Based on vector auto-regression (VAR) model, this paper takes advantage of Granger causality test, variance decomposition and impulse response analysis techniques to carry out a comprehensive study of the factors influencing the price of Chinese herbal, including herbal cultivation costs, acreage, natural disasters, the residents' needs and inflation. The study found that there is Granger causality relationship between inflation and herbal prices, cultivation costs and herbal prices. And in the total variance analysis of Chinese herbal and medicine price index, the largest contribution to it is from its own fluctuations, followed by the cultivation costs and inflation.
Agriculture ; economics ; Commerce ; Costs and Cost Analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; economics ; Humans ; Models, Statistical ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development ; Regression Analysis

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health issued by the World Health Organization is the international general theoretical framework for describing and measuring healthy on individual and population level, which the evaluation for cerebral palsy should follow with. This paper discussed the tools of evaluation for cerebral palsy in the view of ICF, especially the 4 dimensions of body function, body structure, activities and participation, and environmental factors.

Objective To investigate the value of blood culture result in guiding clinical rational use of drugs in clinic.Methods The medical records of 100 children patients with blood culture positive in the four departments of our hospital were retrospectively analyzed.Results The empirical treatment accounted for 98%,the goodness of fit in the medication before culture with the appropriate antibacterial drugs according to final detected bacteria was only 51.6%;after issuing the level 1 report,the adding and substituting drugs in adjusting the antibacterial drugs accounted for about 20% each,60% of antibacterial drugs were not adjusted;after issuing the level 2 report,about 5% of children patients added the antibacterial drugs,the proportion for replacing antibacterial drugs reached 32%,meanwhile the proportion for reducing accounted for 3%;after issuing the level 3 report,the consistency of antibacterial drugs use with the final drug susceptibility test results reached 83%,the inconsistency was only about 5%.Conclusion Clinical pediatric doctors in this hospital still heavily rely on the results of blood culture 3 levels reports,executing antibacterial agents from the experience treatment to the target treatment is also very active.

Pharmaceutical market is a typical market with information asymmetry, and which can lead to "lemons" problem. In all developed countries, firms must receive regulatory approval to market a pharmaceutical product. Such administrative department including SFDA, EMA, FDA and so on. Chinese materia medica is a special part of pharmaceutical market in China. The management of Chinese materia medica is a special challenge in China.
Accreditation ; Materia Medica ; economics ; standards ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; economics ; standards ; Reference Standards ; Social Control, Formal

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical effectiveness of Yiqi Huoxue Tongyang Xiezhuo Recipe (YHTXR, capable of supplementing qi, activating blood, warming yang, and discharge turbidity) in treating coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAHD). and chronic heart failure (CHF) with carotid plaque patients, and to explore new ways of Chinese medicine (CM).

METHODSTotally 69 CAHD-CHF patients of qi deficiency phlegm stasis syndrome (QDPSS) with carotid plaque were recruited in this study using parallel cohort method. They were assigned to the treatment group (35 cases) and the control group (34 cases). Patients in the control group received routine treatment of Western medicine, while those in the treatment group were additionally treated with YHTXR (twice daily). The therapeutic course for all was three months. Cardiac function levels, echocardiography, carotid plaque, blood lipids and safety indicators were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSAfter treatment the improvement of cardiac function levels was better in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Decreased LDL-C levels were higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.01). There was statistical difference in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), LDL-C, TC, TG in the treatment group between before and after treatment (P < 0.05). LDL-C and TG also decreased in the control group after treatment (P <0.05). There was no significant difference in the left ventricular ejection fraction, carotid IMT, or TC in the control group between before and after treatment (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in stroke volume, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, the area of carotid artery plaque, or HDL-C in the two groups between before and after treatment (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSYHTXR could effectively improve cardiac functions of CAHD-CHF patients of QDPSS with carotid plaque, reduce blood lipids and IMT. It had no significant adverse reactions for elderly patients in short term.

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Coronary Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Lipids ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; drug therapy ; Qi ; Ventricular Function, Left

Objective:To observe the effect of Governor Vessel-unblocking and mind-refreshing needling technique on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in cerebral palsy (CP) children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and investigate the underlying mechanism.
Methods:A total of 18 CP children with PVL received modern rehabilitation training and scalp acupuncture. The before-after study was conducted to compare the fractional anisotropy (FA) of the white matter fiber tracts, gross motor function measure (GMFM) score, Gesell developmental scale and changes in muscle tone.
Results:For the comparison before and after the first course of treatment, there were no statistical differences in DTI findings and FA values (both P>0.05); there were statistical differences in GMFM dimensions A and B (bothP<0.05) and no statistical differences in dimensions C, D and E (allP>0.05); and there were statistical differences in six items of Gesell development test (P<0.01 orP<0.05). For the comparison before and after two courses of treatment, there were statistical differences in DTI findings and FA values in 8 cases between before and after 30 and 60 treatments (bothP<0.05); there were statistical differences in GMFM dimensions A, B and C between before and after 30 and 60 treatments and between 30 and 60 treatments (allP<0.05); there were no statistical differences in GMFM dimensions D and E (allP>0.05); and there were statistical differences in six items of Gesell developmental test between before, after 30 and 60 treatments and between 30 and 60 treatments (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
Conclusion:The Governor Vessel-unblocking and mind-refreshing scalp acupuncture has no significant efficacy on the repair and regeneration of white matter fibers in children with PVL and CP in a short period of time; however, it gradually works along with the prolonged treatment time. In addition, it can improve the motor function and mental development and the efficacy is closely associated with the time of treatment.

