Numerical Simulation of Hot Accretion Flow around Bondi Radius

Previous numerical simulations have shown that strong winds can be produced in the hot accretion flows around black holes. Most of those studies focus only on the region close to the central black hole, therefore it is unclear whether the wind production stops at large radii around Bondi radius. Bu et al. 2016 studied the hot accretion flow around the Bondi radius in the presence of nuclear star gravity. They find that when the nuclear stars gravity is important/comparable to the black hole gravity, winds can not be produced around the Bondi radius. However, for some galaxies, the nuclear stars gravity around Bondi radius may not be strong. In this case, whether winds can be produced around Bondi radius is not clear. We study the hot accretion flow around Bondi radius with and without thermal conduction by performing hydrodynamical simulations. We use the virtual particles trajectory method to study whether winds exist based on the simulation data. Our numerical results show that in the absence of nuclear stars gravity, winds can be produced around Bondi radius, which causes the mass inflow rate decreasing inwards. We confirm the results of Yuan et al. which indicates this is due to the mass loss of gas via wind rather convectional motions.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Effects of nebulized ketamine on allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation in actively sensitized Brown-Norway rats

Since airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and allergic inflammatory changes are regarded as the primary manifestations of asthma, the main goals of asthma treatment are to decrease inflammation and maximize bronchodilation. These goals can be achieved with aerosol therapy. Intravenous administration of the anesthetic, ketamine, has been shown to trigger bronchial smooth muscle relaxation. Furthermore, increasing evidence suggests that the anti-inflammatory properties of ketamine may protect against lung injury. However, ketamine inhalation might yield the same or better results at higher airway and lower ketamine plasma concentrations for the treatment of asthma. Here, we studied the effect of ketamine inhalation on bronchial hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation in a Brown-Norway rat model of ovalbumin(OVA)-induced allergic asthma. Animals were actively sensitized by subcutaneous injection of OVA and challenged by repeated intermittent (thrice weekly) exposure to aerosolized OVA for two weeks. Before challenge, the sensitizened rats received inhalation of aerosol of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or aerosol of ketamine or injection of ketamine respectivity. Airway reactivity to acetylcholine (Ach) was measured in vivo, and various inflammatory markers, including Th2 cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), as well as induciable nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitric oxide (NO) in lungs were examined. Our results revealed that delivery of aerosolized ketamine using an ultrasonic nebulizer markedly suppressed allergen-mediated airway hyperreactivity, airway inflammation and airway inflammatory cell infiltration into the BALF, and significantly decreased the levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in the BALF and expression of iNOS and the concentration of NO in the inflamed airways from OVA-treated rats. These findings collectively indicate that nebulized ketamine attenuated many of the central components of inflammatory changes and AHR in OVA-provoked experimental asthma, potentially providing a new therapeutic approach against asthma

Dual-energy computed tomography iodine uptake in differential diagnosis of inflammatory and malignant pulmonary nodules

PURPOSEThe aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of iodine uptake parameters using dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) in discriminating inflammatory nodules from malignant tumors.METHODSThis retrospective study included 116 solid pulmonary nodules from 112 patients who were admitted to our hospital between January and September 2018. All nodules were confirmed by surgery or puncture. The degree of enhancement of a single-section region of interest was evaluated. After total tumor volume-of-interest segmentation, the mean iodine density of the whole tumor was measured. Meanwhile, iodine uptake parameters, including total iodine uptake volume, total iodine concentration, vital iodine uptake volume, and vital iodine concentration, were calculated, and a predictive model was established. The overall ability to discriminate between inflammatory and malignant nodules was analyzed using an independent samples t-test for normally distributed variables. The diagnostic accuracy and prognostic performance of DECT parameters were evaluated and compared using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and logistic regression analysis. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the prognostic factors and goodness-of-fit of the whole tumor mean iodine and iodine uptake parameters for discriminating malignant nodules.RESULTSThere were 116 non-calcified nodules, including 64 inflammatory nodules and 52 malignant nodules. The degree of enhancement in malignant nodules was significantly lower than that in inflammatory nodules (P=.043). All iodine uptake parameters in malignant nodules were significantly higher than those in inflammatory nodules (P < .001). The area under the receiver operating curve value, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the established model based on iodine uptake parameters were 0.803, 76.72%, 82.69%, and 84.37%, respectively, which exhibited better diagnostic performance than the degree of enhancement on weighted average images with respective values of 0.609, 59.48%, 61.54%, and 59.38%.CONCLUSIONThe iodine uptake parameters of DECT exhibited better diagnostic accuracy in discriminating inflammatory nodules from malignant nodules than the degree of enhancement on weighted average images

