Effects of rainfall characteristics and sugarcane growth stage on soil and nitrogen losses.

High intensity rainfall in southern China has led to soil erosion on sloping farmland, causing serious ecological and environmental problems. But how the interaction of rainfall factors and growth stages influence soil erosion and nitrogen loss on sugarcane-cultivated slope under natural rainfall have not been studied considerably. This study concentrated on the in situ runoff plot observation test. Surface runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen loss under individual natural rainfall events during the different sugarcane growth stages (seedling stage (SS), tillering stage (TS), elongation stage (ES)) from May to September in 2019 and 2020 were recorded and measured. The effects of rainfall factors (intensity and amount) on soil erosion and nitrogen loss were quantified by path analysis. The influence of rainfall factors and sugarcane planting on soil erosion and nitrogen loss was analyzed. Surface runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen loss on sugarcane-cultivated slope were 4354.1 m3/ha, 155.4 t/ha, and 25.87 kg/ha during 2019 to 2020, and were mainly concentrated in SS, accounting for 67.2%, 86.9%, and 81.9% of total surface runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen loss, respectively. Nitrogen losses were mainly concentrated in surface runoff, accounting for 76.1% of total nitrogen loss, and the main form in surface runoff was nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N, 92.9%). Under individual rainfall events, surface runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen loss changed with the changing of rainfall characteristics and sugarcane growth. Surface runoff and nitrogen loss were obviously affected by rainfall characteristics, while the soil erosion and nitrogen loss were affected by both rainfall characteristics and sugarcane growth stages. Path analysis indicated that maximum rainfall intensities at 15 min (I15) and 60 min (I60) were most significant to the production of surface runoff and soil erosion with direct path coefficients of 1.19 and 1.23, respectively. NO3--N and ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) losses in surface runoff were mostly influenced by maximum rainfall intensity at 30 min (I30) and I15 with direct path coefficients of 0.89 and 3.08, respectively. NO3--N and NH4+-N losses in sediment yield were mostly influenced by I15 and rainfall amount, and the direct path coefficients were 1.61 and 3.39, respectively. The main stage of soil and nitrogen loss was seedling stage, while the significant factors of rainfall characteristics affecting surface runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen loss were quite different. The results provide theoretical support for soil erosion and quantitative rainfall erosion factors of sugarcane-cultivated slope in southern China.

Correlation Evaluation and Schematic Analysis of Influencing Factors Affecting Pore and Fracture Connectivity on the Microscale and Their Application Discussion in Coal Reservoir Based on X-ray CT Data.

The connectivity of the pore/fracture system is the key to CO2 injection and CH4 production, which is of great significance in analyzing the correlation and weight of the influencing factors affecting the connectivity on the microscale. First, the 3D reconstruction of the coal reservoir is realized. Second, the characteristic parameters of pore/fracture structures are analyzed. Next, the characteristics of absolute permeability are analyzed, and then the correlation and weight analysis of the influencing factors are realized. Finally, the schematic analysis and application discussion of the influencing factors are carried out. The results show that porosity is the key factor restricting fluid migration. The heterogeneity of the reservoir can be characterized by the volume changes of the pore/fracture, organic matter, and mineral. The interconnected pores/fractures are mainly distributed in sheets and bands. The coordination number ranges from 1 to 15. The Ferret diameter is 0-10 µm. The tortuosity is 2.27111, 1.9034, 3.98522, and 3.51516, respectively, and the Euler characteristic number is 0.931868, 0.974719, 0.921144, and 0.897697, respectively. The permeability of the SH and YW samples is higher than that of the RL and PY samples. The single weight of the influencing factor is as follows: coordination number > Ferret diameter > Euler characteristic number > porosity > tortuosity. The analysis area of the comprehensive evaluation score of the influencing factors and the permeability value can be divided into three grades. There is a positive correlation among the coordination number, the quantity equilibrium of pores and throats, and the connectivity. The shape factor gradually increases with the increase of the Ferret diameter. The reservoir permeability is indirectly characterized by the coordination number, Ferret diameter, tortuosity, Euler characteristic number, and shape factor. This study can provide new ideas for clarifying the correlation degree and weight value of the characteristic parameters and can enrich the development of 3D digital core and CO2-ECBM technology.

Warming Menstruation and Analgesic Soup Inhibits PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway in Rats with Endometriosis.

