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To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) of different frequencies on transmission function, electromyography, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) content and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) expression of colon in rat models with slow transit constipation (STC). Of the 50 healthy male Wistar rats, 10 were randomly selected as a normal group and fed with ordinary diet, and the remaining 40 rats were fed with the diet added with the compound diphenoxylate at a dose of 8 mg/(kg·bw) each day for continuous 120 d. The 40 successfully established STC rat models were randomly divided into a model group, a low-frequency EA group (2 Hz), a high-frequency EA group (100 Hz), and a variable-frequency EA group (2 Hz/100 Hz), with 10 rats in each group. Rats in the normal and the model groups were not given any treatment; the low-frequency EA and the high-frequency EA groups were given EA at Tianshu (ST 25), Zusanli (ST 36) and Zhigou (TE 6) with continuous wave at the designated frequency, and the variable-frequency EA group received sparse-dense wave (2 Hz/100 Hz) EA at the same acupoints, once a day for a total of 15 d. After treatment, the colonic transmission function, electromyography, NOS content and ICC expression (calculated by the difference in the area of the C-kit positive cells) of the rats in each group were measured. For the colonic transmission function, compared with the normal group, the first black stool excretion durations of rats in the other groups were significantly prolonged (all P

To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) of different frequencies on the expression levels of substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the colon of rats with slow transit constipation (STC). One hundred healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a low-frequency EA group, a high-frequency EA group and a variable-frequency EA group, with 20 rats in each group. The rats in the normal group were fed with normal diet. The rats in the other groups were fed with phenethylpiperidine in the diet at a dose of 8 mg/(kg·bw) per day, for 120 d, to establish the STC model. Rats in the normal group and the model group did not receive any treatment; rats in the low-frequency EA group were treated with 2 Hz continuous wave EA, rats in the high-frequency EA group were treated with 100 Hz continuous wave EA, and rats in the variable-frequency EA group were treated with 2 Hz/100 Hz sparse-dense EA. The current intensity of the EA was determined by the slight vibration of the rat limbs without painful screaming. The intervention was performed once a day, 15 min/time for continuous 15 d. After treatment, the intestinal transit function and the expression levels of SP and VIP in the colon of the rats in each group were determined. After treatment, the defecation duration of the first dark stool in the model group was significantly longer than that in the normal group (P

To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) of three different frequencies (2 Hz, 80 Hz and 2 Hz/80 Hz) on the free radicals in hippocampus of vascular dementia (VD) model mice. A total of 100 Kunming mice were randomly divided into a sham operation group, a model group, a 2 Hz EA group, an 80 Hz EA group and a 2 Hz/80 Hz EA group, with 20 mice in each group. The ischemia-reperfusion VD model was established by repeated blockade of bilateral common carotid arteries. Mice in EA groups began EA treatment on the 4th day after the operation. Baihui (GV 20), Dazhui (GV 14), Geshu (BL 17) and Zusanli (ST 36) were punctured and then connected to EA instrument, with different waves of 2 Hz, 80 Hz or 2 Hz/80 Hz (10 min/time) applied accordingly, once a day. During the jumping stand experiment, the learning performance, memory performance and hippocampal calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), malondialdehyde (MDA), changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and true choline esterase (TChE) were observed. In hippocampus, the CGRP level was determined by radioimmunoassay; the MDA level was determined by thiobarbituric acid colorimetric method; the activities of NOS and TChE were determined by spectrophotometry; the activity of SOD was determined by xanthine oxidase method. Compared with the sham operation group, the performances of learning and memory decreased significantly in the model group (P

