2,746 research outputs found
Can Chinese Medicine Be Used for Prevention of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? A Review of Historical Classics, Research Evidence and Current Prevention Programs
Objective: Since December 2019, an outbreak of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurred in
Wuhan, and rapidly spread to almost all parts of China. This was followed by prevention programs recommending
Chinese medicine (CM) for the prevention. In order to provide evidence for CM recommendations, we reviewed
ancient classics and human studies. Methods: Historical records on prevention and treatment of infections in
CM classics, clinical evidence of CM on the prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and H1N1
influenza, and CM prevention programs issued by health authorities in China since the COVID-19 outbreak were
retrieved from different databases and websites till 12 February, 2020. Research evidence included data from
clinical trials, cohort or other population studies using CM for preventing contagious respiratory virus diseases.
Results: The use of CM to prevent epidemics of infectious diseases was traced back to ancient Chinese practice
cited in Huangdi's Internal Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing) where preventive effects were recorded. There were 3
studies using CM for prevention of SARS and 4 studies for H1N1 influenza. None of the participants who took CM
contracted SARS in the 3 studies. The infection rate of H1N1 influenza in the CM group was significantly lower than
the non-CM group (relative risk 0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.24–0.52; n=4). For prevention of COVID-19, 23
provinces in China issued CM programs. The main principles of CM use were to tonify qi to protect from external
pathogens, disperse wind and discharge heat, and resolve dampness. The most frequently used herbs included
Radix astragali (Huangqi), Radix glycyrrhizae (Gancao), Radix saposhnikoviae (Fangfeng), Rhizoma Atractylodis
Macrocephalae (Baizhu), Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (Jinyinhua), and Fructus forsythia (Lianqiao). Conclusions:
Based on historical records and human evidence of SARS and H1N1 influenza prevention, Chinese herbal
formula could be an alternative approach for prevention of COVID-19 in high-risk population. Prospective, rigorous
population studies are warranted to confirm the potential preventive effect of CM.
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicin
Constraints on the Mass and Mixing of the 4th Generation Quark From Direct CP Violation and Rare K Decays
We investigate the for in a
sequential fourth generation model. By giving the basic formulae for
in this model, we analyze the numerical results
which are dependent of and imaginary part of the fourth CKM
factor, (or and the
fourth generation CKM matrix phase ). We find that, unlike the SM, when
taking the central values of all parameters for ,
the values of can easily fit to the current
experimental data for all values of hadronic matrix elements estimated from
various approaches. Also, we show that the experimental values of
and rare K decays can provide a strong constraint
on both mass and mixing of the fourth generation quark. When taking the values
of hadronic matrix elements from the lattice or 1/N expansion calculations, a
large region of the up-type quark mass is excluded.Comment: 18 pages, 4 eps figure
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer mission
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), one of the four scientific space
science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space
Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a general purpose high energy
cosmic-ray and gamma-ray observatory, which was successfully launched on
December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The DAMPE
scientific objectives include the study of galactic cosmic rays up to
TeV and hundreds of TeV for electrons/gammas and nuclei respectively, and the
search for dark matter signatures in their spectra. In this paper we illustrate
the layout of the DAMPE instrument, and discuss the results of beam tests and
calibrations performed on ground. Finally we present the expected performance
in space and give an overview of the mission key scientific goals.Comment: 45 pages, including 29 figures and 6 tables. Published in Astropart.
