Internet addiction (IA) has become a global mental and social problem, which may lead to a series of psychiatric symptoms including uncontrolled use of internet, and lack of concentration. However, the exact pathophysiology of IA remains unclear. Most of functional connectivity studies were based on pre-selected regions of interest (ROI), which could not provide a comprehensive picture of the communication abnormalities in IA, and might lead to limited or bias observations. Using local functional connectivity density (lFCD), this study aimed to explore the whole-brain abnormalities of functional connectivity in IA. We evaluated the whole-brain lFCD resulting from resting-state fMRI data in 28 IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs). The correlations between clinical characteristics and aberrant lFCD were also assessed. Compared with HCs, subjects with IA exhibited heightened lFCD values in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and cerebellum, and the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and superior temporal pole (STP), as well as decreased lFCD values in the right inferior parietal lobe (IPL), and bilateral calcarine and lingual gyrus. Voxel-based correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations between the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score and altered lFCD values in the left PHG and bilateral STP. These findings revealed the hyper-connectivity in cognitive control network and default mode network as well as the hypo-connectivity in visual attention network, verifying the common mechanism in IA and substance addiction, and the underlying association between IA, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in terms of neurobiology.

Purpose. Acupuncture is an effective therapy for Internet addiction (IA). However, the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture in relieving compulsive Internet use remain unknown. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the role of the ventral striatum (VS) in the progress of IA; hence, the aim of this study was to explore the effects of acupuncture on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and relevant network of VS in IA. Methods. Twenty-seven IA individuals and 30 demographically matched healthy control subjects (HCs) were recruited in this study. We acquired the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in IA subjects before and after 40 days of acupuncture treatment. Seed-to-voxel and ROI-to-ROI analyses were applied to detect the rsFC alterations of the VS and related network in IA subjects and to investigate the modulation effect of acupuncture on the rsFC. Results. Compared with HCs, IA subjects exhibited enhanced rsFC of the right ventral rostral putamen (VRP) with the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), premotor cortex (PMC), cerebellum, and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In the network including these five ROIs, IA also showed increased ROI-to-ROI rsFC. Using a paired t-test in IA subjects before and after 40 days of acupuncture, the increased ROI-to-ROI rsFC was decreased (normalized to HC) with acupuncture, including the rsFC of the right VRP with the left OFC, PMC, and cerebellum, and the rsFC of the left cerebellum with the left OFC, PMC, and right vmPFC. Furthermore, the change in rsFC strength between the right VRP and left cerebellum in IA individuals was found positively correlated with the Internet craving alleviation after acupuncture. Conclusions. These findings verified the modulation effect of acupuncture on functional connectivity of reward and habit systems related to the VS in IA individuals, which might partly represent the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture on IA.

FIFA11+ Kids is a warm-up program specially designed to prevent football injuries in children. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the effects of FIFA11+ Kids on injury prevention in young football players. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched from 1 January 2016 to 24 August 2022. The primary outcome was overall injuries, and the secondary outcomes were severe, ankle, knee, and lower extremity injuries. Risk ratios (RRs) were calculated for each outcome. Methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. A total of 230 articles were screened, 6 of which were finally included in the meta-analysis. Compared with normal warm-up training, FIFA11+ Kids significantly reduced overall injury risk (RR = 0.52 [95% CI, 0.44–0.62]; p < 0.00001), severe injury risk (RR = 0.33 [95% CI, 0.18–0.61]; p = 0.0004), lower extremity injury risk (RR = 0.51 [95% CI, 0.41–0.65]; p < 0.00001), knee injury risk (RR = 0.45 [95% CI, 0.29–0.72]; p = 0.0009), and ankle injury risk (RR = 0.56 [95% CI, 0.35–0.89]; p = 0.01) in young football players. FIFA11+ Kids was found to be an effective approach to decrease the injury risk among young football players, which is worth generalizing extensively.

Background. Although hypothyroidism during pregnancy may develop grave outcomes for both mothers and offspring, management of which is still a challenge due to the insufficient understanding of this disease. The close correlation between hypothyroidism and preeclampsia is well documented, suggesting that preeclampsia is a potential risk factor for the development of maternal hypothyroidism. However, the exact role of preeclampsia in gestational hypothyroidism is still obscure. Objective. In this study, we explored the possible mechanisms of the effect of preeclampsia on thyroid function of maternal rats. Methods. Thirty pregnant rats were randomly divided into normal pregnancy control (NOP), preeclampsia (PE), and preeclampsia supplemented with amlodipine besylate (PEAml). NG‐Nitro‐L‐arginine‐methyl ester was used to induce preeclamptic symptoms. On gestational day 21, rats were sacrificed, and then, the ultrastructure of the thyroid gland, type 1 iodothyronine deiodinase (Dio1) expression, and serum‐free thyroxine (FT₄), free triiodothyronine (FT₃), and thyroid stimulation hormones (TSH) were assessed. Results. Compared to NOP rats, results of PE rats showed that thyroid follicular cells’ ultrastructure was damaged; both hepatic Dio1 mRNA and protein levels were decreased. Interestingly, these changes were ameliorated in PEAml rats. Additionally, FT₄, FT₃, and TSH levels have no significant differences among groups. Conclusion. These findings indicated that preeclampsia could disrupt synthesis, secretion, and metabolism function of thyroid hormones by damaging thyroid follicular cells and interfering Dio1 expression.

Background: Internet addiction (IA), recognized as a behavioral addiction, is emerging as a global public health problem. Acupuncture has been demonstrated to be effective in alleviating IA; however, the mechanism is not yet clear. To fill this knowledge gap, our study aimed to investigate the modulatory effects of acupuncture on the functional interactions among the addiction‐related networks in adolescents with IA.Methods: Thirty individuals with IA and thirty age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects (HCs) were recruited. Subjects with IA were given a 40‐day acupuncture treatment, and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected before and after acupuncture sessions. HCs received no treatment and underwent one fMRI scan after enrollment. The intergroup differences in functional connectivity (FC) among the subcortical nucleus (SN) and fronto‐parietal network (FPN) were compared between HCs and subjects with IA at baseline. Then, the intragroup FC differences between the pre‐ and post‐treatment were analyzed in the IA group. A multiple linear regression model was further employed to fit the FC changes to symptom relief in the IA group.Results: In comparison to HCs, subjects with IA exhibited significantly heightened FC within and between the SN and FPN at baseline. After 40 days of acupuncture treatment, the FC within the FPN and between the SN and FPN were significantly decreased in individuals with IA. Symptom improvement in subjects with IA was well fitted by the decrease in FC between the left midbrain and ventral prefrontal cortex and between the left thalamus and ventral anterior prefrontal cortex.Conclusion: These findings confirmed the modulatory effects of acupuncture on the aberrant functional interactions among the SN and FPN, which may partly reflect the neurophysiological mechanism of acupuncture for IA.