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Electroacupuncture (EA) has been extensively considered as a tool for treating diseases and relieving various pains. However, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying its effect is of high importance. In this study, we performed a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) on data collected from a microarray experiment to investigate the relationship underlying EA within three factors, time, frequency and tissue regions (periaqueductal grey (PAG) and spinal dorsal horn (DH)) as well as the biological implication of gene expression changes. Gene expression on rats in PAG-DH regions induced by EA with 2 Hz and 100 Hz at l h and 24 h were measured using microarray technology. The WGCNA was performed to identify distinct network modules related to EA effects. To find the biological function of genes and pathways, the gene ontology (GO) Consortium was applied and the gene-gene interaction network of top genes in important modules was visualized. We identified one network module (466 genes) which is significantly associated with time, another module (402 genes) significantly related to frequency, and three modules each consisting of 1144, 402 and 3148 genes that are significantly associated with tissue regions. Furthermore, meaningful biological pathways were enriched in association with each of the experimental factors during EA stimulation.

The present study aimed to explore the potential of the sodium hyaluronate-CNTF (ciliary neurotrophic factor) scaffold in activating endogenous neurogenesis and facilitating neural network re-formation after the adult rat spinal cord injury (SCI). After completely cutting and removing a 5-mm adult rat T8 segment, a sodium hyaluronate-CNTF scaffold was implanted into the lesion area. Dil tracing and immunofluorescence staining were used to observe the proliferation, differentiation and integration of neural stem cells (NSCs) after SCI. A planar multielectrode dish system (MED64) was used to test the electrophysiological characteristics of the regenerated neural network in the lesioned area. Electrophysiology and behavior evaluation were used to evaluate functional recovery of paraplegic rat hindlimbs. The Dil tracing and immunofluorescence results suggest that the sodium hyaluronate-CNTF scaffold could activate the NSCs originating from the spinal cord ependymal, and facilitate their migration to the lesion area and differentiation into mature neurons, which were capable of forming synaptic contact and receiving glutamatergic excitatory synaptic input. The MED64 results suggest that functional synapsis could be established among regenerated neurons as well as between regenerated neurons and the host tissue, which has been evidenced to be glutamatergic excitatory synapsis. The electrophysiology and behavior evaluation results indicate that the paraplegic rats’ sensory and motor functions were recovered in some degree. Collectively, this study may shed light on paraplegia treatment in clinics.

Natural gas is regarded as the main transition energy under the carbon-neutral strategy and its main consumers are Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, accounting for 44.5% of world consumption in 2021. In order to investigate the effects of technology, industry, and regions on natural gas consumption, 12 major Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries from three different country groups were selected in this paper to explore the consumption change. Firstly, the Logarithmetic Mean Divisia Index model is adopted to find out the driving factors. Then, the Tapio model is used to consider the decoupling state between natural gas consumption and economic growth. The results can be concluded as follows: (a) From 2000 to 2020, the technological progress effect has the biggest values of −148.86, followed by the industrial structure effect and the regional scale effect, with values of − 37.04 and 29.42, respectively. (b) From the perspective of industry view, these three effects have the largest impact on the secondary industry, followed by the tertiary industry and primary industry; (c) the regional scale effect has a positive effect on most countries, and the industrial structure effect and the regional scale effect have a negative effect on most countries; (d) the decoupling state vary differently in countries with different groups. Therefore, we concluded two policy recommendations for nature gas reduction: (a) Technological innovation is the most effective way for reducing natural gas consumption; (b) Industrial structure optimization can help save natural gas consumption.

During the whole life cycle of mammals, new neurons are constantly regenerated in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus and in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles. Thanks to emerging methodologies, great progress has been made in the characterization of spinal cord endogenous neural stem cells (ependymal cells) and identification of their role in adult spinal cord development. As recently evidenced, both the intrinsic and extrinsic molecular mechanisms of ependymal cells control the sequential steps of the adult spinal cord neurogenesis. This review introduces the concept of adult endogenous neurogenesis, the reaction of ependymal cells after adult spinal cord injury (SCI), the heterogeneity and markers of ependymal cells, the factors that regulate ependymal cells, and the niches that impact the activation or differentiation of ependymal cells.

Spinal cord and brain injuries usually lead to cavity formation. The transplantation by combining stem cells and tissue engineering scaffolds has the potential to fill the cavities and replace the lost neural cells. Both chitosan and collagen have their unique characteristics. In this study, the effects of chitosan and collagen on the behavior of rat neural stem cells (at the neurosphere level) were tested in vitroin terms of cytotoxicity and supporting ability for stem cell survival, proliferation and differentiation. Under the serum-free condition, both chitosan membranes and collagen gels had low cytotoxicity to neurospheres. That is, cells migrated from neurospheres, and processes extended out from these neurospheres and the differentiated cells. Compared with the above two materials, chitosan-collagen membranes were more suitable for the co-culture with rat neural stem cells, because, except for low cytotoxicity and supporting ability for the cell survival, in this group, a large number of cells were observed to migrate out from neurospheres, and the differentiating percentage from neurospheres into neurons was significantly increased. Further modification of chitosan-collagen membranes may shed light on in vivonerve regeneration by transplanting neural stem cells.