Traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 pandemic and emerging challenges: An online cross-sectional survey in China

Chun-Li Lu,Ruo-Xiang Zheng,Xue Xue,Xiao-Wen Zhang,Xue-Han Liu,Xin-Yan Jin,Feng-Lan Pu,Hui-Di Lan,Min Fang,Ling-Yao Kong,Merlin Willcox,Bertrand Graz,Joelle Houriet,Xiao-Yang Hu,Jian-ping Liu 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.-

Background We aimed to investigate use of infection control behaviours, preventative and therapeutic interventions, and outcomes among respondents to an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods The survey was designed by an international team, translated and adapted to simplified Chinese, including 132 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation recommended by guidelines. It was distributed and collected from February to May 2021, with data analysed by WPS spreadsheet and wjx.cn. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographics and clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatments, preventative behaviours and interventions, and their associated outcomes. Results The survey was accessed 503 times with 341 (67.8%) completions covering 23 provinces and four municipalities in China. Most (282/341, 82.7%) respondents reported no symptoms during the pandemic and the majority (290/341, 85.0%) reported having a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test at some point. Forty-five (13.2%) reported having a respiratory infection, among which 19 (42.2%) took one or more categories of modern medicine, e.g. painkillers, antibiotics; 16 (35.6%) used TCM interventions(s); while seven respondents combined TCM with modern medicine. All respondents reported using at least one behavioural or medical approach to prevention, with 22.3% taking TCM and 5.3% taking modern medicines. No respondents reported having a critical condition related to COVID-19. Conclusion We found evidence of widespread use of infection control behaviours, modern medicines and TCM for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and other respiratory symptoms. Larger scale studies are warranted, including a more representative sample exploring TCM preparations recommended in clinical guidelines. Background We aimed to investigate use of infection control behaviours, preventative and therapeutic interventions, and outcomes among respondents to an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods The survey was designed by an international team, translated and adapted to simplified Chinese, including 132 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation recommended by guidelines. It was distributed and collected from February to May 2021, with data analysed by WPS spreadsheet and wjx.cn. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographics and clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatments, preventative behaviours and interventions, and their associated outcomes. Results The survey was accessed 503 times with 341 (67.8%) completions covering 23 provinces and four municipalities in China. Most (282/341, 82.7%) respondents reported no symptoms during the pandemic and the majority (290/341, 85.0%) reported having a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test at some point. Forty-five (13.2%) reported having a respiratory infection, among which 19 (42.2%) took one or more categories of modern medicine, e.g. painkillers, antibiotics; 16 (35.6%) used TCM interventions(s); while seven respondents combined TCM with modern medicine. All respondents reported using at least one behavioural or medical approach to prevention, with 22.3% taking TCM and 5.3% taking modern medicines. No respondents reported having a critical condition related to COVID-19. Conclusion We found evidence of widespread use of infection control behaviours, modern medicines and TCM for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and other respiratory symptoms. Larger scale studies are warranted, including a more representative sample exploring TCM preparations recommended in clinical guidelines.

온라인 게임의 콘텐츠 특성과 운영 서비스품질이 유저의 지속이용의도 및 구전의도에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

방춘봉(Fang, Chun-Feng),이돈곤(Lee, Don-Gon),한경석(Han, Kyeong-Seok) 한국게임학회 2015 한국게임학회 논문지 Vol.15 No.1

최근 온라인 게임은 콘텐츠 자체뿐만 아니라 운영 서비스가 종합적으로 작용하여 성장을 이루고 있다. 그러나 기존의 연구에서는 게임운영 서비스 품질에 비해 게임의 콘텐츠 특성에 많은 초점을 두고 연구가 수행되고 있다. 본 연구는 온라인 스포츠게임을 연구 대상으로, 게임의 콘텐츠특성과 운영 서비스품질이 유저의 지속이용의도와 구전의도에 미치는 영향을 기대충족 모델을 적용하여 분석하고, 그에 따른 지속 서비스를 위한 유저 풀을 확대 및 확보하는데 어떠한 노력을 기울여야 하는지에 대하여 학술적 및 실무적 시사점을 제시하였다. 연구결과, 게임 컨텐츠 특성인 현실성은 기대충족까지도 영향을 미치는 게임 콘텐츠의 주요한 변수임이 밝혀졌으며, 운영 서비스 품질인 공감성은 기대충족에도 영향을 주어 구전의도를 일으키는 직 간접적 역할을 하고 있음을 확인할 수 있었다. A recent online game is growing with the combined action of content as well as operating services. However, in previous studies, with a lot of focus on content characteristics of game than the game operating service quality studies have been carried out. This study targeted research online sports games, operating service quality and content characteristics of the game are analyzed effects of word-of-mouth and continued usage intention by applying Expectation Confirmation Model. as a result, it has found that as a result, it has found that sense of reality turned out to be a major variable affecting the content of the game even expectation confirmation. Directly and indirectly, it was confirmed that the role of empathy affect to expectation confirmation and satisfaction.

