Acupuncture: An Overview on Its Functions, Meridian Pathways and Molecular Mechanisms.

Recent research has extensively explored the intricate mechanisms that underlie the effectiveness of acupuncture, highlighting the importance of stimulating acupoints, the role of acupuncture techniques in managing diseases, and the interaction between meridian pathways and molecular processes. Studies have underscored the crucial role of acupuncture in activating neurons, modulating the immune system, and influencing vascular activity, all of which contribute significantly to its therapeutic benefits across a wide range of symptoms and conditions. Utilization of imaging modalities enables the identification of changes in cerebral blood flow, brain function, and regional glucose metabolism following acupuncture sessions.

Proteome and ubiquitinome analyses of the brain cortex in K18- mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Clinical research indicates that SARS-CoV-2 infection is linked to several neurological consequences, and the virus is still spreading despite the availability of vaccinations and antiviral medications. To determine how hosts respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection, we employed LC-MS/MS to perform ubiquitinome and proteome analyses of the brain cortexes from K18- mice in the presence and absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A total of 8,024 quantifiable proteins and 5,220 quantifiable lysine ubiquitination (Kub) sites in 2023 proteins were found.

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of intensive blood pressure control on cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with atrial fibrillation: Rationale and design of the CRAFT trial.

Background: Co-morbid hypertension is strong predictor of adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) but the optimal target for blood pressure (BP) control in this patient population has not been clearly defined.

Methods: The Cardiovascular Risk reduction in patients with Atrial Fibrillation Trial (CRAFT) is an investigator-initiated and conducted, international, multicenter, open-label, parallel-group, blinded outcome assessed, randomized controlled trial of intensive BP control in patients with AF. The aim is to determine whether intensive BP control (target home systolic blood pressure [SBP] <120 mmHg) is superior to standard BP control (home SBP <135 mmHg) on the hierarchical composite outcome of time to CV death, number of stroke events, time to the first stroke, number of myocardial infarction (MI) events, time to the first MI, number of heart failure hospitalization (HFH) events, and time to the first HFH.

Impact of childhood maltreatment on aging: a comprehensive Mendelian randomization analysis of multiple age-related biomarkers.

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is linked to long-term adverse health outcomes, including accelerated biological aging and cognitive decline. This study investigates the relationship between CM and various aging biomarkers: telomere length, facial aging, intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA), GrimAge, HannumAge, PhenoAge, frailty index, and cognitive performance.

Methods: We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study using published GWAS summary statistics.

Subsurface Single-Atom Catalyst Enabled by Mechanochemical Synthesis for Oxidation Chemistry.

Single-atom catalysts have garnered significant attention due to their exceptional atom utilization and unique properties. However, the practical application of these catalysts is often impeded by challenges such as sintering-induced instability and poisoning of isolated atoms due to strong gas adsorption. In this study, we employed the mechanochemical method to insert single Cu atoms into the subsurface of FeO support.

CNT Composite β-MnO with Fiber Cable Shape as Cathode Materials for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have developed into one of the most attractive materials for large-scale energy storage owing to their advantages such as high energy density, low cost, and environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, the sluggish diffusion kinetics and inherent impoverished conductivity affect their practical application. Herein, the β-MnO composited with carbon nanotubes (CNT@M) is prepared through a simple hydrothermal approach as a high-performance cathode for AZIBs.

Effectiveness of physical activity interventions on undergraduate students' mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effectiveness of physical activity interventions on undergraduate students' mental health. Seven databases were searched and a total of 59 studies were included. Studies with a comparable control group were meta-analysed, and remaining studies were narratively synthesized.

Efficacy of knee osteoarthritis by use of laser acupuncture: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Previous studies need to be aggregated and updated. We aim to assess the efficacy of laser acupuncture (LA) in knee osteoarthritis (OA) through a meta-analysis.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched for studies investigating laser acupuncture's efficacy in managing OA.

Biomedical named entity recognition based on multi-cross attention feature fusion.

Currently, in the field of biomedical named entity recognition, CharCNN (Character-level Convolutional Neural Networks) or CharRNN (Character-level Recurrent Neural Network) is typically used independently to extract character features. However, this approach does not consider the complementary capabilities between them and only concatenates word features, ignoring the feature information during the process of word integration. Based on this, this paper proposes a method of multi-cross attention feature fusion.

