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The interplay of climate change, upstream hydropower development, and local water engineering interventions for agricultural production contributes substantially to the transformation of waterscapes and water scarcity in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. This paper aims to examine how these dynamics are linked to the paradigm shift in water management in An Giang and Ben Tre, the two ecologically distinct provinces that face serious water scarcity in the delta. We used the adaptive management concept to examine how state-led policy directions from food security towards water security enable change in water management that gives priority to water retention. While policy learning is evident, questions remain about how this ad-hoc solution could help address the presently acute water scarcity and water security over the long term. The paper advocates achieving water security should focus not only on diplomatic interventions into upstream climate-development complexities but also local water-livelihood politics.
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The cases of feeling comfort during acupuncture and moxibustion treatment in literature were summarized and its biological basis was explored. A simple classification of comfort was made, and the importance of obtaining comfort in acupuncture treatment was pointed out. Considering the pursuit of less pain and harmlessness in modern clinical treatment, sugar needle should be advocated and popularized in current clinical practice of acupuncture and moxibustion.
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Sugars , Moxibustion , Acupuncture Therapy , Emotions , NeedlesABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the effect of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 on the proliferation and apoptosis of retinoblastoma cells and its possible mechanism. Methods: The tumor tissues of 31 patients with retinoblastoma admitted to Henan Provincial Eye Hospital from February to June 2020 and their corresponding normal tissues adjacent to the cancer were collected. The expression levels of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 and miR-200b-5p in retinoblastoma tissues and normal adjacent tissues were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Human retinal epithelial cell ARPE-19, human retinoblastoma cell Y-79 and WERI-Rb-1 were cultured in vitro. The expression levels of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 and miR-200b-5p were detected by qRT-PCR. Y-79 cells were randomly divided into si-con group, si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 group, miR con group, miR-200b-5p group, si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1+ anti-miR con group, and si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1+ anti-miR-200b-5p group. The proliferation, cloning and apoptosis of cells in each group were detected by tetramethylazol blue method, plate cloning test and flow cytometry, respectively. The targeting relationship between lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 and miR-200b-5p was detected by double luciferase report test, and the expression level of cleaved-caspase-3 protein was detected by western blot. Results: Compared with the adjacent tissues, the expression of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 in retinoblastoma tissues was increased (P<0.05), while the expression of miR-200b-5p was decreased (P<0.05). Compared with ARPE-19 cells, the expression of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 in Y-79 and WERI-Rb-1 cells was increased (P<0.05), while the expression of miR-200b-5p was decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the si-con group, the cell viability of the si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 group was reduced (1.06±0.09 vs 0.53±0.05, P<0.05), the number of cell clone formation was reduced (114.00±8.03 vs 57.00±4.13, P<0.05), while the apoptosis rate [(7.93±0.68)% vs (25.43±1.94)%] and the protein level of cleaved-caspase-3 were increased (P<0.05). Compared with the miR-con group, the cell viability of the miR-200b-5p group was decreased (1.05±0.08 vs 0.57±0.05, P<0.05), the number of cell clone formation was decreased (118.00±10.02 vs 64.00±5.13, P<0.05), while the apoptosis rate [(7.89±0.71)% vs (23.15±1.62)%] and the protein level of cleaved-caspase-3 were increased (P<0.05). lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 could target the expression of miR-200b-5p. Compared with the si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1+ anti-miR-con group, cell viability of the si-lncRNA ADPGK-AS1+ anti-miR-200b-5p group was increased (0.53±0.04 vs 1.25±0.10, P<0.05), and the number of cell clones was increased (54.00±4.39 vs 125.00±10.03, P<0.05), while the rate of apoptosis [(25.38±1.53)% vs (9.76±0.71)%] and the protein level of cleaved-caspase-3 were decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: Interfering with the expression of lncRNA ADPGK-AS1 could inhibit the proliferation and clone formation and induce apoptosis of retinoblastoma cells by targeting the expression of miR-200b-5p.
