Search

To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of bilateral "Tianshu"(ST25) at different frequencies on the first black stool discharge time, colonic electromyography (EMG) and immunoactivity of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and substance P (SP) in the colon tissue in rats with slow transit constipation (STC), so as to choose a better stimulating frequency in the treatment of STC.A total of 50 male Wistar rats were randomized into control, model, 2 Hz-EA, 100 Hz- EA, and 2 Hz/100 Hz-EA groups, with 10 rats in each group. The STC model was established by intraperitoneal injection of compound diphenoxylate suspension fluid (10 mg/kg). EA was applied to bilateral ST25 for 30 min, once a day for 14 consecutive days. The discharge time for the first black stool was recorded after gavage of mixed suspension fluid of active carbon (2 mL) for assessing the gastrointestinal motility. The colonic EMG was recorded by using a pair of silver electrodes and bioelectric amplifier. The expression of SP and VIP in the colonic tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry.Following mode-ling, the colonic EMG amplitude, the discharge time for the first black stool and VIP immunoactivity were significantly increased (EA can accelerate colonic EMG activities, which may be associated with its functions in down-regulating VIP immunoactivity and up-regulating SP immunoactivity in the colonic tissues. The therapeutic effects of 2 Hz/100 Hz-EA and 2 Hz-EA are better than that of 100 Hz-EA.

To evaluate the safety of thread embedding acupuncture therapy (TEAT) and discuss the prevention and treatment of some adverse events (AEs). Review of databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), CBMdisc, Wanfang, VIP databases and English literature published in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science, were searched from their inception to January 2020, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and case reports in which AEs with TEAT were included. Cochrane Collaboration’s tool and RevMan V.5.3.3 software were used to evaluate the quality of the studies. A total of 61 studies (45 RCTs and 16 case reports) with 620 cases of AEs were included in this review. These studies were published in two countries: China and South Korea. Twenty eight kinds of AEs were summarized. The most common AEs were induration, bleeding and ecchymosis, redness and swelling, fever, and pain. They were accounted for 75.35% (425/564) in the review, and most of them were mild. The rarest AEs were epilepsy, irregular menstruation, skin ulcer, thread malabsorption, and fat liquefaction, with 1 case each. But not all of them had clear causal relationship with TEAT. Most of the AEs were local reactions [with incidence of 9.83% (480/4,882)] and systemic reactions accounted for only 1.27% (62/4,882). Although the included studies showed that AEs were very commonly encountered (11.09%), only 5 cases of severe AEs reported from 2013 to 2017 (0.1%) by using catgut thread, which are rarely seen nowdays with the wide use of new absorbable surgical suture. All of the severe AEs were recovered after symptomatic treatment with no sequelae. The evidence showed that TEAT is a relatively safe and convenient therapy especially since application of new absorbable surgical suture. Improving practitioner skills, regulating operations, and paying attention to the patients’ conditions may reduce the incidence of AEs and improve safety of TEAT.

BACKGROUND: Although a varicella vaccine has been available in China since 1998 in the private sector, varicella outbreaks and breakthrough varicella (BV) still occur. In 2018, four varicella outbreaks with high BV rate sequentially occurred in four schools in Lu'an, sparking local public health authority's concerns on the varicella vaccine. Therefore, we conducted this investigation to evaluate varicella vaccine effectiveness (VE), characterize BV, and detect potential risk factors associated with BV. METHODS: This was a three-stage study. First, a retrospective cohort study was done in each school to estimate the VEs of varicella vaccine during outbreaks. Second, a descriptive epidemiological method was used to describe the characteristics of the four outbreaks and to compare the clinical characteristics between the BV cases and unvaccinated varicella cases. To identify the risk factors associated with BV, we conducted an unmatched case-control study in the third stage of the study. RESULTS: A total of 199 cases were identified among four outbreaks, and the overall attack rate was 14%. Of 1203 students with available vaccination information, 822 (68%) were vaccinated at least once. The overall VEs among four outbreaks ranged from 19% to 69%, whereas the VE against moderate or severe varicella ranged from 74% to 90%. Compared with unvaccinated varicella cases, the moderate or severe varicella (p

Three-dimensional polygon mesh recognition has a significant impact on current computer graphics. However, its application to some real-life fields, such as unmanned driving and medical image processing, has been restricted due to the lack of inner-interactivity, shift-invariance, and numerical uncertainty of mesh surfaces. In this paper, an interconnected topological dual graph that extracts adjacent information from each triangular face of a polygon mesh is constructed, in order to address the above issues. On the basis of the algebraic topological graph, we propose a mesh graph neural network, called MeshGraphNet, to effectively extract features from mesh data. In this concept, the graph node-unit and correlation between every two dual graph vertexes are defined, the concept of aggregating features extracted from geodesically adjacent nodes is introduced, and a graph neural network with available and effective blocks is proposed. With these methods, MeshGraphNet performs well in 3D shape representation by avoiding the lack of inner-interactivity, shift-invariance, and the numerical uncertainty problems of mesh data. We conduct extensive 3D shape classification experiments and provide visualizations of the features extracted from the fully connected layers. The results demonstrate that our method performs better than state-of-the-art methods and improves the recognition accuracy by 4-4.5%.

