Dynamics of cold pulses induced by super-sonic molecular beam injection in the EAST tokamak

Evolution of electron temperature, electron density and its fluctuation with high spatial and temporal resolutions are presented for the cold pulse propagation induced by super-sonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) in ohmic plasmas in the EAST tokamak. The non-local heat transport occurs for discharges with plasma current $I_p$=450 kA ($q_{95}\sim5.55$), and electron density $n_{e0}$ below a critical value of $(1.35\pm0.25)\times10^{19}~\mathrm{m^{-3}}$. In contrary to the response of core electron temperature and electron density (roughly 10 ms after SMBI), the electron density fluctuation in the plasma core increases promptly after SMBI and reaches its maximum around 15 ms after SMBI. The electron density fluctuation in the plasma core begins to decrease before the core electron temperature reaches its maximum (roughly 30 ms). It was also observed that the turbulence perpendicular velocity close to the inversion point of the temperature perturbation changes sign after SMBI

Modulating the Activity of the DLPFC and OFC Has Distinct Effects on Risk and Ambiguity Decision-Making: A tDCS Study

Human beings are constantly exposed to two types of uncertainty situations, risk and ambiguity. Neuroscientific studies suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the orbital frontal cortex (OFC) play significant roles in human decision making under uncertainty. We applied the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device to modulate the activity of participants’ DLPFC and OFC separately, comparing the causal relationships between people’s behaviors and the activity of the corresponding brain cortex when confronted with situations of risk and ambiguity. Our experiment employed a pre–post design and a risk/ambiguity decision-making task, from which we could calculate the preferences via an estimation model. We found evidences that modulating the activity of the DLPFC using right anodal/left cathodal tDCS significantly enhanced the participants’ preferences for risk, whereas modulating the activity of the OFC with right anodal/left cathodal tDCS significantly decreased the participants’ preferences for ambiguity. The reverse effects were also observed in the reversed tDCS treatments on the two areas. Our results suggest that decision-making processes under risk and ambiguity are complicated and may be encoded in two distinct circuits in our brains as the DLPFC primarily impacts decisions under risk whereas the OFC affects ambiguity

Protective effect of GLP-1 analog liraglutide on podocytes in mice with diabetic nephropathy

Protection of podocytes is one of the important means to delay the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN), and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has been shown to have a protective effect on the kidney in DN models, but whether it h as a protective effect on podocytes and the potential mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. In the present study, we established a type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mouse model by high-fat diet feeding combined with streptozotocin (STZ) induction and admini stered the intervention for 14 weeks. We found that liraglutide significantly ameliorate d podocyte injury in DN mice. Mechanistically, we detected glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) protein expression levels in kidney tissues by immunohistochemical stai ning, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting and found that podocytes could express GLP-1R and liraglutide treatment could restore GLP-1R expression in the kidney tissues of DN mice. Furthermore, we found that NLRP3-induced inflammation and pyropt osis were positively correlated with podocyte injury in DN mice, and liraglutide inh ibited the expression of NLRP3-induced inflammation and pyroptosis-related proteins. Our results suggest that liraglutide protects DN mouse podocytes by regulating GLP-1R in renal tissues and by regulating NLRP3-induced inflammation and pyroptosis

In Situ and in Vivo Study of Nasal Absorption of Paeonol in Rats

The objective of this work was to study the in situ and in vivo nasal absorption of paeonol. A novel single pass in situ nasal perfusion technique was applied to examine the rate and extent of nasal absorption of paeonol by rats. Various experimental conditions, such as perfusion rate, pH, osmotic pressure and drug concentration, were investigated. The in situ experiments showed that the nasal absorption of paeonol was not dependent on drug concentration, and fitted a first order process. The absorption rate constant, Ka, increased with an increase in perfusion speed. Paeonol was better absorbed in acidic solutions than in neutral or alkaline solutions. The value of Ka was higher in a hypertonic environment than under isotonic or hypotonic conditions. In vivo studies of paeonol absorption were carried out in rats and the pharmacokinetics parameters of intranasal (i.n.) and intragastric (i.g.) administration were compared with intravenous (i.v.) administration. The bioavailabilities of paeonol were 52.37% and 15.81% for i.n. and i.g, respectively, while Tmax values were 3.05 ± 1.46 min and 6.30 ± 0.70 min. MRT (Mean Residence Time) were 23.19 ± 6.46 min, 41.49 ± 2.96 min and 23.09 ± 5.88 min for i.n., i.g. and i.v. methods, respectively. The results demonstrate that paeonol could be absorbed promptly and thoroughly by i.n. administration in rats

