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Objectives: The therapeutic effect of acupuncture treatments (AT) on functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) is contentious. A meta‐analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for FGIDs. Methods: The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PUBMED, Web of Science, Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and VIP Database were searched through December 31, 2019 with no language restrictions. Risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to determine the improvement in symptom severity after treatment. Results: A total of 61 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on FGIDs were included. The pooled results illustrated the following: compared to pharmacotherapy (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.09–1.17), placebo acupuncture (RR 1.69, 95% CI 1.37–2.08), no specific treatment (RR 1.86, 95% CI 1.31–2.62), and AT as an adjuvant intervention to other active treatments (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.21–1.30), AT had more favorable improvements in symptom severity; sub‐group analysis results classified according to functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and functional constipation also supported this finding; and the incidence of adverse events was lower in AT than in other treatments (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56–0.99). Conclusions: This meta‐analysis found that AT was significantly associated with relief of FGIDs symptoms; however, the evidence level was moderate or low. Further data from rigorously designed and well powered RCTs are needed to verify the effectiveness and safety of AT as a FGIDs treatment. PROSPERO PROTOCOL NUMBER: CRD42020169508. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the country with the largest aging population, China faces an enormous challenge with its elderly support and care. One of the proposed solutions is the development of volunteerism for elderly care. The Senior Care Volunteers Training Program (SCVTP) was initiated by the Red Cross Society of China with the purpose of training volunteers to care for community seniors. As one of the four pilot provinces, Jiangsu Province launched the program since 2017. Aims: The present study was conducted to investigate the dropout rate of trained volunteer group leaders, the characteristics of the retained trained volunteer group leaders and the activities that their groups conducted. Additionally, the exploration of the factors influencing the SCVTP's performance was listed as another aim. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed. The study used purposive sampling to select participants who meet the criteria from all the trained volunteer group leaders (n = 623). Demographic questionnaire, volunteer role identity (VRI) scale, attitude toward helping others (AHO) scale, team climate and atmosphere (TCA) scale, and volunteer program performance evaluation (VPPE) questionnaire were used to collect the data online. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the dropout rate and general characteristics of the retained volunteers and the activities. A multiple linear regression equation was developed to study the factors that influence program performance. Results: In total, 307 questionnaires were valid in the study. About 67.9%, 53.7%, and 30.0% of the trained volunteer group leaders dropped out of the program in the year of 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. The retained trained volunteer group leaders were more likely to be females (84.7%), those in excellent health (75.2%) and with a bachelor's degree or above (87.6%). Less attention has been paid to frailty care (n = 76) than other volunteer caring activities (e.g., safe care: n = 277, diet care: n = 250, drug management care: n = 226). VRI (β = 0.118, p = 0.017), AHO (β = 0.134, p = 0.021), TCA (β = 0.459, p<0.001), and financial sustainability (β = 0.179, p<0.001) affected the SCVTP's performance significantly (adjusted R2 = 0.356). Conclusion: High rate of trained volunteer group leaders' dropout should be brought to the policymaker's attention. The characteristics of the retained trained volunteer group leaders provide a useful reference for the recruitment of trainees in the future. Frailty care may need more training by the volunteer service provider. In order to enhance program performance, a better team climate and atmosphere, financial sustainability, and volunteers with appropriate attitude and role identity are also necessary for the volunteer program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The separation of rac-o-chloromandelic acid 1 with enantiopure aryloxypropylamine via diastereomeric salt formation was investigated. ( R)- o-chloromandelic acid ( R)- 1, a key intermediate for the antithrombotic agent clopidogrel, was obtained in 65% yield and 98% ee by Dutch resolution of rac- 1 with ( S)-2-hydroxyl-3-( p-chlorophenoxy) propylamine ( S)- 5 as resolving agent and ( S)-2-hydroxyl-3-( o-nitrophenoxy) propylamine ( S)- 4 as nucleation inhibitor. Chirality 24:1013-1017, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the methodological and reporting quality of diagnosis and treatment guidelines for hyperuricemia as well as the expert consensuses and promote the understanding and application of the diagnosis and treatment guidelines for hyperuricemia. With &quot;hyperuricemia&quot; &quot;guidelines&quot; &quot;consensus&quot; &quot;recommendations&quot; as the key words in titles, the authors searched for the published clinical guidelines on hyperuricemia in Chinese against CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Medlive and the official website of the industry association. The retrieval time limit was until May 31, 2021. The appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation Ⅱ(AGREEⅡ) and the reporting items for practice guidelines in health care(RIGHT) were employed to evaluate the methodological quality and reporting quality of 14 guidelines/consensuses included. The average scores of the guidelines/consensuses were 80.85%(48.61%-98.61%) for the domain of scope and purpose, 34.52%(0-69.44%) for the domain of stakeholder involvement, 35.53%(6.25%-92.19%) for the domain of rigor of development, 55.85%(23.61%-86.11%) for the domain of clarity of presentation, 26.19%(0-76.04%) for the domain of applicability, and 21.42%(0-50.00%) for the domain of editorial independence. Nine guidelines/consensuses were of medium overall quality with grade B recommendation, and five guidelines/consensuses were of poor quality with grade C recommendation. The RIGHT classified the fourteen guidelines/consensuses into one of high reporting quality, three of medium reporting quality, and ten of low reporting quality. The results of this study indicate that the standardization and rigor of the methodological quality and the reporting quality of the clinical guidelines/consensuses for hyperuricemia in China remain to be strengthened.

Objective: To improve the pathophysiological understanding of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by exploring the gut-brain axis., Background: Disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) are gastrointestinal (GI) disorders in which alterations in bowel functions occur. IBS, which is one of the most studied DGBIs, is linked with abdominal distress or pain without obvious structural or biochemical anomalies., Methods: The etiology of IBS has not been clearly described but is known to be multifactorial, involving GI motility changes, post-infectious reactivity, visceral hypersensitivity, gut-brain interactions, microbiota dysbiosis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, food sensitivity, carbohydrate malabsorption, and intestinal inflammation., Conclusions: One of the main features of IBS is the occurrence of structural and functional disruptions in the gut-brain axis, which alter reflective and perceptual nervous system reactions. Herein, we provide a brief summary of this topic. Furthermore, we discuss animal models, which are important in the study of IBS, especially as it is linked with stressors. These animal models cannot fully represent the human disease but serve as important tools for understanding this complicated disorder. In the future, technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip models and metabolomics, will provide novel information regarding the pathophysiology of IBS, which will play an important role in treatment development. Finally, we take a brief glance at how acupuncture treatments may hold potential for patients with IBS., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-21-2779). Dr. GMS reported that this work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant Nos. 81973936, 81704166, and 81874457). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

The present paper is aimed to establish the method of determining the strontium in M. nitida Benth. var. hirsutissima. Z. Wei. by means of air-acetylene flame atomic absorption spectra, and also provide reference for the determination of the strontium in other traditional Chinese medicine. M. Nitida Benthvarhirsutissima Z. Wei. was taken as the object. The authors used nitric-perchloric acid as digestion solution to digest samples by microwave which was controlled by pressure, and used EDTA-2Na as the releasing agent to add in the samples for determining the strontium in M. nitida Benth. var. hirsutissima. Z. Wei. by FAAS. The results showed that the samples were entirely digested by microwave. The working curve was Y = 0.036 5x -0.001 1, r = 0.999 4, the range was 0-1.6 microg x mL(-1), the average recovery rate was 101.5% with RSD 2.04%, and the method detection limit was 0.008 2 microg x mL(-1) (n = 21). It is concluded that this method is simple and accurate. It has high sensitivity and can be effectively used for determining the strontium in this traditional Chinese medicine.