BACKGROUNDPrevious studies have demonstrated that acupuncture could modulate various brain systems in the resting brain networks. Graph theoretical analysis offers a novel way to investigate the functional organization of the large-scale cortical networks modulated by acupuncture at whole brain level. In this study, we used wavelets correlation analysis to estimate the pairwise correlations between 90 cortical and subcortical human brain regions in normal human volunteers scanned during the post-stimulus resting state.

METHODSThirty-two college students, all right-handed and acupuncture naïve, participated in this study. Every participant received only one acupoint stimulation, resulting in 16 subjects in one group. Both structural functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data (3D sequence with a voxel size of 1 mm(3) for anatomical localization) and functional fMRI data (TR = 1500 ms, TE = 30 ms, flip angle = 90°) were collected for each subject. After thresholding the resulting scale-specific wavelet correlation matrices to generate undirected binary graphs, we compared graph metrics of brain organization following verum manual acupuncture (ACU) and sham acupuncture (SHAM) groups.

RESULTSThe topological parameters of the large-scale brain networks in ACU group were different from those of the SHAM group at multiple scales. There existed distinct modularity functional brain networks during the post-stimulus resting state following ACU and SHAM at multiple scales.

CONCLUSIONSThe distinct modulation patterns of the resting brain attributed to the specific effects evoked by acupuncture. In addition, we also identified that there existed frequency-specific modulation in the post-stimulus resting brain following ACU and SHAM. The modulation may be related to the effects of verum acupuncture on modulating special disorder treatment. This preliminary finding may provide a new clue to understand the relatively function-oriented specificity of acupuncture effects.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Analgesia ; Brain ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Nerve Net

Objective　We investigated the correlation of MMP-2，MMP-14 with the vulnerability of carotid plaque. Our study was to explore the related factors which influence the stability of the plaques. Methods　Carotid plaques were collected from patients undergoing CEA in the Department of Neurosurgery of the First people’s Hospital of Lianyungang. 55 patients were recruited between January 2018 and June 2019.All of the plaques were divided into 23 stable carotid plaques and 32 vulnerable carotid plaques by imaging and histological analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used toloca lize the expression level of MMP-2 and MMP-14 in stable and vulnerable plaques. Results　Density analysis revealed that the immunohistochemical staining of MMP-2 and MMP-14 were more intense among samples from vulnerable group than those from stable group. MMP-2 and MMP-14 staining was positive in ulcer plaque and the atheromatous lesions. Conclusion　The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-14 were associated with plaque vulnerability of human carotid plaques，which is an important factor affecting the stability of plaques.

Objective:To study the risk factors for acute kidney injury (AKI) after adult orthotopic liver transplantation.Methods:The clinical data of 232 recipients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2019 to April 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 195 males and 37 females, aged (49.1±9.4) years old. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether AKI had occurred within 7 days of surgery into the AKI group ( n=112) and the non-AKI group ( n=120). Clinical data including basic information, preoperative hematological indexes, operation time and postoperative hospital stay were compared between the two groups. Factors associated with AKI after orthotopic liver transplantation were studied using univariate analysis and those factors with significant differences were included in multifactorial logistic regression analysis. Results:Among 232 patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation, 112 patients developed AKI after surgery, with an incidence of 48.3% (112/232). There were 64 patients with AKI stage 1 (57.1%, 64/112), 30 patients with AKI stage 2 (26.8%, 30/112), and 18 patients with AKI stage 3 (16.1%, 18/112). Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension ( OR=5.874, 95% CI: 1.931-17.863, P=0.002) and high scores on the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) ( OR=1.041, 95% CI: 1.010-1.074, P=0.010) were independent risk factors for AKI after orthotopic liver transplantation. Conclusion:Hypertension and MELD score were independent risk factors for postoperative AKI in orthotopic liver transplant recipients.

Objective Tostudy the influence of pipe structures on the mixing uniformity of airborne effluents from nuclear power plant chimneys. Methods We used the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method to simulate the velocity distribution and gas mixing in long straight pipes (I type) with square section and circular section, 90° single-bend pipes (L type) with square section and circular section, and 90° double-bend pipes (S type and U type) with square section and circular section. Results For the long straight pipe, due to the lack of flow disturbance caused by structural changes, the mixing effect was not good; when the pipe section was circular, it might take mixing distance 20 times the hydraulic diameter to achieve the uniformity index required by the relevant standard; for the square pipe, the distance might be longer. In the single bend pipe with square section, the velocity uniformity was improved more greatly after the bend, and the tracer gas met the mixing uniformity at a shorter distance (11 times the hydraulic diameter), as compared with the single bend pipe with circular section. For the S-type double-bend pipe, the tracer gas appeared uniformly mixed after a distance 6 times the hydraulic diameter in the square pipe, and 7 times the hydraulic diameter in the circular pipe. For the U-type double-bend pipe, the gas in the square pipe also achieved uniform mixing ata shorter distance downstream, and the airflow showed greater disturbance when passing through the bend. Conclusion The CFD method can make an accurate prediction for the change patterns of gas mixing uniformity in pipes with different structures, and can partially replace physical experiments to study the factors affecting the mixing uniformity of airborne effluents from the chimney of nuclear power plants.