Comparison and Analysis of Various Representative Schools of Head Needling

In this paper, by studying and reading the literature related to head acupuncture, its aim is to summarize and compare the similarities and differences in the principle of action, positioning and operation methods of different schools of head acupuncture. At present, the more widely used schools of head acupuncture include Jiao Shunfa head acupuncture, Fang Yunpeng head acupuncture, and Tang Songyan head acupuncture. The principles of stimulation site selection vary among schools, and their principles of action range from basic meridian doctrine principles to biological holographic principles. In terms of acupuncture method, Fang Yunpeng emphasizes that the depth of acupuncture needs to reach the periosteum, and the acupuncture site is inconsistent among different schools, which should be clinically and experimentally confirmed to confirm the scientific nature of the theory of scalp acupuncture, to protect the clinical experience of each school of acupuncture, to gather the strengths of all schools, to determine the best scheme of head acupuncture, to reduce blind clinical operations, to improve the efficacy, and finally to promote the promotion of head acupuncture

Fauna, ecological properties, and zoogeographical composition of Mirinae (Hemiptera: Miridae) of the Hulunbuir region, Inner Mongolia of China

The fauna, ecological properties, and zoogeographical composition of Mirinae of the Hulunbuir region of China were studied and summarized. Atotal of 65 species belonging to 2 tribes and 19 genera were recorded. Among them, Charagochilus gyllenhalii (Fallén, 1807), Lygus poluensis (Wagner, 1967) and Phytocoris zhengi Nonnaizab & Jorigtoo, 1992 are new records for the Hulunbuir region and the former species is the first record also for the entire Inner Mongolia. In the Hulunbuir region, the highest number of Mirinae species (31) was collected from the Ewenki Autonomous Banner during July within the elevations of 601–750 m. From the perspective of zoogeographical composition, the Mirinae species found in Hulunbuir belong to faunae attributed to the Palaearctic, Oriental, and Nearctic regions with the Palaearctic dominating

Governance Policy Evaluation in the United States during the Pandemic: Nonpharmaceutical Interventions or Else?

Scientific evidence suggests that nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) effectively curb the spread of COVID-19 before a pharmaceutical solution. Implementing these interventions also significantly affects regular socioeconomic activities and practices of social, racial, and political justice. Local governments often face conflicting goals during policymaking. Striking a balance among competing goals during a global pandemic is a fine science of governance. How well state governments consume the scientific evidence and maintain such a balance remains less understood. This study employs a set of Bayesian hierarchical models to evaluate how state governments in the United States use scientific evidence to balance the fighting against the spread of COVID-19 disease and socioeconomic, racial, social justice, and other demands. We modeled the relationships between five NPI strategies and COVID-19 caseload information and used the modeled result to perform a balanced governance evaluation. The results suggest that governmental attitude and guidance effectively guide the public to fight back against a global pandemic. The more detailed spatiotemporally varying coefficient process model produces 612,000 spatiotemporally varying coefficients, suggesting all measures sometimes work somewhere. Summarized results indicate that states emphasizing NPIs fared well in curbing the spread of COVID-19. With over 1 million deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States, we feel the balance scale likely needs to tip toward preserving human lives. Our evaluation of governance policies is hence based on such an argument. This study aims to provide decision support for policymaking during a national emergency

Effects of Clinostat Culture on Morphology and Gene Expression of MLO-Y4 Osteocyte-Like Cells

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 2D clinostat-simulated weightlessness on biological characteristics of MLO-Y4 osteocyte-like cells. MLO-Y4 cells were incubated for 24 h and rotated using a 2D clinostat for 2 h. The bioeffects of clinostat culture on cellular morphology, cytoskeleton, and gene expression were investigated. The results show that 2D clinostat-simulated weightlessness induce actin cytoskeleton rearrangement, but unaffected the cellular morphology and number of processes/cell. Also, after 2 h of clinostat culture, expression of RANKL and IL-6 decreased by 19%±5% and 20%±4%, respectively, while cox-2 level increased by 65%±8%. These results provide some clue to explore the cellular mechanism of bone loss caused by weightlessness

