Knowledge Domain and Emerging Trends of Chinese Medicine in Management of Pediatric Asthma: A Scientometric Study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the intellectual landscape and emerging research trends of Chinese medicine (CM) in the management of pediatric asthma through a scientometric study. METHODS: Publications related to CM in the management of pediatric asthma were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using relevant keywords. A scientometric study was performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. RESULTS: A total of 1,673 original articles and reviews from 1991 to 2019 were included in the analysis. The amount of annual publications had a gradual increase with time. USA was the major contributor both in country and institution analyses. Based on the co-citation, the published journals were grouped into 4 clusters. Keyword analysis indicated that the main hotspots were: (1) comprehensive management; (2) risk factors, mechanism, and prevalence; (3) prevention and treatment; (4) inflammation; and (5) environmental research. Lastly, we predicted that three emerging trends were quality of life promotion, immune response, and combination therapy. CONCLUSIONS: CM research in the management of pediatric asthma will maintain the current trend of steady growth. This scientometric analysis may help scientists to identify the areas of interests and future directions in the field.

Application of Chinese Medicine in the Management of Critical Conditions: A Review on Sepsis.

Critical care medicine is a medical specialty engaging the diagnosis and treatment of critically ill patients who have or are likely to have life-threatening organ failure. Sepsis, a life-threatening condition that arises when the body responds to infection, is currently the major cause of death in intensive care units (ICU). Although progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology of sepsis, many drawbacks in sepsis treatment remains unresolved. For example, antimicrobial resistance, controversial of glucocorticoids use, prolonged duration of ICU care and the subsequent high cost of the treatment. Recent years have witnessed a growing trend of applying traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in sepsis management. The TCM application emphasizes use of herbal formulation to balance immune responses to infection, which include clearing heat and toxin, promoting blood circulation and removing its stasis, enhancing gastrointestinal function, and strengthening body resistance. In this paper, we will provide an overview of the current status of Chinese herbal formulations, single herbs, and isolated compounds, as an add-on therapy to the standard Western treatment in the sepsis management. With the current trajectory of worldwide pandemic eruption of newly identified Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), the adjuvant TCM therapy can be used in the ICU to treat critically ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

[Correlation between social psychology and personality characteristics and treatment options for adult patients with skeletal malocclusion].

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore factors affecting the dental aesthetic social psychology of patients with skeletal malocclusion and to measure the relationship between the objective orthodontic requirements and the subjective treatment requirements of patients. This work provides a reference for doctors to measure patients' orthodontic treatment needs. METHODS: Adult patients with skeletal malocclusion were chosen as the research object. Questionnaire survey was used to analyze factors influencing the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics questionnaire (PIDAQ), index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN), and Eysenck personality questionnaire-revised short scale for Chinese (EPQ-RSC). The relationship among PIDAQ, IOTN, EPQ-RSC, and treatment options was also evaluated. RESULTS: Seventy-two valid questionnaires were collected from adult patients with skeletal malocclusion. 1) The PIDAQ scores significantly differed among different occupations (P<0.05) but were not affected by other general conditions such as gender and age. 2) Patients of different dental health component (DHC) grade and ages had different AC self-assessment scores (P<0.01, P<0.05). The AC self-assessment score was positively correlated with the PIDAQ score (P<0.05). 3) Males accounted for a higher proportion of patients who received treatment. Younger patients (18-28 years old) were more likely to receive treat-ment when their own dental aesthetics were poor. People with the higher monthly expenditure accounted for the larger proportion of surgical patients. 4) The PIDAQ score had no significant effects on the choice of opera-tion (P>0.05). People with low educational level were more likely to receive surgery if their psychosocial impacts of dental aes-thetics were serious. 5) The score of psychoticism scale of EPQ-RSC and the educa-tional level had a mutual influence on the PIDAQ score (P<0.01). Moreover, the neuroticism scale and AC self-assessment scores had a mutual influence on the PIDAQ score (P<0.05). However, this study did not find a correlation between personality traits and treatment options. CONCLUSIONS: Many factors, such as personal natural conditions, subjective aesthetic evaluation of teeth, and psychosocial impacts of dental aesthetics, affect patients' treatment options. Personality characteristics can play a certain role in dental aesthetics social psychology.

Comparative Long-Term Effectiveness of a Monotherapy with Five Antiepileptic Drugs for Focal Epilepsy in Adult Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare long-term effectiveness of five antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for monotherapy of adult patients with focal epilepsy in routine clinical practice. METHODS: Adult patients with focal epilepsy, who were prescribed with carbamazepine (CBZ), valproate (VPA), lamotrigine (LTG), topiramate (TPM), or oxcarbazepine (OXC) as monotherapy, during the period from January 2004 to June 2012 registered in Wenzhou Epilepsy Follow Up Registry Database (WEFURD), were included in the study. Prospective long-term follow-up was conducted until June 2013. The endpoints were time to treatment failure, time to seizure remission, and time to first seizure. RESULTS: This study included 654 patients: CBZ (n=125), VPA (n=151), LTG (n=135), TPM (n=76), and OXC (n=167). The retention rates of CBZ, VPA, LTG, TPM, and OXC at the third year were 36.1%, 32.4%, 57.6%, 37.9%, and 41.8%, respectively. For time to treatment failure, LTG was significantly better than CBZ and VPA (LTG vs. CBZ, hazard ratio, [HR] 0.80 [95% confidence interval: 0.67-0.96], LTG vs. VPA, 0.53 [0.37-0.74]); TPM was worse than LTG (TPM vs. LTG, 1.77 [1.15-2.74]), and OXC was better than VPA (0.86 [0.78-0.96]). After initial target doses, the seizure remission rates of CBZ, VPA, LTG, TPM, and OXC were 63.0%, 77.0%, 83.6%, 67.9%, and 75.3%, respectively. LTG was significantly better than CBZ (1.44 [1.15-1.82]) and OXC (LTG vs. OXC, 0.76 [0.63-0.93]); OXC was less effective than LTG in preventing the first seizure (1.20 [1.02-1.40]). CONCLUSION: LTG was the best, OXC was better than VPA only, while VPA was the worst. The others were equivalent for comparisons between five AEDs regarding the long-term treatment outcomes of monotherapy for adult patients with focal epilepsy in a clinical practice. For selecting AEDs for these patients among the first-line drugs, LTG is an appropriate first choice; others are reservation in the first-line but VPA is not.

One-pot formation of chiral polysubstituted 3,4-dihydropyrans via a novel organocatalytic domino sequence involving alkynal self-condensation.

The self-condensation of alkynals was for the first time implemented under mild organocatalytic conditions and was successfully linked with a domino organocatalytic inverse-electron-demand oxa-Diels-Alder reaction, which led to the development of a facile one-pot method to produce a wide variety of polysubstituted chiral 3,4-dihydropyrans with good to high yields and diastereoselectivities and high enantioselectivities. The unprecedented alkynal self-condensation was revealed to pass through secondary amine-catalyzed C-C triple bond hydration and subsequent aldol condensation.