Evaluation and Empirical Research on Eco-Efficiency of Financial Industry Based on Carbon Footprint in China

Since finance is the core of economic development, the green development of the financial industry is an essential driving force not only for achieving the dual “carbon” goal of China but also for economic and social sustainable development. An accurate understanding of the ecological efficiency of the financial industry is of great importance for guiding sustainable economic development. In this paper, we first calculate the carbon footprint of China’s financial industry in 2012 and 2017 based on the life cycle theory and the input–output analysis method. Second, we analyze the primary sources and final flows of the carbon footprint of the financial industry in each province from the perspectives of the industrial chain and final demand. Finally, we estimate the ecological efficiency, emission reduction, and value-added potential of the financial industry by using the radially adjusted slack variable DEA model (SRAM-DEA) under two assumptions, natural disposability and managerial disposability. The results show that (1) the ecological efficiency of the financial industry in most provinces is low, and the regional differences are significant; (2) the overall ecological efficiency of the financial industry in 2017 was better than that in 2012; (3) technological innovation of financial products and the upgrading of capital supervision play an essential role in promoting the improvement of ecological efficiency. Especially, under managerial disposability, the ecological efficiency of the financial industry in each province has a greater potential for emission reduction and added value

Shufeng Jiedu Capsules Alleviate Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Inflammatory Injury via Activation of GPR18 by Verbenalin

Background/Aims: Acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) is the most common reason for outpatient physician office visits. Although powerful and significant in the treatment of infections, antibiotics used for ARTI inappropriately have been an important contributor to antibiotic resistance. We previously reported that Shufeng Jiedu Capsule (SJC) can effectively amplify anti-inflammatory signaling during infection. In this study, we aimed to systematically explore its composition and the mechanism of its effects in ARTI. Methods: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAK) strain was used to generate a mouse model of ARTI, which were then treated with different drugs or compounds to determine the corresponding anti-inflammatory roles. High-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry. was conducted to detect the chemical compounds in SJC. RNAs from the lung tissues of mice were prepared for microarray analysis to reveal globally altered genes and the pathways involved after SJC treatment. Results: SJC significantly inhibited the expression and secretion of inflammatory factors from PAK-induced mouse lung tissues or lipopolysaccharide-induced peritoneal macrophages. Verbenalin, one of the bioactive compounds identified in SJC, also showed notable anti-inflammatory effects. Microarray data revealed numerous differentially expressed genes among the different treatment groups; here, we focused on studying the role of GPR18. We found that the anti-inflammatory role of verbenalin was attenuated in GPR18 knockout mice compared with wild-type mice, although no statistically significant difference was observed in the untreated PAK-induced mice types. Conclusion: Our data not only showed the chemical composition of SJC, but also demonstrated that verbenalin was a significant anti-inflammatory compound, which may function through GPR18

Preparation and photodynamic therapy application of NaYF4:Yb, Tm-NaYF4:Yb, Er multifunctional upconverting nanoparticles

E-mail Addresses: [email protected]; [email protected] preparation, characterization and application of NaYF4:Yb3+, Tm3+-NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+ core-shell upconversion nanocrystals (UCNPs) with multiple emission peaks (e.g. 539, 654 and 802 nm) have been demonstrated in this work. The monodisperse nanocrystals were prepared via a modified thermal decomposition synthesis. The resulting UCNPs were similar to 31 nm in diameter with the lanthanide ions Tm3+ and Er3+ doped in the core and the shell, respectively. Under the laser diode excitation at 980 nm, these core-shell nanocrystals give strong upconversion emissions from the visible to near-infrared (NIR) region. By coating a PEG-phospholipid (PP) layer on the surface of the nanocrystals, the as-prepared UCNPs were favorably endowed with good water solubility for the potential biological applications. Here, a photosensitizer drug of Chlorin e6 (Ce6), which has maximum absorption that overlaps with the red emission of UCNPs, was loaded on these PP-coated UCNPs (UCNP@PP) by physical adsorption. The activity of the Ce6-loaded UCNP@PP (UCNP@PP-Ce6) in photodynamic therapy of cancer cells in vitro has been fully investigated in this work. Our results indicated that these multifunctional UCNP@PP-Ce6 nanoparticles have efficient NIR-to-NIR upconversion luminescence and photodynamic therapy capabilities, which could be potentially employed as a theranostic platform for cancer treatment.National Natural Science Foundation of China 21101131 21021061 20925103 Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province 2012J01056 Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 2010121015 Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars of State Education Ministry NFFTBS J121001