OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness and safety of Kuntai capsule and hormone replacement therapy in treatment of perimenopausal syndrome.METHODS: Articles were retrieved from the databases Cochrane Database of Syst...OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness and safety of Kuntai capsule and hormone replacement therapy in treatment of perimenopausal syndrome.METHODS: Articles were retrieved from the databases Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,Pub Med, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Wanfang Database. Only randomized controlled trials were included; 15 trials involving1243 patients were identified from January 2005 to April 2015. A systemic review and Meta-analysis of publications was performed. The review was limit-ed to randomized controlled trials that compared Kuntai capsule and hormone replacement therapy to treat perimenopausal syndrome for at least 3months. The primary outcome assessed was the treatment efficacy at 3 months, including effective rate of Kupperman menopausal scores, Kupperman menopausal scores, and blood estradiol(E2) or blood follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) levels.Other outcomes assessed were safety or adverse events, such as gastrointestinal complaints, breast distending pain, or vaginal bleeding.RESULTS: Kupperman menopausal scores showed no significant difference in effective rate [odds ratio(OR): 1.05, 95% confidence intervals(CI): 0.71 to1.55] and changes in FSH level [mean difference(MD): 2.14, 95% CI:-2.36 to 6.65]. There was a significant statistical difference in Kupperman menopausal scores(MD:-1.14, 95% CI:-2.03 to-0.25)and changes in E2level(MD:-16.41, 95% CI:-18.83to-13.69). There were fewer adverse events in the Kuntai capsule group than in the hormone replacement therapy group(OR: = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.25 to0.48, P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: Compared with hormone replacement therapy, Kuntai capsule can improve perimenopausal symptoms and blood E2 levels, and reduce the incidence of adverse events.展开更多
OBJECTIVE:To systematically investigate the clinical effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese herbs(TCHs)as an alternative to conventional medicine(CM)in children with cough variant asthma(CVA).METHODS:Randomiz...OBJECTIVE:To systematically investigate the clinical effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese herbs(TCHs)as an alternative to conventional medicine(CM)in children with cough variant asthma(CVA).METHODS:Randomized controlled trial(RCT)studies that were published from their inceptions to March 31,2020,were identified from the electronic databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wangfang,Pub Med,and Cochrane Central Library.The primary outcome of the review was the total effective rate(TER),and the secondary outcomes were immunoglobulin E(Ig E),peak expiratory flow(PEF),adverse drug reactions,and relapse rates of interventions.RESULTS:For the Meta-analysis,13 studies involving 992 children with CVA were included.In terms of TER and Ig E,the experimental interventions of TCH,when compared with the control interventions of CM,on pediatric CVA were found to be significantly effective(P<0.0001),whereas for spirometry,PEF was not significantly improved in the TCH group(P=0.48).The incident rates of adverse drug reaction and relapse were found to be significantly lower in the TCH group than those in the CM group(P=0.02 and P<0.0001,respectively).CONCLUSION:Compared with CM therapy,the effects of TCH therapy on pediatric CVA were significantly beneficial in terms of TER and Ig E,but not for PEF,and the methodological quality of included studies was poor.Therefore,the results should be interpreted with caution.More randomized controlled trials with rigorous experimental methodologies are required for objectivity in the future.展开更多
OBJECTIVE:To study and analyze the etiology and pathogenesis,diagnosis and prescription for cases of diabetic nephropathy(DN) treated by Professor Zhongying Zhou(Prof.Zhou) with the help of dada mining technique,so as...OBJECTIVE:To study and analyze the etiology and pathogenesis,diagnosis and prescription for cases of diabetic nephropathy(DN) treated by Professor Zhongying Zhou(Prof.Zhou) with the help of dada mining technique,so as to inherit his clinical experience and academic thoughts.METHODS:After pretreatment of the medical record information,statistical software SPSS 13.0 was used to analyze and process the standardized data using the descriptive analysis,cluster analysis and association rules.RESULTS:Ninety-four entries derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) four-diagnostic information were selected.Through data mining,the highest frequency was yellow-thin-greasy tongue coating,followed by dark tongue,and then by thready-slippery pulse.The main self-conscious symptoms were limb numbness,dry mouth,frequent micturition,etc.With respect to pathogenesis,the etiology related to kidney reached 73.46%.The frequency of pathological factors for deficiency,blood stasis,heat,dampness,phlegm and dryness were 137.65%,80.25%,78.40%,48.77%,21.60%,and 14.20% respectively.A total of 236 kinds of herbs were used 2913 person times,averaging 17.98 herbs per prescription.CONCLUSION:The pathological location of DN is in the kidney.The pathogenesis of the disease is deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality,the former of which include deficiency of the liver and kidney,and deficiency of both Qi and Yin.The main pathological factors are blood stasis,heat,dampness,phlegm,and dryness;and they act upon each other to form the complex pathogenesis in terms of blood stasis-heat,dampness-heat,phlegm-heat,and dryness-heat.All the above factors are always crucial in the aggravation of DN throughout the whole course of its pathological evolution.展开更多
Solid phase extraction is widely used in sample pretreatment,concentration and analysis processes due to high selectivity and suitability for low concentration sample system.In this review,we systematically summarized...Solid phase extraction is widely used in sample pretreatment,concentration and analysis processes due to high selectivity and suitability for low concentration sample system.In this review,we systematically summarized and discussed the development trends of solid phase extraction by bibliometrics method.By analyzing papers output scale,the research and development direction of solid phase extraction technology is prospected.We also give an overview on current strategies of novel solid phase extraction from the separation medium and separation technology.The paper aims to describe the global research profile and the development trends of solid phase extraction,to help researchers to accurately grasp the research trend and to provide support for scientific research institutions to formulate scientific policies and strategic plans.Furthermore,the prospect of the development and application of solid phase extraction is also discussed.展开更多
