Introduction. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is considered the best index of kidney function. The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD)-Study equation has gained worldwide acceptance for estimating GFR from serum creatinine. Recently the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) group developed a new equation that claims to be more ...

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) 2011 guideline on bioanalytical method validation (BMV) was evaluated and subsequently intensely discussed by the European Bioanalysis Forum (EBF) during a 2-day workshop (EBF Workshop on the implementation of the EMA guideline on BMV, Château de Limelette, Limelette, Belgium, 15-16 March 2012). The goal of ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the methodologic quality of economic analyses published in the field of reproductive medicine. DESIGN: Systematic review. SETTING: Centers for reproductive care. PATIENT(S): Infertility patients. INTERVENTION(S): We performed a Medline search to identify economic evaluation studies in reproductive medicine. We included studies that concerned interventions, evaluated costs and ...

ABSTRACT: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious problem affecting millions and causing death and disability for many. In 2012, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes completed the first ever, international, multidisciplinary, clinical practice guideline for AKI. The guideline is based on evidence review and appraisal, and covers AKI ...

This overview of systematic reviews (SRs) aims to evaluate critically the evidence regarding the adverse effects of herbal medicines (HMs). Five electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant SRs, with 50 SRs of 50 different HMs meeting our inclusion criteria. Most had only minor weaknesses in methods. Serious adverse ...

To better understand experts' perceptions of the definition of overactive bladder (OAB) and the evaluation and treatment of OAB in women. OAB has been defined by the International Continence Society as "urinary urgency, with or without urge urinary incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia." Under the current definition, people with ...

Abstract Objective: To design and evaluate a novel pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) patch containing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) using styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) copolymer. Method: A mixture D-optimal design with ternary response surface diagram was employed in the optimization process. The proportions of SIS copolymer, tackifying resin and plasticizer were selected as ...

Improving antibiotic prescribing practices is an important public-health priority given the widespread antimicrobial resistance. Establishing clinical practice guidelines is crucial to this effort, but their development is a complex task and their quality is directly related to the methodology and source of knowledge used. We present the design and the ...

Recent advances in bronchoscopy have led to changes in clinical diagnostics and therapeutics in pulmonary medicine. In diagnostic bronchoscopy, there have also been new developments in endobronchial ultrasound technology which may be incorporated into clinical practice in the near future. Functional bronchoscopy, which evaluates information such as airway pressure, airflow, ...

Nowadays, a great number of traditional Chinese patent medicine (TCPM) are used more and more widely to treat cerebral infarction in China. When great attention is paid to using TCPM in the real world, several problems can be identified: ignoring the Chinese medicine (CM) therapeutic principle based on syndrome differentiation, ...

The practical diagnostic value of fecal analysis in the evaluation of patients with chronic nonbloody diarrhea is controversial. It is possible that variations in its value depend on how it is done and how the results are interpreted rather than on its intrinsic value. In the authors' city, stool analysis ...

Medicines are mostly obtained from natural resources such as plants. It is known that animals are a source of many therapeutics. Zootherapy is widespread across most human cultures (El-Kamali 2000; Lev 2003; Machkour-M΄Rabet et al. 2011). The medicinal value of earthworms has been widely known since the history of Asian ...

Functional evaluation of the renal unit has often been quoted as a standard practice for management of stone disease of the upper urinary tract. However, there is very little available evidence from the existing literature to directly support or refute this practice. Here we try to critically review the existing ...

To systematically assess the clinical effectiveness of Chinese medicines for prevention and treatment of radiation esophagitis by meta-analysis. The articles were mainly retrieved from the "CHKD (China Hospital Knowledge Database) periodical full text databank", the "China periodical full text databank", the "CHKD doctor's and Master's degree student full text databank", ...

Diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), became the major pest of Brassica vegetable production in Guangdong, a province in southeastern China, in the late 1980s and has continued to challenge growers, particularly during the spring and autumn. Control has relied on insecticides and, as has happened in other parts ...

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat disease in China for more than five thousand years. Over the last few decades it has been used increasingly in other countries as well. As its use has spread, interest in the adverse effects of traditional Chinese medicine, including epilepsy and epileptic ...

Contemporary Western medicines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), although available in China, have high costs, or major side effects and limited effectiveness. Research efforts have focused on looking for natural products as alternative medicines with low cost and ...

