Effectiveness of acupuncture for recovery of flatulence after cesarean section: A case report.

RATIONALE: Postoperative ileus with flatulence is a common symptom in patients who have undergone cesarean section, and it can lead to peritonitis and intestinal perforation. However, few previous reports described therapeutic effects of acupuncture in women with flatulence after cesarean delivery. We reported a case of 29-year-old woman with abdominal flatulence after cesarean section. PATIENT CONCERNS: The patient developed right abdominal pain and distention with no discharging bowel movement or passage of gas through the anus after cesarean section. DIAGNOSIS: The computed tomography revealed bowel loops filled with gas. She was diagnosed with postoperative ileus. INTERVENTIONS: From the second day after cesarean section, acupuncture was administered at the bilateral Zusanli (ST36), Shangjuxu (ST37), Yinlingquan (SP9), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Zhigou (TE6), and Hegu (LI4) acupoints. OUTCOMES: The patient exhibited the successful passage of gas through the anus 30 minutes after acupuncture needles were removed. The time to first defecation with a normal total stool weight and moderate hardness was 3 hours after acupuncture treatment. LESSONS: Acupuncture can be an effective alternative treatment in patients with flatulence after cesarean section.

Effect of acupuncture at 3-points for intelligence on vascular dementia: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Vascular dementia (VD) is a commonly-seen disease in the elderly. What is more, "Acupuncture at 3-points for intelligence" is one of the most important components of "Jin's three-needle therapy" created by Rui Jin, a professor of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, which can be used in the VD patients. In this article, researchers will assess the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture at 3-points for intelligence in the treatment of VD. METHODS: A systematic literature search for articles up to September 2018 will be conducted using 9 databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, CBM, VIP, Wanfang database, OASIS, and CiNii. Inclusion criteria are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture at 3-points for intelligence on treating VD. The primary outcome measures will be scores reflecting the neurological function of participants based on common medical scales. Hemorheology indexes, homocysteine (Hcy), acetylcholine (Ach), nitric oxide (NO), and adverse events will also be assessed. Stata V.13.0 software will be used for data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, subgroup analysis, and risk of bias assessment. A funnel plot will be developed to evaluate reporting bias. Egger and Begg tests will be further performed to conduct quantitative evaluation of publication bias and to evaluate the symmetry of funnel plot. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: Our study will provide the evidence for the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture at 3-points for intelligence in the treatment of VD.

A major locus qS12, located in a duplicated segment of chromosome 12, causes spikelet sterility in an indica-japonica rice hybrid.

Chromosome segment duplications are integral in genome evolution by providing a source for the origin of new genes. In the rice genome, besides an ancient polyploidy event known in the rice common ancestor, it had been identified that there was a special segmental duplication involving chromosomes 11 and 12, but the biological role of this duplication remains unknown. In this study, by using a set of chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) and near isogenic lines (NILs) derived from the indica cultivar 9311 and japonica cultivar Nipponbare, a major QTL (qS12) resulting in hybrid male sterility was mapped within ~400 kb region adjacent to the special duplicated segment on the short arm of chromosome 12. Compared to the japonica cultivar Nipponbare, the two sides of the qS12 candidate region were inverted in the indica cultivar 9311. Among 47 of the 111 rice genotypes evaluated by molecular markers, the inverted sides were detected, and found completely homologous to indica cultivar 9311. These results suggested that the two inverted sides protect the sequence in the qS12 regions from recombination. On the short-arm of chromosome 12, two QTLs S-e and S25, in addition to qS12, were previously detected as a distinct segregation distortion and pollen semi-sterility loci. We propose these three hybrid sterility loci are the same locus, and the duplicated segment on chromosome 12 may play a prominent role in diversification, i.e., sub-speciation of cultivated rice.