Obstructive sleep apnea comorbid with insomnia symptoms and objective short sleep duration is associated with clinical and preclinical cardiometabolic risk factors: Clinical implications.

Background: Insomnia with objective short sleep duration (ISSD) but not insomnia with normal sleep duration (INSD) is associated with cardiometabolic morbidity. It has been reported that sleep apnea comorbid with insomnia (COMISA) confers higher cardiovascular risk than each condition alone. We hypothesize that the association of COMISA with clinical (hypertension) and preclinical (inflammatory and metabolic) biomarkers is driven by the ISSD phenotype.

Engineering an activatable fluorescent probe for studying ONOO in pyroptotic process.

Pyroptosis, a recently discovered form of programmed cell death, plays a pivotal role in oncological treatment. Howbeit, the mechanisms underlying pyroptosis in tumor treatment remain unclear. Previous research has demonstrated that the occurrence of pyroptosis generally accompanies a surge of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, with ONOO being one of these ROS and closely linked to numerous diseases.

A reliable method of high performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for determining selenoamino acids in selenoproteins from Lactococcus lactis.

A reliable method for simultaneous determination of four organic selenium species by HPLC-ICP-MS was developed and implemented in determining organic selenoamino acids (Se-AAs) in selenoproteins from Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) NZ9000. The method consisted of liberating Se-AAs from selenoproteins using ultrasound-assisted protease hydrolysis, and quantitatively detecting Se-AA speciations by HPLC-ICP-MS.

Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Left-Behind Children in Impoverished Rural China: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study of Fourth-Grade Children.

Purpose: Children who are left behind when their parents migrate for work have a high prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems, which affect social function and increase family burden. To date, no national survey has been conducted on the emotional and behavioral problems of left-behind children (LBC) in China. This study aimed to investigate the emotional and behavioral outcomes of primary school LBC in the fourth grade in impoverished rural China and the possible influences of family environment and parenting practices.

Prussian blue coated with reduced graphene oxide as high-performance cathode for lithium-Sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with their outstanding theoretical energy density are strongly considered to take over the post-lithium ion battery era; however, they are limited by sluggish reaction kinetics and the severe shuttling of soluble lithium polysulfides. Prussian blue analogues (PBs) have demonstrated their efficiency in hindering the shuttle effects as host materials of sulfur; unfortunately, they show an inferior electronic conductivity, exhibiting considerable lifespan but poor rate performance. Herein, we rationally designed a PB@reduced graphene oxide as the host material for sulfur (S@PB@rGO) hybrids a facile liquid diffusion and physical absorption method, in which the sulfur was integrated into NaCo[Fe(CN)] and rGO framework.

Coupling PEDOT on Mesoporous Vanadium Nitride Arrays for Advanced Flexible All-Solid-State Supercapacitors.

Tailored construction of advanced flexible supercapacitors (SCs) is of great importance to the development of high-performance wearable modern electronics. Herein, a facile combined wet chemical method to fabricate novel mesoporous vanadium nitride (VN) composite arrays coupled with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as flexible electrodes for all-solid-state SCs is reported. The mesoporous VN nanosheets arrays prepared by the hydrothermal-nitridation method are composed of cross-linked nanoparticles of 10-50 nm.

Bifunctional NiFe layered double hydroxide@NiS heterostructure as efficient electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

The tailored construction of non-noble metal bifunctional electrocatalysts for high-efficiency oxygen/hydrogen evolution reactions (OER/HER) is vital for the development of electrochemical energy conversion. Herein, we report a powerful combined wet chemical method to fabricate a novel binder-free NiFe layered double hydroxide@NiS (NiFe LDH@NiS) heterostructure as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting. The hydrothermal-synthesized NiFe LDH nanosheets are uniformly coated on the NiS nanosheet skeleton forming 3D porous heterostructure arrays.

Comparison of Totally Thoracoscopic and Traditional Sternotomy Approaches for Mitral Valve Replacement.

Background: We aimed to investigate the feasibility and safety of mitral valve replacement using a totally thoracoscopic approach in comparison with traditional median sternotomy.

Methods: Between January 2016 and December 2017, 94 consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve replacement were divided into two groups: A thoracoscopic group (43 cases) and a traditional group (51 cases). For the thoracoscopic group, all patients underwent total thoracoscopic procedures with femoral arterial and venous cannulation to cardiopulmonary bypass, transthoracic aortic cross-clamp, and antegrade cardioplegia.

Images of Anomalous Origin of The Right Coronary Artery From the Pulmonary Artery.

Anomalies of the coronary arteries -- especially their abnormal origin from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) trunk -- are among the least common. They're also the most dangerous of congenital heart defects with an incidence of 0.002% in the general population [Williams 2006].

Extraction of the Anisotropic Plasticity of Metal Materials by Using Inverse Analysis and Dual Indentation Tests.

In this paper, a novel inverse computation approach is proposed to extract the anisotropic plasticity parameters of metal materials by using inverse analysis and dual indentation tests. Based on dimensional analysis and extensive finite element (FE) simulations, four independent dimensionless functions are derived to correlate the anisotropic plasticity parameters with material responses in dual indentation tests. Besides, an inverse calculation algorithm is suggested, to estimate the unknown anisotropic parameters of the indented specimens using the information collected from indentation.

