The paper summarizes Professor YANG Jun's thoughts on clinical treatment with acupuncture and moxibustion. Professor YANG Jun puts forward the "refined mode for diagnosis and treatment of diseases with acupuncture and moxibustion", aiming to improve the capacity of diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice. He advocates that the diagnosis and treatment should be guided by the identification of etiologies, syndromes and meridians; in accordance with regulating the shape/form, balancing yin and yang, and harmonizing the mind; and by means of skillful techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion, simplified selection of acupoints and delicate manipulations. Besides, he stresses on the combination of multiple techniques of acupuncture (such as penetrating technique with long needle, stuck needling by lifting and pulling, and micro-acupuncture systems) with moxibustion techniques (moxibustion for resolving stasis and unblocking collaterals, pressing moxibustion, borneol moxibustion, moxibustion with medicinal plaster) in clinical practice, so as to enhance the therapeutic effects.
Moxibustion/methods* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; China ; Acupuncture Points

This paper Summarizes the experience of national renowned Chinese medical practitioner professor YANG Jun in treating lumbar pain with acupuncture and moxibustion.In the view of professor YANG Jun,the etiology of lumbar pain is various and the pathogensis is complex,of which mainly related to be invaded by external pathogen,meridians obstructing blockage,kidney deficiency due to elderly,less of moistening due to kidney essence deficiency,sprain caused by fall and strike,and blood stasis obstructing meridians,and the syndrome differentiation of lumbar pain usually involves cold-damp obstructing blockage,kidney essence deficiency,and blood stasis blocking collaterals.The waist is the residence of kidney,kidney meridian runs through the spine and connecting it to the kidney,the bladder meridian locates on both sides of the spine and connecting it to the kidney,the circulation of governor vessel(GV)to the kidney,so the pathogensis of lumbar pain is closely related to kidney,bladder meridian,governor vessel.The basic pathogensis of lumbar pain is meridian qiand blood stasis stagnation,or the meridian less of moistening due to kidney essence deficiency,both of which cause pain.The main therapeutic principle for lumbar pain should be focusing on mind-regulating and meridians-dredging,cold-dispersing and damp-removing,kidney-boosting and blood-activating,as well as collateral-unblocking and pain-relieving,combining the lumbosacral spinal tri-needling,regulating the bladder meridian with moxibustion and electro-acupuncture,thus to achieve the optimal quantitative and effective state.

This paper introduces Professor Zhang Qingping's clinical experience in treating post-stroke spastic paralysis.In the view of Professor Zhang Qingping,the main pathogenesis of post-stroke spastic paralysis being deficiency of yang qiand malnutrition of meridian-sinew,such diseases can be treated from the perspective of sinew theory.Professor Zhang addressed importance to acupoints selection of yin meridians and therapeutic sequence,and skilled in applying superficial-skin needling and multi-direction needling,she also emphasizes on seizing the opportunity to treat disease and regulating body and mind simultaneously,and obtained certain clinical effects in the treatment of post-stroke spastic paralysis.

This article systematically summarizes the clinical experience of Professor Yang Jun,a nationally renowned traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)physician,in applying refined direct moxibustion(applying a moxibustion pen made by Chinese medical extract)to treat functional dyspepsia(FD)of the stuffiness-fullness type.Based on decades of clinical practice,Professor Yang innovatively established a moxibustion therapy system for FD,which centers on TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment.The system emphasizes the refined identification of epigastric stuffiness and fullness syndrome,particularly focusing on the relative significance of abdominal distension and poor appetite.Its therapeutic features lie in establishing the principle of"prioritizing mind regulation while holistically harmonizing body and spirit",combined with personalized moxibustion dosage control and a unique refined direct moxibustion technique.By optimizing the configuration of each step in moxibustion therapy,the system maximizes therapeutic efficacy,providing novel theoretical foundations and clinical strategies for moxibustion treatment of stuffiness-fullness type of FD.

