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 Violationϵ′/ϵ\epsilon^{\prime}/\epsilon and Rare K Decays

We investigate the $\epsilon^{\prime} /\epsilon$ for $K\to \pi\pi$ in a sequential fourth generation model. By giving the basic formulae for $\epsilon^{\prime}/\epsilon$ in this model, we analyze the numerical results which are dependent of $m_{t^{\prime}}$ and imaginary part of the fourth CKM factor, ${Im}V^{*}_{t^{'}s}V_{t^{'}d}$ (or $V^{*}_{t^{'}s}V_{t^{'}d}$ and the fourth generation CKM matrix phase $\theta$). We find that, unlike the SM, when taking the central values of all parameters for $\epsilon^{\prime}/\epsilon$, the values of $\epsilon^{\prime}/ \epsilon$ 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 $\epsilon^{\prime}/\epsilon$ 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 $m_{t^{\prime}}$ 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 $\sim 10$ 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 $\sim 2$ TeV in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments, and indirectly up to $\sim 5$ TeV by ground-based Cherenkov $\gamma$-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 $25~{\rm GeV}-4.6~{\rm TeV}$ 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 $E \sim0.9$ 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 $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESII detector at the BEPC, more than 100,000 $J/\psi \to p\bar p \pi^0$ events are selected, and a detailed partial wave analysis is performed. The branching fraction is determined to be $Br(J/\psi \to p \bar p \pi^0)=(1.33 \pm 0.02 \pm 0.11) \times 10^{-3}$. A long-sought `missing' $N^*$, first observed in $J/\psi \to p \bar n \pi^-$, is observed in this decay too, with mass and width of $2040_{-4}^{+3}\pm 25$ MeV/c$^2$ and $230_{-8}^{+8}\pm 52$ MeV/c$^2$, respectively. Its spin-parity favors ${3/2}^+$. The masses, widths, and spin-parities of other $N^*$ 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 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

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

Search for psi(3770)\ra\rho\pi at the BESII detector at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider

Non-$D\bar{D}$ decay \psppto \rhopi is searched for using a data sample of $(17.3\pm 0.5) pb^{-1}$ 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 $\rho\pi$ 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 $S$- and $D$-wave mixing scheme of the charmonium states for solving the ``\rhopi puzzle'' between \jpsi and \psp decays.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure