Search

BackgroundAs a non-pharmacological therapy, acupuncture has significant efficacy in treating Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) compared to pharmacological therapies. In recent years, advances in neuroimaging techniques have provided new perspectives to elucidate the central mechanisms of acupuncture for MCI. Many acupuncture brain imaging studies have found significant improvements in brain function after acupuncture treatment of MCI, but the underlying mechanisms of brain regions modulation are unclear.ObjectiveA meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of MCI patients treated with acupuncture was conducted to summarize the effects of acupuncture on the modulation of MCI brain regions from a neuroimaging perspective.MethodsUsing acupuncture, neuroimaging, magnetic resonance, and Mild Cognitive Impairment as search terms, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine disk (CBM disk), Wanfang and Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP) for brain imaging studies on acupuncture on MCI published up to April 2022. Voxel-based neuroimaging meta-analysis of fMRI data was performed using voxel-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images (SDM-PSI), allowing for Family-Wise Error Rate (FWER) correction correction for correction multiple comparisons of results. Subgroup analysis was used to compare the differences in brain regions between the acupuncture treatment group and other control groups. Meta-regression was used to explore demographic information and altered cognitive function effects on brain imaging outcomes. Linear models were drawn using MATLAB 2017a, and visual graphs for quality evaluation were produced using R software and RStudio software.ResultsA total of seven studies met the inclusion criteria, with 94 patients in the treatment group and 112 patients in the control group. All studies were analyzed using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method. The experimental design of fMRI included six task state studies and one resting-state study. The meta-analysis showed that MCI patients had enhanced activity in the right insula, left anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri, right thalamus, right middle frontal gyrus, right median cingulate/paracingulate gyri, and right middle temporal gyrus brain regions after acupuncture treatment. Further analysis of RCT and longitudinal studies showed that Reho values were significantly elevated in two brain regions, the left anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyrus and the right insula, after acupuncture. The MCI group showed stronger activity in the right supramarginal gyrus after acupuncture treatment compared to healthy controls. Meta-regression analysis showed that the right anterior thalamic projection ReHo index was significantly correlated with the MMSE score after acupuncture treatment in all MCI patients.ConclusionsAcupuncture therapy has a modulating effect on the brain regions of MCI patients. However, due to the inadequate experimental design of neuroimaging studies, multi-center neuroimaging studies with large samples are needed better to understand the potential neuroimaging mechanisms of acupuncture for MCI. In addition, machine learning algorithm-based predictive models for evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture for MCI may become a focus of future research.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022287826, identifier: CRD 42022287826.

Additional file 1. SPIRIT 2013 Checklist: Recommended items to address in a clinical trial protocol and related documents.

Muhammad Imran Shah,1 Irfan Ullah,2 Xiao Xingjian,2 Huang Haipeng,2 Alam Rehman,3 Muhammad Zeeshan,4 Fakhr E Alam Afridi5 1School of Mathematics and Statistics, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2Reading Academy, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Faculty of Management Sciences, National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan; 4College of Business Administration, Liaoning Technical University, XingCheng, Liaoning Province, 125105, People’s Republic of China; 5Islamia College Peshawar, Peshawar, PakistanCorrespondence: Irfan UllahReading Academy, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail irfnecon@nuist.edu.cnObjective: This study investigates life expectancy and trade openness in China for the period 1960– 2018.Methods: We purposed a theoretical model that is tested for China by applying regime-switching regression.Results: Our findings suggest that trade openness increases life expectancy in China; trade affects life expectancy from two aspects; firstly, trade expansion and industrialization lead to high economic activities and resulted in raise the income of the people in society leading to improve life expectancy. Secondly, industrial expansion increases the CO2 emissions which leads to imposes a negative implication on human health and thus reduces life expectancy.Conclusion: Thus, the net effect of trade liberalization depends on the value of income effect and volume of CO2 emissions. Therefore, the government needs to support the trade policies which causes a low level of CO2 emissions, the government may provide incentives to exports and industrialists to adopted green energy in the production process. Besides, the government may impose some regulations such as carbon tax to mitigate the CO2 emissions in society.Keywords: trade, life expectancy, CO2 emissions, health quality, regime-switching regression, China

The advent of microfluidic technologies has enabled a better recapitulation of in vitro tumor model with higher biological relevance over conventional monolayer assays. This work built upon a microfluidic system that supported the spontaneous aggregate formation of tumoral cells under flow-induced dynamic physical forces in a confined microchamber without additional matrix materials. Our findings indicated that fluidic streams significantly modulated the biological and architectural features of human breast adenocarcinoma cell (MCF-7), human hepatocarcinoma cell (HepG2), and human cervix adenocarcinoma cell (HeLa) with cell-type-dependent variation. The microfluidic platform was further integrated with a fluorescence detection and imaging system, allowing for non-invasive monitoring of cellular accumulation and spatial distribution of a chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin (DOX). The cytotoxic effects of DOX of various concentrations were determined and compared in MCF-7 cells in conventional two-dimensional (2D) static and microfluidic culture conditions. Dose-dependent response to DOX was noticed in both cultures, whereas tumor micronodules grown in microfluidic devices demonstrated significantly lower sensitivity to DOX at increased concentration. Our platform owns promising potentials as a universal modality for bridging traditional 2D cell cultures and in vivo experimentation for preclinical anticancer drug screening.

Some special minerals as additives in lubricating oil have shown a certain self-repairing function for the rubbing-pairs of industrial equipment in recent R & D of extreme pressure anti-wear additives. This paper introduces an investigation on the application of a commercially available mineral additive for practical cylinder liners and gears using some advanced techniques like AFM, Nano-Hardness Tester, SEM and AES. The basic formula of the additive is Al4[Si4O10](OH)4. Through some macro and micro analyses of the practical machine parts, it was found that the mineral additive showed an obvious improved effect on their tribological performances and self-repairing function. The worn surface with some pits and cracks has been repaired to a certain degree. Furthermore, it can greatly decrease the surface roughness by several decades of nanometers, and significantly enhance the hardness of the cylinder liner and gear. The mechanism of this mineral additive was investigated, it maybe a catalyzer to promote a series of complex tribochemical reactions on the worn surface under high temperature and pressure in the friction and wear process.