The effects of acupuncture facilitating neural plasticity for treating diseases have been identified by clinical and experimental studies. In the last two decades, the application of neuroimaging ...techniques in acupuncture research provided visualized evidence for acupuncture promoting neuroplasticity. Recently, the integration of machine learning (ML) and neuroimaging techniques becomes a focus in neuroscience and brings a new and promising approach to understand the facilitation of acupuncture on neuroplasticity at the individual level. This review is aimed at providing an overview of this rapidly growing field by introducing the commonly used ML algorithms in neuroimaging studies briefly and analyzing the characteristics of the acupuncture studies based on ML and neuroimaging, so as to provide references for future research.
The abnormalities in brain function and structure of patients with functional constipation (FC) have been identified using multiple neuroimaging studies and have confirmed the abnormal processing of ...visceral sensation at the level of the central nervous system (CNS) as an important reason for FC. As an important basis for central information transfer, the role of the white matter (WM) networks in the pathophysiology of FC has not been investigated. This study aimed to explore the topological organization of WM networks in patients with FC and its correlation with clinical variables.
In this study, 70 patients with FC and 45 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects (HS) were recruited. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data and clinical variables were acquired from each participant. WM networks were constructed using the deterministic fiber tracking approach, and the global and nodal properties of the WM networks were compared using graph theory analysis between patients with FC and HS. The relationship between the representative nodal characteristics-nodal betweenness and clinical parameters was assessed using partial correlation analysis.
Patients with FC showed increased nodal characteristics in the left superior frontal gyrus (orbital part), right middle frontal gyrus (orbital part), and right anterior cingulate and paracingulate (
< 0.05, corrected for false discovery rate) and decreased nodal characteristics in the left caudate and left thalamus (
< 0.05, corrected for false discovery rate) compared with HS. The duration of FC was negatively correlated with the nodal betweenness of the left thalamus (
= -0.354,
= 0.04, corrected for false discovery rate).
The results indicated the alternations in WM networks of patients with FC and suggested the abnormal visceral sensation processing in the CNS from the perspective of large-scale brain WM network.
Acupuncture has been widely used as an alternative and complementary therapy for migraine. With the development of neuroimaging techniques, the central mechanism of acupuncture for migraine has ...gained increasing attention. This review aimed to analyze the study design and main findings of neuroimaging studies of acupuncture for migraine to provide the reference for future research. The original studies were collected and screened in three English databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) and four Chinese databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature database, the Chongqing VIP database, and Wanfang database). As a result, a total of 28 articles were included. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was the most used neuroimaging technique to explore the cerebral activities of acupuncture for migraine. This review manifested that acupuncture could elicit cerebral responses on patients with migraine, different from sham acupuncture. The results indicated that the pain systems, including the medial pain pathway, lateral pain pathway, and descending pain modulatory system, participated in the modulation of the cerebral activities of migraine by acupuncture.
Acupuncture is effective in functional constipation (FC) treatment, but the central mechanism has not been well investigated. This trial will combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and ...positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) to investigate the potential central mechanism of acupuncture treatment for FC.
This is a multimodal neuroimaging randomized controlled trial. In total, 140 FC patients will be randomly allocated into four groups: the verum acupuncture group; the sham acupuncture group; the PEG 4000 group; and the waiting-list group. This trial will include a two-week baseline period and a two-week treatment period. Patients will receive 10 sessions of acupuncture, sham acupuncture, PEG 4000, or no intervention during the treatment period. The stool diary, Cleveland Constipation Score (CCS), Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptom (PAC-SYM), and Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAC-QoL) will be used to assess the clinical efficacy of different interventions. The MRI and PET-CT scans will be performed to detect cerebral functional changes in 15 patients in each group at baseline and at the end of treatment/waiting. Multimodal imaging data will be associated with clinical data to investigate possible correlation between brain activity changes elicited by different interventions and symptoms improvement.
We hypothesize that acupuncture can treat FC through normalizing the pathological alteration of the cerebral activity. The results of this trial will allow us to re-testify the therapeutic effects of acupuncture treating for FC and to investigate the potential central mechanism of acupuncture treatment for FC from direct (cerebral glucose metabolism) and indirect (contrast of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin) approaches.
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800016658 . Registered on 14 June 2018.
The aberrant static functional connectivity of brain network has been widely investigated in patients with functional constipation (FCon). However, the dynamics of brain functional connectivity in ...FCon patients remained unknown. This study aimed to detect the brain dynamics of functional connectivity states and network topological organizations of FCon patients and investigate the correlations of the aberrant brain dynamics with symptom severity. Eighty‐three FCon patients and 80 healthy subjects (HS) were included in data analysis. The spatial group independent component analysis, sliding‐window approach, k‐means clustering, and graph‐theoretic analysis were applied to investigate the dynamic temporal properties and coupling patterns of functional connectivity states, as well as the time‐variation of network topological organizations in FCon patients. Four reoccurring functional connectivity states were identified in k‐means clustering analysis. Compared to HS, FCon patients manifested the lower occurrence rate and mean dwell time in the state with a complex connection between default mode network and cognitive control network, as well as the aberrant anterior insula–cortical coupling patterns in this state, which were significantly correlated with the symptom severity. The graph‐theoretic analysis demonstrated that FCon patients had higher sample entropy at the nodal efficiency of anterior insula than HS. The current findings provided dynamic perspectives for understanding the brain connectome of FCon and laid the foundation for the potential treatment of FCon based on brain connectomics.
