Category Archives: Life

运城民间艺术中的“虎年韵致”

北欧绿色邮报网报道 (运城新闻网记者 李淑君)  年味渐浓的时候,正是民间艺术家们最忙碌的时候。  春节俗称“过年”,过年贴喜庆意味的剪纸窗花,可是我们河东最古老的年俗。老辈人常说:“这过年不贴窗花,哪算过年嘛!”在村里,每当小年一过,手巧的老人就会带着自家的女儿孙女一起剪窗花了。这窗花剪纸最传统的花样儿当然是十二生肖了。每年除夕,当把这象征着新年吉祥的老虎、兔子、小猴子红红火火地贴在自家的窗户上,一家人围在一起,看着春晚,吃着年夜饭,在这浓浓的年味中迎接新年的到来。

剪纸,作为一种最古老最接地气的民间艺术,流传至今,把人们对新年的希冀与向往表达得淋漓尽致。今年是虎年,年味里自然少不了虎韵。虎文化,是中华民族图腾观念的一种情感延续,在河东大地上,处处可以看到老百姓浓浓的崇虎情结,作为图腾保护神的“虎”和人们精神观念中的“瑞虎”,充满活力地存活于民风乡俗之中,几千年来从没有中断或消失过。你看,“山花奖”得主杨毅紧紧围绕河东地区有关虎的民间民俗文化为创作主题的虎年生肖贺岁剪纸《瑞虎呈祥》系列剪纸,作品中的“艾虎驱邪虎”“福禄象征虎”“虎头鱼尾虎”“引蝠归堂虎”“招财进宝虎”“福寿三多虎”“五谷丰登虎”“万事如意虎”“虎年有余虎”“阴阳相合虎”“鱼戏莲花虎”以及民俗中常讲的“头顶日月脚踩蛇,麦麦石榴永发家”“老虎踏花花,幸福一家家”等吉祥民谣,把人们对虎的崇拜之情充分表达出来。“新绛戏曲剪纸”传承人段朋喆的《和谐虎》,外形似青蛙,蛙和娃谐音,蛙是阴,虎为阳,寓意阴阳和谐,相生万物。另一张展现虎踩蛇的《艾虎》,则寓意虎镇五毒,石榴桃子的元素意为多子多寿,寓意虎年不受毒物侵害,多子多寿之美意。俗话说:“福虎下了山,四季保平安。”你看,运城剪纸名家裴栋梁的威武雄壮的《猛虎下山图》中,一只大老虎摇着长尾巴冲出大森林,一副虎虎生威“百兽之王”的凶猛气势。而《上山虎》,则蕴含宁静深远的意味,寓意着平安无事、步步高登的威严与荣耀。还有席秀芳老师那可爱又圆润的《虎爸虎妈虎崽崽》,似乎用稚嫩的童音高唱着“两只老虎跑得快,一只没有耳朵,一只没有尾巴,真奇怪……”的童谣。就连微信中“早上好”的问候,王风娟老师都把它剪成一只萌萌的小老虎手提两只鱼给你送福的可爱样子。再看这“河东第一剪”李建肖的《金虎迎春》,虎尊百兽王,镇宅增瑞祥。盐湖区非遗剪纸传承人李恵芳录制了《和文旅一起过大年》视频,“河东巧手”卫爱良录制虎年剪纸“云课堂”线上剪纸窗花教学课程。这些热爱民间艺术的剪纸艺术家们,用自己的一双巧手,为新年迎春纳福专门制作的这些带有深厚民俗特色和乡土气息的各种造型的小老虎,把虎文化和祈愿国泰民安、风调雨顺、五谷丰登、百姓安康的良好祝愿表达得尽善尽美!

 “剪纸摹虎贴窗花,年画描虎作门神”。在民间,每年贴年画就是最有年味的传统民俗了。你看,把一块雕刻好的木版放置平整,刷上墨色,铺上红宣,用趟子压实,一圈又一圈,一幅《神虎头顶王 四季保太平》的虎年生肖年画便跃然纸上,这正是绛州木版年画传承人吴百锁今年新制的虎年吉祥画。而今,对运城的民间艺术家来说,农民画家画年画,虎年画虎迎新春,已成为虎年贺岁的时尚。你看,从农民画家刘翠娟的《虎娃送福》、王淑红的《盛世丰年》、李建肖的《和谐虎》,到刘泽民的《连年有余》、李恵芳的《闹元宵》,还有表达虎年吉祥的冯淑玉的《福虎迎春》、刘芸的《吉祥虎》、裴正凯的《金虎送宝》等洋溢着河东农民淳朴、善良和豪迈的感情色彩的新年画,把民间“过了十五才算是过完年”的民间习俗和欢天喜地的虎年味儿表达得恰到好处。

东汉《风俗通义·祀典》中言:“虎者,阳物,百兽之长也,能执搏挫锐,噬食鬼魅。”在中国传统文化中,虎是威武和力量的象征,是镇宅辟邪、世代相传的吉祥物和保护神。因此,老虎图案便以多姿多彩的造型被巧妙地运用到生活的方方面面,再经过人们的艺术加工,凶猛的老虎形象被塑造得既霸气又亲切。你看,国家级非遗绛州澄泥砚制作技艺第三代传承人蔺霄麟制作的《萌虎出墨》绛州澄泥砚台,砚肚刻有小虎爪,砚边刻着灵动的虎尾,砚内搭配着萌萌的招财小虎爪,把虎年财富在握的美好寓意表达得既实用又趣味。还有虎年生肖砚系列之一的《虎虎生威砚》,创作灵感来自于民间的虎头帽,用虎脸做砚堂,周围雕刻如意祥云22朵,寓意2022年吉祥安康。砚台整体轮廓圆润生动、雕刻精美,既具实用性又有观赏性。
从虎文化衍生而来的布老虎是一种自古就在中国民间流传的传统工艺品。在山西,布老虎多以红色、黄色为主色,布艺线条柔和细腻,颜色艳丽,不仅具有很高的审美价值和丰富的民俗内涵,而且寄托了山西民众对“百兽之王”能够扶正祛邪保平安的美好祈愿。你看,绛县马秋菊制作的具有浓厚乡土气息的布扎虎个个憨态可掬,盐湖区李田清的《虎啸神州》威风凛凛,还有芮城布老虎非遗传承人杨雅琴以活泼明快的风格设计创作的虎年非遗文创好礼《好舒虎》,以眯眼笑、仰面躺,睁大眼、贴肚趴,仰天望、翘腿躺,南瓜眼、伸懒腰,闭双眼、舔前爪的五种姿态展现出萌虎的舒适惬意之感,这时髦大气憨态可掬的好舒虎,让传统民艺在新时代更富有生命力。在民间,特别是虎年,大年初一有孩子们头戴虎帽,脚穿前头后尾的虎头鞋,一副虎头虎脑的虎子打扮,是大人们期盼孩子平安、茁壮成长的民间习俗。而今,农民艺术家刘翠娟创作的富有新年画特色的《虎瑞福星》更是把这民间习俗中的虎头鞋、虎头帽画成年画,以新的形式与寓意表达人们的美好愿望都能实现的希冀,已成为2022虎年节日祝福中最具民俗气息的微信表情。

春节,作为民间最为隆重的传统节日,能体现“年味”的各式花馍,就是运城人过年餐桌上必不可少的一道美食。作为民俗文化奇葩的“闻喜花馍”,过年要吃枣花馍、元宝馍,象征着在新年里能招财进宝、寿福安康;祭祀天地诸神的大年糕、镇宅的吉祥老虎等花馍寄托着平安吉祥;元宵节要蒸馄饨花馍,喻指一家老小皆平安、四邻和睦乡情浓,富有吉祥美好的新含意,讲究的正是这份节日的喜庆与细致。特别是虎年,除了蒸这些虎年大吉的老虎花馍,有孩子的人家还会蒸上一锅形态各异的虎头馒头,期望孩子们能健康成长。千百年来,花馍艺术植根于民间,受中国传统文化滋养而经久不衰,如今,花馍不再单单作为一种食物,被更多地赋予了一种美好祝福。你看,万荣“新派面塑”赵锐这虎虎生威的老虎花馍,“面人董”的萌萌小老虎,稷山的十二生肖花馍等,寄托了人们对美好生活的追求和向往,蕴含着丰富的河东民俗文化内涵。

