Increased functional connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in depression

To analyze the functioning of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in depression, we performed the first fully voxel-level resting state functional-connectivity neuroimaging analysis of depression of the PCC, with 336 patients with major depressive disorder and 350 controls. Voxels in the PCC had significantly increased functional connectivity with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, a region implicated in non-reward and which is thereby implicated in depression. In patients receiving medication, the functional connectivity between the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and PCC was decreased back towards that in the controls. In the 350 controls, it was shown that the PCC has high functional connectivity with the parahippocampal regions which are involved in memory. The findings support the theory that the non-reward system in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex has increased effects on memory systems, which contribute to the rumination about sad memories and events in depression. These new findings provide evidence that a key target to ameliorate depression is the lateral orbitofrontal cortex

Functional connectivity of the human amygdala in health and in depression

To analyze the functioning of the amygdala in depression, we performed the first voxel-level resting state functional-connectivity neuroimaging analysis of depression of voxels in the amygdala with all other voxels in the brain, with 336 patients with major depressive disorder and 350 controls. Amygdala voxels had decreased functional connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex, temporal lobe areas, including the temporal pole, inferior temporal gyrus, and the parahippocampal gyrus. The reductions in the strengths of the functional connectivity of the amygdala voxels with the medial orbitofrontal cortex and temporal lobe voxels were correlated with increases in the Beck Depression Inventory score and in the duration of illness measures of depression. Parcellation analysis in 350 healthy controls based on voxel-level functional connectivity showed that the basal division of the amygdala has high functional connectivity with medial orbitofrontal cortex areas, and the dorsolateral amygdala has strong functional connectivity with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and related ventral parts of the inferior frontal gyrus. In depression, the basal amygdala division had especially reduced functional connectivity with the medial orbitofrontal cortex which is involved in reward; and the dorsolateral amygdala subdivision had relatively reduced functional connectivity with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex which is involved in non-reward

Operation Optimization and Water Quality Simulation of Potable Water Distribution System

A potable water distribution system (WDS) consists of pipes, pumps, valves, storage tanks, control and supporting components. Traditionally, it has two basic functions. First, provides end users with potable water at sufficient pressures and good water quality. Second, provides sufficient pressure and flow for fire fighting. Currently, potable water is still the least expensive material for fire fighting. To accomplish these two goals, water utilities have to consider the integrity and security of the water network. As a result, this research selected three research topics that are closely related to the daily operation of water utilities and water quality simulation. The first study is on optimal sampling design for chlorine decay model calibration. Three questions are investigated: (1) What is the minimum number of chlorine sample locations a water network needs? (2) How many combinations of sampling locations are available? (3) What is the optimal location combination? To answer the first two questions, the mathematical expressions of the chlorine concentrations between any two sampling locations are developed and sampling point relationship matrices are generated, then a mixed integer programming (MIP) algorithm is developed. Once obtained, the solutions to the first two questions are used to calculate the chlorine decay wall reaction coefficients and sensitivity matrix of chlorine concentration wall reaction coefficients; then, sampling location combinations achieved in the second question are sorted using a D-optimality algorithm. The model frame is demonstrated in a case study. The advantage of this method, compared to the traditional iterative sensitivity matrix method, is that a prior knowledge or estimation of wall reaction coefficients is not necessary. The second study is on optimizing the operation scheduling of automatic flushing device (AFD) in water distribution system. Discharging stagnant water from the pipeline through AFD is a feasible method to maintain water quality. This study presents a simulation-based optimization method to minimize total AFD discharge volume during a 24-hour horizon. EPANET 2.0 is used as hydraulics and water quality simulator. This is formulated as a single objective optimization problem. The decision variables are the AFD operation patterns. The methodology has three phases. In the first phase, AFD discharge capacities are calculated, whether existing AFDs are able to maintain chlorine residuals in the water network is also evaluated. In the second phase, the decision variables are converted to AFD discharge rates. A reduced gradient algorithm is used to quickly explore and narrow down the solution space. At the end of this phase, decision variables are switched back to the AFD operation patterns. In the third phase, simulated annealing is used to search intensively to exploit the global minimum. The method is demonstrated on the water system located at the south end of Pinellas County, Florida where AFD optimal operation patterns are achieved. The third study is on simulating contaminant intrusion in water distribution system. When contaminant matrix is introduced into water distribution system, it reacts with chlorine in bulk water rapidly and causes fast disinfectant depletion. Due to the difficulties in identifying contaminant types and chemical and biological properties, it is a challenging task to use EPANET-MSX to simulate chlorine decay under contaminant attack. EPANET 2.0 is used in the study to accomplish this goal. However, EPANET 2.0 cannot directly simulate chlorine depletion in the event of contamination attack because it assigns one time-independent bulk reaction coefficient to one specific pipe during the simulation. While under contaminant intrusion, chlorine decay bulk coefficient is not a constant. Instead, it is a temporal and spatial variable. This study presents an innovative approach for simulating contaminant intrusion in water distribution systems using EPANET multiple times. The methodology has six general steps. First, test bulk reaction coefficients of contaminant matrix in chemical lab. The uniqueness of this study is that the contaminant matrix is studied as a whole. The investigations of chemical, biological properties of individual aqueous constituents are not needed. Second, assume the contaminants as nonreactive, using EPANET 2.0 to identify where, when and at what concentrations of the inert contaminants will pass by in the water network. Third, determine the number of chlorine residual simulations based on the results in step two. Fourth, use EPANET to simulate the chlorine residual in the water network without the occurrence of contamination. Fifth, assign contaminated bulk coefficients to contaminated pipes; use EPANET to simulate the chlorine residual in the pipe network. Lastly, the chlorine concentrations of the impacted moments of impacted junctions are replaced with the results calculated in step five. This methodology is demonstrated in the south Pinellas County water distribution system

