Efficient Scalable Template-Matching Technique for Ancient Brahmi Script Image

Analysis and recognition of ancient scripts is a challenging task as these scripts are inscribed on pillars,stones,or leaves.Optical recognition systems can help in preserving,sharing,and accelerate the study of the ancient scripts,but lack of standard dataset for such scripts is a major constraint.Although many scholars and researchers have captured and uploaded inscription images on various websites,manual searching,downloading and extraction of these images is tedious and error prone.Web search queries return a vast number of irrelevant results,and manually extracting images for a specific script is not scalable.This paper proposes a novelmultistage system to identify the specific set of script images from a large set of images downloaded from web sources.The proposed system combines the two most important pattern matching techniques-Scale Invariant Feature Transform(SIFT)and Template matching,in a sequential pipeline,and by using the key strengths of each technique,the system can discard irrelevant images while retaining a specific type of images.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis

AIM： To design, optimize and validate a rapid,internally controlled real-time polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR） test for herpes simplex virus（HSV） in the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.· METHODS： Tears alone or together with corneal epithelium scrapings from 30 patients（30 eyes）suspected of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis were tested for HSV DNA by RT-PCR. The samples were collected during the first visit and then on the subsequent 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56 d. The symptoms of the patients were scored before treatment to determine the correlation between HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores.·RESULTS： The positive rate（46.4%） in the corneal epithelium group before the therapy was significantly higher than that（13.3%） in the tears group（P =0.006）.There were 13 positive HSV patients before the therapy,the concentration of HSV DNA in corneal epithelium scrapings group was significantly higher than that in the tears group（paired t-test, P =0.0397）. Multilevel mixedeffects model analysis showed that the difference between the corneal epithelium scrapings group and the tears group was statistically significant（P =0.0049）. The Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the HSV concentration in the corneal epithelium scrapings and clinical scores before the treatment（r =0.844, P〈 0.0001）.· CONCLUSION： RT-PCR appears to be a powerful molecular tool for the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.

Establishment of a Highly Efficient Regeneration System for the Mature Embryo Culture of Wheat

Establishment of a highly efficient regeneration system for the mature embryo of wheat will provide a convenient tool for wheat tissue culture and transformation, thereby facilitating the transformation of foreign genes into wheat. By using the mature embryos derived from 20 different wheat lines including Shi 4185, Yumai 66, Lunxuan 987, CB037, Yangmai 6, Xinchun 9, Bobwhite, Han 6172, Zheng 9023, Jimai 20, Ningchun 4, and Jing 411, the effects of some factors including inoculation methods, initiating culture media, organic additives, antioxidants, and auxins on the regeneration from the explants were evaluated. The results indicated that the scraping embryo culture was better than the whole embryo culture, the Aa medium was better than the SD2 medium and dicamba was better than 2,4-D in increasing the regeneration frequency. An Adi medium was established in this study by adding silver nitrate, cysteine, ascorbic acid, dicamba, glutamine into the Aa medium at the concentration of 4,40, 100, 2, and 5 mg L^-1, respectively. By using the Adi medium and the scraping technique, the regeneration frequencies of the mature embryos of CB037, Lunxuan 987, Hart 6172, Yangmai 6, Bobwhite, Zheng 9023, Shi 4 185, and Jimai 20 became 85.6, 60,1, 46.0, 42.1,42.0, 34.0, 33.0, and 32.0%, respectively, which were about 5-8 times higher than that obtained from the conventional culture mediums and techniques. This novel regeneration system could be helpful in wheat transformation.

Comparative Study between Intraoperative Frozen Section and Scrape Smear Cytology in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Neoplasm