To analyze the clinical practice guideline (CPG) development on 11 common diseases with Chinese medicine (CM) interventions in China. The CPGs of 11 common diseases which could be treated effectively with CM had been published between 1980 and 2010 in China. The 11 diseases include coronary heart disease (angina pectoris), ...

AIMS OF THE STUDY: Value chain analyses are commonly used to understand socioeconomic and power relationships in the production chain from the initial starting material to a final (generally high value) product. These analyses help in terms of understanding economic processes but also have been used in the context of ...

Mumps is an infectious disease caused by the mumps virus. Chinese physicians generally believe that Chinese medicinal herbs are effective in alleviating symptoms and reducing the duration of mumps. Herbalists tend to develop a treatment plan according to the individual's symptoms. To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Chinese medicinal ...

Emperor Shen-Nung was the second of China's mythical emperors (3500-2600 BCE). Widely considered the father of Chinese medicine, he catalogued over 365 species of medicinal plants which he personally tasted. Through his treatise 'Shen Nung Benchau Jing', we relive Emperor Shen-Nung's contribution to urology with reference to his management of ...

The overall goal of this series is to detail the paradigm shift that proteomics will bring to the practice of pediatric medicine and research. Proteomics is the global study of proteins in a biological system, tissue or bodily fluid. This first review will provide a brief overview of proteomics and ...

Chinese herbal medicines are commonly used to treat sore throat in China and are used worldwide by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Their efficacy in treating sore throat has not previously been systematically reviewed. To assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for patients with sore throat. ...

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has made great contributions to human history, especially in China, as has been recorded for thousands of years. The characteristics of TCM in both theory and practice make it different from Conventional Western Medicine (CWM). The characteristics of TCM include phenomenological, philosophical, and methodological aspects. This ...

Market information was combined with predicted input-output relationships in an economic analysis of alternative nutritional management for dual-purpose member herds of the Genesis farmer organization of central coastal Veracruz, Mexico. Cow productivity outcomes for typical management and alternative feeding scenarios were obtained from structured sets of simulations in a companion ...

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a typical traditional medicine (TM) with a long-standing history of preventing and curing diseases in China and other countries in East Asia. Standardization of TCM has been a topic of discussion over the past few decades in China with the goal of promoting advances in ...

In Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), a growth of healthcare centres, and the environmental hazards and public health risks typically accompanying them, increased the need for healthcare waste (HCW) management planning. An effective planning of an HCW management system including components such as the treatment plant siting and an ...

The diversity of epiphytic lichens and the accumulation of selected trace elements in the lichen Flavoparmelia caperata L. (Hale) were used as indicators of pollution around a landfill in central Italy along 14 years of waste management. Lichens revealed an increased deposition for some elements (i.e., Cd, Cr, Fe and ...

As one of cities in the developing countries, a rapid population growth and industrial activities pose many environmental challenges for Jimma city, Ethiopia. One aspect of urban growth posing a threat on sustainable development is poor solid waste management, which results in environmental pollution. The purpose of this study is ...

The management of healthcare waste (HCW) requires special attention due to the risk posed by the presence of hazardous waste. The first step towards this is the issuance of national legislation complemented by policy documents, regulations and technical guidelines. In Ethiopia there is no specific legislation for healthcare waste management ...

As a step towards comprehending what drives the management of construction waste in the occupied Palestinian territory, this paper quantifies construction waste generation and examines how the local contractors' waste management attitudes and behaviour are influenced. Collection of data was based on a survey, carried out in the southern part ...

Rapid advances in our collective understanding of biomolecular structure and, in concert, of biochemical systems, coupled with developments in computational methods, have massively impacted the field of medicinal chemistry over the past two decades, with even greater changes appearing on the horizon. In this perspective, we endeavor to profile some ...

Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp. (Sanskrit: Adhaki, Hindi: Arhar, English: Pigeon pea, Bengali: Tur) (family: Fabaceae) is the most important grain legume crop of rain-fed agriculture in semi-arid tropics. It is both a food crop and a cover/forage crop with high levels of proteins and important amino acids like methionine, lysine ...

E-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in Iran, owing to an increase in consumption of electrical and electronic equipment. Nevertheless, as is the case in some other countries, E-waste management has not received sufficient attention. For the successful implementation of any waste management plan (including an E-waste management ...

