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Introduction Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and painful symptoms in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Moreover, PCa patients who receive the androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) are more likely to develop CRF. Baduanjin exercise has been shown to improve CRF in some cancers. However, such effects have not been verified in patients with PCa treated with the ADT. So, this study was designed as a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to explore the effects of Baduanjin exercise on CRF in PCa patients treated with the ADT.Methods and analysis This study will be a single-centre, assessor and statistician blinded, RCT consisting of a 12 week intervention and 12 week follow-up. Patients with PCa who meet the inclusion criteria will be recruited from Shanghai Hudong Hospital. Participants will be randomly assigned to Baduanjin exercise group (n=42) and the control group (n=42), performing 12 weeks of Baduanjin exercise or reeiving the standard care. The primary outcome will be the clinical effect of Baduanjin exercise on CRF in PCa patients, which will be measured using the Piper Fatigue Self-Assessment (PFS) scale, a multidimensional measure of CRF using three different dimensions: somatic, emotional and cognitive. The secondary outcome will be the clinical effect of the Baduanjin exercise on the patient’s level of fatigue, sleep, depression and life quality at the time, which will be assessed by the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P).Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by Shanghai Hudong Hospital Ethics Committee, Shanghai province (2022 SHHDKY08). The trial results will be submitted to conferences and peer-reviewed journals.Trail registration number ChiCTR2300074293

Introduction Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common osteoarthritis, imposing substantial economic and medical burdens on both individuals and society. In China, Tuina has been selected as a complementary and alternative therapy to relieve knee pain and dysfunction symptoms. However, the current evidence is insufficient to support the efficacy of Tuina therapy in addressing knee pain and improving physical function. The trial aims to compare the effectiveness of Tuina with celecoxib, which is considered as the standard treatment, and to assess its potential as an alternative therapy through changes in outcome measures.Methods and analysis A total of 360 KOA patients aged between 40 and 70 years and classified as Kellgren and Lawrence grades I–II will be recruited from eight subcentral hospitals. The participants will be randomly assigned to either the treatment group (Tuina, Biw) or the control group (celecoxib, Qd), with both groups undergoing a 4-week intervention phase followed by an 8-week follow-up phase. The primary outcome is the change in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale at week 4 compared with baseline. Secondary outcomes including WOMAC stiffness and function subscales, WOMAC total score, 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, Timed Up and Go test, Short Physical Performance Battery, gait analysis parameters and pain medication records will be assessed at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Any adverse events that occur during the trial will be promptly recorded.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2023SHL-KY-16-01, 2023SHL-KY-16-02). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.Trial registration number ChiCTR2300069416.

Introduction Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is still a challenging degenerative joint disease with high morbidity and disease burden. Early-stage KOA, the focus of this study, could present a Window of Opportunity to arrest the disease process and reduce the disease burden. Yijinjing exercise is an important part of physical and psychological therapies in Traditional Chinese Exercise and may be an effective treatment. However, there is no clinical efficacy assessment of Yijinjing exercise for patients with early-stage KOA. Therefore, we designed a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Yijinjing exercise on patients with early-stage KOA.Methods and analysis This is a parallel-design, two-arm, analyst assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial. In total, 60 patients with early-stage KOA will be recruited and randomly assigned to the Yijinjing exercise group (n=30) and health education group (n=30) at a ratio of 1:1, receiving 12 weeks of Yijinjing exercise or health education accordingly. The primary outcome will be measured with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, and the secondary outcomes will include the Visual Analogue Scale, Short-Form 36 Item Health Survey Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Berg Balance Scale, and Gait Analysis for a comprehensive assessment. Outcome measures are collected at baseline, at 12 week ending intervention and at the 12 week, 24 week and 48 week ending follow-up. The primay time point will be 12 weeks postintervention. Adverse events will be recorded for safety assessment.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the ethical application of the Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ethics Committee (2021SHL-KY-78).Trial registration number ChiCTR2200065178

