1.QingNangTCM: a parameter-efficient fine-tuning large language model for traditional Chinese medicine
Xuming TONG ; Liyan LIU ; Yanhong YUAN ; Xiaozheng DING ; Huiru JIA ; Xu YANG ; Sio Kei IM ; Mini Han WANG ; Zhang XIONH ; Yapeng WANG
Digital Chinese Medicine 2026;9(1):1-12
Objective:
To develop QingNangTCM, a specialized large language model (LLM) tailored for expert-level traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) question-answering and clinical reasoning, addressing the scarcity of domain-specific corpora and specialized alignment.
Methods:
We constructed QnTCM_Dataset, a corpus of 100 000 entries, by integrating data from ShenNong_TCM_Dataset and SymMap v2.0, and synthesizing additional samples via retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and persona-driven generation. The dataset comprehensively covers diagnostic inquiries, prescriptions, and herbal knowledge. Utilizing P-Tuning v2, we fine-tuned the GLM-4-9B-Chat backbone to develop QingNangTCM. A multi-dimensional evaluation framework, assessing accuracy, coverage, consistency, safety, professionalism, and fluency, was established using metrics such as bilingual evaluation understudy (BLEU), recall-oriented understudy for gisting evaluation (ROUGE), metric for evaluation of translation with explicit ordering (METEOR), and LLM-as-a-Judge with expert review. Qualitative analysis was conducted across four simulated clinical scenarios: symptom analysis, disease treatment, herb inquiry, and failure cases. Baseline models included GLM-4-9B-Chat, DeepSeek-V2, HuatuoGPT-II (7B), and GLM-4-9B-Chat (freeze-tuning).
Results:
QingNangTCM achieved the highest scores in BLEU-1/2/3/4 (0.425/0.298/0.137/0.064), ROUGE-1/2 (0.368/0.157), and METEOR (0.218), demonstrating a balanced and superior normalized performance profile of 0.900 across the dimensions of accuracy, coverage, and consistency. Although its ROUGE-L score (0.299) was lower than that of HuatuoGPT-II (7B) (0.351), it significantly outperformed domain-specific models in expert-validated win rates for professionalism (86%) and safety (73%). Qualitative analysis confirmed that the model strictly adheres to the “symptom-syndrome-pathogenesis-treatment” reasoning chain, though occasional misclassifications and hallucinations persisted when dealing with rare medicinal materials and uncommon syndromes.
Conclusion
Combining domain-specific corpus construction with parameter-efficient prompt tuning enhances the reasoning behavior and domain adaptation of LLMs for TCM-related tasks. This work provides a technical framework for the digital organization and intelligent utilization of TCM knowledge, with potential value for supporting diagnostic reasoning and medical education.
2.Clinical Efficacy of Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Combination with Chinese Herbal Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis:A Retrospective Study and A Meta-analysis
Chenguang ZHAN ; Shengqin YANG ; Xin LI ; Yu WEN ; Peng ZHANG ; Xingrui YAN ; Haifang DU ; Maojie WANG ; Xiaodong WU ; Liyan MEI ; Xiumin CHEN ; Yanlin LI ; Runyue HUANG
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;67(5):534-543
ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors combined with Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MethodsClinical data from 169 RA patients were retrospectively collected. Among them, 71 cases received JAK inhibitors as the control group, while 98 cases received JAK inhibitors plus CHM as the observation group, both treated for 24 weeks. The rheumatoid factor (RF), cyclic citic peptide antibody (anti-CCP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cell count (WBC) were recorded before and after treatment. Databases including CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed and Web of Science were searched from inception till August 31st, 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the combined use of JAK inhibitors and CHM for RA. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the risk of bias assessment tool. Meta-analyses were performed for RF, anti-CCP, ESR, CRP, 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28), overall clinical effective rate, and incidence of adverse events. Sensitivity analysis were also performed. ResultsThe retrospective study demonstrated that after treatment, ESR, CRP, and anti-CCP levels decreased in the observation group, while ESR and CRP levels decreased in the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, ESR and RF levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). A total of 9 RCTs involving 770 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that the JAK inhibitors plus CHM group was superior to the JAK inhibitors group in reducing RF (MD=-8.97, 95%CI -15.01 to -2.94, P=0.004), CRP (MD=-3.34, 95%CI -3.82 to -2.86, P<0.001), ESR (MD=-5.33, 95%CI -7.98 to -2.69, P<0.001), and DAS28 score (MD=-0.54, 95%CI -0.74 to -0.34, P<0.001), as well as in improving the overall clinical effective rate (OR=4.53, 95%CI 2.55 to 8.03, P<0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in anti-CCP levels (SMD=-2.08, 95%CI -4.41 to 0.24, P=0.080) or incidence of adverse events (OR=0.93, 95%CI 0.55 to 1.57, P=0.790). ConclusionThe combination of JAK inhibitors and CHM demonstrates remarkable efficacy in treating RA, contributing to improved disease activity and reduced inflammatory markers with a favorable safety profile.
