Acupuncture plus topiramate placebo versus topiramate plus sham acupuncture for the preventive treatment of chronic migraine: A single-blind, double-dummy, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture has been used for the treatment of chronic migraine, but high-quality evidence is scarce. We aimed to evaluate acupuncture's efficacy and safety compared to topiramate for chronic migraine. METHODS: This double-dummy randomized controlled trial included participants aged 18-65 years diagnosed with chronic migraine. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive acupuncture (three sessions/week) plus topiramate placebo (acupuncture group) or topiramate (50-100 mg/day) plus sham acupuncture (topiramate group) over 12 weeks, with the primary outcome being the mean change in monthly migraine days during weeks 1-12. RESULTS: Of 123 screened patients, 60 (mean age 45.8, 81.7% female) were randomly assigned to acupuncture or topiramate groups. Acupuncture demonstrated significantly greater reductions in monthly migraine days than topiramate (weeks 1-12: -2.79 [95% CI: -4.65 to -0.94, p = 0.004]; weeks 13-24: -3.25 [95% CI: -5.57 to -0.92, p = 0.007]). No severe adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture may be safe and effective for treating chronic migraine. The efficacy of 12 weeks of acupuncture was sustained for 24 weeks and superior to that of topiramate. Acupuncture can be used as an optional preventive therapy for chronic migraine. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN.org Identifier 13563102.

Effect of acupuncture for temporomandibular disorders: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is the leading cause of pain and disability among frequently occurring facial pain and the second leading cause of musculoskeletal conditions. AIM: We examined whether acupuncture could alleviate pain intensity in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty participants with TMD were randomly assigned (ratio 1:1) to receive three acupuncture or sham acupuncture sessions weekly for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in the mean weekly pain intensity from baseline to week 4. Secondary and exploratory outcomes included proportion of participants with ≥30% or ≥ 50% reduction in pain intensity, change in jaw opening and movement, graded chronic pain scale, jaw functional limitations scale-20-item, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21, Pittsburgh sleep quality index at week 4 and 8, and the pressure pain threshold and surface electromyography at week 4. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The acupuncture group showed significantly reduced pain intensity compared to the sham group at week 4 (-1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.32 to -0.65; P < 0.001) and week 8 (-1.23, 95% CI: -2.11 to -0.54; P = 0.001). Acupuncture's effectiveness surpassed sham's at 4 weeks and lasted 8 weeks. Participants in the acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvements in the 30% and 50% response rate, jaw opening and movement, GCPS, JFLS-20, DASS-21 and PSQI than those in the sham acupuncture group. There were no significant between-group differences in PPT and sEMG. In summary, acupuncture provided marked pain relief and improvement in physical and emotional function for patients with TMD compared with sham acupuncture.

Theoretical Study on the Spectroscopic Properties and Photodissociation Mechanism of Dibromocarbene.

Detailed calculations on the electronic states of dibromocarbene (CBr2) herein are presented. First, the spectroscopic properties of the electronic states including geometry parameters, harmonic vibrational frequencies and transition energies of the lowest electronic states of the neutral radical were calculated in detail using the internally contracted multireference configuration interaction methods including Davidson correction (icMRCI+Q) with correlation consistent basis sets of aug-cc-pVXZ (X = T, Q, 5). Second, as CBr2 including two Br atoms, the Spin-Orbit Coupling (SOC) effect on the spectroscopic parameters and the one-dimensional cuts of the potential energy surface (PESs) of the lowest three states were studied. The barrier to linearity and dissociation of the singlet state were discussed. Third, the one-dimensional cuts along with the vertical transition energy (VTE), the oscillator strength, and so on of the electronic states related to the several lowest dissociation limits of CBr2 were calculated at the icMRCI+Q/aug-cc-pVTZ level. Based on the computed results of the electronic states of the radical, the photodissociation mechanism in the UV region were discussed in detail. The ab initio calculations are compared with the previous theoretical and experimental data and are in good agreement. The present work will provide a comprehensive understanding on the electronic structures and dissociation dynamics for the electronic states of the CBr2 radical.

Rotational Doppler Effect: A Probe for Molecular Orbitals Anisotropy.

The vibrationally resolved X-ray photoelectron spectra of X2Σg+(3σg−1) and B2Σu+(2σu−1) states of N2+ were recorded for different photon energies and orientations of the polarization vector. Clear dependencies of the spectral line widths on the X-ray polarization as well as on the symmetry of the final electronic states are observed. Contrary to the translational Doppler, the rotational Doppler broadening is sensitive to the photoelectron emission anisotropy. On the basis of theoretical modeling, we suggest that the different rotational Doppler broadenings observed for gerade and ungerade final states result from a Young's double-slit interference phenomenon.

