performed DLS and SLS on force plates in our laboratory, and remotely in their homes using the TelePhysio smartphone application. Sway measurements were compared using the centre of pressure (CoP) and smartphone inertial sensor data. A total of 10 participants with FAI (nfemales = 2) performed the squat assessments remotely. Four sway measurements in each axis (x, y, and z) were computed from the TelePhysio inertial sensors: (1) average acceleration magnitude from the mean (aam), (2) root-mean-square acceleration (rms), (3) range acceleration (r), and (4) approximate entropy (apen), with lower values indicating that the movement is more regular, repetitive, and predictable. Differences in TelePhysio squat sway data were compared between DLS and SLS, and between healthy and FAI adults, using analysis of variance with significance set at 0.05. Results: The TelePhysio aam measurements on the x- and y-axes had significant large correlations with the CoP measurements (r = 0.56 and r = 0.71, respectively). The TelePhysio aam measurements demonstrated moderate to substantial between-session reliability values of 0.73 (95% CI 0.62–0.81), 0.85 (95% CI 0.79–0.91), and 0.73 (95% CI 0.62–0.82) for aamx, aamy, and aamz, respectively. The DLS of the FAI participants showed significantly lower aam and apen values in the medio-lateral direction compared to the healthy DLS, healthy SLS, and FAI SLS groups (aam = 0.13, 0.19, 0.29, and 0.29, respectively; and apen = 0.33, 0.45, 0.52, and 0.48, respectively). In the anterior–posterior direction, healthy DLS showed significantly greater aam values compared to the healthy SLS, FAI DLS, and FAI SLS groups (1.26, 0.61, 0.68, and 0.35, respectively). Conclusions: The TelePhysio app is a valid and reliable method of measuring postural control during DLS and SLS tasks. The application is capable of distinguishing performance levels between DLS and SLS tasks, and between healthy and FAI young adults. The DLS task is sufficient to distinguish the level of performance between healthy and FAI adults. This study validates the use of smartphone technology as a tele-assessment clinical tool for remote squat assessment. Full article

Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. is a genuine medicinal material in Yunnan Province. As accessories, P. notoginseng leaves mainly contain protopanaxadiol saponins. The preliminary findings have indicated that P. notoginseng leaves contribute to its significant pharmacological effects and have been administrated to tranquilize and treat cancer and nerve injury. Saponins from P. notoginseng leaves were isolated and purified by different chromatographic methods, and the structures of 1–22 were elucidated mainly through comprehensive analyses of spectroscopic data. Moreover, the SH-SY5Y cells protection bioactivities of all isolated compounds were tested by establishing L-glutamate models for nerve cell injury. As a result, twenty-two saponins, including eight dammarane saponins, namely notoginsenosides SL₁-SL₈ (1–8), were identified as new compounds, together with fourteen known compounds, namely notoginsenoside NL-A₃ (9), ginsenoside Rc (10), gypenoside IX (11), gypenoside XVII (12), notoginsenoside Fc (13), quinquenoside L₃ (14), notoginsenoside NL-B₁ (15), notoginsenoside NL-C₂ (16), notoginsenoside NL-H₂ (17), notoginsenoside NL-H₁ (18), vina-ginsenoside R₁₃ (19), ginsenoside II (20), majoroside F₄ (21), and notoginsenoside LK₄ (22). Among them, notoginsenoside SL₁ (1), notoginsenoside SL₃ (3), notoginsenoside NL-A₃ (9), and ginsenoside Rc (10) showed slight protective effects against L-glutamate-induced nerve cell injury (30 µM). Full article