Spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of the urban air pollution island effect for 2273 cities in China.

Air pollution levels tend to be higher in urban areas than in surrounding rural areas, and this air pollution has a negative effect on human health. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of urban-rural air pollution differences and the determinants of these differences remain unclear. Here, we calculate the Urban Air Pollution Island (UAPI) intensity for PM and PM on a monthly, seasonal, and annual scale for 2273 cities in China from 2000 to 2020.

Combined treatment with valsartan and fluvastatin to delay disease progression in nonpermanent atrial fibrillation with hypertension: A clinical trial.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a complex cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice with increasing incidence. However, the effects of statins on patients with AF are not quite clear.

Hypothesis: To investigate the protective effect of calcium channel blocker (CCB) and valsartan combined fluvastatin on hypertension (HTN) patients with nonpermanent AF.

Resonance assignments of bacteriophage SPO1 Gp49 protein.

Recent applications of phage therapy in localized wound and drug-resistant bacterial infection have brought bacteriophage back to the spotlight. While these works demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of engineered bacteriophages in human patients, the exact molecular machinery behind the bacteria killing remains largely uncharacterized. This is particularly noticable outside Escherichia coli phages, as most studies are based on bacteriophages of this Gram-negative model bacterium.

Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase Activation by Interferon Gamma in Vascular Endothelial Rat Cells Requires Noncanonical NF-κB Signaling.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an important enzyme in immune response regulation; cells that express IDO can suppress T-cell responses. Endothelial cells (ECs) play an important role in graft rejection. Therefore, we investigated the role of IDO expression by vascular ECs in immunoregulation.

Upstream therapeutic strategies of valsartan and fluvastatin on hypertensive patients with non-permanent atrial fibrillation.

Aim: To investigate the upstream therapeutic effects of fluvastatin and valsartan on hypertensive patients with non-permanent atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: A total of 189 patients who were admitted to outpatient and inpatient department from eight medical centers in China, diagnosed as hypertension with non-permanent AF, were divided into four groups randomly: the CCBs group (group A, n = 45); CCB + fluvastatin group (group B, n = 48); valsartan group (group C, n = 46); valsartan + fluvastatin group (group D, n = 50). The four groups were followed up for 24 months.

DKK3 regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis and collagen synthesis in keloid fibroblasts via TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway.

It has been reported that Dickkopf-3 (DKK3) down-regulation was examined in keloid fibroblasts, but the biological functions of DKK3 have not yet been investigated. In this study, we examined the expression of DKK3 in human keloid tissues, further evaluated the biological function of DKK3 and explored its potential molecular mechanism in transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced keloid fibroblasts. Our results showed that DKK3 mRNA expression in human keloid tissues is down-regulated.

COMP-Ang1 promotes long-term survival of allogeneic islet grafts in a bioinert perforated chamber by inhibiting inflammation via inhibition of the TLR4 signaling pathway.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP)- angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) on allogeneic islet graft survival in a bioinert perforated chamber.

Results: COMP-Ang1 treatment significantly decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced cell apoptosis and islet-related lymph node cell proliferation (both P < 0.01).

Cloning, expression, and antiviral activity of interferon β from the Chinese microbat, Myotis davidii.

Bats are natural reservoir hosts for many viruses that produce no clinical symptoms in bats. Therefore, bats may have evolved effective mechanisms to control viral replication. However, little information is available on bat immune responses to viral infection.

Upstream therapeutic strategies of Valsartan and Fluvastatin on Hypertensive patients with non-permanent Atrial Fibrillation (VF-HT-AF): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Previous studies regarding rhythm control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) could not sufficiently demonstrate the efficacy of available anti-arrhythmic drugs. 'Upstream therapy' has emerged as a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of AF. The use of angiotensin II receptor blockers and statins has been suggested to decrease new-onset AF, but which remains inadequately explored.