TIGAR reduces neuronal ferroptosis by inhibiting succinate dehydrogenase activity in cerebral ischemia.

Ischemia Stroke (IS) is an acute neurological condition with high morbidity, disability, and mortality due to a severe reduction in local cerebral blood flow to the brain and blockage of oxygen and glucose supply. Oxidative stress induced by IS predisposes neurons to ferroptosis. TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) inhibits the intracellular glycolytic pathway to increase pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) flux, promotes NADPH production and thus generates reduced glutathione (GSH) to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), and thus shows strong antioxidant effects to ameliorate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

A multiplex RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a-based POCT technique and its application in human papillomavirus (HPV) typing assay.

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) is the primary and initiating factor for cervical cancer. With over 200 identified HPV types, including 14 high-risk types that integrate into the host cervical epithelial cell DNA, early determination of HPV infection type is crucial for effective risk stratification and management. Presently, on-site immediate testing during the HPV screening stage, known as Point of Care Testing (POCT), remains immature, severely limiting the scope and scenarios of HPV screening.

Data from four consecutive cohorts of students in Australia (2019-2022) show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic and international university students' mental health.

Introduction: COVID-19 and related travel and social restrictions caused significant stress for university students in Australia and globally. Learning quickly moved online and many students (particularly international students) were separated from social and economic support. This study examined the impact of the pandemic from pre-pandemic (2019) to the COVID-19 Omicron wave (2022) on domestic and international students' mental health.

Exogenous application of silicon and selenium improves the tolerance of tomato plants to calcium nitrate stress.

Silicon (Si) and selenium (Se) can improve the tolerance of plants to NaCl-induced salt stress. However, few studies are available on their regulatory effects on plants' tolerance to calcium nitrate stress, which often occurs in protected facilities, causing secondary soil salinization. In this study, we report the effects of Si (6 mM) and Se (20 μM) applied separately or in combination on the growth, photosynthesis, oxidative damage, and nitrogen metabolism of tomato plants, as well as fruit quality under calcium nitrate stress.

Differentiation Potential of Hypodifferentiated Subsets of Nephrogenic Rests and Its Relationship to Prognosis in Wilms Tumor.

Wilms tumor (WT) is highly curable, although anaplastic histology or relapse imparts a worse prognosis. Nephrogenic rests (NR) associated with a high risk of developing WT are abnormally retained embryonic kidney precursor cells. After pseudo-time analysis using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, we generated and validated a WT differentiation-related gene (WTDRG) signature to predict overall survival (OS) in children with a poor OS.

Pain relief effect of angiopuncture therapy on patients with postoperative pain: A clinical trial.

Background: The objective of this study is to study the pain relief effects of angiopuncture therapy in patients with postoperative pain.

Methods: Forty-one patients were randomly selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Doppler imaging was performed to locate the cutaneous perforator.

Commensal Enterococcus faecalis W5 ameliorates hyperuricemia and maintains the epithelial barrier in a hyperuricemia mouse model.

Objective: The intestine is responsible for approximately one-third of uric acid (UA) excretion. The effect of commensal Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), one of the most colonized bacteria in the gut, on UA excretion in the intestine remains to be investigated.

Unveiling Atomic-Scale Product Selectivity at the Cocatalyst-TiO Interface Using X-Ray Techniques: Insights into Interface Reactivity.

The microstructure at the interface between the cocatalyst and semiconductor plays a vital role in concentrating photo-induced carriers and reactants. However, observing the atomic arrangement of this interface directly using an electron microscope is challenging due to the coverings of the semiconductor and cocatalyst. To address this, multiple metal-semiconductor interfaces on three TiO crystal facets (M/TiO ─N, where M represents Ag, Au, and Pt, and N represents the 001, 010, and 101 single crystal facets).

Cascade NH Oxidation and NO Decomposition via Bifunctional Co and Cu Catalysts.

The selective catalytic oxidation of NH (NH-SCO) to N is an important reaction for the treatment of diesel engine exhaust. CoO has the highest activity among non-noble metals but suffers from NO release. Such NO emissions have recently been regulated due to having a 300× higher greenhouse gas effect than CO.