[Yang Shoushan Medical Cases in the Wumen Medical School].

The unique manuscript, Yang Shoushan Medical Cases, is now held by the library of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.It is the medical cases collection of Yang Shoushan, a well-known doctor of Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty.It was found that the number of medical cases and the details of each case recorded in this book were much more than that in his other existing medical writings. It greatly enriches the historical materials for the study of Yang's clinical characteristics and academic thought.Its compiler was Huang Shounan, a physician and calligrapher in Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.This book was not recorded as a book compiled by Huang Shounan before now. This book was believed to be completed in 1890.

[Miao Zunyi - his life, writings and students].

Miao Zunyi was an influential physician in the mid-Qing Dynasty. He was self-taught as he read a great amount of prescription books of traditional Chinese medicine. He was proficient in medical theories but flexible in treatment. It was recorded in Draft of Qing History that Miao Zunyi, Ye Tianshi and Xue Shengbai were named as "the three schools of Wuzhong". He began to write books in his later years. He wrote prefaces to Pulse Causes, Syndrome and Treatment (Mai Yin Zheng Zhi) and Wu Yi Hui Jiang. His existing works include Treatise on Febrile Disease (Shang Han Ji Zhu), Wen Re Lang Zhao, Song Xin Notes and Song Xin Medical Cases. Miao's Medical Cases and Song Xin Tang Yi An Jing Yan Chao. He had many remarkable students, such like Huang Tang, Guan Ding, Miao Song, and Shen Nianzu.

[The Ding medical family in Jiangpu in the Ming and the Qing Dynasties].

The Jiangpu Ding family was a Gentry Family with many scholars in Nanjing, running through the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. Successful in both medicine and the imperial examination, talents in various fields emerged in large numbers over more than ten generations. Their practice of medicine began with Ding Zhongbao from the original generation, and the second generation of Ding Yi was promoted from a doctor to a local medical officer. From the fifth generation, Ding Feng, became a famous doctor.However, only Ding Yi and Ding Feng were professional doctors in the whole family lineage. The Ding's were still a Gentry Family in essence. The feature of the family was that the Ding's kept their medical background and interests although there existed no professional doctors after Ding Feng in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. This is because the Ding family expected their heirs to acquire medical skills. The Ding's had a number of medical books handed down, such as The Collection of Prescriptions, The Collection of Jade Letters of Pox Department and The Eight Things of Practicing Medicine.

Wound healing effects of porcine placental extracts on rats with thermal injury.

BACKGROUND: Placental extracts have been used as Chinese folk medicines to accelerate wound healing. However, the molecular mechanism of placental extracts on wound healing has not been identified. It is known that fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and transforming growth factors (TGF) are two key factors involved in wound healing. OBJECTIVES: To determine the molecular mechanism of placental extracts on wound healing. METHODS: The protein levels of both growth factors in rat skins with thermal injury were therefore studied to explore the molecular mechanism of placental extracts on wound healing. As cell proliferation is essential for wound healing, effects of placental extracts on fibroblast proliferation were also determined. RESULTS: As compared with the controls, the S phase of fibroblasts was significantly increased by 1.5-, 1.7- and 4.7-fold for 1, 10 and 30 mg mL(-1) of placental extracts, respectively. The increase of the S phase was not due to the minute amount of sex hormones in the placental extracts as the addition of equivalent amounts of hormones showed no increase of the S phase. In addition, a 2.5-fold increase of TGF-beta1 in wound skin biopsy was noticed with 30 mg mL(-1) of porcine placental extracts. The FGF levels in the wound skin receiving 30 mg mL(-1) of porcine placental extracts were also significantly increased compared with the controls. CONCLUSIONS: These ex vivo data support the observation that the application of 30 mg mL(-1) of placental extracts reduced the wound healing time by about 50%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to explore the molecular mechanisms of porcine placental extracts on wound healing. These results may provide the insight into the potential use of porcine placental extracts as an alternative medicine for accelerating wound healing.

Peanut roots as a source of resveratrol.

A potent antioxidant, resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene), was extracted using 80% methanol from peanut roots (Arachis hypogaea L.), isolated with a solid-phase extraction column, purified by a semipreparative HPLC, and identified with 1H NMR and MS. The highest and lowest resveratrol contents in the peanut roots of 2000 fall and 2001 spring crops were 1.330 and 0.130 mg/g and 0.063 and 0.015 mg/g, respectively. When the dehydrated peanut root powders of spring and fall crops were combined and cooked with pork-fat patties (1%, w/w) and the separated oils were stored at 60 degrees C for conjugated diene hydroperoxide (CDHP) determination, CDHP contents of the control oils increased after 3 days of storage, whereas the contents in the peanut root-treated oils of spring and fall crops did not increase after 9 and 15 days of storage, respectively. It is of merit to find that peanut roots, usually left in the field as agricultural waste, contain resveratrol and bear potent antioxidative activity.

Using a computerized patient database to evaluate guideline adherence and measure patterns of care for major depression.

This study examined the translation of recommendations from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) guidelines for major depression into measures derived from a computerized database to assess guideline conformance and patterns of care for major depression. Patients (n = 208) were identified who were hospitalized for major depression and had two or more outpatient mental health appointments within 6 months of discharge from an academically affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Measures were based on AHCPR guideline recommendations or developed independently. Conformance could be measured for three guideline recommendations. Of patients on single-agent antidepressant therapy, 87% received dosages within the recommended range. Sixty-nine percent received the recommended number of follow-up visits. Specific condition-related treatment interventions were identified in 32% of patients with concurrent alcoholism. Dual diagnoses of depression and drug or alcohol abuse were not deterrents to prescribing benzodiazepines. Despite its limitations, computerized database analyses provided efficient measures of guideline adherence.

Role of calcium in electron-acupuncture analgesia and the developments of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture and morphine.

Role of brain Ca2+ in electro-acupuncture analgesia and the development of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture and morphine were studied. At the same time, the inhibition by protein synthesis inhibitors of the development of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture was observed. The results showed that like morphine tolerance, the brain Ca2+ and cAMP levels in mice were enhanced with the development of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture. After treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors anisomycin, actinomycin or cycloheximide the development of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture was inhibited, and concurrently, the brain Ca2+ and cAMP levels in the animals greatly reduced. From the changes of brain Ca2+ and cAMP levels, the analgesic effects by electro-acupuncture, morphine and lanthanides seem to be very similar and share a mutual ion basis and the mechanism of action. So does the development of analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture and morphine. These findings also suggest that the inhibition induced by the inhibitors of the analgesic tolerance to electro-acupuncture and morphine may be related to synthesis of new peptides or RNA in brain.