BACKGROUND: The school entry vaccination record check strategy (SECS) is an appropriate opportunity to recommend vaccines for students to improve vaccination coverage (VC). However, it is only utilized for providing necessary catch-up vaccination for students who are missing the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccines in China. We aimed to address that gap and quantify the relationship between the SECS policy and the increase of coverage in varicella vaccine (VarV). METHODS: We employed a pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design to examine the effect of the upgraded SECS policy on the change of VarV coverage in newly enrolled students in Lu’an, 2019–2020. RESULTS: Eight hundred participants were randomly divided into the control group (C group, 31.8%), the telephone-based intervention group (T group, 31.2%), and the written notification intervention group (W group, 37.0%). Totally, 84 students received VarV during the study period, with a VC of 10.5%. The possibility of vaccination in the T group (RR = 4.9, 95% CI:2.2–10.9) and W group (RR = 5.2, 95% CI:2.4–11.5) was significantly higher than that in the C group (p

Somatostatin (SST) and somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) play an important role in the brain and gastrointestinal (GI) system. SST is produced in various organs and cells, and the inhibitory function of somatostatin-containing cells is involved in a range of physiological functions and pathological modifications. The GI system is the largest endocrine organ for digestion and absorption, SST-endocrine cells and neurons in the GI system are a critical effecter to maintain homeostasis via SSTRs 1-5 and co-receptors, while SST-SSTRs are involved in chemo-sensory, mucus, and hormone secretion, motility, inflammation response, itch, and pain via the autocrine, paracrine, endocrine, and exoendocrine pathways. It is also a power inhibitor for tumor cell proliferation, severe inflammation, and post-operation complications, and is a first-line anti-cancer drug in clinical practice. This mini review focuses on the current function of producing SST endocrine cells and local neurons SST-SSTRs in the GI system, discusses new development prognostic markers, phosphate-specific antibodies, and molecular imaging emerging in diagnostics and therapy, and summarizes the mechanism of the SST family in basic research and clinical practice. Understanding of endocrines and neuroendocrines in SST-SSTRs in GI will provide an insight into advanced medicine in basic and clinical research.

Background: Panic disorder (PD), defined by repeated and unexpected panic attacks, severely affects patients’ living quality and social function. Perimenopausal women are high-risk group of PD and suffer greatly from it. Modern medicine therapies for this disorder have many side reactions and poor effects, so nonpharmacological modality is an urgent need. Although acupoint catgut embedding is widely used in clinical practice, there is no persuasive evidence of its effect for perimenopausal PD. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and safety of acupoint catgut embedding for perimenopausal PD and to elucidate the correlations among brain neural activation, bio-markers (amino acids) and clinical outcomes with radiographic evidence, thus to explore its neural mechanism. Methods: The parallel designed, exploratory randomized controlled trial will include 70 outpatients with perimenopausal PD recruited from two hospitals of Chinese Medicine. These subjects will be randomly allocated to an intervention group (Group Embedding) and a control group (Group Medication) in a 1:1 ratio. The subjects in the intervention group will receive acupoint catgut embedding treatment two weeks a time in the following predefined acupuncture points: Shenshu (BL23), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Guanyuan (RN4), Ganshu (BL18), Zusanli (ST36) and Pishu (BL20). The included women of the control group will take 0.4 mg Alprazolam tablet orally, 1 tablet a time, 3 times a day. There is a study period of 3 months and a follow-up period of 1 month for each group. The primary outcomes will be the following therapeutic indexes: the frequency of panic attack, Panic Disorder Severity Score (PDSS), and Panic-associated Symptoms Score (PASS) during the observation period and follow-up period. The changes in Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) Score and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) Score will also be compared between these two groups. Additionally, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) scans will be done before and after the observation period to show cranial neuroimaging changes. Discussion: We present a study design and rationale to explore the effectiveness and neural mechanism of acupoint catgut embedding for perimenopausal PD. There are still several factors restrict our research such as no unified standard of diagnostic criteria and curative effect evaluation. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-INR-16009724, registered in November 2016.

As China implements the voluntary vaccination programme of one-dose of varicella vaccine (VarV) for decades, robust estimates of the impact of voluntary vaccination era on epidemiology of varicella are needed. We estimated the vaccination coverage (VC) of VarV by using surveillance data on immunisation. The descriptive epidemiological method was used to describe the changing epidemiology of varicella from 2007 to 2018. The screening method was used to estimate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of VarV. The overall VC for VarV was 71.7%, ranged from 47.7% to 79.5% among 2008–2017 birth cohorts. In total, 16 660 varicella cases were reported during 2007–2018, the incidence increased from 10.0 cases per 100 000 population in 2007 to 65.2 cases per 100 000 population in 2018. A shift in age group of varicella was observed since 2012, with the age increased from 5–9 years to 10–14 years. The overall VE was 79.9%, and the VE increased from 60.1% in 2008 birth cohort to 96.2% in 2017 birth cohort. We found that the overall VE for VarV is moderate, but appears highly effective within 5 years after vaccination. In addition, a shift varicella infection to older ages has occurred at the long-term moderate level VC of one-dose VarV. Therefore, to contain the incidence of varicella and prevent any potential shift to older ages, the introduction of VarV into routine immunisation programme is likely needed in Lu'an.