Aim: To observe the effect of warming menstruation and analgesic herbal soup (WMAS) on the pathway of programmed cell death protein 1 and its ligand 1 PD-1/PD-L1 in rats with endometriosis model. Methods: A total of 90 mature female Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 15 rats each. Of these, 5 groups were randomly selected for endometriosis molding and given high (HW group), medium (MW group) and low (LW group) doses of WMAS, western medicine (progesterone capsules, PC group) and saline gavage (SG group) respectively. The other group was a normal group (NM group), which was given saline gavage. The protein expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 on rat in eutopic and ectopic endothelium was detected by immunohistochemistry and the mRNA expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in rats was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The protein and mRNA expression of PD-1 and PD-L in the eutopic and ectopic endometrium of rats in the endometriosis group were higher than in the normal group (P <.05). The protein and mRNA expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in the eutopic and ectopic endothelium of the HW, MW and PC groups were lower than in the SG group (P <.05). Conclusion: High expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 occurs in endometriosis, and WMAS can inhibit the immune signalling pathway PD-1/PD-L1, which may be available to inhibit the development of endometriosis.

[Characteristics of Soil Erosion and Nitrogen Loss in Vegetable Field Under Natural Rainfall].

The effects of vegetable planting on soil loss and nutrient loss, runoff, soil erosion, and nitrogen (ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen) losses under individual rainfalls of fruit- and leaf-vegetable fields between April to October in 2021 were observed using in-situ observation testing. The results showed that: ① the runoff, erosion, and nitrogen loss of the fruit-vegetable pattern (eggplant-chili) were 1.27-2.00 times those under the leaf-vegetable pattern (leaf lettuce-sweet potato leaves), especially under the second season vegetable period. Those losses under the second season vegetable accounted for 50.86%-68.83% of the total losses under different vegetable patterns, which were approximately 1.03-2.04 times those under the first season vegetable. The runoff, erosion, and nutrient loss of vegetable fields under different treatments were both concentrated in June and July, and the nitrogen loss was mainly in the form of nitrate nitrogen with surface runoff. ② The runoff, erosion, and nutrient losses under individual rainfalls of vegetable fields under different treatments fluctuated among the vegetable growing season, and the losses were mainly concentrated in several typical rainfall events. On the whole, the loss and concentration of nitrate and ammonium nitrogen in runoff and erosion sediment of vegetables in the first season were lower than those in the second season. The runoff, erosion, and loss of ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen of fruit-vegetable were higher than those of leaf-vegetable. ③ Both rainfall amount and maximum 30 min rainfall intensity had significantly positive effects on runoff, soil loss, and nitrogen loss. Runoff, erosion, and nutrient losses under different vegetable patterns were mainly generated by moderate rain, heavy rain, and heavy rainstorms, which accounted for 29.58%-46.68%, 24.54%-36.79%, and 24.01%-39.13% of the total losses, respectively. The results also showed that soil erosion and nutrient losses generated by different rainfall grades were obviously different for the fruit- and leaf-vegetable treatments. The results indicated that the vegetable pattern had significant impacts on soil loss and nutrient loss, and the leaf-vegetable pattern could reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss compared with the fruit-vegetable pattern. Furthermore, for different vegetable patterns and vegetable growing seasons, the effects of rainfall on soil loss and nutrient loss were quite different. The results of this study were helpful in clarifying the soil erosion and nutrient loss characteristics of vegetable fields in South China.

The organic zinc with moderate chelation strength enhances the expression of related transporters in the jejunum and ileum of broilers.

