[Dynamic Analysis on Carbon Metabolism of the Northern Region of China Under the Background of Carbon Emission Trading Policy].

The launch of the national carbon emissions trading market in China is a policy to carry out the Beautiful China initiative and to establish a low-carbon economic development system that promotes carbon emission and waste reduction. In order to detect the carbon metabolic processes of the pilot and nonpilot municipalities or provinces in the northern region of China， the theory of urban carbon metabolism and the methods of input-output analysis and ecological network analysis were introduced and used. The results showed that the direct carbon emissions of Beijing and Tianjin had decreased， but their embodied carbon emissions had increased since 2012. The direct and embodied carbon emissions of the pilot sectors in Beijing and Tianjin had the same trend； specifically， the emissions of the sectors of mining and washing of coal， extraction of petroleum and natural gas， and manufacture of non-metallic mineral products decreased significantly， but the sectors of production and supply of electric power and steam with high carbon emission increased. The same trend of the embodied carbon emission intensities of sectors with that of their embodied carbon emissions verified that the embodied added values were not growing with the promotion of the carbon emission trading market. Subsequently， the embodied carbon emission of the pilot sectors in all the municipalities and provinces of the northern region were all contributed mainly by the emissions embodied by a path length less than 6； therefore， it showed that more attention should be paid to the trade among sectors with a path length less than 6 and reducing their carbon emissions. Furthermore， from 2007 to 2012， products or service trading among sectors mostly concentrated on sectors within one municipality or province， and these products or services had the characteristics of low carbon emission. Since 2012， the integration development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and the new regional economic patterns established in the northern region both promoted the trading across provinces and across sectors. This research is based on the background of the carbon emission trading policy and aims to build a methodology to identify the key actors and paths in a metabolic system. This could provide a scientific basis for regional policy implementation and regional long-term sustainable development.

Acupuncture for Poststroke Dysphagia: A Pilot, Nonrandomized, Self-Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment for dysphagia as a complication of stroke. Methods and Design. This is a multicenter, pragmatic, nonrandomized, self-controlled clinical trial. A total of 39 patients were recruited from several Chinese medicine outpatient clinics and hospital-affiliated speech therapy outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. 26 patients completed all the 24 sessions of acupuncture treatment within two months, and only 12 of them were used as self-control. For the self-control group, the retrospective clinical data was taken from the electronic patient records with patient consent. The descriptive swallowing function data were converted into the quantitative Royal Brisbane Hospital Outcome Measure for Swallowing (RBHOMS) scores by two registered speech therapists through a validation process. And the data were validated by reaching consensus between the two speech therapists. All subjects underwent a baseline assessment before commencement of treatment, and outcome assessments were conducted upon the completion of treatment. The primary outcome measure is the RBHOMS score, which is a swallowing disability rating scale for monitoring difficulties in daily swallowing function. Secondary outcome measures include the Chinese version of the Swallow Quality-of-Life Questionnaire and adverse events. All the primary and secondary outcomes were assessed at baseline as well as at the end of acupuncture treatment (month 2). RESULTS: A total of 39 participants aged 46 to 89 years were enrolled in the study, and the male-to-female ratio was 15 : 11. The mean baseline RBHOMS score of all 39 participants was 5.92 ± 2.23. The mean retrospective RBHOMS score of the 12 subjects who were used as self-control was 5.67 ± 1.72 before enrollment, while the mean RBHOMS score of the 26 participants who completed all the 24 sessions of treatment was 6.92 ± 2.07. There were statistically significant differences between the RBHOMS score at the completion of treatment and baseline (p=0.006), and retrospective data (p=0.042). Moreover, a significant difference was also found in terms of swallow quality-of-life score before and after acupuncture treatment (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for poststroke dysphagia. The findings from this trial can be used as a foundation for future full-scale randomized controlled clinical trials to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for poststroke dysphagia. Ethics and Dissemination. The ethical approval of the clinical research study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of both New Territories East and West Cluster of Hong Kong. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants, and the study was undertaken according to the ICH-GCP Guidelines. Trial Registration. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-TRC-12002621 and the registration date is 2012-10-26.

[Isolation, Identification and Nitrogen Removal Characteristics of a Heterotrophic Nitrification-Aerobic Denitrification Strain y3 Isolated from Marine Environment].

A heterotrophic nitrification--aerobic denitrification bacterium named y3 was isolated from the sludge of Jiaozhou Bay using the enrichment medium with seawater as the matrix. It was identified as Pseudomonas sp. based on the morphological observation, physiological experiments and sequence analysis of 16S rRNA. The experiment results showed that the optimal carbon resource was sodium citrate, the optimal pH was 7.0, and the optimal C/N was 13. The strain could use NH4Cl, NaNO2 and KNO3 as sole nitrogen source, and the removal efficiencies were 98.69%, 78.38% and 72.95% within 20 hours, respectively. There was no nitrate and nitrite accumulation during the heterotrophic nitrification process. Within 20 hours, the nitrogen removal efficiencies were 99.56%, 99.75% and 99.41%, respectively, in the mixed system with NO3⁻-N: NO²â»-N of 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2. When the NH4⁺-N: NO3⁻-N ratios were 2: 1 , 1: 1 , 1: 2, the nitrogen removal efficiencies were all 100% . When the NH4⁺-N:NO2⁻-N ratios were 2:1,1:1,1:2, the nitrogen removal efficiencies were 90.43%, 92.79% and 99.96%, respectively. They were higher than those with single nitrogen source. As a result, strain y3 had good nitrogen removal performance in high saline wastewater treatment.

Modulation of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus on gastric motility in rats.

AIM:To investigate whether the arcuate nucleus (ARC) could modulate gastric motility, and if so, what are the mechanisms or pathways.METHODS:Wistar rats, anaesthetized with urethan, parameters of stimulation and electrolytic lesion sites were determined according to the Paxinos and Watson ATLAS of rat brain in steriotaxic coordinate. Intragastric pressure (IGP) and gastric motility were measured by Reybould's method.RESULTS:Electrical stimulation of ARC could obviously decrease the IGP by 42.2% plus minus 5.4%, n =15,P < 0.01, and the phasic gastric contractions disappeared.The analysis showed that the locus coeruleus (LC) and dorsal raphe (DR) nuclei may be involved in central,but without the invovement of alpha-endorphinergic neurons rich in the ARC, while in periphery, the peripheral neural pathways are both vagus and sympathetic nerves.The fibers in vagus may be non-cholinergic. Humoral factors may also be involved.At the receptor level, Tonic action of adrenergic nerve in the stomach is mainly inhibitory;alpha-receptors, which may be present on the stomach wall and mediate inhibition; and -alpha-receptors, which come into play through vagus, mediate inhibition, but those present on the smooth muscle mediate sympathetic excitation.Microinjection of TRH into ARC could significantly increase the IGP by 183.02% (0.53kPa plus minus 0.08kPa vs 1.5k Pa plus minus 0.6kPa, n =10,P < 0.001), the rate and amplitude of phasic gastric contraction were also increased (3cpm vs 6cpm-8cpm). The peripheral pathway of such excitatory effects were transmitted with cholinergic vagus nerve mediated by M-receptor.CONCLUSION:ARC could modulate gastric motility biphasically, inhibitory and excitatory, depending on the nature of stimuli.