Description: Pulmonary fibrosis contributes to morbidity and mortality in a range of diseases, and there are no approved therapies for reversing its progression. To understand the mechanisms underlying pulmonary fibrosis and assess potential therapies, mouse models are central to basic and translational research. Unfortunately, metrics commonly used to assess murine pulmonary fibrosis require animals to be grouped and euthanized, increasing experimental difficulty and cost. We examined the ability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to noninvasively assess lung fibrosis progression and resolution in a doxycycline (Dox) regulatable, transgenic mouse model that overexpresses transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) under control of a lung-epithelial-specific promoter. During 7 wk of Dox treatment, fibrotic lesions were readily observed as high-signal tissue. Mean weighted signal and percent signal volume were found to be the most robust MRI-derived measures of fibrosis, and these metrics correlated significantly with pleural thickness, histology scores, and hydroxyproline content ( R = 0.75–0.89). When applied longitudinally, percent high signal volume increased by 1.5% wk –1 ( P 〈 0.001) and mean weighted signal increased at a rate of 0.0065 wk –1 ( P = 0.0062). Following Dox treatment, lesions partially resolved, with percent high signal volume decreasing by –3.2% wk –1 ( P = 0.0034) and weighted mean signal decreasing at –0.015 wk –1 ( P = 0.0028). Additionally, longitudinal MRI revealed dynamic remodeling in a subset of lesions, a previously unobserved behavior in this model. These results demonstrate MRI can noninvasively assess experimental lung fibrosis progression and resolution and provide unique insights into its pathobiology.

Description: Author(s): X. L. Tu, X. C. Chen, J. T. Zhang, P. Shuai, K. Yue, X. Xu, C. Y. Fu, Q. Zeng, X. Zhou, Y. M. Xing, J. X. Wu, R. S. Mao, L. J. Mao, K. H. Fang, Z. Y. Sun, M. Wang, J. C. Yang, Yu. A. Litvinov, K. Blaum, Y. H. Zhang, Y. J. Yuan, X. W. Ma, X. H. Zhou, and H. S. Xu Lifetime measurements of β -decaying highly charged ions have been performed in the experimental storage ring (CSRe) by applying the isochronous Schottky mass spectrometry. The fully ionized Cr 49 and Fe 53 ions were produced in projectile fragmentation of Ni 58 primary beam and were stored in the CSRe ... [Phys. Rev. C 97, 014321] Published Tue Jan 30, 2018

Description: The Hongniu-Hongshan Cu skarn deposit (77.8 Mt at 1.8% Cu) is located in the central part of the Zhongdian porphyry and skarn Cu belt in southwestern China. Skarn and orebodies occur mainly between the different units of the Upper Triassic Qugasi Formation or within altered limestone adjacent to Late Cretaceous intrusions (78–76 Ma). Three main paragenetic stages of skarn formation and ore deposition have been recognized on the basis of petrographic observations: (1) pre-ore-stage hornfels with diopside (Di 87–72 Hd 12–7 ), small-scale endoskarn with reddish grossular (Adr 22–57 Gr 78–43 ), diopside (Di 83–92 Hd 7–15 ), vesuvianite, and abundant exoskarn with red-brown andradite (Adr 75–98 Gr 2–22 ), sahlite (Di 28–41 Hd 58–71 ), and wollastonite; (2) syn-ore-stage retrograde minerals, sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, molybdenite, galena, and sphalerite), quartz, and calcite; and (3) post-ore-stage calcite veins. Sulfur isotope values of sulfides are relatively high, with an average 34 S = 4.9 (n = 40), suggesting that the ore-forming fluid was magmatic and that the sulfides precipitated from a relatively reducing ore fluid. The coexistence of silicate melt and primary fluid inclusions in quartz phenocrysts of the mineralization-related quartz monzonite porphyry indicates the simultaneous entrapment of fluid and melt, and records the process of the aqueous fluid exsolving from the crystallizing melt. The initial single-phase fluid has a salinity of 8.8 to 12.7 wt % NaCl equiv and homogenization temperatures of 566° to 650°C, corresponding to pressures of 680 to 940 bar and lithostatic depth of 2.5 to 3.5 km. The primary fluid inclusions in the pre-ore-stage garnet and pyroxene composed of coeval vapor-rich (V type) and halite-bearing (S-I and S-II types containing sylvite) inclusions (32–〉79 total wt % salts) share similar homogenization temperatures (450°–550°C), indicative of the occurrence of fluid unmixing under lithostatic pressures of ~550 to 780 bar (〉2.0-km depth). Primary fluid inclusions trapped in syn-ore quartz, calcite, and epidote show the common development of S-type inclusions (~37.3 wt % NaCl equiv) with coexisting V-type, liquid-rich (L type), and CO 2 -bearing (C-I type) inclusions, all of which have homogenization temperatures of 300° to 400°C and trapping pressures of 100 to 400 bar (~1.5-km depth). Brine inclusions homogenized by halite dissolution after vapor disappearance in both the pre- and syn-ore stages are interpreted to have been trapped under overpressured conditions (〉1,520 bar). Oxygen isotope analyses were conducted on garnet, wollastonite, epidote, quartz, and calcite. The pre-ore-stage garnet and wollastonite have 18 O fluid values of 5.6 to 8.1, whereas the syn-ore-stage epidote, quartz, and calcite have more variable 18 O fluid values in the range of 3.9 to 17.5. The 18 O fluid values of the post-ore-stage vein calcite (15.2–21.3) are much higher than both the pre- and syn-ore stages. The vapor phase of inclusions contains H 2 S, CH 4 , and C 2 H 6 in the syn-ore stages. All these observations reveal that (1) the formation of the Cu skarn deposit was dominated by a magmatic hydrothermal system, (2) multiple fluid pulses contributed to the formation of the pre- and syn-ore-stage skarn minerals and sulfides, and (3) the increase in pH due to the neutralization of the acidic fluid could be the main factor controlling the large-scale ore deposition in Hongniu-Hongshan.