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Humans , MicroRNAs/metabolism , Retinoblastoma/pathology , Caspase 3/metabolism , RNA, Long Noncoding/metabolism , Antagomirs/pharmacology , Cell Proliferation , Cell Line, Tumor , Apoptosis/genetics , Retinal Neoplasms/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Cell Movement/geneticsABSTRACT
Both clinical practice and basic research of acupuncture have pointed out that acupuncture treatment has specific tissue and cellular targets. In addition to the known fixed tissue targets such as nerves and blood vessels, the author analyzes the biological characteristics of other skin resident cells in the skin and concludes that cutaneous mast cells are the most suitable candidate for the cellular target of acupuncture. A hypothesis of the bionic acupuncture is proposed to explain the biological principles by which the innate immunity and healing system respond to acupuncture. The distribution of mast cells in the human skin is characterized by "approaching to the terminals and gathering at the orifices", and the cell density is highly correlated with the density of acupoints and the micro-acupuncture systems. These evidences all support that mast cells are the mobile target cells for acupuncture, which can explain some clinical phenomena and principles of acupuncture, and suggest mast cells as one of the tissue markers for acupoints.
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Humans , Acupuncture , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Mast Cells , SkinABSTRACT
The discovery of modern evolutionary anatomy shows that the persistent median artery in the upper arm is a common variant with an increasing trend. This phenomenon can explain well the transition from the eleven meridians described in the Han silk and bamboo slips to the twelve meridians finalized in
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Humans , Acupuncture , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Hand , MeridiansSubject(s)
Humans , Acupuncture , Acupuncture Therapy , Angina, Stable , Combined Modality Therapy , MoxibustionABSTRACT
The book titled Chun Hua Qiu Shi (Glorious Flowers in Spring and Rich Fruits in Autumn) by Prof. HAN Ji-sheng and WAN You, published by Peking University Medical Press in 2018, describes the research on acupuncture by HAN Ji-sheng and his team over the past 50 years, including both happy and hard times. With efforts over half a century, Prof. HAN has made internationally recognized achievements in the basic science of acupuncture and has played a significant role in promoting Chinese acupuncture to the world. This article attempts to explain why Prof. HAN can become a model scientist with great achievements from an ordinary youth in south China.
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OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the feasibility of applying the measure of energy cost, utilized widely in cyclic sports, in table tennis multi-ball practice.@*METHODS@#Eleven collegiate table tennis players volunteered (18±1 yrs, 177±2 cm, 71±3 kg, approximately 10 yrs' training experience) to participate in one graded exercise test on treadmill, and two step tests (forehand and backhand, 3 min × 6, 35~85 stroke/min). A portable spirometric system and heart rate monitor were utilized for the three trials. Earlobe blood samples were collected and analyzed prior to and post the test. Energy cost was calculated for one stroke at each stroke frequency.@*RESULTS@#The energy cost of loop drive multi-ball practice was decreased with increased stroke frequency (P<0.05). The energy cost of forehand loop drive was higher than backhand, with the difference significant at 35, 45, 55, 65, and 85 stroke·min (P<0.05). The function between energy cost and frequency were y=166.4x (R=0.9731), and y=33.21x (R=0.8423), respectively, where y was energy cost, and x was stroke frequency.@*CONCLUSION@#The measure of energy cost utilized in cyclic sports could be applied to evaluate the energy expenditure in table tennis multi-ball practice of single technique, and indicate the stroke efficiency of table tennis muti-ball practice with different stroke frequencies.
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Adolescent , Humans , Young Adult , Energy Metabolism , Exercise Test , Tennis , PhysiologyABSTRACT
The "superficial fascia" is often interpreted as "tendon-membrane like structure" in acupuncture field and it is speculated that acupuncture stimulation-induced structural alteration of the superficial fascia may contribute to the alleviation of many medical conditions. The fact is that the superficial fascia mainly consists of subcutaneous adipose tissue and fibrotic network (which function in storing, supporting and buffering external pressure and are not responsible for producing "Deqi" or "needling sensations"), and has no typical tendon or membrane structure in hypodermis. In the present paper, the author tries to clarify its incorrect translation, misinterpretation, and misunderstanding in acupuncture and propose that the target of acupuncture stimulation is probably not only the subcutaneous soft tissue per se, but also the contents in subcutaneous soft tissue network as the nerves, blood vessels, lymph-vessels, cutaneous accessory structures, mast cells, multiple movable cells, related receptors, etc.
