scholarly journals West meets east: open up a dialogue on phytomedicine

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuzhu Li ◽  
Weijie Chen ◽  
Jesus Simal-Gandara ◽  
Milen I. Georgiev ◽  
Hongyi Li ◽  
...  

AbstractThe desire to extend the wisdom of traditional health systems has motivated the trade of many phytomedicine on a global scale for centuries, especially some dietary herbs, making a great overlap exits between western and eastern phytomedicine. Despite the communication since ancient times, a key disconnect still exists in the dialog among western and eastern herbal researchers. There is very little systematic effort to tap into the friction and fusion of eastern and western wisdom in utilizing phytomedicine. In this review, we analyzed the similarities and differences of three representative phytomedicine, namely Rhodiola, seabuckthorn, and fenugreek, aiming to open up new horizons in developing novel health products by integrating the wisdom of the east and the west.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Wang ◽  
Rui Wen ◽  
Julian Henderson ◽  
Xingjun Hu ◽  
Wenying Li

AbstractThe Hetian Bizili site in Lop County, located on the southern route of the Silk Road in Xinjiang, China, was a trade and cultural hub between the East and the West in ancient times. In 2016, a large number of glass beads were unearthed from the 40 tombs excavated on this site. In this study we determined the chemical compositions and manufacturing technology of bodies and decorations of twelve glass beads from the M5 tomb of Bizili by using LA-ICP-AES, EDXRF, Raman Spectrometry, and SR-μCT. The chemical compositions of the beads were all Na2O–CaO–SiO2, with plant ash mainly used as a flux. Lead antimonate and lead stannate were used as the opacifying agents. We detected elevated levels of boron and high levels of phosphorus in some beads: this is discussed in the context of the type of flux used and the possible use of a P-rich opacifier. Some of the beads with high contents of aluminum may potentially come from Pakistan. In terms of manufacturing technology, the craftsmen made ‘eye’ beads in different ways and also trail decorated beads.


1897 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-549
Author(s):  
M. Gaster

More marvellous and more remarkable than the real conquests of Alexander are the stories circulated about him, and the legends which have clustered round his name and his exploits. The history of Alexander has, from a very early period, been embellished with legends and tales. They spread from nation to nation during the whole of the ancient times, and all through the Middle Ages. Many scholars have followed up the course of this dissemination of the fabulous history of Alexander. It would, therefore, be idle repetition of work admirably done by men like Zacher, Wesselofsky, Budge, and others, should I attempt it here. All interested in the legend of Alexander are familiar with those works, where also the fullest bibliographical information is to be found. I am concerned here with what may have appeared to some of these students as the bye-paths of the legend, and which, to my mind, has not received that attention which is due to it, from more than one point of view. Hitherto the histories of Alexander were divided into two categories; the first were those writings which pretended to give a true historical description of his life and adventures, to the exclusion of fabulous matter; the other included all those fabulous histories in which the true elements were smothered under a great mass of legendary matter, the chief representative of this class being the work ascribed to a certain Callisthenes. The study of the legend centred in the study of the vicissitudes to which this work of (Pseudo-) Callisthenes had been exposed, in the course of its dissemination from the East, probably from its native country, Egypt, to the countries of the West.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Pleace ◽  
Roger Burrows ◽  
Brian Loader ◽  
Steven Muncer ◽  
Sarah Nettleton

The Internet is now being used as a mechanism for the delivery of social support on a global scale, chiefly through the formation of self-help groups. Most of the research that has been undertaken on these groups has focussed on Usenet and the use of newsgroups for social support. This paper examines the use of an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) ‘room’, by a self-help group composed of problem drinkers. The group had an international membership and advocated the use of social support, rather than intervention by professional services, to help its membership overcome problem drinking. The paper considers the roles that these new forms of Internet mediated self-help and social support might play in changing the relationships of those who participate in them towards traditional health and social care services. The paper also critically examines the extent to which such fora might function as virtual ‘communities’ of care.


Author(s):  
V. P. ALEKSEEV ◽  
E. O. AMON

Famous Russian geologist N.A. Golovkinsky published 150 years ago an important scientific work, where the phenomenon of lateral  displacement (movement) of homogeneous lithological layers  («slide» over time) was asserted. This created the most significant  prerequisites for the fundamental facial law: the layers, lying nearby,  were formed in the same sequence vertically. The law was  formulated a little later by A.A. Inostrantsev, and later  «rediscovered» by J. Wal- ter. The ideas, developed by N.A.  Golovkinsky, subsequently found the application in the study of  geological cyclicity, and currently in the booming seismic  stratigraphy. The creative improvement and continuation of  theoretical positions  contained in the Golovkinsky’s work allowed to  advance a method of facially-cyclic analysis, which has been  success- fully used in the study of many coal-bearing strata, and is  currently used for coal-free deposits of the West Siberian oil and gas  basin. Methodically, they develop an understanding of causality and  correspond to the principles of synergetic world-view. The main  content of these ideas remains relevant in the light of new realities  of cognitive process (nonlin-ear science, endovision).


