1.Current Status and Optimization Strategies for Investigator Initiated Trial on Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Malignant Tumors Conducted by Western Medicine Institutions
Xuechen GENG ; Yanmei LIU ; Qianqian BU ; Qinchang ZHANG ; Dong ZHANG ; Yuquan TAO ; Liu LI ; Ling LI ; Haibo CHENG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(9):878-882
Investigator initiated trial (IIT) represents a primary format for clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As key implementation sites for TCM-based IIT targeting malignant tumors, western medicine institutions often face unique challenges in conducting such studies, which limit their feasibility and standardization. This paper reviews the registration status of TCM-based IIT for malignancies conducted in western medical institutions and analyzes key difficulties, including complex project initiation and management processes, limited TCM knowledge and skills among western medicine physicians, and relatively low patient acceptance of TCM. From a practical perspective, the study proposes several optimization strategies. These include improving the review and management mechanisms of TCM-related IIT within western medical institutions, establishing multidisciplinary clinical research teams that integrate TCM and western medicine, and enhancing investigators' training in TCM theory and clinical skills. Additionally, the study suggests standardizing IIT operational procedures, objectifying the collection of TCM diagnostic information, refining subject recruitment methods, and increasing TCM involvement in patient follow-up and management. These investigator-oriented, TCM-featured, and operable strategies aim to promote the high-quality development of TCM-based IIT in western medicine institutions and enhance the clinical application of TCM.
2.Discussion on the Core Pathogenesis and Prevention and Treatment Strategy for Postoperative Recurrence of Colorectal Cancer from the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Cancer Toxin Theory
Xuechen GENG ; Liu LI ; Qinchang ZHANG ; Qianqian BU ; Haibo CHENG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;66(15):1538-1542
According to the theory of cancer toxin pathogenesis, tumors are complex syndromes centered on cancer toxin, characterized by multiple time points and locations, interwoven pathogenic toxins, and a combination of deficiency and excess. Postoperative recurrence of colorectal cancer is a dynamic spatiotemporal process. In this paper, the core pathogenesis of postoperative recurrence of colorectal cancer, namely "deficiency of spleen qi, with damp-heat stasis toxin", has been discussed based on spatiotemporal evolution of cancer toxin. It is suggested that spleen qi depletion leading to the proliferation of cancer toxin represents the temporal characteristic of postoperative recurrence, while the stasis of damp-heat facilitating the aggregation and spread of cancer toxin refelct its spatial pattern. This paper has constructed a holistic spatiotemporal prevention and treatment strategy according to different stages before and after recurrence. Before recurrence, the focus is on prevention, and it is suggested to rectify the healthy qi and fortify spleen, clear heat and resolve dampness, unblock collaterals and remove toxin. After recurrence, the focus should be on treatment, and the strategy is combating cancer and removing toxin, breaking the blood to eliminate disease, regulating and tonifying the zang-fu (脏腑) organs.
3.A high-throughput plant canopy leaf area index inversion model based on UAV-LiDAR.
Yuming LIANG ; Xueyan FAN ; Muqing ZHANG ; Wei YAO ; Xiuhua LI ; Zeping WANG ; Sifan DONG ; Xuechen LI
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2025;41(10):3817-3827
To explore the feasibility of using UAV-LiDAR for measuring the leaf area index (LAI) of crop canopies, we employed UAV-LiDAR to scan sugarcane canopies during the tillering and elongation stages, acquiring canopy point cloud data. Subsequently, features such as average row height, projected row area, point cloud density at different canopy layers, and the ratios between these parameters were extracted. Three feature selection methods-partial least squares regression (PLSR), XGBoost feature importance (XGBoost-FI), and random forest-recursive feature elimination (RF-RFE)-were adopted to evaluate and identify the optimal input variables for modeling. With these selected variables, LAI inversion models were developed based on random forest (RF) and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost) algorithms, and their performance was assessed. Among the extracted features, the projected row area Sp and the total row point count Ctotal exhibited strong correlations with LAI, with correlation coefficients of 0.73 and 0.72, respectively. The AdaBoost-based LAI inversion model, using the projected row area Sp, average height Havg, mid-layer point cloud density Cm, and total row point count Ctotal as input variables, achieved the best performance, with a coefficient of determination (Rv²) of 0.713 and a root mean square error (RMSEv) of 0.25 on the validation set. This study provides an effective method for high-throughput acquisition of LAI in field crops, offering valuable scientific support for sugarcane field management and breeding efforts.