Purpose:We present an analytical,open source and flexible natural language processing and text mining method for topic evolution,emerging topic detection and research trend forecasting for all kinds of data-tagged tex...Purpose:We present an analytical,open source and flexible natural language processing and text mining method for topic evolution,emerging topic detection and research trend forecasting for all kinds of data-tagged text.Design/methodology/approach:We make full use of the functions provided by the open source VOSviewer and Microsoft Office,including a thesaurus for data clean-up and a LOOKUP function for comparative analysis.Findings:Through application and verification in the domain of perovskite solar cells research,this method proves to be effective.Research limitations:A certain amount of manual data processing and a specific research domain background are required for better,more illustrative analysis results.Adequate time for analysis is also necessary.Practical implications:We try to set up an easy,useful,and flexible interdisciplinary text analyzing procedure for researchers,especially those without solid computer programming skills or who cannot easily access complex software.This procedure can also serve as a wonderful example for teaching information literacy.Originality/value:This text analysis approach has not been reported before.展开更多
Is there such a thing as too much data? If not,who is going to be responsible for selecting what we keep? There is only starting to be a profession of data curation.Data curation will need at least three skills: exper...Is there such a thing as too much data? If not,who is going to be responsible for selecting what we keep? There is only starting to be a profession of data curation.Data curation will need at least three skills: expertise from library,archive and museum studies about choosing,preserving and explaining to users;expertise from computer science and engineering about data processing,data exploration and data storage methods;and expertise from the subject area of the material,so as to know what the data means,where it came from,and what its significance is.Will we do this work with a committee,or train one person to do everything;and if the latter,is that person likely to start from the library,computing,or subject domain?展开更多
Purpose: We propose and apply a simplified nowcasting model to understand the correlations between social attention and topic trends of scientific publications. Design/methodology/approach: First, topics are generat...Purpose: We propose and apply a simplified nowcasting model to understand the correlations between social attention and topic trends of scientific publications. Design/methodology/approach: First, topics are generated from the obesity corpus by using the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) algorithm and time series of keyword search trends in Google Trends are obtained. We then establish the structural time series model using data from January 2004 to December 2012, and evaluate the model using data from January 2013. We employ a state-space model to separate different non-regression components in an observational time series (i.e. the tendency and the seasonality) and apply the "spike and slab prior" and stepwise regression to analyze the correlations between the regression component and the social media attention. The two parts are combined using Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampling techniques to obtain our results. Findings: The results of our study show that (1) the number of publications on child obesity increases at a lower rate than that of diabetes publications; (2) the number of publication on a given topic may exhibit a relationship with the season or time of year; and (3) there exists a correlation between the number of publications on a given topic and its social media attention, i.e. the search frequency related to that topic as identified by Google Trends. We found that our model is also able to predict the number of publications related to a given topic.展开更多
Requirements for research assessments There are huge differences in mission, emphasis, inherent capability, and targeted utilization of research among scientific institutions. Hence, when it comes to assessments, a on...Requirements for research assessments There are huge differences in mission, emphasis, inherent capability, and targeted utilization of research among scientific institutions. Hence, when it comes to assessments, a one-size-fits-all approach cannot meet the goal(s) of these assessments. Probably even larger differences exist between individuals, research teams and departments.展开更多
Digitization projects should focus on quantity rather than quality. Increasing quantities of information produce qualitatively more valuable services. Online writing and searching are now common, and it is only online...Digitization projects should focus on quantity rather than quality. Increasing quantities of information produce qualitatively more valuable services. Online writing and searching are now common, and it is only online reading that is still limiting our use of online books. New interfaces might increase our willingness to read online, which should be encouraged rather than fought, since it represents an increase both the amount of information available and the participation of more people in the writing and exchange of information.展开更多
Purpose: To comprehensively evaluate the overall performance of a group or an individual in both bibliometrics and patentometrics. Design/methodology/approach: Trace metrics were applied to the top 30 universities i...Purpose: To comprehensively evaluate the overall performance of a group or an individual in both bibliometrics and patentometrics. Design/methodology/approach: Trace metrics were applied to the top 30 universities in the2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities(ARWU) — computer sciences, the top 30 ESI highly cited papers in the computer sciences field in 2014, as well as the top 30 assignees and the top 30 most cited patents in the National Bureau of Economic Research(NBER) computer hardware and software category.Findings: We found that, by applying trace metrics, the research or marketing impact efficiency, at both group and individual levels, was clearly observed. Furthermore, trace metrics were more sensitive to the different publication-citation distributions than the average citation and h-index were.Research limitations: Trace metrics considered publications with zero citations as negative contributions. One should clarify how he/she evaluates a zero-citation paper or patent before applying trace metrics.Practical implications: Decision makers could regularly examinine the performance of their university/company by applying trace metrics and adjust their policies accordingly.Originality/value: Trace metrics could be applied both in bibliometrics and patentometrics and provide a comprehensive view. Moreover, the high sensitivity and unique impact efficiency view provided by trace metrics can facilitate decision makers in examining and adjusting their policies.展开更多