Objective: The aim of this work is to compare between intraoperative frozen section and scrape smear cytology in the diagnosis of ovarian neoplasm. Method: This study was performed between March 2011 and March 2012, on 50 patients presented with ovarian mass. Gross examination of the tumor removed was done by inspection and palpation. The specimen was then cut with a sharp knife into two halves. The area was scraped with a sharp scalpel or the end of a glass slide, depending upon the type of tissue. A semifluid drop thus obtained was spread over a glass slide. One to four slides per case were taken from different representative areas. The slides were labelled and immediately put into 95% ethyl alcohol and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The specimens were then fixed in formalin. Paraffin blocks of the sections were processed in the routine way and sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E). Assessment of the overall accuracy of the intraoperative diagnosis was classified as concordant or discordant. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of scraping technique in the diagnosis of benign ovarian masses were 100%, 95.2%, 96.7%, 100% and 98% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of scraping technique in the diagnosis of border line ovarian masses were 100%, 93.4%, 25%, 100% and 94% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of scraping technique in the diagnosis of malignant ovarian masses were 80%, 100%, 100%, 88.2% and 92% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of frozen section in the diagnosis of benign ovarian masses were 100%, 100%, 100%, 100% and 100% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of frozen section in the diagnosis of borderline ovarian masses were 100%, 95.9%, 33.3%, 100% and 96% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of frozen section in the diagnosis of malignant ovarian masses were 90%, 100%, 100%, 93.8% and 96% respectively. Conclusion: Frozen section is more accurate than smear preparations in the intraoperative assessment of ovarian tumors in this study. However, the cytology preparations were helpful in supporting the histological diagnoses, and in some cases, provided additional useful information. Thus, cytology has a complementary role to frozen section in the intraoperative assessment of ovarian lesions. At the centers where the facilities of frozen section are not available, intraoperative scrape cytology is a useful tool for intraoperative diagnosis of tumor.

Clinical effect of scraping therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

Objective:The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of scraping therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.Materials and Methods:A total of eighty patients with knee osteoarthritis were assigned to the moxibustion group and the scraping therapy group according to the random numerical table method,with forty cases in each group.Patients in both two groups received functional exercise and moxibustion therapy,and those in the scraping therapy group were supplemented with scraping therapy.The serum indexes of interleukin‑1(IL‑1),IL‑6,tumor necrosis factor‑alpha(TNF‑α),and superoxide dismutase(SOD)were detected before and after the treatment.The clinical syndrome integral and Visual Analog Scale(VAS)on pain of patients were assessed.The clinical therapeutic efficacy was evaluated and compared between the two groups.Results:Patients in the scraping therapy group received better outcomes of serum IL‑1,IL‑6,TNF‑α,and SOD compared with those in the moxibustion group at 2 months after treatment(P<0.05).The scores of clinical syndrome integral and VAS on pain were decreased in two groups at 2 months after the treatment and were lower in the scraping therapy group than those in the moxibustion group(P<0.05).The overall effective rate in the scraping therapy group was higher than that in the control group(87.50%vs.67.50%,P<0.05).Conclusion:The scraping therapy is potentially effective to ameliorate the clinical symptom and pain degree of patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Ocular manifestations and SARS-CoV-2 detection in tears and conjunctival scrape from non-severe COVID-19 patients

AIM:To explore the ocular features of corona virus disease(COVID)-19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus(SARS-CoV)-2 detection in tears and conjunctival scrapes in non-severe COVID-19 patients.METHODS:This is a multicenter observational clinical study with no intervention conducted from Jan 25th to March 1st,2020.Clinical data and samples of tears and conjunctival scraping were collected in consecutive laboratory-confirmed,non-severe COVID-19 patients from three hospitals.COVID-19 virus was analyzed by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)kits.RESULTS:Totally 255 laboratory-confirmed,non-severe COVID-19 patients were recruited for ocular manifestation investigation.Of them,54.9%were females,with a mean age of 49.4 y.None of the patients has evidence of uveitis;11 patients(4.3%)complained of mild asthenopia;2(0.8%)had mild conjunctival congestion and serous secretion.Twenty-five of them had performed tears and conjunctival scrape for COVID-19 virus detection,with 4 yield possible positive results in the nucleoprotein gene.One of them were asymptomatic with normal chest CT and positive pharyngeal swab result.CONCLUSION:Ocular manifestations are neither common nor specific in non-severe COVID-19 patients.Meanwhile,COVID-19 virus nucleotides can be detected in the tears and conjunctival scrape samples,warranting further research on the transmissibility by the ocular route.

Modified ulcer debridement in the treatment of the superficial fungal infection of the cornea