Phy
Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons
High energy cosmic ray electrons plus positrons (CREs), which lose energy
quickly during their propagation, provide an ideal probe of Galactic
high-energy processes and may enable the observation of phenomena such as
dark-matter particle annihilation or decay. The CRE spectrum has been directly
measured up to TeV in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments,
and indirectly up to TeV by ground-based Cherenkov -ray
telescope arrays. Evidence for a spectral break in the TeV energy range has
been provided by indirect measurements of H.E.S.S., although the results were
qualified by sizeable systematic uncertainties. Here we report a direct
measurement of CREs in the energy range by the
DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) with unprecedentedly high energy
resolution and low background. The majority of the spectrum can be properly
fitted by a smoothly broken power-law model rather than a single power-law
model. The direct detection of a spectral break at TeV confirms the
evidence found by H.E.S.S., clarifies the behavior of the CRE spectrum at
energies above 1 TeV and sheds light on the physical origin of the sub-TeV
CREs.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, Nature in press, doi:10.1038/nature2447
Partial wave analysis of J/psi to p pbar pi0
Using a sample of 58 million events collected with the BESII
detector at the BEPC, more than 100,000 events are
selected, and a detailed partial wave analysis is performed. The branching
fraction is determined to be . A long-sought `missing' , first observed in , is observed in this decay too, with mass and width of
MeV/c and MeV/c,
respectively. Its spin-parity favors . The masses, widths, and
spin-parities of other states are obtained as well.Comment: Add one author nam
A Unified Approach to the Classical Statistical Analysis of Small Signals
We give a classical confidence belt construction which unifies the treatment
of upper confidence limits for null results and two-sided confidence intervals
for non-null results. The unified treatment solves a problem (apparently not
previously recognized) that the choice of upper limit or two-sided intervals
leads to intervals which are not confidence intervals if the choice is based on
the data. We apply the construction to two related problems which have recently
been a battle-ground between classical and Bayesian statistics: Poisson
processes with background, and Gaussian errors with a bounded physical region.
In contrast with the usual classical construction for upper limits, our
construction avoids unphysical confidence intervals. In contrast with some
popular Bayesian intervals, our intervals eliminate conservatism (frequentist
coverage greater than the stated confidence) in the Gaussian case and reduce it
to a level dictated by discreteness in the Poisson case. We generalize the
method in order to apply it to analysis of experiments searching for neutrino
oscillations. We show that this technique both gives correct coverage and is
powerful, while other classical techniques that have been used by neutrino
oscillation search experiments fail one or both of these criteria.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figures. Changes 15-Dec-99 to agree more closely with
published version. A few small changes, plus the two substantive changes we
made in proof back in 1998: 1) The definition of "sensitivity" in Sec. V(C).
It was inconsistent with our actual definition in Sec. VI. 2) "Note added in
proof" at end of the Conclusio
Measurement of the chi_{c2} Polarization in psi(2S) to gamma chi_{c2}
The polarization of the chi_{c2} produced in psi(2S) decays into gamma
chi_{c2} is measured using a sample of 14*10^6 psi(2S) events collected by
BESII at the BEPC. A fit to the chi_{c2} production and decay angular
distributions in psi(2S) to gamma chi_{c2}, chi_{c2} to pi pi and KK yields
values x=A_1/A_0=2.08+/-0.44 and y=A_2/A_0=3.03 +/-0.66, with a correlation
rho=0.92 between them, where A_{0,1,2} are the chi_{c2} helicity amplitudes.
The measurement agrees with a pure E1 transition, and M2 and E3 contributions
do not differ significantly from zero.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Measurement of the cross section for e^+e^- -> ppbar at center-of-mass energies from 2.0 to 3.07 GeV
Cross sections for e^+e^- -> ppbar have been measured at 10 center-of-mass
energies from 2.0 to 3.07 GeV by the BESII experiment at the BEPC, and proton
electromagnetic form factors in the time-like region have been determined.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Search for psi(3770)\ra\rho\pi at the BESII detector at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider
Non- decay \psppto \rhopi is searched for using a data sample of
taken at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV by the
BESII detector at the BEPC. No \rhopi signal is observed, and the upper limit
of the cross section is measured to be \sigma(\EETO \rhopi)<6.0 pb at 90% C.
L. Considering the interference between the continuum amplitude and the \pspp
resonance amplitude, the branching fraction of \pspp decays to is
determined to be \BR(\pspp\ra\rho\pi)\in(6.0\times10^{-6}, 2.4\times10^{-3})
at 90% C. L. This is in agreement with the prediction of the - and -wave
mixing scheme of the charmonium states for solving the ``\rhopi puzzle''
between \jpsi and \psp decays.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
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