在运城民间,过年是从忙碌的除夕开始的。一早起来,一家人贴完窗花,就开始贴对联、贴门神、贴福字。“福到”是老百姓对新的一年最美好的期盼!今年是虎年,当然得贴上福虎门神保平安了,当把年画中的娃娃福字、苹果福字、老寿星福字贴在自家的大门上,再在厨房的面瓮上贴上一张绛州木版年画,这看春晚、吃饺子、穿新衣、走亲戚,有着河东传统年味又充满温暖和希望的虎年就更加完美了。

  总之,运城民间艺术因为“民间”形成独特的河东地域特色,以浓郁的地方韵味,朴素的民间市井文化,兴盛于民间,流传至民间,成为一种最接地气的河东民俗文化。虽说,具体到各地,这过年习俗不尽相同,但表达辞旧迎新的美好寓意却是相同的,也是温暖的。虎年到来之际,我们运城市的民间艺术家们正在用自己的一双巧手,为虎年迎新春、民俗过大年增添着别样的“虎年韵致”。

  (作者系市民间文艺家协会主席)

32道“运城名菜”“运城美食”新鲜出炉 一道道吃过去

北欧绿色邮报网据世界旅游报报道 去年11月份开启评选活动以来,在13个县(市、区)推荐的基础上,主办方经过分类整理、梳理汇总,筛选出132道地方特色美食进入评选名录。后经网络投票、专家品鉴等环节,共评选出16道“运城名菜”和16道“运城美食”。

16道“运城名菜

干烧黄河鲤鱼
香酥鸡
河东过油肉
油泼海参
百花扒猴头
汽锅羊肉
酱香黄牛肉
带把肘子
皮箱豆腐盒
风葫芦
干炸佛手
稷山瓤菜
绣球干贝
临猗粉蒸肉

16道“运城美食”

关公羊肉泡
羊肉胡卜
荣河蒸菜
豆黄面
闻喜葱花饼
绛州火锅
永济扯面
芮城泡泡油糕
芮城石子饼
稷山半圆饼
河东软麻花
平陆油泼面
新绛鸡蛋旋子
油泼凉粉
鸡丝水饺
椒叶煎饼

(以上供稿:运城侨联)

华侨华人,这些最新国际航班信息,你都知道了吗?

北欧绿色邮报网援引中国侨网(作者 张雨晴)报道 近期,一些国家决定放宽新冠肺炎防疫措施,国际航班政策也有所变动。与此同时,中国的各大航空公司公布了2021/2022年冬春航班计划。

  各个国家都出了哪些新政策?中国各大航空公司的最新航班计划又是什么呢?小侨来为大家捋一捋。

  美国取消33个国家旅行禁令

  当地时间11月8日,美国向来自33个国家的完全接种新冠疫苗的国际旅客重新开放边境,结束了为期超过18个月的国际旅行限制。

  根据新规,这33个国家完全接种疫苗的旅客将被允许进入美国,前提是他们能出示接种疫苗证明,以及旅行前三天内的新冠检测呈阴性的证明。

  未接种疫苗的美国人和18岁以下未成年人不受此限制,但必须提交旅行前一天的新冠病毒检测呈阴性的证明。对此,各大航空公司表示,前往美国的国际航班机票预订量正在持续增高。

当地时间11月8日,旅客抵达美国加州旧金山国际机场的国际航班到达区域。美国8日起放宽入境限制,允许完成新冠疫苗全程接种的外国旅客乘坐国际航班或通过水陆口岸入境。中新社记者 刘关关 摄

作为在美国拥有最多国际服务的三家航空公司,美国航空(American Airlines)表示,英国和美国之间的机票预订量增长了66%,欧洲、巴西与美国之间的机票预订量分别增长了40%和74%。

  美联航(UnitedAirlines)表示,在拜登政府宣布结束美国的国际旅行禁令后的几天内,其航班机票销量远超2019年同期。达美航空(Delta Air Lines)表示,在11月8日,该公司预计将有139架航班从38个国家/地区飞往美国,其中大部分航班的座位被全部预订。

  加拿大将增加8个对国际航班开放的机场

  加拿大交通部长奥马尔·阿尔加布拉(Omar Alghabra)当地时间11月2日在滑铁卢国际机场宣布,从11月30日开始,对国际航班开放的机场将再增加8个。

  这八个机场分别是:圣约翰斯国际机场、汉密尔顿国际机场、里贾纳国际机场、萨斯卡通国际机场、基洛纳国际机场、阿伯茨福德国际机场、维多利亚国际机场,以及滑铁卢国际机场。这些新增的机场同样实施入境检查疫苗接种证明等措施。

  目前,加拿大对国际航班开放的机场已经达到17个,遍布除北部三个地区之外的几乎所有重要城市。

资料图

韩国政府11月重启国际航班

  韩国国际广播电台10月29日报道,随着韩国政府决定从11月起分阶段恢复日常生活,韩国各航空公司纷纷决定扩大重启国际航线。

  大韩航空将从11月开始重启仁川至美国夏威夷、澳大利亚悉尼和新西兰奥克兰的定期航班。韩亚航空从11月开始将每日运行仁川至泰国曼谷航班。

  由于韩国已与新加坡签署“旅游气泡“(Travel Bubble)协议,韩亚航空决定11月15日至30日每周执飞四班仁川至新加坡航线,12月1日至明年1月31日增至每周五班。韩亚航空还计划12月每周两班执飞仁川至关岛航线,每周执飞一班的仁川至塞班岛航线也将增至每周两班。

  俄罗斯将从11月9日恢复9国国际航班

  俄罗斯新冠病毒疫情防控指挥部10月14日发布消息称,俄将从11月9日起恢复与泰国、巴哈马、伊朗、荷兰、挪威、阿曼、斯洛文尼亚、突尼斯和瑞典等9国的国际航班。

  消息称,应泰国方面的要求,只有接种新冠疫苗的俄罗斯公民才可获准搭乘航班前往泰国。此外,俄罗斯将从11月9日起取消对奥地利、瑞士、芬兰和阿联酋等国的航班限制,增加从俄罗斯飞往德国、西班牙、意大利、法国等12个国家的航班。

  根据俄相关规定,与俄罗斯恢复航班往来的国家应满足14天内每10万人新冠病毒感染人数不超过40人,新冠病毒确诊病例14天内日均新增率低于1%,病毒传播指数(指新冠病人被隔离前传染的人数)小于1的条件。

  哈萨克斯坦已与23个国家恢复国际航线

  据哈通社11月5日报道,哈萨克斯坦目前已经完全恢复了国内所有民航线路,与23个国家也已恢复通航。

  目前与哈国恢复国际航线的国家包括:土耳其、韩国、阿联酋、白俄罗斯、乌克兰、德国、乌兹别克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、埃及、俄罗斯、格鲁吉亚、塔吉克斯坦、波兰、荷兰、黑山、亚美尼亚、英国、匈牙利、马尔代夫、阿塞拜疆、卡塔尔、斯里兰卡、泰国。哈萨克斯坦与上述23国共保持着63条国际航线、247个航班。

  统计显示,平均每天哈萨克斯坦国内航线共有106个航班执飞,国际航线则每日有35个航班。

  中国各大航空公司最新国际航班计划

  中国国航

  中国民用航空局10月29日发布2021/2022年冬春航班计划,北京时间2021年10月31日0时至2022年3月26日24时,国航国际航班具体计划及关于北京地区的第一入境点计划如下:

中国东方航空
  上海航空
  自2021年11月1日0时至2021年11月30日24时止,东航、上航每周可执行国际航线共计23条,其中涉及上海航线 14条,昆明航线4条,杭州航线2条,西安航线2条,烟台航线1条。具体航班计划如下:

中国南方航空

  自11月1日起,南航每周可执行国际航线共计24条,具体航班计划如下:

*以上航班计划及第一入境点可能发生变化,请以销售系统显示为准。
  在此,小侨提醒广大华侨华人朋友,密切关注官方渠道发布的最新航班动态,确认好出入境要求、登机要求、核酸检测要求及酒店情况等,提前做好安排。
  (主编陈雪霏 编辑查正富)

Lianhuaqingwen has not only mint but 13 ingredients

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, May 10, (Greenpost) — Swedish Radio and Aftonbladet reported on May 6 that Swedish Customs had tested the Chinese traditional herb content medicine Lianhuaqingwen which they confiscated and gave a conclusion that the medicine doesn’t function and only contains mint in it.

