This study investigated the mechanism of Wuda granule (WDG) on gastrointestinal (GI) motility in beagle dogs. Stress sensors implanted in the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and colon recorded contractile activity. Lateral ventricular administration of WDG (5mg) significantly enhanced contractile motility in all recorded GI regions in awake dogs; this effect was attenuated under intravenous anesthesia. The prokinetic effect of central WDG was completely blocked by intravenous atropine infusion [50 μg/(kg·h)]. Bilateral cervical vagotomy prolonged the migrating motor complex cycle, weakened gastric phase III contractions, and abolished the WDG-induced enhancement specifically in the stomach. However, WDG still enhanced motility in the duodenum, jejunum, and colon post-vagotomy. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed no intestinal structural changes induced by WDG. WDG enhances GI contractility centrally, primarily via activation of vagal cholinergic pathways for the stomach, while exerting effects on the lower GI tract through additional, non-vagal mechanisms.

Drinking beverages sweetened with sugar can lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cavities, diabetes and other health problems. More than 20 years of public health campaigns significantly reduced the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by U.S children, but that progress has plateaued in recent years, according to Asher Rosinger, associate professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology at Penn State. He said that ensuring universally available, safe tap water across the nation may be a key step toward further reducing children’s consumption of these drinks.

A research paper by scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine presented BioCompNet—an end-to-end deep learning workflow that integrates dual-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences (water/fat) with a hierarchical U-Net architecture to enable fully automated quantification of 15 biomechanically critical BC components..

The research paper, published on Aug. 20, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems.

Scientists in the laboratory of Shashank M. Dravid, PhD, in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine are working to understand the link between chronic pain and autophagy, the cell’s cleanup crew.