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

To investigate the effect of moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) on free radical metabolism in rat’s hippocampus after different degrees of exhaustive exercise. A total of 72 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a normal group (n=8), a model group (n=32) and a moxibustion group (n=32). According to the times of modeling or treatment, the model group was further randomly divided into different subgroups of a 1-time model subgroup, a 4-time model subgroup, a 7-time model subgroup and a 10-time model subgroup (n=8); the moxibustion group was also further randomly divided into different subgroups of a 1-time moxibustion subgroup, a 4-time moxibustion subgroup, a 7-time moxibustion subgroup and a 10-time moxibustion subgroup (n=8). Rats in both model and moxibustion subgroups were subjected to establishing the swimming exhaustive model. Rats in each moxibustion subgroup received mild moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) for 15 min immediately after modeling, once every other day. The concentration of malic dialdehyde (MDA), as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in rat’s hippocampus in each group were detected 24 h after the exhaustive exercise. Compared with the 1-time model subgroup, the exhaustive swimming time of rats was significantly prolonged in the 4-time model subgroup (P

To investigate the effect of moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) on fatigue in rats with chronic exercise-induced exhaustion. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a blank group, a model group and a moxibustion group, 10 rats in each group. Except rats in the blank group, the remaining rats were subjected to create long-term exhaustion models by repeated swimming. After successful modeling, rats in the moxibustion group received mild moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) for 15 min, once every other day with a total of 10 times. Rats in the model group and the blank group did not receive moxibustion. At the end of the treatment, the exhausted times, and the body weight of rats before and after the experiment were compared among groups. The levels of blood malondialdehyde (MDA) and urea nitrogen (BUN), as well as the activities of aspartate transarninase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were also measured by the automatic biochemical analyzer, 24 h after the exhausting excise. The 10th swimming time was significantly longer in the moxibustion group than that in the model group (P

To observe the difference of the effect of low-frequency electroacupuncture (EA) on blood lipids between male and female patients with simple obesity due to damp induced by spleen deficiency. Eighty patients with simple obesity were recruited, including 37 males and 43 females, to receive low-frequency EA by selecting Yinlingquan (SP 10), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Fenglong (ST 40), Quchi (LI 11), Tianshu (ST 25), Zhongwan (CV 12), Shuifen (CV 9), Qihai (CV 6) and Guanyuan (CV 4), with needles retained for 30 min. The treatment was given once a day, 10 sessions as a treatment course, for 2 courses in total. The contents of body fat percentage (F%), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), blood glucose (Glu) and adiponectin (ADPN) in serum were observed to see the changes, and the two groups were compared and analyzed. After the treatment, F%, and serum contents of TC, TG, LDL, Glu and ADPN dropped significantly in the two groups (P

Objective To explore the effect of moxibustion at Shenque ( CV 8) on the anti-exercise-induced fatigue in rats after exhaustive exercise in varying degrees. Methods Seventy-two SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups according to the random number table method, including blank group, model group and moxibustion group. The model group and moxibustion group were divided into 4 subgroups respectively, that was 1 time, 4 times, 7 times and 10 times subgroup. There were 9 groups with 8 rats in each group. Except blank group, all the rats were established into exhaustive models through swimming. Mild moxibustion at CV 8 was carried out for 15 min in the rats in moxibustion group after modeling for once every other day. The concentration of serum glucose (GLU), malonaldehyde (MDA) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) as well as the activity of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were detected 24h after the exhaustive exercise by adopting full-automatic analyzer. Results The exhaustive time of rats were long at first but shorter later. The exhaustive time of rats in the model group (4 times) were obviously longer than that in the model group (1 time) (P Conclusion Moxibustion at CV 8 can reduce the serum MDA and BNU levels as well as the activity of AST, ALT and LDH of organism in a status of long-term fatigue, effectively improve the symptom of long-term fatigue, providing a certain experimental basis for the clinical application of moxibustion at CV 8 in the process of anti-exercise-induced fatigue in the future.

Objective To explore the effect of moxibustion at “Shenque” ( CV 8) on the immune system of rats taking long-term exhaustive exercise. Method Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group, model group and moxibustion group with 10 rats in each group. Except the rats in blank group, all the rats were established into long-term exhaustive models through swimming again and again. Mild moxibustion at CV 8 for 15 min was carried out in the rats in moxibustion group after modeling. The treatment was conducted once every other day, and treatment for 10 times was needed. The exhaustive duration for each time was recorded, the levels of serum IgA, IgG, IgM and ACP were detected 24 h after the 10th exhaustive exercise, and the histomorphological changes of spleen were observed. Immunoturbidimetry was adopted for detecting the IgA level, and ELISA method was used for detecting the levels of IgG, IgM and ACP. Results The common exhaustive duration in moxibustion group was longer than that in model group, however, the time difference was statistically significant after the 5th exhaustive exercise ( P P P P Conclusion Moxibustion at CV 8 can improve the levels of immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, IgM) of tired body for a long time, decrease the ACP level, and repair the damaged spleen tissues.