This report was spread to China and Chinese medical academicians and relevant organisations immediately reacted on this news saying that the Swedish conclusion was not right.

The news said Swedish official in Drugs Administration lab said he didn’t find enough evidence to show the medicine is useful because he only found mint in it, but didn’t mention anything else and claimed that there was no any relevant articles about it.

This conclusion shows that he didn’t find the article about Lianhuaqingwen, nor read it. He neither found nothing else in the medicine or he found something but he didn’t know what they were.

News from Chinese Dr. Li said in fact there were 13 ingredients or components in the medicine. But only mint has a well recognised chemical format while the other Chinese herbs didn’t have chemical format.

The 13 ingredients are Lianqiao which is Forsythoside E, Jinyinhua which is honeysukle, similar to dandelion, luding, Rutin, mahuang, dahuang, which is Epherdra, bitter apricot core, plaster, banlangen which is a well-known antivirus medicine in China. Banlangen was invented in mid 1990s. I remember once I was asked to translate the specifications of the medicine because my radio people were often asked to do this kind of translation job. But I refused to do it because I felt I knew so little about medicine knowledge. But over the years Banlangen has become a daily medicine like Alvedon in Sweden. If people have virus type of flu, people can take Banlangen. If they have bacteria type of cold, they can just take the ganmaochonji a kind of small particle type of powder and just putting it into a cup of hot water and drink it.

Mianmaguanzhong, I do not know what it is, but Yuxingcao is also a well known name in dealing with eyes, Huoxiang is also a very common but well effective Chinese medicine. Hongjingtian is produced in Tibet and famous for its function to help you to have enough oxegon. When we were in Tibet, a colleague felt he was lack of oxegon, he went to buy oxegon bottle and Hongjingtian. Gancao was also a Chinese medicine both in tablet form or in raw herb form. One can swallow tablet, but drink water which soaks the gancao herb. The last one is exactly mint.

Mint is indeed a good component for various kinds of Chinese medicine. Mint sugar in Lidl actually helps you if you have a sore throat.

Academician Zhong Nanshan who was the key person in leading the campaign against Covid-19. President Xi Jinping was leading the campaign by sending hospitals, doctors and nurses and all the supplies through various provinces, Zhong Nanshan was a symbol of technical part, a lot of information was sent out through Zhongs name. Academician Zhang Boli who has retired at home, but he was summoned to lead in the campaign with his rich Chinese medicine knowledge. They both are authoritative while Zhong was in western medicine and Zhang was in Chinese medicine. But both recommended Lianhuaqingwen. During China’s campaign against covid-19, it was a perfect example of cooperation and combination of Chinese and western medicines.

Let’s look at the corona virus again. It is a virus, but the symptom when people catch it is coughing, fever, running or drying nose and fatigue. Thus the symptom is similar to a serious cold. Only when people are either too weak or too healthy to fight against the virus with no strength or too much strength, fiercely, then it hurt your organs especially the lung. The most typical symptom in the end is respiratory problem. But at the beginning, you just got a cold.

And all these components or ingredients of Lianhuaqingwen are useful in fighting against cold. Thus it can almost be treated as a most powerful kind of medicine in treating cold.

According to a joint study by researchers in Nanjing Chinese Medicine University and Shanghai Drug Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lianhuaqingwen is so far the most functional medicine in inhibiting corona virus from reproduction and curing the fever of the patients.

According to Professor Fang Bangjiang from Longhua Hospital of Shanghai Chinese Medicine University, there were only 20-30 percent of the patients have fever. Most of them did not have fever. He was sent to Leishenshan Hospital China built within ten days after the closedown of Wuhan on January 23. ( link http://www.greenpost.se/2020/05/02/%e9%9b%b7%e7%a5%9e%e5%b1%b1%e6%8a%97%e7%96%ab%e4%b8%93%e5%ae%b6%e6%96%b9%e9%82%a6%e6%b1%9f%e6%95%99%e6%8e%88%e7%9b%b4%e6%92%ad%e4%b8%8e%e7%91%9e%e5%85%b8%e3%80%81%e7%be%8e%e3%80%81%e5%8a%a0%e3%80%81/)

Fang was in charge of a unit which had 108 patients who had light symptoms. He found that the patients had one unified symptom, that was panic and fear, worries and weak nerves. After trying western medicine for one week, he found it not only did not give positive results but give negative effects on liver. Thus he prescribed all the time Chinese medicine after a week. The Chinese medicine mainly calmed down the patients, relieved them from panic feelings and got them sleep better.

As a result, no one became more serious and no death happened in his unit. In comparison, those who were treated with western way or medicine, a lot of them could become worse and were sent to ICU.

According to the research paper, Lianhuaqingwen was used for severe patients too and by alleviating their fever or other symptoms, lives were rescued.

But so far, experts admit that there were no cure all kind of medicine against covid-19. But as a supportive medicine or healthy product, those who are confirmed to get covid-19 positive, they can take Lianhuaqingwen. Whether it works or not, one can feel it after three days. If after three days it did not function, you feel worse, then you must call the doctor again.

Sweden has tried its best to deal with the covid-19 and avoided the problem China had at the beginning of getting the hospital too crowded and almost collapse. Sweden wanted to let the covid-19 happen slowly, which is a good idea.

However, the virus loves people and can quickly spread from one person to two persons if you have close contacts, for example in crowds, not necessarily to kiss each other. It can spread through spit and sneeze or cough. But if people keep themselves isolated, the virus couldn’t find another person to reproduce itself, it will die with the recovery of the person. Thus isolation is very very important.

The earlier, quicker to isolate, the better. For example, if Swedish cancelled the travel, canceled the Eurovision, canceled the birthday party, and isolated quicker and earlier in other areas where you just found a couple of cases, then the virus probably got wiped out by now. But no one knows. Maybe it would take two to three months any way.

Thanks to Swedish people who are good at keeping social distance and mostly follow the government instructions, Swedish people did not sacrifice too much freedom and the society continues to function, which can be seen as a positive aspect. But if people especially those who got infected, but not to the extend to go to hospitals intensive care, maybe if they take the Lianhuaqingwen, it can not only comfort them, but also prevent them from getting worse.

To say it just got mint in it and does not function, it sounds like it is just the mint candy. But it is simply not true.

In fact, Lianhuaqingwen was just one of the Chinese medicines that dealt with covid-19. I guess it became famous because of its mass production and packaging. Qingfei Paidu Tang or Lung cleaning and poison eradicating syrup was also very popular during covid 19 campaign in Wuhan, Central China. But this kind of medicine is pure herb and needs to be boiled each time for each person. It is hard to get mass production. Chinese doctors also stressed that it was one person with his or her own prescription according to his or her own symptom.

Chinese medicine does not stress killing the virus or fighting the virus, instead, it stressed that the medicine helps patients to get stronger in immune system and physical strength by getting rid of or alleviating the symptom.

Covid-19 is indeed a strong virus which is very hard to deal with because it reproduces itself so quickly once it entered humans body and attacked the lung. By fighting back with the immune system, patients other organs such as liver or heart or kidney could be damaged too. That was why a lot of people died of not only virus, but also several other combined diseases. The virus can damage your immune system. Thus, the Chinese doctors emphasized that people should eat enough protein and sleep well. Getting yourself strong is the key to deal with the covid 19.

The following is the research paper about Lianhuaqingwen.