Background: Biliary mucinous cystic neoplasms(BMCNs) are rare hepatobiliary cystic tumors, which can be divided into noninvasive and invasive types. This study aimed to investigate the diagnosis, treatment, and progno...Background: Biliary mucinous cystic neoplasms(BMCNs) are rare hepatobiliary cystic tumors, which can be divided into noninvasive and invasive types. This study aimed to investigate the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of BMCNs in a large single center. Methods: We analyzed 49 patients with BMCNs confirmed by postoperative pathology at the First Afflliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine between January 2007 and December 2021. Results: Among the 49 patients, 37 were female(75.5%), and the average age was 57.04 years. Common symptoms included abdominal discomfort, jaundice and fever, while 22 patients(44.9%) had no symptoms. Serum carbohydrate antigen(CA) 19-9 and CA125 concentrations were elevated in 34.8% and 19.6% of patients, respectively. Forty-eight patients had tumors in the intrahepatic bile ducts and only one had a tumor in the extrahepatic bile duct. Forty-eight patients with noninvasive intrahepatic BMCNs were further analyzed in terms of pathological features: 34(70.8%) had low-grade intraepithelial neoplasms(LGINs), and 14(29.2%) had high-grade intraepithelial neoplasms(HGINs). The potential immunohistochemical markers of BMCNs were cytokeratin(CK) 19, CK7, estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. Follow-up data for 37 patients with intrahepatic BMCNs were obtained. The median overall survival(OS) of BMCNs was not reached. The longest survival time was 137 months.The 5-and 10-year OS rates were 100% and 85.4%, respectively. The 5-and 10-year recurrence-free survival(RFS) rates were 93.9% and 80.2%, respectively. Conclusions: BMCNs are rare cystic neoplasms that commonly occur in middle-aged females. BMCNs can only be diagnosed and classified by postoperative pathology, as there are no specific clinical presentations, serological indicators or imaging modalities for preoperative diagnosis. Complete surgical resection is necessary for BMCNs, and the postoperative prognosis is favorable.展开更多
Objective The aim of this study was to develop and validate a rapid psychosocial well-being screening tool for metastatic breast cancer patients(MBC-PsySoc-Well-being).Methods Applying a mixed method approach,the stud...Objective The aim of this study was to develop and validate a rapid psychosocial well-being screening tool for metastatic breast cancer patients(MBC-PsySoc-Well-being).Methods Applying a mixed method approach,the study was conducted in two phases.Phase 1,a focus group method was employed for item development,and three focus group sessions were conducted,with patients,caregivers,and medical professionals,respectively.Phase 2,validity and reliability testing were performed.Five experts reviewed items for content validity.Construct validity,criterion-related validity,internal consistency,and test-retest reliability were conducted among a sample of 53 patients with metastatic breast cancer.Results Six themes were qualitatively analyzed based on focus group participants’responses.Eight items were then developed based on these themes.The index of Item-Objective Congruence scored by the experts ranged from 0.6 to 1.0.An exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors:Being curious and active in information seeking,Enthusiasm to return to a normal life,and Adjusting to positive lifestyle.The total scores of MBC-PsySoc-Well-being and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer’s Quality of Life Core Questionnaire(EORTC QLQ-C30)were moderately correlated(r=0.404,P=0.003).Cronbach’sαcoefficient of the overall scale was 0.686.Pearson correlation coefficients of items between two tests within 14-day ranged from 0.410 to 0.673.Conclusion This study represents an initiative to develop a rapid psychosocial well-being screening tool for patients with metastatic breast cancer.The results from validity and reliability testing indicate that the scale is moderately suitable for application to patients with metastatic breast cancer.However,a larger scale study should be further administered to confirm the validity and reliability of the measurement.展开更多
On June 28,2022,Journal Citation Reports 2021 was released,which is also the first time that Covid19-related publications have been included in the calculation of Journal Impact Factor(JIF).Journals in medical fields ...On June 28,2022,Journal Citation Reports 2021 was released,which is also the first time that Covid19-related publications have been included in the calculation of Journal Impact Factor(JIF).Journals in medical fields like infectious diseases,critical care,public health have significant increase in JIF.Here,by excluding the citations from and to Covid19-related papers,we identified the top 10 medical journals having the largest contribution of Covid-related papers on JIF as shown in Table 1.Prestigious medical journals are included in these identified journals.展开更多
Information security has emerged as a crucial consideration over the past decade due to escalating cyber security threats,with Internet of Things(IoT)security gaining particular attention due to its role in data commu...Information security has emerged as a crucial consideration over the past decade due to escalating cyber security threats,with Internet of Things(IoT)security gaining particular attention due to its role in data communication across various industries.However,IoT devices,typically low-powered,are susceptible to cyber threats.Conversely,blockchain has emerged as a robust solution to secure these devices due to its decentralised nature.Nevertheless,the fusion of blockchain and IoT technologies is challenging due to performance bottlenecks,network scalability limitations,and blockchain-specific security vulnerabilities.Blockchain,on the other hand,is a recently emerged information security solution that has great potential to secure low-powered IoT devices.This study aims to identify blockchain-specific vulnerabilities through changes in network behaviour,addressing a significant research gap and aiming to mitigate future cybersecurity threats.Integrating blockchain and IoT technologies presents challenges,including performance bottlenecks,network scalability issues,and unique security vulnerabilities.This paper analyses potential security weaknesses in blockchain and their impact on network operations.We developed a real IoT test system utilising three prevalent blockchain applications to conduct experiments.The results indicate that Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attacks on low-powered,blockchain-enabled IoT sensor networks cause measurable anomalies in network and device performance,specifically:(1)an average increase in CPU core usage to 34.32%,(2)a reduction in hash rates by up to 66%,(3)an increase in batch timeout by up to 14.28%,and(4)an increase in block latency by up to 11.1%.These findings suggest potential strategies to counter future DDoS attacks on IoT networks.展开更多
