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Despite the increasing popularity and demand for analytics projects, the uncertainty in goals and dynamic processes involved in these projects behoove IS researchers to further understand the project management techniques applicable to these projects. In this paper, I illustrate the process of carrying out an analytics project using an agile project management approach. In this project, following the project management concept of "tailoring", fsQCA is used to analyze the effective treatment configurations of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine for diabetes. This illustrated process could be potentially used in various small-sized analytics projects carried out by IS researchers, and R&D efforts. The practical implications of the analysis for medical providers are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In TCM field, dizziness response is marked that the patient in the disease tends to heal, with individual differences. And in modern medical treatment, paradoxical reaction occurring while treating tuberculosis is a temporary contradiction when using powerful anti-tb drugs causing the body's own hypersensitivity reaction. The author hopes to further explore the mechanism of dizziness reaction by exploring the conjuncture point of these two reactions under the modern medical system. Methods: this paper bases on clinical manifestations between dizziness response and PR, to further discuss the mechanism of their high similarity. By choosing 300 cases of Wumei pill in the treatment of cold-heat jumble cases and analyzing dizziness response of the symptoms of 288 patients, we support mechanism of dizziness response combined with the modern pharmacological research of Wumei pill. Results: Reserachers summarize three common clinical manifestation between the PR and dizziness response, select cases of mechanism of dizziness response in similar to western medicine allergy. Through the analysis of dizziness response of Wumei pill medicine bring, it is concluded that dizziness response is in patients after treatment of immunity enhancement, occurs within a certain range can cause discomfort, but on the whole, has a certain role in promoting rehabilitation of patient of allergy. Conclusion: in this paper, by analyzing classics of TCM and clinical typical cases, researchers explore the mechanism of dizziness reaction from the PR, and thus for the treatment of difficult problems of dizziness response with modern solutions meanwhile we can provide new treatment for the PR, combining traditional Chinese and western medicine to broaden for the solution of the two types of reactions, and improve the clinical curative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a literature review, which aims to obtain a holistic view on the implementation and development of knowledge sharing (KS) in patient referral services in Chinese healthcare organisations. Overall, 948 articles were retrieved from three major Chinese academic databases, namely, CNKI, Wanfang, and CQVIP. After initial review, 97 articles were included for analysis. The analysis of literature was led by four research questions. (1) How well KS is performed in the current practice? (2) What are the knowledge flow processes? (3) What are the communication channels and how effective they are? (4) What are the problems and barriers to KS? The analysis revealed that, despite clear political requirement and evident practical needs, KS is in truth largely neglected. Moreover, the review informs that the lack of KS is resulted by an absence of unified and clearly defined knowledge flow processes and pathway and by ineffective communication channels in use. In addition, the review findings point to six KS barriers. This paper is of interests to healthcare managers, as well as KS practitioners and researchers. Also, this paper provides a perspective on KS development in the Chinese healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge atlas is an important data resource for knowledge management application in the era of big data. It has become a key technology of semantic retrieval in search engines and knowledge-based reasoning and decision-making in various fields, which makes large-scale knowledge storage more standardized and application more efficient. By processing and integrating three different data sources (book knowledge, Baidu encyclopedia knowledge base and hospital entity data), this paper uses information extraction and correlation analysis to extract knowledge from conceptual entities such as Chinese patent medicine, symptoms and diseases, designs corresponding Atlas patterns, determines the basic categories, attributes and semantic relationships of atlas, and uses entity alignment based on attribute vectors. Methods Knowledge fusion of different source data was carried out and taboo knowledge map of Chinese patent medicine compatibility was constructed. It plays an important role in semantic recognition of Chinese patent medicine safe drug delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an import risk factor for peoples' health, which can lead to diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and stroke. The prevalence of NAFLD is increasing rapidly in China, increasing the national healthy economic burden. Microsome triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is a key enzyme for liver lipids transport, and the increase in MTP promoter methylation plays an import roll in liver lipid deposition. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "spleen Qi transfers essence", and MTP may be one of the substance of "spleen Qi transfers essence". Clinical studies have shown that the spleen-strengthening and dampness-removing therapy has a good effect in the treatment of NAFLD. By reviewing related articles, this paper points out that the therapy of Spleen-strengthening and dampness-removing can improve NAFLD by regulating MTP promoter methylation, increasing the level of hepatic MTP, promoting the outflow of liver lipids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sini Decoction group refers to a series of prescriptions derived from the dosage of aconite, dried ginger and cooked licorice, which are composed of drugs. Although the taste and dosage are small, they have a remarkable effect on the treatment of the dangerous syndrome and urgent syndrome of Yang deficiency. Therefore, this paper starts with the theory of five flavors, through specific analysis of the compatibility of Sini decoction drugs, combined with the views of famous experts and clinical cases, starting from the theory of five flavors, to study the composition rules of Sini decoction drugs, in order to guide the clinical and theoretical research of traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the treasure of the Chinese nation and has played a great role in promoting the development of Chinese clinical medicine. However, there are many kinds and shapes of Chinese herbal slices used in clinic. How to make standard, quick and accurate preparation of Chinese Herbal Medicine pieces has become an important task to be solved urgently. In the course of studying the development of intelligent pharmacies at home and abroad, in view of the shortcomings of Chinese traditional medicine pharmacies in the preparation of Chinese herbal pieces at present, this paper puts forward a new concept of constructing intelligent pharmacies of traditional Chinese medicine pieces based on "Internet + intelligent hardware". The intelligent pharmacy realizes the intelligent matching of the Chinese herbal pieces, improves the efficiency of the matching, and reduces the mismatching rate of the traditional Chinese medicines to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Favored by the government policy and action Chinese medicine received momentum in Malaysia since the beginning of the twenty first century when Traditional & Complementary Medicine Division was established under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Professionalization of education and practice according to Western line for locally trained Chinese Medicine practitioners was also begun at the same time. This paper argues that formalization has increasingly segregated Chinese Medicine in Malaysia and makes as middle class private phenomena. Bulk of the population from Malaysian society is excluded from Chinese Medicine education and health care services because of the nature of the health financing in the country and their socio-economic condition. An integrated education system is in place and that combines Western medicine and Chinese medicine modalities in the curriculum and makes Chinese medicine a hybrid practice. Ethnic and sex preferences are also prevailed in the education institutions and health care seeking. The Malaysian government has part to play for rescuing Chinese Medicine from middle class ethnic Chinese control to make accessible for mass population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: with the gradually profound study on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in recent years, the clinical manifestation of COPD were found a great deal of heterogeneity. Simple “airflow obstructive level” did not fully reflect the heterogeneity, the increasingly attention were paid to the research on COPD clinical phenotype, especially the COPD gender difference. Chinese medicine put that gender and disease were correlation and differentiation, while, there was no correlation between gender differences and COPD traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes in the literature. This study adopted the cross-sectional survey research method to summarize the gender distribution difference of TCM in AECOPD, in order to provide a new view for TCM prevention and diagnosis and treatment of COPD. Objective: to explore the characteristics of COPD in gender difference, and to summarize the differences in the distribution of common symptoms and syndromes in different gender. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted to select AECOPD patients from The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July 2014 to March 2016, and conducted epidemiological investigation and bone density examination. This study summarized the gender differences in epidemiology, clinical manifestations, test indexes, and complications of AECOPD patients; through syndrome investigation, this study analyzed the gender difference of TCM symptom and syndrome on AECOPD patients. Results: There were 289 cases in this study, including 183 cases of male, 106 cases of female, gender ratio was 1.73:1. Compared to male, it was more common on female with AECOPD combined with osteoporosis (P=0.0354). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there were gender difference in TCM syndromes, age, complications, clinical symptoms and indicators of AECOPE patients. However, the samples quantity of this project was small and the selected patient’s scope was relatively limited. It may be insufficient in the distribution of different gender syndromes, which required further study. This paper discussed the distribution of different gender in AECOPD TCM syndrome and expected could provide new solutions for TCM prevention and diagnosis and treatment of COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many western societies, despite the continuing dominance of biomedicine, alternative healing options, including Chinese medicine, have started to move from margin to mainstream. In China, Chinese medicine has been an established component in the official health care system, but at the same time, its relevance and effectiveness have often been challenged in a society committed to modernization. In recent decades, as China experienced rapid modernization, the situation of the Chinese medicine in China has possibly become more precarious. Very little research has established empirical facts regarding the utilization of Chinese medicine in China. This paper uses a longitudinal dataset to examine the trends of the utilization of Chinese medicine from 1991 to 2004, ascertain the factors correlated with the utilization, and explore the factors that contributed to the trends. It finds that contrary to the trends in the West, In China, Western medicine has gained grounds at the expense of Chinese medicine, particularly in Chinese cities. The use of Chinese medicine is associated with older age, lower socioeconomic status and worse health status. Moreover although changes in sample characteristics have contributed to the changes in the utilization of Chinese medicine, they cannot account for all of the declining trends from 1991 to 2004. The status of Chinese medicine is inferred from these findings and additional factors that might contribute to the declining trends are discussed. This paper suggests that the influence of Chinese medicine is probably declining in contemporary China and this trend may continue. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese Medicine, or, more accurately, its adaptations in the American context, which I call American Chinese Medicine (ACM), is an increasingly popular and influential type of medicine in the United States. In this paper, I investigate a previously unexamined type of medical interaction common in American Chinese medicine, but which is rare or absent in biomedical contexts. I am calling this type of interaction salubrious care and correspondingly offer the concept of the salubrious role as an addition to the repertoire available to patients. In this paper I address, by examining two exemplary interactions, a puzzle presented by a pattern observed in ACM salubrious care interactions: why, despite an orientation to the legitimacy of patient requests for treatment in the absence of specific complaints, does there appear to be a preference for the production of some kind of complaint, however minor, prior to treatment, even when these complaints are later rejected as a focus of that treatment? I conclude with a discussion of how this analysis expands our understanding of patient and practitioner roles and relationships, how it raises questions relevant to medicalization theory, and how ontological understandings create and limit options in medical interactions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on certain diseases are likely to be unbalanced, and this unbalanced data tends to be biased towards disease-free individuals. In view of this problem, this paper proposes an FPUSAB algorithm to deal with the problem of unbalanced classification of clinical disease data in TCM with improved under-sampling. Experimental results on the meridian resistance data collected by traditional Chinese medicine show that the FPUSAB algorithm improves the classification performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the study of pulse condition in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a case example, this paper discusses the characteristics of pulse information obtained by Chinese medicine practitioners, how to correctly understand the relationship between the human body and Chinese medicine in the information age, how to deal with pulse data, and how to study TCM pulse condition . Furthermore, we point out that the application of modern big data processing technology to the pulse of Chinese medicine offers new opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portugal has recently become one the few European countries to fully acknowledge Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); this substantial paradigm shift calls for novel tools for TCM practitioners, students and patients alike. This paper describes an Expert System for supporting the TCM consultation process - both in terms of gathering and managing the patients' personal and symptomatic data, and of obtaining accurate diagnoses and treatments under regulated and reviewed protocols. The proposed tool was designed and is being developed with the support of two TCM therapists, which act as experts and provide aid to the processes of building the knowledge base and the automatic diagnosis system. In terms of architecture, the current version of the framework includes a mobile client application for the Android platform, integrated with an online spreadsheet. A survey was conducted in order to assess some of the needs of the community of TCM practitioners, and allowed gathering information on their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is a new clinical study model featured by its strategic framework consists of four categories and three themes. The core strategy of CER is to conduct observational longitude research supported by electronic registry and large database based on real world practice. Since CER studies do not uses a classic randomized control trial (RCT) design, the well-developed data analytic methods