EFFECT OF IMPLANT DESIGNS ON INSERTION TORQUE AND IMPLANT STABILITY QUOTIENT (ISQ) VALUE

Piao Chun-Mei,Heo Seong-Joo,Koak Jai-Young,Kim Seong-Kyun,Han Chong-Hyun,Fang Xian-Hao The Korean Academy of Prosthodonitics 2006 대한치과보철학회지 Vol.44 No.3

Statement of problem. Primary implant stability has long been identified as a prerequisite to achieve osseointegration. So the application of a simple, clinically applicable noninvasive test to assess implant stability and osseiointegratation are considered highly desirable. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ISQ value and the insertion torque of the 3 different implant system, then to evaluate whether there was a correlation between ISQ value and insertion torque; and to determine whether implant design has an influence on either insertion torque or ISQ value. Material and method. The experiment was composed of 3 groups: depending on the implant fixture design. Group1 was Branemark type parallel implant in $3.75{\times}7mm$. Group2 was Oneplant type straight implant in $4.3{\times}8.5mm$. Group3 was Oneplant type tapered implant in $4.3{\times}8.5mm$. Depending on the density of the bone, 2 types of bone were used in this experiment. Type I bone represented for cortical bone, type II bone represented for cancellous bone. With the insertion of the implant in type I and type II bone, the insertion torque was measured, then the ISQ value was evaluated, and then the correlation between insertion torque and ISQ value was analyzed Result and conclusion. Within the limitations of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. 1. Within the 3 different implants, the insertion torque value and ISQ value were higher in type I bone, when compared with type II bone.(p<0.05) 2. In type I and type II bone, Oneplant type tapered implant has the highest value in insertion torque.(p<0.05) 3. In type I and type II bone, there was no difference in ISQ values among the 3 types of implant. (p>0.05) 4. Significant linear correlation was found in $Br{\aa}nemark$ type parallel implant: $3.75{\times}7mm$ in type II bone.

Chemopreventive and Chemotherapeutic Effect of Propolis and Its Constituents: A Mini-review

Hui-Fang Chiu,Yi-Chun Han,You-Cheng Shen,Oksana Golovinskaia,Kamesh Venkatakrishnan,Chin-Kun Wang 대한암예방학회 2020 Journal of cancer prevention Vol.25 No.2

Propolis is a bee wax rich in various phytocomponents and traditionally used to treat various ailments. Propolis is reported to possess an array of biological properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic as well as cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, renoprotective, and derma protective activities. A plethora of studies confirmed that propolis is effective against various types of cancer including head and neck, lung, liver, brain (glioma), pancreas, kidney, prostate, skin (melanoma), breast, oral, esophagus, gastric, colorectal, and bladder cancers. However, many researchers have demonstrated that propolis displays potent chemoprotective/chemopreventive or anti-cancer activity against only a few types of cancers like oral, gastrointestinal, dermal (melanoma), breast, and prostate cancers. Therefore, this mini-review only summarizes the chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic activities of propolis and its updated underlying mechanisms. Taken together, propolis displays potent chemoprotective or anti-cancer effect due to the presence of various phytocomponents which contribute to pro-apoptotic, cytotoxic, anti-proliferative (cell cycle arrest), anti-metastatic, anti-invasive, anti-angiogenic and anti-genotoxic or anti-mutagenic properties along with antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory functions. Hence, propolis could be used as an adjuvant for treating various cancers along with standard chemotherapeutic drugs. However, many large-scale clinical studies are needed to justify such applications.