3.A comparative study of the ethical review exemption system between China and the United States
Liyan ZHAO ; Yumei ZHANG ; Ruishuang LIU
Chinese Medical Ethics 2026;39(5):616-623
The ethical review exemption system was introduced to meet the needs of modernized ethical governance, implement hierarchical management for ethical review projects involving human subjects, and explore an ethical management model that reduces procedural supervision for specific types of research involving no greater than minimal risk. Through a comparative study, this paper seeks to elaborate on the differences between China and the United States (US) in the ethical review exemption system from multiple aspects, such as ethical regulations, risk definition, preconditions, applicable scenarios, and operational procedures. The aim is to provide references for ethical review committees to better implement the ethical review exemption system, enhance policy research, and ensure the fairness and objectivity of ethical review. Through the comparative study of the ethics review exemption system in China and the US, the following recommendations are proposed for institutions implementing the ethical review exemption system for reference. First, the system should clearly define the meaning of ethical review exemption to prevent researchers or even committee members from misunderstanding it as falling outside the scope of ethical review, thereby exposing research participants’ rights and interests to unnecessary risks. Second, the system should specifically explain the preconditions, including the requirements for research types and research risks. Among them, risks should be considered from multiple dimensions such as physiology, psychology, society, and economy. Clear explanations should be provided for involving commercial interests and sensitive personal information. Finally, the system should establish basic principles and judgment criteria for applicable scenarios, including specifying exactly what the public data refers to and legal requirements that need to be met, providing a concept of anonymization to distinguish it from deidentified information data, and clarifying the relevant regulations and ethical principles to be followed, as well as the clear requirements for informed consent.
4.Guidelines for the management of therapeutic drug monitoring
Zhengxiang LI ; Liyan MIAO ; Rong DUAN ; Xiaocong ZUO ; Xianglin ZHANG ; Zhuo WANG ; Miao YAN ; Lingli ZHANG ; Rongsheng ZHAO ; Suodi ZHAI ; Guobiao GAO ; Jinhui TIAN
China Pharmacy 2026;37(11):1381-1392
OBJECTIVE To further standardize the technical operations and management processes throughout therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), clarify the clinical value of TDM implementation, improve the scientific validity and reliability of monitoring results, and provide a solid reference basis for the formulation and optimization of clinical individualized precision dosing regimens. METHODS The Guidelines for the Management of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring were formulated in accordance with the latest definition of guidelines by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the standard guideline development methodology of the World Health Organization, and in compliance with the requirements of the appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation. A modified Delphi method was adopted to establish the research question system; evidence-based medicine research methods were applied to systematically search multiple databases to screen the latest and most comprehensive evidence. Evidence was graded and evaluated based on the evidence grading system of the Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Center, and the grading criteria for recommendation strength from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine were used to determine the recommendation strength. The recommendation opinions were formed through multidisciplinary expert consensus. RESULTS The Guidelines for the Management of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring cover four core modules, including TDM application indications, technical procedures, result interpretation and clinical application, and quality control, involving 18 primary research questions, 34 secondary research questions, and yield 82 recommendations. CONCLUSIONS The guidelines systematically standardize the key technical links and management requirements of the whole TDM process, provide scientific and operable standardized tools, help improve the standardization level of TDM work, promote the translation of monitoring results into clinical decision-making, and provide strong support for precision personalized medicine and ensuring the safety and rationality of medication use.
