Search

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common type of intractable epilepsy in adults. Although brain myelination alterations have been observed in TLE, it remains unclear how the myelination network changes in TLE. This study developed a novel method in characterization of myelination structural covariance network (mSCN) by T1‐weighted and T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The mSCNs were estimated in 42 left TLE (LTLE), 42 right TLE (RTLE) patients, and 41 healthy controls (HCs). The topology of mSCN was analyzed by graph theory. Voxel‐wise comparisons of myelination laterality were also examined among the three groups. Compared to HC, both patient groups showed decreased myelination in frontotemporal regions, amygdala, and thalamus; however, the LTLE showed lower myelination in left medial temporal regions than RTLE. Moreover, the LTLE exhibited decreased global efficiency compared with HC and more increased connections than RTLE. The laterality in putamen was differently altered between the two patient groups: higher laterality at posterior putamen in LTLE and higher laterality at anterior putamen in RTLE. The putamen may play a transfer station role in damage spreading induced by epileptic seizures from the hippocampus. This study provided a novel workflow by combination of T1‐weighted and T2‐weighted MRI to investigate in vivo the myelin‐related microstructural feature in epileptic patients first time. Disconnections of mSCN implicate that TLE is a system disorder with widespread disruptions at regional and network levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore dynamic alterations of cortical thickness before and after successful anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) in patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). Materials and Methods: High‐resolution T1‐weighted MRI was obtained in 28 mTLE patients who achieved seizure freedom for at least 24 months after ATL and 29 healthy controls. Patients were scanned at five timepoints, including before surgery, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after surgery. Preoperative cortical thickness of mTLE patients were compared with healthy controls. Dynamic alterations of cortical thickness before and after surgery were compared among five scans using linear mixed models. Results: Patients with mTLE showed cortical thinning pre‐surgically in ipsilateral entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, inferior parietal cortex, lateral occipital cortex; contralateral pericalcarine cortex (PCC); and bilateral caudal middle frontal gyrus (cMFG), paracentral lobule, precentral gyrus (PCG), superior parietal cortex. Cortical thickening was observed in contralateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). Patients showed postsurgical cortical thinning in ipsilateral temporal lobe, fusiform gyrus, caudal anterior cingulate cortex, lingual gyrus, and insula. Ipsilateral cMFG, PCC, and contralateral PCG showed significant cortical thickening after surgery. In addition, contralateral rACC showed cortical thickening at 3 months follow‐up, however, with obvious cortical thinning at 24 months follow‐up. Conclusions: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy patients showed widespread cortical thinning before and after anterior temporal lobectomy. Progressive cortical thinning mainly existed in neighboring regions of resection. Postoperative cortical thickening may indicate cortical remodeling after successful surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional village tourism is an effective path to rural revitalization and an excellent way to preserve traditional sceneries and cultural heritage. However, research on the subject matter has been limited. To address some of the current research gaps, this study used 2372 online travelogues from popular travel websites to explore the spatio-temporal distribution and network structure of the tourism flow in traditional villages in western Hunan using ArcGIS and social network analysis. The main findings are as follows: (1) In terms of time distribution, the tourism flow in traditional villages in Western Hunan is dominated by short-term tourism and shows significant seasonal differences. (2) The spatial distribution forms a double-core and multipoint spatial pattern with "Fenghuang Ancient City—Zhangjiajie National Forest Park" as core. (3) The network of traditional villages in Western Hunan exhibits a "core-periphery" hierarchical structure, with a network density of 0.275. Aside from the attraction and appeal of the twin cores, Furong Town and Tianmen Mountain constitute the core points of the network structure, and the radiation drive of the core nodes is not pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was reported to induce myocardial regeneration by promoting mobilization of bone marrow stem cells to the injured heart after myocardial infarction, but the precise mechanisms of the beneficial effects of G-CSF are not fully understood. Here we show that G-CSF acts directly on cardiomyocytes and promotes their survival after myocardial infarction. G-CSF receptor was expressed on cardiomyocytes and G-CSF activated the Jak/Stat pathway in cardiomyocytes. The G-CSF treatment did not affect initial infarct size at 3 d but improved cardiac function as early as 1 week after myocardial infarction. Moreover, the beneficial effects of G-CSF on cardiac function were reduced by delayed start of the treatment. G-CSF induced antiapoptotic proteins and inhibited apoptotic death of cardiomyocytes in the infarcted hearts. G-CSF also reduced apoptosis of endothelial cells and increased vascularization in the infarcted hearts, further protecting against ischemic injury. All these effects of G-CSF on infarcted hearts were abolished by overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant Stat3 protein in cardiomyocytes. These results suggest that G-CSF promotes survival of cardiac myocytes and prevents left ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction through the functional communication between cardiomyocytes and noncardiomyocytes., Author(s): Mutsuo Harada [1, 4]; Yingjie Qin [1, 4]; Hiroyuki Takano [1, 4]; Tohru Minamino [1, 4]; Yunzeng Zou [1]; Haruhiro Toko [1]; Masashi Ohtsuka [1]; Katsuhisa Matsuura [1]; Masanori [...]

