Differential effects of fine particulate matter constituents on acute coronary syndrome onset.

Fine particulate matter has been linked with acute coronary syndrome. Nevertheless, the key constituents remain unclear. Here, we conduct a nationwide case-crossover study in China during 2015-2021 to quantify the associations between fine particulate matter constituents (organic matter, black carbon, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium) and acute coronary syndrome, and to identify the critical contributors.

Associations of multiple carotenoid co-exposure with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in US adults: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Epidemiological evidence regarding circulating carotenoids and mortality risk remains conflicting, and most studies focus on the impact of individual carotenoids. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of co-exposure to multiple serum carotenoids on mortality risk.

Methods: We enrolled 22,472 participants aged ≥20 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-1994) and NHANES 2003-2006.

Differential associations of fine and coarse particulate air pollution with cause-specific pneumonia mortality: A nationwide, individual-level, case-crossover study.

Background: The connections between fine particulate matter (PM) and coarse particulate matter (PM) and daily mortality of viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia were unclear.

Objectives: To distinguish the connections between PM and PM and daily mortality due to viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia.

Methods: Using a comprehensive national death registry encompassing all areas of mainland China, we conducted a case-crossover investigation from 2013 to 2019 at an individual level.

Differentiating the impacts of ambient temperature on pneumonia mortality of various infectious causes: a nationwide, individual-level, case-crossover study.

Background: It remains unknown how ambient temperature impact pneumonia of various infectious causes.

Methods: Based on the national death registry covering all counties in Chinese mainland, we conducted an individual-level case-crossover study in China from 2013 to 2019. Exposures were assigned at residential addresses for each decedent.

Unsupervised blind image quality assessment via joint spatial and transform features.

A novel unsupervised blind image quality assessment (BIQA) method, which requires no mean opinion scores for model training is presented in this paper. The method employs joint spatial and transform features as quality degradation metrics, specifically, phase congruency, gradient magnitude (GM), and GM and Laplacian of Gaussian response and local normalized coefficient are extracted as spatial features, and Karhunen-Loéve transform coefficient and discrete cosine transform coefficient are modeled as transform features. Both spatial and transform features are well analyzed to remove the redundancy, and then fitted to the multivariate Gaussian model for no-reference image quality assessment.

Exogenous HS Ameliorates High Salt-Induced Hypertension by Alleviating Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in the Paraventricular Nucleus in Dahl S Rats.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is an important gaseous signaling molecule that regulates cardiovascular activity in animals. The hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is a major integrative region involved in blood pressure (BP) regulation. We explored whether exogenous HS application by intraperitoneal injection of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) alleviates BP increase induced by a high salt diet (HSD) and the role of PVN in Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl S) rats.

Differential associations of particle size ranges and constituents with stroke emergency-room visits in Shanghai, China.

Background And Purpose: Fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with increased risks of stroke, but it remains unclear which specific size ranges and chemical constituents dominate the effects of PM on stroke. We aimed to evaluate the associations of size-segregated particles and various constituents of PM with daily emergency-room visits for stroke.

Methods: We conducted a time-series study to investigate the associations of 5 particle size ranges from 0.

The Potential of Hydrogen Sulfide Donors in Treating Cardiovascular Diseases.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) has long been considered as a toxic gas, but as research progressed, the idea has been updated and it has now been shown to have potent protective effects at reasonable concentrations. HS is an endogenous gas signaling molecule in mammals and is produced by specific enzymes in different cell types. An increasing number of studies indicate that HS plays an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis, and in most cases, HS has been reported to be downregulated in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

The relationship between cardiac muscularis propria and clinical outcomes of peroral endoscopic myotomy in achalasia.

Background And Aim: Achalasia patients usually present lower esophageal sphincter thickening, which can impact the expansibility of cardia. We aimed to investigate the effect of cardiac muscularis propria (MP) on perioperative adverse events (AEs) and treatment outcomes of patients treated with peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 114 patients with achalasia undergoing pre-POEM endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) between May 2013 and November 2019.

Relationship between a 7-mRNA signature of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma microenvironment and patient prognosis (a STROBE-compliant article).

The potential association between the prognosis of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) and its microenvironment is unclear. This study aims to construct a prognostic index (PI) model of the PAAD microenvironment to predict PAAD patient survival outcomes.The mRNA sequencing and the clinical parameters data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas.