Objective To explore the rules of the second metacarpal bone lateral needling in clinical application and its characteristics so as to provide the guidance to clinical practice. Methods Taking “the second metacarpal holographic acupuncture therapy” “the second metacarpal bone lateral needling” and “the second metacarpal bone” as the search terms, the papers on the second metacarpal bone lateral needling were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang database from January 1, 1974 to December 31, 2016 and were screened. Using the Excel 2003, the database of the diseases treated by the second metacarpal bone lateral needling was set up. The indications, the acupoints selection rules and needling manipulation of this therapy were analyzed. Results A total of 1103 papers were retrieved, of which, 446 papers were from CNKI and 657 from Wanfang database. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 54 papers were included for analysis finally. It was found that the indications of the second metacarpal bone lateral needling were predominated by the soft tissue injuries, especially acute lumbar sprain, ankle sprain and knee joint injury. Regarding the acupoints selection rules of the second metacarpal bone lateral needling, the corresponding points and tender points were commonly selected. Regarding the needling manipulation, the strong stimulation was required after needle insertion and the patient was required to move the affected areas while keeping the strong needling sensation. The needles were inserted 20 mm in depth along the skin mainly. The even-needling technique was exerted and the needles were retained for 30 min mainly. Conclusion The second metacarpal bone lateral needling is applied to the treatment of soft tissue injuries. It is applicable for some internal diseases. The strong needling sensation and the motion of the local affected area are required especially in treatment with this therapy.

By virtue of rich academic experience, professor JIA Chun-sheng can change the treatment method during clinical practice and implement different therapies according to the diseases, thus he can obtain effective and rapid results. In this study, the theoretical knowledge, application method and clinical experience of professor JIA Chun-sheng in blooddraining therapy on the back were mainly introduced. Professor JIA Chun-sheng focuses on two key viewpoints: “Attacking pathogenic qi is to supplement deficiency,” and “Eliminating stagnant pathogen can clean the intestines and stomach, and removing concretions and conglomerations can harmonize ying and wei”, which have been considered as the important theoretical bases of direction of clinical practice. Generally, professor JIA Chun-sheng conducts blood-draining therapy at Dazhuī ( GV 14), Feishū ( BL 13), Xīnshū ( BL 15), Geshū ( BL 17), Gānshū ( BL 18), Pishū ( BL 20) and Shenshū ( BL 23) on the back in order to improve the blood circulation in local and corresponding zang-fu organs, thus being beneficial to harmonize qi and blood, or eliminate dampness, heat, wind, stasis and toxins. In the process of blood-draining, professor JIA Chun-sheng combines the blood-draining pen with vacuum cup to replace the traditional blood-draining tools, which makes the blooddraining therapy easy to learn and use.

Objective To explore the effects of different acupuncture-moxibustion methods on the plasma substance P (SP) content, and the expression of colonic SP mRNA of the rats with functional constipation. Methods Sixty healthy male SD rats were divided into six groups according to the random number table, including blank control group (group B, n=8), model group (group M, n=11), drug control group (group D, n=8), filiform needle group (group F, n=11), electroacupuncture group (group E, n=11) and moxibustion group (group MB, n=11). The rats in group B and group M accepted no intervention, gavage with cisapride suspension was conducted in group D, and electroacupuncture, filiform needling and moxibustion therapies were carried out in group E, group F and group MB for 6 days. After treatment, the stool quantity and fecal moisture content during 24 h of the rats were observed in each group, colon tissue structure and the acidic mucus in mucosa layer were observed, plasma SP content was detected and the expression of colonic SP mRNA was detected. Results Compared with group B, the stool quantity and fecal moisture content during 24 h of the rats in group M decreased significantly ( P P P P P >0.05), the fecal moisture contents during 24 h of the rats in group F and group E were higher than that of group MB ( P P >0.05). HE staining of colon tissue of rats showed that the structure was normal and complete, and there was no difference among each group. PAS staining showed that the acidic mucus level of the rats in group M decreased significantly when compared with group B; compared with group M, the acidic mucus level of the rats in group D, fgroup F, group E and group MB increased in varying degrees. Compared with group B, the plasma SP content of the rats in group M decreased ( P P P P P P P >0.1); according to the comparison among the groups with different intervention methods, the expression level of colonic SP mRNA of the rats in group MB was lower than that of group F ( P Conclusion The different efficacy of different acupuncture-moxibustion methods in treatment of functional constipation may be related with the mechanism of regulation of plasma SP content and the expression level of colonic SP mRNA.

In this paper, professor JIA Chunsheng's multiple treatment thoughts and methods for insomnia under different pathogenesis were shown through the three proven cases of insomnia, including the type of constraint fire of the liver and gallbladder, and excessive yang harassing the spirit, the type of failure of the heart and kidney to interact declined to kidney yin deficiency and the type of liver constraint transforming into fire, insufficient of the spleen and stomach, which provided physicians with experience and methods during treatment of insomnia in clinic, thus improving the clinical effect.

