Ultrasonography in the assessment of primary myxofibrosarcoma in the left atrium: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac myxofibrosarcoma is a rare cardiac malignant tumor, whose diagnosis is challenging due to its rare and non-specific manifestations. Ultrasound is the most important tool for detecting cardiac tumors. Yet, its diagnostic value in cardiac myxoidfibrosarcoma is rarely reported. Herein, we summarized the ultrasonic manifestations of myxofibrosarcoma in a 72-year-old Han woman. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient presented with crushing chest pain without obvious inducement, lasting 3-5 min each time, which would be relieved after rest, accompanied by palpitation, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, and syncope. The electrocardiogram (ECG) suggested atrial fibrillation. Ultrasound found two moderate echogenic masses in the left atrium; one was about 48 × 31 mm in size, and the other was about 25 × 24 mm in size. The clinical diagnosis was atrial mass and atrial fibrillation. The patient underwent the operation of left atrial tumor resection + mitral valvuloplasty + atrial fibrillation radiofrequency ablation + left atrial appendectomy. The tumor was completely removed, and the patient did not receive radiotherapy or chemotherapy after surgery. The patient was reexamined by ultrasound at 6, 42, and 91 days after surgery, and no obvious abnormalities were found. On day 115, moderate echoic mass was detected on the posterior wall of the left atrium, nearing the mitral valve ring, with a size of about 28 × 23 mm. Currently, the patient is under follow-up care. CONCLUSION: As the most important examination method for cardiac tumors, cardiac ultrasound has good diagnostic and differential diagnosis value and can be used regularly due to its simplicity and safety. The diagnosis rate of cardiac myxofibrosarcoma can be greatly improved by summarizing the ultrasonographic manifestations of cardiac myxofibrosarcoma and differentiating them from other lesions.

Perception of Urban Public Safety of Floating Population with Higher Education Background: Evidence from Urban China.

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused people to pay significant attention to urban public safety issues. The city's public safety is an important part of the high-quality development and the construction of a liveable city. To understand whether and how factors at different levels affect the public security of particular group of people in a city. This study uses data from an extensive questionnaire survey by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China (MOHURD) in 11 cities. This study uses the descriptive statistical method and Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) to study the perception of urban public safety (PUPS) and its influencing factors of floating population with higher education background (FPHEB) from the three levels of city-district-individual. The study finds that (1) when FPHEB is placed in a district and a city at the same time, the influence of the city on PUPS is greater than that of the district; (2) the urban's infrastructure security and economic development security positively affect the floating population; (3) the GDP and the number of stadiums and hospitals of the district are significantly positively correlated with the PUPS of the FPHEB, whereas the increase of population density and road density have negative effects; (4) FPHEB with distinct attributes will make their PUPS also different. This study is not only a reflection on the construction of urban public security after the COVID-19 outbreak but can also be used as a theoretical reference for the government in constructing urban public security. This study also enriches the research on the floating population and makes good scientific suggestions for the city's PUPS of the FPHEB. The research results can provide a better reference for the government's urban safety construction from the perspective of residents' perception.

Dynamics, differences, influencing factors of eco-efficiency in China: A spatiotemporal perspective analysis.

Eco-efficiency can effectively measure the relationship between economy, resources, environment, and development. Understanding eco-efficiency is of great practical significance for decision makers tasked with addressing and delivering sustainable socioeconomic development. Based on an "undesirable output Slacks-Based Measure models," this study evaluated the eco-efficiency of 285 Chinese cities during the period 2004-2014, analyzing spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors using a Spatial Autocorrelation Panel Data Model. The main results are as follows: From the spatial perspective, eco-efficiency in Chinese cities generally evidenced an M-shaped trend (increasing-decreasing-increasing-decreasing), and imbalanced spatiotemporal dynamics. Furthermore, the urban eco-efficiency generally presented a distinct convergence of HH cluster and LL cluster clubs, with the latter being the most dominant. From the regional point of view, there existed a decreasing trend in the efficiencies of cities, from eastern China to central and western China. In addition, we identified significant differences in the eco-efficiency of different cities in China, and the coefficient of variation of eco-efficiency showed a general decrease. The results of our estimation of the factors affecting urban eco-efficiency showed that the economic development level, the industrial structure, import and export trade, and the information level all had significant positive influence, and local government expenditure, social retail sales of consumer goods, and infrastructure all had a negative effect on urban eco-efficiency. This paper puts forward numbers of suggestions for ways to promote social, ecological, and economic development in Chinese cities, based on our findings.

Environmental efficiency and equality embodied in China's inter-regional trade.

Embodied emissions in trade have been widely studied; however, there is still a lack of studies that explore whether a country is benefitting from its inter-regional trade in terms of pollutant emissions. This study took sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions as an example and employed modified input-output (MIO) model and traditional input-output (IO) model to quantify emissions under no-trade and trade conditions, and further investigated environmental efficiency and equality of inter-regional trade in China in 2010. The results show that inter-regional trade had increased emissions by 28% compared to no-trade emissions, which confirms the environmental inefficiency of inter-regional trade in China. This was largely because regions with better technology and low emission intensities tended to outsource the production of pollution-intensive but low value-added goods to regions with high emission intensities through inter-regional trade. The exchanges of pollution-intensive products in inter-regional trade have led to notable environmental inequities. Eastern regions usually gained the greatest environmental benefits from trade, while central regions (especially Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei) suffered the largest environmental loss induced by trade. Specifically, Guangdong plundered other regions the most (796 G gram (Gg)), while Shanxi was plundered the most by other regions (790 Gg). Polices to differentiate reduction criteria for emission intensity in different regions and adjust trade patterns within China could be recommended in order to achieve trade-related environmental efficiency as well as environmental equality.