The current study provided dynamic perspectives for understanding the brain connectome of patients with functional constipation. The results demonstrated the disruptions of dynamic functional connectivity patterns in patients with functional constipation from the respects of the absence of default mode network–cognitive control network connection states, abnormality of anterior insula–cortical coupling patterns, as well as atypical dynamics of regional topological organizations.
To review the feature, biomechanics, and clinical application of percutaneous 360 degree axial lumbar interbody fusion (AxiaLIF) technique.
Recent literature on investigation and application of ...percutaneous 360 degree AxiaLIF technique was reviewed.
Percutaneous 360 degree AxiaLIF technique mainly contained operative approach, axial technique, and posterior fixation. It was obviously different from other lumbar interbody fusion techniques due to its capability of maintaining the integrity of the bilateral facet joints, the anterior/posterior longitudinal ligament, and the annulus fibrosus. Three-dimensional AxiaLIF Rod provided axial support and firmly fixation, thereby relieving stenosis of lumbar intervertebral foramen and restoring the intervertebral disc height and the whole height and physiological curvature of the lumbar spine. The recovery of the intervertebral disc height could restore the folded or crumpled flavum, the posterior longitudinal ligament, and the herniated annulus, resulting in the impro
The socioeconomic costs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in China and its impact on global economic burden remain uncertain.
We collected data from 3098 patients with AD in 81 representative centers ...across China and estimated AD costs for individual patient and total patients in China in 2015. Based on this data, we re-estimated the worldwide costs of AD.
The annual socioeconomic cost per patient was US $19,144.36, and total costs were US $167.74 billion in 2015. The annual total costs are predicted to reach US $507.49 billion in 2030 and US $1.89 trillion in 2050. Based on our results, the global estimates of costs for dementia were US $957.56 billion in 2015, and will be US $2.54 trillion in 2030, and US $9.12 trillion in 2050, much more than the predictions by the World Alzheimer Report 2015.
China bears a heavy burden of AD costs, which greatly change the estimates of AD cost worldwide.
Two-dimensional layered (2D) materials are currently attracting intensive research interest for high-performance photodetection and other optoelectronic applications. However, the study of device ...integration for multifunctional optoelectronic applications is still at a nascent stage. Here, the assembly of a multilayered PtSe2/pyramid-Si heterostructure-based photodetector array consisting of 8 × 8 device units is demonstrated. Owing to the pronounced light confinement effect of the heterostructures, the devices present an prominent photovoltaic effect, which enables efficient self-driven photodetection in a broadband wavelength spectrum. The Ilight/Idark ratio, responsivity, external quantum efficiency (EQE) and specific detectivity can attain values as high as 5.51 × 106, 567 mA W−1, 87% and 1.26 × 1013 jones, respectively, upon 810 nm near-infrared (NIR) light illumination. What is more, benefiting from the large-scale homogeneous material growth technique, the photodetector array exhibits excellent uniformity and repeatability in photoresponse performance with negligible unit-to-unit variation. The above characteristics provide the photodetector array with the capability of recording a simple image produced by NIR illumination and monitoring a moving photonic signal, showing the great possibility for NIR image sensing and light trajectory tracking applications.
An increase in lipid accumulation in algal cells often occurs under salt-induced osmotic stress, but the link between the two is unclear. In this study, the effects of osmotic stress as a kind of ...biomechanical stress on lipid biosynthesis and the cAMP signaling pathway were investigated using Chlorella pyrenoidosa, and a plausible and novel mechanism by which cAMP regulates lipid accumulation in C. pyrenoidosa under osmotic stress conditions was proposed. The maximal lipid content in C. pyrenoidosa exposed to osmotic stress (453 mOsm/kg) (38.31 ± 0.99%) was increased by 63% compared to that in the control group (32 mOsm/kg) (23.45 ± 0.61%). Under osmotic stress, the levels of lipogenic genes, cAMP (3.24 ± 0.09 nM), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) (285.46 ± 26.51 DCF fluorescence intensity) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (12.14 ± 1.03 U mgprot−1) increased. Activated cAMP downregulated Snf1 levels, resulting in enhanced expression of accD. As a result, the metabolic flow of carbon in C. pyrenoidosa was shifted to lipid biosynthesis, resulting in an improvement in biodiesel quality. This study provides novel insight into the role of signaling pathways in modulating lipid accumulation in algal cells under osmotic stress.
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Two-dimensional layered (2D) materials are currently attracting intensive research interest for high-performance photodetection and other optoelectronic applications. However, the study of device ...integration for multifunctional optoelectronic applications is still at a nascent stage. Here, the assembly of a multilayered PtSe 2 /pyramid-Si heterostructure-based photodetector array consisting of 8 × 8 device units is demonstrated. Owing to the pronounced light confinement effect of the heterostructures, the devices present an prominent photovoltaic effect, which enables efficient self-driven photodetection in a broadband wavelength spectrum. The I light / I dark ratio, responsivity, external quantum efficiency (EQE) and specific detectivity can attain values as high as 5.51 × 10 6 , 567 mA W −1 , 87% and 1.26 × 10 13 jones, respectively, upon 810 nm near-infrared (NIR) light illumination. What is more, benefiting from the large-scale homogeneous material growth technique, the photodetector array exhibits excellent uniformity and repeatability in photoresponse performance with negligible unit-to-unit variation. The above characteristics provide the photodetector array with the capability of recording a simple image produced by NIR illumination and monitoring a moving photonic signal, showing the great possibility for NIR image sensing and light trajectory tracking applications.
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