Cognitive impairment associated with cerebellar volume loss in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.

BACKGROUND: Many neuroscience and neurology studies have forced a reconsideration of the traditional motor-related scope of cerebellar function, which has now expanded to include various cognitive functions. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3; the most common hereditary ataxia) is neuropathologically characterized by cerebellar atrophy and frequently presents with cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: To characterize cognitive impairment in SCA3 and investigate the cerebellum-cognition associations. METHODS: This prospective, cross-sectional cohort study recruited 126 SCA3 patients and 41 healthy control individuals (HCs). Participants underwent a brain 3D T1-weighted images as well as neuropsychological tests. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region of interest (ROI) approaches were performed on the 3D T1-weighted images. CERES was used to automatically segment cerebellums. Patients were grouped into cognitively impaired (CI) and cognitively preserved (CP), and clinical and MRI parameters were compared. Multivariable regression models were fitted to examine associations between cerebellar microstructural alterations and cognitive domain impairments. RESULTS: Compared to HCs, SCA3 patients showed cognitive domain impairments in information processing speed, verbal memory, executive function, and visuospatial perception. Between CI and CP subgroups, the CI subgroup was older and had lower education, as well as higher severity scores. VBM and ROI analyses revealed volume loss in cerebellar bilateral lobule VI, right lobule Crus I, and right lobule IV of the CI subgroup, and all these cerebellar lobules were associated with the above cognitive domain impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate the multiple cognitive domain impairments in SCA3 patients and indicate the responsible cerebellar lobules for the impaired cognitive domain(s).

[Bushen Anshen acupuncture for perimenopausal insomnia of kidney-yin deficiency: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of Bushen Anshen acupuncture (acupuncture for tonifying kidney and calming spirit ) in treating perimenopausal insomnia (PMI) of kidney-yin deficiency. METHODS: A total of 72 patients with PMI of kidney-yin deficiency were randomized into an observation group (36 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a control group (36 cases, 1 case dropped off). Acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20) and bilateral Shenshu (BL 23), Taixi (KI 3), Anmian (Extra) in the observation group, while sham acupuncture of shallow needling at non-acupoints was applied in the control group. The treatment was required once every other day, 3 times a week for 10 times in the two groups. Before and after treatment, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to evaluate the subjective sleep quality, and polysomnography (PSG) was used to monitor the objective sleep quality in the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, hypnotic, daytime dysfunction and total score of PSQI were decreased compared with those before treatment in the observation group (P<0.01), the scores of sleep duration, sleep efficiency and total score of PSQI were decreased compared with those before treatment in the control group (P<0.05); the scores of sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep efficiency, hypnotic and total score of PSQI in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the sleep time was prolonged, the sleep efficiency was improved, the sleep latency and the awake time after falling asleep were shortened, the arousal awake index was reduced (P<0.01) when PSG indexes were monitored, and the percentage of non-rapid eye movement sleep period 1 (N1%) was decreased while the percentage of non-rapid eye movement sleep period 3 (N3%) was increased (P<0.05) compared with those before treatment in the observation group; there was no statistical difference in the PSG indexes compared with those before treatment in the control group (P>0.05). After treatment, compared with the control group, the sleep time was prolonged, the sleep efficiency was improved, the sleep latency and the awake time after falling asleep were shortened, the arousal awake index and N1% were decreased in the observation group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Bushen Anshen acupuncture can effectively improve the subjective and objective sleep quality in PMI patients of kidney-yin deficiency.