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In the United States and other Western countries, dry needling has been a topic in academic and legal fields. This White Paper is to provide the authoritative information of dry needling versus acupuncture to academic scholars, healthcare professionals, administrators, policymakers, and the general public by providing the authoritative evidence and expertise regarding critical issues of dry needling and reaching a consensus. We conclude that Dr. Travell, Dr. Gunn, Dr. Baldry and others who have promoted dry needling by simply rebranding (1) acupuncture as dry needling and (2) acupuncture points as trigger points (dry needling points). Dry needling simply using English biomedical terms (especially using "fascia" hypothesis) in replace of their equivalent Chinese medical terms. Dry needling is an over-simplified version of acupuncture derived from traditional Chinese acupuncture except for emphasis on biomedical language when treating neuromuscularskeletal pain (dry needling promoters redefined it as "myofascial pain"). Trigger points belong to the category of Ashi acupuncture points in traditional Chinese acupuncture, and they are not a new discovery. By applying acupuncture points, dry needling is actually trigger point acupuncture, an invasive therapy (a surgical procedure) instead of manual therapy. Dr. Travell admitted to the general public that dry needling is acupuncture, and acupuncture professionals practice dry needling as acupuncture therapy and there are several criteria in acupuncture profession to locate trigger points as acupuncture points. Among acupuncture schools, dry needling practitioners emphasize acupuncture's local responses while other acupuncturists pay attention to the responses of both local, distal, and whole body responses. For patients' safety, dry needling practitioners should meet standards required for licensed acupuncturists and physicians.
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Humans , Acupuncture Points , Acupuncture Therapy , Methods , Reference Standards , Consensus , Cooperative Behavior , Expert Testimony , Myofascial Pain Syndromes , Therapeutics , Needles , Reference Standards , Physicians , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Societies, Medical , Reference Standards , United StatesABSTRACT
In the last twenty years, in the United States and other Western countries, dry needling (DN) became a hot and debatable topic, not only in academic but also in legal fields. This White Paper is to provide the authoritative information of DN versus acupuncture to academic scholars, healthcare professional administrators, lawmakers, and the general public through providing the authoritative evidence and experts' opinions regarding critical issues of DN versus acupuncture, and then reach consensus. DN is the use of dry needles alone, either solid filiform acupuncture needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles, to insert into the body for the treatment of muscle pain and related myofascial pain syndrome. DN is sometimes also known as intramuscular stimulati on, trigger points (TrP) acupuncture, TrP DN, myofascial TrP DN, or biomedical acupuncture. In Western countries, DN is a form of simplified acupuncture using biomedical language in treating myofascial pain, a contemporary development of a portion of Ashi point acupuncture from Chinese acupuncture. It seeks to redefine acupuncture by reframing its theoretical principles in a Western manner. DN-like needling with filiform needles have been widely used in Chinese acupuncture practice over the past 2,000 years, and with hypodermic needles has been used in China in acupuncture practice for at least 72 years. In Eastern countries, such as China, since late of 1800s or earlier, DN is a common name of acupuncture among acupuncturists and the general public, which has a broader scope of indications, not limited to treating the myofascial pain.
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Humans , Acupuncture Therapy , China , Expert Testimony , Needles , Societies, Medical , United StatesABSTRACT
The United States (U.S.) is facing a national opioid epidemic, and medical systems are in need of non-pharmacologic strategies that can be employed to decrease the public's opioid dependence. Acupuncture has emerged as a powerful, evidence-based, safe, cost-effective, and available treatment modality suitable to meeting this need. Acupuncture has been shown to be effective for the management of numerous types of pain conditions, and mechanisms of action for acupuncture have been described and are understandable from biomedical, physiologic perspectives. Further, acupuncture's cost-effectiveness can dramatically decrease health care expenditures, both from the standpoint of treating acute pain and through avoiding addiction to opioids that requires costly care, destroys quality of life, and can lead to fatal overdose. Numerous federal regulatory agencies have advised or mandated that healthcare systems and providers offer non-pharmacologic treatment options for pain. Acupuncture stands out as the most evidence-based, immediately available choice to fulfil these calls. Acupuncture can safely, easily, and cost-effectively be incorporated into hospital settings as diverse as the emergency department, labor and delivery suites, and neonatal intensive care units to treat a variety of commonly seen pain conditions. Acupuncture is already being successfully and meaningfully utilized by the Veterans Administration and various branches of the U.S. Military, in some studies demonstrably decreasing the volume of opioids prescribed when included in care.
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Rice false smut, caused by the fungal pathogen Villosiclava virens, is one of the most important rice diseases in the world. Previous studies reported that the pathogen has less number of cell wall-degraded genes and attacks dominantly rice stamen filaments and extends intercellularly. To reveal why the fungus infects plant stamen filaments, inoculation test on barley was carried out with the similar protocol to rice. The experimental results showed that the fungus could penetrate quickly into barley stamen filaments and extends both intracellularly and intercellularly, usually resulting in severe damage of the stamen filament tissues. It also attacked young barley lodicules and grew intercellularly by chance. The light microscopic observations found that the epidermal and cortex cells in barley stamen filaments arranged loosely with very thick cell walls and large cell gaps. Cellulose microfibrils in barley stamen filament cell walls arranged very sparsely so that the cell walls looked like transparent. The cell walls were very soft and flexible, and often folded. However, V. virens extended dominantly in the noncellulose regions and seemed never to degrade microfibrils in barley and rice cell walls. This suggested that the unique structures of rice and barley stamen filaments should be fit for their function of elongation in anthesis, and also endow with the susceptibility to the fungus, V. virens.