Pharmacological Research:Lianhuaqingwen exerts anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity against novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

Elsevier

Pharmacological Research

Available online 20 March 2020, 104761In Press, Journal Pre-proofWhat are Journal Pre-proof articles?

Pharmacological Research

Lianhuaqingwen exerts anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity against novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

Author links open overlay panelLiRunfenga1HouYunlonge1HuangJichengd1PanWeiqia1MaQinhaiaShiYongxiadLiChufangaZhaoJinaJiaZhenhuaeJiangHaimingaZhengKuidHuangShuxiangdDaiJundLiXiaobodHouXiaotaocWangLincZhongNanshanaYangZifengabcShow morehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104761Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Lianhuaqingwen (LH) as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula has been used to treat influenza and exerted broad-spectrum antiviral effects on a series of influenza viruses and immune regulatory effects [1]. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the antiviral activity of LH against the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and its potential effect in regulating host immune response.

Methods

The antiviral activity of LH against SARS-CoV-2 was assessed in Vero E6 cells using CPE and plaque reduction assay. The effect of LH on virion morphology was visualized under transmission electron microscope. Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression levels upon SARS-CoV-2 infection in Huh-7 cells were measured by real-time quantitative PCR assays.

Results

LH significantly inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 cells and markedly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, CCL-2/MCP-1 and CXCL-10/IP-10) production at the mRNA levels. Furthermore, LH treatment resulted in abnormal particle morphology of virion in cells.

Conclusions

LH significantly inhibits the SARS-COV-2 replication, affects virus morphology and exerts anti-inflammatory activity in vitro. These findings indicate that LH protects against the virus attack, making its use a novel strategy for controlling the COVID-19 disease.

Keywords

LianhuaqingwencoronavirusSARS-CoV-2anti-inflammatory

1. Introduction

Coronaviruses are a group of enveloped viruses named for their coronary appearance with positive single-stranded RNA genomes [2]. In addition to six known strains of coronaviruses that are infectious to humans, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was detected recently in Wuhan, China [3,4]. Like the other two highly pathogenic coronaviruses SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 also caused severe respiratory illness and even death. Moreover, the population’s susceptibility to these highly pathogenic coronaviruses has contributed to large outbreaks and evolved into the public health events, highlighting the necessity to prepare for future reemergence or the novel emerging viruses [5].

Similar to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is initiated by zoonotic transmission likely from bats and spreads rapidly among humans [6]. The basic reproduction number (R0) of person-to-person spread is about at 2.6, which means that the SARS-CoV-2 infected cases grow at an exponential rate. As of February 07, 2020, 57,620 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 have been reported in China, including 26,359 suspected cases, and a sustained increase is predictable. The initial patient cluster with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported Wuhan pneumonia with unknown aetiology, which bore some resemblance to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infections and was associated with ICU admission and high mortality. Moreover, High concentrations of cytokines were recorded in plasma of patients requiring ICU admission, such as GCSF, IP10, MCP1, MIP1A, and TNFα, suggesting that the cytokine storm was associated with disease severity [7]. A retrospective clinical study indicated the risk of fatality among hospitalized cases at 4.3% in single-center case series of 138 hospitalized patients [8], and the infection fatality risk could be below 1% or even below 0.1% in a large number of undetected relatively mild infections [9]. However, It is challenging to judge the severity and predict the consequences with the information available so far. Since no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19 is currently available, supportive cares, including symptomatic controls and prevention of complications remain the most critical therapeutic regimens, especially in preventing acute respiratory distress syndrome [10]. Although the control of SARS-CoV-2 still presents multiple challenges in the short term, more potent antiviral drugs are urgent to be developed [4].

At present, some drugs are effective in eliminating SARS-CoV-2 and improving symptoms. The most promising antiviral drug for SARS-CoV-2 is remdesivir that is currently under clinical development for the treatment of Ebola virus infection [11]. However, the efficacy and safety of remdesivir for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia patients need to be assessed by further clinical trials. In addition, in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, Tranditonal Chinese medicines have received broad adoption, especially in treating cases of mild symptoms [12]. Lianhuaqingwen (LH), a Chinese patent medicine composed of 13 herbs, has played a positive role in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. A retrospective analysis of clinical records was conducted in the SARS-CoV-2 infected patients at Wuhan Ninth Hospital and CR & WISCO General Hospital. LH combination could significantly relieve cardinal symptoms and reduce the course of the COVID-19 [13], making it successively included in the Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Pneumonia (On Trials, the Fourth/Fifth/Sixth/Seventh Edition) issued by National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China and also recommended by 20 provincial health commissions including Hubei, Beijing, and Shanghai as well as National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. Moreover, LH exerted broad-spectrum effects on a series of influenza viruses by inhibiting viral propagation and regulating immune function and achieved similar therapeutic effectiveness with Oseltamivir in reducing the course of H1N1 virus infection [1,14,15]. Notably, the anti-influenza activity of LH in infected mice might depend on the regulation of cytokines, particularly in cytokine storm associated cytokines, such as IP-10, MCP-1, MIP1A, and TNF-α [1]. In the present study, we evaluated the antiviral and anti-inflammatory efficiency of LH against a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 from Guangzhou in vitro.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Cell lines and virus

The African green monkey kidney epithelial (Vero E6) cells and the human hepatocellular carcinoma (Huh-7) cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM, Gibco, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) at 37 °C. A clinical isolated SARS-CoV-2 virus (Genebank accession no. MT123290.1) was propagated in Vero E6 cells, and viral titer was determined by 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) according to the cytopathic effect by use of Reed-Muench method [17]. All the infection experiments were performed in a biosafety level-3 (BLS-3) laboratory.

2.2. Reagent preparation

LH capsule (Lot No.A2001108) was obtained from Yiling Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Shijiazhuang, China). UPLC fingerprints of LH consist of 32 common peaks. 9 of 32 common peaks are identified. The similarities in 10 batches of LH Capsules samples were all above 0.96 (Supplementary Fig. 1). The black powder of raw material of LH was first dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to 240 mg/mL. After shaking for 30 min at room temperature, the LH solution was diluted with serum-free DMEM to 24 mg/mL as a stock solution and stored at −20 °C before using. Remdesivir was kindly provided by Prof. Jiancun Zhang from Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences and was dissolved in DMSO to 100 mM and stored at −20 °C before using. DMEM with 2% FBS was used as the dilution buffer in the follow-up experiments.

2.3. Cytotoxicity assay

The cytotoxic effects of the LH on Vero E6 and Huh-7 cells were evaluated by Methyl Thiazolyl Tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Briefly, monolayers of Vero E6 cells and Huh-7 cells in 96-well plates were rinsed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) followed by incubation with indicated concentrations of LH. After 72 h, the cells were stained with MTT solution at 0.5 mg/mL for 4 h. The supernatants were then removed, and the formed formazan crystals were dissolved in 200 μL DMSO. The absorbance was measured at 490 nm using Multiskan Spectrum reader (Thermo Fisher, USA). The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) was calculated by the GraphPad Prism 7.0 software.

2.4. Cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibition assay

The Vero E6 cell monolayers were grown in 96-well plates and inoculated with 100 TCID50 of coronavirus strains at 37 ̊C for 2 h. The inoculum was removed, and the cells were subsequently incubated with indicated concentrations of LH or the positive control remdesivir. Following the 72 h of incubation, the infected cells shown 100% CPE under the microscope. The percentage of CPE in LH-treated cells were recorded. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC50) of the virus-induced CPE by LH was calculated by the Reed-Muench method [17].

2.5. Plaque reduction assay

The Vero E6 cell monolayers in 6-well plates were infected with 50 plaque-forming units (PFU) of SARS-CoV-2 for 2 h at 37 °C. After incubation, the cell monolayers were covered with agar overlay (final concentration: 0.6% agar, 2% FBS, indicated concentrations of LH or remdesivir). The plates were then incubated for 48 h at 37 °C with 5% CO2. Subsequently, the agar overlays were removed, and the cell monolayer was fixed with 10% formalin, stained with 1% crystal violet, and then the plaques were counted and photographed.