for RCTs are challenged. The data groups which are not acquired from the same time point, or have significant difference at the baseline are unable to be compared by the classic differential statistical methods, or the outcome will be without robust statistical support. In this paper, we described the characteristics of the Zheng studies of Chinese medicine. Then some data analytic methods based on machine learning are introduced as potential solutions for the data processing in the CER research of Chinese medicine. Finally, a new strategic framework is introduced to establish the CER methodology for Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bell's facial paralysis occurs at any age which is considered as a common and frequently-encountered disease mainly characterized by spontaneous acute peripheral facial neuropathy. Nowadays the incidence of the peripheral facial paralysis is reflected up to 42.5/100 million in our country [1]. With the positive intervention of therapy, most of the high-risk population will turn out with good prognosis while a very small number of patients may experience serious complication. As the face is one of the most important and impressing parts of our body, it may bring serious impact (psychological or spiritual) on our daily life with the appearance of the sequelae and complication of the disease. Mr. Chen's flying needle treatment is one of the most effective, well-acceptable, non-invasive and brand-new technology of acupuncture. It was created after years of innovation and invention by professor Chen-quanxin who has been engaged in acupuncture for fifty-five years and well respected as a distinguished veteran doctor of TCM in China. With the early clinical trial of Mr. Chen's flying needle treatment, it indicates that there is a significant effect in the rehabilitation of Bell's facial paralysis of wind-cold pattern. Therefore, the summary and optimization of Mr. Chen's flying needle treatment is firmly conformed of overall arrangement of the standardization strategy in China. In this paper, we present a research protocol to evaluate the clinical effect of Mr. Chen's flying needle treatment for Bell's facial paralysis of wind-cold pattern. The objective is to evaluate the immediate efficacy and quality of life for Mr. Chen's flying needle treatment compared with the classic acupuncture treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: taking Lateralis Radix Praeparata which is in common use for example, explore to predict the target with Chinese medicine composition and construct Chinese medicine multi-component – multi-target network. Method: This study collected 2388 medicine molecule structure and target data which was released by America FDA for sale in drugbank database, coding the data by use of PowerMV and k-spaced, establishment of the interacted medicine and target model based on SVM. Evaluation of the predicted model performance by use of five folder cross method, the average accuracy of the model for training data set can achieve 79.74% and can be 82.41% for independent training data set. Prediction of target for the Lateralis Radix Praeparata composition by use of the model. Results: Prediction of several targets by use of the 24 compositions of Lateralis Radix Praeparata. The average target number of each compound in the network model is 63.42, each target linked with 7.42 compounds which embodied the Chinese medicine big feature for multi-composition and multi-target. Conclusion: This method can be used to identify some potential targets of traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports our study on prediction of indications of Chinese medicine prescriptions. We established complex heterogeneous similarity networks of drug components and targets extracting from both Chinese and western medicine databases and apply probabilistic inference using a random walk model to infer the drug effects on the networks. In order to deal with non-standard terminologies and concepts in traditional Chinese medicine domain, we adopted existing tools such as MetaMap, PharmacotherapyDB and PubTator to map them into standardized terms in ULMS ontology. Our prediction on indications on gold standard data is 0.948 in terms of AUC that outperforms previous works. In 200 manually annotated prescriptions of Chinese medicine, which consists of multiple components, our AUC performance is around 0.74 in prediction of their indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper researches the Yun Qi theory of "Huang Di NeiJing Su Wen" with the tool of Pan-Boolean algebra. By analyzing the Sui Yun's law in 60 years, the relations between disease symptom and Sui Yun, Weather change and matter change are described by a set of Pan- Boolean algebra equations. The Sui Yun's mathematic model is set up. By computer simulation with this model, we are easy to know what kind of disease is popular in some conditions. It is important significance in theory and practice for the development of traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is either used to complement standard oncological therapies to help in alleviating patients' symptoms and side effects from chemotherapy, thus improving their quality of life (QOL), including the patient's emotional, social, and physical wellbeing, since pain is the most frequent distress amongst oncological patients, or to directly fight cancer as an alternative therapy to conventional treatments. Common practices of many complementary and alternative treatments emphasise on good nutrition and prophylaxis. Thus, CAM acts by boosting the natural immunity of the body to induce