Pulfrich autostereo display with micro-prism array.

A micro-prism film, with spectral characteristics, is attached on a display panel to show images appearing with + 10° ~ + 50° and -10° ~-50° bright regions and with a + 10° ~-10° dark region. When both eyes separately receive the bright region and the dark region of an image, interocular delay would appear to generate a stereo perception. With the optical simulation software, LightTools 7.3.0, to simulate the brightness change, the light with lower brightness appears on the 0° region and the light with the highest brightness appears on the ± 10° region. The optimal viewing distance of 25 cm could accurately deliver the image with shading parallax to both eyes. The actual measurement of brightness presents the shading distribution, achieving the condition of binocular retinal illumination, and the angle of visibility appears on the ± 50° region, causing interocular delay so that the viewer generates the stereo perception.

The influence of electro-acupuncture stimulation to female constipation patients.

This study aims to examine electro-acupuncture stimulation (EA) assisted therapy with analysis of heart rate variability to understand autonomic nervous activity variability (ANAV) and to track the changes in female patients with constipation. The average ages were 42 ± 12 years old. The participants were divided by a single-blind and randomized trial into two groups: the electro-acupuncture-point group, and the non-electro-acupuncture-point group. Both of the groups had eight treatments, once a week. For the electro-acupuncture (EA) group, needles were inserted into their Zusunli (ST36), Shangiuxu (ST37), Tiensu (ST25), Shueidao (ST28), Guanyuan (CV4) and Qihai (CV6) points. For the sham electro-acupuncture (SA) group, needles were inserted into acu-points that were not the ones mentioned for the EA group. While inserting needles, needles were inserted lightly into the participants' skin and removed quickly (mock Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, TENTS). After an eight-week treatment period, the autonomic nervous system activities of the SA group did not show significant differences in their heart rate variability. However, the autonomic nervous system activities of the EA group had continuously increased after each session. The normalized high frequency powers (nHFP) of their autonomic nervous system activities were 26.79 in the first week, and they increased to 32.28 in the fourth week. In the eighth week, their nHFP had increased to 37.60 (p < 0.05). The normalized low frequency power (nLFP) was 30.81 in the first week. However, it decreased to 25.98 after three weeks of treatment. After the eight-week treatment period, the nLFP decreased to 24.84 (p < 0.05). After the eight-week treatment, the control group did not appear to undergo any physiological change, while the constipation had been improved for the experimental group. It was found that the activation of parasympathetic nervous system in the experimental group increased after the eight-week treatment. The effects of such a result on the enhancement of the activation of parasympathetic nervous system and the improvement of constipation should be further discussed.

Variations of brain activities of acupuncture to TE5 of left hand in normal subjects.

This paper presents the evident effects of acupoint stimulation, using EEG (electroencephalogram) measurements. With acupuncture stimulation and the EEG measurement on the same meridian, EEG is able to accurately detect the effects of acupunctural point stimulation on brain waves. In this study, 24 subjects without heart or neural diseases were randomly separated into two groups of 12, named test and control groups. Similar procedures are performed; the subjects lay on a bed with eyes closed for ten minutes as the baseline. The test group received acupuncture at their Waiguan points (TE5) on their left hands for 20 minutes, while the control group did not. EEGs are recorded during pre-acupuncture, acupuncture stimulation and post-acupuncture stimulation periods. The EEG electrodes are at the T3, T4, O1 and O2 locations. Continuous wavelet transformation analysis is adopted; therefore, EEGs are divided into the following bands: δ (0.5-4HZ), θ (4-8HZ), α (8-13HZ) and ß (13-30HZ). During acupuncture stimulation, the θ energy is increased and had statistical differences at all electrode points, T3, T4, O1 and O2. Upon removing the needle, the energy at the T3 and T4 points slowly declined and revealed obvious statistical differences. During acupuncture, only α energy has been noted to have statistical difference and it was increased at the T3 point. However, the energy was decreased and had no statistical difference after five minutes. Acupuncture is proven to be able to affect brain waves, as the stimulation might have changed the tissues between the cranium and scalp; therefore, the brain waves are detected more easily.