Different acupuncture-moxibustion therapies can produce different clinical effects, that is, the effect has specificity, which is significantly important in obtaining acupuncture-moxibustion efficacy. In this study, the clinical application laws of fire needle, acupoint injection, catgut embedment, acupoint application, moxibustion therapy and filiform needle acupuncture were summarized in the aspects of category of disease, efficacy and related prescriptions (such as medication and acupoint selection) based on the result of data mining, and the general applicable categories of disease of acupuncture-moxibustion treatment methods were further screened, so as to guide the clinical application and give play to the best efficacy.

Objective To provide objective basis for clinical decision through efficacy evaluation of randomized controlled trial on moxibustion in treatment of urinary retention. Methods Chinese National knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine disc (CBM), VIP, Wanfang Data, and Sciencedirect were retrieved. The objects screened were from January 1, 1990 to June 30, 2013. Irrelevant, repeated and non-randomized controlled trials were excluded, and randomized controlled trials on moxibustion in treatment of urinary retention conforming to the inclusive criteria were selected. The quality of randomized controlled trials conforming to the inclusive criteria was evaluated using Jadad Scale, and the trials were analyzed statistically via RevMan5.2 software. The randomized controlled trials on moxibustion in treatment of urinary retention were evaluated systematically through Cochrane systematic review. Results Nineteen references with better homogeneity were included into the study. Based on Meta-analysis result, the consolidated effect size OR=6.95, 95%Cl(5.12, 9.44), consolidated effect size test Z=12.43, P Conclusion Moxibustion in treatment of urinary retention has a certain efficacy but there are some small sample size and low-quality literature in the study, big sample size and high-quality and formal randomized controlled trials are needed to study in the futher.

Under the influence of academic theories of numerous physicians of TCM such as Li Gao and Li Zhong-zi in antient China, Professor Jia Chun-sheng proposed the academic thought of tonifying spleen and kidney in combination with acupuncture based on his clinical experience for decades. In clinical practice of acupuncture, Zhōngwan ( CV 12), bilateral Tiānshū ( ST 25), Qihai ( CV 6), Guānyuan ( CV4) are often selected to invigorate spleen so as to nourish original qi and to treat both spleen and kidney. The above-mentioned five acupoints form a pattern similar to a star according to their location distribution, so it is called the starlike selection method of acupoints, which attaches importance to spleen and kidney (original qi). Many diseases, especially internal injuries, are often treated with the starlike acupuncture manipulation combined with acupuncture at other acupoints, which achieves good clinical efficacy.

This study aims to investigate the expression changes of RANKL, RUNX2, and OPG in rabbit periodontal tissues under orthodontic force and explore its effect on the remodeling of periodontal tissues. A total of 16 specific pathogen-free rabbits were used in this study. The maxillary appliance was worn on the right (experimental) side, and the appliance-free left side was used as the control. Rabbits were sacrificed after 3, 5, 7, and 14 days of treatment. Changes in the expression levels of OPG, RANKL, and RUNX2 in the periodontium were detected using real-time PCR and western blotting methods. The OPG expression levels decreased after 3 to 14 days of treatment, while the expression levels of RANKL and RUNX2 increased after 3 to 14 days. The OPG expression levels decreased while those of RANKL and RUNX2 increased during orthodontic tooth movement, which suggested that they play a role in the osteogenesis process and the reconstruction of periodontal tissue.