Systemic Inflammatory Biomarkers, Especially Fibrinogen to Albumin Ratio, Predict Prognosis in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

Lin Fang,Fei-Hu Yan,Chao Liu,Jing Chen,Dan Wang,Chun-Hui Zhang,Chang-Jie Lou,Jie Lian,Yang Yao,Bo-Jun Wang,Rui-Yang Li,Shu-Ling Han,Yi-Bing Bai,Jia-Ni Yang,Zhi-Wei Li,Yan-Qiao Zhang 대한암학회 2021 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.53 No.1

Purpose Systemic inflammatory response is a critical factor that promotes the initiation and metastasis of malignancies including pancreatic cancer (PC). This study was designed to determine and compare the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) in resectable PC and locally advanced or metastatic PC. Materials and Methods Three hundred fifty-three patients with resectable PC and 807 patients with locally advan-ced or metastatic PC were recruited in this study. These patients were classified into a training set (n=758) and a validation set (n=402). Kaplan-Meier survival plots and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze prognosis. Results Overall survival (OS) was significantly better for patients with resectable PC with low preoperative PLR (p=0.048) and MLR (p=0.027). Low FAR, MLR, NLR (p < 0.001), and PLR (p=0.003) were significantly associated with decreased risk of death for locally advanced or metastatic PC patients. FAR (hazard ratio [HR], 1.522; 95% confidential interval [CI], 1.261 to 1.837; p < 0.001) and MLR (HR, 1.248; 95% CI, 1.017 to 1.532; p=0.034) were independent prognostic factors for locally advanced or metastatic PC. Conclusion The prognostic roles of FAR, MLR, NLR, and PLR in resectable PC and locally advanced or metastatic PC were different. FAR showed the most prognostic power in locally advanced or metastatic PC. Low FAR was positively correlated with OS in locally advanced or metastatic PC, which could be used to predict the prognosis.

An Interpretative Study on Nurses' Perspectives of Working in an Overcrowded Emergency Department in Taiwan

Li-Chin Chen,Chun-Chih Lin,Chin-Yen Han,Chun-Lan Hsieh,Chiung-Jung (Jo) Wu,Hwey-Fang Liang 한국간호과학회 2018 Asian Nursing Research Vol.12 No.1

Purpose: This study aims to gain in-depth understanding of nurses' perspectives of working in an overcrowded emergency. Methods: Symbolic interactionism and Charmaz’s construction of grounded theory were used. Purposive sampling at the start of the study and a further theoretical sampling by snowball technique were used to recruit 40 registered nurses (RN) to participate in in-depth, semi-structured interviews betweenMay and November, 2014. Data analysis included analytic techniques of initial, focused and theoretical coding. Results: Study findings showed searching for work role is derived by the themes of Finding the role of positioning in Emergency Department (ED), Recognizing causes of ED overcrowding, and Confined working environment. Nurses' work experience which represents the RNs not gained control over their work, as care actions influenced by the problematic overcrowded circumstance of the ED environment. Conclusion: The findings fill a gap in knowledge about how RNs experience their work role in the context of an overcrowded Emergency Department in Taiwan. Arising from the study result include taking account of nurses' perspectives when planning staff/patient ratios, strategies to reduce waiting time and ensure that clients receive appropriate care.

The Situation, Models and Strategies of Forage Production in Beijing

Lin Meng,Pei-chun Mao,Lie-gang Han,Guo-fang Zhang 한국초지조사료학회 2009 한국초지조사료학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2009 No.08

The situation, problems and models of forage production and industrialization in Beijing were analyzed, and the strategies were pointed out including: (1) The suitable planting areas for alfalfa, silage com and rye etc should be defined systemically, and the rational harvest time and dry skills should be set up in Beijing plain areas. (2) The perennial forage crops with higher drought resistance should be planted in the waste slope land and barren land. (3) The interplant forage crops in the woodland and orchard should be generalized.