PHGDH Is Upregulated at Translational Level and Implicated in Platin-Resistant in Ovarian Cancer Cells

BackgroundPlatinum-based chemotherapy is the first line option for ovarian cancer. The development of resistance to such chemotherapy results in treatment failure, while the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.MethodsClinical samples were collected from Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University. MTT assay was used to see the proliferation and chemoresistance of ovarian cancer cells. Transwell migration and Matrigel invasion assays was used to see the invasion ability of ovarian cancer cells. In addition, polysome profiling and tissue microarray and immunohistochemical staining were also used. The statistical significance of the difference was analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc Dunnett’s test.ResultsPHGDH is the first enzyme responsible for serine biosynthesis pathway. The current study demonstrated that PHGDH is upregulated in platin-resistant ovarian cancer cells and tissues at the protein level. Importantly, knockdown of PHGDH suppressed, while overexpression of PHGDH increased the survival upon cisplatin exposure, invasiveness and spheroid formation of ovarian cancer cells. The current study demonstrated that PHGDH translation was upregulated in platin-resistant ovarian cancer. In addition, our study provided evidence that LncRNA RMRP (RNA Component of Mitochondrial RNA Processing Endoribonuclease) was upregulated in platin-resistant ovarian cancer, which promoted enrichment of RNA binding protein DDX3X (DEAD-Box Helicase 3 X-Linked) on the PHGDH mRNA to promote its translation.ConclusionCollectively, the current study described that PHGDH was upregulated and conferred resistance of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin, suggesting that cisplatin resistance could be overcome by targeting PHGDH. Our study also provided evidence that differential PHGDH protein expression was defined by its translation, and RNA binding protein DDX3X and LncRNA RMRP are regulators of its translation

Processes and mechanisms in remediation of aqueous chromium contamination by sulfidated nano-scale zerovalent iron (S-nZVI): experimental and computational investigations

Sulfidated nano-scale zerovalent iron (S-nZVI) has emerged as an advanced functional nanomaterial for efficiently remediating Cr(VI) contamination in aqueous environments. However, there is an insufficient understanding of its coherent process, removal pathway, and hydrochemical reactive mechanisms, presenting potential challenges for its future environmental applications. To address this gap, this study successfully synthesized S-nZVI through a chemical precipitation method and effectively applied it for the removal of Cr(VI). Additional characterization revealed that the removal of Cr(VI) followed a sequence of rapid chemisorption and intraparticle diffusion processes, concomitant with an increase in pH and a decrease in oxidation-reduction potential. The remediation mechanism encompassed a synergistic reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and simultaneous immobilization via Cr2FeO4 coprecipitation. The highest Cr(VI) removal capacity of 75 mg/g was attained during dynamic removal experiments in the sand column packed with S-nZVI. Further computational analysis, employing density functional theory calculations based on the experimental data, revealed the involvement of multiple molecular orbitals of Cr(VI) in the removal process. It also elucidated a step-by-step reduction pathway for Cr(VI) characterized by decreasing free energy. These findings provide evidence-based insights into Cr(VI) remediation using S-nZVI and can serve as valuable technical support for future environmental management of heavy metals

Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy Investigation of the Role of Minority Carriers on the Switching Characteristics of Organic Field-Effect Transistors

We have developed a Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy (SKPM) based method to probe the effects of low-mobility minority carriers on the switching characteristics of organic field effect transistors (OFETs). By measuring and modeling the transient potential changes in the OFET channel after an applied gate bias pulse, we can extract the low mobility of the minority carriers and understand how these carriers play a key role in the device operation, in particular, in the screening of the gate potential in the OFF state of the transistor and in the recombination of majority carriers trapped in the channel after an ON state stress.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Large-Area Electronics(EP/K03099X/1). Y. Hu thanks the Cambridge Overseas Trust and Chinese Scholarship Council for a postgraduate award. We thank Robin Lamboll and Dr. Abhishek Kumar for helpful discussions about the modeling work