To observe different efficacies of low-frequency electroacupuncture (EA) on pancreatic endocrine system in male and female patients with simple obesity due to spleen deficiency-related dampness. A total of 80 simple obesity patients were assigned to a male group (n=37) and a female group (n=43). Both groups received a 30-minute low-frequency EA at Yinlingquan (SP 9), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Fenglong (ST 40), Quchi (LI 11), Tianshu (ST 25), Zhongwan (CV 12), Shuifen (CV 9), Qihai (CV 6) and Guanyuan (CV 4). The treatment was done once a day, and 10 times made up a course of treatment. Patients in both groups were treated for 2 courses. Then the changes in body mass index (BMI), serum insulin, insulin antibodies and leptin level in the two groups were observed and analyzed. After treatment, the BMI, serum insulin, insulin antibodies and leptin levels were significantly reduced in both groups (P

SMARCAL1 is an ATP-driven DNA annealing helicase that is similar in structure to the chromatin regulators in the subfamily A group of the SWI/SNF-related matrix-associated actin-dependent chromatin regulators. SMARCAL1 catalyzes the formation of dsDNA by annealing the single-stranded binding protein RPA coated ssDNA with its complementary strand both

Identifying the mechanisms underlying cognitive development in early life is a critical objective. The expression of insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) in the hippocampus increases during neonatal development and is associated with learning and memory, but a causal connection has not been established. Here, it is reported that neurons and astrocytes expressing IGFBP2 are distributed throughout the hippocampus. IGFBP2 enhances excitatory inputs onto CA1 pyramidal neurons, facilitating intrinsic excitability and spike transmission, and regulates plasticity at excitatory synapses in a cell‐type specific manner. It facilitates long‐term potentiation (LTP) by enhancing N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor‐dependent excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC), and enhances neurite proliferation and elongation. Knockout of igfbp2 reduces the numbers of pyramidal cells and interneurons, impairs LTP and cognitive performance, and reduces tonic excitation of pyramidal neurons that are all rescued by IGFBP2. The results provide insight into the requirement for IGFBP2 in cognition in early life., Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) regulates plasticity in a cell‐type‐specific manner at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, facilitates long‐term potentiation (LTP) by IGFR1 and N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR)‐s/evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs), and rescues LTP and cognitive performance and excitation in KO mice.

In recent years, intelligent agriculture based on information has become a hot topic in research. While information collection has been widely used in agriculture, crop image collection, in particular, is the basis and premise of smart agriculture. However, the traditional image acquisition systems mainly depend on a fixed camera or a mobile robot, and it is known that these methods have shortcomings, such as poor flexibility and consignation. This paper presents a remote configurable crop image acquisition architecture based on cloud computing and wireless network for increasing the flexibility and adaptation of the mobile robot. Firstly, the data acquisition framework based on cloud computing for the mobile robot was constructed. Then, the robot control system and hardware platform were designed. Finally, experiments were constructed, and the results demonstrated that the feasibility of this method is verified.

The curative efficacy of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (PhPh染色体阳性急性淋巴细胞白血病的治疗进展.酪酸激酶抑制剂（TKI）的应用使成人Ph染色体阳性急性淋巴细胞白血病（Ph

In 2016, an outbreak of mumps occurred in a primary school in China with a student population having high vaccination coverage. An unmatched case-control study was performed to identify risk factors contributing to this outbreak, and a retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of mumps-containing vaccine (MuCV). A total of 97 cases were identified during the outbreak, and the overall attack rate was 8.2%. Among students with confirmed vaccination status, 90% had received at least one dose of MuCV. Cases were more likely than non-cases to report taking the school bus during the epidemic period (adjusted OR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.4–3.7). Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was higher for two-dose MuCV (76%, 95% CI:49–89%) than for one-dose MuCV (59%, 95% CI: 36–74%. The protection afforded by both one-dose and two-dose MuCV waned over time, from 82% among students vaccinated within 5 years to 41% among those vaccinated more than 10 years previously for one-dose VE, and from 90% to 25% over the same time period for two-dose VE. We found that outbreaks of mumps can occur in schools despite high coverage of one-dose MuCV vaccination. Although the VE of both two-dose and one-dose MuCV wanes over time, the overall VE for two-dose MuCV was superior than that of one-dose MuCV. Therefore, a two-dose MuCV schedule through routine services is likely needed in order to control mumps epidemics in China.

Objective To explore the difference of low-frequency electroacupuncture in regulating serum leptin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) of male and female patients with simple obesity due to spleen deficiency and damp exuberance. Methods Eighty patients with simple obesity, including 37 males and 43 females, were included in this study. In both groups (male group and female group), Yīnlingquan ( SP 9), Sānyīnjiāo ( SP 6), Zusānl ( ST 36), Fēnglong ( ST 40), Qūchi ( LI 11), Tiānshū ( ST 25), Zhōngwan ( CV 12), Shuľfěn ( CV 9), Qihai ( CV 6), and Guānyuan ( cv 4). were selected, and low-frequency electroacupuncture treatment was applied. Needles were retained for 30 min. The treatment was conducted once a day, and 10 times were considered as one course of treatment. Two courses were needed. The changes of weight, BMI (body mass index), F% (fat percentage) and serum leptin and NPY contents of patients in the two groups before and after treatment were observed and analyzed comparatively. Results After treatment, in male group, the weight lost (9.24±2.55) kg, BMI reduced by 4.19±2.30, F% reduced by 3.98±2.13, serum leptin level reduced by (0.66±0.23) ng/mL, and serum NPY level reduced by (18.56±2.89) pg/mL; in female group, the weight lost (6.77±2.31) kg, BMI reduced by 2.65±0.93, F% reduced by 4.98±2.30, serum leptin level reduced by (3.49±1.09) ng/mL, and serum NPY level reduced by (11.21±1.97) pg/mL. The results reduced significantly when compared with the level before treatment ( P P P P Conclusion Low-frequency electroacupuncture can significantly regulate the weight, BMI, F% and serum leptin and NPY contents of male and female patients with simple obesity, and there are gender differences. In terms of reducing weight, BMI and serum NPY content, the efficacy of low-frequency electroacupuncture in males is superior to that in females, while in terms of reducing F% and serum leptin content, the efficacy in females is superior to that in males.