[Acupuncture for delayed sleep-wake phase disorder: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture for delayed sleep-wake phase disorder (DSWPD). METHODS: A total of 84 patients with DSWPD were randomized into an observation group (42 cases, 2 cases dropped off) and a control group (42 cases, 3 cases dropped off). On the basis of sleep hygiene education, acupuncture was applied at Shenmai (BL 62), Zhaohai (KI 6), Hegu (LI 4), Taichong (LR 3), Zusanli (ST 36) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) in the observation group, while placebo acupuncture was applied at the same acupoints in the control group. The treatment lasted for 8 weeks, once every other day, 3 times a week in the 1st to 4th weeks; once every 3 days, 2 times a week in the 5th to 8th weeks. Before and after treatment, the actigraphy (ACT) indexes of objective sleep (total time of stay in bed, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, the number of awakenings and the wake time after falling asleep) and plasma cortisol (CORT) level were observed; before and after treatment and in follow-up of 1, 3 months after treatment, the scores of morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ), insomnia severity index (ISI), fatigue severity scale (FSS) and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) were observed in the two groups. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the total sleep time was prolonged, the sleep efficiency was improved, the number of awakenings was reduced, and the wake time after falling asleep was shortened after treatment in the observation group (P<0.01, P<0.05), and those in the observation group after treatment were superior to the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the MEQ scores after treatment in both groups and in the follow-up of 1, 3 months after treatment in the observation group were increased (P<0.01), and the MEQ score of each time point after treatment in the observation group was higher than the control group (P<0.01). The scores of ISI, FSS and ESS after treatment, and the scores of ISI、ESS in follow-up of 1, 3 months after treatment in the observation group were decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.01, P<0.05), and in the observation group, the scores of ISI, FSS and ESS of each time point after treatment were lower than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). After treatment, the plasma CORT level in the observation group was decreased compared with that before treatment and that in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture can improve the sleep and wake phase of patients with DSWPD, improve sleep quality and daytime function, and its mechanism may be related to the down-regulation of plasma CORT level.

Species Richness of Papilionidae Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) in the Hengduan Mountains and Its Future Shifts under Climate Change.

The family of Papilionidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) is a group of butterflies with high ecological and conservation value. The Hengduan Mountains (HMDs) in Southwest China is an important diversity centre for these butterflies. However, the spatial distribution pattern and the climate vulnerability of Papilionidae butterflies in the HDMs remain unknown to date. The lack of such knowledge has already become an obstacle in formulating effective butterfly conservation strategies. The present research compiled a 59-species dataset with 1938 occurrence points. The Maxent model was applied to analyse the spatial pattern of species richness in subfamilies Parnassiinae and Papilioninae, as well as to predict the response under the influence of climate change. The spatial pattern of both subfamilies in the HDMs has obvious elevation prevalence, with Parnassiinae concentrated in the subalpine to alpine areas (2500-5500 m) in western Sichuan, northwestern Yunnan and eastern Tibet, while Papilioninae is concentrated in the low- to medium-elevation areas (1500-3500 m) in the river valleys of western Yunnan and western Sichuan. Under the influence of climate change, both subfamilies would exhibit northward and upward range shifts. The majority of Parnassiinae species would experience drastic habitat contraction, resulting in lower species richness across the HDMs. In contrast, most Papilioninae species would experience habitat expansion, and the species richness would also increase significantly. The findings of this research should provide new insights and a clue for butterfly diversity and climatic vulnerability in southwestern China. Future conservation efforts should be focused on species with habitat contraction, narrow-ranged distribution and endemicity with both in situ and ex situ measures, especially in protected areas. Commercialised collecting targeting these species must also be regulated by future legislation.

Burnout, depression, anxiety and insomnia among medical staff during the COVID-19 epidemic in Shanghai.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has progressively impacted our daily lives, resulting in unexpected physical and mental stress on medical staff. This study is designed to investigate the levels of and risk factors for burnout, depression, anxiety, and insomnia among medical staff during the COVID-19 epidemic breakout in Shanghai, China. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 1 to May 31, 2022, among medical staff who were on the frontline during the epidemic breakout in Shanghai from different institutions. The MBI-HSS was used to assess burnout, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and ISI were used to evaluate mental status and insomnia. Results: A total of 543 valid questionnaires were collected. The depersonalization, depression, anxiety, and insomnia scores of medical staff were significantly higher during the pandemic in Shanghai compared with norms, while lack of personal achievement scores were decreased. Working time, work unit, work environment and age are important influencers of burnout, depression and anxiety of medical staff. Long working hours are the most likely causes of burnout and emotional disorders. Medical staff in primary hospitals were most likely to suffer from burnout and emotional disorders, while medical staff in tertiary hospitals had a reduced sense of personal achievement. Young medical staff are prone to negative emotions such as depression and anxiety, while older medical staff have a lower sense of personal accomplishment. Medical staff who were not in the shelter hospitals or designated hospitals were more likely to have problems of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and anxiety than those who were in the shelter hospitals or designated hospitals. Contracting COVID-19 had no effect on medical staff. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders while personal achievement was negatively correlated with these factors. Conclusion: Medical staff in Shanghai had high burnout, depression, anxiety and insomnia levels during the epidemic outbreak in Shanghai. During the COVID-19, medical staff may suffer different psychological problems which should be concerned. Care and supports about burnout, mental health and insomnia need to be taken to promote the mental health of medical staff according to different characteristics of medical staff.

