The efficacy and safety of Baoji Tablets for treating common cold with summer-heat and dampness syndrome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Despite the high incidence and the economic impact of the common cold, there are still no effective therapeutic options available. Although traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in China to treat the common cold, there is still a lack of high-quality clinical trials. This article sets forth the protocol for a high-quality trial of a new TCM drug, Baoji Tablets, which is designed to treat the common cold with summer-heat and dampness syndrome (CCSDS). The trial is evaluating both the efficacy and safety of Baoji Tablets. METHODS/DESIGN: This study is designed as a multicenter, phase II, parallel-group, double-blind, double-dummy, randomized and placebo-controlled trial. A total of 288 patients will be recruited from four centers. The new tablets group are administered Baoji Tablets 0.9 g and dummy Baoji Pills 3.7 g. The old pills group are administered dummy Baoji Tablets 0.9 g and Baoji Pills 3.7 g. The placebo control group are administered dummy Baoji Tablets 0.9 g and dummy Baoji Pills 3.7 g. All drugs are taken three times daily for 3 days. The primary outcome is the duration of all symptoms. Secondary outcomes include the duration of primary and secondary symptoms, changes in primary and secondary symptom scores and cumulative symptom score at day 4, as well as an evaluation of treatment efficacy. DISCUSSION: This is the first multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, randomized and placebo-controlled trial designated to treat CCSDS in an adult population from China. It will establish the basis for a scientific and objective assessment of the efficacy and safety of Baoji Tablets for treating CCSDS, and provide evidence for a phase III clinical trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The registration number is ChiCTR-TRC-13003197

Ground-based aerosol characterization during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment

This paper investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols at ground level at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning. The site is located near Porto Velho, Rondônia, in the southwestern part of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, and was selected for the deployment of a large suite of instruments, among them an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor. Our measurements were made during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which consisted of a combination of aircraft and ground-based measurements over Brazil, aimed to investigate the impacts of biomass burning emissions on climate, air quality, and numerical weather prediction over South America. The campaign took place during the dry season and the transition to the wet season in September/October 2012. During most of the campaign, the site was impacted by regional biomass burning pollution (average CO mixing ratio of 0.6 ppm), occasionally superimposed by intense (up to 2 ppm of CO), freshly emitted biomass burning plumes. Aerosol number concentrations ranged from ∼ 1000 cm−3 to peaks of up to 35 000 cm−3 (during biomass burning (BB) events, corresponding to an average submicron mass mean concentrations of 13.7 µg m−3 and peak concentrations close to 100 µg m−3 . Organic aerosol strongly dominated the submicron non-refractory composition, with an average concentration of 11.4 µg m−3 . The inorganic species, NH4, SO4, NO3, and Cl, were observed, on average, at concentrations of 0.44, 0.34, 0.19, and 0.01 µg m−3 , respectively. Equivalent black carbon (BCe) ranged from 0.2 to 5.5 µg m−3 , with an average concentration of 1.3 µg m−3 . During BB peaks, organics accounted for over 90 % of total mass (submicron non-refractory plus BCe), among the highest values described in the literature. We examined the ageing of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) using the changes in the H : C and O : C ratios, and found that throughout most of the aerosol processing (O : C ∼= 0.25 to O : C ∼= 0.6), no remarkable change is observed in the H : C ratio (∼ 1.35). Such a result contrasts strongly with previous observations of chemical ageing of both urban and Amazonian biogenic aerosols. At higher levels of processing (O : C > 0.6), the H : C ratio changes with a H : C/O : C slope of −0.5, possibly due to the development of a combination of BB (H : C/O : C slope = 0) and biogenic (H : C/O : C slope = −1) organic aerosol (OA). An analysis of the 1OA/1CO mass ratios yields very little enhancement in the OA loading with atmospheric processing, consistent with previous observations. These results indicate that negligible secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation occurs throughout the observed BB plume Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 12070 J. Brito et al.: Ground-based aerosol characterization during SAMBBA processing, or that SOA formation is almost entirely balanced by OA volatilization. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) of the organic aerosol spectra resulted in three factors: fresh BBOA, aged BBOA, and low-volatility oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA). Analysis of the diurnal patterns and correlation with external markers indicates that during the first part of the campaign, OA concentrations are impacted by local fire plumes with some chemical processing occurring in the near-surface layer. During the second part of the campaign, long-range transport of BB plumes above the surface layer, as well as potential SOAs formed aloft, dominates OA concentrations at our ground-based sampling site. This manuscript describes the first ground-based deployment of the aerosol mass spectrometry at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning in the Amazon region, allowing a deeper understanding of aerosol life cycle in this important ecosystem.This work was supported by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP, projects 2012/14437-9 and 2013/05014-0), CNPq project 475735- 2012-9, INCT Amazonia, and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) project NE/J010073/1. We thank A. Ribeiro, A. L. Loureiro, F. Morais, F. Jorge, and S. Morais for technical and logistics support. We thank the National Institute of Meteorology for providing valuable meteorological data. We gratefully acknowledge S. Hacon, J. Silva, and W. Bastos for support in the successful operation of the sampling site