Gallic acid pyridine monosolvate

In the title compound (systenatic name: 3,4,5-trihy­droxy­benzoic acid pyridine monosolvate), C5H5N·C7H6O5, the gallic acid mol­ecule is essentially planar (r.m.s deviation = 0.0766 Å for non-H atoms) and is linked to the pyridine mol­ecule by an O—H⋯N hydrogen bond. An intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond occurs in the gallic acid mol­ecule. The gallic acid and pyridine mean planes make a dihedral angle 12.6 (3)°. Inter­molecular O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonding involving the hy­droxy and carboxyl groups and the pyridine mol­ecule, and π–π inter­actions between inversion-related pyridines [centroid–centroid distance = 3.459 (6) Å] and between pyridine and benzene rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.548 (6) Å], lead to a three-dimensional network in the crystal

Proteomic Analysis of Aorta and Protective Effects of Grape Seed Procyanidin B2 in db/db Mice Reveal a Critical Role of Milk Fat Globule Epidermal Growth Factor-8 in Diabetic Arterial Damage

Atherosclerosis is one of the major complications of type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM), leading to morbidity and mortality. Grape seed procyanidin B2 (GSPB2) has demonstrated protective effect against atherosclerosis, which is believed to be, at least in part, a result of its antioxidative effects. The aim of this study is to identify the target protein of GSPB2 responsible for the protective effect against atherosclerosis in patients with DM

Essential oils for the treatment of demodex

The Demodex infestation is widely spread among older people. The conventional treatment of demodex involves chemicals and antibiotics. However, these treatments have a number of side effects, such as environmental risks, acaricide resistance, toxicity to humans and animals. Benefit from abundant sources of plants and plant extractions have been a new choice for treating demodex infections. This review summarizes the anti-demodex and side effects of certain botanical essential oils. The high efficacy and low side effects of essential oils, such as TTO and its active ingredient terpinen-4-oil, camphor oil, sage oil, peppermint oil, neem oil, clove oil make them good candidates for the treatment of mites. Further studies on the biological mechanisms of the acaricide effects of these active essential oils and the structure-activity relations are necessary to clarify the functions of these drugs

High Prevalence and Genetic Heterogeneity of Rodent-Borne Bartonella Species on Heixiazi Island, China

We performed genetic analysis of Bartonella isolates from rodent populations from Heixiazi Island in northeast China. Animals were captured at four sites representing grassland and brushwood habitats in 2011 and examined for the prevalence and genetic diversity of Bartonella species, their relationship to their hosts, and geographic distribution. A high prevalence (57.7%) and a high diversity (14 unique genotypes which belonged to 8 clades) of Bartonella spp. were detected from 71 rodents comprising 5 species and 4 genera from 3 rodent families. Forty-one Bartonella isolates were recovered and identified, including B. taylorii, B. japonica, B. coopersplainsensis, B. grahamii, B. washoensis subsp. cynomysii, B. doshiae, and two novel Bartonella species, by sequencing of four genes (gltA, the 16S rRNA gene, ftsZ, and rpoB). The isolates of B. taylorii and B. grahamii were the most prevalent and exhibited genetic difference from isolates identified elsewhere. Several isolates clustered with strains from Japan and far-eastern Russia; strains isolated from the same host typically were found within the same cluster. Species descriptions are provided for Bartonella heixiaziensis sp. nov. and B. fuyuanensis sp. nov