The research performance of top universities in China is revealed in this study and analyzed using the essential science indicators(ESI) database.Different types of bibliometric indicators are applied in this study,in...The research performance of top universities in China is revealed in this study and analyzed using the essential science indicators(ESI) database.Different types of bibliometric indicators are applied in this study,including publication output and impact indicators.This study finds that the academic performance of universities in China is advancing rapidly,with many universities coming out near the top of the rankings,especially in terms of quantity of papers.The quantitative performance of universities in China is remarkable.The research results show that there is a considerable gap between quality and quantity of research output at the top universities of China,with research influence concentrated on some specific fields for selected universities.Engineering,Chemistry and Material Science are the fields with relatively outstanding performance in the top universities.展开更多
In the event of natural disasters, Sierra Leone like any other country loses lives as well as properties and natural resources. Despite notable occurrences of small disasters in the country, only on August 14th sugarl...In the event of natural disasters, Sierra Leone like any other country loses lives as well as properties and natural resources. Despite notable occurrences of small disasters in the country, only on August 14th sugarloaf landslide and the resulting flash flood (twin disasters) which affected Regent and other communities in 2017 have captured both national and international attention due to their alarming impacts. To obtain a better knowledge on the nature of the disasters, this research considered the geological context of the landslide and focused on statistical analysis of the impacts of the twin disasters using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Geological field-based approach and self-administered questionnaires of both closed and open-ended questions, personal interviews and observations were adopted as research techniques. Descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis were used to analyze the data of the research. Relevant literature from books, journals, and newspapers was also consulted, including Radio, Television discussions and the internet. Slope destabilization that caused the Landslide was linked to the geology of sub-surface formation (highly weathered olivine gabbro), lineaments and the rate of weathering. Study showed remarkable economic, social and political impacts as a consequence of the twin disasters. Study also revealed that families assisted the most in both financial and non-financial ways to the victims, and renowned misappropriation of donated disaster funds. All variables tested using student t-distribution and chi-square test of independence accepted the hypothesis. Information obtained from this work could be fundamental for policy makers and development practitioners (Osuteye & Leck, 2017).展开更多
The objective of this research was to elucidate the biological effect of novel compounds derived from natural product of syringaldehyde through novel semi-synthetic method in order to investigate the physicochemical p...The objective of this research was to elucidate the biological effect of novel compounds derived from natural product of syringaldehyde through novel semi-synthetic method in order to investigate the physicochemical properties and biological activities by using DPPH and FRAP techniques and its antibacterial activities against Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, to examine its ability against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The results showed that the syringaldehyde hydrazonate copper complexes possessed the covalent bonds with square-planar structure. In terms of antioxidant DPPH activities, it was found that syringaldehyde hydrazone possessed high potency against DPPH free radicals, with respect to syringaldehyde hydrazonate copper complexes. On the other hand, all compounds possessed low reducing properties for changing Fe<sup>3+</sup> to Fe<sup>2+</sup> in FRAP technique. For antibacterial activities revealed that the ligand L1 and L5 possessed high effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but for all copper complexes possessed high potent antibacterial susceptibility to four bacteria with concentration dependence. For anti-breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), it was found that all compounds possessed high potent anticancer susceptibility with low IC<sub>50</sub>, especially, compound exhibit highly potency effective is C5 (IC<sub>50</sub> 9.75 μM). The tendency of anticancer effect from high to low was C5 > C2 > C1 > C4 > C3. Therefore, all synthetic compounds obtained from the present research possibly develop as the antibacterial drugs and the drugs for curing the diseases caused by free radicals, including breast cancer in metastatic phase. The most important feature of these drugs was the high specificity to the target and harmless to the normal cells.展开更多
Aims: Effectiveness of radioiodine for Graves’ hyperthyroidism (GD) depends on its intrathyroidal persistence, which could be enhanced by lithium by blocking the release of organic iodine and thyroid hormone from the...Aims: Effectiveness of radioiodine for Graves’ hyperthyroidism (GD) depends on its intrathyroidal persistence, which could be enhanced by lithium by blocking the release of organic iodine and thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. The present aim focused on the effect of the addition of lithium carbonate to 131I therapy in patients with GD. Methods: 100 consecutive patients with GD were randomly assigned to two groups: group (A) patients treated with 131I and group (B) patients treated with 131I plus lithium carbonate. Patients in B group were treated with a dose of 0.5 g per day (2 × 0.25 g) of lithium carbonate for half a month before and after the administration of 131I. Thyroid weight was estimated by ultrasonography and careful palpation of the thyroid. Radiation absorbed dose rate in the front of the neck was measured on days 1530 and 45 after the administration of 131I. Serum concentrations of thyroidstimulation hormone (TSH), fee tri-iodothyrosine (T3) and free thyroxine (T4) were tested on days 30, 45, 90, 180 before and after treatment. Results: After RIT, radiation absorbed dose rate in the front of neck gradually decreased as time went on (p 0.05), free T3 and free T4 values in both groups rose significantly one month after treatment (all p 0.05). Cure rate of hyperthyroidism was achieved in 36 of the 50 patients (72%) treated with 131I alone and in 38 of the 50 patients (76%) treated with 131I plus lithium. Conclusion: We suggest that for patients withdrawing of ATD and those with short effective half-time, as well as those intolerant or invalid, the short term addition of lithium to 131I allows for a better control of thyrotoxia and the completeness of treatment.展开更多
This work deals with the synthesis and physicochemical characterizations of a new group of novel retinoidal ligands and their metal complexes. Their in vitro anti-proliferative activities have shown that ligand L1 is ...This work deals with the synthesis and physicochemical characterizations of a new group of novel retinoidal ligands and their metal complexes. Their in vitro anti-proliferative activities have shown that ligand L1 is effective against human breast cancer BT-20 and MCF-7 cell lines. At the same time, compound L2 exerts its effect on human prostate cancer PC-3 and human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines respectively. The retinoid ligands exert their pleiotropic action toward retinoic acid receptors (RARs) than their metal complexes but all compounds exhibit concentration-dependent.展开更多