The presence of zinc reduced cadmium uptake and translocation in Cosmos bipinnatus seedlings under cadmium/zinc combined stress.

Cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) coexist in the environment but interact differently in plants. Cosmos bipinnatus has been potentially considered as a Cd-accumulator. Thus, this study investigated the detoxification mechanism in C.

Prognostic value and prospective molecular mechanism of miR-100-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma: A comprehensive study based on 1,258 samples.

The prognostic value and molecular mechanism of microRNA-100-5p (miR-100-5p) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unclear. To explore the prognostic value and the mechanism of miR-100-5p in HCC, the present study analyzed the results of 18 previous studies and bioinformatic datasets. The clinical significance of miR-100-5p and its targets in HCC were investigated using The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus, as well as relevant literature.

Unidirectional Magneto-Resistance in Modulation-Doped Magnetic Topological Insulators.

Nonlinear unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR) has been reported in heavy metal/ferromagnet bilayers, which could be employed as an effective method in detecting the magnetization orientation in spintronic devices with two-terminal geometry. Recently, another unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR) was reported in magnetic topological insulator (TI)-based heterostructures at cryogenic temperature, whose amplitude is orders of magnitude larger than the USMR measured in heavy metal-based magnetic heterostructures at room temperature. Here, we report the UMR effect in the modulation-doped magnetic TI structures.

MicroRNA-152 inhibits ovarian cancer cell proliferation and migration and may infer improved outcomes in ovarian cancer through targeting FOXP1.

microRNA (miR) are a class of endogenous small non-coding RNA that are aberrantly expressed and are critical in tumorigenesis. Amongst them, miR-152 was reported to be dysregulated in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). However, the function and mechanism of miR-152 is not well understood.

Fermentative Production of Phenolic Glucosides by Escherichia coli with an Engineered Glucosyltransferase from Rhodiola sachalinensis.

Three rosmarinic acid analogs produced by recombinant Escherichia coli, two xanthones from fungi and honokiol from plants, were explored as the substrates of E. coli harboring a glucosyltransferase mutant UGT73B6 to generate phenolic glucosides. Six new and two known compounds were isolated from the fermentation broth of the recombinant strain of the feeding experiments, and the compounds were identified by spectroscopy.

Production of Cinnamyl Alcohol Glucoside from Glucose in Escherichia coli.

Rosin, a cinnamyl alcohol glucoside, is one of the important ingredients in Rhodiola rosea, which is a valuable medicinal herb used for centuries. Rosin displayed multiple biological activities. The traditional method for producing rosin and derivatives is direct extraction from R.

Nanoengineering of an Si/MnGe quantum dot superlattice for high Curie-temperature ferromagnetism.

The realization and application of spintronic devices would be dramatically advanced if room-temperature ferromagnetism could be integrated into semiconductor nanostructures, especially when compatible with mature silicon technology. Herein, we report the observation of such a system - an Si/MnGe superlattice with quantum dots well aligned in the vertical direction successfully grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Such a unique system could take full advantage of the type-II energy band structure of the Si/Ge heterostructure, which could trap the holes inside MnGe QDs, significantly enhancing the hole-mediated ferromagnetism.

Enhancing electric-field control of ferromagnetism through nanoscale engineering of high-T MnGe nanomesh.

Voltage control of magnetism in ferromagnetic semiconductor has emerged as an appealing solution to significantly reduce the power dissipation and variability beyond current CMOS technology. However, it has been proven to be very challenging to achieve a candidate with high Curie temperature (T), controllable ferromagnetism and easy integration with current Si technology. Here we report the effective electric-field control of both ferromagnetism and magnetoresistance in unique MnGe nanomeshes fabricated by nanosphere lithography, in which a T above 400 K is demonstrated as a result of size/quantum confinement.

Silencing of Transient Receptor Potential Channel 4 Alleviates oxLDL-induced Angiogenesis in Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells by Inhibition of VEGF and NF-κB.

Background: Transient receptor potential channel 4 (TRPC4) plays central roles in endothelial cell function. The aim of this study was to investigate the silencing effects of TRPC4 on oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced angiogenesis in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs), as well as the underlying molecular mechanism involved in this process.

Material/methods: HCAECs were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting TRPC4 (TRPC4-siRNA) or with a negative control (NC)-siRNA.