Introducing EMMIE: An evidence rating scale to encourage mixed-method crime prevention synthesis reviews

Objectives This short report describes the need for, and the development of, a coding system to distil the quality and coverage of systematic reviews of the evidence relating to crime prevention interventions. The starting point for the coding system concerns the evidence needs of policymakers and practitioners. Methods The coding scheme (EMMIE) proposed builds on previous scales that have been developed to assess the probity, coverage and utility of evidence both in health and criminal justice. It also draws on the principles of realist synthesis and review. Results The proposed EMMIE scale identifies five dimensions to which systematic reviews intended to inform crime prevention should speak. These are the Effect of intervention, the identification of the causal Mechanism(s) through which interventions are intended to work, the factors that Moderate their impact, the articulation of practical Implementation issues, and the Economic costs of intervention

Rubber Impact on 3D Textile Composites

A low velocity impact study of aircraft tire rubber on 3D textile-reinforced composite plates was performed experimentally and numerically. In contrast to regular unidirectional composite laminates, no delaminations occur in such a 3D textile composite. Yarn decohesions, matrix cracks and yarn ruptures have been identified as the major damage mechanisms under impact load. An increase in the number of 3D warp yarns is proposed to improve the impact damage resistance. The characteristic of a rubber impact is the high amount of elastic energy stored in the impactor during impact, which was more than 90% of the initial kinetic energy. This large geometrical deformation of the rubber during impact leads to a less localised loading of the target structure and poses great challenges for the numerical modelling. A hyperelastic Mooney-Rivlin constitutive law was used in Abaqus/Explicit based on a step-by-step validation with static rubber compression tests and low velocity impact tests on aluminium plates. Simulation models of the textile weave were developed on the meso- and macro-scale. The final correlation between impact simulation results on 3D textile-reinforced composite plates and impact test data was promising, highlighting the potential of such numerical simulation tools

Yttrium complexes of Arsine, Arsenide, and Arsinidene Ligands

Deprotonation of the yttrium–arsine complex [Cp′3Y{As(H)2Mes}] (1) (Cp′=η5-C5H4Me, Mes=mesityl) by nBuLi produces the μ-arsenide complex [{Cp′2Y[μ-As(H)Mes]}3] (2). Deprotonation of the As[BOND]H bonds in 2 by nBuLi produces [Li(thf)4]2[{Cp′2Y(μ3-AsMes)}3Li], [Li(thf)4]2[3], in which the dianion 3 contains the first example of an arsinidene ligand in rare-earth metal chemistry. The molecular structures of the arsine, arsenide, and arsinidene complexes are described, and the yttrium–arsenic bonding is analyzed by density functional theory