Regulatory effects of resveratrol on antioxidant enzymes: A mechanism of growth inhibition and apoptosis induction in cancer cells

Md. Asaduzzaman Khan,Han-chun Chen,Xin-xing Wan,Mousumi Tania,Ai-hua Xu,Fang-zhi Chen,Dian-zheng Zhang 한국분자세포생물학회 2013 Molecules and cells Vol.35 No.4

Resveratrol (RSV) is a natural polyphenol that is known as a powerful chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic anticancer molecule. This study focused on the effects of RSV on the activities and expression levels of antioxidant enzymes in the cancer cells. Prostate cancer PC-3 cells, hepatic cancer HepG2 cells, breast cancer MCF-7 cells and the non-cancerous HEK293T kidney epithelial cells were treated with a wide range of RSV concentrations (10-100 μM) for 24–72 h. Cell growth was estimated by trypan blue staining, activities of the antioxidant enzymes were measured spectrophotometrically, expression levels of the antioxidant enzymes were quantified by digitalizing the protein band intensities on Western blots, and the percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry. Treatment with a low concentration of RSV (25 μM) significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in PC-3, HepG2 and MCF-7 cells, but not in HEK293T cells. Catalase (CAT) activity was increased in HepG2 cells, but no effect was found on glutathione peroxidase (GPX) upon RSV treatment. RSV-induced SOD2 expression was observed in cancer cells, although the expression of SOD1, CAT and GPX1 was unaffected. Apoptosis increased upon RSV treatment of cancer cells, especially in PC-3 and HepG2 cells. Together, our data demonstrated that RSV inhibits cancer cell growth with minimal effects on non-cancerous cells. We postulate that the disproportional up-regulation of SOD, CAT and GPX expression and enzymatic activity in cancer cells results in the mitochondrial accumulation of H2O2, which in turn induces cancer cell apoptosis.

Impact of Obesity on a Chinese Population with Erosive Esophagitis and Barrett`s Esophagus

( Shou-wu Lee ),( Han-chung Lien ),( Teng-yu Lee ),( Chun-fang Tung ),( Hong-zen Yeh ),( Chi-sen Chang ) 대한간학회 2017 Gut and Liver Vol.11 No.3

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between obesity and erosive esophagitis (EE) or Barrett`s esophagus (BE) in a Chinese population. Methods: Data from subjects were retrospectively collected from 2006 to 2009. Individuals with BE were identified and age- and sex-matched at a 1:2 ratio with normal esophagocardial junction and EE patients. The subjects were stratified into two groups: the normal weight group and overweight/ obesity group (body mass index ≥25 mg/m2) or the normal waist group and abdominal obesity group (waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women). Results: Overall, 45%, 72%, and 52% were overweight/obese and 23%, 65%, and 18% had abdominal obesity in the normal, EE, and BE groups, respectively. Positive associations were identified between EE and overweight/obesity (odds ratio [OR], 3.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.75 to 5.66) and abdominal obesity (OR, 6.22; 95% CI, 3.34 to 11.57); however, the associations were nonsignificant between BE and overweight/obesity (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.67 to 2.61) or abdominal obesity (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.31 to 1.73). Female BE patients had a significantly increased rate of being overweight/obese. Conclusions: Obesity is a contributing factor in EE. The association of BE and obesity was not significant, with the exception of female BE cases. (Gut Liver 2017;11:377-382)

Ginsenoside Rb2: A review of pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects

Longxing Miao,Yijun Yang,Zhongwen Li,Zengjun Fang,Yongqing Zhang,Chun-chao Han 고려인삼학회 2022 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.46 No.2

Ginsenoside Rb2 is an active protopanaxadiol-type saponin, widely existing in the stem and leave of ginseng. Rb2 has recently been the focus of studies for pharmaceutical properties. This paper provides an overview of the preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetics for Rb2, which exhibit poor absorption, rapid tissue distribution and slow excretion through urine. Pharmacological studies indicate a beneficial role of Rb2 in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, obesity, tumor, photoaging, virus infection and cardiovascular problems. The underlying mechanism is involved in an inhibition of oxidative stress, ROS generation, inflammation and apoptosis via regulation of various cellular signaling pathways and molecules, including AKT/SHP, MAPK, EGFR/SOX2, TGF-b1/Smad, SIRT1, GPR120/AMPK/HO-1 and NF-kB. This work would provide a new insight into the understanding and application of Rb2. However, its therapeutic effects have not been clinically evaluated. Further studies should be aimed at the clinical treatment of Rb2.