在中國醫藥史上，茶用作於治病已有很長的歷史。人們在食用茶葉的過程中，積累了不少經驗，茶葉除了成為日常的飲料外，亦廣泛地應用於治療疾病上。本論文旨在了解清代的醫家及養生家對茶葉藥用功能的認識。清代的茶文化雖然沒有唐、宋及明代的雅興，但從地域、階層、茶類的廣度變化，及在茶功能的認識、飲茶方式、茶具製作、茶館文化等的深度變他，可見茶在清代有相當的發展。而在清代考證的學術風氣及實踐臨床醫學風氣的影響下，茶葉在清代醫療上，亦有廣度及深度的發揮。 從廣度而言，茶葉廣泛地用於各科病種，在內科、婦科、兒科、眼科、耳鼻喉科、口齒科、外科及傷科，茶葉都能發揮其治病的功能。而使用茶葉的方法， 亦有以單味茶葉、茶葉與諸藥合煎劑、茶調下方、外洗、外敷等，配合各種病症的需要而選擇使用。而深度而言，清代本草醫家對各種茶品的認識更為深入， 使用技巧更有深度。除了適當地運用不同品種、不同炮製方法的茶葉，利用其性昧、升降的不同， 治療不同的疾病。茶葉在組方上的使用更見靈活，使茶葉能針對不同的病症，充分地利用茶的特性，發揮茶的治病功能。清代綜合了前朝茶療的經驗及知識，又完備六大茶品，所以清代茶藥的應用，是傳統中醫藥對茶作為藥品的一個知識總結。了解清代醫家如何理解茶葉的性味、功能，如何將茶葉應用於臨床治病之中，對現代中醫藥的臨床治療及用藥亦有所啟發。 有鍵詞： 清代、茶療、茶葉功能

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2018. / Brief background In the practice of Homoeopathy, widely acting remedies or polychrest homoeopathic medicines are prescribed in the treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions. The documenting of the guiding symptoms in successfully treated cases will assist in offering guidelines for the prescription of remedies in the future and thus serves as scientific and clinical verification of the remedies. The operational definition of success for the purposes of clinical verification is the alleviation or improvement of existing symptoms (Van Wassenhoven 2013). This definition was applied in the context of this study. To facilitate high standards of health care as well as teaching and learning, Durban University of Technology (DUT) Department of Homoeopathy in collaboration with Lifeline established its first Homoeopathic Community Clinic in 2004 called Ukuba Nesibindi Homoeopathic Community Clinic (UNHCC) located in Warwick Junction, Durban. UNHCC provides a free Homoeopathic primary health care service on the third floor of the Lifeline building in Acorn Road, Warwick Triangle, less than one kilometre from the main DUT campus The area is classified as being disadvantaged with high crime rates, prostitution, violence, small informal businesses and low cost housing (Smillie 2010, Watson 2015 and Dube 2015). Aim of the study The study aimed to determine and compare the guiding symptoms of the successful prescription of Natrum muriaticum at Ukuba Nesibindi Homoeopathic Community Clinic (UNHCC) between 2013 and 2016. Methodology A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Ukuba Nesibindi Homoeopathic Community Clinic on the patient files between 2013 and 2016. A rubric (Appendix B) was used to document the demographics, clinical conditions, homoeopathic guiding symptoms, posology and follow up presentation of each chart where Natrum muriaticum was successfully prescribed. Furthermore, a comparison of the guiding prescribing symptoms was made against existing materia medica. A sample size of 197 patient files which had appropriate consent forms enclosed allowing for the use of information for research purposes was established. Prior to gathering the relevant information and the commencement of the study, gate keeper permission to conduct the study on patient files and at the mentioned location was requested and granted by all relevant stakeholders. The actual sample size was derived from the successful cases with follow ups until data saturation. Files that were excluded from the 197 patient files were of those patients who did not attend the follow up appointment and cases which were not treated successfully with the remedy. The sample size for the study was 37. Descriptive statistics was derived and illustrated using bar graphs and pie charts. Tabulations and graphical presentation of the comparison were created. Themes and inferences were drawn based on the emerged data from the symptoms and rubrics. Thereafter, a comparison to the existing materia medica was conducted by comparing the arising symptomatology with the existing content in the materia medica. Results The results of the study showed that the symptoms that arise in the study corresponded with the symptoms in the existing materia medica, however there were additional symptoms that emerged in the study and these symptoms were not listed in the materia medica, but were successfully treated with Natrum muriaticum. It was concluded that the guiding symptoms that were considered in formulating the prescriptions of Natrum muriaticum correlate with the characteristic symptoms of Natrum muriaticum in the materia medicas by Vermeulen, Boericke and Phatak / M