AIM： To evaluate the efficacy of modified corneal ulcer debridement in superficial fungal keratitis unresponsive to medications.METHODS： A total of 209 patients（209 eyes） with fungal keratitis, involving no more than 50% of the stromal depth and not responding to antifungal agents for 2 wk, were recruited in this retrospective, noncomparative study. The patients were treated with modified corneal ulcer debridement. All visible corneal infiltrates were removed under an operating microscope to obtain a clean stromal bed and smooth incised edges. Antifungal drugs were used immediately after surgery. Healing time of the ulcers was recorded. Fungal recurrence, visual acuity, corneal thickness and risk factors for treatment failure were monitored.RESULTS： The follow-up was 13.6±5.8m o. The corneal ulcers healed in 195 of 209 eyes（93.3%）, with a mean healing time of 8.4±6.8 d. The other 14 eyes were further treated by penetrating keratoplasty（PK）（1 eye）, anterior lamellar keratoplasty（LK）（7 eyes）, conjunctival flap covering（4 eyes） or amniotic membrane transplantation（2 eyes）. The best corrected visual acuity（BCVA） was ≥20/70 in 80.3% of the eyes, ≥20/40 in 56.9% of the eyes, and ≥20/25 in 27.3% of the eyes. The corneas at the lesions became thinner, but all in the safe range. No fungal recurrence or corneal ectasis developed during the follow-up. The risk of treatment failure was higher in patients with preoperative hypopyon（P=0.036） and ever using steroid（P=0.025）.CONCLUSION： Modified surgical debridement is a simple and effective method for the treatment of superficial fungal infection of the cornea, with improved visual acuity and no recurrence. Such an intervention in time can rapidly control fungal infection and largely shorten corneal ulcer healing time.

Chemical Modification of Scraped Tires through Grafting with 2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropansulfonic Acid

Scrap vulcanized rubber is amongst a bigger waste polymers. It does not decompose easily owing to its cross linked structure. Modification of scrap tires powder by the grafting with 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) is described. The grafting is achieved through free radical initiation. The effects of different amount of monomer and initiator were examined. Also the influence of reaction time and temperature were investigated. The grafted waste rubber was characterized by FT/IR, SEM and DSC measurements. The proposed mechanism of the grafting reaction is discussed. From DSC and SEM studies of WR-g-AMPS compared with PAMPS and WR, the results show that the particle size and crystallinity were enhanced for the grafted copolymers. The obtained modified scraped tires will used as an ion exchanger for the future applications.

Advantages and Suggestions of Scraping to Promote Rehabilitation of COVID-19 Patients in Convalescence

Objective:To demonstrate the advantages of scraping in helping COVID-19 patients in convalescence,popularize scraping therapy among them and provide basis for the establishment of operation specification.Methods:Discuss the relationship between scraping and epidemic disease by reviewing the relevant scraping theory analysis,summarize the existing clinical studies and propose reference scheme for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in convalescence with respect to the related symptoms proving effective treatment of scraping on patients in convalescence.Results:Ancient healers used scraping to treat pestilence,and there have been many clinical trials and experiments for the treatment of convalescent symptoms related to scraping.Scraping also has the effect of improving immune function and antioxidation,which is feasible for the treatment of convalescent symptoms related to scraping.Conclusion:Scraping can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 convalescent patients,and it can be used as one of the external treatments for convalescent patients.It is recommended to promote scraping among the patients so that they can have self-intervention treatment.

Characteristics of Algal Succession Following Rock Scraping at Imwon Area in the East Coast of Korea

Abstract This study was conducted to clarify the characteristics high-pressure water sprayer in the period from June 2010 to April 2011 of algal succession following rock scraping using hoe or We divided the research area off the eastern coast of Korean near Imwon into 3 categories depending upon the severity of the barren ground, i.e., the urchin barren-affected, urchin bar- ren-ongoing and urchin barren-free areas. In April 2011, in the urchin barren-affected area with 25 seaweed species, the cover per- centage and importance value （IV） of erustose coralline algae were higher than those of other species. In the urchin barren-ongoing area with 33 seaweed species, crustose coralline algae （mean IV=62%） as well as Sargassum sp. （mean IV=28%）, and Gelidium amansii （mean IV= 19%） were observed following rock scraping. In the urchin barren-free area where seaweed communities were relatively abundant with 42 species, a variety of algal species including G. amansii （mean IV = 32%） underwent algal succession. Overall, it was observed that, as an aspect of algal succession, the weaker the barren ground severity was, the more frequent and di- verse the seaweeds were, and the more complex the succession pattern was in the study. As an aspect of recovering algal community, rock scraping using hoe was shown to be superior to the method using high-pressure water spraying. Therefore, we conclude that rock scraping using hoe is a very effective strategy for recovering the algal community in urchin barren-ongoing area.