Plant Leaves/growth & development*
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Saccharum/growth & development*
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Algorithms
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Unmanned Aerial Devices
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Remote Sensing Technology/methods*
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Crops, Agricultural/growth & development*
4.Analysis on current status of registered clinical trials of TCM prevention and treatment for malignant tumors
Qianqian BU ; Xuechen GENG ; Changshun ZHOU ; Guannan ZHANG ; Liu LI ; Yanmei LIU ; Ling LI ; Haibo CHENG
International Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;47(7):985-991
Objective:To analyze the current status of clinical research registration on TCM prevention and treatment of malignant tumors in the Chinese Clinical Trail Registry (ChiCTR); To summarize its characteristics and shortcomings.Methods:Clinical studies on the TCM prevention and treatment for malignant tumors registered from the establishment of ChiCTR database to July 15, 2024 were retrieved. Excel 2019 software was used to sort out the data, including basic research information (registration time, registration number status, registration title, test organizer, research implementation location, etc.), design scheme (disease type, research type, intervention measures, sample size, blind method, etc.), research funding or material sources, as well as other information such as human specimen collection and recruitment of research objects. SPSS 27.0 software was used for frequency statistics.Results:A total of 891 registered studies were included, including 783 interventional studies and 108 observational studies; the areas with a large number of registrations were mainly Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong Province, etc. ; the research funds mainly came from local finance; a total of 46 tumor diseases were involved in the study, with the largest number of lung cancer (209 items), followed by tumor-related syndromes (155 items), colorectal cancer (148 items), and breast cancer (136 items); the type of research design was mainly random parallel control; the main intervention measures were TCM decoction or herbal decoction pieces (373 items), and the dosage form was mostly decoction (216 items), followed by granules (94 items); single-blind or double-blind design was used in 217 registered trials; 663 registration trials involved the collection of human samples.Conclusions:The number of clinical research registrations on the TCM prevention and treatment for malignant tumors is increasing day by day. The shortcomings such as insufficient standardization of research design and lack of research transparency still exists. In the future, TCM researchers need to strengthen cooperation with international traditional medicine clinical trial registry, giving full play to the leading role of standardization of TCM trials, and using registration as a starting point to improve the quality of clinical research.
5.The role of BRD4 in HPV16 virus replication in cervical tissue and cells
Le Wang ; Weixin Li ; Yangliu Dong ; Xian Zhao ; Xinli Zhu ; Xuechen Zhang ; Xiangyi Zhe ; Zemin Pan
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2025;60(6):1080-1085
Abstract:
To explore the relationship between the replication-associated bromodomain protein 4 ( BRD4)and human papillomavirus (HPV) 16(HPV16) viral load in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and CIN Ⅰ tissues , confirm the effects of BRD4 degradation agent MZ1 on viral load .
Methods :
Thirty HPV16-positive cervi- cal cancer specimens and 30 non-cervical cancer specimens were collected , and the viral load of the samples was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR , and the expression of BRD4 was analyzed by immunohisto- chemistry and Western blot.
Results :
The viral load was higher in the samples of cervical cancer group than in the samples of non-cancer group , the difference is statistically significant ( P < 0. 01) . Immunohistochemistry results showed that the expression of BRD4 were significantly higher in cervical cancer specimens than in noncancerous specimens , the difference is statistically significant (P < 0. 05) . BRD4 expression was significantly and positively correlated with high viral loads , the difference is statistically significant (P < 0. 001) . the BRD4 degradation agent MZ1 significantly reduced the viral load , the difference is statistically significant (P < 0. 01) .
