Ancient herbal therapy: A brief history of Panax ginseng

Maria Assunta Potenza,Monica Montagnani,Luigi Santacroce,Ioannis Alexandros Charitos,Lucrezia Bottalico The Korean Society of Ginseng 2023 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.47 No.3

Ginseng was the most revered of the herbs in ancient times in China, Korea, Japan, America. Ginseng was discovered over 5000 years ago in the mountains of Manchuria, China. References to ginseng are found in books dating back more than two millennia. It is revered by the Chinese people as it is considered a herb for everything use and therefore for a wide range of diseases (currently its Latin name derived from the Greek panacea, meanings, that is, for everything). So, it was used exclusively by the Chinese Emperor's, and they were willing to pay the price without problems. Increasing its fame, ginseng brought a flourishing international trade that allowed Korea to supply China with silk and medicines in exchange for wild ginseng and later along with what grows in America.

Functional and Metabolic Disorders in Celiac Disease: New Implications for Nutritional Treatment

Sara Farnetti,Maria Assunta Zocco,Matteo Garcovich,Antonio Gasbarrini,Esmeralda Capristo 한국식품영양과학회 2014 Journal of medicinal food Vol.17 No.11

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic disease causing the inflammation of the proximal small intestine, in genetically predisposed individuals. This is triggered by the consumption of the gluten protein and the side effects of the disease are mitigated by a lifelong gluten-free diet (GFD) treatment. The predominant consequence of CD is malnutrition due to malabsorption (with diarrhea, weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and altered blood parameters), especially in patients who do not show strict adherence to GFD treatment. Recent evidence shows that, despite a lifelong GFD, some functional disorders persist, such as compromised gallbladder function and motility, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, increased gut permeability, small-intestinal bowel overgrowth, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), lactose intolerance, and milk allergy. These abnormalities may predispose to the occurrence of overweight and obesity even in CD patients. This review focuses on the principal functional and metabolic disorders in both treated and untreated CD, ranging from alterations of the gastrointestinal system to impaired glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin secretion with the aim of providing new implications beyond a GFD, for an ad hoc nutrition treatment in these patients.

Tobacco Control Stakeholder Perspectives on the Future of Tobacco Marketing Regulation in Indonesia: A Modified Delphi Study

Astuti, Putu Ayu Swandewi,Assunta, Mary,Freeman, Becky The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine 2021 예방의학회지 Vol.54 No.5

Objectives: Tobacco control in Indonesia is very lenient compared to international standards. This study explored the perspectives of tobacco control stakeholders (TCSs) on the likelihood of advancing tobacco marketing regulation in Indonesia. Methods: Data were collected from TCSs who were members of the Indonesia Tobacco Control Network group in a modified Delphi study. We collected the data in 2 waves using a questionnaire that comprised a set of closed and open-ended questions. For this paper, we analysed 2 of the 3 sections of the questionnaire: (1) tobacco advertising, promotions, and sponsorship (TAPS) bans, and (2) marketing and retailing regulations. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the scores using Stata/IC.13 and summarised the comments for each item. Results: The TCSs viewed the measures/strategies across all aspects of TAPS and tobacco marketing regulation as highly desirable, but provided varied responses on their feasibility. They rated political feasibility lower than technical feasibility for most measures. Advancing TAPS measures and prohibition of selling to minors were considered more attainable by sub-national governments, while prohibition of tobacco corporate social responsibility was considered as the least feasible measure in the next 5 years. Conclusions: Despite little optimism for substantial national-level change, there is a positive expectation that sub-national governments will strengthen their tobacco control regulation. It is paramount that the government reduce tobacco industry leverage by implementing Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Extending advocacy networks beyond tobacco control groups and framing tobacco control more effectively are necessary steps.

Application of the Seven-Factor-Model of Personality to an Italian Preschool Sample

Maria Grazia Melegari,Assunta Marano,Margherita Innocenzi,Loredana De Rosa,Renato Donfrancesco,Sandor Rozsa,C. Robert Cloninger 대한신경정신의학회 2014 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.11 No.4

Objective Advances in dimensional assessment of children in healthy and clinical populations has renewed interest in the study of temperament. Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) has shown high reliability and internal consistency. Adult and adolescent versions have been translated into a number of languages and validated in cross-cultural studies worldwide. To date only one preschool-TCI-based study has been conducted in early infancy with teachers as observers. The present study is aimed to test an Italian Preschool version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (PsTCI). This is the first replication and the first validation study of TCI on preschoolers with parents as observers. Methods 395 preschool children, recruited from pediatric communities and day-care centres throughout Italy, participated in the study. Parents of each child enrolled in the study and completed a PsTCI about the child. Standard psychometric tests of reliability and validation were performed. Results Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated the presence of distinct domains for temperament and character. TCI dimensions had good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha ranging values (|0.60|–|0.81|). Gender differences were found for Harm Avoidance (β=-0.186; p≤0.001) and Self-Directedness (β=-0.216; p≤0.01), and accounted for 5–35% of the observed variance. Conclusion The present work suggests the psychological complexity of Cloninger’s model and confirms its application in pre-school children from diverse environmental and cultural backgrounds. The results confirm that Cloninger’s instrument for temperament and character evaluations can also be used with different observers and highlight the importance of considering cultural and demographic differences in the assessment of temperament and character in preschoolers.

Green solvent-processed complementary-like inverters based on ambipolar organic thin-film transistors

Minjeong Lee,윤승재,Dongil Ho,Taeshik Earmme,Assunta Marrocchi,Luigi Vaccaro,김충익 한국공업화학회 2022 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.105 No.-

In the trends of ever-growing worldwide interest for the environment/health and the corresponding legalregulations, there have been various studies to replace toxic halogenated/aromatic hydrocarbon organicsolvents commonly used in the solution-processing of organic semiconductors (OSCs) with more sustainablegreen solvents. In this paper, we fabricated ambipolar organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) andcomplementary-like inverters by blending a p-type OSC (6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene;TIPS-pentacene) and a n-type OSC (N,N’-di-n-octyl-3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic diimide; PTCDI-C8)in a single green solvent anisole. In particular, shellac was employed as green dielectric materials andthe electrical performance of the resulting devices were compared with those fabricated using toxic solventsor commonly used oxide-based dielectrics. The bulk-heterojunction (BHJ)-structured OTFTs in theoptimized condition exhibited typical ambipolar characteristics with relatively balanced charge carriermobilities as high as 0.042 and 0.14 cm2 V 1s 1 for hole and electron, respectively. Additionally,complementary-like inverters based on the two optimized ambipolar OTFTs showed a decent transfergain as high as 21 at negative supply voltages of 60 V. Thus, by demonstrating the applicability of greensolvents not only for OTFTs but also in the implementation of circuit devices, we expect that the resultsobtained will spark more interest for the more sustainable fabrication of OSC-based electronic devicesand their commercialization/mass-production in the relevant industrial real cases.

Molecular Detection of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma Ziziphae’ in Different Jujube Varieties

Xinping Fan,Samanta Paltrinieri,Maria Pastore,Milena Petriccione,Xi Wang,Jianbao Tian,Assunta Bertaccini 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-