Abstract Background Since early 2022, patients with 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection have increased rapidly in Shanghai, China. Nevertheless, there is no widely used unified rehabilitation treatment available for discharged patients with post-infection sequelae such as dyspnea, depression, and fatigue. To promote the rehabilitation of discharged patients, our team formulated Kangyi Qiangshen Gong exercise prescription on the basis of traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation exercises (TCMRE). We designed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitation and advantages of KQG for discharged patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome. Methods/design This is a parallel-design, two-arm, analyst assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. In total, 60 discharged patients with COVID-19 sequelae, aged from 20 to 80 years will be recruited and randomly assigned to the World Health Organization instructed breathing techniques (BT) group and the Kangyi Qiangshen Gong exercise prescription (KQG) group at a ratio of 1:1. The patients in the BT group will perform breathing techniques exercise, and the patients in the KQG group will perform KQG exercise. Both groups will perform exercises twice a day for 3 months. The primary outcome will be measured with the Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, and the secondary outcomes will include the Modified Borg Scale, Fatigue Scale-14, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Respiratory Symptoms Scale. Clinical scales will be assessed at three points (pre-exercise, 3 months post-exercise, and 3 months follow-up). Adverse events will be recorded for safety assessment. Discussion This trial will serve high-quality evidence of the value of KQG for treating discharged patients with COVID-19 in rehabilitation period. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200059504. Registered on 03 May 2022. Dissemination The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated through the study’s website, and conferences.

IntroductionLumbar disc herniation, a chronic degenerative disease, is one of the major contributors to chronic low back pain and disability. Although many studies have been conducted in the past on brain function in chronic low back pain, most of these studies did not classify chronic low back pain (cLBP) patients according to their etiology. The lack of etiologic classification may lead to inconsistencies between findings, and the correlation between differences in brain activation and clinical symptoms in patients with cLBP was less studied in the past.MethodsIn this study, 36 lumbar disc herniation patients with chronic low back pain (LDHCP) and 36 healthy controls (HCs) were included to study brain activity abnormalities in LDHCP. Visual analogue scale (VAS), oswestry disability index (ODI), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used to assess clinical symptoms.ResultsThe results showed that LDHCP patients exhibited abnormally increased and diminished activation of brain regions compared to HCs. Correlation analysis showed that the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the left middle frontal gyrus is negatively correlated with SAS and VAS, while the right superior temporal gyrus is positively correlated with SAS and VAS, the dorsolateral left superior frontal gyrus and the right middle frontal gyrus are negatively correlated with VAS and SAS, respectively.ConclusionLDHCP patients have brain regions with abnormally increased and abnormally decreased activation compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, some of the abnormally activated brain regions were correlated with clinical pain or emotional symptoms.

