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Shanshan Li,1,* Zhaoqin Wang,2,* Huangan Wu,3,* Hongyu Yue,1 Ping Yin,1 Wei Zhang,4 Lixing Lao,5 Yiqun Mi,1 Shifen Xu1 1Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200071, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Mechanism and Acupoint Function, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, People’s Republic of China; 5Virginia University of Integrative Medicine, Fairfax, VA 22031, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shifen Xu; Yiqun MiShanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 274 Middle Zhijiang Road, Shanghai 200071, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13761931393; Tel +8618930177567Email xu_teacher2006@126.com; miyiqun@126.comObjective: To evaluate the short- and long-term effects of acupuncture on perimenopausal insomnia (PMI) and quality of life.Patients and Methods: We designed a semi-standardized, patient-blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trial. A total of 84 patients were recruited, all of whom met the criteria for diagnosis of PMI. Either acupuncture therapy or a noninvasive placebo acupuncture therapy designed to treat insomnia was implemented 18 times over the course of 8 weeks (3 times per week for 4 weeks, twice per week for 2 weeks, once per week for 2 weeks). The primary outcome was the change in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores from baseline to the end of treatment, week 8. Secondary outcomes included climacteric symptoms and quality of life measured by the Menopause Quality of Life (Men-QoL), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), sleep parameters recorded in the actigraphy and adverse events. The PSQI and Men-QoL were assessed at weeks 0, 4, 8, 12 and 20. Other assessments were performed at week 0 and week 8.Results: The participants were randomly assigned to either acupuncture (n=42) or sham acupuncture (n=42) groups. The mean difference from baseline of PSQI score at the end of treatment between real acupuncture and sham acupuncture group was − 2.38 (95% CI, − 3.46 to − 1.30; P< 0.001). The acupuncture group was associated with significantly lower scores than the sham acupuncture group at week 12 and during the 20-week follow-up visits (all P < 0.001). Acupuncture was also associated with significantly higher quality of life in vasomotor and other physical dimensions (all P < 0.001). At the end of treatment, researchers found a significantly higher total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE) and lower number of average awakenings (AA) (P =0.007 0.023 and 0.011, respectively) in the acupuncture group than in the sham acupuncture group. No severe adverse events were reported.Conclusion: The findings suggest that acupuncture may be a safe and effective treatment for PMI and improving quality of sleep in patients with menopause and could have a long-lasting effect.Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR); Trial ID: ChiCTR1800018645. URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=31482.Keywords: acupuncture, perimenopausal insomnia, randomized controlled trial

Additional file 1.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-tag-10.1177_17562848211035670 for Probiotics use is associated with improved clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 by Lina Zhang, Huanqin Han, Xuan Li, Caozhen Chen, Xiaobing Xie, Guomei Su, Shicai Ye, Cuili Wang, Qing He, Fang Wang, Fang Huang, Zhaoqin Wang, Jiayuan Wu and Tianwen Lai in Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology

Background An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is becoming a public health emergency. Data are limited on the duration and host factors related to viral shedding. Methods In this retrospective study, risk factors associated with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA shedding were evaluated in a cohort of 113 symptomatic patients from two hospitals outside Wuhan. Results The median duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection was 17 days (Interquartile Range [IQR], 13–22 days) as measured from illness onset. When comparing patients with early (

Background: The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a newly emerging virus. The antibody response in infected patient remains largely unknown, and the clinical values of antibody testing have not been fully demonstrated. Methods: A total of 173 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled. Their serial plasma samples (n = 535) collected during the hospitalization period were tested for total antibodies (Ab), IgM and IgG against SARS-CoV-2 using immunoassays. The dynamics of antibodies with the progress and severity of disease was analyzed. Findings: Among 173 patients, the seroconversion rate for Ab, IgM and IgG was 93.1% (161/173), 82.7% (143/173) and 64.7% (112/173), respectively. Twelve patients who had not seroconverted were those only blood samples at the early stage of illness were collected. The seroconversion sequentially appeared for Ab, IgM and then IgG, with a median time of 11, 12 and 14 days, respectively. The presence of antibodies was < 40% among patients in the first 7 days of illness, and then rapidly increased to 100.0%, 94.3% and 79.8% for Ab, IgM and IgG respectively since day 15 after onset. In contrast, the positive rate of RNA decreased from 66.7% (58/87) in samples collected before day 7 to 45.5% (25/55) during days 15 to 39. Combining RNA and antibody detections significantly improved the sensitivity of pathogenic diagnosis for COVID-19 patients (p < 0.001), even in early phase of 1-week since onset (p = 0.007). Moreover, a higher titer of Ab was independently associated with a worse clinical classification (p = 0.006). Interpretation: The antibody detection offers vital clinical information during the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The findings provide strong empirical support for the routine application of serological testing in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients. Funding Statement: This study was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (SQ2020YFC080015), and the Science and Technology Major Project of Shenzhen, Fujian (2020YZ0106), Xiamen (3502Z2020YJ01) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital (approval number 2020-0018). Written informed consent was obtained from each enrolled patient.

Biodiesel production in the U.S. from vegetable oils has increased substantially during the past decade. However, its further increase is limited by the low amounts of oil produced per hectare from temperate oilseed crops. Recently novel transgenic sugarcane has been developed to accumulate both sugars and lipids in stems, making it a promising dual-purpose feedstock to produce both ethanol and biodiesel. In this study, two lines of the transgenic lipid producing sugarcane (lipid-cane) and the non-transformed sugarcane were characterized and processed. The total lipid concentrations were 0.7%, 0.9% and 1.3% for the non-transformed sugarcane and lipid-cane lines19B and 25 C, respectively. Lipid composition analysis showed that about 31-33% of the total lipids were triacylglycerols, main feedstock for biodiesel production, for the lipid-cane samples, while this value was only 5% for the non-transformed sugarcane. By processing the sugarcane stems with a juicer, about 90% of the sugars and 60% of the lipids were extracted with juice. The extracted sugars in juice were fermented to ethanol and the lipids were later recovered from the fermented juice using organic solvents. The recovered lipids from the fermented juice were 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8 g/100 g dry stem for the non-transformed sugarcane and lipid-cane lines 19B and 25 C, respectively. This study proved the concept of the lipid and sugar coproduction from the novel lipid-cane, which have a potential to make a large-scale replacement of fossil derived fuel without unrealistic demands on land area. Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AR0000206] The information, data, or work presented herein was funded in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy, under Award Number DE-AR0000206. The authors thank Mrs. Wei Liu for her great help on sugarcane sample preparations and HPLC sample analysis. Public domain – authored by a U.S. government employee