Conclusion
BRD4 may be involved in the replication of HPV16 virus , and BRD4 degradation agent MZ1 can inhibit the replication of HPV16 virus .
6.Decreased FEF 50 as an indicator of comorbid asthma and persistent airflow limitation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps: A cross-sectional study.
Xuechen WANG ; Fangyuan LI ; Chengshuo WANG ; Kai HUANG ; Shen SHEN ; Ming WANG ; Jianmin JIN ; Luo ZHANG
Chinese Medical Journal 2024;137(3):353-355
7.Investigation of posttraumatic stress disorder and coping style in medical school undergraduates
Xuechen HU ; Hongmei ZHANG ; Xiaona ZHANG ; Yan BAI
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2021;37(36):2858-2863
Objective:To investigate the occurrence and characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in medical school undergraduates, in order to provide reference to promote their mental health.Methods:Adopting stratified and cluster sampling method, 883 undergraduates from Xi ′an Medical College were selected and surveyed on March 9-16, 2020 by general condition questionnaire, PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ). Results:The total score of PCL-C was (24.34 ± 8.12) points, (7.19 ± 2.61) points for re-experiencing symptoms, (9.87 ± 3.49) points for avoidance symptoms, and (7.28 ± 2.85) points for arousal symptoms. The incidence of PTSD was 8.2% (72/883). The scores of PTSD symptoms were higher in grade four students and whose coping tendency was negative, (26.37 ± 9.26) and (26.49 ± 9.48), respectively ( F value was 3.065, P<0.05; t value was -9.357, P<0.001). Positive coping scores were negatively correlated to PTSD symptoms ( r value was -0.130, P<0.001), while negative coping scores were positively correlated to PTSD ( r value was 0.244, P<0.001). Medical students with strong professional attitude had lower PTSD scores (23.23 ± 6.92)( F value was 21.650, P<0.001) and lower negative coping scores (8.21 ± 4.65) ( F value was 6.567, P<0.001). Conclusions:The incidence of PTSD was 8.2% in medical school undergraduates, whose severity was related to grade and coping tendency. Appropriate crisis intervention should be taken among medical students to improve their positive coping style, strengthen their professional identification and promote their mental health.
8.Maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19: a systemic review
Yuming CAO ; Huijun CHEN ; Juanjuan GUO ; Xuechen YU ; Xue WEN ; Yuanzhen ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Perinatal Medicine 2020;23(7):447-455
Objective:To fully understand the maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19 and explore the evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission of 2019-nCoV by analyzing clinical and laboratory information in peer-reviewed publications on COVID-19 in pregnant women.Methods:PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Academic Journals, and Wanfang Databases were searched to retrieve articles on COVID-19 in pregnancy published from December 1, 2019, to April 9, 2020. In addition, the World Health Organization COVID-19 Database and the reference lists in each included article were also searched. All included cases were positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid with maternal and neonatal outcomes regardless of delivery or not. Clinical manifestations, perinatal and neonatal outcomes were analyzed systematically.Results:This study reviewed 29 publications involving 146 pregnant women who tested positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid and their 116 newborns (including two twins). Five cases of severe COVID-19 and three cases of unidentified type that were admitted to ICU for treatment were severe symptoms, accounting for 5.5% (8/146) of all cases. Totally, 69.9% (102/146) of the women underwent cesarean section and 8.2% (12/146) gave birth vaginally. Thirty (20.5%) women continued their pregnancies. One case (0.7%, 1/146) terminated the pregnancy at 26 weeks of gestation due to bidirectional affective disorder and one (0.7%, 1/146) received artificial abortion at 6 weeks of gestation. Fever (58.2%, 85/146) and cough (32.9%, 48/146) were the most common symptoms. However, 15.8% (23/146) of the pregnant women were asymptomatic on admission and symptoms appeared or became worse after delivery in 20.5% (30/146). Lymphocytopenia (49.6%, 56/113) and elevated C-reactive protein (58.4%, 66/113) were the main laboratory findings. The most common computed tomography (CT) finding was bilateral multiple patchy ground-glass opacity in lungs (79.7%, 94/118). The outcomes of 92.2% (107/116) of the newborns were good, and the rest 7.8% (9/116) showed different abnormalities of varying degrees. Among the nine newborns, six showed different degrees of dyspnea, cyanosis and vomiting including one died of multiple organ failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation; one tested positive for viral nucleic acid 36 hours after birth; one was stillbirth due to unknown reason, but intrauterine vertical transmission was excluded; one neonatal death in a critically ill mother undergoing cesarean delivery.Conclusions:Pregnant women are less likely to progress to severe COVID-19 and mostly have a good outcome. Despite reports of adverse neonatal outcomes, evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission of 2019-nCoV remains insufficient.