Tuina, a method of traditional Chinese manual manipulation, is an effective alternative therapy for neuropathic pain (NP), but its analgesic mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to explore the analgesic mechanism of Tuina in an NP rat model. After undergoing surgery to induce chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion (CCD), one group of rats underwent Tuina at the ipsilateral BL40 acupoint once a day for 10 min during the 25 days following surgery while another group did not. Behavioral tests were performed at baseline, on the third day following surgery, and once a week for the next 4 weeks. R-fMRI was performed at baseline and 7 days and 28 days following surgery. Behavioral testing revealed that the Tuina group presented a significant response improvement to mechanical and thermal nociception stimuli compared to the untreated group 2 weeks following CCD surgery. Interestingly, rats submitted to Tuina presented higher measures of spontaneous neuronal activity in basal forebrain region, primary somatosensory cortex barrel field, dentate gyrus, secondary somatosensory cortex, striatum, descending corticofugal pathways, and globus pallidum of the left hemisphere 4 weeks after the CCD surgery compared to rats having undergone CCD only. In addition, on the 28th day, the ALFF signals of the left dentate gyrus, left secondary somatosensory cortex, left striatum, and bilateral primary cingulate cortex were significantly increased while those in the right dentate gyrus and bilateral periaqueductal gray were significantly decreased compared to those on the 7th day. Correlation analysis showed that the ALFF values of the left descending corticofugal pathways and globus pallidum had a positive correlation with mechanical withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal thermal latency tests. Altogether, these results indicate that NPP induced by CCD surgery affects the plasticity of the cerebral cortex, and that Tuina alleviate pain behavior by promoting cortical remodeling.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Exercises (TCEs) in treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA).MethodsFour databases without language or publication status restrictions were searched until April 1, 2022. Based on the principle of Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes and Study design, the researchers searched for randomized controlled trials of TCEs in treating KOA. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) pain was defined as the primary outcome, whereas stiffness and physical function were the secondary outcomes. Subsequently, two researchers conducted the process independently, and the data were analyzed using the RevManV.5.3 software.ResultsOverall, 17 randomized trials involving 1174 participants met the inclusion criteria. The synthesized data of TCEs showed a significant improvement in WOMAC pain score [standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.52 to −0.10; p = 0.004], stiffness score (SMD = −0.63; 95% CI: −1.01 to −0.25; p = 0.001) and physical function score (SMD = −0.38; 95% CI: −0.61 to −0.15; p = 0.001) compared with the control group. Sensitivity analyses were performed to determine the combined results' stability, which was unstable after excluding articles with greater heterogeneity. A further subgroup analysis showed that it might be the reason for the heterogeneity of the different traditional exercise intervention methods. Additionally, it showed that the Taijiquan group improved pain (SMD = 0.74; 95% CI: −1.09 to 0.38; p < 0.0001; I2 = 50%), stiffness (SMD = −0.67; 95% CI −1.14 to 0.20; p = 0.005) and physical function score (SMD = −0.35; 95% CI: −0.54 to 0.16; p = 0.0003; I2 = 0%) better than the control group. The Baduanjin group improved stiffness (SMD = −1.30; 95% CI: −2.32 to 0.28; p = 0.01) and physical function (SMD = −0.52; 95% CI: −0.97 to 0.07; p = 0.02) better than the control group. However, the other interventions showed no difference compared with the control group.ConclusionThis systematic review provides partial evidence of the benefits of TCEs for knee pain and dysfunction. However, due to the heterogeneity of exercise, more high-quality clinical studies should be conducted to verify the efficacy.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-4-0154/, identifier: International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (INPLASY) [INPLSY202240154].

Abstract Background The chronic pain of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) seriously affects their quality of life and leads to heavy social and economic burden. As a nondrug therapy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Tuina is generally recognised as safe and effective for reducing the chronic pain of KOA. However, the underlying central mechanisms of Tuina for improving the pain of KOA are not fully understood. Methods/design This study will be a randomised controlled trial with a parallel-group design. A total of 60 eligible participants will be assigned to the Tuina group or healthcare education group (Education group) at 1:1 ratio using stratified randomisation with gender and age as factors. The interventions of both groups will last for 30 min per session and be conducted twice each week for 12 weeks. This study will primarily focus on pain evaluation assessed by detecting the changes in brain grey matter (GM) structure, white matter (WM) structure, and the cerebral functional connectivity (FC) elicited by Tuina treatment, e.g., thalamus, hippocampus, anterior cingulate gyrus, S1, insula, and periaqueductal grey subregions (PAG). The two groups of patients will be evaluated by clinical assessments and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe the alterations in the GM, WM, and FC of participants at the baseline and the end of 6 and 12 weeks’ treatment and still be evaluated by clinical assessments but not MRI for 48 weeks of follow-up. The visual analogue scale of current pain is the primary outcome. The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Hamilton Depression Scale, and Hamilton Anxiety Scale will be used to evaluate the pain intensity, pain feeling, pain emotion, clinical symptoms, and quality of life, respectively. MRI assessments, clinical data evaluators, data managers, and statisticians will be blinded to the group allocation in the outcome evaluation procedure and data analysis to reduce the risk of bias. The repeated measures analysis of variance (2 groups × 6 time points ANOVA) will be used to analyse numerical variables of the clinical and neuroimaging data obtained in the study. P

IntroductionChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a physical and mental disorder in which long-term fatigue is the main symptom. CFS patients are often accompanied by functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGIDs), which lead to decreased quality of life and increased fatigue. Prolong-life-with-nine-turn-method (PLWNT) is a kind of physical and mental exercise. Its operation includes adjusting the mind, breathing and cooperating with eight self-rubbing methods and one upper body rocking method. PLWNT was used to improve the digestive function in ancient China and to treat FGIDs such as functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome in modern times. Previous studies have shown that PLWNT can reduce fatigue in patients with CFS. But it is unclear whether the effect of PLWNT on CFS fatigue is related to gastrointestinal function. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between PLWNT and fatigue and gastrointestinal function in patients with CFS.MethodsThis study is a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial (RCT). The whole study period is 38 weeks, including 2 weeks of baseline evaluation, 12 weeks of intervention and 6 months of follow-up. Ninety-six CFS patients will be stratified random assigned to the intervention group (PLWNT) and the control group (cognitive behavior treatment) in the ratio of 1:1 through the random number table generated by SPSS. In the evaluation of results, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20), Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS), Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS), and Short Form 36 item health survey (SF-36) will be evaluated at week 0 (baseline), week 6 (midterm), week 12 (endpoint) and month 9 (follow up). The intestinal flora will be evaluated at week 0 (baseline) and week 12 (endpoint). The data results will be processed by statistical experts. The data analysis will be based on the intention to treat principle and per-protocol analysis. In the efficacy evaluation, repeated measurement analysis of variance will be used for data conforming to normal distribution or approximate normal distribution. The data which do not conform to the analysis of repeated measurement variance will be analyzed by the generalized estimation equation Linear discriminant analysis will be used to clarify the difference species of intestinal flora. The significance level sets as 5%. The safety of interventions will be evaluated after each treatment session.DiscussionThis trial will provide evidence to PLWNT exerting positive effects on fatigue and gastrointestinal function of CFS. It will further explore whether the improvement of PLWNT on CFS fatigue is related to gastrointestinal function.Trial registrationThe trial was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=151456 (Registration No.: ChiCTR2200056530). Date: 2022-02-07.

With the rapid development of semiconductor technology, traditional equation-based modeling faces challenges in accuracy and development time. To overcome these limitations, neural network (NN)-based modeling methods have been proposed. However, the NN-based compact model encounters two major issues. Firstly, it exhibits unphysical behaviors such as un-smoothness and non-monotonicity, which hinder its practical use. Secondly, finding an appropriate NN structure with high accuracy requires expertise and is time-consuming. In this paper, we propose an Automatic Physical-Informed Neural Network (AutoPINN) generation framework to solve these challenges. The framework consists of two parts: the Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) and the two-step Automatic Neural Network (AutoNN). The PINN is introduced to resolve unphysical issues by incorporating physical information. The AutoNN assists the PINN in automatically determining an optimal structure without human involvement. We evaluate the proposed AutoPINN framework on the gate-all-around transistor device. The results demonstrate that AutoPINN achieves an error of less than 0.05%. The generalization of our NN is promising, as validated by the test error and the loss landscape. The results demonstrate smoothness in high-order derivatives, and the monotonicity can be well-preserved. We believe that this work has the potential to accelerate the development and simulation process of emerging devices.

Abstract Background Low back pain is a common reason for medical care and carries a heavy social burden. The efficacy of Tuina or health care education for low back pain has been evaluated in previous systematic reviews. However, there is no evidence to support the superiority of one form of treatment over another. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of Tuina with health care education in the management of low back pain. Methods/design This study is a randomized controlled trial with parallel-group design including two groups: a Tuina group and a health care education group. A total of 160 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to the groups in a 1:1 ratio. The interventions of both groups will last for 20 min and be carried out twice each week for a period of 12 weeks. The primary outcome is the Oswestry Disability Index. The secondary outcomes include a visual analogue scale and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey. They will be assessed at baseline, at the end of the intervention every month, and during 6 months and 9 months of follow-up by repeated measures analysis of variance. The significance level is 5%. The safety of Tuina and health care education will be evaluated after each treatment session. This study will focus on the value of Tuina and health care education for low back pain and will highlight any differences in the efficacy of the treatments. Discussion This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tuina intervention for low back pain, which could provide reliable evidence for clinical decision making for patients with low back pain. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900022656 . Registered on 23 April 2019.