The Ottoman-Turkish medicine and dentistry was born and developed in the lands of Anatolia. The most mature period of the Islamic medicine was in the Ottoman Empire on the lands of Anatolia. While inheriting the Turki...The Ottoman-Turkish medicine and dentistry was born and developed in the lands of Anatolia. The most mature period of the Islamic medicine was in the Ottoman Empire on the lands of Anatolia. While inheriting the Turkish-Islamic science and culture structure and the ancient age and Old Greek science, it was integrated with the medicine philosophy here. In the 13th and 15th centuries, in Ottomans, the development of the dentistry was on the issues of the dental diseases and periodontology. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was observed in the medicine books of the Turkish physician writers that they were also dealing with the child dentistry as issues. That the dental medicine took place in the works of art written between the 15th and 19th century shows the existence of the surgeons realizing the tooth extraction. With the opening of the first dentist school in the year of 1909, the training of dentistry started. In this study, the issue of the development and training of the dentistry in the Ottomans among the 13th-19th centuries were dealt with the outlines. Also, the first examples and fundamental works of art of the dentistry literature from the Ottoman Empire to the Republican period will be told shortly.展开更多
文摘OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness and safety of Kuntai capsule and hormone replacement therapy in treatment of perimenopausal syndrome.METHODS: Articles were retrieved from the databases Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,Pub Med, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Wanfang Database. Only randomized controlled trials were included; 15 trials involving1243 patients were identified from January 2005 to April 2015. A systemic review and Meta-analysis of publications was performed. The review was limit-ed to randomized controlled trials that compared Kuntai capsule and hormone replacement therapy to treat perimenopausal syndrome for at least 3months. The primary outcome assessed was the treatment efficacy at 3 months, including effective rate of Kupperman menopausal scores, Kupperman menopausal scores, and blood estradiol(E2) or blood follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) levels.Other outcomes assessed were safety or adverse events, such as gastrointestinal complaints, breast distending pain, or vaginal bleeding.RESULTS: Kupperman menopausal scores showed no significant difference in effective rate [odds ratio(OR): 1.05, 95% confidence intervals(CI): 0.71 to1.55] and changes in FSH level [mean difference(MD): 2.14, 95% CI:-2.36 to 6.65]. There was a significant statistical difference in Kupperman menopausal scores(MD:-1.14, 95% CI:-2.03 to-0.25)and changes in E2level(MD:-16.41, 95% CI:-18.83to-13.69). There were fewer adverse events in the Kuntai capsule group than in the hormone replacement therapy group(OR: = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.25 to0.48, P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: Compared with hormone replacement therapy, Kuntai capsule can improve perimenopausal symptoms and blood E2 levels, and reduce the incidence of adverse events.
文摘OBJECTIVE:To systematically investigate the clinical effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese herbs(TCHs)as an alternative to conventional medicine(CM)in children with cough variant asthma(CVA).METHODS:Randomized controlled trial(RCT)studies that were published from their inceptions to March 31,2020,were identified from the electronic databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wangfang,Pub Med,and Cochrane Central Library.The primary outcome of the review was the total effective rate(TER),and the secondary outcomes were immunoglobulin E(Ig E),peak expiratory flow(PEF),adverse drug reactions,and relapse rates of interventions.RESULTS:For the Meta-analysis,13 studies involving 992 children with CVA were included.In terms of TER and Ig E,the experimental interventions of TCH,when compared with the control interventions of CM,on pediatric CVA were found to be significantly effective(P<0.0001),whereas for spirometry,PEF was not significantly improved in the TCH group(P=0.48).The incident rates of adverse drug reaction and relapse were found to be significantly lower in the TCH group than those in the CM group(P=0.02 and P<0.0001,respectively).CONCLUSION:Compared with CM therapy,the effects of TCH therapy on pediatric CVA were significantly beneficial in terms of TER and Ig E,but not for PEF,and the methodological quality of included studies was poor.Therefore,the results should be interpreted with caution.More randomized controlled trials with rigorous experimental methodologies are required for objectivity in the future.
基金Supported by Jiangsu Province College Natural Science Research Project (No. 09KJD360001)Scientific and Technological Innovation and Achievements Transformation Special Projects of Jiangsu Province (BM2009903)
文摘OBJECTIVE:To study and analyze the etiology and pathogenesis,diagnosis and prescription for cases of diabetic nephropathy(DN) treated by Professor Zhongying Zhou(Prof.Zhou) with the help of dada mining technique,so as to inherit his clinical experience and academic thoughts.METHODS:After pretreatment of the medical record information,statistical software SPSS 13.0 was used to analyze and process the standardized data using the descriptive analysis,cluster analysis and association rules.RESULTS:Ninety-four entries derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) four-diagnostic information were selected.Through data mining,the highest frequency was yellow-thin-greasy tongue coating,followed by dark tongue,and then by thready-slippery pulse.The main self-conscious symptoms were limb numbness,dry mouth,frequent micturition,etc.With respect to pathogenesis,the etiology related to kidney reached 73.46%.The frequency of pathological factors for deficiency,blood stasis,heat,dampness,phlegm and dryness were 137.65%,80.25%,78.40%,48.77%,21.60%,and 14.20% respectively.A total of 236 kinds of herbs were used 2913 person times,averaging 17.98 herbs per prescription.CONCLUSION:The pathological location of DN is in the kidney.The pathogenesis of the disease is deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality,the former of which include deficiency of the liver and kidney,and deficiency of both Qi and Yin.The main pathological factors are blood stasis,heat,dampness,phlegm,and dryness;and they act upon each other to form the complex pathogenesis in terms of blood stasis-heat,dampness-heat,phlegm-heat,and dryness-heat.All the above factors are always crucial in the aggravation of DN throughout the whole course of its pathological evolution.