Hydrodynamics Analysis of Automatic Feeding and Forming System of Coating Layer

The automatic forming device of the cladding layer of the solid rocket engine is a kind of equipment that can automatically complete the coating process of the coating layer.It is mainly composed of the feeding system,the detection system and the automatic control system.The feeding system plays the role of providing the slurry in the coating process.In order to ensure the uniformity and stability of the feeding device,the automatic forming and feeding system of the coating is studied in this paper.The dynamic analysis of the slurry transportation process in the automatic coating system is carried out.In this paper,the feed cylinder is designed in theory.The feeding mode of the servo electric cylinder is adopted.Through the analysis of the hydrodynamic equations,the mixture model is chosen as the basis for the numerical simulation analysis.We use the SolidWorks software to create the geometric model of the feed cylinder.The dynamic analysis of the feed cylinder is carried out by Fluent software,and the convergent residual diagram and the fluid cloud chart are obtained.Fluent software is used for simulation analysis.The simulation results show that the distribution device has stable flow velocity and uniform slurry flow in the feeding process.The effect of scraping and coating process can be guaranteed by the feeding device,which provides a theoretical basis for actual production.

New Image Operator and Its Application in the Inner Surface Detection of Artillery Pipe

Aimed at the image detection on the ablation wearing, scrape wearing and rifling angle of the artillery body pipe, the character of the inner surface image of the pipe is discussed, the model for rifling, ablation wearing and scrape wearing is brought up, and a new image operator is proposed for these detection. This operator can detect the rifling angle in a high precision, and tell the ablation wearing from scrape wearing in the image, therefore the degree of ablation wearing and scrape wearing can be detected efficiently. This is useful for the artillery body pipe's producing process and life evaluation.

Spatial distribution of display sites of Grey Peacock-pheasant in relation to micro-habitat and predators during the breeding season

Background： The destruction and fragmentation of forest in Southeast Asia is accelerating biodiversity loss, resulting in a range of management and conservation actions. For some species, a detailed understanding of microhabitat selection is critical for this, especially in the breeding season.Methods： To understand the factors that explain how specific habitats are used by the Grey Peacock-pheasant（Polyplectron bicalcaratum） in the breeding season, we used camera trapping and microhabitat sampling to assess the microhabitat selection of males. We also looked at their interaction with predators in an area of 1200 m × 1200 m at the Hua Kha Khaeng Wildl fe Sanctuary, Tha land, between January and May 2013.Results： We show that display scrapes are situated on flatter open areas with small saplings and some vines, typified by low horizontal understory density. We hypothesise that this allows a trade-off between courtship display and the avoidance of predators. Our study showed that the position of Grey Peacock-pheasant display scrapes regularly overlapped with predators within the same microhabitat. We hypothesise that the species＇ behavioural responses to temporal variation in predation risk allows them to avoid most predators.Conclusions： Particular microhabitats are required for Grey Peacock-pheasant display.They avoid predators at these places by being active when predators are not.

Effect of Pressure on the Fracture of Compacted Argillaceous Particles

The compaction of granulated powder is a common forming process used in ceramic and pharmaceutical industries. Argillaceous particles are used as a model system to investigate granule failure during cold compaction. In this work both experimental and numerical investigations have been focused on the fracture in powder compacts. This includes studies of crack propagation and determination of operating conditions to avoid the green body fracture. In fact, axial compaction tests have been performed to determine material parameters for hardening. The numerical modelling is implemented using a finite element method based on the Van Mises criterion. Simulation examples are presented to dem- onstrate the ability of the model to compute the distribution of the relative stresses in porous media.

Major physical but also psychological effects after pain relief from surgical scraping in patients with Achilles tendinopathy—A 1-year follow-up study

Treatment with Ultrasound (US) and Color Doppler (CD)-guided surgical scraping has shown good short-term clinical results in patients with chronic painful midportion Achilles tendinopathy. The objective was to prospectively follow the patients 1-year after surgery. Material: Sixty- four tendons in 47 patients (28 men and 19 women, mean age 52 (+/-12 years) on different activity levels) were in local anaestesia operated with US+CD-guided surgical scraping. In 43/64 tendons, there was also removal of the plantaris tendon. Methods: Questionnaires evaluating activity level, VAS for pain during activity, satisfaction with treatment result, and the SF-36 score (quality of life), were used before and 1-year after surgery. Results: At follow-up, the mean VAS for pain during activity had decreased from 62 (+/-20) before surgery to 15 (+/-15) after surgery (p < 0.001). All patients were satisfied with the result and had returned to full tendon loading activity. There were no complications. Both the physical and psychological parameters in the SF-36 score had improved significantly. Conclusions: For patients with chronic painful midportion Achilles tendinopathy, US+CD-guided surgical scraping, often combined with plantaris tendon removal, seems to be an efficient treatment method to recover physically and psychologically.