Effect of acidic polymers on the morphology of non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation of potassium bromide

Abstract Non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation (NPLIN) in supersaturated potassium bromide (KBr) solutions with the addition of acidic polymers is reported here for the first time. Upon absorbing the incident laser, crystallites are immediately induced along the laser pathway in the solution, eventually growing into needle-shaped crystals of varying sizes. When comparing induction time, nucleation probability, and crystal habits with spontaneous nucleation, the results suggest that NPLIN creates a distinct morphological pathway, transforming cubic crystals into needle-like structures. Additionally, it improves crystallization probability and growth rate. This paper aims to realize control from crystal nucleation to crystal growth by adding acidic polymers to the process of laser-induced nucleation, potentially influencing crystal morphology modification in NPLIN. With 19 wt% acidic polymers added to the solution as additives, control over both crystal growth and morphological modifications was observed: cubic KBr crystals with square patterns were produced through laser irradiation, and there was a varying reduction in both the number and growth rate of the crystals. The influence of acidic polymers on the solution environment was analyzed to determine the reasons for the variations in crystal quantity and growth speed. The underlying mechanisms responsible for the changes in crystal shape were also discussed

A High Performance Piezoelectric Sensor for Dynamic Force Monitoring of Landslide

Due to the increasing influence of human engineering activities, it is important to monitor the transient disturbance during the evolution process of landslide. For this purpose, a high-performance piezoelectric sensor is presented in this paper. To adapt the high static and dynamic stress environment in slope engineering, two key techniques, namely, the self-structure pressure distribution method (SSPDM) and the capacitive circuit voltage distribution method (CCVDM) are employed in the design of the sensor. The SSPDM can greatly improve the compressive capacity and the CCVDM can quantitatively decrease the high direct response voltage. Then, the calibration experiments are conducted via the independently invented static and transient mechanism since the conventional testing machines cannot match the calibration requirements. The sensitivity coefficient is obtained and the results reveal that the sensor has the characteristics of high compressive capacity, stable sensitivities under different static preload levels and wide-range dynamic measuring linearity. Finally, to reduce the measuring error caused by charge leakage of the piezoelectric element, a low-frequency correction method is proposed and experimental verified. Therefore, with the satisfactory static and dynamic properties and the improving low-frequency measuring reliability, the sensor can complement dynamic monitoring capability of the existing landslide monitoring and forecasting system

MINFIT: A Spreadsheet-Based Tool for Parameter Estimation in an Equilibrium Speciation Software Program

Determination of equilibrium constants describing chemical reactions in the aqueous phase and at solid–water interface relies on inverse modeling and parameter estimation. Although there are existing tools available, the steep learning curve prevents the wider community of environmental engineers and chemists to adopt those tools. Stemming from classical chemical equilibrium codes, MINEQL+ has been one of the most widely used chemical equilibrium software programs. We developed a spreadsheet-based tool, which we are calling MINFIT, that interacts with MINEQL+ to perform parameter estimations that optimize model fits to experimental data sets. MINFIT enables automatic and convenient screening of a large number of parameter sets toward the optimal solutions by calling MINEQL+ to perform iterative forward calculations following either exhaustive equidistant grid search or randomized search algorithms. The combined use of the two algorithms can securely guide the searches for the global optima. We developed interactive interfaces so that the optimization processes are transparent. Benchmark examples including both aqueous and surface complexation problems illustrate the parameter estimation and associated sensitivity analysis. MINFIT is accessible at http://minfit.strikingly.com