The effectiveness and safety of acupoint herbal patching for allergic rhinitis: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa that is characterized by symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, nasal itching, and rhinorrhoea. In recent years, acupoint herbal patching (AHP) therapy has gained a growing interest as a potential management option for AR. This systematic review and meta-analysis will evaluate the clinical research evidence on the effectiveness and safety of AHP as a treatment option for AR outside of the Sanfu or Sanjiu days (summer or winter solstice).

Efficacy of cheap amendments for stabilizing trace elements in contaminated paddy fields.

In situ stabilization of trace elements by adding cheap amendments is an emerging technology for large-scale soil remediation. Various amendments have been examined well in the literature, but related have focused predominantly on short-term laboratory scale incubation or pot experiments. This study applied dolomitic lime at 40 ton ha, oyster shell (OS) at 80 ton ha, and sugarcane bagasse compost (SC) at 60 ton ha to a paddy field in Taiwan for two rice (Oryza sativa L.

Nickel accumulation in paddy rice on serpentine soils containing high geogenic nickel contents in Taiwan.

We investigated the extractability of nickel (Ni) in serpentine soils collected from rice paddy fields in eastern Taiwan to evaluate the bioavailability of Ni in the soils as well as for demonstrating the health risks of Ni in rice. Total Ni concentrations in the soils ranged were 70.2-2730 mg/kg (mean, 472 mg/kg), greatly exceeding the natural background content and soil control standard in Taiwan.