Medicinal mushrooms are therapeutic agents in traditional folk medicines. Previous studies have shown that a number of biologically active compounds in medicinal mushrooms contributed therapeutic functions against many diseases. These compounds include mainly large molecular weight (MW) compounds such as polysaccharides, dietary fibre and lipids. Mushroom polysaccharides have attracted great attention in food and pharmacology fields because of their biological activities. Polysaccharides vary in molecular weight, degree of branching and conformational structure. It has been reported that fine structure, molecular weight, and conformation of polysaccharide influence biological activities. The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been increasing worldwide, which is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract but without satisfactory treatment. Although there are many studies for the immuno-pharmacological activity of mushroom polysaccharides, their intestinal anti-inflammatory property has not been investigated sufficiently. Therefore, it is very important to elucidate whether there is the relationship among the MW, structure and anti-inflammatory activity of polysaccharide in IBD. Firstly, an exopolysaccharide from a mycelial culture of S. commune was obtained by isolation and purification using DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-150 column chromatography. The structure, conformation and chemical properties were investigated, including elemental compositions, MW, monosaccharide compositions, fourier transform infrared spectrum, thermogram analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum, circular dichroism (CD) study, methylation analysis, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The findings indicate that the exopolysaccharide is a homogeneous protein-bound heteropolysaccharide carrying molecular weight of 2900 kDa with a β-type glycosidic linkage. It belongs to a kind of β-(13)-D-glucans consisting of a backbone of β-(13)-linked glucose residues branched with (14) and (16)-β-D-glucopyranosyl residues on main-chain residues. The elemental analysis of this exopolysaccharide discover the element compositions as: C, 25.84%; H, 5.45%; and N, 0.65%. The total carbohydrate, protein and uronic acid contents of exopolysaccharide is 89.0%, 2.20% and 7.52%, respectively. In addition, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was not detected in the exopolysaccharide. Glucose is the main monosaccharide structural unit in this exopolysaccharide, the content is 57.5%. The degradation temperature of exopolysaccharide is 278.9°C from the thermogram analysis curve. This exopolysaccharide looks like thin film with smooth and glittering surface in SEM photography. It is clear from these images that the exopolysaccharide is linear in structure and branched and coiled in aqueous solution. With these extraction, the preliminary anti-inflammatory activity of S. commune exopolysaccharide was conducted by inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO), activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and activity of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) from RAW 264.7 macrophages. The results showed that exopolysaccharide significantly inhibit LPS-induced iNOS expression levels in a dose-dependent manner(p < 0.05). It inhibits the production of 5-LOX in cells, but not in dose-dependence. Further, in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model, the results showed that exopolysaccharide attenuated body weight loss, diarrhea, fecal blood, and the shortening of colon and improved histological changes. Furthermore, exopolysaccharide treatment would reduce NO production and some cytokines' secretion such as IL-4 and IL-17A. These results indicate that exopolysaccharide might be exploited as an effective anti-inflammatory agent for application in IBD. Secondly, ultrasound technology was applied to modify the physicochemical properties (MW and viscosity) of this fungal exopolysaccharide, and fractions of different MWs were obtained through ultrasonic degradation method. Effect of the MW degradation, viscosity and anti-inflammatory property of exopolysaccharide under ultrasonic treatment were optimized with response surface methodology. The best ultrasonic treatment parameters were obtained with a three-variable-three-level Box-Behnken design. The optimized conditions for efficient anti-inflammatory activity include: Initial concentration - 0.4%; ultrasonic power - 600 W; and duration of ultrasonic treatment - 9 min. Under these conditions, the NO inhibition rate is 95 ± 0.03% which agreed closely with the predicted value (96%). Average MW of exopolysaccharide decreased after ultrasonic treatments, but no significant change in the preliminary structure by infrared spectroscopy analysis. The viscosity of degraded exopolysaccharide dropped compared with native exopolysaccharide. The results suggest that ultrasound technology is an effective approach to reduce the MW of exopolysaccharide. Our results also showed that exopolysaccharide from S. commune was degraded into three fractions (low, medium, and high MW) by ultrasonic treatment. The changes of MW, atomic force microscope morphology, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution and viscosity analysis indicate the triple helical structure of exopolysaccharide was dissociated into single helical structure and random coiled structure by breaking of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The medium and high MW exopolysaccharide had the mixture of triple helix and single helix conformation. Moreover, the low MW exopolysaccharide exhibit random coiled conformation. As for their anti-inflammatory effect in DSS-induced colitis mice model, the results showed that medium and high MW exopolysaccharide significantly recovered DSS-induced colitis in body weight loss, shortening of colon lengths, colon weight loss, diarrhea and rectal bleeding, histological score, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, NO and cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-17) production in inflamed tissues. Moreover, exopolysaccharide with medium and high MW reduced DSS-induced infiltration of macrophages. These results showed that medium and high MW exopolysaccharide had intestinal anti-inflammatory activity. The degraded exopolysaccharide with medium and high MW had a triple and single-helical structure. These results suggested that the intestinal anti-inflammatory activity of exopolysaccharide from S. commune is related to both helical structure and MW.