Structure–property relationships of iron arsenide superconductors

Iron based superconductors sent material scientists into a renewed excitement reminiscent of the time when the first high-Tc superconductors were discovered 25 years ago. This feature article reviews relationships between structural chemistry and magnetic as well as superconducting properties of iron arsenide compounds, which are outstandingly rich and uniquely coupled. Particular attention is paid to the nature of the structural phase transitions of the parent compounds and their possible origins, on effects of doping on the crystal structures and on the coexistence of magnetic ordering and superconductivity. In spite of the many fascinating insights that have already enriched the research on superconductivity, many questions are still open and prove iron based superconductors to be a good recipe for future discoveries in this lively field

Design and formative evaluation of a virtual voice-based coach for problem-solving treatment: Observational study

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence has provided new opportunities for human interactions with technology for the practice of medicine. Among the recent artificial intelligence innovations, personal voice assistants have been broadly adopted. This highlights their potential for health care-related applications such as behavioral counseling to promote healthy lifestyle habits and emotional well-being. However, the use of voice-based applications for behavioral therapy has not been previously evaluated. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to conduct a formative user evaluation of Lumen, a virtual voice-based coach developed as an Alexa skill that delivers evidence-based, problem-solving treatment for patients with mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety. METHODS: A total of 26 participants completed 2 therapy sessions-an introductory (session 1) and a problem-solving (session 2)-with Lumen. Following each session with Lumen, participants completed user experience, task-related workload, and work alliance surveys. They also participated in semistructured interviews addressing the benefits, challenges and barriers to Lumen use, and design recommendations. We evaluated the differences in user experience, task load, and work alliance between sessions using 2-tailed paired t tests. Interview transcripts were coded using an inductive thematic analysis to characterize the participants\u27 perspectives regarding Lumen use. RESULTS: Participants found Lumen to provide high pragmatic usability and favorable user experience, with marginal task load during interactions for both Lumen sessions. However, participants experienced a higher temporal workload during the problem-solving session, suggesting a feeling of being rushed during their communicative interactions. On the basis of the qualitative analysis, the following themes were identified: Lumen\u27s on-demand accessibility and the delivery of a complex problem-solving treatment task with a simplistic structure for achieving therapy goals; themes related to Lumen improvements included streamlining and improved personalization of conversations, slower pacing of conversations, and providing additional context during therapy sessions. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of an in-depth formative evaluation, we found that Lumen supported the ability to conduct cognitively plausible interactions for the delivery of behavioral therapy. Several design suggestions identified from the study including reducing temporal and cognitive load during conversational interactions, developing more natural conversations, and expanding privacy and security features were incorporated in the revised version of Lumen. Although further research is needed, the promising findings from this study highlight the potential for using Lumen to deliver personalized and accessible mental health care, filling a gap in traditional mental health services

Neurobehavioral consequences of chronic intrauterine opioid exposure in infants and preschool children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<b>Background</b><p></p> It is assumed within the accumulated literature that children born of pregnant opioid dependent mothers have impaired neurobehavioral function as a consequence of chronic intrauterine opioid use.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> Quantitative and systematic review of the literature on the consequences of chronic maternal opioid use during pregnancy on neurobehavioral function of children was conducted using the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched Cinahl, EMBASE, PsychINFO and MEDLINE between the periods of January 1995 to January 2012.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> There were only 5 studies out of the 200 identified that quantitatively reported on neurobehavioral function of children after maternal opioid use during pregnancy. All 5 were case control studies with the number of exposed subjects within the studies ranging from 33–143 and 45–85 for the controls. This meta-analysis showed no significant impairments, at a non-conservative significance level of p < 0.05, for cognitive, psychomotor or observed behavioural outcomes for chronic intra-uterine exposed infants and pre-school children compared to non-exposed infants and children. However, all domains suggested a trend to poor outcomes in infants/children of opioid using mothers. The magnitude of all possible effects was small according to Cohen’s benchmark criteria.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Chronic intra-uterine opioid exposed infants and pre-school children experienced no significant impairment in neurobehavioral outcomes when compared to non-exposed peers, although in all domains there was a trend to poorer outcomes. The findings of this review are limited by the small number of studies analysed, the heterogenous populations and small numbers within the individual studies. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine if any neuropsychological impairments appear after the age of 5 years and to help investigate further the role of environmental risk factors on the effect of ‘core’ phenotypes