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Cell Wall/ultrastructure , Flowers , Hordeum , Hypocreales/ultrastructure , Oryza , Flowers/microbiology , Flowers/ultrastructure , Hordeum/microbiology , Hordeum/ultrastructure , Microscopy , Microscopy, Electron, Transmission , Oryza/microbiology , Oryza/ultrastructure , Plant Diseases/microbiologyABSTRACT
Whether traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could be categorized as a kind of science or not has been a controversial issue over last century. Part of the confusion is caused by the indistinguishable usage of Chinese words "science" and "scientific" during discussion. According to western academic standards, TCM cannot be considered as pure or conventional science. However, in author's view, the foundation of a majority part of TCM practice is probably scientific, while many TCM theories remain unproved. In this article, medical theories and practices are classified based on scientific content into eight levels: medical science, scientific medicine, medical system, medical theory, medical opinion, medical belief, medical cultism, and medical fraud. Both Western medicine and TCM are positioned in this system accordingly. Currently, the scientific level of TCM is much lower than that of Western medicine, and more research is needed for its improvement.
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Humans , Biomedical Research , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Reference StandardsABSTRACT
Some results of clinical trials from the West on traditional acupuncture with modern research design have puzzled the acupuncture community. These include (1) what is the implication of acupuncture, (2) whether acupuncture point has its specificity, and 3) why practical experience in the East is quite different from research observations in the West. Three hypotheses, namely, Acupuncture Healing Effect, Pan-acupoint Phenomenon, and Hard Acupuncture and Soft Acupuncture, are proposed here to explain these sensitive issues. Further investigation with scientific approach may prove or reject these hypotheses. The resolving of these issues will shed light on the re-evaluation of traditional acupuncture and promote the maturation of modern acupuncture theory.
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Humans , Acupuncture Therapy , MethodsABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of electrical stimulation of olfactory bulb (OB)on proliferation,migration to OB of neural precursor cells (NPC) in the subventricular zone,and preliminary explore its related mechanism.Methods Eighty adult female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control group,sham stimulation group and stimulation groups of 1 d,3 d,1 week,2 weeks,3 weeks and 4 weeks (n=10).Rats in the later six groups were performed OB electrical stimulation.Five of these rats in each group were injected intraperitoneally with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (Brdu) to mark new-bom cells and immunohistochemical staining was employed to observe the proliferation of NPCs in SVZ; the other 5 were sacrificed at corresponding time to detect the mRNA expression ofprokineticin 2 (prk2) in OB.Another 15 rats were randomly divided into normal control group Ⅰ,sham stimulation group Ⅰ and stimulation group Ⅰ (n=5); four weeks after Brdu was injected,the animals were sacrificed and immumohistochemical staining was used to investigate the number of Brdu-positive cells in OB.Results The number of Brdu-positive cells in SVZ was significantly different among the eight group (F=51.475,P=0.000); as compared with those in the normal control group and sham stimulation group,the Brdu-positive cells were significantly increased in stimulation groups of 1 d,3 d,1 week and 2 weeks (P<0.05).The mRNA expression ofprk 2 in OB was significantly different among the eight group (F=154.067,P=0.000); as compared with those in the normal control group and sham stimulation group,the Brdu-positive cells were significantly increased in all the stimulation groups (F=36.472,P=0.000).Four weeks after injection of Brdu,the Brdu-positive cells in OB of the stimulation group Ⅰ significantly increased as compared with that in the normal control group Ⅰ and sham stimulation group Ⅰ (P<0.05).Conclusion Electrical stimulation of OB promotes proliferation,migration of NPCs in SVZ,which may be related to elevated expression of Prk2.