Waste prevention has been addressed in the literature in terms of the social and behavioural aspects, but very little quantitative assessment exists of the environmental benefits. Our study evaluates the environmental consequences of waste prevention on waste management systems and on the wider society, using life-cycle thinking. The partial prevention ...

Inappropriate solid waste management practices in schools in less-developed countries, particularly in major urban communities, constitute one of the major factors leading to declining environmental health conditions. The objective of the authors' descriptive, cross-sectional study was to assess solid waste management problems in selected urban schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. Eight ...

Most beneficial management practices (BMPs) recommended for reducing nutrient losses from agricultural land have been established and tested in temperate and humid regions. Previous studies on the effects of these BMPs in cold-climate regions, especially at the small watershed scale, are rare. In this study, runoff and water quality were ...

Neonatal purpura fulminans is a rare, life-threatening condition, caused by congenital or acquired deficiencies of protein C or S. The condition is often fatal unless there is early recognition of the clinical symptoms, prompt diagnosis, and judicious replacement therapy is initiated. The clinical presentation is that of acute disseminated intravascular ...

Recent studies indicated that municipal solid waste (MSW) is a major contributor to global warming due to extensive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). However, most of them focused on investigating impacts of MSW on GHG emission amounts. This study presents two mixed integer bilevel decision-making models for integrated municipal solid ...

This paper seeks to examine the provisions for extended producer responsibility (EPR) within the Malaysian environmental and waste management policies and to determine its existing practice and future prospects in Malaysia. Malaysian waste generation has been increasing drastically where solid waste generation was estimated to increase from about 9.0 million ...

A survey of healthcare waste management practices and their implications for health and the environment was carried out. The study assessed waste management practices in 20 healthcare facilities ranging in capacity from 40 to 600 beds in Ikorodu and metropolitan Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. The prevailing healthcare waste management status ...

Context: Crocus sativus Linn. (Iridaceae), commonly known as saffron, becomes more and more popular due to its versatile biological and medicinal properties. At present, studies mainly focus on the traditional medicinal part, the saffron stigma, with less attention to the other parts of saffron, such as the perianth, the stamen, ...

Fruit processing industries generate tremendous amount of solid wastes which is almost 35-40% dry weight of the total produce used for the manufacturing of juices. These solid wastes, referred to as, "pomace" contain high moisture content (70-75%) and biodegradable organic load (high BOD and COD values) so that their management ...

Bioactivation of xenobiotics can, in certain circumstances, result in the formation of reactive electrophilic species. These reactive metabolites may covalently modify proteins and macromolecules and it has been suggested that protein modification is a key initial step in provoking idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions. Understanding these bioactivation pathways is critical in ...

This article analyses the pressures on seahorses and explores conservation responses. It focuses on seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) but also considers pipefishes and seadragons, especially where they can fill gaps in seahorse knowledge. The charisma of many syngnathids can make them good flagship species for threats and solutions in marine conservation. ...

Supply utilization misalignments are commonly found in eight areas: Standardization, Over-specification, Under-specification, Too many hand-offs, Missing the big picture, Value mismatches, New technology, Old technology.

The practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) requires the ability to adequately appraise relevant clinical evidence with the intention of making an evidence-based treatment decision. Broadly, there are three available sources of information available to the practicing clinician: individual studies, reviews of the literature, and practice guidelines. In the first article ...

Narrative medicine is one of medicine's most important internal reforms, and it should be a critical dimension of healthcare debate. Healthcare reform must eventually ask not only how do we pay for healthcare and how do we distribute it, but more fundamentally, what kind of healthcare do we want? It ...

BACKGROUND: Prescription medicine borrowing and sharing has received not much attention in the research literature, despite serious potential health risks. Although this behaviour is prevalent across all ages, it appears to be particularly high amongst young adults. AIMS: To determine the prevalence and the characteristics of sharing and borrowing medicines ...

The Ganoderma species are mushrooms used for herbal medicinal purposes in northeast Asia. Two cases of simultaneous reversible pancytopenia following the consumption of decoction of Ganoderma neojaponicum Imazeki are presented. Other than decoction of G. neojaponicum Imazeki no cause of pancytopenia could be identified. The patients recovered fully after conservative ...