基金financial support of the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (2194086)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21922814, 21676273, 21961160745, 31961133019 and 21921005)
文摘Solid phase extraction is widely used in sample pretreatment,concentration and analysis processes due to high selectivity and suitability for low concentration sample system.In this review,we systematically summarized and discussed the development trends of solid phase extraction by bibliometrics method.By analyzing papers output scale,the research and development direction of solid phase extraction technology is prospected.We also give an overview on current strategies of novel solid phase extraction from the separation medium and separation technology.The paper aims to describe the global research profile and the development trends of solid phase extraction,to help researchers to accurately grasp the research trend and to provide support for scientific research institutions to formulate scientific policies and strategic plans.Furthermore,the prospect of the development and application of solid phase extraction is also discussed.
文摘Purpose:We present an analytical,open source and flexible natural language processing and text mining method for topic evolution,emerging topic detection and research trend forecasting for all kinds of data-tagged text.Design/methodology/approach:We make full use of the functions provided by the open source VOSviewer and Microsoft Office,including a thesaurus for data clean-up and a LOOKUP function for comparative analysis.Findings:Through application and verification in the domain of perovskite solar cells research,this method proves to be effective.Research limitations:A certain amount of manual data processing and a specific research domain background are required for better,more illustrative analysis results.Adequate time for analysis is also necessary.Practical implications:We try to set up an easy,useful,and flexible interdisciplinary text analyzing procedure for researchers,especially those without solid computer programming skills or who cannot easily access complex software.This procedure can also serve as a wonderful example for teaching information literacy.Originality/value:This text analysis approach has not been reported before.
文摘Is there such a thing as too much data? If not,who is going to be responsible for selecting what we keep? There is only starting to be a profession of data curation.Data curation will need at least three skills: expertise from library,archive and museum studies about choosing,preserving and explaining to users;expertise from computer science and engineering about data processing,data exploration and data storage methods;and expertise from the subject area of the material,so as to know what the data means,where it came from,and what its significance is.Will we do this work with a committee,or train one person to do everything;and if the latter,is that person likely to start from the library,computing,or subject domain?
基金supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2012-2012S1A3A2033291)the Yonsei University Future-leading Research Initiative of 2014
文摘Purpose: We propose and apply a simplified nowcasting model to understand the correlations between social attention and topic trends of scientific publications. Design/methodology/approach: First, topics are generated from the obesity corpus by using the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) algorithm and time series of keyword search trends in Google Trends are obtained. We then establish the structural time series model using data from January 2004 to December 2012, and evaluate the model using data from January 2013. We employ a state-space model to separate different non-regression components in an observational time series (i.e. the tendency and the seasonality) and apply the "spike and slab prior" and stepwise regression to analyze the correlations between the regression component and the social media attention. The two parts are combined using Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampling techniques to obtain our results. Findings: The results of our study show that (1) the number of publications on child obesity increases at a lower rate than that of diabetes publications; (2) the number of publication on a given topic may exhibit a relationship with the season or time of year; and (3) there exists a correlation between the number of publications on a given topic and its social media attention, i.e. the search frequency related to that topic as identified by Google Trends. We found that our model is also able to predict the number of publications related to a given topic.
文摘Requirements for research assessments There are huge differences in mission, emphasis, inherent capability, and targeted utilization of research among scientific institutions. Hence, when it comes to assessments, a one-size-fits-all approach cannot meet the goal(s) of these assessments. Probably even larger differences exist between individuals, research teams and departments.
文摘Digitization projects should focus on quantity rather than quality. Increasing quantities of information produce qualitatively more valuable services. Online writing and searching are now common, and it is only online reading that is still limiting our use of online books. New interfaces might increase our willingness to read online, which should be encouraged rather than fought, since it represents an increase both the amount of information available and the participation of more people in the writing and exchange of information.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 71173187)Jiangsu Key Laboratory Fund for financial support
文摘Purpose: To comprehensively evaluate the overall performance of a group or an individual in both bibliometrics and patentometrics. Design/methodology/approach: Trace metrics were applied to the top 30 universities in the2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities(ARWU) — computer sciences, the top 30 ESI highly cited papers in the computer sciences field in 2014, as well as the top 30 assignees and the top 30 most cited patents in the National Bureau of Economic Research(NBER) computer hardware and software category.Findings: We found that, by applying trace metrics, the research or marketing impact efficiency, at both group and individual levels, was clearly observed. Furthermore, trace metrics were more sensitive to the different publication-citation distributions than the average citation and h-index were.Research limitations: Trace metrics considered publications with zero citations as negative contributions. One should clarify how he/she evaluates a zero-citation paper or patent before applying trace metrics.Practical implications: Decision makers could regularly examinine the performance of their university/company by applying trace metrics and adjust their policies accordingly.Originality/value: Trace metrics could be applied both in bibliometrics and patentometrics and provide a comprehensive view. Moreover, the high sensitivity and unique impact efficiency view provided by trace metrics can facilitate decision makers in examining and adjusting their policies.
