Efficient management design for swimming exercise treatment

A Comprehensive Quality Evaluation Method Based on C30-HPLC and an Analytic Hierarchy Process for the Chinese Herbal Formula, Erzhiwan

The quantitative analysis of multiple indexes remains an important quality evaluation method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal formulas. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 only stipulates the content of a single component, specnuezhenide, in Erzhiwan composed of the Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL) powder and aqueous extracts of Herba Ecliptae (HE). To generalize the intrinsic quality of Erzhiwan, a novel C30-HPLC method with good precision, accuracy, and reproducibility was developed for the simultaneous determination of six compounds, including two isomers, and then an analytic hierarchy process was further applied to integrate and discriminate the quality of four samples prepared via different methods. The results of the analysis were in agreement with the antioxidant tests in vitro. This comprehensive strategy could provide a reference and suggestions for the improvement of the quality evaluation method of TCM herbal formulas.

Cardiac Damage Biomarkers Following a Triathlon in Elite and Non-elite Triathletes

The purpose of the present study was to investigate cardiac damage biomarkers after a triathlon race in elite and non-elite athlete groups. Fifteen healthy men participated in the study. Based on performance, they were divided into elite athlete group (EG: n=7) and non-elite athlete group (NEG: n=8). Participants' blood samples were obtained during four periods: before, immediately, 2 hours and 7 days after finishing the race. creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB), myoglobin, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly increased in both groups immediately after, and 2 hours after finishing the race (p<.05). CK, CK-MB, and myoglobin were completely recovered after 7 days (p<.05). Hematocrit (Hct) was significantly decreased in both groups (p<.05) 7 days after the race. LDH was significantly decreased in the EG (p<.05) only 7 days after the race. Homoglobin (Hb) was significantly decreased in the NEG (p<.05) only 2 hours after the race. Although cardiac troponin T (cTnT) was significantly increased in the EG but not in the NEG 2hours after the race (p<.05), there was no group-by-time interaction. cTnT was completely recovered in both groups 7 days after the race. In conclusion, cardiac damage occurs during a triathlon race and, is greater in elite than in non-elite. However, all cardiac damage markers return to normal range within 1 week.

Group decision making with the analytic hierarchy process in benefit-risk assessment: a tutorial

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been increasingly applied as a technique for multi-criteria decision analysis in healthcare. The AHP can aid decision makers in selecting the most valuable technology for patients, while taking into account multiple, and even conflicting, decision criteria. This tutorial illustrates the procedural steps of the AHP in supporting group decision making about new healthcare technology, including (1) identifying the decision goal, decision criteria, and alternative healthcare technologies to compare, (2) structuring the decision criteria, (3) judging the value of the alternative technologies on each decision criterion, (4) judging the importance of the decision criteria, (5) calculating group judgments, (6) analyzing the inconsistency in judgments, (7) calculating the overall value of the technologies, and (8) conducting sensitivity analyses. The AHP is illustrated via a hypothetical example, adapted from an empirical AHP analysis on the benefits and risks of tissue regeneration to repair small cartilage lesions in the knee.