Cognitive impairment is a serious mental deficit following stroke that severely affects the quality of life of stroke survivors. Nuclear factor‑κB (NF-κB)-mediated neuronal cell apoptosis is involved in the development of post-stroke cognitive impairment; therefore, it has become a promising target for the treatment of impaired cognition. Acupuncture at the Baihui (DU20) and Shenting (DU24) acupoints is commonly used in China to clinically treat post‑stroke cognitive impairment; however, the precise mechanism of its action is largely unknown. In the present study, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of electroacupuncture against post-stroke cognitive impairment and investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms using a rat model of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting was identified to significantly ameliorate neurological deficits and reduce cerebral infarct volume. Additionally, electroacupuncture improved learning and memory ability in cerebral I/R injured rats, demonstrating its therapeutic efficacy against post-stroke cognitive impairment. Furthermore, electroacupuncture significantly suppressed the I/R-induced activation of NF-κB signaling in ischemic cerebral tissues. The inhibitory effect of electroacupuncture on NF-κB activation led to the inhibition of cerebral cell apoptosis. Finally, electroacupuncture markedly downregulated the expression of pro-apoptotic Bax and Fas, two critical downstream target genes of the NF-κB pathway. Collectively, our findings suggest that inhibition of NF-κB‑mediated neuronal cell apoptosis may be one mechanism via which electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting exerts a therapeutic effect on post-stroke cognitive impairment.

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Abstract-Auction is widely applied in wireless communication for spectrum allocation. Most of prior works have assumed that spectrums are identical. In reality, however, spectrums provided by different owners have distinctive characteristics in both spacial and frequency domains. Spectrum availability also varies in different geo-locations. Furthermore, frequency diversity may cause non-identical conflicts among spectrum buyers since different frequencies have distinct communication ranges. Under such realistic scenario, existing spectrum auction schemes cannot provide truthfulness or efficiency. In this paper, we propose a Truthful double Auction for HEterogeneous Spectrum, called TAHES. TAHES allows buyers to explicitly express their personalized preferences for heterogeneous spectrums and also addresses the problem of interference graph variation. We prove that TAHES has nice economic properties including truthfulness, individual rationality and budget balance.

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Normal aortic valves are composed of valve endothelial cells (VECs) and valve interstitial cells (VICs). VICs are the major cell population and have distinct embryonic origins in the endocardium and cardiac neural crest cells. Cell signaling between the VECs and VICs plays critical roles in aortic valve morphogenesis. Disruption of major cell signaling pathways results in aortic valve malformations, including bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). BAV is a common congenital heart valve disease that may lead to calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), but there is currently no effective medical treatment for this beyond surgical replacement. Mouse and human studies have identified causative gene mutations for BAV and CAVD via disrupted VEC to VIC signaling. Future studies on the developmental signaling mechanisms underlying aortic valve malformations and the pathogenesis of CAVD using genetically modified mouse models and patient-induced pluripotent stem cells may identify new effective therapeutic targets for the disease.

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