necrosis of carcinogen cells; nevertheless, further scientific research is required to identify and quantify the improvements in oncological patients' health due to the complementary and alternative therapies used. Furthermore, it is also important to discern the effects due to CAM itself, as opposed to those that occur because of other concurrent treatments, and to understand their safety profile, also considering its interaction with conventional oncological therapies. In this study, evidence-based information is analysed and discussed on CAM used for cancer, such as Cannabidiol (CBD), Graviola (soursop), Origanum Vulgare, Zamzam Water (ZW), Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and Paris Polyphylla. Findings suggest that various complementary medical therapies can help to improve oncological patients' wellbeing, when undergone along with standard oncological treatments, e.g., CBD proved beneficial for improving a variety of symptoms, such as pain and nausea. Similarly, alternative therapies, such as TCM, are approved to be used in China to treat various tumours. Furthermore, the side effects of conventional treatments and dissatisfaction were identified amongst the push factors to use CAM, whilst pull factors included the positive aspects associated with CAM, such as fewer side effects, stronger immunity, and an enhanced QOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the characteristics and complexity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) data, considers that modern big data processing technology has brought new opportunities for the research of TCM, and gives some ideas and methods to apply big data technology in TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maximizing the effectiveness of prescriptions and minimizing adverse effects of drugs is a key component of the health care of patients. In the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is important to provide clinicians a reference for dosing of prescribed drugs. The traditional Cheng-Church biclustering algorithm (CC) is optimized and the data of TCM prescription dose is analyzed by using the optimization algorithm. Based on an analysis of 212 prescriptions related to TCM treatment of kidney diseases, the study generated 87 prescription dose quantum matrices and each sub-matrix represents the referential value of the doses of drugs in different recipes. The optimized CC algorithm can effectively eliminate the interference of zero in the original dose matrix of TCM prescriptions and avoid zero appearing in output sub-matrix. This results in the ability to effectively analyze the reference value of drugs in different prescriptions related to kidney diseases, so as to provide valuable reference for clinicians to use drugs rationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral cancer is a main worldwide health problem accounting for 606,520 deaths in 2020, and it is most predominant in the middle-and low-income nations. Permitting computerization in identifying potentially malignant and malignant lesions in the oral cavity would possibly result in low-expense and early detection of the disease. The most important purpose of this research is to find the Oral Cancer Lesions affected region in the tongue images. The current work utilized the GVF algorithm to detect Oral Cancer Lesions using features involved in tongue images. This article offers a novel approach to merging bounding box annotations from different medical practitioners. Additionally, gradient vector flow was used to segment images, where the complicated patterns have been obtained for tackling this difficult task. Using the initial data gathered in this study, a hybrid classifier algorithm was assessed to detect Oral cancer lesions, and features like colour, texture and geometry were extracted. BioMed Chinese Medicine Repository collects the tongue images. Additionally, performances are described categorizing as per the kind of referral decision. Our initial findings establish support vector machine has the probability of challenging this stimulating task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted a comprehensive review based on 1185 studies from 2020-2023 retrieved from the Web of Science database with the aim to explore the main contributors, research status, hot topics and research frontiers concerning traditional Chinese medicine related to COVID-19 through a metrical and visualization analysis of the literature. CiteSpace 6.1. R6 software was applied to visualize the publication countries, authors, institutes, keywords and references of the literature and to draw a visual knowledge graph. The study shows that 81% of articles were published from China, followed by 8.2% from the USA and 5.3% from India, with China Aca Chinese Med Sci contributing the most publications. Moreover, research hotspots of coronavirus included molecular docking, sar, systematic review and herbal medicine. The study also revealed several problems. The translation strategy of traditional Chinese medicine should combine domestication and foreignization to maintain the originality of TCM’s nature. Instead of blindly merging into the Western medicine system, the spread of traditional Chinese medicine ought to broaden its span and convey the theoretical framework, philosophical thoughts and traditional culture as a whole. In addition, cooperation between research institutes can be further strengthened to deliver an integrated and united research pattern [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents findings on acupuncture use in the United States, using