2.6. RNA isolation and reverse transcriptase-quantitative PCR analysis (RT-qPCR)

The Huh-7 cell monolayers in 12-well plate were rinsed with PBS and then exposed to coronavirus at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1 for 2 h at 37 °C. The inoculum was removed and replaced with the indicated concentrations of LH or mock-treated with DMEM supplemented with 2% FBS for subsequent 48 h incubation at 37 °C with 5% CO2. The cells were then harvested for RNA isolation and qPCR as described previously [16]. The primer and probe sequences used for analysis are listed in Supplementary Table 1. The relative mRNA expression was calculated using the 2-△△Ct method with GAPDH as an internal reference gene.

2.7. Electron microscope

Monolayers of Vero E6 cells in 6-well plates were incubated with SARS-CoV-2 at a MOI of 0.001 for 2 h at 37 °C. The virus inoculum was then removed and replaced with DMEM medium supplemented with 2% FBS containing LH (600 μg/mL) or remdesivir (5 μM). At 48 h p.i., the cells were fixed, dehydrated and embedded as described previously [18]. Ultrathin sections (70 nm) of embedded cells were prepared, deposited onto Formvar-coated copper grids (200 mesh), stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, and then observed under JEM-1400 PLUS transmission electron microscopy (Japan Electron Optics Laboratory Co., Ltd., JEM-1400 PLUS).

2.8. Statistical Analyses

Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 7.0 software. The differences in mRNA expression levels of cytokines were compared using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Values of p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

3. Results

3.1. Antiviral activity of LH on SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

The cell viability after LH or remdesivir treatment was determined by MTT assay in both Vero E6 and Huh-7 cells. LH showed unapparent cytotoxicity for both cell lines at concentrations up to 600 μg/mL (Fig. 1A, C). The positive control remdesivir showed no cytotoxicity to cells at a concentration of 50µM (Fig. 1B, D).

Fig. 1

To investigate the antiviral effect of LH against SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Vero E6 cells were infected with 100 TCID50 of virus and incubated with LH at various concentrations for 72 h. As shown in Fig. 2A, LH inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus with an IC50 value of 411.2 µg/mL by CPE assay (Fig. 2A). Meanwhile, treatment with LH following infection also had a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on plaque formation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Fig. 2C). We selected remdesivir as the positive control in our study and the results showed that remdesivir potently inhibited virus-induced CPE with an IC50 of 0.651 µM and a total plaque formation inhibition at 5 μM (Fig. 2B, C).

Fig. 2

To further confirm the efficacy of LH in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 virus replication in cells, we detected the viral particles in ultrathin sections of infected cells under electron microscopy. At 48 h p.i., viral particles were found in cytoplasm, intracellular vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum, and cell membrane and presented spherical crown-like appearance, which was typical coronavirus morphology (Fig. 3B, G). LH (600 μg/mL) and positive control remdesivir (5 μM) treatment resulted in a reduction of the number of virions compared with mock-treated infected cells (Fig. 3G–J). It was interesting to note that some virions in the surface of LH-treated cells presented spindle sharp which was in contrast to the typical spherical particles in the mock-treated cells (Fig. 3I).

Fig. 3

3.2. Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine and chemokine expression by LH in vitro

To determine the effect of LH on the expression of cytokines and chemokines induced by SAR2-CoV-2, the mRNA expression levels of TNF-α, IL-6, CCL-2/MCP-1, and CXCL-10/IP-10 were detected and compared between the LH-treated and mock-treated Huh-7 cells. The results showed that the elevated expressions of these four cytokines were significantly inhibited by LH treatment in a concentration-dependent manner (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

4. Discussion

Starting from December 2019, a pandemic of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 is sweeping the mainland of China. This virus has spread to several foreign countries, threatening to trigger a global outbreak. Several antiviral agents can be envisaged to control or prevent viral infections by antiviral assay in vitro [14,17]. However, the efficacy and safety of novel candidates need validations in vivo, even for those clinically approved medicines, which means that it will take months to years for clinical practices. At present, symptomatic and supportive treatments remain key to clinical practices. Thus, Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) carried both the antiviral effect and the symptomatic relief might bring more clinical benefits [12]. As a classical TCM prescription for respiratory diseases, LH is the only approved medicine in the treatment of SARS and influenza. After the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, LH as a representative TCM prescription was recommended again in the latest Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Pneumonia issued by National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether the therapeutic effects of LH on the COVID-19 targeting virus replication and immunological regulation as it did on the infection caused by influenza viruses.

Our previous study showed that LH exhibited in vitro anti-influenza activity with IC50 ranging from 200-2000 μg/mL [1]. Here we demonstrated that LH also has a comparable antiviral potency against the SARS-CoV-2 virus with an IC50 value of 411.2 μg/mL (Fig. 2). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been a potent tool to observe virus entry, virus particle assembly, viral ultrastructure, and budding from the plasma membrane [17]. To understand the antiviral details of LH, EM pictures were taken from each group. Abundant virus particles assembled at the surface of membrane, cytoplasm, and plasma vesicles in the SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, decreased in the treatment of LH at 600ug/mL. Notably, slight deformation of virus particles was seen in the LH treatment, which required us to make further studies.

Highly pathogenic coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV cause fatal pneumonia, which is mainly associated with rapid virus replication, massive inflammatory cell infiltration and elevated proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine responses. Although the pathophysiology of fatal pneumonia caused by highly pathogenic coronaviruses has not been completely understood, accumulating evidence suggests that the cytokine storm plays a crucial role in causing fatal pneumonia [18]. Excessive amounts of proinflammatory cytokines were reported (e.g., IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, IFN-γ, IP-10, and MCP-1) in the serum of SARS patients [18], similar in the serum of MERS patients [19]. Chaolin Huang et al. confirmed the occurrence of the cytokine storm in the COVID-19 patients in ICU rather than those in non-ICU patients [7]. Based on the excessive cytokines responses, Suxin Wan et al. claimed that IL-6 and IL-10 levels could be used as one of the bases for predicting the outcome and prognosis of the COVID-2019 [20]. In this study, host cells infected with HCoV-229E and SARS-COV-2 increased the cytokine release such as TNF-α, IL-6, CCL-2/MCP-1, and CXCL-10/IP-10, which was suppressed by LH in a dose-dependent manner. The change of cytokine profiles suggested that LH might have a potential effect on the inhibition of cytokine storm induced by SARS-COV-2, which also needed to be validated in vivo.

5. Conclusion

Since the launch of LH, it has been widely used as a broad spectrum of antiviral agent in the clinical practice, especially for various respiratory virus infections. Previous studies have shown that LH a broad spectrum of effects on a series of influenza viruses by interfering with both viral and host reactions. Although LH significantly relieved the clinical symptoms of the COVID-19, the underlying mechanism of antiviral effects on coronavirus, especially in the SARS-COV-2, was still elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that LH exerted its anti-coronavirus activity by inhibiting virus replication and reducing the cytokine release from host cells, which supported the clinical application of LH in combination with existing therapies to treat COVID-2019.

Acknowledgements

The study was funded by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission NCP Emergency Project; Hebei Provincial Department of Science and Technology NCP prevention and control emergency scientific research project (Grant no. 20277708D); The Science research project of the Guangdong Province (Grant no. 2020B111110001); Daxing District Science and technology development projects (Grant no. KT202008013).

Appendix A. Supplementary data

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Chinese demand of Port contribute to Finland’s food export

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, November 28(Greenpost)– While the trade negotiation between China and the US is underway at a critical time, news from Finland reaching here says that Finland’s exports in the food and beverage sector see a record high this year partly due to China’s demand of pork and other products.

The export forecast for 2019 is EUR 1.75 billion, which, if achieved, would represent a record high.

Entry into new markets, along with an increase in export volumes and prices, have contributed to an increase in the value of exports. Awareness of the growth potential available through exports has grown in the food and beverage sector. New export companies have participated in the Food from Finland programme created by Business Finland and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The food authorities and other promoter organisations have also significantly contributed towards the export growth.

