Acupuncture for ischemic stroke:cerebellar activation may be a central mechanism following Deqi

The needling sensation of Deqi during acupuncture is a key factor of influencing acupuncture outcome.Recent studies have mainly focused on the brain function effects of Deqi in a physiological state.Functional magnetic resonance imaging（f MRI）on the effects of acupuncture at Waiguan（SJ5）in pathological and physiological states is controversial.In this study,12 patients with ischemic stroke received acupuncture at Waiguan（SJ5）and simultaneously underwent f MRI scanning of the brain,with imaging data of the activated areas obtained.Based on the patient＇s sensation,imaging data were allocated to either the Deqi group or non-Deqi group.In the Deqi group,the activated/deactivated areas were the left superior temporal gyrus（BA39）/right anterior lobe of the cerebellum and left thalamus.In the non-Deqi group,the activated areas included the medial frontal gyrus of the right frontal lobe（BA11）,right limbic lobe（BA30,35）,and left frontal lobe（BA47）,while the only deactivated area was the right parietal lobe（BA40）.Compared with the non-Deqi group,the Deqi group exhibited marked activation of the right anterior lobe of the cerebellum and right limbic lobe（BA30）.These findings confirm that the clinical effect of Deqi during acupuncture is based on brain functional changes.Cerebellar activation may be one of the central mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Long-term acupuncture treatment has a multitargeting regulation on multiple brain regions in rats with Alzheimer＇s disease：a positron emission tomography study

The acute effect of acupuncture on Alzheimer＇s disease,i.e.,on brain activation during treatment,has been reported.However,the effect of long-term acupuncture on brain activation in Alzheimer＇s disease is unclear.Therefore,in this study,we performed long-term needling at Zusanli（ST36）or a sham point（1.5 mm lateral to ST36）in a rat Alzheimer＇s disease model,for 30 minutes,once per day,for 30 days.The rats underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scanning.Positron emission tomography images were processed with SPM2.The brain areas activated after needling at ST36 included the left hippocampus,the left orbital cortex,the left infralimbic cortex,the left olfactory cortex,the left cerebellum and the left pons.In the sham-point group,the activated regions were similar to those in the ST36 group.However,the ST36 group showed greater activation in the cerebellum and pons than the sham-point group.These findings suggest that long-term acupuncture treatment has targeted regulatory effects on multiple brain regions in rats with Alzheimer＇s disease.

Formation and properties of high Fe-content Fe-(B-Si)-Zr bulk amorphous alloys

The present work is devoted to the development of Fe-（B-Si）-Zr amorphous alloys with high glass-forming ability and good magnetic properties. Using the cluster-plus-glue-atom model proposed for ideal amorphous structures, [FeFe11B3Si]（Fe1-xZrx） was determined as the cluster formula of Fe-（B-Si）-Zr alloys. The glass formation and thermal stability of the serial alloys, namely, [FeFel^B3Si]（Fel_xZrx） （x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.75, and 1.0）, were studied by the combination of copper mold casting, X-ray diffraction, and differential thermal analysis techniques. The maxima of glass-forming ability and thermal stability were found to occur at the compositions of [FeFe11B3Si] （Fe0.6Zr0.4） and [FeFe11B3Si]（Fe0.5Zr0.5）. The alloys can be cast into amorphous rods with 1.5 ram diameter, and upon reheating, the amorphous alloys exhibit a large undercooled liquid span of 37 K. The saturation magnetization of the [FeFe11B3Si]（Fe0.5Zr0.5） amorphous alloy was measured to be 1.4 T.

Stability of trivalent human papillomavirus(types 16,18,58)recombinant vaccine(Escherichia coli)

To the Editor:There are 530,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 270,000 deaths annually in the world,85%occur in developing countries.Among them,about 150,000 new cases of cervical cancer are in China each year,accounting for one-third of the total patients worldwide.[1]Vaccines are the most economical and effective ways of preventing infectious diseases.To stop the transmission of human papillomavirus(HPV)fundamentally,the most effective measure is to vaccinate safe and effective HPV vaccines.[2,3]Numerous studies have shown that vaccines based on HPV L1 virus-like particles(VLPs)have good safety and protective efficacy.[4]Infection of HPV16,HPV18,and HPV58 viruses is the main cause of cervical cancer in Chinese women.By preventing the infection of HPV16,HPV18,and HPV58 viruses,85.0%to 93.7%of cervical cancers can be prevented.[5].

Comparative evaluation of a biomimic collagen/ hydroxyapatite/β-tricaleium phosphate scaffold in alveolar ridge preservation with Bio-Oss Collagen

Bone scaffolds are critical in current implant and periodontal regeneration approaches. In this study, we prepared a novel composite type-I collagen and hydroxyapatite （HA）/β-tricaleium phosphate （TCP） scaffold （CHTS） by incorporating type-I collagen and bovine calcined bone granules, prepared as a mixture of 50% HA and 50% TCP, by freeze drying. We then characterized the CHTS and determined its cytotoxic effects. Additionally, ridge preservation experiments were carried out to evaluate the clinical effects of the CHTS. The results demonstrated that the composite scaffolds had good surface morphology and no cytotoxicity. Additionally, an in vivo experiment in an animal model showed that the CHTS performed equally as well as Bio-Oss Collagen, a widely used bone graft in ridge preservation. These findings revealed that the CHTS, which contained natural constituents of bone, could be used as a scaffold for bone regeneration and clinical use.