data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine which uses needling to maintain and restore health. Approximately four percent (n=1,274) of the population surveyed (n=31,044) used acupuncture at some point in their lives. Estimates were generated with SAS, using bivariate analysis and binary logit multiple regression. Use of acupuncture varies by sex, education, age, geographic region, and race and ethnicity. Specifically, the best predictors of acupuncture use are Chinese descent and age between 55-64 years old. This work is relevant to the present shift in prevalent healthcare options and the need to gain knowledge on cultural and demographic differences in health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doctoral dissertations and master's theses of "hepatitis B"(HB) in CNKI database were retrieved to explore the hot spots on HB research field in China, we processed, visualized the data above and analyzed those data by using co-word analysis informetrics method. Then, the figure for co-occurrence analysis of high-frequency keywords in theses on HB were plotted, which represented eight topics, could help health staff to understand hot topics in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gansu is known as the "Millennium medicine town" and "natural medicine storehouse", and the quality and quantity of Chinese medicine are of high standard. Astragalus membranaceus is also one of the abundant traditional Chinese medicines in Gansu, and saponins in Astragalus membranaceus have the effects of strengthening heart and protecting liver. Therefore, in this study, the content of total saponins in Astragalus from 7 producing areas in Gansu was detected and evaluated by UV-visible spectrophotometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese medicine processing experimental is a compulsory specialized course of the specialty of Chinese medicine and an important part in the teaching process of making Chinese medicine processing experimental, and it is a necessary stage to master the processing technology of Chinese medicine. Through the study and practice of typical traditional processing techniques, through the classroom practical teaching reform, students can deepen their understanding of the basic knowledge and processing theory of Chinese medicine processing. The reform of the experimental teaching method of traditional Chinese medicine preparation is summarized in three aspects: experimental teaching method, optimization of processing equipment, and introduction of processing skills competition into experimental evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes up the practice of Chinese medicine in the United States, looking in particular at how Chinese medicine practitioners approach and treat autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases include multiple sclerosis, lupus, and Crohn's disease, as well many other serious, chronic diseases. The list of autoimmune diseases compiled by Johns Hopkins University and other medical sources includes approximately 80 illnesses. Such illnesses are increasing in incidence in North America. This study contributes to the sociology of medical knowledge and shows how ideas about the body and illness are located in particular social, historical, and political contexts. It draws on in-depth interviews conducted with 20 Chinese medical practitioners in the United States and field work at Chinese medicine classes and conferences to better understand the values and norms in Chinese medical practice and discussions of autoimmunity. Autoimmune illnesses provide a case study to explore both Chinese medical practice and the use of the category autoimmunity in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has facilitated the acquisition of knowledge. However, in an age when it seems that everyone has access to every knowledge, what will become of the professions whose main mission is to master those knowledges? How does the diffusion of knowledge affect professionals with expertise? This research proposal focuses on the interaction between doctors and patients. The author aims to clarify that, within a specific institutional or cultural context, patients' perceptions on medical knowledge (i.e. knowledge as power, and knowledge as social construction) constitute two possible mechanisms that knowledge affect professional autonomy or jurisdiction. Specifically, the growing knowledge has dual meanings for patients: 1) under the institutional background of marketization reform on China's health care system, accessible knowledge empowers patients to resist doctors' moral hazard; 2) under the unique development sequence of Chinese medicine, the democratized knowledge has created an illusion that everyone has the possibility to become a "medical expert". Although both mechanisms can lead to incompliance with medical professionals, the social consequences between the two are not the same. The former case might set the stage for conflicts between doctors and patients, while in the latter one, patients are more likely to abandon the treatment of contemporary medicine and turn to astray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines an interactional practice called "making an observation" in the setting of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It mentions that TCM physicians rarely use Western medical technology to help with the diagnostic process, unless the patient has serious acute disease that demands urgent care. It also mentions that TCM practitioners involve patient in the process of diagnostic reasoning by presenting the evidence to the patient.