Products in particularly strong demand this year have included dairy products, oats, other foodstuffs and alcohol products. Countries where export growth has been visible include China, where there has been a particular demand for pork and powdered milk.

The value of food imports to Finland was triple the value of our exports at EUR 4.6 billion in 2018. Many of the products being imported are not produced or manufactured in Finland. In order to reduce the trade deficit, it would be important to increase the added value of exports.

The food industry is a significant industry in Finland

According to preliminary figures for 2018, the total turnover of the food industry was around EUR 11.2 billion, showing an increase of 4% on the previous year. The food industry employs some 38,000 people directly, and as many as 340,000 indirectly.

– Finnish consumers buy domestic, responsibly produced foods, which means the food industry will continue to be a very important sector in Finland. But in addition, Finnish products and raw materials are increasingly finding their way onto the plates and into the glasses of international consumers, too, says Leena Hyrylä, Food Industry Sector Manager at the Southeast Finland ELY Centre.

Food and beverage companies continue to seek growth

The sector barometer for the manufacture of food products indicates that SMEs in the food sector continue to be growth-driven. More than half of the SMEs that responded said they were pursuing growth; 22 per cent said they sought powerful growth, while 43 per cent said they would tap into any growth opportunities available. According to the barometer, SMEs in the food sector, especially in the beverage sector, were more growth-oriented than companies in comparable sectors.

SMEs in the food sector were more optimistic about the general outlook for the economy than other Finnish SMEs and those engaged in comparable sectors. However, expectations are down on the previous year.

The business environment is changing rapidly, placing a stronger focus on the consumer and on continued renewal. The food sector is influenced by current trends and themes such as climate change, demographic changes, scarce resources, digitalisation and technological advancement in general. Consumer awareness and expectations for products and food services are rising. Responsibility, wellbeing and domestic origin are rising trends.

Business Sector Services

  • A network of expertsled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
  • compiles, analyses and communicates information avout the business enviroment for decision-making purposes
  • the objective is to facilitate the succes, growth and internationalisation of Finnish companies.

SME sector reports are based on an annual SME Barometer commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Federation of Finnish Enterprises and Finnvera Oyj. The SME Barometer conducted in the autumn of 2019 is based on responses from representatives of 6,133 small and medium-sized enterprises. The survey was conducted in summer 2019. Responses were provided by 196 SMEs in the food sector.

Chinese has a saying that the earth is round and if the sun is not shining in the east, it must be shining in the west. Or if not in the north, it must be in the south. Please do not just hang yourself in one tree.

Ma Jianzhong, Chairman of WFCMS leading a delegation Visits Sweden

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 20(Greenpost)– Ma Jianzhong, Chairman of World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) led a large delegation of over 30 members to visit Sweden in order to make academic exchanges and field study on November 13th.

This was right after they attended the 16th World Congress of Chinese Medicine which was successfully held in Budapest, Capital of Hungary. The delegation includes leading experts and specialists in the field of Chinese medicine.

       At 10:30 in the morning, Chairman Ma Jianzhong, former Vice Minister of Health, Professor She Jing, who was also founding Chairman of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, and Professor Li Zhenji, Vice founding Chairman and Secretary-General of WFCMS and other six people came to the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm at the invitation of Chinese Ambassador Gui Cuiyou.

They were warmly welcomed and Ambassador Gui made extensive talks on the development of traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion in Sweden, and further explored how to further promote Chinese medicine culture and relieve the suffering of the Swedish people and overseas Chinese.

Counselor Dai Gang of Science and Technology at the Embassy and President Yang Chungui of the Swedish Society of Chinese Medicine gave a detailed introduction about the operation of Swedish traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinics and the exchanges and cooperation with Western doctors such as those from Karolinska Hospital.

Jiemei, a lawyer at Guohao Law Firm, introduced the work of promoting acupuncture legislation in Sweden. After the talks, the Embassy arranged a lunch for all the guests.

After thorough inspection by the leaders of the World Federation of China and the friendly consultation between the two sides, they jointly decided that the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Professional Level Recognition Department and the Swedish Society of Chinese Medicine will sign a cooperation framework agreement on the “Cooperation on the clinical superiority technology transfer of traditional Chinese medicine and the evaluation of professional titles of international Chinese medicine”.

At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, under the witnesses of the WFCMS’ leaders and Guo Hao law Firm’s lawyer Jiemei, Professor Zheng Yuexian, the chief expert of the WFCMS and President of the Swedish Association of Chinese Medicine, Yang Chungui signed this important agreement.

 On the morning of the 14th, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies experts visited Karolinska Institutet. The former Nobel Prize jury chair Professor Silas introduced the Karolinska Institute and Nobel Prize evaluation process to the delegation.

In the afternoon, the delegation concluded the intense academic study tour and flew back to China with Air China.

The World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies is an international academic organization approved by the Chinese State Council and a member of the World Health Organization. It’s a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). 

(Translated and edited by Xuefei Chen Axelsson )

第五届世界浙商大会签约金额超3000亿元 系历届之最

第五届世界浙商大会签约金额超3000亿元系历届之最

    大会现场。 张斌 摄

  北欧绿色邮报网援引中新社( 记者 张斌 )报道:13日,第五届世界浙商大会(下称:大会)在杭州开幕,吸引来自全球各地的近2800名浙商代表与会。大会签约项目协议总投资达3000亿元以上,系历届之最。

  据了解,大会拟签约项目主要围绕浙江“四大”建设(大湾区大花园大通道大都市区建设)、“八大万亿产业”、“长三角一体化”和数字经济、生命健康、高端装备、文化旅游和能源环保等重点产业。

  大会开幕式上,浙江为侨服务全球通平台、浙江省金融综合服务平台、浙江省企业服务综合平台正式开通,将为全球浙商提供更好服务。大会还表彰了“高质量发展”领军企业,颁发2019全球浙商金奖,激励浙商,争当高质量发展排头兵。

浙江为侨服务全球通平台、浙江省金融综合服务平台、浙江省企业服务综合平台正式开通。 张斌 摄

浙江为侨服务全球通平台、浙江省金融综合服务平台、浙江省企业服务综合平台正式开通。 张斌 摄

  目前,浙江有600多万浙商在国内各地经商办企业,有200多万浙商在全球各个国家和地区投资创业。据悉,本届大会由中共浙江省委、浙江省人民政府主办,中共浙江省委统战部、浙江省工商业联合会、浙商总会承办。( 责任编辑查正富 主编陈雪霏)

世界旅游大会“丹寨”成网红

北欧绿色邮报网报道: 11月4日, 2019伦敦世界旅游交易会(WTM London)正式在英国开幕,丹寨万达小镇代表中国贵州参加了本次会议,并获邀在中国展区启动仪式上开展推介。凭借秀丽的山水风景和多彩的民族文化,丹寨万达小镇在本次大会上甫一亮相就成为大会的一个焦点。

  伦敦世界旅游交易会是全球最重要的旅游行业展会之一,至今已有40年历史。

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中国驻英大使为丹寨点赞

  作为本次大会中国国家展区推介活动的重要环节之一,丹寨万达小镇代表中国贵州和丹寨向全球旅游从业者推介了丹寨县各项旅游资源、非遗传统文化和轮值镇长项目。在丹寨现场搭建的展区里,与会者还可以现场体验来自中国的古法造纸、蜡染等丹寨非遗项目。当天同场进行推介的地区还有北京、西藏、河北等地区的代表。

  借助中国贵州于近日登上《孤独星球》2020全球十大最佳旅行地区榜的契机,丹寨万达小镇在现场的推介活动吸引了大量国际与会人士的关注。

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《孤独星球》颁发上榜证书

  作为中国唯一登上2020全球十大最佳旅行地区榜的省份,《孤独星球》还派代表于当天专程来到丹寨发布会,向中国贵州及丹寨颁发了《孤独星球》上榜纪念证书。

  《孤独星球》是一本针对全球背包客撰写的旅行系列丛书,在200个国家和地区销售,年销售量达700万册,约占全球英文旅行指南销售量的四分之一。到2010年,《孤独星球》累计销售突破1亿册,是全球背包客和自助游者海外行必备指南,被国际游客称作“旅行圣经”。10月22日,《孤独星球》在伦敦发布2020年世界最佳旅行目的地,贵州成为中国境内唯一跻身10大世界最佳旅行地区榜单的地区,丹寨万达小镇被当做贵州省主要旅游目的地重点推荐。

