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Carbon nanomaterials have received extensive academic attention in the field of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding due to their light weight and high electrical conductivity. Employing one-dimensional carbon tubes to construct macro-assembly EMI shielding material architectures accompanied by generating pores in materials remains crucial. Herein, we employed a new type of carbon tube with a whisker structure and excellent electrical conductivity, named as whisker CT (wCT), and used graphene oxide (GO) as a bridging and foaming agent to achieve a porous reduced graphene oxide/wCT film (rGWF) by the vacuum-assisted filtration and annealing process. The rGWF with an average thickness of ∼30 μm exhibited outstanding electrical conductivity of 4.96 × 103 S/m and excellent EMI shielding effectiveness of 45–58 dB in the broad frequency range of 8.2–40 GHz. In addition, EM simulation was conducted by using the COMSOL software, and it confirmed that the porous structures induced by GO during the thermal reduction process changed the polarization direction and distribution of the electric field of attenuated EM waves. Moreover, the remarkable near-field shielding performance of 25–50 dB in the frequency range of 1–9 GHz was evaluated, which demonstrates the potential application of rGWF in electronic packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deqi is an important prerequisite for acupuncture to achieve optimal efficacy. Chinese medicine has long been concerned with the relationship between Deqi and the clinical efficacy of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanisms of Deqi are complex and there is a lack of systematic summaries of objective quantitative studies of Deqi . Acupuncture Deqi can achieve the purpose of treating diseases by regulating the interaction of local and neighboring acupoints, brain centers, and target organs. At local and neighboring acupoints, Deqi can change their tissue structure, temperature, blood perfusion, energy metabolism, and electrophysiological indicators. At the central brain level, Deqi can activate the brain regions of the thalamus, parahippocampal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, insular, middle temporal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, etc. It also has extensive effects on the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical-network and default mode network. The brain mechanisms of Deqi vary depending on the acupuncture techniques and points chosen. In addition, Deqi 's mechanism of action involves correcting abnormalities in target organs. The mechanisms of acupuncture Deqi are multi-targeted and multi-layered. The biological mechanisms of Deqi are closely related to brain centers. This study will help to explore the mechanism of Deqi from a local-central-target-organ perspective and provide information for future clinical decision-making., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhong, Yao, Liu, Wang, He, Sun, Huang, Ma, Zheng, Li, Zhang, Cong and Wang.)

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies have been shown to form against the nicotinic acetylcholine nicotinic postsynaptic receptors located at the neuromuscular junction. "Warming yang and invigorating qi" acupuncture treatment has been shown to reduce serum inflammatory cytokine expression and increase transforming growth factor beta expression in rats with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis. However, few studies have addressed the effects of this type of acupuncture on the acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction. Here, we used confocal laser scanning microscopy to examine the area and density of immunoreactivity for an antibody to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction in the phrenic nerve of rats with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis following "warming yang and invigorating qi" acupuncture therapy. Needles were inserted at acupressure points Shousanli (LI10), Zusanli (ST36), Pishu (BL20), and Shenshu (BL23) once daily for 7 consecutive days. The treatment was repeated after 1 day of rest. We found that area and the integrated optical density of the immunoreactivity for the acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction of the phrenic nerve was significantly increased following acupuncture treatment. This outcome of the acupuncture therapy was similar to that of the cholinesterase inhibitor pyridostigmine bromide. These findings suggest that "warming yang and invigorating qi" acupuncture treatment increases acetylcholine receptor expression at the neuromuscular junction in a rat model of autoimmune myasthenia gravis.