The emergence of nine needles in Neijīng ( , The Inner Classic ) laid a foundation for the formation and development of needling instruments and acupuncture manipulation in later ages, but the application of nine needles was not realized during clinical practice of acupuncture-moxibustion in later ages. Round-sharp needle is one of the nine needles. In this study, round-sharp needle was taken as an example to introduce the excavation and revitalization of nine needles and diagnosis and treatment rules explored by Mr. CHEN Li-xin according to The Inner Classic. The needle shape, needling manipulation and clinical application of round-sharp needle based on The Inner Classic were described in detail.

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.

In this work, a superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 -graphene oxide (MGO) nanocomposite was prepared by one-step chemical co-precipitation method, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption–desorption curve. The as-prepared MGO was used to adsorb nuciferine, and the adsorption kinetic, isotherm and reusability of MGO were also investigated. The results showed that the adsorption of nuciferine on MGO reached its equilibrium very quickly (within 10 min) due to the two-dimensional carbon nanostructure of GO. In comparison with MGO, five conventional sorbents, i.e., macroporous resin D-101, silica gel, reverse phase silica gel (RP-C18) and cation exchange resin and polyamide, were also used to evaluate their adsorption capabilities. Therefore, MGO combined the advantages of both superparamagnetic particle and GO, i.e., easy separation and high absorption capacity. Finally, MGO was successfully applied to enrichment and separation of nuciferine in the extract of Nelumbinis Folium (Lotus leaf).

SUMMARYLegionnaires’ disease (LD) is a globally distributed systemic infectious disease. The burden of LD in many regions is still unclear, especially in Asian countries including China. A survey ofLegionellainfection using real-time PCR and nested sequence-based typing (SBT) was performed in two hospitals in Shanghai, China. A total of 265 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) specimens were collected from hospital A between January 2012 and December 2013, and 359 sputum specimens were collected from hospital B throughout 2012. A total of 71 specimens were positive forLegionellaaccording to real-time PCR focusing on the 5S rRNA gene. Seventy of these specimens were identified asLegionella pneumophilaas a result of real-time PCR amplification of thedotA gene. Results of nested SBT revealed high genetic polymorphism in theseL. pneumophilaand ST1 was the predominant sequence type. These data revealed that the burden of LD in China is much greater than that recognized previously, and real-time PCR may be a suitable monitoring technology for LD in large sample surveys in regions lacking the economic and technical resources to perform other methods, such as urinary antigen tests and culture methods.

The solubilities of genistin in the binary solvent mixtures ethanol + water and acetone + water with various initial mole fractions were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at different temperatures ranging from 278.2 to 313.2 K. An interesting phenomenon was observed, namely, a synergistic effect of the binary solvent mixtures on solubility. In this synergistic effect, the solubility of genistin reached a maximum and was higher than its solubility in the separate solvents when the initial mole fraction of ethanol or acetone was 0.5 throughout the whole range of temperatures studied. The solubility of genistin in the mixtures increased with temperature. A simplified thermodynamic model, the modified Apelblat model, and the λh model were used to correlate the solubility data of genistin with temperature. Among the three models, the modified Apelblat model showed the best correlation in describing the dependence of the solubility on temperature. Furthermore, to illustrate the effects o...

In this work, the superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 particles prepared by the coprecipitation method were coated successively by SiO 2 , vinyl end groups and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) shells to afford a pomegranate-like core/shell superparamagnetic particle (Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @MIP), and the MIP shell preparation conditions were optimized by multi-objective response surface methodology. In order to simultaneously enrich and separate the four taxoids (10-DAB, baccatin III, cephalomannine and paclitaxel), cephalomannine was selected as the template because of its similar chemical structure to other three taxoids and relative inexpensiveness. Especially, to avoid template leaking which may influence the accuracy of identification and quantitation of the analytes, we selected paclitaxel as the target molecular during the investigation of the adsorption property of Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @MIP particles. This strategy was similar to the dummy molecular imprinting technique in which the dummy molecularly imprinted polymer was prepared by using a dummy template, structural analog of the target analyte. The as-prepared Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @MIP particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The adsorption kinetics, isotherms and reusability were also investigated. Finally, the Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @MIP particles were successfully applied to simultaneously enrich and separate these four taxoids in the extract of Taxus × media ( T. × media ).