Background: Although traditional Chinese Yijinjing Qigong Exercise (YJJQE) is popularly used in China, to alleviate symptoms of people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are available to evaluate the effects of YJJQE in patients with KOA. The purpose of this trial is to assess the clinical efficacy of YJJQE for patients with KOA.Methods: A total of 50 participants clinically diagnosed with KOA are randomly (1:1) assigned to the YJJQE group (n = 25) and to the stretching training exercise (STE) group (n = 25), for a 40-min exercise session twice a week for 12 weeks. All outcome measures are collected at baseline and at 12-week ending intervention, which includes the primary outcomes of Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index Scale (WOMAC), the secondary outcomes of visual analog scale (VAS), mental component summary (MCS), physical component summary (PCS), Beck depression inventory (BDI), perceived stress scale (PSS), Berg balance scale (BBS), and the Gait functional mobility data.Results: The YJJQE group did not have any significant changes compared to the control group on the WOMAC score after the 12-week intervention (P > 0.05), though the YJJQE group demonstrated better performance in MCS, BDI, and PSS (P = 0.002, P = 0.001, and P = 0.026, respectively) than the control group. No serious adverse events occurred in either group, and only mild muscle soreness was reported during both exercise treatments.Conclusion: Because no difference between both groups was shown, with regards to the primary outcome measurement (WOMAC), it can hardly explain that the YJJQE had an advantageous effect on patients experiencing the pain and dysfunction of knee osteoarthritis. However, compared to the control group, YJJQE appeared to be associated with improvements in psychological well-being including reduced stress, anxiety, depression, and mood disturbance to manage KOA. Further trials with larger sample sizes and follow-up studies will be required.Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=60357&htm=4, ChiCTR2000037256.

Abstract Background Chronic neck pain (CNP) is a common and disabling musculoskeletal disorder in developing and developed countries. Previous studies have shown that tuina and traditional Chinese massage are effective treatments for patients with CNP. However, there is little evidence to support the use of one intervention over the other. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of tuina and traditional Chinese massage in the treatment of pain and disability in patients with CNP. Methods/design This is a multicenter, assessor- and analyst-blinded, randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms: a tuina group and a traditional Chinese massage group. A total of 356 eligible CNP patients will be randomly assigned to the groups in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention in the tuina group includes both structural and relaxation massage, while the traditional Chinese massage group will receive relaxation massage only. The interventions for both groups will last for 15 min and will be carried out three times a week for a period of 4 weeks. The primary outcome will be changes in the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes will be measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS), the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). The data will be analyzed at the baseline, at the end of the intervention, and during the 3 months of follow-up by repeated measures analysis of variance. The significance level is 5%. The safety of tuina and traditional Chinese massage will be evaluated after each treatment session. The results of this trial will help clarify the value of tuina and traditional Chinese massage as treatments for CNP and will highlight any differences in the efficacy of the treatments. Discussion The purpose of this trial is to determine whether tuina is more effective than traditional Chinese massage in adults with CNP. This trial will, therefore, contribute to providing a solid foundation for clinical treatment of CNP, as well as future research in massage therapy. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-INR-17013763. Registered 8 December 2017.

A hot extrusion process for obtaining rectangular cross-sections is applied to a graphene nanoplate (GNP)-reinforced aluminum (Al) composite (GNP/Al) composite. After extrusion, the GNP dispersion is more uniform and its layer number decreases, whereas the proportion of small grains increases; the composite and pure aluminum exhibit a typical extrusion texture. Distinct equiaxed grains, which are attributed to graphene presence, are visible on the composite section in the extrusion normal direction, whereas the pure aluminum presents spindle-shaped grain in the same direction. Certain high-disorientation angles are generated, indicating the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization during the extrusion process. The tensile strength of the GNP/Al composite is moderately improved (11.2%), whereas its plasticity increases insignificantly. This relative small enhancement is attributed to the relative small extrusion ratio. The amount of strength reinforcement (induced by hot extrusion) calculates by the shear lag model is in good agreement with the experimental results, indicating that the shear lag strengthening model can accurately predict the strengthening effect of the hot extrusion process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]