Objective To systematically evaluate the effect of acupoint catgut embedding therapy (ACET) for simple obesity. Methods Computer retrieval was used for randomized controlled trials on the treatment effect of simple obesity with ACET in databases of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data system, and the China Biology Medicine disc (CBMDisc). The Jadad Quality Scale was used in the evaluation of included studies. The outcome indicators were analyzed with the Review Manage 5.1 software. Results A total of 16 randomized controlled trials were included finally. The meta-analysis result showed that compared with the control group, there was statistically significance on the total efficiency of using ACET for simple obesity [OR=2.51, 95% confidence interval (1.74, 3.63), Z=4.91, P , ST 25), Zhōngwân ( CV 12), Fēnglong ( ST 40), Shu fēn ( CV 9), Qihai ( CV 6), Sānyīnjiāo ( SP 6), Zusanl ( ST 36), Ashi point, Daheng ( SP 15). The five kinds of catgut embedding needle were injection needles + acupuncture needle, specialized catgut embedding needle, spinal needle, triangular needle, and skin suture needle. Conclusion There is definite efficiency of using ACET in the treatment of simple obesity. However, the clinical efficiency still lacks of sufficient evidences. Therefore, further clinical research should be conducted in the providing of reliable evidences in the clinical decision-making in the future.

Objective To explore the clinically indicated diseases of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy, and summarize and analyze the disease spectrum of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy. Methods By literature research and data mining technique, the clinical study papers relevant to acupoint catgut-embedding therapy published from 1971 to June 2011 were selected, entered and verified, then the effective information were extracted, and finally, the disease spectrum were summarized. Results Acupoint catgut-embedding therapy is indicated for 103 diseases, involving 6 departments, of which there are 50 internal diseases, which is the most, accounting to 48.54%, and 15 surgical diseases, 12 ENT diseases, 11 gynecological diseases and 11 dermatological diseases, and 4 pediatric diseases, which is the least. Meanwhile, according to the rule of “Efficacy acupuncture grading disease spectrum”, the diseases treated with this therapy were graded preliminarily into grade I with 26 diseases, grade II with 30 diseases, and grade III with 8 diseases. Conclusion Acupoint catgut-embedding therapy can be used widely in clinical treatment with much broader disease spectrum, and it is worthy of being spread and applied.

It is a challenging and difficult task that designing large collections of agents without centralized control to support coordinated work. Previous methods, such as rule-based systems, artificial life and market-based systems, used to address this problem have proved to be either too brittle or not scalable to large system. To address this problem, a new method based on COllective INtelligence(COIN) which presented by NASA/Ames research center is proposed. Firstly, a hierarchical model is defined which expand the conventional COIN framework to the heterogeneous multi-agent system; then the forms and the constructing process of the global utility constructed by the hierarchical model are discussed. Secondly, based on an air defense scenario where weapons(agents) needed to assign to the targets without centralized control, a concrete world utility is constructed to solve the rapid self-response of agents. Finally, the impacting factors, effect set, which impacting the coordination effect of the system are discussed. Simulation experiment results show our model and algorithm are effective by comparing with the original methods.

Dofetilide (DOF), a novel Class III antiarrhythmic drug, prolongs the action potential duration (APD) and shows a positive inotropic effect in guinea pig papillary muscle. The present experiments were designed to study the positive inotropic effect of DOF on rat ventricle and explore its possible mechanism(s). Hearts from male Wistar rats (260–320 g) were divided into five groups and perfused in Langendorff mode. Ventricular myocytes were enzymatically isolated from male Wistar rats. Whole-cell voltage-clamping technique was used to test the Na+–Ca2+ exchange (NCE) current (I NCX); Calcium transients and cell shortening provoked by field stimulation or using calcium current command waveform were observed synchronously with an ionic imaging system. DOF (0.03–1.0 μM) increased left ventricular function in isolated rat hearts in a concentration-dependent manner. DOF (0.03–1.0 μM) also concentration-dependently increased both inward and outward I NCX in isolated rat ventricular cells. The EC50 values of DOF were 0.149 μM for the inward I NCX and 0.249 μM for outward I NCX, respectively. DOF 0.2 μM significantly enhanced Ca2+ transient and cell shortening in single rat ventricular myocytes driven by field electric stimulation. When the patch clamp system was connected to the ionic imaging system, Ca2+ current (I Ca), Ca2+ transient and cell shortening amplitude in a same cell were recorded synchronously. Application of DOF 0.2 μM had no effect on I Ca, but significantly increased Ca2+ transient and cell shortening. NCX inhibitor KB-R7943 0.6 μM significantly depressed the effects of DOF on Ca2+ transient and cell shortening. We conclude that DOF enhanced contractility of rat ventricular myocytes. The enhancement of NCE may be involved in the positive inotropic action of DOF.