Objective To analyze and summarize the acupoint selection patterns for acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of chloasma using data mining techniques.Methods Computerized searches were conducted in major databases including the CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,CBM,PubMed,Embase,and the Cochrane Library.Clinical research literature on acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of chloasma published between January 1,2003 and August 31,2024 was retrieved.A database for acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of chloasma was established using Microsoft Excel 2019,and SPSS Modeler 18.0,Cytoscape 3.9.1,and SPSS 26.0 were employed to analyze the frequency of acupoint usage,meridian tropism,regional distribution,and specific acupoint categories,as well as to perform association rule analysis and cluster analysis.Results A total of 122 articles were included,involving 185 acupuncture-moxibustion prescriptions and 131 acupoints,with a total application frequency of 1 532.High-frequency acupoints included Sanyinjiao(SP6),Zusanli(ST36),Xuehai(SP10),and Hegu(LI4).Commonly used meridians were the spleen meridian of foot-taiyin,stomach meridian of foot-yangming,conception vessel(ren mai),bladder meridian of foot-taiyang,and large intestine meridian of hand-yangming.Specific acupoints were predominantly front-mu points,five-shu points,and lower he-sea points.Acupoints were mostly distributed in the chest/abdomen and lower limbs.Association rule analysis revealed that the core acupoint combination was"Sanyinjiao-Zusanli-Xuehai-Hegu".Cluster analysis classified high-frequency acupoints into five major categories.Conclusion The acupoint selection patterns for acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of chloasma reflect the principle of combining holistic concepts with syndrome differentiation.The core acupoint combination is"Sanyinjiao-Zusanli-Xuehai-Hegu".During treatment,acupoints in the chest/abdomen and lower limbs are frequently selected,often combined with acupoints on the head and face.

This article introduces Professor Yang Jun's clinical experience in treating bronchial asthma using warming needle moxibustion via the governor vessel-unblocking and conception vessel-regulating method.Professor Yang posits that asthma pathogenesis-whether triggered by internal imbalances or external pathogens-ultimately stems from yin-yang disharmony leading to rebellious lung qi and impaired diffusion/descending functions.Thus,restoring dynamic yin-yang balance constitutes the core therapeutic principle.As the governor and conception vessels govern the body's yin-yang regulation,Professor Yang's decades of clinical practice substantiate that"harmonizing these vessels determines life's vitality".His protocol combines warming needle moxibustion with press needles to activate governor-conception vessel functions,achieving five therapeutic effects:(1)yin-yang harmonization,(2)qi movement regulation,(3)meridian unblocking,(4)visceral stabilization,and(5)pathogen elimination,demonstrating remarkable efficacy.

Background::The goal of the assisted reproductive treatment is to transfer one euploid blastocyst and to help infertile women giving birth one healthy neonate. Some algorithms have been used to assess the ploidy status of embryos derived from couples with normal chromosome, who subjected to preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) treatment. However, it is currently unknown whether artificial intelligence model can be used to assess the euploidy status of blastocyst derived from populations with chromosomal rearrangement.Methods::From February 2020 to May 2021, we collected the whole raw time-lapse videos at multiple focal planes from in vitro cultured embryos, the clinical information of couples, and the comprehensive chromosome screening results of those blastocysts that had received PGT treatment. Initially, we developed a novel deep learning model called the Attentive Multi-Focus Selection Network (AMSNet) to analyze time-lapse videos in real time and predict blastocyst formation. Building upon AMSNet, we integrated additional clinically predictive variables and created a second deep learning model, the Attentive Multi-Focus Video and Clinical Information Fusion Network (AMCFNet), to assess the euploidy status of embryos. The efficacy of the AMCFNet was further tested in embryos with parental chromosomal rearrangements. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the superiority of the model. Results::A total of 4112 embryos with complete time-lapse videos were enrolled for the blastocyst formation prediction task, and 1422 qualified blastocysts received PGT-A ( n = 589) or PGT for chromosomal structural rearrangement (PGT-SR, n = 833) were enrolled for the euploidy assessment task in this study. The AMSNet model using seven focal raw time-lapse videos has the best real-time accuracy. The real-time accuracy for AMSNet to predict blastocyst formation reached above 70% on the day 2 of embryo culture, and then increased to 80% on the day 4 of embryo culture. Combing with 4 clinical features of couples, the AUC of AMCFNet with 7 focal points increased to 0.729 in blastocysts derived from couples with chromosomal rearrangement. Conclusion::Integrating seven focal raw time-lapse images of embryos and parental clinical information, AMCFNet model have the capability of assessing euploidy status in blastocysts derived from couples with chromosomal rearrangement.