  2019伦敦世界旅游交易会官员拉杰·多赫尔(Raj Dohel)也专程赶到丹寨推介会现场祝贺并致辞。他说:丹寨万达小镇项目是一个非常具有创新性的应对贫困的办法,这个项目取得的数据已经非常有力的证明了它的效果,丹寨应该为自己取得的成绩感到骄傲。

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丹寨万达小镇轮值镇长招募受追捧

  拉杰·多赫尔还代表WTM恭喜包括丹寨在内的中国贵州地区登上《孤独星球》2020榜单,并祝愿小镇在本次大会期间开展的轮值镇长全球招募活动取得成功。

  在活动现场,曾担任过丹寨万达小镇第78任轮值镇长的梅根·伊芙斯向全球参会者和媒体推介了丹寨非物质文化遗产、丹寨著名景点,并在WTM推介会现场宣布丹寨万达小镇在全球进行轮值镇长招募。

  此举受到现场人士的追捧,许多外国参会者当场就来到“云上丹寨”展位填写并投递轮值镇长申请表。他们希望可以通过轮值镇长项目帮助更多丹寨民众,并亲身体验《孤独星球》隆重推荐的这一旅游目的地。据统计,在WTM首日,丹寨就已经收到近20份来自海外的申请信。

  一些到场嘉宾表示,丹寨推介会是中国展区首日发布会的亮点,除了因为丹寨获得《孤独星球》的认可,还因为丹寨项目切实帮助了众多当地民众,保护了当地非物质文化遗产。

  现场播放的《村寨故事》视频打动了许多中外观众。来自南非的一位参观者说,在非洲女性作为家里的主要劳动力生活非常艰辛,却得不到应有的尊重。她非常高兴中国有如村寨故事这样的社会企业可以通过万达小镇这个平台帮助丹寨女性获得更好的收入,提升她们在自己社区的地位。她希望万达可以把丹寨扶贫的模式移植到南非,为那里的贫困人口搭建一个平台,帮助当地妇女获得更好的生活。(来源:中新社)

生态环境部:我国臭氧污染以轻度污染为主 可防可控

北欧绿色邮报网援引中新社报道: 生态环境部新闻发言人刘友宾29日表示,从2015年起,全国337个城市1436个点位均开展臭氧监测,数据显示,目前我国臭氧污染虽然有所上升,但以轻度污染为主,总体处于可防可控状态。

 29日上午,生态环境部召开例行新闻发布会,生态环境部新闻发言人刘友宾通报近期重点工作进展情况。

  刘友宾介绍,不久前生态环境部公布了9月和1-9月份全国空气质量,部分地区出现了一些波动。生态环境部组织专家对这些情况进行了认真分析,有以下几个原因:

  首先,受比常年同期偏高气温的影响,全国O3浓度同比上升,优良天数比例同比下降。2019年9月,全国平均气温17.7度,比常年同期偏高1.1度,其中北京、天津、吉林、内蒙古、湖北等省市的平均气温为1961年以来历史同期最高或次高水平。受高温、较强光照影响,日间O3浓度明显上升,导致优良天数比例下降。

  初步分析显示,2019年9月,全国337个地级及以上城市首要污染物为O3(8小时)的天数约占污染天的95%以上、23个重污染天的40%左右,其余重污染天的首要污染物为PM10,说明9月日均空气质量主要受O3浓度影响。全国337个地级及以上城市平均O3浓度为157微克/立方米,同比上升23.6%,优良天数比例同比下降14.7个百分点。

  对流层(近地层)臭氧是一种典型的二次大气污染物,人为排放的极少。地面臭氧主要来源NOx和VOCs在热和太阳光作用下发生的光化学反应。在前体物NOx和VOCs较高的情况下,夏秋季由于温度高、太阳辐射强容易发生臭氧污染。我国标准规定臭氧日最大8小时平均浓度为160微克/立方米,与发达国家基本相当。从2015年起,全国337个城市1436个点位均开展臭氧监测,数据显示,目前我国臭氧污染虽然有所上升,但以轻度污染为主,总体处于可防可控状态。

  其次,降水偏少和气象条件不利,导致颗粒物浓度上升。2019年9月,京津冀地区大气静稳指数同比升高约50%,其中北京市静稳指数同比升高约40%,大气扩散能力明显下降。特别是在2019年9月下旬,京津冀及周边地区出现了持续一周以上的静稳、高湿和逆温天气,导致污染物的持续累积和转化。

  刘友宾介绍,针对上述情况,生态环境部下一步将推动以PM2.5和臭氧协同控制、以NOx和VOCs为重点的多污染物协同减排,积极推进产业、能源、运输和用地结构的优化调整。

  刘友宾秋表示,冬季已来临,气温下降,O3污染水平下降。特别是进入采暖季后各类污染物的排放强度将进一步增加,气象条件转差,PM2.5成为决定环境空气质量的首要污染物。生态环境部将会同有关部门和地方对重点行业采取差异化分级管控等措施积极应对重污染天气,以抵消采暖排放增加和不利气象条件带来的影响。(责任编辑查正富 主编陈雪霏)

阿尔兹海默病新药再引关注 这个疾病你了解多少?

北欧绿色邮报网报道:日前,国外一家生物制药公司宣布,世界首款能改善阿尔兹海默症临床症状的药物,已计划向美国食药品监管局(FDA)提交上市许可申请。据该公司官网公告,若该药物能获准上市,那么它将成为世界上首款能改善阿尔茨海默症临床症状的药物。

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资料图(图文无关)康玉湛摄

  全球超5000万人患阿尔兹海默症

  新药有何疗效?

  当地时间10月22日,美国生物技术公司Biogen(百健)及其合作伙伴日本卫材(Eisai)公开宣布,计划在2020年初向美国食药品监管局(FDA)提交Aducanumab(早期阿尔兹海默症治疗药物)的《生物制剂许可证申请》(BLA)。并表示有望在2年内量产,且将继续与欧洲、日本等国际地区的监管机构进行协商。

  据百健公司公告,若该药物能获准上市,那么它将成为世界上首款能改善阿尔茨海默症临床症状的药物,同时也将证明减少脑内β淀粉样蛋白的积累将有利于阿尔兹海默症临床症状的改善。

  对于该药品的作用,公告中表明:用高剂量Aducanumab治疗的患者认知衰退显著减少,在认知和功能指标,如记忆、定向和语言方面显著获益。患者的个人理财、做家务以及独立外出旅行等日常生活也将获益。

  换言之,若该药物的效果能达到上述预期且获准上市,那么这将为全球5000万家庭带来新希望。

  有数据统计,目前,全球阿尔茨海默症患者至少达5000万人,且呈爆发性增长,预计到2050年将达到1.5亿人。而在中国,阿尔茨海默病患者也已超1000万人,居世界首位,且每年以30万以上的新发病例增长。

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资料图(图文无关)陈建华、薛艳伟供图

  新药申请美国上市

  网友:求不要太贵

  新药计划向美国FDA申请上市的消息,很快传到了中国。消息一经发布,“世界首款阿尔兹海默药被证有效”的话题迅速登上热搜榜第二,并引来网友“围观”:

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网友微博留言截图

  得知新药物或将面世并对阿尔兹海默症有一定改善作用,不少网友表示终于看到了希望,甚至有声音认为,该药物具有“极大的突破意义”,只求药价不要太高。

  对此,百健公司首席执行官Michel Vounatsos也表示:“阿尔茨海默症使全球数以千万计的人受到影响,而今天我们终于获得了突破性的研究结果,这个消息令人振奋。我们希望能为患者提供减缓阿尔茨海默症临床症状的疗法。”

  实际上,在治疗阿尔兹海默症的道路上,中国也从未停止探索的步伐。

  据新京报报道,在2019第四届中国医药创新与投资大会上,绿谷制药已发布中国原创阿尔兹海默症治疗新药GV-971临床III期试验结果,该临床结果证实GV-971(从海藻中提取海洋寡糖类分子)在阿尔茨海默症治疗上的显著作用。

  据报道,该药系中国首个进行大型三期临床试验的抗阿尔茨海默症药物,其上市申请已于2018年11月20日获受理。

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北京老年医院老年认知障碍诊疗中心病房(北京老年医院供图)

  这个疾病你了解多少

  专家:尚无彻底治愈老年痴呆的方法

  丧失语言、遗忘一切,甚至失去自理能力……阿尔兹海默症,像藏在患者脑海中的橡皮擦,几乎抹去了病人所有的认知能力,更让整个家庭都背负起照顾患者的压力之中。

  阿尔兹海默,究竟是一种什么疾病?又是否有治愈的可能?