The solubilities of genistin in pure solvents including tetrahydrofuran, acetone, ethyl acetate, acetonitrile, isopropanol, n-butyl alcohol, methanol, cyclohexane, n-hexane, chloroform and ethanol were determined by the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method at T = (283.2, 293.2, 303.2, 313.2 and 323.2) K. The fusion enthalpy of genistin was estimated by the group contribution method. The solubility data of genistin were correlated by the simplified thermodynamic model, the modified Apelblat model, λh model and NRTL (Non-Random Two-Liquid) model. The calculated values by all models were in good agreement with the experimental values and however, the NRTL model could give better correlation results than other three models.

The solubility of daidzin in different organic solvents and (ethyl alcohol + water) mixed solvents was measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method from T = (283.2 to 323.2) K at atmosphere pressure. The results show that at higher temperature more daidzin dissolves, and moreover, the solubility increases with the ethyl alcohol mole fraction increase in the (ethyl alcohol + water) mixed solvents. The experimental solubility values were correlated by a simplified thermodynamic equation, λh equation and modified Apelblat equation. Based on the solubility of daidzin, the enthalpy and entropy of solution were also evaluated by van’t Hoff equation. The results illustrated that the dissolution process of daidzin is endothermic and entropy driven.

The solubility of rutaecarpine and evodiamine was measured in (ethanol + water) mixed solvents with different values of mole fraction ethanol from (φ = 0.30 to 0.80) over the temperature range of (T = 288.2, 298.2, 308.2, 318.2 and 328.2) K. With increasing temperature and mole fraction ethanol, the solubility of rutaecarpine and evodiamine increased. The experimental solubility values were well correlated by the modified Apelblat equation, simplified thermodynamic equation and semi-empirical Buchowski–Ksiazczak λh equation. The correlated results by the modified Apelblat equation were better than those by other two equations. The enthalpy of dissolution (ΔdisHo) and entropy of dissolution (ΔdisSo) of rutaecarpine and evodiamine during the dissolution process in (ethanol + water) mixed solvents were calculated by the van’t Hoff equation. The results indicate that the dissolution process is endothermic and entropy-driven.

To observe the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) intervention on hippocampal glutamate (Glu) and CaSD rats were rando-mized into sham operation (sham) group (Compared with the sham group, the stroke index and neurological deficit scores, and the reaction latency and the error times of step-down tests, as well as the contents of Glu and CaEA intervention is able to improve the cognitive ability of VD rats, which may be associated with its effects in reducing the excitatory neurotoxicity of hippocampal Glu-NMDAR and lowering cellular Ca

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.

sThis paper is a summary of clinical studies on auricular acupoint penetration needling along the skin for treatment of pain and dysfunction in recent 10 years. Auricular acupoint penetration needling along the skin was used to observe rapid analgesic effects and clinical efficacy on cervical spondylopathy, periarthritis of shoulder, pain in waist and lower extremities, migraine, and other peripheral neuropathic pain, and stroke sequels, soft tissue injury, and so on. Self-control method was used in the studies at the first stage, and clinically randomized control trial methodwas used for systematic comparison with other therapies at the second stage. Results indicated that the auricular acupoint penetration needling along the skin had obviously clinical effects on cervical spondylopathy, periarthritis of shoulder, pain in waist and lower extremities, migraine, soft tissue injuries and stroke sequels, with a better rapid analgesic effect as compared with ear perpendicular needling method.

Sodium caseinate (SC) cross-linked by microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) for encapsulating microalgal oil was investigated. Protein cross-linking was evidenced in the SDS-PAGE graph. The emulsifying properties of SC depended on the cross-linked time with MTGase. The emulsifying activity and stability indexes of SC increased with the cross-linking time of 30 to 90 min (P30 to P90), and then declined with longer cross-linked time of 180 to 420 min (P180 to P420). The P30 to P90 as wall material for microencapsulation was superior to P180 to P420 and control sample. The microcapsules prepared with P30 to P90 showed more than 97% of microencapsulation efficiency in contrast to about 90% with the P180 to P420. During storage, the microcapsules prepared with P30 to P90 exhibited higher oxidative stability as compared with other microcapsules. A sustained release of microalgal oil was observed, and core release was time dependent and affected by cross-linking degree. Results showed that the powdered microalgal oil prepared with P30 to P90 demonstrated enhanced physicochemical properties and oxidative stability. Practical Application: The novel method using cross-linked proteins as wall material induced by microbial transglutaminase in food industry for sensitive ingredients could convert microcapsules into a stable form, which would lead to its more widespread utilization as a kind of food additive.

Nowadays, the hydraulic straightening presses play an important role in straightening mandrels. For different mandrels, straightening forces and reductions differ. So the proportional position control system under pressure boundary conditions is required. The mathematical model of the system is deduced, and simulation of the system is carried out by MATLAB. The curves of step response and Bode diagram show that the system is steady and quick-response. The error caused by load is analyzed, which meets the straightening requirements and validates its design. The work in this paper can provide a high guidance for presses of similar kinds.