Acupuncture for insomnia with short sleep duration: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Insomnia with short sleep duration has a more serious negative impact on patient health. The existing literature suggests that medication therapy is more effective for this phenotype of insomnia compared with cognitive-behavioural therapy. However, the potential side effects of hypnotic medications hinder their clinical application. Acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of insomnia, but it remains unclear whether it has therapeutic efficacy for insomnia with short sleep duration. The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for insomnia with short sleep duration. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is designed as a randomised, single-centre, single-blinded, placebo acupuncture controlled trial involving 152 participants. Eligible patients will be divided into two groups according to the objective total sleep time: insomnia with normal sleep duration group and insomnia with short sleep duration group. Then, patients in each group will be randomly assigned to two subgroups, the treatment group (acupuncture) and the control group (placebo acupuncture), in a 1:1 ratio with 38 subjects in each subgroup. The primary outcome is the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index. Secondary outcomes are actigraphy, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Fatigue Severity Scale. All adverse effects will be assessed by the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale. Outcomes will be evaluated at baseline, post treatment, as well as at 1-week and 1-month follow-up. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol has been approved by the ethics committee of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (no. 2019-17). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals for publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1900023473; Pre-results.

Lettuce plant growth and tipburn occurrence as affected by airflow using a multi-fan system in a plant factory with artificial light.

A multi-fan system (MFS) for single culture beds was developed to improve the airflow in a plant factory with artificial light. The MFS had seven fans which were installed on both the front and back sides of culture beds to generate airflow from two opposite horizontal directions. The fans that push the air into the culture bed were air inlets while those that pull the air out of the culture bed were air outlets. In this study, three airflow patterns were evaluated: T1, the front and back sides of the culture bed were air inlets; T2, the front side was an air inlet and the backside was an air outlet; and T3, both the front and back sides were air outlets. A culture bed with no MFS was used as a control (T4). Lettuce growth and tipburn occurrence were evaluated and leaf boundary layer resistance (1/gbv), sensible heat flux (Sh), and latent heat flux (Lh) of lettuce plants were estimated. The airflow pattern in T1 improved the air velocity (Va) by an average of 0.75 m s-1 and a variation coefficient of 65%. The 1/gbv decreased significantly with the increase in Va, and the lowest value of 54.0 s m-1 was observed in T1. The low resistance to heat and moisture transfer enhanced the Sh and Lh of lettuce plants. The average Sh and Lh were 40% and 46% higher in T1 compared with those in T4. The fresh and dry weights of lettuce plants in T1 were 1.13 and 1.06 higher than those in T4, respectively. No tipburn occurrence was observed in lettuce plants grown under the MFS while five leaves per plant were injured with tipburn in T4. The results indicated that improving the airflow can improve the growth of indoor cultured lettuce and alleviate the occurrence of tipburn due to the decrease in the 1/gbv and the increase in the transpiration rate.

Preliminary study on the effects of smoking on gingival microcirculation in chronic periodontitis / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the mechanism of smoking that promotes chronic periodontitis from the perspective of gingival microcirculation.@*METHODS@#In experiment one, upper anterior teeth (n=102) from smokers with chronic periodontitis (Group A), nonsmokers with chronic periodontitis (Group B), and nonsmokers with healthy periodontal conditions (Group C) were selected to undergo gingival blood flow (GBF) through laser doppler flowmetry. In experiment two, the tissues obtained from gums during periodontal flap surgery were divided into smoking (Group A') and nonsmoking (Group B') groups, and the gingival tissue obtained from periodontal healthy nonsmokers treated with crown lengthening surgery or impacted wisdom tooth extraction served as the control group (Group C'). The microvessels density (MVD) of the gingival tissue from the three groups was determined in the tissue sections. SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis.@*RESULTS@#Compared with group C, GBF of all teeth increased in group B, and there were significant differences among 12, 21 and 23 teeth. MVD significantly differed between Group B' and C' (P<0.05), but they did not significantly differ between Group A' and B'.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Periodontitis can increase GBF and MVD, but smoking does not cause significant changes. However, the mechanism by which smoking promotes the occurrence and development of chronic periodontitis by influencing gingival microcirculation has not been discussed in this research.