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[Objective]To investigate the effect of adenovirus-mediated glucose transporter 3 (Ad-GLUT3) infection on PC 12 cells of rats after hypoxia-reperfusion injury.[Methods]PC 12 cells treated with hypoxia and re--oxygenation were prepared;after PC12 cells being infected by Ad-GLUT3 (experimental group),adenovirus encoding green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP group) and blank plasmid (control group),respectively,flow cytometry (FC) and TUNEL assay were used to analyze the apoptosis of PC12 cells;the glucose uptake rate was detected by isotopic-scintiscan,and the expression of nuclear factor (NF-kB) was detected by Western blotting.[Results] FC indicated that the apoptotic rate in the experimental group (4.7%±1.75%) was significantly lower as compared with that in the Ad-GFP group (14.25%±3.46%) and control group (13.1%±2.98%,P<0.05);TUNEL assay showed that the apoptotic rate in the experimental group (7.7%±3.31%) was significantly lower as compared with that in the Ad-GFP group (17.1%±3.10%) and control group (15.2%±2.70%,P<0.05).And the glucose uptake rate in the experimental group (603%±13.1%) was obviously higher as compared with that in the Ad-GFP group (300%±8.77%) and control group (319%±11.2%,P<0.05);and the NF-k<B level in the experimental group (0.92±0.17) was significantly lower as compared with that in the Ad-GFP group (1.02±0.24) and control group (1.06±0.21,P<0.05).[Conclusion] After being infected by Ad-GLUT3,the PC12 cells treated with hypoxia and re-oxygenation enjoy elevated glucose uptake rate and inhibited apoptotic rate.
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In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy backstepping dynamic surface control (DSC) approach is developed for a class of multiple-input-multiple-output nonlinear systems with immeasurable states. Using fuzzy-logic systems to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, a fuzzy state observer is designed to estimate the immeasurable states. By combining adaptive-backstepping technique and DSC technique, an adaptive fuzzy output-feedback backstepping-control approach is developed. The proposed control method not only overcomes the problem of "explosion of complexity" inherent in the backstepping-design methods but also overcomes the problem of unavailable state measurements. It is proved that all the signals of the closed-loop adaptive-control system are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
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Objective To investigate the effects of different magnitudes of mechanical strain on the expression of MMP-13/TIMP-1 and try to determine the signal transduction pathways in response to mechanical strain in human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs) in vitro. MethodHPDLCs were subjected to 0%,6%,12% or 18% elongation for 24 h by using cell stress loading system simultaneously. Then the MMP-13/TIMP-1 mRNA and protein expression in cells were tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting respectively. Furthermore, specific inhibitors were employed to examine the role of different signal transduction pathway on the expression of strain induced MMP-13 /TIMP-1 in HPDLCs. ResultsThe expression of MMP-13 /TIMP-1 in HPDLCs significantly increased in groups of 6%,12%, 18% elongation in a magnitude-dependent manner compared with the control group (0%) after the mechanical strain treatment for 24 h. PD098059 and cycloheximide could inhibit the increase in MMP-13 and TIMP-1 mRNA expression in response to mechanical strain respectively. Conclusions Different magnitudes of mechanical strain can affect the expression of MMP-13/TIMP-1 in HPDLCs in a magnitude dependent manner, and further affect the periodontium remodeling with the characteristics of degradation and synthesis of extracellular matrix in response to mechanical strain. The ERK-MAPK pathway is involved in strain induced MMP-13 expression while the strain-induced TIMP-1 expression depends on de novo protein synthesis.
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Objective To investigate the phenotypic and biological characteristics of human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (CB-MSCs) differentiating into a Schwann cell lineage.Methods Initially, we induced human CB-MSC into floating neurospheres,and then, neurospheres were induced to differentiating into Schwann-like cells using glia growth factors.Differentiated CB-MSCs showed morphological changes eing similar to those of Schwann cells.Expression of the Schwann cell markers was determined by immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting.Furthermore,differentiated CB-MSCs were co-cultured with dorsal root ganglia neurons to promote the neurite outgrowth.Results The stained nestin,GFAP and S-100 of the undifferentiated CB-MSCs were barely expressed. When CB-MSCs were induced into neurospheres,the nestin positive cells were (82.38±3.70)%,but the expressions of GFAP and S-100 were still negative.After inoculated 36 h,the positive rates of nestin, GFAP,S-100 were (43.78±3.21)%,(35.42±1.82)% and (29.49±2.54)%,respectively.Compared to those of the undifferentiated group,differentiated axons of CB-MSC were significantly longer and the numbers of them were obviously larger (P<0.05).Conclusion CB-MSCs could be onverted into neurospheres and then induced into Schwann-like cells in terms of morphology,phenotype and functional capacities.CB-MSCs can be used as an alternative source for bone marrow derived-MSCs,suggesting their potential values in the treatment of neurological diseases.