Objective To investigate the efficacy of acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy on lower limb motor function, and to explore a cortical mechanism using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Methods From December, 2020 to July, 2021, 24 stroke patients with lower limb motor dysfunction in our hospital were randomly divided into rehabilitation group (n = 12) and acupuncture-rehabilitation group (n = 12), and received routine rehabilitation training and acupuncture-rehabilitation intervention for four weeks, respectively. The control group included ten healthy subjects matched the patients. Before and after intervention, the lower limb motor function of the patients was assessed with Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremities (FMA-LE), and all the subjects accepted fNIRS examination. The functional intensity and lateralization index (LI) of supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC) and sensory motor cortex (SMC) were calculated based on oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2). Results There was no significant difference in FMA-LE score between the rehabilitation group and the acupuncture-rehabilitation group before the intervention (P > 0.05). After four weeks of intervention, FMA-LE scores improved in both groups (t > 3.770, P < 0.001), and improved more in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group than in the rehabilitation group (t = 2.252, P < 0.05). Before intervention, the average functional connection was more intensitive in the control group than in the two patients groups (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the later two groups (t = 0.458, P > 0.05). After intervention, the average functional connection increased in both groups (t > 2.178, P < 0.05), and the functional connection of the affected PMC of acupuncture-rehabilitation group increased (P < 0.05). The LI in SMC increased in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the change of functional connection of the affected PMC and the change of FMA-LE scores in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (r = 0.579, P < 0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture with rehabilitation therapy can significantly improve the lower limb motor function and asymmetrical activation of SMC in stroke patients. The recovery of lower limb motor function may be related to the enhanced activation of affected PMC.

Objective:To build a performance appraisal index system for medical specialty alliances, as a reference for promoting the development of the alliances in a connotation-based, high quality and sustainable manner.Methods:An index system was initialized by means of policy literature review and brainstorming, which was followed by two rounds of expert consultations to finalize the index system. Each index in the system was weighted through the analytic hierarchy process.Results:A performance appraisal index system of specialist alliances so developed comprised the six level-1 indexes of organization and implementation, hierarchical healthcare, influence capacity, talent cultivation, clinical research and academic research, as well as 31 level-2 indexes. The average scoring of importance and operability of all the indexes was>3.50, while the weights of organization and implementation(0.205 3), talent cultivation(0.178 8)and clinical research indexes(0.165 1)were higher than the rest.Conclusions:The performance appraisal index system of specialty alliances proves highly reliable and scientific, serving a desirable vehicle for the leaders of the alliance to develop cross-regional development of medical specialties.

Various forms of complementary and alternative medicine are used in psoriasis. Among these, herbal medicines are frequently used as systemic and/or topical interventions either as a replacement for or in conjunction with conventional methods. The benefit of such use is unclear. This review is to provide an up-to-date review and discussion of the clinical evidence for the main kinds of herbal therapies for psoriasis. Searches of the biomedical databases PubMed (including MEDLINE), EMBASE and CINAHL were conducted in December 2011 which identified 32 clinical studies, all published in English. Twenty of these primarily tested topical herbal medicines and were thus excluded. The 12 studies that evaluated systemic use of herbal medicines were included in the review. Four were case series studies and the other 8 were controlled trials. In terms of interventions, 4 studies tested the systemic use of plant oils combined with marine oils and 8 studies tested multi-ingredient herbal formulations. The clinical evidence for plant and animal derived fatty acids is inconclusive and any benefit appears to be small. For the multi-herb formulations, benefits of oral herbal medicines were shown in several studies, however, a number of these studies are not controlled trials, a diversity of interventions are tested and there are methodological issues in the controlled studies. In conclusion, there is promising evidence in a number of the studies of multi-herb formulations. However, well-designed, adequately powered studies with proper control interventions are needed to further determine the benefits of these formulations. In addition, syndrome differentiation should be incorporated into trial design to ensure effective translation of findings from these studies into Chinese medicine clinical practice.
Administration, Oral ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Plant Oils ; therapeutic use ; Psoriasis ; drug therapy

Objective:To study on the association between vasoactive-inotropic score(VIS) and mortality of total arch replacement in Stanford type A aortic dissection(TAAD) patients.Methods:Data of TAAD patients admitted from January 2018 to November 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 187 patients were finally included in the analysis. 30-day mortality was calculated and the patients were divided into death group(18 cases) and non-death group(169 cases). The VIS at each time point and perioperative indexes of the two groups were compared. The value of VIS in predicting mortality was analyzed.Results:The 30-day mortality was 9.63%(18/187). The operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilator assistance time, the incidence of tracheotomy and major postoperative complications in the death group were significantly higher than those in the non-death group( P<0.05). VIS of death group was significantly higher than that of non-death group( P<0.05). At each time point, the area under ROC curve(AUC) of VIS was greater than 0.500( P<0.05), among which AUC of ICU 48 h VIS was the largest(0.817), and the best cut-off point of ICU 48 h VIS was determined to be 9, sensitivity 61.1%, specificity 92.3%. Logistic regression analysis showed that ICU 48 h VIS was an independent risk factor for predicting the death of total arch replacement in TAAD patients( OR=1.465, 95% CI: 1.194-1.796, P<0.001). Conclusion:When ICU 48 h VIS≥9, the risk of death was increased in patients with total arch replacement of TAAD. VIS may be a useful reference index for predicting the mortality of total arch replacement in TAAD patients in the early postoperative period.

Objective To evaluate the effect of donor gender on short-term survival rate of lung transplant recipients. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 1 066 lung transplant recipients. The log-rank test was used to evaluate the differences in short-term fatality among different donor gender groups and donor-recipient gender combination groups. Multivariate Cox regression, propensity score (PS) regression, and propensity score matching (PSM) were employed to control for confounding factors and further assess the differences in fatality. Subgroup analyses were also performed based on donor gender. Results Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed no statistically significant differences in fatality at 30 days, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years postoperatively between male and female donor groups (all P>0.05). After PS regression and PSM, univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that recipients from female donors had a higher fatality at 2 years postoperatively compared to those from male donors, with hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.29 (1.01-1.65) and 1.36 (1.03-1.80) respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis also revealed no statistically significant differences in fatality at various follow-up time points among different donor-recipient gender combination groups (all P>0.05). Subgroup analyses based on donor sex showed no statistically significant differences in fatality among recipients of different gender within either male or female donor groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions Female donors may reduce the short-term postoperative survival rate of lung transplant recipients, but this negative impact is not sustainable in the long term. At present, there is no evidence to support the inclusion of sex as a factor in lung allocation rules.