The Clinical Evaluation of Minimally Invasive Treatment for Axillary Osmidrosis

Background: Traditional treatment of axillary odour is the surgical removal of skin and subcutaneous tissue along the edge of the axillary hair in a fusiform shape, which requires the restriction of upper limb activity, has large scars and a high recurrence rate. Minimally invasive methods have developed in recent years. The subcutaneous trimming method with small incision reduces the incision compared to traditional incision, but still requires skin incision, which does not achieve true, minimally invasive treatment. Simple negative pressure suction is difficult to destroy the sweat glands and sebaceous glands in the dermis layer. Thus, we hypothesized that combination of three minimally invasive methods might be more effective. Objective: To explore the clinical effect of combined treatment of axillary osmidrosis by three minimally invasive methods of microwave, scraping & suction and scratching. Methods: From October 2015 to October 2020, 80 patients with underarm odor were enrolled and lacal swelling anesthetic was applied. Microwave was used to treat sweat glands and sebaceous glands in the dermis following the pores. The curettage-aspiration was used to scrape and suck the apocrine sweat glands in the subcutaneous fat layer and the junction between the subcutaneous fat and dermis. To achieve the purpose of minimally invasive and thorough treatment of underarm odor, the spoon scraped the remaining sweat gland tissue. Results: Among 80 patients on 160 sides, all cases (100.00%) were cured on 160 sides at 1 month post-operative follow-up, 75 cases (93.75%) were cured on 150 sides, 5 cases (6.25%) on 5 sides were ineffective at 6-month post-operative follow-up, 74 cases (92.50%) were cured on 148 sides, 6 cases (7.50%) on 5 sides were ineffective at 1-year post-operative follow-up. Complications occurred in 5 cases (6.25%) after operation: 2 cases (2.50%) with skin necrosis on 3 sides, 1 case (1.25%) with uneven skin on 2 sides, 1 case (1.25%) with axillary abscess on 2 sides, and 1 case (1.25%) with keloids on 2 sides. Conclusion: The combination of three minimally invasive methods of microwave, scraping & suction and scratching to treat underarm odor is simple operation, has high cure rate, quick postoperative recovery, and few complications. It is an effective method for minimally invasive and thorough treatment of underarm odor in clinic.

Successful Painful Treatment of the Painful Achilles Was the Start for Research Providing New Knowledge about Tendon Pain and New Treatment Methods

Successful treatment with painful eccentric training for patients with chronic painful midportion Achilles tendinosis started research on pain mechanisms involving ultrasound + Doppler investigations and immunohistochemical analyses of tendon tissue specimens. This research has resulted in a better understanding of the pain mechanisms involved in the chronic painful Achilles and patellar tendon, and based on these findings new non tendon-invasive treatment methods beneficial for the patients have been invented. This is a mini review showing the background and research that resulted in the highly successful mini surgical treatments for mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy and proximal patellar tendinopathy.

Efficacy of scraping therapy on blood pressure and sleep quality in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ essential hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Scraping therapy is widely used in treating stage I and II essential hypertension in China.However,there has been no systematic evaluation of the efficacy of scraping therapy on blood pressure and sleep quality in stage I and II essential hypertension.Search strategy Seven electronic databases(PubMed,Scopus,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,EBSCO,China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data electronic databases)were searched from inception to December 2022.Based on the principle of combining subject words with text words,the search strategy was constructed around search terms for“scraping therapy,”“scraping,”“Guasha,”“Gua sha,”“hypertension,”and“high blood pressure”during the database searches.Inclusion criteria Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)were included if they recruited patients with stage I and II essential hypertension and included a scraping therapy intervention.The intervention group received antihypertensive drugs and scraping therapy,while the control group only took antihypertensive drugs.Data extraction and analysis Review Manager 5.4.0 and STATA 15.1 were used to enter all the relevant outcome variables to conduct the meta-analysis.The quality of the selected RCTs was assessed using the PEDro scale.The sensitivity analysis was carried out by iteratively excluding individual studies and repeating the analysis to determine the stability of the findings and identify any studies with greater influence on the outcome.Subgroup analysis was performed to find the source of heterogeneity.Funnel plots were used to evaluate the publication bias of included studies.Results Nine RCTs including 765 participants were selected.Meta-analysis showed that scraping therapy combined with medication had an advantage over the use of medication alone in lowering systolic blood pressure(mean difference[MD]=?5.09,95%confidence interval[CI]=?6.50 to?3.67,P<0.001)and diastolic blood pressure(MD=?2.66,95%CI=?3.17 to?2.14,P<0.001).Subgroup analysis showed that scraping therapy improved sleep quality in middle-aged patients with hypertension,but the efficacy was better in elderly patients(MD=?7.91,95%CI=?8.65 to?7.16,P<0.001)than in middle-aged patients(MD=?2.67,95%CI=?4.12 to?1.21,P=0.0003).Conclusion The available evidence indicates that scraping therapy has significant effects on patients with stage I and II hypertension,and it improves sleep quality for elderly patients with hypertension better than for middle-aged ones.Scraping therapy can be an adjunctive treatment for stage I and II essential hypertension.However,further high-quality studies are needed to verify its effectiveness and the best therapeutic strategies.