  对这一疾病的种种问题,北京协和医院神经科主任医师高晶,在一篇科普文章中给出解释。

  高晶解释,阿尔兹海默病,是老年期认知障碍(俗称“痴呆”)分类中的一种,且占主要部分。除阿尔兹海默,“老年痴呆”的分类还包括额颞叶痴呆、血管性痴呆、路易体痴呆等。高晶解释,上述几种痴呆所导致的认知功能退化,均不可逆。

  高晶介绍,目前,医学上尚无彻底治愈老年期痴呆的方法,但早防早治是提高患者晚年生活质量的有效措施。

  高晶解释,医学上仍需增进对痴呆本质的认识,明确治疗靶点。她在文中写道:“中国的相关研究也在进程当中,希望通过脑脊液的生物标记物检测或者淀粉样蛋白、tau蛋白的PET检测等临床实践来帮助更多认知障碍的患者。”

  即便无法治愈,但早起的防治措施却有一定效果。高晶建议,保持健康的饮食、运动及有限的睡眠,对防治痴呆有一定功效。如让老人做一些手部运动,如弹琴、敲键盘、捡豆子等,可有效刺激区域脑血流量。同时,若每天能保持7小时连续睡眠,也对预防和减缓老年痴呆有一定帮助。

  此外,高晶也提出,丰富的生活内容和社交圈子,也能有效刺激大脑皮层。“活到老、学到老”同样可持续锻炼老年人大脑,预防老年痴呆。

  高晶提醒,若家中有老人,一定要对老年的认知障碍做到充分了解,提前预防。一旦发现可疑症状,切勿讳疾忌医,应及时到神经科就诊。(来源:中新社/记者 郎朗 杨雨奇) )

全球变暖正改变北极地貌!冰川融化致5座岛屿浮现

北欧绿色邮报网报道:全球变暖可能正改变北极的地貌!俄罗斯国防部日前表示,俄海军在北极发现了5座新岛屿,正是冰川融化导致了这几座岛屿显露出来。

  俄国防部表示,俄海军在2016年首次利用卫星图像发现了这些岛屿,但只是在近年8月和9月的一次考察中确认并绘制了地图。

  这些新岛屿位于北极Vylki冰川附近,远离遥远的新地马岛群岛海岸,该群岛位于俄罗斯大陆西北的北冰洋。它们的面积从900平方米到54500平方米不等。

  据俄罗斯塔斯社报道,俄探险队队长亚历山大·莫伊斯耶夫22日表示:“基本上,这一发现与冰川融化有关。”“以前这些是冰川,但冰的融化导致了岛屿的出现。”

  俄罗斯国防部称,俄罗斯海军研究人员多年来一直使用卫星数据来研究海岸线的变化。2015年至2018年期间,他们确认了新地岛(Novaya Zemlya)和弗朗茨约瑟夫岛(Franz Josef Land)两个群岛上的30多个新岛屿、海角和海湾。

  科学家们警告说,新出现的岛屿不是“意外”,而是北极冰川和海冰大规模融化导致的日益严重的气候危机的直接结果。

  据悉,北极的升温速度是全球平均水平的两倍,由此导致的冰川融化可能会破坏生命周期,并威胁到全球各地人们的生命。(来源:中新社)

美团携手世界粮食计划署共推“拒绝隐性饥饿”行动

北欧绿色邮报网援引中新社报道: 10月16日世界粮食日,在“行动造就未来-健康饮食实现零饥饿”的全球主题下,美团与联合国世界粮食计划署共推“拒绝隐性饥饿”健康饮食倡导行动,联动明星、新浪微公益,及美团点评平台上超五十家餐饮连锁品牌,通过理念倡导及多种行动举措,聚焦“隐性饥饿”问题,推动全球“零饥饿”的可持续发展目标实现。

  据数据显示,全球已有超20亿人处于“隐性饥饿”。中国农业农村部食物与营养发展研究所唐振闯博士说:“隐性饥饿一般因人体维生素和矿物质缺乏造成,它与显性饥饿( 能量、蛋白质、脂肪等宏量营养供应不足)相比,更加隐蔽,也更难察觉,长期处于‘隐性饥饿’可能导致婴儿出生缺陷、发育不良,增加儿童和孕产妇死亡率及免疫系统弱化等诸多疾病,严重危害身体健康。”

  世界粮食计划署驻华代表屈四喜表示:“联合国可持续发展‘零饥饿’的目标除了要在2030年消除饥饿,还要消除一切形式的营养不良。世界粮食计划署和美团的携手合作正是为了实现这个目标,为此双方不断探索新的合作模式和方法。今年的活动不仅契合世界粮食日的主题,而且准确传达了‘零饥饿’中营养的理念,‘饥饿餐厅’的创意既有新意,又能让民众直接体会健康饮食的重要性。”

  向用户传递均衡的膳食理念,推动膳食源头供给改善,保障用户膳食更丰富,营养多选择,是解决隐性饥饿行动的重要环节。为此,美团通过旗下美团、大众点评、美团外卖三大核心平台的连接能力,携手世界粮食计划署、名人合作伙伴周冬雨、陈赫、杜江发起联合倡导,通过提升用户膳食理念,拒绝隐性饥饿。活动采取线上线下联动的形式,线上联合新浪微公益发起“吃彩虹挑战”的公众意识提升活动,线下联合外婆家、GAGA鲜语、新元素三家餐饮品牌,在上海同时落地 “饥饿餐厅”快闪店,向消费者直观展示“隐性饥饿”的成因及危害,引导消费者对膳食营养的关注。同时,大董、西贝莜面村、全聚德、云海肴、羲和雅苑、点都德、胖哥俩、吉祥馄饨、香守花胶鸡海鲜火锅等超五十家餐饮品牌,在农业农村部食物与营养发展研究所的指导下,推出“吃出彩虹公益套餐”,通过关注套餐食材多样,保障膳食搭配更丰富。美团外卖发挥业务优势,通过发布《中国轻食外卖消费报告》等形式,为消费者提供一份健康餐饮选择指南,保障营养更多选择。

  对于本次行动,美团联合创始人穆荣均表示:“作为一家以‘吃’为核心的生活服务平台,美团一直致力于实现‘帮大家吃得更好,生活更好’的公司使命,发挥平台影响力,引导用户健康生活、绿色消费,带动商家提供更多健康、绿色的供给,丰富人们的生活方式和选择。此次与世界粮食计划署共推‘拒绝隐性饥饿’理念,是呼应联合国‘零饥饿’发展目标,同时也希望以此提升更多美团生态相关方对营养均衡,健康生活理念的关注和实践。”

  与此同时,在拒绝隐性饥饿的过程中,美团与世界粮食计划署始终关注贫困地区学龄前儿童营养改善,本次商家推出的“吃出彩虹公益套餐”,通过美团每完成一笔销售,商家都将向世界粮食计划署“学龄前儿童营养餐”公益项目捐赠一笔善款,而美团公益也将发挥自身平台优势,推动更多爱心网友关注并支持该项目,多方努力让孩子们吃得更好,健康成长。(责任编辑查正富 主编陈雪霏)