Velvet antler has certain effect on improving the body's immune cells and the regulation of immune system function, nervous system, anti-stress, anti-aging and osteoporosis. It has medicinal applications to treat a wide range of diseases such as tissue wound healing, anti-tumor, cardiovascular disease, et al. Therefore, the research on the relationship between pharmacological activities and elements in velvet antler is of great significance. The objective of this study was to comprehensively evaluate 15 kinds of elements in different varieties of velvet antlers and study on the relationship between the elements and traditional Chinese medicine efficacy for the human. The factor analysis and the factor cluster analysis methods were used to analyze the data of elements in the sika velvet antler, cervus elaphus linnaeus, flower horse hybrid velvet antler, apiti (elk) velvet antler, male reindeer velvet antler and find out the relationship between 15 kinds of elements including Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Cu, Mn, Al, Ba, Co, Sr, Cr, Zn and Ni. Combining with MATLAB2010 and SPSS software, the chemometrics methods were made on the relationship between the elements in velvet antler and the pharmacological activities. The first commonality factor F1 had greater load on the indexes of Ca, P, Mg, Co, Sr and Ni, and the second commonality factor F2 had greater load on the indexes of K, Mn, Zn and Cr, and the third commonality factor F3 had greater load on the indexes of Na, Cu and Ba, and the fourth commonality factor F4 had greater load on the indexes of Fe and Al. 15 kinds of elements in velvet antler in the order were elk velvet antler>flower horse hybrid velvet antler>cervus elaphus linnaeus>sika velvet antler>male reindeer velvet antler. Based on the factor analysis and the factor cluster analysis, a model for evaluating traditional Chinese medicine quality was constructed. These studies provide the scientific base and theoretical foundation for the future large-scale rational relation development of velvet antler resources as well as the relationship between the elements and traditional Chinese medicine efficacy for the human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which focuses on communication challenges of using traditional Chinese medicine in multicultural society. Topics include Chinese medicine and biomedicine are two different paradigms of thoughts that they use different methods and processes in diagnosing and treatment, and there are cultural and structural barriers that restricted them to communicate with each other effectively.

This study examines the dynamics of medical pluralism in Singapore from local traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physicians' perspectives. The dialectical tensions between TCM and biomedicine manifest in the form of ideological differences and power imbalances. Through in-depth interviews with 22 TCM physicians in Singapore, this article provides insight into clashes between the philosophical paradigms in TCM and biomedicine as well as the broader regulatory, political, and social context that govern health care practice. Findings from this study reveal the incongruences in ideological underpinnings between biomedicine and TCM. The different ways of knowing and the absence of common language erect knowledge-sharing barriers between TCM and biomedical practitioners. Both tangible and more obscure manifestations of power relations are inherent in local health care settings. Participants experienced uneven social standing, evident by their inferior role in comparison to biomedical physicians and patients' lack of respect. The insufficient institutional recognition for TCM was observed in areas of limited access to material resources and decision-making authority. This study brings into foreground TCM physicians' voice as the first step to identify communication barriers between biomedicine and TCM. The results also point out possible areas for more dialogue in the pluralistic medical system in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the emotion and quality of life on mild to moderate insomnia intervened by Chinese Medicine in the integrated program. Methods: Patients (18 to 56 years old) with mild to moderate insomnia from the Five National Center were randomly divided into two groups according to the central. Experimental group: sleep hygiene instruction + balance acupuncture+ Chinese herbal drug; control group: sleep hygiene instruction + minor acupuncture + placebo capsules. SAS, SDS, and WHOQOL-BREF were assessed separately after different stages of treatment and follow-up. Results: (1) Emotion: In the 29th day of treatment, SAS scores of the experimental group was better than the control group (P <0.05). Between the two groups, in addition to follow-up period, SDS scores of other time points were not statistically significant (P> 0.05). (2) Quality of life: In the 29th day of treatment, the physical domain score of the experimental group was better than the control group (P <0.05). And at different periods, the quality of life scores improved in other domain and the total scores of the experimental group, were better than the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion: For patients with mild to moderate insomnia, sleep hygiene education combined with Balance Acupuncture, Bupleurum chinense, fossil fragment, and shellfish decoction can improve emotion and quality of life. It is rare at home and abroad for patients with mild to moderate insomnia, also is rare to combine with sleep hygiene education and balance acupuncture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]