Site-selective photoemission from delocalized valence shells induced by molecular rotation.

Due to the generally delocalized nature of molecular valence orbitals, valence-shell spectroscopies do not usually allow to specifically target a selected atom in a molecule. However, in X-ray electron spectroscopy, the photoelectron momentum is large and the recoil angular momentum transferred to the molecule is larger when the photoelectron is ejected from a light atom compared with a heavy one. This confers an extreme sensitivity of the rotational excitation to the ionization site. Here we show that, indeed, the use of high-energy photons to photoionize valence-shell electrons of hydrogen chloride offers an unexpected way to decrypt the atomic composition of the molecular orbitals due to the rotational dependence of the photoionization profiles. The analysis of the site-specific rotational envelopes allows us to disentangle the effects of the two main mechanisms of rotational excitation, based on angular momentum exchange between the molecule and either the incoming photon or the emitted electron.

[Efficacy and safety of amiodarone and metoprolol in the treatment of ventricular premature beats: a meta-analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of amiodarone and metoprolol in the treatment of ventricular premature beats. METHODS: Controlled randomized clinical trials from 1999 through 2009 were retrieved in China HowNet, VIP Web, Pubmed home. Using Rev Man4.2 software provided by Cochrane Collaboration, Meta-analysis was conducted of 30 articles meeting the inclusion criteria involving a total of 1188 patients. RESULTS: Merged analysis of amiodarone and metoprolol in the treatment of premature ventricular merge showed a comprehensive test results of Z=1.25, P=0.21, OR=1.18, 95%CI: 0.91-1.54; funnel plot analysis suggested the possible presence of publication bias. The comprehensive test of the incidence of adverse reactions in relation to the two drugs resulted in an OR of 1.96 (95%CI: 1.39-2.77), and funnel plot analysis also indicated publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: The total response rate of amiodarone does not seem to be superior to metoprolol in the treatment of premature ventricular contractions, and amiodarone is associated with higher incidence of adverse reactions.

Vibrio vulnificus cytolysin induces apoptosis in HUVEC, SGC-7901 and SMMC-7721 cells via caspase-9/3-dependent pathway.

Vibrio vulnificus cytolysin (VVC) is known to be a pore-forming toxin which shows cytotoxicity for mammalian cells in culture and induces apoptosis in endothelial cells. In order to determine whether VVC induces apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells and tumor cells, the cytotoxicity induced by recombinant VVC (rVVC) and its potential mechanism in HUVEC, SGC-7901 and SMMC-7721 cells were investigated. Our study demonstrated that rVVC induced the release of intracellular K(+) from all the target cells, yet lactate dehydrogenase was not released by rVVC. It indicates that osmotic lysis might not contribute to the cytolysin-induced cytotoxicity. The study also demonstrated that rVVC induced apoptosis in HUVEC, SGC-7901 and SMMC-7721 cells in time- and dosage-dependent manners, which was associated with the activation of caspase-9 and -3, but not caspase-8. During the apoptotic process of the target cells, rVVC labeled with FITC was monitored to attach initially to the surface of the cells and entered the cytoplasma subsequently. These findings suggest that VVC may be not only a pore-forming toxin, but also a transmembrane toxin with powerful ability to induce apoptosis in human vascular endothelial cells and tumor cells.

[Study on the bacterial identification using 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer regions]

OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of PCR utilizing 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer regions in the identification of bacteria. METHODS Primers used in PCR were designed by using the target sequences from the genes encoding 16S-23S rRNA spacer regions. PCR was used for the detection of different standard and clinical bacterial strains. RESULTS Characteristic DNA maps were present after using the PCR to identify 27 standard strains from 27 species. The maps could be directly used for classification of the tested bacterial strains or further differentiated by RFLP. The sensitivity of the PCR may be as high as 2.5 CFU/ml. No non-specific amplification products were observed when using DNA from human PBMC funguses or viruses as templates. Thirty-two strains of bacteria isolated from clinical strains showed DNA maps similar to the DNA maps amplified from standard strains. CONCLUSION The PCR detection of bacteria using 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer regions is sensitive, rapid, specific and accurate for identification of bacteria and provides a new rapid method for determining the clinical diagnosis and the etiology of sepsis.