OBJECTIVE: To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the non-price competition in Chinese hospital market and suggest some solutions. METHODS: Using the competition theory in health economics to analyze the situation in China and the advantages and disadvantages of the price competition as well as the causes accountable for the disadvantages. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: The government is suggested to understand the comparative (dis)advantages brought about by non-price competition and take possible solutions such as to clarify the role of market mechanism in regulating hospital performance, establish effective supervision system and referral system, and rationalize the income of physicians etc.

In the long course of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) development history,generations of physicians in their long-term medical practice,have paid attention to assimilate and apply new technology and new theory,constantly enrich and perfect the medical technologies,methods and theory systems.It is particularly important to promote the innovation of TCM theory and guide the clinical application of TCM through the learning and absorption of advantages from modern technologies and biomedicine to transform as part of TCM,and then,to expatiate with TCM language.It is especially important in the promotion of TCM theory innovation and clinical guidance of TCM practice.This paper overviewed the common points between TCM and modern medicine from the aspects of balance and steady state of organism,zangfu-organ relationship,etiology and pathogenesis,syndrome differentiation methods,compatibility of Chinese herbal medicine and formula,medicinal properties and pharmacology,etc.The feasibility of applying modern medicine in the interpretation of TCM and its development prospects was expatiated.It provided new ideas and new methods in TCM development.

OBJECTIVE:To provide reference for the approval of Chinese medicines’patent application in the United States. METHODS:The requirements of patent eligibility in the United States were interpreted;two important patent cases(“Mayo case”and“Myriad case”)were analyzed in recent years,and the effects of“patent eligibility guideline”on Chinese medicines’patent ap-plication in the United States were also analyzed;the suggestions were put forward according to the situation of Chinese medicines’ patent application. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS:Patent eligibility required that patent protection objects should be included in ob-ject range which could be vested patent right stated in patent law. The analysis of“Mayo case”“Myriad case”and patent eligibility guideline indicated that if related Chinese medicines’patent was to obtain patent approval in the United States,notable difference between the medicine and natural products as well as the order of nature must be clearly stated;technical attributes should be em-phasized,and different patent application ideas were adopted for different types of invention in order to guarantee patent eligibility. At present,small number of Chinese medicine’s patent in the United States come from China,and relevant enterprises should liber-ate themselves from the misperception that Chinese medicines do not hold patent eligibility. Hence,it is suggest that the first claim in the patent should not be too definite in Chinese medicines’patent application,afford more comprehensive application,strength-en patent protection of classic Chinese medicine recipe and stress patent eligibility.

OBJECTIVE: To probe into the actual market share of Chinese materia medica in the international market. METHODS: The terms of Chinese materia medica, herbal medicine, kampo medicine and natural medicine were defined by reviewing a large quantity of literature written domestically and abroad. The origins of the invariably referred 3% share of Chinese materia medica in the international market were investigated and which were compared with data, indexes and concepts related to Chinese materia medica exporting. Meanwhile, calculation of the actual market share was carried out. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS:The exporting of Chinese materia medica accounted for 7% of the global trade volume of natural drugs, 3.2% of the global sales volume of the natural drugs. While the trade volume of Chinese materia medica accounted for 9.4% of the global trade volume of natural drugs. Chinese materia medica, herbal medicine, kampo medicine and some traditional medicines all belong to the category of natural medicine,the statistics of international market share of Chinese materia medica should be based on natural medicine.

The objective of this study was to genetically characterize isolates of Giardia duodenalis and to determine if zoonotic potential of G. duodenalis could be found in stray cats from urban and suburban environments in Guangzhou, China. Among 102 fresh fecal samples of stray cats, 30 samples were collected in Baiyun district (urban) and 72 in Conghua district (suburban). G. duodenalis specimens were examined using light microscopy, then the positive specimens were subjected to PCR amplification and subsequent sequencing at 4 loci such as glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi), beta-giardin (bg), and small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) genes. The phylogenetic trees were constructed using obtained sequences by MEGA5.2 software. Results show that 9.8% (10/102) feline fecal samples were found to be positive by microscopy, 10% (3/30) in Baiyun district and 9.7% (7/72) in Conghua district. Among the 10 positive samples, 9 were single infection (8 isolates, assemblage A; 1 isolate, assemblage F) and 1 sample was mixed infection with assemblages A and C. Based on tpi, gdh, and bg genes, all sequences of assemblage A showed complete homology with AI except for 1 isolate (CHC83). These findings not only confirmed the occurrence of G. duodenalis in stray cats, but also showed that zoonotic assemblage A was found for the first time in stray cats living in urban and suburban environments in China.
Animals ; Cat Diseases/*parasitology ; Cats ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; DNA, Protozoan/chemistry/genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry/genetics ; Feces/parasitology ; Giardia lamblia/*classification/cytology/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Giardiasis/parasitology/*veterinary ; Microscopy ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protozoan Proteins/genetics ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