A Novel Approach to Estimate the Plastic Anisotropy of Metallic Materials Using Cross-Sectional Indentation Applied to Extruded Magnesium Alloy AZ31B.

In this paper, a methodology is presented for obtaining the plastic anisotropy of bulk metallic materials using cross-sectional indentation. This method relies on spherical indentation on the free edge of a specimen, and examining the out-of-plane residual deformation contour persisting on the cross-section after unloading. Results obtained from numerical simulation revealed that some important aspects of the out-of-plane residual deformation field are only sensitive to the extent of the material plastic anisotropy, and insensitive to strain hardening, yield strain, elastic anisotropy, and the selected displacement threshold value.

Dimeric structure of the uracil:proton symporter UraA provides mechanistic insights into the SLC4/23/26 transporters.

The Escherichia coli uracil:proton symporter UraA is a prototypical member of the nucleobase/ascorbate transporter (NAT) or nucleobase/cation symporter 2 (NCS2) family, which corresponds to the human solute carrier family SLC23. UraA consists of 14 transmembrane segments (TMs) that are organized into two distinct domains, the core domain and the gate domain, a structural fold that is also shared by the SLC4 and SLC26 transporters. Here we present the crystal structure of UraA bound to uracil in an occluded state at 2.

Rutin attenuates neuroinflammation in spinal cord injury rats.

Background: Neuroinflammatory responses involve the activation of the interleukin (IL) -1β and IL-18. Processing and activation of the pro-inflammatory IL require NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Rutin can protect spinal cord against damage, but the potential mechanisms underlying remain unknown.

Comparative Pharmacokinetics of Ginsenoside Rg3 and Ginsenoside Rh2 after Oral Administration of Ginsenoside Rg3 in Normal and Walker 256 Tumor-bearing Rats.

Background: Ginseng is Chinese traditional herbal medicine, and the ginsenoside Rg3 is the main bioactive ingredient for the anti-tumor effect. However, there is no study on pharmacokinetics (PKs) of ginsenoside Rg3 and its main metabolite after oral ginsenoside Rg3 in tumor-bearing plasma. The aim of this study was to investigate the PK profiles of ginsenoside Rg3 and ginsenoside Rh2 after oral administration of pure ginsenoside Rg3 were administered, and compare the difference of the PK profiles between normal and Walker 256 tumor-bearing rats.

Photodissociation of gaseous CH3COSH at 248 nm by time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy: observation of three dissociation channels.

Upon one-photon excitation at 248 nm, gaseous CH(3)C(O)SH is dissociated following three pathways with the products of (1) OCS + CH(4), (2) CH(3)SH + CO, and (3) CH(2)CO + H(2)S that are detected using time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy. The excited state (1)(n(O), π*(CO)) has a radiative lifetime of 249 ± 11 ns long enough to allow for Ar collisions that induce internal conversion and enhance the fragment yields. The rate constant of collision-induced internal conversion is estimated to be 1.

Molecular elimination of Br2 in photodissociation of CH2BrC(O)Br at 248 nm using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy.

The primary elimination channel of bromine molecule in one-photon dissociation of CH(2)BrC(O)Br at 248 nm is investigated using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy. By means of spectral simulation, the ratio of nascent vibrational population in v = 0, 1, and 2 levels is evaluated to be 1:(0.5 ± 0.

Hepatitis B Virus Genotype B and High Expression of Interferon Alpha Receptor β Subunit are Associated With Better Response to Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2a in Chinese Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B Infection.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of leading causes of various hepatic diseases including acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hundreds of million people worldwide are infected by HBV, chronically.

Objectives: This study in conducted to investigate the influence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and type I IFN-αreceptor β subunit (IFNAR2) expression in liver on response to treatment with pegylated IFN-α-2a (Peg-IFN-α-2a) for chronic hepatitis B infection.

Br2 molecular elimination in photolysis of (COBr)2 at 248 nm by using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy: a photodissociation channel being ignored.

A primary dissociation channel of Br(2) elimination is detected following a single-photon absorption of (COBr)(2) at 248 nm by using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy. The technique contains two laser beams propagating in a perpendicular configuration. The tunable laser beam along the axis of the ring-down cell probes the Br(2) fragment in the B(3)Π(ou)(+)-X(1)Σ(g)(+) transition.

Structure and mechanism of the uracil transporter UraA.

The nucleobase/ascorbate transporter (NAT) proteins, also known as nucleobase/cation symporter 2 (NCS2) proteins, are responsible for the uptake of nucleobases in all kingdoms of life and for the transport of vitamin C in mammals. Despite functional characterization of the NAT family members in bacteria, fungi and mammals, detailed structural information remains unavailable. Here we report the crystal structure of a representative NAT protein, the Escherichia coli uracil/H(+) symporter UraA, in complex with uracil at a resolution of 2.

Structural insights into the mechanism of abscisic acid signaling by PYL proteins.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone that regulates plant stress responses. Proteins from the PYR-PYL-RCAR family were recently identified as ABA receptors. Upon binding to ABA, a PYL protein associates with type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs) such as ABI1 and ABI2, inhibiting their activity; the molecular mechanisms by which PYLs mediate ABA signaling remain unknown, however.