Acupuncture Improves Peri-menopausal Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study Objectives: To evaluate the short-term efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of peri-menopausal insomnia (PMI). Methods: Design: A randomized, participant-blind, placebo-controlled trial consisted of the acupuncture group (n = 38) and placebo-acupuncture group (n = 38). Setting: A tertiary teaching and general hospital. Participants: 76 peri-menopausal women with insomnia disorder based on the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, Third Edition. Interventions: A 10-session of acupuncture at bilateral Shenshu (BL 23) and Ganshu (BL 18) with unilateral Qimen (LR 14) and Jingmen (GB 25) or Streitberger needles at the same acupoints was performed for over 3 weeks. Measurements: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) with over-night polysomnography (PSG) exam were completed at baseline and post-treatment. Results: After the treatments, the decrease from baseline in PSQI score was 8.03 points in acupuncture group and 1.29 points in placebo-acupuncture group. The change from baseline in ISI score was 11.35 points in acupuncture group and 2.87 points in placebo-acupuncture group. In PSG data, acupuncture significantly improved the sleep efficiency and total sleep time, associated with less wake after sleep onset and lower percent stage 1 after the treatment. No significant differences from baseline to post-treatment were found in placebo-acupuncture group. Conclusions: Acupuncture can contribute to a clinically relevant improvement in the short-term treatment of PMI, both subjectively and objectively. Clinical Trial Registration: Acupuncture for peri-menopause insomnia: a randomized controlled trial, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=12118 ChiCTR-IPR-15007199, China.

Electroacupuncture attenuates collagen-induced arthritis in rats through vasoactive intestinal peptide signalling-dependent re-establishment of the regulatory T cell/T-helper 17 cell balance.

OBJECTIVE: Imbalance between T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells is causally linked to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that electroacupuncture (EA) confers therapeutic benefits in RA through activation of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-dependent signalling and restoration of the Th17/Treg cell balance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by injection of bovine type II collagen in incomplete Freund's adjuvant on day 0 and day 7. Three days after the second injection, EA was given at acupuncture points GB39 and ST36 three times per week for 4 weeks. To block VIP signalling, [D-P-Cl-Phe(6)-Leu(17)]-VIP, a VIP receptor antagonist, was administered intraperitoneally 30 min before EA. Inflammatory and pathological responses in the joint were assessed. Synovial VIP receptor mRNA levels and Treg and Th17 cell frequencies in the spleen were determined. RESULTS: EA significantly reduced the severity of CIA, as evidenced by reduced paw volumes, arthritis scores and inflammation scores. EA significantly increased mRNA expression of the VIP receptor VPAC1 and led to an elevation in CD4(+)FOXP3(+) Treg cell frequency and a reduction in CD4(+)IL17(+) Th17 cell frequency. Pre-injection of a VIP receptor antagonist significantly reversed EA-induced expansion of Treg cells, but did not alter the frequencies of Th17 cells. CONCLUSIONS: EA exerts anti-inflammatory effects in a collagen-induced rat model of arthritis. These effects appear to be mediated through activation of VIP signalling and re-establishment of the Th17/Treg cell balance.

Studies on chemical constituents in roots of Polygala tenuifolia / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents from the roots of Polygala tenuifolia.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Column chromatographic techniques were employed for isolation and purification of chemical constituents of the plant and the structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Five chemical constituents were isolated and elucidated as 4-C-beta-glucopyranosyl-1,3,6-trihydroxy-7-methoxyxanthone (1), 4-C-[beta-D-apiofuranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-1,3,6- trihydroxy-7-methoxyxanthone (2), presenegenin (3), presenegenin-3-O-beta-D-glycopyranoside (4) and daucosterol (5), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 1,3,4 and 5 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Compound 1 is a new natural product.</p>