Scraping therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE:To systematically evaluate the efficacy of scraping therapy on knee osteoarthritis(KOA).METHODS:A computerized search was conducted in several databases,including PubMed,Web of Science,Cochrane Library,China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database,China Science and Technology Journal Database,Wanfang,and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database,from the establishment date of these databases to April 9,2023.Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)on scraping therapy for KOA were collected in accordance with the“Participants-Intervention-Control-Outcome-Study design”criteria.The methodological evaluation of the included studies was carried out using RoB 2.0,and Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan.The Grades of Recommendations Assessment,Development and Evaluation(GRADE System)was applied to grade the quality of evidence.RESULTS:A total of 12 RCTs with 997 subjects were included in the Meta-analysis.Results indicated that compared with the control group,the scraping therapy treatment group exhibited increased Lysholm scores[mean difference(MD)=4.96,95%confidence intervals(CI)(3.18,6.74),P<0.00001]and Hospital for Special Surgery scores[MD=8.35,95%CI(3.92,12.78),P=0.0002]and decreased visual analog scale scores[MD=-2.11,95%CI(-3.79,-0.44),P=0.01]and Western Ontario and McM aster University Osteoarthritis Index scores[MD=-6.77,95%CI(-8.99,-4.56),P<0.00001)].The quality of evidence obtained in this Meta-analysis was low according to the GRADE system.CONCLUSION:The available evidence suggests that scraping therapy may have certain clinical efficacy in the treatment of KOA.However,further high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm the findings.

Short-term effects of cupping and scraping therapy for chronic nonspecific low-back pain:A prospective,multicenter randomized trial

Background As one of the most common musculoskeletal ailments,chronic nonspecific low-back pain(CNLBP)causes persistent disability and substantial medical expenses.Epidemiological evidence shows that the incidence rate of CNLBP in young and middle-aged people who are demanded rapidly recovery and social contribution is rising.Recent guidelines indicate a reduced role for medicines in the management of CNLBP.Objective The present study investigates the short-term effects of cupping and scraping therapy using a medicated balm,compared to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug(NSAID)with a capsaicin plaster,in the treatment of CNLBP.Design,setting,participants and interventions We designed a prospective multicenter randomized clinical trial enrolling patients from January 1,2022 to December 31,2022.A total of 156 patients with CNLBP were randomized into two parallel groups.Diclofenac sodium-sustained release tablets were administered orally to participants in the control group for one week while a capsaicin plaster was applied externally.Patients in the test group were treated with cupping and scraping using a medical device and medicated balm.Main outcome measures Primary outcome was pain recorded using the visual analogue scale(VAS).Two secondary outcomes were recorded using the Japanese Orthopedic Association low-back pain scale(JOA)and the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome integral scale(TCMS)as assessment tools.Results Between baseline and postintervention,all changes in outcome metric scales were statistically significant(P<0.001).Compared to the control group,patients in the test group had a significantly greater treatment effect in all outcome variables,as indicated by lower VAS and TCMS scores and higher JOA scores,after the one-week intervention period(P<0.001).Further,according to the findings of multivariate linear regression analysis,the participants’pain(VAS score)was related to their marital status,age,smoking habits and body mass index.No adverse reactions were reported for any participants in this trial.Conclusion The effectiveness of TCM combined with the new physiotherapy tool is superior to that of NSAID combined with topical plasters,regarding to pain intensity,TCM symptoms and quality of life.The TCM plus physiotherapy also showed more stable and long-lasting therapeutic effects.