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Majed Al-Shaibani

The current study aims to tackle the theoretical understanding of intention as between Sharia and law. It addresses the similarities and differences in the analysis of interpretation of intention across sharia law and law. The paper contrasts between the two ways of dealing with the concept of intention that is both technical and intuitive, across law and religion. Starting from the hypothesis that the concept of intention in sharia law originated in classical contextual realities different from the contemporary realities of Saudi Arabia and become outdated, the study attempts to answer the following questions: How can the concept of intention be adapted to the new socio-economic realities of Saudi Arabia with its new vision toward the world? How can the concept of intentionality adopt by sharia benefits from the analysis of law theory relating to intention? In order to answer the questions of the study, the study adopts the comparative law methodology through which concept of intention is comparatively examined in both sharia and law. The research investigates the historical and cultural context that gives rise to the concept of intentionality in both sharia law and law, as it helps reflect on aspects of similarity and differences and how gap between the sharia law and law can be bridged. The collected data is obtained through comparing sharia law in Saudi Arabia to the law applied in the West. The study has reached a conclusion that the sound methodological application of the concept of intention in sharia law requires the integration of elements and concepts from the Western law concept of intention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (07) ◽  
pp. 187-192
Author(s):  
Haifa Abdul Rahman AL SHAAFI

The Greek civilization is one of the basic elements of the so-called civilization conflict in ancient times, and history has preserved the echo of that conflict, but historians have been limited to describing and evaluating the conflict without focusing on the role of money in managing the movement of the conflict, which had an influential nature in the politics of Greece in general , especially after Macedonia entered the line of conflict and took control of the city of Krindes at the foot of Mount Pangios, which is distinguished by its richness of gold, as it made it richer than the rest of the Greek states,Philip took out from it thousands of gold every year, which enabled him to bribe the opposition politicians, and this is where the researchs' importance is marked with the emergence of money in the Greek countries and its impact on life back then. Based on this importance, the reason for choosing this particular topic is of the axes of the historical review conference - Ancient history- as the study aims to find similarities and differences between the money spread in that period since this topic was studied according to the historical method.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 504-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritu Priya ◽  
Chris M. Kurian

Traditional Health Knowledge (THK) has been a resource for modern pharmacology and the pharma-ceutical industry since its inception. Until the 2000s, there was little obligation to acknowledge the use of THK by the pharmaceutical industry. Now, with the intellectual property regime becoming a prominent mode of regulating use of pharmaceutical inventions and innovations, and attempts by the pharmaceutical industry to patent products based on THK, rights of THK holders are being fore-grounded. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is seeking to protect the rights of THK holders through international legal instruments under the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) framework. This article discusses dilemmas arising from this attempt at bringing together two diverse knowledge frameworks. It draws upon existing literature on the nature of THK and upon the debates of the WIPO’s Inter-Governmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expression (WIPO-IGC), and analyses them from the standpoint of a holistic health systems approach (HHSA) in an era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The approach leads to the conclusion that deliberations and promulgations of the WIPO-IGC will have long-lasting implications for the survival of diversity and context-specificity in healthcare. Therein lies the significance of thinking through the policy and legal measures to be adopted nationally and internationally.


Author(s):  
Jun-Yan Xiang ◽  
Yan-Yu Chi ◽  
Jin-Xin Han ◽  
Hongyu Xiang ◽  
Qiuhong Xie

Over a millennia, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat various diseases in China. In recent years, more and more Chinese materia medica (CMM) have been studied in scientific research projects, applied in clinical practice, and their extracts have even appeared in some health products. However, the toxicity of some CMM is often overlooked, including hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, etc. In this review, the toxic components and their toxicological mechanisms of some toxic CMM were listed according to the chemical structure classification of toxic components. Afterwards, the traditional methods (processing and compatibility) and modern methods (structural modification, biotransformation, etc.) of attenuation of CMM were discussed. Since ancient times, it has been said that “fight fire with fire, fight poison with poison,” and toxic CMM are of great significance in the treatment of difficult and severe diseases. The rational application of toxic CMM and their components in clinical practice was also exemplified in this review. While the pharmacological effects of TCMs have been emphasized, the scientific attenuation and rational application of toxic components should be concerned. We hope this review can provide a reference for future related research.


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