Description: Soil warming has the potential to alter both soil and plant processes that affect carbon storage in forest ecosystems. We have quantified these effects in a large, long-term (7-y) soil-warming study in a deciduous forest in New England. Soil warming has resulted in carbon losses from the soil and stimulated carbon gains in the woody tissue of trees. The warming-enhanced decay of soil organic matter also released enough additional inorganic nitrogen into the soil solution to support the observed increases in plant carbon storage. Although soil warming has resulted in a cumulative net loss of carbon from a New England forest relative to a control area over the 7-y study, the annual net losses generally decreased over time as plant carbon storage increased. In the seventh year, warming-induced soil carbon losses were almost totally compensated for by plant carbon gains in response to warming. We attribute the plant gains primarily to warming-induced increases in nitrogen availability. This study underscores the importance of incorporating carbon–nitrogen interactions in atmosphere–ocean–land earth system models to accurately simulate land feedbacks to the climate system.

Description: The high-frequency signal is often used as the communication signal of Ground-based radar, which is susceptible to atmospheric effects. An atmospheric disturbance correction of radar signal is required to obtain the monitoring accuracy of better than millimeter in precision deformation monitoring using ground-based radar interferometry. In this paper, we analyzed the experimental-data change of ground-based radar in the atmospheric disturbance statistically and proposed a correction method based on the discrete stable point in the global environment. The following experiment proved that this method can optimize the measurement results for the scene of small-scale.

Description: Several neuroimaging studies have suggested brain reorganisation in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM); however, the changes in spontaneous neuronal activity that are associated with connectedness remain largely unknown. In this study, functional connectivity strength (FCS), a data-driven degree centrality method based on a theoretical approach, was applied for the first time to investigate changes in the sensory-motor network (SMN) at the voxel level. Comparatively, CSM not only showed significantly decreased FCS in the operculum-integrated regions, which exhibited reduced resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) around the Rolandic sulcus, but it also showed increased FCS in the premotor, primary somatosensory, and parietal-integrated areas, which primarily showed an enhanced rsFC pattern. Correlation analysis showed that altered FCS (in the left premotor-ventral/precentral-operculum, right operculum-parietale 4, and right S1) was associated with worsening Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores and that the rsFC pattern was influenced by cervical cord micro-structural damage at the C2 level. Together, these findings suggest that during myelopathy, the intrinsic functional plasticity of the SMN responds to the insufficient sensory and motor experience in CSM patients. This knowledge may improve our understanding of the comprehensive functional defects found in CSM patients and may inspire the development of new therapeutic strategies in the future. Scientific Reports 5 doi: 10.1038/srep09975