SUMMARYThe epidemiology, symptomology, and viral aetiology of endemic influenza remain largely uncharacterized in Cambodia. In December 2006, we established passive hospital-based surveillance to identify the causes of acute undifferentiated fever in patients seeking healthcare. Fever was defined as tympanic membrane temperature >38°C. From December 2006 to December 2008, 4233 patients were screened for influenza virus by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT–PCR). Of these patients, 1151 (27·2%) were positive for influenza. Cough (68·8%vs. 50·5%,Pvs. 41·9%,Pn=1153), respectively. In December 2008, passive surveillance identified infection of the avian influenza virus H5N1 in a 19-year-old farmer from Kandal province who subsequently recovered. From a subset of diagnostic samples submitted in 2007, 15 A(H1N1), seven A(H3N2) and seven B viruses were isolated. The predominant subtype tested was influenza A(H1N1), with the majority antigenically related to the A/Solomon Island/03/2006 vaccine strain. The influenza A(H3N2) isolates and influenza B viruses analysed were closely related to A/Brisbane/10/2007 or B/Ohio/01/2005 (B/Victoria/2/87-lineage) vaccine strains, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the HA1 region of the HA gene of influenza A(H1N1) viruses demonstrated that the Cambodian isolates belonged to clade 2C along with representative H1N1 viruses circulating in SE Asia at the time. These viruses remained sensitive to oseltamivir. In total, our data suggest that viral influenza infections contribute to nearly one-fifth of acute febrile illnesses and demonstrate the importance of influenza surveillance in Cambodia.

SUMMARYIn 2006 we initiated an enhanced laboratory-based surveillance of Salmonella and Shigella infections in Shanghai, China. A total of 4483 Salmonella and 2226 Shigella isolates were recovered from stool specimens by 2012. In 80 identified Salmonella serovars, Enteritidis (34·5%) and Typhimurium (26·2%) were the most common. Shigella (S.) sonnei accounted for 63·9% of human Shigella infections over the same time period, and replaced S. flexneri to become the primary cause of shigellosis since 2010. Overall, a high level of antimicrobial resistance was observed in Salmonella and Shigella, particularly to nalidixic acid, ampicillin, and tetracycline. Ciprofloxacin resistance was common in Salmonella Typhimurium (21·0%) and S. flexneri (37·6%). The cephalosporin resistance in both pathogens also increased over the years, ranging from 3·4% to 7·0% in Salmonella, and from 10·4% to 28·6% in Shigella. Resistance to multiple antimicrobials was also identified in a large number of the isolates. This study provides insight into the distribution of Salmonella and Shigella in diarrhoeal diseases.

SUMMARYWe conducted a retrospective study on non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates from patients with diarrhoea in Shanghai, China, 2006–2010. A total of 1484 isolates of 70 Salmonella serovars were recovered from about 18 000 stool specimens. Serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium were the most prevalent with isolation rates of 27·6% and 25·5%, respectively. The majority (1151, 77·6%) of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, and 598 (40·3%) to more than three antimicrobials. Approximately half (50·9%) of the isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and other resistance rates were sulfisoxazole (47·9%), streptomycin (37·6%), ampicillin (31·3%) and tetracycline (30·5%). Co-resistance to fluoroquinolones and the third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins was also identified.

To analyze the basic characteristics of effects of acupoint application therapy in order to guide clinical decision better.A database on acupoint application therapy was established first by collection, sorting, screening, recording, collation, data extraction, and statistical analyses of the related literature published in recent 60 years, and using modern computer system. Then, its predominant indications and application rules in clinical practice were analyzed using data mining techniques.Outcomes of data mining showed that the acupoint application therapy was extensively utilized in the treatment of a variety of diseases or clinical conditions (142 in total) in different clinical departments, particularly in the internal medicine which contains 51 types of clinical conditions or diseases (accounting for 35.92%). Among them, the top 3 are asthma, cough, and abdominal pain, with the appearance frequency being 161, 79 and 45 times (= articles) in the domestic journals, respectively. The second one is the paediatric department, containing 30 kinds of diseases or clinical conditions (accounting for 21.13%). Among them, cough (106 articles), asthma (104 articles) and diarrhoea (82 articles) are frequently seen. The surgery department takes the third place, involving 27 disorders (accounting for 19.01%), with lumbago-leg pain being the most (31 articles). In the departments of ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology, 14 types of disorders (accounting for 9.86%) have been reported, with nasosinusitis being the most (56 papers). This therapy has also been used to treat 10 types of gynecopathy (7.04%) and 10 kinds of dermopathy (7.04%), with dysmenorrhea (37 articles) and shingles (6 articles) being the most. For acupoint application, complex prescriptions of Chinese herbal medicines in the forms of paste and cataplasm are frequently adopted, but with fewer application of enhancer of cutaneous penetration. Regarding the utilized acupoint, local points are often chosen. In the light of the collected papers, the highest effective rate is for dermopathy, followed by surgical problems, gynecopathy, paediatric conditions, and disorders of the internal medicine, ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology.Acupoint application therapy has been used for 142 kinds of disorders of different clinical departments, with the dominant indications being asthma, cough, abdominal pain, facial paralysis and constipation in the internal medicine, cough, asthma and diarrhoea in the paediatrics, lumbago-leg pain in the surgery, nasosinusitis in the otorhinolaryngology, and dysmenorrhea of gynecopathy.