Background::In the clinic, practitioners encounter many patients with an abnormal pattern of dense punctate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal in the basal ganglia, a phenomenon known as "cheese sign". This sign is reported as common in cerebrovascular diseases, dementia, and old age. Recently, cheese sign has been speculated to consist of dense perivascular space (PVS). This study aimed to assess the lesion types of cheese sign and analyze the correlation between this sign and vascular disease risk factors.Methods::A total of 812 patients from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) dementia cohort were enrolled. We analyzed the relationship between cheese sign and vascular risk. For assessing cheese sign and defining its degree, the abnormal punctate signals were classified into basal ganglia hyperintensity (BGH), PVS, lacunae/infarctions and microbleeds, and counted separately. Each type of lesion was rated on a four-level scale, and then the sum was calculated; this total was defined as the cheese sign score. Fazekas and Age-Related White Matter Changes (ARWMC) scores were used to evaluate the paraventricular, deep, and subcortical gray/white matter hyperintensities.Results::A total of 118 patients (14.5%) in this dementia cohort were found to have cheese sign. Age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.090, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.064-1.120, P <0.001), hypertension (OR: 1.828, 95% CI: 1.123-2.983, P = 0.014), and stroke (OR: 1.901, 95% CI: 1.092-3.259, P = 0.025) were risk factors for cheese sign. There was no significant relationship between diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and cheese sign. The main components of cheese sign were BGH, PVS, and lacunae/infarction. The proportion of PVS increased with cheese sign severity. Conclusions::The risk factors for cheese sign were hypertension, age, and stroke. Cheese sign consists of BGH, PVS, and lacunae/infarction.

Objective:To analyze the advantages of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) compared with traditional tumor markers in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.Methods:From February 2021 to June 2022, 230 lung cancer patients (138 males, 92 females; age (61.1±12.3) years), 96 benign lung disease patients (62 males, 34 females; age (60.2±14.8) years; including 43 cases of lung benign placeholder and 53 cases of pulmonary infection), and 60 healthy volunteers (40 males, 20 females; age (62.8±11.4) years) from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were prospectively collected. Serum HE4, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1), pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) and carbohydrate antigen (CA)125 were detected by electrochemical analysis. The expression of HE4 in tumor tissues of 55 patients with lung cancer was detected by immunohistochemical method. χ2 test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and Bonferroni correction method were used to analyze data. The diagnostic efficiencies of HE4 and other tumor markers were evaluated by ROC curve analysis and the difference of AUCs was analyzed by Delong test. Results:The positive expression rate of HE4 in adenocarcinoma tissue was significantly higher than that in non-adenocarcinoma tissue (93.1%(27/29) vs 23.1% (6/26); χ2=28.01, P<0.001). The level of serum HE4 in the lung cancer group (70.70(51.93, 109.05) pmol/L) was significantly higher than that in the pulmonary benign placeholder group (59.80(48.20, 73.50) pmol/L) and the healthy control group (55.25(44.60, 74.25) pmol/L), and that in the pulmonary infection group (97.90(76.62, 155.00) pmol/L) was higher than that in the lung cancer group ( H=46.19, all P<0.008 (Bonferroni correction method)). The levels of serum HE4 were significantly different in age, sex, smoking, disease stage and pathological types in early stage ( z values: from -5.07 to 9.83, all P<0.05). The ROC curve analysis indicated that the optimal cut-off value of serum HE4 for diagnosing lung cancer was 79.22 pmol/L, with the sensitivity and specificity of 41.30%(95/230) and 83.33%(50/60). Compared with other traditional tumor markers, serum HE4 and CA125 showed the higher diagnostic value (AUC CA125 (0.695)>AUC HE4(0.656)>AUC CEA(0.614)>AUC CYFRA21-1(0.599)>AUC ProGRP (0.501)>AUC NSE (0.470)). The combination of HE4 with other traditional tumor markers significantly improved the diagnostic efficacy (AUC=0.750; z=2.75, P=0.006). Conclusions:HE4 is highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma by immunohistochemistry. Serum HE4 exhibits a great application value in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules, and plays an important role in assessment of patients′ conditions.