Our previous study demonstrated that the zinc (Zn) proteinate with moderate chelation strength (Zn-Prot M) enhanced the Zn absorption in the small intestine partially via increasing the expression of some Zn and amino acid transporters in the duodenum of broilers. However, it remains unknown whether the Zn-Prot M could also regulate the expression of related transporters in the jejunum and ileum of broilers in the above enhancement of Zn absorption. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of the Zn-Prot M on the expression of related transporters in the jejunum and ileum of broilers compared to the Zn sulfate (ZnS). Zinc-deficient broilers (13-d-old) were fed with the Zn-unsupplemented basal diets (control) or the basal diets supplemented with 60 mg Zn/kg as ZnS or Zn-Prot M for 26 d. The results showed that in the jejunum, compared to the control, supplementation of the organic or inorganic Zn increased (P < 0.05) mRNA and protein expression of b0,+-type amino acid transporter (rBAT), Zn transporter 10 (ZnT10), and peptide-transporter 1 (PepT1) mRNA expression and Zn transporter 7 (ZnT7) protein expression on d 28, while y+L-type amino transporter 2 (y+LAT2) mRNA and protein expression, and protein expression of ZnT7 and ZnT10 on 28 d and zrt-irt-like protein 3 (ZIP3) and zrt-irt-like protein 5 (ZIP5) on d 39 were higher (P < 0.05) for Zn-Prot M than for ZnS. In the ileum, Zn addition regardless of Zn source up-regulated (P < 0.05) mRNA expression of Zn transporter 9 (ZnT9) and ZIP3, ZIP5, and y+LAT2 protein expression on d 28, and PepT1 mRNA and protein expression, ZIP3 and y+LAT2 mRNA expression and ZnT10 protein expression on d 39. Furthermore, Zn transporter 4 (ZnT4) and ZnT9 mRNA expression and Zn transporter 1 (ZnT1) protein expression on d 28, and y+LAT2 mRNA expression and ZnT10 and PepT1 protein expression on d 39 were higher (P < 0.05) for Zn-Prot M than for ZnS. It was concluded that the Zn-Prot M enhanced the expression of the ZnT1, ZnT4, ZnT9, ZnT10, ZIP3, ZIP5, y+LAT2, and PepT1 in the jejunum or ileum of broilers compared to the ZnS.

Overexpression of the Eucommia~ulmoides Aquaporin, EuPIP1;1, Promotes Leaf Growth, Flowering and Bolting, and Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP) is one of the largest subfamilies of Aquaporins (AQPs) and plays an important role in plant growth and development, and resistance to abiotic stress. In this study, the full length of the EuPIP1;1 cDNA was cloned from Eucommia ulmoides using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method. The EuPIP1;1 gene was induced by drought treatment and expressed in all tested tissues, with the highest expression level in fruit. The subcellular localization showed that EuPIP1;1 was located in the plasma membrane. Constitutive overexpression of EuPIP1;1 in Arabidopsisthaliana could promote leaf growth and development, and accelerate bolting and flowering. Six genes related to growth and flowering (AtPIF4, AtTCP14, AtCRY1, AtCRY2, AtFCA and AtFT) were significantly up-regulated in transgenic lines. Further, EuPIP1;1 gene improved resistance to drought and salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis. Under drought and salt stress treatment, the transgenic lines had a higher germination rate and accumulation of osmotic substances, lower membrane damage, and could maintain ion homeostasis. Our results suggest that EuPIP1;1 plays an essential role in plant growth and development and in the response to drought and salt stress.

Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the Growth-Regulating Factor Family in Zanthoxylum armatum DC and Functional Analysis of ZaGRF6 in Leaf Size and Longevity Regulation.

Growth-regulating factors (GRFs) are plant-specific transcription factors that play an important role in plant growth and development. In this study, fifteen GRF gene members containing QLQ and WRC domains were identified in Zanthoxylum armatum. Phylogenetic and collinearity analysis showed that ZaGRFs were closely related to CsGRFs and AtGRFs, and distantly related to OsGRFs. There are a large number of cis-acting elements related to hormone response and stress induction in the GRF gene promoter region of Z. armatum. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that except for ZaGRF7, all the ZaGRFs were highly expressed in young parts with active growth and development, including terminal buds, seeds, and young flowers, suggesting their key roles in Z. armatum growth and development. Eight ZaGRFs were selected to investigate the transcriptional response to auxin, gibberellin and drought treatments. A total of six ZaGRFs in the NAA treatment, four ZaGRFs in the GA3 treatment, and six ZaGRFs in the PEG treatment were induced and significantly up-regulated. Overexpression of ZaGRF6 increased branching and chlorophyll content and delayed senescence of transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana. ZaGRF6 increased the expression of CRF2 and suppressed the expression of ARR4 and CKX1, indicating that ZaGRF6 is involved in cytokinin metabolism and signal transduction. These research results lay a foundation for further analysis of the GRF gene function of Z. armatum and provide candidate genes for growth, development, and stress resistance breeding of Z. armatum.