6.Effects of wearable electronic device-based interventions on physical activity and sedentary behavior in healthy adolescents:a meta-analysis
Yida WANG ; Jun LIU ; Xiaoling WANG ; Liyan WANG ; Chengru YANG ; Xuexiao ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(8):1693-1704
OBJECTIVE:Although wearable electronic devices have demonstrated potential utility as intervention tools to enhance physical activity,comprehensive evaluations of their specific effects on the healthy adolescent population remain scarce.Consequently,this article aims to systematically explore and summarize the impact of interventions based on wearable electronic devices on the physical activity and sedentary behavior of healthy adolescents,thereby providing more precise and reliable evidence-based support for public health practices. METHODS:Randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of wearable electronic device-based interventions on the physical activity and sedentary behavior of healthy adolescents were retrieved from databases including Web of Science,PubMed,Scopus,The Cochrane Library,and EBSCO.Meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 17,evaluating the effects of interventions on physical activity and sedentary behavior through the standardized mean difference.To ensure the robustness of the research findings,a Leave-One-Out sensitivity analysis was conducted,and subgroup analyses were carried out to explore the potential influence of different factors on the results.The review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews(CRD42023406645). RESULTS:(1)Twelve publications were ultimately included,consisting of three randomized controlled trials and nine cluster-randomized controlled trials,involving a total of 4 933 healthy adolescents.(2)Meta-analysis results revealed that interventions based on wearable electronic devices had a positive effect on moderate to vigorous physical activity[standardized mean difference(SMD)=0.10;95%confidence interval(CI):0.04 to 0.17;P<0.05).However,the interventions did not significantly improve low-intensity physical activity(SMD=-0.15;95%CI:-0.32 to 0.02;P>0.05),daily step count(SMD=0.13;95%CI:-0.65 to 0.91;P>0.05),and sedentary behavior(SMD=0.00;95%CI:-0.09 to 0.09;P>0.05).(3)Subgroup analyses indicated that short-term interventions(≤12 weeks)(SMD=0.11;95%CI:0.03 to 0.18;P=0.008),studies using pedometers worn at the waist or hip(SMD=0.10;95%CI:0.04 to 0.17;P=0.002),and experiments registered at clinical trial centers(SMD=0.11;95%CI:0.04 to 0.17;P=0.001)had a more significant effect on enhancing daily moderate to vigorous physical activity. CONCLUSION:The current evidence suggests that interventions based on wearable electronic devices possess certain advantages in enhancing the daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of healthy adolescents.It is recommended that interventions not exceeding 12 weeks and utilizing pedometers positioned at the waist or hip may yield more favorable results.However,the effects of these interventions on daily step count,low-intensity physical activity,and sedentary behavior exhibit some limitations.Consequently,future investigations necessitate higher-quality,larger-scale randomized controlled trials for further validation.
7.Distribution characteristics of infectious respiratory particles in hospital waiting rooms
Haixia ZHANG ; Jianxin MA ; Boyu WAN ; Liyan AI ; Shuyi YANG ; Wenjing LI
Chinese Journal of Infection Control 2025;24(10):1443-1451
Objective To analyze the distribution characteristics of infectious respiratory particles(IRPs)in hospi-tal waiting rooms,and explore the impact of indoor air environmental on the distribution characteristics of bacterial IRPs.Methods In the summer and winter of 2024,nine waiting rooms in non-infectious departments of three ter-tiary hospitals in a district of Beijing were selected for on-site investigation on basic conditions.Concentration and distribution of particle diameter of cultivable bacteria from 36 air specimens collected by the impacting method were analyzed.Cyclone method was employed to collect 36 IRPs specimens.Major respiratory pathogens were analyzed by fluorescence polymerase chain reaction(PCR).Results The median of the total bacterial count in IRPs in the waiting rooms in summer was 1 035 CFU/m3,which was higher than that in winter(295 CFU/m3),with statisti-cally significant difference(P<0.05).The orders of medians of the total bacterial count from IRPs of different types in the waiting rooms in both summer and winter were as follows:emergency department waiting room<re-spiratory department waiting room<pediatric waiting room<general outpatient waiting room.There was no sta-tistically significant difference in the total bacterial count among different waiting rooms(P>0.05).Particle diame-ter of bacterial IRPs in the waiting rooms in summer and winter mainly distributed in the range of<4.7 μm,ac-counting for 73.77%and 69.44%,respectively.The total number of bacteria in IRPs in the waiting rooms was positively correlated with indoor air temperature,relative humidity,PM10,and PM2.5(all P<0.01),while nega-tively correlated with indoor wind speed(all P<0.01).The types of respiratory infectious and non-infectious pathogens detected from IRPs in different types of waiting rooms were different between summer and winter.The pathogens detected in summer were mainly concentrated in respiratory non-infectious pathogens(Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae,Staphylococcus aureus).In winter,respiratory infectious pathogens(virus and Mycoplas-ma pneumoniae)were detected.The types of detected pathogens in different types of waiting rooms were different.Non-infectious respiratory pathogens detected from IRPs in winter were mainly Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae,and Staphylococcus aureus.Conclusion Particle diameter of bacterial IRPs in the waiting room is mainly<4.7 μm.These particles can enter the lower respiratory tract of human body,and pose potential risk to health.The detection of main infectious and non-infectious respiratory pathogens from IRPs in waiting rooms suggests risk of exposure to infection for patients and healthcare workers.