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of Governor Vessel-unblocking and brain-refreshing scalp acupuncture for cerebral palsy (CP) complicated with intellectual disabilities. Methods:A total of 300 CP cases aged between 1 and 5 years were randomly allocated into a treatment group (n=150) and a control group (n=150). Patients in the treatment group were treated with Governor Vessel-unblocking and brain- refreshing scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training, whereas patients in the control group received rehabilitation training alone. The Beijing Gesell developmental (Gesell) scale and gross motor function measure (GMFM) scale were used to assess the motor and intellectual development before and 3 months after the treatment. In addition, the head CT/MRI examination was applied to assess the brain nerve repair before and after the treatment. Results:After the treatment, the total effective rate in the treatment group was 78.0%, versus 42.7% in the control group, showing a statistical significance (P<0.05). As for scores of five subscales in the Gesell scale, there were significant intra-group differences in the treatment group (allP<0.05); and the scores in the treatment group were significantly better than those in the control group (allP<0.05). As for scores of five dimensions in GMFM scale, there were significant intra-group differences in the treatment group (allP<0.05); and the scores in the treatment group were significantly better than those in the control group (allP<0.05). According to the head CT/MRI findings, the total effective rate was 73.3% in the treatment group, versus 62.0% in the control group, showing a statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion:When used in combination with rehabilitative training, Governor Vessel-unblocking and brain-refreshing scalp acupuncture can significantly improve the clinical efficacy for cerebral palsy complicated with intellectual disabilities. It can also improve the patients' motor function, intelligence and language ability.

Objective: To observe the effect oftuina plus music therapy on range of motion of ankle joints and muscle spasm of lower limbs in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Method:All of 286 cases that conformed to the diagnostic criteria of infantile cerebral palsy were treated with 7 types of tuina manipulations respectively to unblock the Governor Vessel, reinforce the kidney and strengthen the spleen, pinch along the spine, stimulate specific foot-reflex area and different spinal segments, accelerate recovery of muscle strength and increase joint range of motion, 25-30 rain each treatment, once or twice a day, 30 d constitute a course of treatment.After this, the efficacy on femoral medial adduction and dorsiflexion angle and composite spasticity score (CSS) was evaluated. Result: The statistical analysis showed significant differences in dorsiflexion and femoral medial adduction angle and CCS scores (P<0.01) after the treatments. Conclusion: Tuina plus music therapy can lubricate the joints, relax contraction of tendons, alleviate muscle spasm and improve scissors and toe-walking gaits, thereby benefiting the gross motor function of infants in sitting, kneeling, standing and walking.

Gap junction (GJ), which mainly consists of connexins, is a linking method between neighboring cells. Neighboring cells exchange substances, energy and information by gap junction intercellular communication mediated by GJ. Particularly, Cx43 protein is one of the most important members of Cx family. The study in recent years demonstrated the features of Cx43 protein and its important roles in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, tumors, cardiovascular risks. This article summarizes the structure, functions, coding gene, structure analysis, synthesis, membrane localization, regulation of Cx43. Furthermore, this article explains the physiological functions of Cx43 in human bodies and its important roles in the pathogenesis of related neurological disorders.

Objective: To observe the improving effect of muscle regions of meridians needling method on the upper limb function in children with cerebral palsy of spastic hemiplegic type. Methods: A total of 100 children with cerebral palsy of spastic hemiplegia type were divided into a treatment group and a control group according to the visiting sequence, with 50 cases in each group. The control group was treated with conventional rehabilitation plus conventional acupuncture treatment. The treatment group was treated with conventional rehabilitation plus muscle regions of meridians needling method. The electromyography (EMG) signal values of triceps brachii and pronator teres were detected before treatment, and 3 months and 6 months after treatment. The clinical efficacy was evaluated by Peabody developmental motor scale-fine motor (PDMS-FM) and fine motor function measure (FMFM). Results: Three and six months after treatment, the EMG signal values of triceps brachii and pronator teres, grasping scores and visual-motor integrated scores of PDMS-FM and the FMFM scores in both groups increased to varying degrees compared with the same group before treatment, and the intra-group differences were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). Six months after treatment, the results of the above three items in the treatment group were all better than those in the control group, and the differences between the groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Muscle regions of meridians needling method added on the basis of conventional rehabilitation can effectively reduce the muscle tone of upper limb and enhance the muscle strength, and improve the upper limb function in children with cerebral palsy of spastic hemiplegia type. The efficacy is superior to that of the conventional rehabilitation plus conventional acupuncture treatment.