Take-Home Video Shortens the Time to First Ambulation in Patients With Inguinal Hernia Repair Under General Anesthesia: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: Data on the relationship between take-home video and the time to first ambulation remains scant. Here, we aimed to investigate whether viewed take-home video during pre-hospitalization is independently associated with the time to first ambulation in postoperative patients with inguinal hernia repair under general anesthesia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the relationship between viewed take-home video and the time to first ambulation between September 2020 and October 2021.The independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests was used to compare the means of two groups (viewed take-home video and non-viewed take-home video). Chi-square test was used to compare the rates between the two groups. We used a linear regression model to see if there was a difference between exposure and outcome variable. Both models were used to observe the effect size of the exposed variable. Subgroup analysis was employed to assess the impact of various factors. Results: This study included a total of 120 patients with inguinal hernia repair under general anesthesia following day surgery. The average age of the participants in the two groups was 43.16 and 44.83 years, respectively, and about 82.5% of the patients were male. Our fully adjusted linear regression results showed that individuals in the viewed video group were associated with a decreased time to first ambulation (h) after adjusting for confounders (ß = -0.50, 95%CI: -0.83, -0.17; P = 0.004). In addition, the linear regression analysis of the relationship between viewed video and length of stay showed that ß = -2.10 (95%CI:CI: -3.85, -0.34; P = 0.021). Similarly, subgroup analysis yielded similar results for the viewed video group patients compared to those in the non-viewed video group. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings demonstrated that viewed video could shorten the time to first ambulation, which in turn reduce the length of stay in postoperative patients under general anesthesia.

Log interpretation method of resistivity low-contrast oil pays in Chang 8 tight sandstone of Huanxian area, Ordos Basin by support vector machine.

Resistivity low-contrast oil pays are a kind of unconventional oil resource with no obvious difference in physical and electrical properties from water layers, which makes it difficult to be identified based on the characteristics of the geophysical well logging response. In this study, the support vector machine (SVM) technology was used to interpret the resistivity low-contrast oil pays in Chang 8 tight sandstone reservoir of Huanxian area, Ordos Basin. First, the input data sequences of logging curves were selected by analyzing the relationship between reservoir fluid types and logging data. Then, the SVM classification model for fluid identification and SVR regression model for reservoir parameter prediction were constructed. Finally, these two models were applied to interpret the resistivity low-contrast oil pays in the study area. The application results show that the fluid recognition accuracy of the SVM classification model is higher than that of the logging cross plot method, back propagation neural network method and radial basis function neural network method. The calculation accuracy of permeability and water saturation predicted by the SVR regression model is higher than that based on the experimental fitting model, which indicates that it is feasible to carry out logging interpretation and evaluation of the resistivity low-contrast oil pays by the SVM method. The research results not only provide an important reference and basis for the review of old wells but also provide technical support for the exploration and development of new strata.

Inner wall temperature distribution measurement of the ladle based on cavity effective emissivity correction.

Inner wall temperature of ladle is closely related to the quality of steelmaking and control of steel-making tapping temperature. This article adopts a rotating platform to drive an infrared temperature sensor and a laser sensor to scan the temperature field distribution of the ladle inner wall at the hot repair station, where the scanning laser sensor obtains coordinates of each measured point. Because of measuring errors of infrared thermal radiation caused by emissivity uncertainty of the ladle inner wall surface, this article proposes a method for temperature measurement based on Monte Carlo model for effective emissivity correction of each measured point. In the model, we consider the ladle and fire baffle as a cavity. By calculation of the model, the effect of distance from the fire baffle to the ladle and the material surface emissivity of the ladle inner wall on the effective emissivity of the cavity are obtained. After that, the effective emissivity of each measured point is determined. Then the scanning temperature of each measured point is corrected to real temperature. By field measuring test and verification contrast, the results show that: the maximum absolute error of the method in this article is 4.7 °C, the minimum error is 0.6 °C, and the average error is less than 2.8 °C. The method in this article achieves high measurement accuracy and contributes to the control of metallurgical process based on temperature information.

Deep-Learning Radiomics for Discrimination Conversion of Alzheimer's Disease in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Study Based on 18F-FDG PET Imaging.