8.Application of EAERI support strategy in the recovery of patient safety incidents by the second victim
Huifang QIU ; Liyan WANG ; Yanhua LIU ; Xiaohong ZHANG ; Jiaqi CHEN ; Rongxin DU
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(1):28-34
Objective:To explore the effect of EAERI (E: environment; A: accompany; E: emotion; R: respect; I: information) support strategies in the application of nurse second victims in restoring the passage of a patient safety incident, and to provide support to nurse second victims experiencing a safety incident in restoring the incident and mitigating secondary victimization from the incident.Methods:The method of historical comparison was adopted. A convenience sampling method was used to select nurses who experienced patient safety events in Shanxi Bethune Hospital (Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences) from January 2023 to February 2024 as the study subjects, which were divided into observation group and control group by the historical control grouping method. The observation group used the EAERI support strategy for patient safety incident reduction, and the control group used the conventional reduction method. The second victims of the nurses in both groups were assessed for their level of harm and support in the patient safety incident using the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool before and after the event reduction, respectively.Results:A total of 124 second victims completed the study. There were 63 cases in the control group, including 13 males and 50 females, with an age of (30.24 ± 4.91) years old. There were 20 males and 41 females in the observation group, with an age of (30.85 ± 5.50) years old. Before the restoration event, there was no significant differences in the total scores of victim experience and support, the degree of injury and the degree of support between the two groups (all P>0.05). The total scores of victim experience and support, the degree of injury and the degree of support were (89.35 ± 10.69), (44.57 ± 6.19), (44.78 ± 9.40) points in the control group, and (64.13 ± 9.36), (33.56 ± 8.84), (30.56 ± 3.17) points in the observation group. The differences were significant between the two groups ( t=14.02, 8.07, 11.29, all P<0.01). Conclusions:The EAERI support strategy is feasible and effective. The implementation of the EAERI support strategy can reduce the degree of injury when the second victim of the nurse restores the safety incident and improve the degree of support.
9.Development of a clinical practice training system for postgraduate graduates of the oral nursing profession
Lixia KUANG ; Yu ZHANG ; Lu BAI ; Guangma WANG ; Jingyan YU ; Xuemei YANG ; Liyan MAO ; Xiaoqin BI
Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 2025;41(23):1765-1772
Objective:To construct a clinical practice training system for master′s degree students specializing in oral nursing based on the competency iceberg model for job performance, and to provide a valuable reference for the clinical training of master′s students in oral nursing.Methods:The research team initially formulated the components of the clinical practice training system through an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews. From October 17, 2023, to November 13, 2023, the Delphi expert consultation methodology was utilized to facilitate two rounds of inquiries involving 20 specialists in the domain of oral care.Results:The positive coefficients of the two rounds of expert inquiries were 95.24% (20/21) and 100.00% (21/21). The authority coefficients were 0.925 and 0.929, while the variation coefficients ranged from 0.00 to 0.22 and from 0.05 to 0.11. Additionally, Kendall′s harmony coefficients were 0.229 and 0.319 (both P<0.01). The finalized training system included training objectives, training content, training requirements and examinations, totaling 3 first-level items, 18 second-level items and 67 third-level items. Conclusions:The training system of clinical practice for oral nursing graduate students constructed in this study is informative and reliable, and can provide reference for clinical practice of professional postgraduates in oral nursing.
10.Research progress on influencing factors and countermeasures of scientific research outputs among medical personnel
Xin CHEN ; Liyan LONG ; Lei ZHANG ; Jiajun DU ; Tingfang LIU
Modern Hospital 2025;25(3):476-479
As the main body of scientific research and innovation in hospitals,timely understanding of medical person-nel's scientific research outputs and its influencing factors has practical guiding significance for hospital management to identify scientific research talents,formulate targeted training programs,customize relevant science and technology policies,etc.This ar-ticle will comprehensively elaborate the concept of scientific research outputs,evaluation methods and influencing factors of scien-tific research outputs among medical personnel.Meanwhile,the article will provide suggestions for influencing factors,in order to provide references for the hospital management in the future.

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