基金supported by grants from Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (GF21H030024)the General Scientific Re-search Project of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education (Y202146219)the Postgraduate Education Research Project of Zhejiang University (20220326)。
文摘Background: Biliary mucinous cystic neoplasms(BMCNs) are rare hepatobiliary cystic tumors, which can be divided into noninvasive and invasive types. This study aimed to investigate the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of BMCNs in a large single center. Methods: We analyzed 49 patients with BMCNs confirmed by postoperative pathology at the First Afflliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine between January 2007 and December 2021. Results: Among the 49 patients, 37 were female(75.5%), and the average age was 57.04 years. Common symptoms included abdominal discomfort, jaundice and fever, while 22 patients(44.9%) had no symptoms. Serum carbohydrate antigen(CA) 19-9 and CA125 concentrations were elevated in 34.8% and 19.6% of patients, respectively. Forty-eight patients had tumors in the intrahepatic bile ducts and only one had a tumor in the extrahepatic bile duct. Forty-eight patients with noninvasive intrahepatic BMCNs were further analyzed in terms of pathological features: 34(70.8%) had low-grade intraepithelial neoplasms(LGINs), and 14(29.2%) had high-grade intraepithelial neoplasms(HGINs). The potential immunohistochemical markers of BMCNs were cytokeratin(CK) 19, CK7, estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. Follow-up data for 37 patients with intrahepatic BMCNs were obtained. The median overall survival(OS) of BMCNs was not reached. The longest survival time was 137 months.The 5-and 10-year OS rates were 100% and 85.4%, respectively. The 5-and 10-year recurrence-free survival(RFS) rates were 93.9% and 80.2%, respectively. Conclusions: BMCNs are rare cystic neoplasms that commonly occur in middle-aged females. BMCNs can only be diagnosed and classified by postoperative pathology, as there are no specific clinical presentations, serological indicators or imaging modalities for preoperative diagnosis. Complete surgical resection is necessary for BMCNs, and the postoperative prognosis is favorable.
基金This study was financially supported by the 90th anniversary of Chulalongkorn University Fund(Ratchadaphiseksomphot Endow-ment Fund)partially supported by the Behavioral Research and Informatics in Social Science Research Unit,Chulalongkorn University,Thailand.
文摘Objective The aim of this study was to develop and validate a rapid psychosocial well-being screening tool for metastatic breast cancer patients(MBC-PsySoc-Well-being).Methods Applying a mixed method approach,the study was conducted in two phases.Phase 1,a focus group method was employed for item development,and three focus group sessions were conducted,with patients,caregivers,and medical professionals,respectively.Phase 2,validity and reliability testing were performed.Five experts reviewed items for content validity.Construct validity,criterion-related validity,internal consistency,and test-retest reliability were conducted among a sample of 53 patients with metastatic breast cancer.Results Six themes were qualitatively analyzed based on focus group participants’responses.Eight items were then developed based on these themes.The index of Item-Objective Congruence scored by the experts ranged from 0.6 to 1.0.An exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors:Being curious and active in information seeking,Enthusiasm to return to a normal life,and Adjusting to positive lifestyle.The total scores of MBC-PsySoc-Well-being and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer’s Quality of Life Core Questionnaire(EORTC QLQ-C30)were moderately correlated(r=0.404,P=0.003).Cronbach’sαcoefficient of the overall scale was 0.686.Pearson correlation coefficients of items between two tests within 14-day ranged from 0.410 to 0.673.Conclusion This study represents an initiative to develop a rapid psychosocial well-being screening tool for patients with metastatic breast cancer.The results from validity and reliability testing indicate that the scale is moderately suitable for application to patients with metastatic breast cancer.However,a larger scale study should be further administered to confirm the validity and reliability of the measurement.
文摘On June 28,2022,Journal Citation Reports 2021 was released,which is also the first time that Covid19-related publications have been included in the calculation of Journal Impact Factor(JIF).Journals in medical fields like infectious diseases,critical care,public health have significant increase in JIF.Here,by excluding the citations from and to Covid19-related papers,we identified the top 10 medical journals having the largest contribution of Covid-related papers on JIF as shown in Table 1.Prestigious medical journals are included in these identified journals.
基金supported and funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University(IMSIU)(Grant number IMSIU-RP23017).
文摘Information security has emerged as a crucial consideration over the past decade due to escalating cyber security threats,with Internet of Things(IoT)security gaining particular attention due to its role in data communication across various industries.However,IoT devices,typically low-powered,are susceptible to cyber threats.Conversely,blockchain has emerged as a robust solution to secure these devices due to its decentralised nature.Nevertheless,the fusion of blockchain and IoT technologies is challenging due to performance bottlenecks,network scalability limitations,and blockchain-specific security vulnerabilities.Blockchain,on the other hand,is a recently emerged information security solution that has great potential to secure low-powered IoT devices.This study aims to identify blockchain-specific vulnerabilities through changes in network behaviour,addressing a significant research gap and aiming to mitigate future cybersecurity threats.Integrating blockchain and IoT technologies presents challenges,including performance bottlenecks,network scalability issues,and unique security vulnerabilities.This paper analyses potential security weaknesses in blockchain and their impact on network operations.We developed a real IoT test system utilising three prevalent blockchain applications to conduct experiments.The results indicate that Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS)attacks on low-powered,blockchain-enabled IoT sensor networks cause measurable anomalies in network and device performance,specifically:(1)an average increase in CPU core usage to 34.32%,(2)a reduction in hash rates by up to 66%,(3)an increase in batch timeout by up to 14.28%,and(4)an increase in block latency by up to 11.1%.These findings suggest potential strategies to counter future DDoS attacks on IoT networks.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Fund Program(No.71073153)
文摘The research performance of top universities in China is revealed in this study and analyzed using the essential science indicators(ESI) database.Different types of bibliometric indicators are applied in this study,including publication output and impact indicators.This study finds that the academic performance of universities in China is advancing rapidly,with many universities coming out near the top of the rankings,especially in terms of quantity of papers.The quantitative performance of universities in China is remarkable.The research results show that there is a considerable gap between quality and quantity of research output at the top universities of China,with research influence concentrated on some specific fields for selected universities.Engineering,Chemistry and Material Science are the fields with relatively outstanding performance in the top universities.
