Constructing and Preliminary Testing a Narrative Therapy Programme for Posttraumatic Growth in Chinese Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease-A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: The research on posttraumatic growth (PTG) promotion programmes, particularly narrative therapy (NT), for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains limited. This pilot study aims to develop an NT programme to promote PTG and evaluate its feasibility, preliminary effectiveness, participants' experiences and improvement suggestions. METHODS: The NT programme was initially developed through literature review, interviews with IBD patients and expert panel discussions. A randomized controlled pilot trial was conducted to assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the programme. Participants in the NT group received five consecutive weekly sessions of the programme, while the control group received standard care. Outcomes including PTG, anxiety, depression and quality of life were measured. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore participants' experiences and suggestions for programme modifications. RESULTS: The NT programme was developed with scientific rigour. The recruitment rate and retention rate were 62.5% and 96.7%, respectively. A significant reduction in anxiety levels was observed, and manifestations of PTG were reported in the NT group. Suggestions for improvement of the NT programme were received from the participants. CONCLUSION: The NT programme was constructed to promote PTG in IBD patients in this study, further offering preliminary evidence for its feasibility and potential positive psychological change. However, large-scale research is needed to validate its effectiveness for broader applications.

[Impacts on biomechanics of senile osteoporosis of kidney deficiency pattern treated with acupuncture and Tuina therapy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism on senile osteoporosis of kidney deficiency pattern in the prevention and treatment with acupuncture and Tuina therapy. METHODS: Sixty-four cases were randomized into an acupuncture and Tuina therapy group (group A, 34 cases) and a calcium carbonate group (group B, 30 cases). In group A, the patients were treated with acupuncture at the distal acupoints and Tuina therapy in the local area. Acupuncture was applied to bilateral Weizhong (BL 40) and Taixi (KI 3). Tuina therapy was given in the lumbar region. Totally 30 treatments were required. In group B, the Calcium Carbonate D3 were prescribed for oral administration, continuously for 12 weeks. The changes in lumbar curvature, lumbar lordosis index, sacral inclination angle, lumbosacral angle, L5 vertebral index and L3 vertebral index of lumbar biomechanical indices were observed and compared before and after treatment in two groups. RESULTS: In group A, the lumbar lordosis index and sacral inclination angle were increased after treatment, indicating the statistical significant differences before and after treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The improvement of lumbar lordosis index in group A was superior to that in group B [(19.59 +/- 19.16)mm vs (14.47 +/- 13.28)mm, P < 0.05]. After treatment, in group B, L5 vertebral index was improved as compared with that before treatment (P < 0.05). It was required to have a study on the reasons of its lumbar morphological change. CONCLUSION: The acupuncture and Tuina therapy regulate the lumbar biomechanical structure through the positive stress stimulation and reconstruct the mechanical equilibrium of the lumbar vertebra. It plays the active significance in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

Preparation and characterization of TiO2-regenerated cellulose inorganic-polymer hybrid membranes for dehydration of caprolactam.

Novel membrane of inorganic-polymer hybrid membrane was prepared by incorporation of the nano-TiO2 into regenerated cellulose (RC). The resulting membrane was characterized by AFM, SEM, and XRD. TiO2 particles formed on the surface and in the interior of the hybrid membrane due to the TiO2 conglomeration, and the surface roughness of the hybrid membrane increased linearly with increasing TiO2 content. The membrane was tested for their ability to separate caprolactam-water mixtures by pervaporation. Among all the prepared membranes, RC-TiO2 inorganic-polymer hybrid membrane containing 5wt.% TiO2 exhibited the good pervaporation performance with a flux of 1787.3gm-2h-1 and separation factor of 55091.7 at 328K for 50wt.% caprolactam. Besides, the normalized permeation fluxes in terms of water permeance, caprolactam permeance and selectivity were also introduced to evaluate the membranes performance. The activation energies were calculated using Arrhenius equation.