The Development of a Digital X-ray Imaging System for The Characterization of Transmission of Whole-Body Vibration in Mice

Mechanical stimulus such as whole-body vibration (WBV) has shown to promote bone formation both in humans and animals. WBV has been hypothesized as a potentially useful osteoporosis intervention. While the transmission of WBV has been well characterized in humans, there is currently a lack of knowledge in the transmission of vibration in small animal models, such as mice, due to the lack of an implantable accelerometer appropriate to make such measurements. This thesis introduces an imaging-based method to quantify transmission of vibration in mice using x-ray imaging. Specifically, it utilizes motion blur of fiducial markers, which are implanted into the mouse skeleton. Vibration characteristics in vivo were characterized over the range of 15–40 Hz. Resonance was observed in the femur at 25 Hz and reduction in transmission in the tibia at 30 Hz. These findings provide an estimate of the magnitude of vibration transmitted into the animal’s limb

Analytical solution of the linear fractional differential equation by Adomian decomposition method

AbstractIn this paper, we consider the n-term linear fractional-order differential equation with constant coefficients and obtain the solution of this kind of fractional differential equations by Adomian decomposition method. With the equivalent transmutation, we show that the solution by Adomian decomposition method is the same as the solution by the Green's function. Finally, we illustrate our result with some examples

Effective discrimination of flavours and tastes of Chinese traditional fish soups made from different regions of the silver carp using an electronic nose and electronic tongue

Silver carp is a one of the most important freshwater fish species in China, and is popular when making soup in the Chinese dietary culture. In order to investigate the profile of fish soup tastes and flavours cooked using different regions of the same fish, the silver carp was cut into four different regions: head, back, abdomen, and tail. The differences in taste and flavour of the four kinds of homemade fish soup were investigated by an electronic nose and electronic tongue. The basic chemical components of the different fish regions and the SDS-PAGE profile of the fish soup samples were investigated. Two chemometrics methods (principal component analysis and discriminant factor analysis) were used to classify the odour and taste of the fish soup samples. The results showed that the electronic tongue and nose performed outstandingly in discriminating the four fish soups even though the samples were made from different regions of the same fish. The taste and flavour information of different regions of the silver carp fish could provide the theoretical basis for food intensive processing

Forecast of cross-correlation of CSST cosmic shear tomography with AliCPT-1 CMB lensing

We present a forecast study on the cross-correlation between cosmic shear tomography from the Chinese Survey Space Telescope (CSST), and CMB lensing from Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT-1) in Tibet. We generate the correlated galaxy lensing and CMB lensing signals from the Gaussian realizations based on the inputted auto- and cross-spectra. As for the error budget, we consider the CMB lensing reconstruction noise based on the AliCPT-1 lensing reconstruction pipeline; the shape noise of the galaxy lensing measurement; CSST photo-$z$ error; photo-$z$ bias; intrinsic alignment effect. The AliCPT-1 CMB lensing mock data are generated according to two experimental stages, namely the "4 modules*yr" and "48 modules*yr" cases. We estimate the cross-spectra in 4 tomographic bins according to the CSST photo-$z$ distribution in the range of $z\in[0,4)$. After reconstructing the pseudo-cross-spectra from the realizations, we calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). By combining the 4 photo-z bins, the total cross-correlation SNR$\approx17$ (AliCPT-1 "4 modules*yr") and SNR$\approx26$ (AliCPT-1 "48 modules*yr"). Finally, we study the cosmological application of this cross-correlation signal. Due to the negative contribution to the galaxy lensing data, the exclusion of intrinsic alignment in the template fitting will lead to roughly a $0.6\sigma$ increasement in $\sigma_8$ but without changing the $S_8$ value. For AliCPT-1 first and second stages, the cross-correlation of CSST cosmic shear with CMB lensing give $\sigma_8=0.770\pm 0.034$ and $S_8=0.797\pm 0.028$ and $\sigma_8=0.801\pm 0.023$ and $S_8=0.813\pm 0.016$, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Optimized procedure for the determination of P species in soil by liquid-state 31 P-NMR spectroscopy