文摘In the event of natural disasters, Sierra Leone like any other country loses lives as well as properties and natural resources. Despite notable occurrences of small disasters in the country, only on August 14th sugarloaf landslide and the resulting flash flood (twin disasters) which affected Regent and other communities in 2017 have captured both national and international attention due to their alarming impacts. To obtain a better knowledge on the nature of the disasters, this research considered the geological context of the landslide and focused on statistical analysis of the impacts of the twin disasters using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Geological field-based approach and self-administered questionnaires of both closed and open-ended questions, personal interviews and observations were adopted as research techniques. Descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis were used to analyze the data of the research. Relevant literature from books, journals, and newspapers was also consulted, including Radio, Television discussions and the internet. Slope destabilization that caused the Landslide was linked to the geology of sub-surface formation (highly weathered olivine gabbro), lineaments and the rate of weathering. Study showed remarkable economic, social and political impacts as a consequence of the twin disasters. Study also revealed that families assisted the most in both financial and non-financial ways to the victims, and renowned misappropriation of donated disaster funds. All variables tested using student t-distribution and chi-square test of independence accepted the hypothesis. Information obtained from this work could be fundamental for policy makers and development practitioners (Osuteye & Leck, 2017).
文摘The objective of this research was to elucidate the biological effect of novel compounds derived from natural product of syringaldehyde through novel semi-synthetic method in order to investigate the physicochemical properties and biological activities by using DPPH and FRAP techniques and its antibacterial activities against Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, to examine its ability against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The results showed that the syringaldehyde hydrazonate copper complexes possessed the covalent bonds with square-planar structure. In terms of antioxidant DPPH activities, it was found that syringaldehyde hydrazone possessed high potency against DPPH free radicals, with respect to syringaldehyde hydrazonate copper complexes. On the other hand, all compounds possessed low reducing properties for changing Fe<sup>3+</sup> to Fe<sup>2+</sup> in FRAP technique. For antibacterial activities revealed that the ligand L1 and L5 possessed high effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but for all copper complexes possessed high potent antibacterial susceptibility to four bacteria with concentration dependence. For anti-breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), it was found that all compounds possessed high potent anticancer susceptibility with low IC<sub>50</sub>, especially, compound exhibit highly potency effective is C5 (IC<sub>50</sub> 9.75 μM). The tendency of anticancer effect from high to low was C5 > C2 > C1 > C4 > C3. Therefore, all synthetic compounds obtained from the present research possibly develop as the antibacterial drugs and the drugs for curing the diseases caused by free radicals, including breast cancer in metastatic phase. The most important feature of these drugs was the high specificity to the target and harmless to the normal cells.
文摘Aims: Effectiveness of radioiodine for Graves’ hyperthyroidism (GD) depends on its intrathyroidal persistence, which could be enhanced by lithium by blocking the release of organic iodine and thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. The present aim focused on the effect of the addition of lithium carbonate to 131I therapy in patients with GD. Methods: 100 consecutive patients with GD were randomly assigned to two groups: group (A) patients treated with 131I and group (B) patients treated with 131I plus lithium carbonate. Patients in B group were treated with a dose of 0.5 g per day (2 × 0.25 g) of lithium carbonate for half a month before and after the administration of 131I. Thyroid weight was estimated by ultrasonography and careful palpation of the thyroid. Radiation absorbed dose rate in the front of the neck was measured on days 1530 and 45 after the administration of 131I. Serum concentrations of thyroidstimulation hormone (TSH), fee tri-iodothyrosine (T3) and free thyroxine (T4) were tested on days 30, 45, 90, 180 before and after treatment. Results: After RIT, radiation absorbed dose rate in the front of neck gradually decreased as time went on (p 0.05), free T3 and free T4 values in both groups rose significantly one month after treatment (all p 0.05). Cure rate of hyperthyroidism was achieved in 36 of the 50 patients (72%) treated with 131I alone and in 38 of the 50 patients (76%) treated with 131I plus lithium. Conclusion: We suggest that for patients withdrawing of ATD and those with short effective half-time, as well as those intolerant or invalid, the short term addition of lithium to 131I allows for a better control of thyrotoxia and the completeness of treatment.
文摘This work deals with the synthesis and physicochemical characterizations of a new group of novel retinoidal ligands and their metal complexes. Their in vitro anti-proliferative activities have shown that ligand L1 is effective against human breast cancer BT-20 and MCF-7 cell lines. At the same time, compound L2 exerts its effect on human prostate cancer PC-3 and human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines respectively. The retinoid ligands exert their pleiotropic action toward retinoic acid receptors (RARs) than their metal complexes but all compounds exhibit concentration-dependent.
文摘The Ottoman-Turkish medicine and dentistry was born and developed in the lands of Anatolia. The most mature period of the Islamic medicine was in the Ottoman Empire on the lands of Anatolia. While inheriting the Turkish-Islamic science and culture structure and the ancient age and Old Greek science, it was integrated with the medicine philosophy here. In the 13th and 15th centuries, in Ottomans, the development of the dentistry was on the issues of the dental diseases and periodontology. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was observed in the medicine books of the Turkish physician writers that they were also dealing with the child dentistry as issues. That the dental medicine took place in the works of art written between the 15th and 19th century shows the existence of the surgeons realizing the tooth extraction. With the opening of the first dentist school in the year of 1909, the training of dentistry started. In this study, the issue of the development and training of the dentistry in the Ottomans among the 13th-19th centuries were dealt with the outlines. Also, the first examples and fundamental works of art of the dentistry literature from the Ottoman Empire to the Republican period will be told shortly.