Dielectric modulation strategy of carbon nanotube field effect transistors based pressure sensor: towards precise monitoring of human pulse.

Continuous monitoring of arterial pulse has great significance for detecting the early onset of cardiovascular disease and assessing health status, while needs pressure sensors with high sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to accurately capture more health information concealed in pulse waves. Field effect transistors (FETs) combined with the piezoelectric film is an ultrahigh sensitive pressure sensor category, especially when the FET works in the subthreshold regime, where the signal enhancement effect on the piezoelectric response is the most effective. However, controlling the work regime of FET needs extra external bias assistance which will interfere with the piezoelectric response signal and complicate the test system thus making the scheme difficult to implement.

Effects of pretreatment with a combination of melatonin and electroacupuncture in a rat model of transient focal cerebral ischemia.

Both melatonin and electroacupuncture (EA) have been suggested to be effective treatments against stroke. However, it is unknown whether a combination of these two therapies could be beneficial against transient focal cerebral ischemia. The present study investigated the effects of pretreatment of a combination of melatonin and EA in a rat model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).

Rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage permitting hematoma aspiration plus intralesional injection.

A combination of hematoma aspiration and local delivery of chemicals may be more effective than either therapy in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The aim of the present study was to develop a rat model of hematoma aspiration plus intralesional injection after ICH. ICH was induced in adult Sprague-Dawley rats by an intrastriatal injection of bacterial collagenase IV.

[Effect of scalp acupuncture on the expression of NF-kappaB mRNA, COX-2 mRNA and their proteins in rats with acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury].

Objective: To explore the possible mechanism of scalp acupuncture (SA) in relieving cerebral ischemia reperfusion (CI-R) injury.

Methods: Seventy male SD rats were randomized into sham-operation (sham, n = 10), model (n = 30) and SA (n = 30) groups. The later 2 groups were further divided into 24 h, 48 h and 72 h subgroups respectively, with 10 cases in each.

[Effects of scalp acupuncture on acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats].

Objective: To explore the mechanisms of scalp acupuncture in treating cerebral ischemia in rats.

Methods: Sixty SD rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were randomly divided into untreated group and scalp acupuncture group. The scalp acupuncture was performed by inserting needles from Baihui (GV20) to Qubin (GB7), and the scalp was stabbed through 0.

Protective effect of electroacupuncture at the Neiguan point in a rabbit model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Objectives: To investigate possible cardioprotective mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) at the Neiguan point and at the Lieque point in the presence of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI).

Methods: The changes in ventricular tissue Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity were examined, as well as beta-endorphin (beta-EP) con-tent in a rabbit model of MIRI. Four randomized groups were studied: sham, untreated MIRI, MIRI followed by EA at the Neiguan point, and MIRI followed by EA at the Lieque point.

[Effect of scalp-acupuncture on plasma and cerebral TNF-alpha and IL-1beta contents in acute cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury rats].

Objective: To explore the underlying mechanism of scalp-acupuncture therapy in the treatment of acute cerebral ischemia (ACI) in the rat.

Methods: A total of 140 SD female rats were randomly assigned to sham-operation (n=20), model (n=60), scalp-acupuncture (SA, n=60) groups, and the later two groups were further divided into 24 h, 48 h and 72 h subgroups separately, with 20 cases in each. Among them, 70 rats were used for cerebral tissue section, and the other 70 cases for homogenating cerebral tissue.

[Effects of electroacupuncture at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on NO, ET and CGRP levels in the rat with hyperlipidemia].

Objective: To probe the regulative effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on blood lipids in hyperlipidemia (HLP) rats and the mechanism.

Methods: Eighty Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group (fed with basal forage), a model group (fed with high fat forage), an EA group (fed with high fat forage + EA treatment), a western medicine group (fed with high fat forage + Pravastatin sodium). Contents of serum total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), endothelin (ET), nitric oxide (NO) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were determined before and after treatment.

[Effect of electro-acupuncture at Fenglong (GV 16) on nitric oxide and endothelin in rats with hyperlipidemia].

Objective: To investigate the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) at Fenglong (GV 16) on body weight, blood lipids, nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin (ET) in rats with hyperlipidemia (HLP).

Methods: Eighty Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group (fed normal diet), untreated group (fed a high-fat diet), EA-treated group (fed a high-fat diet plus EA therapy) and pravastatin-treated group (fed a high-fat diet plus pravastatin tablet). There were 20 rats in each group.

[Effect of scalp acupuncture on inflammatory response in rats with acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury].

Objective: To explore the mechanism of scalp acupuncture (SA) in treating cerebral ischemia.

Methods: Sixty SD rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were randomized into untreated group and SA-treated group, with another group of 10 SD rats without artery occlusion as sham-operated control. Neurological severity score (NSS), hemetoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were applied to observing the changes of neurofunctional defect, inflammatory infiltration in cerebral tissue and content of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-10 at 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion.

[Significance of nerve stem cells in the research on clinical treatment of ischemic stroke with scalp-acupuncture therapy].

Recent studies indicate that nerve stem cells (NSC) plays a role in the pathophysiological process of cerebral ischemia which could activate the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous NSC. Scalp-acupuncture therapy has a good effect in the treatment of ischemic stroke, hence, we presume that there exists a possibility that endogenous NSC may contribute to the effect of scalp-acupuncture in promoting the repair and remodeling of the injured ischemic cerebral tissue. Thus, in the present paper, the authors review development of researches on NSC both at home and abroad from clinical therapeutic effect and experimental research, and discuss the possible role or significance of NSC in the treatment of ischemic cerebral stroke with scalp-acupuncture therapy, so as to reveal the regulative mechanism of scalp-acupuncture on endogenous NSC and to make a better use of scalp-acupuncture therapy in accelerating the proliferation and differentiation of NSO, and to lay a solid theoretical foundation for future clinical application.