Objectives: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia in the older people. Some types of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are the clinical precursors of AD, while other MCI forms tend to remain stable over time and do not progress to AD. To discriminate MCI patients at risk of AD from stable MCI, we propose a novel deep-learning radiomics (DLR) model based on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) images and combine DLR features with clinical parameters (DLR+C) to improve diagnostic performance. Methods: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) data from the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging Initiative database (ADNI) were collected, including 168 patients with MCI who converted to AD within 3 years and 187 patients with MCI without conversion within 3 years. These subjects were randomly partitioned into 90 % for the training/validation group and 10 % for the independent test group. The proposed DLR approach consists of three steps: base DL model pre-training, network features extraction, and integration of DLR+C, where a convolution network serves as a feature encoder, and a support vector machine (SVM) operated as the classifier. In comparative experiments, we compared our DLR+C method with four other methods: the standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) method, Radiomics-ROI method, Clinical method, and SUVR + Clinical method. To guarantee the robustness, 10-fold cross-validation was processed 100 times. Results: Under the DLR model, our proposed DLR+C was advantageous and yielded the best classification performance in the diagnosis of conversion with the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 90.62 ± 1.16, 87.50 ± 0.00, and 93.39 ± 2.19%, respectively. In contrast, the respective accuracy of the other four methods reached 68.38 ± 1.27, 73.31 ± 6.93, 81.09 ± 1.97, and 85.35 ± 0.72 %. These results suggested the DLR approach could be used successfully in the prediction of conversion to AD, and that our proposed DLR-combined clinical information was effective. Conclusions: This study showed DLR+C could provide a novel and valuable method for the computer-assisted diagnosis of conversion to AD from MCI. This DLR+C method provided a quantitative biomarker which could predict conversion to AD in MCI patients.

The effects of Danggui-Shaoyao-San on neuronal degeneration and amyloidosis in mouse and its molecular mechanism for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The abnormal deposition of the extracellular amyloid-ß peptide is the typical pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Strategies to reduce the amyloid-ß deposition effectively alleviate the neuronal degeneration and cognitive deficits of Alzheimer's disease. Danggui-Shaoyao-San has been considered a useful therapeutic agent known for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. However, the mechanism of Danggui-Shaoyao-San for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease remains unclear. We investigated Danggui-Shaoyao-San's effect on amyloidosis and neuronal degeneration in an APP/PS1 mouse model. We found Danggui-Shaoyao-San alleviated the cognitive deficits in APP/PS1 mice. Additionally, Danggui-Shaoyao-San ameliorated the neuronal degeneration in these mice. Danggui-Shaoyao-San reduced the amyloidosis and amyloid-ß1-42 deposition in APP/PS1 mouse brain and down-regulated the receptor for advanced glycation end products, and up-regulated the level of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1. However, the protein expression of the ß-amyloid precursor protein, ß-Secretase and presenilin-1 (PS1) in the amyloid-ß production pathway, and the expression of neprilysin and insulin-degrading enzyme in the amyloid-ß degradation pathway were not altered. Our findings collectively suggest that Danggui-Shaoyao-San could ameliorate the amyloidosis and neuronal degeneration of Alzheimer's disease, which may be associated with its up-regulation lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1 and down-regulation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products.

Dexmedetomidine Protects Human Cardiomyocytes Against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Through α2-Adrenergic Receptor/AMPK-Dependent Autophagy.

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) strongly affects the prognosis of children with complicated congenital heart diseases (CHDs) who undergo long-term cardiac surgical processes. Recently, the α2-adrenergic receptor agonist Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has been reported to protect cardiomyocytes (CMs) from I/R in cellular models and adult rodent models. However, whether and how Dex may protect human CMs in young children remains largely unknown. Methods and Results: Human ventricular tissue from tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patients and CMs derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-CMs) were used to assess whether and how Dex protects human CMs from I/R. The results showed that when pretreated with Dex, the apoptosis marker-TUNEL and cleaved caspase 3 in the ventricular tissue were significantly reduced. In addition, the autophagy marker LC3II was significantly increased compared with that of the control group. When exposed to the hypoxia/reoxygenation process, iPSC-CMs pretreated with Dex also showed reduced TUNEL and cleaved caspase 3 and increased LC3II. When the autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine, 3-MA) was applied to the iPSC-CMs, the protective effect of Dex on the CMs was largely blocked. In addition, when the fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes was blocked by Bafilomycin A1, the degradation of p62 induced by Dex during the autophagy process was suspended. Moreover, when pretreated with Dex, both the human ventricle and the iPSC-CMs expressed more AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phospho AMPK (pAMPK) during the I/R process. After AMPK knockout or the use of an α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist-yohimbine, the protection of Dex and its enhancement of autophagy were inhibited. Conclusion: Dex protects young human CMs from I/R injury, and α2-adrenergic receptor/AMPK-dependent autophagy plays an important role during this process. Dex may have a therapeutic effect for children with CHD who undergo long-term cardiac surgical processes.