This research was initiated to investigate the syndrome of computer dependency, and to ascertain whether there was any foundation to the apocryphal stories which suggested that 'obsessive' dependency by some people upon computers and computing was detrimental to their psychological and social development. National publicity brought forth volunteers who considered themselves to be dependent upon computers. As a group they did not form a cross-section of the general population but consisted in the main of very well educated, adult males. (An additional study showed that there were distinct differences between the sexes in attitudes held towards computers to account for this lack of balance). As the computer dependent individuals were unrepresentative of the general population, control groups were established with whom comparisons could be made, matched with them on the criteria of sex, age and highest educational level. One control group was formed from computer owners who were not computer dependent and the other from people Who did not own a computer. Thus three groups were studied; a computer dependent group and two controls. The results established that the two computer-owning groups differed significantly from each other in their preferred computing activities, both quantitatively and qualitatively. As anticipated, the computer dependent individuals spent significantly more time computing than the others, but they were also found to use computers in a more exploratory and self-educational manner, rarely having a definite end-product in mind. All three groups were found to have enjoyed different types of hobbies throughout their lives. The computer dependent group had shown interests in technological and scientific artefacts before school age and rarely partook of either the social or physical activities of interest to the control groups. The dependent group had found in the computer the ultimate hobby; one which was constantly stimulating and exciting and which matched their psychological needs. Investigation of the social and psychological issues suggested that the group of computer dependent people had experienced different types of parenting from the control groups, leading them to become object- rather than people-centred at an early age. This bias had been perpetuated throughout life, leaving them shy and unable to form satisfactory relationships; they neither trusted humans nor needed them in many cases. Their lives had become dominated by task- and object-related activities, with the computer offering them a controllable form of interaction Which they had been unable to find elsewhere. Deleterious effects occurred within some marriages Where one spouse had become computer dependent, but only en very rare occasions did individuals express distress about their dependency. Tb the contrary, the positive benefits gained by their use of computers far outweighed any disadvantages. The research disproved the hypothesis that computer dependency was in general detrimental to the individuals' social and psychological development, and suggested that computer dependency was in fact therapeutic by providing an outlet for their high levels of curiosity and originality. Computing had brought them intellectual stimulation rarely found when interacting with the majority of humans and had provided a level of fulfilment to which many would aspire.

No description available.

The need for cultural competence in making services more responsive to the diverse needs of patients has been highlighted by many authors (NCCC, 2004b; Geiger,2001; Philleo and Brisbane, 1997; Ehrmin, 2005). Philleo and Brisbane (1997)argued that at a time of increasing globalisation and international communication,cultural competency is as important as computer literacy. This means that to be considered a competent professional, such as a nurse, drug worker, youth worker or social worker, one needs to take into account the wider cultural context of the person who is coming for help. A cultural dialogue, where the healthcare worker is able to communicate with people from a different cultural group, should be part of professional approach. With regard to the treatment of substance use problems,Philleo and Brisbane (1997) pointed out that a competent professional must know more than the harm alcohol and drugs can do to the body. Substance problems call for cultural solutions and a cultural dialogue, otherwise professionals are unlikely to achieve a change in their patients' behaviour. The need for better quality services for people from different cultural backgrounds has been recognised in a number of UK government policies, for example the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RR(A)A 2000) (The Home Office (HO), 2000). These policies have pressurised organisations into promoting anti-racism and equal opportunities for both service users and staff, and to provide more accessible and culturally competent services. There has been much debate since the 1980s about how to make services more culturally aware and many training initiatives have been developed. Yet, there has been much confusion abuiot the focus of training such as, what needs to be addressed more: racism, discrimination, equal opportunity or diversity? There has been little discussion on the effectiveness of these training activities. Few have been evaluated to measure their impact, such as change in knowledge, attitude and behaviour of those trained, or their organisation's performance towards clients (Papadopoulos et al., 2004; Bhui et al., 2007). Consequently there is little evidence concerning the success of these educational activities. This PhD wants to make an original contribution to the debate surrounding cultural competence and educational practice by evaluating the effectiveness of an educational module to enhance the cultural competence of staff dealing with people with drug and alcohol problems. This study also includes an evaluation of the teaching and learning strategy used.