The objective of this study was to genetically characterize isolates of Giardia duodenalis and to determine if zoonotic potential of G. duodenalis could be found in stray cats from urban and suburban environments in Guangzhou, China. Among 102 fresh fecal samples of stray cats, 30 samples were collected in Baiyun district (urban) and 72 in Conghua district (suburban). G. duodenalis specimens were examined using light microscopy, then the positive specimens were subjected to PCR amplification and subsequent sequencing at 4 loci such as glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi), beta-giardin (bg), and small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) genes. The phylogenetic trees were constructed using obtained sequences by MEGA5.2 software. Results show that 9.8% (10/102) feline fecal samples were found to be positive by microscopy, 10% (3/30) in Baiyun district and 9.7% (7/72) in Conghua district. Among the 10 positive samples, 9 were single infection (8 isolates, assemblage A; 1 isolate, assemblage F) and 1 sample was mixed infection with assemblages A and C. Based on tpi, gdh, and bg genes, all sequences of assemblage A showed complete homology with AI except for 1 isolate (CHC83). These findings not only confirmed the occurrence of G. duodenalis in stray cats, but also showed that zoonotic assemblage A was found for the first time in stray cats living in urban and suburban environments in China.
Animals ; Cat Diseases/*parasitology ; Cats ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; DNA, Protozoan/chemistry/genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry/genetics ; Feces/parasitology ; Giardia lamblia/*classification/cytology/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Giardiasis/parasitology/*veterinary ; Microscopy ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Protozoan Proteins/genetics ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

To observe the layout and evolution of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medical industry, classify the industry by region and conduct a preliminary study on its professional advantages, competitiveness and possible cause by using the theory of location quotient in regional economics, in order to provide suggestions for the layout of the TCM medical industry.
Drug Industry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

This study aimed to identify the assemblages (or subassemblages) of Giardia duodenalis by using normal or nested PCR based on 4 genetic loci: glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi), beta-giardin (bg), and small subunit ribosomal DNA (18S rRNA) genes. For this work, a total of 216 dogs' fecal samples were collected in Guangdong, China. The phylogenetic trees were constructed with MEGA5.2 by using the neighbor-joining method. Results showed that 9.7% (21/216) samples were found to be positive; moreover, 10 samples were single infection (7 isolates assemblage A, 2 isolates assemblage C, and 1 isolate assemblage D) and 11 samples were mixed infections where assemblage A was predominant, which was potentially zoonotic. These findings showed that most of the dogs in Guangdong were infected or mixed-infected with assemblage A, and multi-locus sequence typing could be the best selection for the genotype analysis of dog-derived Giardia isolates.
Animals ; China ; Cluster Analysis ; Coinfection/parasitology/veterinary ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/genetics ; DNA, Protozoan/chemistry/genetics ; Dog Diseases/parasitology ; Dogs ; Genotype ; Giardia lamblia/*classification/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Giardiasis/parasitology/*veterinary ; Glutamate Dehydrogenase/genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; *Multilocus Sequence Typing ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics ; Triose-Phosphate Isomerase/genetics

This study was aimed to predict active compounds,drug targets and potential diseases of Yi-Guan decoction (YGD) by network pharmacological technology,and to clarify molecular mechanisms of YGD efficiency on different diseases with liver and kidney yin deficiency syndrome (LKYDS).Chemistry compounds,targets and related diseases from YGD were collected from TCMSP,TCM Database@Taiwan,TCMID,HIT,Drugbank,PubChem and TTD databases.The YGD compounds-targets-diseases network was constructed.The network topology was analyzed by Cytoscape software.The analysis of GO biological processes and KEGG pathways enrichment were performed by DAVID website.The results showed that 849 chemical compounds were identified from Beishashen,Maidong,Danggui,Shengdihuang,Chuanlianzi and Gouqizi.There were 49 active CHM compounds that were both oral bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30％ and drug-likeness (DL) ≥ 0.18,corresponding to 200 target proteins and 264 diseases.The top three GO biological processes were response to organic substance,regulation of cell proliferation,and response to endogenous stimulus,respectively.The top three KEGG pathways were pathways in cancer,hepatitis B,and prostate cancer,respectively.It was concluded that the analysis on YGD was conducted based on network pharmacology,and the compound-target-disease network was built,which may help to clarify the mechanisms of YGD efficiency on different diseases with LKYDS.It can provide clues to find new potential clinical adaptation of disease and new drugs.

Background and Objectives: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) with tumorigenic potential are reported as the crucial factors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence and therapy resistance. Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are documented to play an important role in the protection of hepatocytes. Bie Jia Jian pill (BJJP), a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used to treat liver fibrosis and liver cancer. This study aimed to explore the potential role of combined use of BJJP with BMSCs in HCC cell lines. Methods: and Results: Flow cytometry was used to identify BMSCs isolated from BALB/c mice and CSCs enriched from Huh7 cells by measuring CD24, CD133, CD44, CD73, CD105, CD166, CD29, CD14 and CD34. Differentiation potential of BMSCs was also determined. Cell viability and proliferation ability of CSCs were determined by CCK-8 assay and clone formation assay. The expressions of CSCs biomarkers and Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related proteins were determined by PCR and western blot. TOP-Flash/FOP-Flash luciferase assay was applied to measure the activity of β-catenin/TCF. Compared with untreated CSCs, BJJP or BMSCs treatment alone on CSCs lead to increased miR-140 expression and cell apoptosis, as well as decreased expressions of CD24, CD133, EpCAM and cell viability.Downregualted expressions of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related proteins, Wnt3a and β-catenin were found in response to BJJP or BMSCs treatment alone. The combination of BJJP＋BMSCs treatment on CSCs could further enhance the suppressive effect on CSCs. Down-regulation of miR-140 in CSCs partially blocked the effects of BMSCs or BMSCs＋BJJP on the expressions of Wnt3a and β-catenin as well as the cell viability and apoptosis of CSCs.Reversed expression pattern was found in CSCs transfected with miR-140 overexpression. Conclusions Taken together, we demonstrate that BJJP＋BMSCs together could further enhance the suppressive effect on CSCs through regulating miR-140 and suppressing Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway. This study demonstrated the potential of BJJP＋BMSCs in therapeutic treatment of HCC.