Liquid-state 31P-NMR spectroscopy becomes progressively an important role for studying phosphorus (P) dynamics in soil. Soils of different origin and organic matter content were used to optimize sample preparation and re-dissolution procedures to improve characterization of P species in soil by 31P-NMR spectroscopy. The efficiency of P extraction from an untreated fresh soil was compared to that from freeze-dried and air-dried soil samples. A freeze-drying pretreatment not only provided the greatest extraction yields of total and organic P from both farmland and forest soils but also enhanced the intensity of signals for inorganic and organic P species in 31P-NMR spectra, except for polyphosphates. Re-dissolution of freeze-dried soil extracts in relatively dilute alkaline solution and addition of a small aliquot of concentrated HCl to the NMR tube prior to analysis improved the quality of NMR spectra. Finally, the visibility of relatively weak P signals, such as for phosphorus diesters, phosphonates, polyphosphate, phospholipids, and DNA were reproducibly enhanced when 31P-NMR spectra were generated after at least 15 h of acquisition time. The optimized procedure presented here ensured the greatest detectability of inorganic and organic P species by liquid-state P-NMR spectroscopy in soil extracts

Activation of Protein Serine/Threonine Phosphatase PP2Cα Efficiently Prevents Liver Fibrosis

Over-activation of TGFβ signaling pathway and uncontrolled cell proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play pivotal roles in liver fibrogenesis, while the protein serine/threonine phosphatase PP2Cα was reported to negatively regulate TGFβ signaling pathway and cell cycle. Our study aimed to investigate the role of PP2Cα in liver fibrogenesis.The effects of PP2Cα activation on liver fibrosis were investigated in human HSCs and primary rat HSCs in vitro using western blotting, real-time PCR, nuclear translocation, cell viability and cell cycle analyses. The antifibrogenic effects in carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))- and bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced mice in vivo were assessed using biochemical, histological and immunohistochemical analyses. The results demonstrated that activation of PP2Cα by overexpression or the new discovered small molecular activator NPLC0393 terminated TGFβ-Smad3 and TGFβ-p38 signaling pathways, induced cell cycle arrest in HSCs and decreased α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression, collagen deposition and hepatic hydroxyproline (HYP) level in CCl(4)- and BDL-induced mice.Our findings suggested that PP2Cα activation might be an attractive new strategy for treating liver fibrosis while the small molecular activator NPLC0393 might represent a lead compound for antifibrogenic drug development. Moreover, our study might provide the first evidence for the role of PP2C family members in the fibrotic disease

Mixed methods to explore factors associated with the decline of patients in the methadone maintenance treatment program in Shanghai, China

BACKGROUND: This study was to characterize the Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) in Shanghai, China, and to explore factors associated with the decline of patients in MMT during 2005-2016. METHODS: Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study. Based on the data from Shanghai Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we described the changes in the number of patients who received MMT, and new enrollment each year from 2005 to 2016. Focus groups were conducted with 22 patients, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 9 service providers. RESULTS: Quantitative data demonstrate that the number of new enrollment began to decline in 2009, and the number of patients receiving MMT began to decline in 2012. The main reasons for dropout include (1) discontinuing medication due to unknown reasons (25%), (2) criminal activities other than drug-related crimes (20%), (3) relapse to heroin use (16%), and (4) physical disease (10%). Qualitative assessment results indicate that the major reasons for the decline of patients in MMT are as follows: (1) the increase of Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) use in recent years, (2) limited knowledge about MMT in both patients and MMT staff, (3) complicated enrollment criteria, and (4) discrimination against drug use. CONCLUSION: Various reasons to explain the decline of patients in MMT in Shanghai, China, were identified. Government agencies, service providers, and other stakeholders need to work together and overcome identified barriers to support MMT programs in China