To analyze the superiorities of acupoint catgut-embedding therapy, discuss its law of clinical application and provide scientific decision-making for clinical treatment.Literatures on acupoint catgut-embedding therapy in the recent 40 years were selected, input, examined and verified, picked up and analyzed by establishing database with the modern computer technology.(1) One thousand and seventy-five literatures were input. It shows that the acupoint catgut-embedding therapy has an extensive application in all departments, especially in the internal department, accounting for 48.54% (50/103) of the total disease category. It has the most extensive application on treatment of epigastric pain, with the frequency of 102 times, and obesity of 74 times. The next is surgery, accounting for 14.56% (15/103). The major application is on low back pain and leg pain with the frequency of 79 times. Psoriasis, with the frequency of 30 times, holds the major application in dermatological department. And blepharoplasty, with the frequency of 30 times, gains the most application in department of ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology. (2) In the included literatures, selection of adjacent acupoints and distal acupoints are held as the major method of acupoint selection. The adjusted lumbar puncture needle is taken as the major tool for the acupoint catgut-embedding therapy. And catguts of different sizes are adopted for the operation. (3) Analysis of the therapeutic effect shows that acupoint catgut-embedding therapy has obvious effect in all departments, especially in surgery and dermatology, with the total effective rate over 90%.Epigastric pain, obesity, epilepsy, asthma, abdominal pain, facial paralysis and constipation of the internal medicine, low back pain and leg pain of the surgical department, psoriasis of the dermatological department and blepharoplasty of the department of ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology are considered as the dominant diseases for acupoint catgut-embedding therapy.

To analyze the regularities and characters of clinical application of red-hot needle therapy in ancient and modern literature of Chinese medicine by using data mining techniques, so as to provide a reference for study on the specificity of efficacy of red-hot needle therapy.Sample data was collected from some medical books, medical cases, reports of modern journals for calculating frequent item sets by using methods of association rules of data mining. Then, the collected data was extracted, sorted out, and summed up by using our newly developed literature database platform of red-hot needle therapy in order to find out the most suitable indications of this therapy in clinical practice.A total of 6 categories of clinical conditions treated by red-hot needle therapy were found. Among them, the frequency times (percentages) of red-hot needle application for surgical problems appeared in journals, medical cases and medical books are 287 times (49.83%), 235 times (48.96%), 154 times (41.73%), respectively. The frequency times of red-hot needle application for disorders of internal medicine and dermatology are 276 times and 360 times. Among the 115 categories of clinical conditions or diseases treated by red-hot needle appeared in journals, arthromyodynia and struma are frequently found, with the frequency being 115 and 46 times, separately. The total effective rates of the present therapy from higher to lower are 99.46% for pediatric problems, 98.65% five sensory organs department, 97.32% surgery, 96.66% dermatology, 96.34% gynecology, and 93.95% internal medicine, respectively. Among the 97 types of clinical conditions recorded in the literature on medical cases, aural verruca is more frequently seen apart from arthromyodynia and struma. In medical books, 94 types of clinical conditions treated by red-hot needle therapy are found, including 32 types of problems of internal medicine.Data mining results show that red-hot needle therapy has been widely used in different clinical departments, and more frequently used in surgery (mainly orthopedic and general surgery), internal medicine (mainly neurology and gastroenterology), dermatology.

To compare the therapeutic effects between the Hwato neuro and muscle stimulator (SXDZ-100) and the regular electronic stimulator (SDZ-II) on chronic functional constipation.Sixty-four cases of chronic functional constipation were randomly divided into a (SXDZ-100) observation group (n = 33) and SDZ-II control group (n = 31). For the SXDZ-100 group, under the considerations of patients' endurance, Zhigou(TE 6) and Tianshu (ST 25), Zusanli (ST 36) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) were punctured and then the courle of acupoints on the same side were connected with SXDZ-100 apparatus in reinforcing and reducing by twirling and rotating manipulation wave for 30 min, while in the control group SDZ-II apparatus was applied in the same way mentioned above with disperse-dense wave at frequency of 1Hz/20Hz for 30 min. By means of clinical therapeutic effect evaluation and clinical symptom score, the contrast between two groups can be made.Although the total effective rates were both 100.0%, the rate of short term effects in SXDZ-100 group (54.6%, 18/33) is significantly higher than that in SDZ-II group (29.0%, 9/31) (P0.05). After the treatment, the clinical symptom scores in both groups decreased significantly (both P0.05). And the therapeutic effective indices of the SXDZ-100 group were significantly higher than those of the SDZ- II group (P0.05).The therapeutic effect of Hwato neuro and muscle stimulator (SXDZ-100) on chronic functional constipation is superior to that of a regular electronic stimulator (SDZ-II).

The main circuit of UHVDC transmission system in China is introduced. Based on the ABB HVDC control protection system, the principle and method of the interface technology between the PSCAD/EMTDC and HIDRAW are introduced. An off-line real-time simulation system using PSCAD/EMTDC is built for UHVDC transmission system which is used for protection testing. With a practical project, various of the protection purpose, principle and criterion for the bipoler zone are analyzed in detail. Through simulations on different faults for bipoler zone, different protections of the model are verified and the setting values of the different protections are tested.