Effect of quick acupuncture combined with rehabilitation therapy on improving motor and swallowing function in patients with stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of quick acupuncture combined with rehabilitation therapy on motor and swallowing function of patients with stroke. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: Single center study. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and twenty patients with stroke were divided into control and observation group based on the therapeutic regimen. INTERVENTION: Control group (n = 60) only received rehabilitation therapy, and observation group (n = 60) received rehabilitation therapy combined with quick acupuncture. Acupuncture was performed once a day, and 6 times/week for 4 consecutive weeks. MAIN MEASURES: The simplified Fugl-Meyer assessment scale and Barthel index were used to assess limb motor function and daily living ability. The Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale and Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire were conducted to estimate the dysphagia severity and life quality of patients with swallowing disorders. The therapeutic efficacy and complications after treatment were analyzed and counted. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of the observation group were significantly improved compared with the control group (P < 0.05). In the observation group, the therapeutic efficacy was 93% (n = 56); the complication rate was 5% (n = 3); the therapeutic efficacy of the control group was 75% (n = 45); and the complication rate was 25% (n = 15), indicating that the therapeutic efficacy of the observation group is better and the incidence of complications is lower than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that rehabilitation therapy combined with rapid acupuncture therapy has a potential therapeutic effect on the relief of swallowing and motor dysfunction after stroke.

Correlation Between the Peripheral Neuropathy and Levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6 in Senile Parkinson's Disease Patients.

This study was carried out to investigate the correlation between the onset of peripheral neuropathy and levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) and IL-6 in senile Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. For this purpose, a total of 60 PD patients and 60 age-matched healthy subjects were enrolled in this study and received the assessment for peripheral nerves by using the quantified method. Besides, levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6 in serum were determined to analyze the correlation between the clinical features, including the severity of PD and cognitive decline, and the levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6. Results showed that PD patients had more cases of peripheral neuropathy than those in the healthy control group. Levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6 in the serum of PD patients were much higher than those in the healthy control (P<0.05). Besides, PD patients had lower scores of MMSE and MoCA but higher CNPI scores when compared to the healthy control group. As a result, we found that the severity of peripheral neuropathy was in a positive correlation with the levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6. It was concluded that PD patients generally have peripheral neuropathy that may correlate with the increases in the levels of hs-CRP, IL-1ß and IL-6, and early intervention may mitigate the development and progression of peripheral neuropathy.

Efficacy of Pharmaceutical Care in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The rates of treatment adherence and treat-to-target rates of blood pressure and blood glucose-related indexes in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are associated with prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of pharmaceutical care postdischarge for treatment adherence in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial of patients with combined T2DM and hypertension treated between January and May 2018. Pharmaceutical care included free access to a clinical pharmacist, education material, a WeChat account for live discussion, and a telephone follow-up. The primary endpoint was the 3-month medication adherence. The secondary endpoints included the achieving levels of target rates and values of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2 h postprandial glucose (2hPG), and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the rates of reaching the achieving target rate of blood pressure target <130/80. Results: In 80 participants, the 3-month medication adherence was higher in the pharmaceutical care group than the routine group (90.0% vs. 52.5%, P < 0.001). In terms of FPG, 2hPG, and HbA1c, there were also significant differences between the pharmaceutical care and routine groups (FPG, 6.50 (6.00, 7.18) vs. 7.00 (6.83, 7.78) mmol/L, P=0.004; 2hPG, 8.45 (7.45, 9.28) vs. 9.35 (8.23, 10.15), P=0.007; HbA1c, 6.5% (6.3%, 7.0%) vs. 7.0% (6.5%, 7.4%), P=0.007). The achieving target rate of reaching the blood pressure target in the pharmaceutical care group (92.5%) was significantly higher than that in the routine group (62.5%; P < 0.05). Conclusion: The postdischarge pharmaceutical care program in patients with T2DM and hypertension improves medication adherence.

[Determination of fructooligosaccharides in milk powder using high performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection].

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are usually added in milk powder as a kind of prebiotic. Thus, quantitative analysis of the FOS is very important for the quality control of milk powder. In this study, a simple method for the simultaneous determination of three FOS components with degrees of polymerization (DP) 3-5 in milk powder was developed by high performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The samples were extracted with 50% (v/v) ethanol aqueous solution and defatted by an On Guard RP pretreatment column. The separation was performed on a CarboPac PA200 column by gradient elution using deionized water, 0. 2 mol/L NaOH solution and 0. 4 mol/L NaAc solution as the mobile phases. The flow rate was 0. 4 mL/min. The column temperature was 30 °C; and the injection volume was 25 µL. Good linear response was observed in the concentration range of 0.05-10 mg/L (r2 >0. 9993). The limits of quantification were 0. 02, 0. 005 and 0. 02 mg/L for 1-kestose, nystose and fructofuranosyl-nystose, respectively. The mean recoveries varied from 86. 0% to 114. 0% at three spiked levels of 0. 5, 1. 0 and 5. 0 mg/L. The short-chain fructooligosaccharides from inulooligosaccharides (IOS) were successfully separated by the developed HPAEC-PAD method. The method is simple, accurate, sensitive, and helpful for the quality control of milk powder.

Enhanced performance and capacitance behavior of anode by rolling Fe3O4 into activated carbon in microbial fuel cells.

Fe(3)O(4) was added into the anode to improve the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Stainless steel mesh (SSM), activated carbon (AC) with SSM (AcM) and Fe(3)O(4) added AcM (AcFeM) anodes had been made and investigated by electrochemical measurements. The maximum power density of AcFeM anode (809 ± 5 mW/m(2)) is 22% higher than that of AcM (664 ± 17 mW/m(2)), and 56 times higher than that of SSM anode (14 ± 0.3 mW/m(2)). Tafel tests indicate that the anode modified by Fe(3)O(4) is kinetically more advantageous. It is demonstrated for the first time that the capacitance of anode increased after the addition of Fe(3)O(4). With 10 min of interruption, AcFeM exhibites a 41% higher cumulative charge of 3566 ± 32 C/m(2) and a 32% higher net capacitance charge of 389 ± 18 C/m(2) than those of the AcM control (2529 ± 22 and 294 ± 30 C/m(2)), indicating that the improvement of anode performance can be also attributed to the enhancement of capacitance.