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: The primary objective was to determine the effectiveness of a criteria-based antibiotic order form (CBAOF) at increasing appropriate meropenem use at University of Arizona Medical Center –South Campus (UAMCSC). The secondary objective was to assess any cost savings associated with increased appropriate meropenem use. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients (n = 133) meeting inclusion criteria at UAMCSC during the pre and post-intervention periods was conducted. Outcomes included appropriate empiric use of meropenem, appropriate treatment of a known pathogen use of meropenem, appropriate dose and frequency of meropenem, appropriate antibiotic streamlining after culture and susceptibility report, and meropenem acquisition costs. Main Results: Appropriate empiric use of meropenem was significantly higher after the implementation of the CBAOF (100% vs. 65.8%, p = 0.002). Although not statistically significant, the post-intervention group had more patients meeting the criteria for appropriate use of meropenem for a known pathogen than the pre-intervention group (50% vs. 40%, p = 0.809). There were no differences between the pre and post-intervention groups with respect to appropriate dose of meropenem or appropriate frequency. After the implementation of the CBAOF there were significantly more patients who received antibiotic streamlining within 24 hours of culture and susceptibility reports (12.5% vs. 48.7%, p = 0.002). Drug acquisition costs for meropenem were reduced by approximately $30,000 after CBAOF implementation. Conclusion: The CBAOF was effective at increasing appropriate empiric meropenem use and decreasing meropenem acquisition costs at UAMCSC.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / This capstone aims to study what types of sustainable renovation improvements would work best on older commercial buildings in Tucson. The issue being, what different types of upgrades are compatible with the types of buildings and environment in the Tucson area? This was determined with researching and comparing the data from three older buildings, which have undergone renovations and also received LEED certification. The results were significant in that the buildings studied had many similar improvements such as, installing high efficiency HVAC, upgrading insulation, using natural lighting to reduce artificial along with the usage of LED and or CFL bulbs. Low flow water fixtures were also used in all buildings to reduce water usage. The differences were the building in Phoenix also installed solar panels, along with a solar chimney for cooling, as the other two did not due to their locations in Illinois and Michigan. When these renovations were analyzed, many could be utilized in the Tucson environment. However, depending on the type of structure being renovated, the installation of HVAC, and the need for insulation could vary, due to some older buildings being brick or adobe.

Light therapy is a general term used for all therapies that utilise different frequencies of light (colours) for therapeutic purposes. The use of light as a healing agent dates back into antiquity to ancient Rome, Greece, China and Egypt, where colour was used in worship and as a healing agent (Leven, 2000). In the year 1892, Niels Finsen of Denmark received the Nobel Prize for successfully treating skin tuberculosis lesions with ultra-violet light. Today, there are many modalities of light therapy of which laser therapy is the best known and researched. The medical profession utilises certain frequencies of light for conditions such as neonatal jaundice, improved healing of surgical wounds, sterilization of blood (externally) and certain types of skin cancer (Liberman, 1991). Extensive research into light and its effects on the human body have given rise to other, not commonly known, forms of light therapy such as Heliotherapy, Spectro-Chrome Therapy, Colourpuncture, Syntonics and the Homoeopathic light and colour remedies. Within this dissertation, the most successful and prevalent light therapies will be discussed in enough detail to give the reader a basic introduction into each modality. The potentially valuable information regarding these healing modalities is widely scattered and therefore effectively out of the reach of the general health practitioner. Bringing this information together in a comprehensive and accessible format would serve to inform health practitioners of the possible alternative therapies available to help prevent/treat disease and deteriorative conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate, compile and organise information regarding the various healing modalities of light and colour therapy, and to determine treatment effectiveness in terms of research and clinical findings. The study aims to create an easily accessible, comprehensive database of pertinent information. Data, pertaining to the different light and colour therapies, will be collected from sources which include books, journals, articles, clinical trials, the internet and lecture notes. The information will be analysed according to the origin, development, application and existing clinical research, if any. From this information the efficacy each therapy can be explored. This information will be written up in the form of a literary survey. Possible outcomes will include increased awareness of therapeutic alternatives to conventional medicine, a more complete and easily accessible information base on each modality, possible inclusion into homoeopathic and allopathic practice, and to stimulate further research. / Dr. Solomon

No description available.