Incorporation of In Situ Synthesized Nano-Copper Modified Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin to Improve the Mechanical Properties of Chinese Fir: A Preliminary Study.

Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin, modified using nano-copper with varying contents (0 wt%, 1 wt%, 3 wt%), was manufactured to improve the mechanical properties of Chinese fir. The morphology, chemical, micromechanical and micromechanical properties of the samples were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nanoindentation (NI) and traditional mechanical testing. The TEM and AFM results indicated that the in situ synthesized nano-copper particles were well-dispersed, and spherical, with a diameter of about 70 nm in PF resin. From the FTIR chemical changes detected by FTIR inferred that the nano-copper modified PF resin penetrated into the Chinese fir cell walls and interacted with the acetyl groups of hemicellulose by forming a crosslinked structure. Accordingly, the micro-mechanical properties of the Chinese fir cell walls were enhanced after treatment with nano-copper modified PF resin. The filling of the PF-1-Cu resin (1 wt% nano-copper) in the wood resulted in 13.7% and 22.2% increases in the elastic modulus (MOE) and hardness, respectively, of the cell walls. Besides, the impact toughness and compressive strength of the Chinese fir impregnated with PF-1-Cu resin were 21.8% and 8.2% higher than that of the PF-0-Cu resin. Therefore, in situ synthesized nano-copper-modified PF resin is a powerful treatment method for Chinese fir due to improved diffusive properties and reinforcement of the mechanical properties.

A randomized controlled trial of ultrasound-assisted technique versus conventional puncture method for saphenous venous cannulations in children with congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: The study investigated the success rate of the great saphenous venous catheter placement performed by ultrasound-assisted technique compared with the conventional puncture method in infants and toddlers with congenital heart disease and aimed to assess the efficiency and feasibility of this method within the context of pediatric peripheral venous access. METHODS: We selected infants and toddlers who underwent congenital cardiac surgery in our medical center from June 1, 2020, to September 7, 2020, by convenience sampling. Children were stratified by the presence of the manifesting cardiac types (cyanotic or acyanotic heart disease). They were assigned to the conventional puncture method group or the ultrasound-assisted group through randomly blocked randomization. The primary outcome was the success rate of the first attempt. The second outcomes included the time to cannulation at the first attempt, the redirections of the first attempt, overall puncture time, and overall redirections of efforts. Besides, a binary logistic regression model was implemented to identify the possible variables related to the success rate of the first attempt. RESULTS: A total of 144 children in our medical center were recruited in the study. The success rate of the first attempt in the ultrasound-assisted group was higher than that of the conventional puncture method group in the stratification of cyanotic children (66.7% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.035). Among children of acyanotic kind, the difference in the success rate of the first attempt between the two groups was not significant (57.6% vs. 42.4%, P = 0.194). Overall puncture time (45.5 s vs. 94 s, P = 0.00) and the time to cannulation at the first attempt (41.0 s vs. 60 s, P = 0.00) in the ultrasound-assisted group was less than the conventional puncture method group. The ultrasound-assisted group also required fewer redirections of the first attempt (three attempts vs. seven attempts, P = 0.002) and fewer total redirections of efforts (two attempts vs. three attempts, P = 0.027) than the conventional puncture method group. The result of binary Logistic regression showed that the success rate of the first attempt was related to age (OR:1.141; 95% CI = 1.010-1.290, P = 0.034), the redirections of the first attempt (OR:0.698; 95% CI = 0.528-0.923, P = 0.012) and the saphenous venous width (OR:1.181; 95% CI = 1.023-1.364, P = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The ultrasound-assisted technique improves the saphenous venous cannulation sufficiently in children with difficult peripheral veins. The younger age is associated with a higher likelihood of peripheral venous difficulty. The ultrasound-assisted methods can effectively screen peripheral veins, e.g., selecting thicker diameter peripheral veins, making puncture less uncomfortable, and improving success rates. This method can be used as one of the effective and practical ways of peripheral venipuncture in children, especially in difficult situations. It should be widely applied as one of the alternative ultrasound techniques in the operating room. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR.org.cn ( ChiCTR-2,000,033,368 ). Prospectively registered May 29, 2020.

Pyrido[2, 3-d]pyrimidin-7(8H)-ones as new selective orally bioavailable Threonine Tyrosine Kinase (TTK) inhibitors.