9. Investigation of hearing loss and speech recognition ability of the elderly and analysis of its high risk factors
Honglei ZHANG ; Xuechen GONG ; Xuejing HAO ; Jie DENG ; Hongyi LIU ; Di WU ; Xiaoxiu HUO ; Rui GUO
Chinese Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2019;54(2):116-120
Objective:
To investigate the hearing loss and speech disorders in the elderly, to analyze the risk factors of the elderly deafness, as well as to provide reference for the clinical research of the elderly deafness.
Methods:
From March 2016 to March 2018, 913 elderly people, who were tested for hearing and speech disorders, were examined by a unified questionnaire to investigate the demographic data of the subjects and the related factors of deafness, and the hearing and speech recognition tests were carried out. According to the hearing loss, the hearing impaired group was divided into the hearing impaired group (500, 1 000, 2 000 and 4 000 Hz, the average hearing threshold>25 dBHL) and the non hearing impaired group (the average hearing threshold of the four frequencies ≤25 dBHL), and then the single factor analysis and the unconditional
10.Study on Losses and Gains of Medical Insurance Funds Induced by Essential Medicine System in a County
Ge BAI ; Zhaohua HUO ; Shiying HE ; Yabing ZHANG ; Wanying LI ; Shuai ZHOU ; Xiaolin CAO ; Tiantian ZHANG ; Ruiming DAI ; Yinan ZHOU ; Liang ZHOU ; Xuechen XIONG ; Li LUO
China Pharmacy 2018;29(11):1441-1444
OBJECTIVE:To explore losses and gains (L&G) and L&G ratio induced by Essential Medicine System in a county. METHODS:By choosing a county in western China as sample area,field investigation was used to collect outpatient and inpatient visits,outpatient and inpatient income,drug income,total length of stay and medical insurance reimbursement criteria in primary medical institutions (township health centers,village health rooms) of the county during 2009-2015. By setting the year 2009 as the baseline year,the drug cost reimbursed by medical insurance was simulated and calculated when Essential Medicine System were not implemented;L&G and L&G ratio of medical insurance were calculated by comparing with actual drug cost reimbursed by medical insurance. RESULTS:The year 2012,in which the sample county fully implemented the Essential Medicine System was the turning year. Medical insurance funds lost in primary medical institutions of the county during 2010-2011(lost 437000,915000 yuan,respectively),but gained during 2012 to 2015(gained 199000,494000,858000,1290000 yuan, respectively);the L&G ratio increased from -0.67% to 1.21%. For reimbursed outpatient drug cost and inpatient cost,L&G of medical insurance were different. For reimbursed drug cost of village health room and township health center,L&G of medical insurance were also different. CONCLUSIONS:The implementation of Essential Medicine System benefits to medical insurance within the county and Medical insurance funds can be saved.


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