The effect of natural and anthropogenic factors on PM2.5: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities with different income levels.

The aim of this paper is to estimate the effects of natural conditions and anthropogenic factors on PM2.5 concentrations, taking into consideration differences in the income levels, and thus the development stages, of the cities studied. To achieve this goal, a balanced dataset of 287 Chinese cities was divided into different income-based panels for the period 1998-2015. The empirical estimation results indicated that meteorological conditions exerted varied effects on PM2.5 concentrations across different income-based panels. The results show that the coefficients of temperature were positive and significant in all panels, with the exception of upper-middle-income cities. Whilst wind speed and precipitation were found to be conducive to reducing PM2.5 concentrations, no such significant correlation was found in relation to relative humidity (except in high-income cities). In terms of the anthropogenic factors addressed in the study, we found an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic development and PM2.5 concentrations, confirming the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. In addition, the industrial structure and road density were observed to exert significant positive impacts on PM2.5 concentrations. The empirical analysis of the effects of FDI on PM2.5 concentrations indicate that FDI aggravated PM2.5 pollutions in the total cities and lower-middle-income cities panels, supporting the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. The empirical results for population density suggested that it does not significantly influence PM2.5 concentrations. Moreover, we found that built-up area exerts mixed effects on PM2.5 concentrations. These results cast a new light on the issue of PM2.5 pollution for government policy makers tasked with formulating measures to mitigate the concentration of such pollutants, encouraging that consideration be given to the differences between cities with different income levels.

Does foreign direct investment affect environmental pollution in China's cities? A spatial econometric perspective.

Environmental pollution has aroused extensive concern worldwide. Existing literature on the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and environmental pollution has, however, seldom taken into account spatial effects. Addressing this gap, this paper investigated the spatial agglomeration effects and dynamics at work in FDI and environmental pollution (namely, in waste soot and dust, sulfur dioxide, and wastewater) in 285 Chinese cities during the period 2003-2014, using global and local measures of spatial autocorrelation. Our results showed significant spatial autocorrelation in FDI and environmental pollution levels, both of which demonstrated obvious path dependence characteristics in their geographical distribution. A range of agglomeration regions were observed. The high-value and low-value agglomeration areas of FDI were not fully consistent with those of environmental pollution. This result indicates that higher inflows of FDI did not necessarily lead to greater environmental pollution from a geographic perspective, and vice versa. Spatial panel data models were further adopted to explore the impact of FDI on environmental pollution. The results of a spatial lag model (SLM) and a spatial error model (SEM) revealed that the inflow of FDI had distinct effects on different environmental pollutants, thereby confirming the Pollution Heaven Hypothesis and Pollution Halo Hypothesis. The inflow of FDI was found to have reduced waste soot and dust pollution to a certain extent, while it increased the degree of wastewater and sulfur dioxide pollution. The findings set out in this paper hold significant implications for Chinese environmental pollution protection.

The global pattern of urbanization and economic growth: evidence from the last three decades.

The relationship between urbanization and economic growth has been perplexing. In this paper, we identify the pattern of global change and the correlation of urbanization and economic growth, using cross-sectional, panel estimation and geographic information systems (GIS) methods. The analysis has been carried out on a global geographical scale, while the timescale of the study spans the last 30 years. The data shows that urbanization levels have changed substantially during these three decades. Empirical findings from cross-sectional data and panel data support the general notion of close links between urbanization levels and GDP per capita. However, we also present significant evidence that there is no correlation between urbanization speed and economic growth rate at the global level. Hence, we conclude that a given country cannot obtain the expected economic benefits from accelerated urbanization, especially if it takes the form of government-led urbanization. In addition, only when all facets are taken into consideration can we fully assess the urbanization process.

An assessment of androgenic/anti-androgenic effects of GH transgenic carp by Hershberger assay.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the androgenic and anti-androgenic effects of GH (growth hormone) transgenic carp in male rats. METHODS: Hershberger assay was carried out in castrated male SD rats aged 4-5 weeks. Testosterone propionate (TP) (0.4 mg/kg BW) was administrated for a positive control, GH transgenic carp (3.0 g/kg BW)+TP (0.4 mg/kg BW), parental carp (3.0 g/kg BW) + TP (0.4 mg/kg BW), and flutamide (Flu) (3.0 g/kg BW) were used for negative controls, and vehicle was administered orally for a blank control. All groups were administrated for 10 consecutive days. At the end of the test, animals were anesthetized, then weights of accessory sex organ were measured. Serum testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) levels were detected. RESULTS: The weights ratios of the accessory sex organs and body weights showed no significant differences between the solvent control and the GH transgenic carp-treated groups. Serum concentrations of FSH, LH, and T of the rats treated with GH transgenic carp + TP showed no significant changes, compared with those treated with TP only. CONCLUSION: GH transgenic carp does not have any androgenic agonist or antagonist properties in vivo screening tests.