A series of pyrido [2, 3-d]pyrimidin-7(8H)-ones were designed and synthesized as new selective orally bioavailable Threonine Tyrosine Kinase (TTK) inhibitors. One of the representative compounds, 5o, exhibited strong binding affinity with a Kd value of 0.15 nM, but was significantly less potent against a panel of 402 wild-type kinases at 100 nM. The compound also potently inhibited the kinase activity of TTK with an IC50 value of 23 nM, induced chromosome missegregation and aneuploidy, and suppressed proliferation of a panel of human cancer cell lines with low µM IC50 values. Compound 5o demonstrated good oral pharmacokinetic properties with a bioavailability value of 45.3% when administered at a dose of 25 mg/kg in rats. Moreover, a combination therapy of 5o with paclitaxel displayed promising in vivo efficacy against the HCT-116 human colon cancer xenograft model in nude mice with a Tumor Growth Inhibition (TGI) value of 78%. Inhibitor 5o may provide a new research tool for further validating therapeutic potential of TTK inhibition.

Author Correction: Effect of Hygrothermal Treatment on the Porous Structure and Nanomechanics of Moso Bamboo.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Role of Blood Oxygen Saturation During Post-Natal Human Cardiomyocyte Cell Cycle Activities.

Blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) is one of the most important environmental factors in clinical heart protection. This study used human heart samples and human induced pluripotent stem cell-cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) to assess how SaO2 affects human CM cell cycle activities. The results showed that there were significantly more cell cycle markers in the moderate hypoxia group (SaO2: 75% to 85%) than in the other 2 groups (SaO2 <75% or >85%). In iPSC-CMs 15% and 10% oxygen (O2) treatment increased cell cycle markers, whereas 5% and rapid change of O2 decreased the markers. Moderate hypoxia is beneficial to the cell cycle activities of post-natal human CMs.

Pressure Overload Greatly Promotes Neonatal Right Ventricular Cardiomyocyte Proliferation: A New Model for the Study of Heart Regeneration.

Background Current mammalian models for heart regeneration research are limited to neonatal apex amputation and myocardial infarction, both of which are controversial. RNAseq has demonstrated a very limited set of differentially expressed genes between sham and operated hearts in myocardial infarction models. Here, we investigated in rats whether pressure overload in the right ventricle, a common phenomenon in children with congenital heart disease, could be used as a better animal model for heart regeneration studies when considering cardiomyocyte proliferation as the most important index. Methods and Results In the rat model, pressure overload was induced by pulmonary artery banding on postnatal day 1 and confirmed by echocardiography and hemodynamic measurements at postnatal day 7. RNA sequencing analyses of purified right ventricular cardiomyocytes at postnatal day 7 from pulmonary artery banding and sham-operated rats revealed that there were 5469 differentially expressed genes between these 2 groups. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that these genes mainly mediated mitosis and cell division. Cell proliferation assays indicated a continuous overproliferation of cardiomyocytes in the right ventricle after pulmonary artery banding, in particular for the first 3 postnatal days. We also validated the model using samples from overloaded right ventricles of human patients. There was an approximately 2-fold increase of Ki67/pHH3/aurora B-positive cardiomyocytes in human-overloaded right ventricles compared with nonoverloaded right ventricles. Other features of this animal model included cardiomyocyte hypotrophy with no fibrosis. Conclusions Pressure overload profoundly promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation in the neonatal stage in both rats and human beings. This activates a regeneration-specific gene program and may offer an alternative animal model for heart regeneration research.

Effect of Hygrothermal Treatment on the Porous Structure and Nanomechanics of Moso Bamboo.

Hygrothermal treatment is an environmentally friendly and efficient modification method. In this study, Moso bamboo was modified with hygrothermal treatments, and the results of nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nano indentation (NI) were then examined. Interestingly, the samples that underwent hygrothermal treatment at 180 °C and 117% RH (relative humidity) had the highest crystallinity (36.92%), which was 11.07% statistically larger than that of the control samples. Simultaneously, the total pore volume and average pore diameter (2.72 nm) dramatically decreased by 38.2% and 43.7%, respectively. The NI elasticity and hardness of the samples also reached the highest values under this condition; both increased by nearly 21% as compared with the control samples. Therefore, 180 °C is a favorable hygrothermal treatment temperature for Moso bamboo modification due to the porosity changes and the improvement of the nanomechanics of the cell walls.