Study Objectives. This study investigates the therapeutic effect of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) acupuncture for chronic insomnia. Methods. Thirty-seven adult subjects with chronic insomnia were recruited and randomly assigned to three groups, namely, Group A (6 pairs of acupoints: Ex-HN 22, HT 7, SP 6, KI 3, LR 3, and PC 6, bilaterally distributed); Group B (acupoints as for Group A other than PC 6, which was applied only on the left side [i.e., the dominant side of the PC meridian] and the addition of DU 20, which is the main tonic acupoint for integration of all the meridians); and a control group (sham LLLT). The subjects in the treatment groups (i.e., Groups A and B) received LLLT acupuncture and those in the control group received sham LLLT for 15 minutes per session twice a week for five weeks. The sleep quality of all the subjects was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and a sleep diary. In addition, the sympathetic activity before and after every treatment sessions was measured using the Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Results. All three groups showed an improved PSQI score. However, only Group A showed a significant reduction in the sleep onset latency and number of awakenings at night and a higher sleep efficiency and ESS score. Furthermore, Group B showed an increased low frequency power and normalized low frequency of the HRV signal and a lower normalized high frequency power, suggesting an increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity. Conclusions. For chronic insomnia insomniacs, LLLT appears to shorten the sleep latency, decrease the number of awakening events at night, and improve the sleep efficiency.

The relationship between inflammatory bowel disease and sleep disturbances is complicated and of increasing interest. We investigated the inflammatory and immunological consequences of EA in sleep-deprived colitis and found that dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in sleep-fragmented (SF) mice was more severe than that in mice with normal sleep. This increase in the severity of colitis was accompanied by reduced body weight, shortened colon length, and deteriorated disease activity index. DSS with SF mice presented obvious diminished intestinal tight junction proteins (claudin-1 and occludin), elevated proinflammatory cytokines (CRP, IFN-γ, IL-6), lowered melatonin and adiponectin levels, downregulated vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) type 1 and 2 receptor (VPAC1, VPAC2) expression, and decreased diversity of gut bacteria. EA ameliorated colitis severity and preserved the performance of the epithelial tight junction proteins and VIP receptors, especially VPAC2. Meanwhile, the innate lymphoid cells-derived cytokines in both group 2 (IL-4, IL5, IL-9, IL-13) and group 3 (IL-22, GM-CSF) were elevated in mice colon tissue. Furthermore, dysbiosis was confirmed in the DSS group with and without SF, and EA could maintain the species diversity. Firmicutes could be restored, such as Lachnospiraceae, and Proteobacteria become rebalanced, mainly Enterobacteriaceae, after EA intervention. On the other hand, SF plays different roles in physiological and pathological conditions. In normal mice, interrupted sleep did not affect the expression of claudin-1 and occludin. But VPAC1, VPAC2, and gut microbiota diversity, including Burkholderiaceae and Rhodococcus, were opposite to mice in an inflamed state.

Thin films of potassium tantalum niobate, KTa_0.6Nb_0.4O₃, with a Curie temperature of 20 °C were deposited on a variety of substrates by metalorganic deposition. These films had peak relative permittivities of 16 000 at 20 °C. Hysteresis plots of electric displacement as a function of electric field, taken at 0 °C, revealed a coercive field of 800 V/cm, a spontaneous polarization of 3.9 μC/cm², and a remnant polarization of 0.5 μC/cm². The hysteresis loops did not change significantly as the temperature was varied down to −100 °C.

The equation-based analog design automation is getting popular in last decade to search the optimal solutions with good efficiency. However, due to the deep-submicron effects, significant modeling errors often exist in major transistor parameters like g _ds and g _m . This often results in wrong prediction of circuit performance and leads to several redesign cycles to meet the specifications. Instead of building complex parameter models for g _ds and g _m , this paper adopts the g _m /I _d design concept, which is an independent value to the device size, on equation-based optimization to solve the accuracy issue. Without the complex effects from W and L, the modeling accuracy of transistor parameters is significantly improved. No more iteration is required by using the proposed approach, which improves the efficiency as well as the accuracy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that adopts the internal voltages instead of device sizes as the unknown variables to be solved. As demonstrated on several circuits with different objectives, both the accuracy and efficiency of circuit optimization can be improved significantly.