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In this paper, a frequency domain simulation method of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) was proposed. This method is based on discrete Fourier transform. With this approach, the solving degrees of freedom of the simulation model can be significantly reduced. It can greatly reduce the requirements of computer hardware and improve efficiency. At the same time, the interaction between fluid and biological tissues was considered, which makes the simulation model closer to the real model. In this paper, an MAET simulation model of acoustic–solid–electromagnetic multi-physical field coupling corresponding to the actual physical world was established. It is more reasonable to adopt the fully coupled method. However, the fully coupled method needs more computational memory. To further study the memory and time required for calculation, the segregated method was used to calculate the simulation model without affecting the accuracy and tolerance in this paper. The results show that using the segregated method can significantly reduce the memory requirement of the MAET model, but the solution time will increase accordingly. Therefore, the appropriate solution method can be selected according to the simulation computer configuration and the desired solution time. We, finally, built an experimental platform to conduct MAET experiments and verified the theoretical and simulation analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magneto-Acousto-Electrical Tomography (MAET) has the advantage of high spatial resolution and high image contrast and is expected to achieve early breast cancer diagnosis. At present, the density of biological tissue is usually assumed to be the density of water. The effect of density changes on the MAET signal has not been studied. Liposarcoma of the breast is a common malignant tumor. Unlike normal breast cancer which occurs in the gland, liposarcoma of the breast occurs in the fat of the breast. However, the fat density of the breast is widely distributed, which is different from that of liposarcoma. Therefore, it is very important to study the effect of density change on the MAET signals. In this paper, a finite element simulation model is established to consider the influence of density variation on the MAET signal. The simulation results show that an increase in density reduces the amplitude of the original MAET signal. The degree of reduction in signal amplitude is proportional to the increase in signal density. The simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis. Finally, the MAET experimental platform is built to validate the simulation results of MAET signals. The simulation and experiment results show that the change of density greatly influences the detection of breast liposarcoma based on MAET. It cannot be directly equivalent to the density of water. The results of this study indicate that MAET is expected to detect the early diagnosis of breast liposarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity coefficient at infinite dilution for 47 selected organic solutes in 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([AMIM]Cl) ionic liquid (IL) was determined at 303.15 K to 343.15 K through inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The partial molar excess enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy at infinite dilution, and Hildebrand solubility parameters were obtained from the values of activity coefficient at infinite dilution. The selectivity and capacity of heptane/thiophene, heptane/benzene and benzene/thiophene separation problems were also calculated based on the activity coefficient at infinite dilution values. The selectivity of three separation problems of [AMIM]Cl was 85.36, 30.65 and 2.79, which indicated that [AMIM]Cl is an ideal solvent for the separation of heptane/thiophene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New evidence suggests that abnormal expression of circular RNA (circRNA) is associated with the development of human cancers. This study aims to reveal circMYOF roles in the malignant phenotype of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). The expression of circMYOF, microRNA (miR)-145-5p, and orthodenticle homeobox 1 (OTX1) was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were determined using colony formation assay and EdU assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. Protein expression was examined by western blot analysis. Cell glycolysis was assessed by detecting glucose consumption and lactate production. Mice xenograft models were constructed to evaluate the regulation of circMYOF on LSCC tumorigenesis. The regulatory relationships among circMYOF, miR-145-5p, and OTX1 were identified using dual-luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay. Serum exosomes were isolated to confirm the existence of circMYOF in LSCC patients. CircMYOF was upregulated in LSCC tissues and cells, and its knockdown suppressed LSCC cell growth, metastasis, and glycolysis, as well as inhibited LSCC tumor growth. MiR-145-5p had decreased expression in LSCC, and it could be sponged by circMYOF. The inhibition effect of circMYOF lentivirus short hairpin RNA (sh-circMYOF) on LSCC progression was restored by the inhibitor of miR-145-5p (in-miR-145-5p). Also, OTX1 was targeted by miR-145-5p and was positively regulated by circMYOF. MiR-145-5p could repress LSCC progression, and OTX1 overexpression also eliminated this effect. In addition, we found that circMYOF was significantly overexpressed in the serum exosomes of LSCC patients. Our data revealed that circMYOF contributed to LSCC progression by promoting cell growth, metastasis, and glycolysis through miR-145-5p/OTX1 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Cognitive impairment is a primary feature of many neuropsychiatric disorders and there is a need for new therapeutic options. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors modulate cortical dopaminergic function and have been proposed as potential cognitive enhancers. Unfortunately, currently available COMT inhibitors are not good candidates due to either poor blood-brain barrier penetration or severe toxicity. Objectives: To address the need for safe, brain-penetrant COMT inhibitors, we tested multiple novel compounds in a set of preclinical in vivo efficacy assays in rats to determine their ability to inhibit COMT function and viability as potential clinical candidates. Methods: We measured the change in concentration of dopamine (DA) metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the cisterna magna and extracellular fluid (ECF) from the frontal cortex produced by our novel compounds. Additionally, we tested the effects of our brain-penetrant COMT inhibitors in an attentional set-shifting assay (ASST). We benchmarked the performance of the novel COMT inhibitors to the effects produced by the known COMT inhibitor tolcapone. Results: We found that multiple COMT inhibitors, exemplified by LIBD-1 and LIBD-3, significantly modulated dopaminergic function measured as decreases in homovanillic acid (HVA) and increases in 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), two DA metabolites, in CSF and the frontal cortex. Additionally, we found that LIBD-1 significantly improved cognitive flexibility in the ASST, an effect previously reported following tolcapone administration. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that LIBD-1 is a novel COMT inhibitor with promising in vivo activity and the potential to serve as a new therapy for cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute herpes zoster (AHZ) is a common skin disease caused by invasion of the varicella zoster virus into the ganglia and skin, and the severe pain is the most complaint, which can seriously disturb the normal life of patients. Fire needle plus cupping is a special acupuncture treatment, which is widely used to treat AHZ for its better analgesic effect in China although it has not been fully verified by rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT).Methods/design: To test the effect, a three-arm randomized parallel controlled trial protocol has been designed. A total of 105 AHZ patients suffering pain will be randomly divided into three groups in an equal proportion. The interventions are fire needle plus cupping (FC) in group A, famciclovir plus gabapentin (FG) in group B, and fire needle plus cupping plus famciclovir (FCF) in group C. The length for the trial is set for a week time frame. Precisely speaking, the A group (FC) is to carry out 1 treatment per day for the total of 7 treatment sessions within 1 week period. On the other hand, the B group (FG) will take drugs orally three times a day within the trial 1 week. Meanwhile, with its combination element, the C group (FCF) is due to undertake both treatments and drugs as prescribed for A and B groups within the trial week. As an intra-trial arrangement, analgesic medication will be carefully administered for temporary pain release if the sudden intolerable pain appeared. For the primary outcome, this study is due to apply visual analogue scale to identify pain intensity relief. As the secondary outcomes are concerned, this study is aiming to focus on the issues related to changes in substance P and beta-endorphin concentrations in peripheral plasma, as well as those issues of analgesic needs, side effects, symptoms, and physical signs including pain classification, local itching, burning sensation, fever, local lymphadenopathy, skin lesion area, blisters, herpes clusters, vesicular traits, ulcers, and pimples; all these are taken into account for evaluation. For the final stage, the participants are to be followed up for postherpetic neuralgia.Discussion: The results of this trial aim to provide sufficient evidence on FC treatment over both FG and FCF treatments. It will then give a credible alternative treatment to cut down acute pain and to cure AHZ infection.Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1800015372 . Registered on 28 March 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Peri-urban regions provide ecological, social and economic functions. • Six crops grown in Beijing's peri-urban region were evaluated. • The multiple functions of peri-urban agriculture are not always complementary. • A multi-dimensional index showed the benefits of cash and organic crops over cereals. Abstract Urbanization has proceeded rapidly in China, bringing large-scale social, economic and environmental change to the strategically important peri-urban regions that surround expanding cities. In the Beijing Metropolitan Region, with an area of 16,411 km2, government policies have sought the development of multi-functional peri-urban agriculture, favoring the production of cash crops, and the area of vegetable, fruit and organically grown cereal production has increased, whereas the area under conventional cereal production has declined. In this study, six characteristic agricultural practices in the peri-urban zone were compared in terms of energy use efficiency, economic and environmental performance. A multi-dimensional index was also constructed to compare overall performance. Conventional cereal cropping of spring maize (AP1) and winter wheat-summer maize (AP2) had the lowest energy inputs, highest energy use efficiency, and a positive net energy balance. However, cash crops (greenhouse watermelon-tomato, open-field peach; AP3 and AP4) and organically produced crops (Chinese chestnut, millet; AP5 and AP6) achieved substantially higher economic returns per ha cultivated. Fruit and vegetable crops also achieved much higher yields than conventionally grown cereals. Organically produced crops, although higher in value, achieved lower yields. Product carbon footprints ranged from 0.53 to 6.1 kg CO 2 eq kg−1 and were lowest for fruit and vegetables. Water consumption ranged from <0.1 L kg−1 for Chinese chestnut to 435 L kg−1 for the outputs of the winter wheat-summer maize rotation. When the various indicator results were combined using a multi-dimensional index, the ranking of the different peri-urban agricultural practices was AP6 > AP5 > AP3 > AP1 > AP4 > AP2. These results demonstrate that the multiple functions of per-urban agriculture are not always complementary. However, the adjustment of peri-urban agricultural practices in the Beijing Metropolitan Region appears to be increasing overall benefits. Nevertheless, benchmarking against practices in other parts of China and the world, suggests that there is substantial scope for improvement of peri-urban agriculture in the Beijing Metropolitan Region, with excessive N fertilization identified as a major contributing factor for the performance gap. The development of peri-urban agriculture in Beijing, as elsewhere, has emphasized multi-functionality, providing local food supply, economic returns for local farmers, ecological functioning, along with amenity. Different agricultural practices provide these benefits in different ways. Assessments that address only a single aspect risk informing decisions that have adverse unintended consequences. Studies employing a variety of indicators across the social, economic and environmental dimensions are required if the potential benefits of peri-urban agriculture are to be realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paddy Land-to-Dry Land (PLDL) program, which is a representative example of payment for watershed ecosystem services, has played a critical role in protecting the source of the Beijing Municipality's water supply in the Miyun Reservoir watershed since 2006. Previous studies have evaluated the program's benefits and costs and confirmed its positive impacts. However, local farmers' Willingness to Accept (WTA) for compensation, its impact factors and relevant policies, which are key factors determining its successful implementation, have not been analyzed. In this paper, a hypothesis argues that positive ecological impacts could lead to decreasing WTA values, whereas negative ecological effects could lead to increasing values. The study areas comprised three counties in Hebei Province and one district in Beijing Municipality. A total of 391 randomly selected farmers (with a response rate of 92%) participated in a face-to-face questionnaire-based survey. The contingent valuation method was applied as the main analytical tool for evaluating nonmarket environmental goods or services. Interval regression of the Tobit model was applied to analyze WTA impact factors and was validated using a logit model. The study's findings confirmed the positive effects of the PLDL program, but they did not confirm the lower WTA values that were hypothesized in the study areas. This disparity between the hypothesis and survey results can be explained in three dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. First, environmental awareness had a strong positive correlation with WTA. Respondents who valued environmental protection above economic development required higher compensation. Second, respondents' gender and household's incomes were closely related to their environmental awareness, but were not directly related to the dependent variable of WTA. Third, respondents whose degree of equity relating to the program was lower than that of others required a higher payment. Moreover, an ecological service (ES) provider's age and WTA were negatively related, younger respondents demanded a higher value for payment-related WTA in the study areas. Therefore, policymakers' decisions regarding ecological compensation should evidently take into account WTA impact factors in the PLDL program, especially ES providers' ages, their environmental awareness, and the degree of equity that they have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Findings What is the central question of this study? Does antagonism of V1b receptors prevent the haemodynamic and renal sympathetic nerve responses that occur with application of exogenous vasopressin into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of conscious, chronically instrumented rats?, What is the main finding and its importance? Microinjection of vasopressin into the PVN increased mean arterial pressure, heart rate and renal sympathetic nerve activity, all of which were inhibited by pre-injection of the PVN with the V1b antagonist, nelivaptan. The administered vasopressin did not enter the peripheral circulation or increase plasma vasopressin. Ganglionic blockade prevented each of the responses, consistent with mediation by enhanced sympathetic output rather than an increase in circulating vasopressin., Vasopressin (VP) participates in regulation of haemodynamics and volume. Besides more classical actions as a circulating hormone, VP may act via release from axons and dendrites within the CNS. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) possesses vasopressinergic neurons and a dense complement of VP receptors, including the V1b receptor, which has been implicated in several types of stress responses. We tested the hypothesis that antagonism of V1b receptors will prevent VP-induced increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). Studies were performed in conscious male Sprague-Dawley rats chronically instrumented with vascular catheters, renal nerve electrodes and a cannula stereotaxically directed into the PVN. Unilateral microinjection of VP into the PVN significantly increased MAP, HR and RSNA, peaking at 10 min. Pre-injection of the PVN with the selective V1b receptor antagonist, nelivaptan, did not alter baseline values but blocked the responses to VP. Ganglionic blockade with chlorisondamine decreased MAP and HR and abolished their increase in response to subsequent PVN application of VP. Injection of VP into the PVN did not alter plasma VP levels. Paraventricular nucleus injection with radiolabelled VP resulted in negligible radiolabelled VP in peripheral blood. These findings support the concept that, in basal conditions, PVN V1b receptor activation (rather than VP release into the periphery) may be implicated in the increases in MAP, HR and RSNA due to increased sympathetic outflow. While the role of V1a and oxytocin receptors cannot be excluded, these data suggest that further studies of the role of V1b receptor activation by endogenous VP during stress to effect neuroexcitation are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological footprint (EF) and emergy analysis (EA) are two important methods in evaluating regional or system sustainability. The EF is a quantitative tool that uses material and energy flows to estimate the biophysical 'load' imposed by human populations or industrial processes on ecosystems around the world. It is a useful indicator of sustainable development that showed the size of the biologically productive area necessary for resourcing the current consumption patterns when using common technologies. Emergy Analysis (EA) is an ecological accounting method used to comprehensively account all the inputs involving energies, natural resources consumption, and financial payments for humans by using similar units (sej). EA has been proven as an effective tool to evaluate the resource flows, support both the natural system and the economic system, and also provide a useful method for measuring the sustainability of systems. Emergy Ecological Footprint (EEF), which is a combination of these two methods, is considered to be able to measure resource consumption and environmental impact more comprehensively. Using the EEF method in this paper, we evaluated the winter wheat-summer maize rotation system, which is a typical cropping system in Huantai County located in Northern China, to try to reveal the control effect of agricultural non-point source pollution in the past decade. The results showed that compared to 1996, the total emergy input decreased by 3.15% in 2012. Phosphorus fertilizer, electricity energy for water pollution treatment, and nitrogen fertilizer are the top three contributors. The emergy of phosphorus fertilizer increased while the emergy of the other two decreased. But the emergy output capacity (EOC) increased by 6.23% due to the improvement in system efficiency. The EEF ranged from 40.94 to 39.59 hm2, which decreased by 3.30%. Meanwhile, the Resource Footprint (RF) increased 2.29 hm2, whereas the Environment Footprint (EnF) decreased 3.63 hm2. The emergy carrying capacity (ECC) had little change, ranging from 2.49 to 2.51 hm2a. The value of the EEF is 16.42 times the value of the ECC in 1996 and 15.76 times the value of the ECC in 2012, and ecological deficit reached up to 38.45 hm2 and 37.08 hm2, respectively, and declined when reduced by 3.56%. From the perspective of system sustainability, the results showed that the Resource Load Index (RLI) decreased by 4.02%, Environmental Load Index (ELI) reduced by 27.90%, System Externality (SE) reduced by 8.06%, but the Sustainability Index (SI) increased by 9.64%, suggesting that the winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in Huantai County consumed less energy, while the environmental impact caused by external input was weakened, and the sustainability level was improved. These results indicate that the non-point source pollution in Huantai County has been controlled significantly in the past decade. Overall, compared to 1996, the ecological deficit of the winter wheat-summer maize system decreased in 2012 while the sustainability and efficiency of the local farmland ecosystem increased. However, the amount of resources consumption and the environmental pressure of grain production still keep high levels, which mean the control of non-point source pollution in Huantai County needs to keep going ahead in the future. EEF provided us a new way to measure ecological sustainability, and it compensated several drawbacks of EF. Nevertheless, the EEF demonstrated the ecological carrying capacity entirely from a new perspective, and the meaning of ECC has been changed. In EEF, the ECC could only be decided by local natural conditions and failed to reflect the contribution of scientific and technological progress or productivity improvement. In order to make up for it, we designed the indicators of RLI, ELI, and SI, which integrated ecological footprint, productivity, and ecological carrying capacity for a better interpretation of the system sustainability. Agricultural production highly depends on natural conditions, so EEF might be more suitable for research in the field of agriculture systems than EF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]