Objectives: To explore the dynamic changes of gray matter volume and intrinsic brain activity following anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) in patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) who achieved seizure‐free for 2 years. Materials and Methods: High‐resolution T1‐weighted MRI and resting‐state functional MRI data were obtained in ten mTLE patients at five serial timepoints: before surgery, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. The gray matter volume (GMV) and amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations (ALFF) were compared among the five scans to depict the dynamic changes after ATL. Results: After successful ATL, GMV decreased in several ipsilateral brain regions: ipsilateral insula, thalamus, and putamen showed gradual gray matter atrophy from 3 to 24 months, while ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, caudate nucleus, lingual gyrus, and fusiform gyrus showed significant GMV decrease at 3 months follow‐up, without further changes. Ipsilateral insula showed gradual ALFF decrease from 3 to 24 months after surgery. Ipsilateral superior temporal gyrus showed ALFF decrease at 3 months follow‐up, without further changes. Ipsilateral thalamus and cerebellar vermis showed obvious ALFF increase after surgery. Conclusions: Surgical resection may lead to a short‐term reduction of gray matter volume and intrinsic brain activity in neighboring regions, while the progressive gray matter atrophy may be due to possible intrinsic mechanism of mTLE. Dynamic ALFF changes provide evidence that disrupted focal spontaneous activities were reorganized after successful surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND A major cost in acid-catalysed hydrolysis of biomass to fermentable sugars is the consumption of acid itself. In this study, a combined process was developed in which the acid and sugar in the hydrolysate were separated using an acid retardation process and then the dilute aqueous product streams were concentrated using a continuous-effect membrane distillation ( CEMD) process, thus acid could be reused as catalyst. RESULTS The recovery rate of sugar was as high as 94.3-99.2% while the recovery rate of sulfuric acid was 92.4-98.9%. The eluents were further concentrated using the CEMD process. When a solution of 2 wt% sulfuric acid was concentrated to c. 40 wt%, the maximum value of permeation flux ( Jw) and gained output ratio ( GOR) was 6.20 L m−2 h−1 and 15.50, respectively. Meanwhile, the dilute aqueous sugar solution obtained from corn stover was concentrated 20-fold to a final concentration of c. 497.6 g L−1 using the CEMD process with a final GOR of 5.5. CONCLUSION The combination of acid retardation and CEMD is suitable for the production of sugar, further purification and concentration of eluents; the sugar solution can be used for fermentation and acid solution can be reused as catalyst. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous-effect membrane distillation (CEMD) process was developed by equipping air gap membrane distillation (AGMD)-based and strictly-parallel hollow fiber module with internal heat recovery. Its performance was indicated by flux, performance ratio and evaporation efficiency. Two kinds of CEMD modules made from different membrane fibers were tested. A face-centered central composite experimental design was conducted to investigate the influences of operating variables including cold-feed temperature, hot-feed temperature, and feed-in flow rate on the performance. Within the studied experimental range, the maximum PR of 13.8 was obtained. A theoretical model based on governing transport equations was established to predict the process performance, and the model described the experimental data fairly well. In light of the model, possible ways to further increase PR were predicted. The dilute aqueous sugar solution was successfully concentrated 12-fold to a final concentration of about 20 wt % by using CEMD process with a final PR of 8.2. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1278-1297, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Multiple-effect membrane distillation (MEMD) process, by using a hollow fiber-based AGMD module and an external heat exchanger, was studied to concentrate dilute sulfuric acid solution. Latent heat of distillate was in-situ recovered by directly heating the cold feed within the AGMD module of special configuration. Permeation flux (J w ) and performance ratio (PR) parameters were used to characterize the operation performance of MEMD process. PR value obtained in the MEMD process was much higher than that obtained in traditional and the other modified membrane distillation process. The effects of heated feed-in temperature, cold feed-in temperature, feed-in flow rate and feed-in concentration on the MEMD performance were experimentally investigated. The dilute sulfuric acid in 2wt.% could be concentrated up to about 40wt.% by using MEMD process. The maximum value of PR and J w could reach 11.5 and 5.3L/m2h, respectively. When the feed concentration was up to 20wt.%, the value of PR and J w could still be 4.9 and 1.9L/m2h, respectively. In a long-term stability test lasting for >30days, the electrical conductivity of the distillate was always less than 150μs/cm, which demonstrated that the performance of MEMD modules was kept in good condition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor that has a crucial role in the development of load-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Here, we show that cell stretch leads to activation of the AT1 receptor, which undergoes an anticlockwise rotation and a shift of transmembrane (TM) 7 into the ligand-binding pocket. As an inverse agonist, candesartan suppressed the stretch-induced helical movement of TM7 through the bindings of the carboxyl group of candesartan to the specific residues of the receptor. A molecular model proposes that the tight binding of candesartan to the AT1 receptor stabilizes the receptor in the inactive conformation, preventing its shift to the active conformation. Our results show that the AT1 receptor undergoes a conformational switch that couples mechanical stress-induced activation and inverse agonist-induced inactivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor has a crucial role in load-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Here we show that the AT1 receptor can be activated by mechanical stress through an angiotensin-II-independent mechanism. Without the involvement of angiotensin II, mechanical stress not only activates extracellular-signal-regulated kinases and increases phosphoinositide production in vitro, but also induces cardiac hypertrophy in vivo. Mechanical stretch induces association of the AT1 receptor with Janus kinase 2, and translocation of G proteins into the cytosol. All of these events are inhibited by the AT1 receptor blocker candesartan. Thus, mechanical stress activates AT1 receptor independently of angiotensin II, and this activation can be inhibited by an inverse agonist of the AT1 receptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]