Prevalence and related factors of peripheral arterial disease in diabetes mellitus inpatients: a cross-sectional study in China.

Peripheral arterialdisease (PAD) can result in diabetic foot ulcers, gangrene, and even amputation. Since most cases of PAD in diabetic patients are associated with peripheral neuropathy, the symptoms of vascular disease are easily concealed by the symptoms of neuropathy and are ignored by people, so it is critical for health care providers to screen PAD for the diabetes patients. This study was carried out to identify theprevalence and related factors of PAD in diabetes mellitus inpatients. This was a cross-sectional observational study. A total of 855 patients were enrolled in the study from December 2018 to December 2019. The patients were divided into a non-PAD group (ABI = 0.9-1.3) and a PAD group (ABI <0.9). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that age, LDL-C, dorsalis pedis artery pulsation (left foot), and sensory-current threshold (right foot) were related factors for peripheral arterial disease. Patients who are older and have a higher LDL-C level, abnormal dorsal foot pulse, and abnormal sensory-current threshold must be vigilant, and receive early screening for PAD diagnosis and treatment to avoid a malignant outcome. In clinical work, medical staff should actively apply PAD screening to diabetic patients, identify risk factors as early as possible, conduct early interventions, reduce the risk of PAD in patients, and avoid the occurrence of adverse outcomes.

A Novel Low-Cost Wireless Footwear System for Monitoring Diabetic Foot Patients.

Diabetic foot is one of the main complications of diabetes with the characteristics of high incidence and difficulty in treatment. Diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy may develop foot ulcers, and in severe cases amputations are required and some may even die. Plantar pressure can be used to assess the risk of developing diabetic foot, but the existing plantar pressure monitoring methods are not suitable for long-term monitoring in daily life. This study presents a novel low-cost shoe system for daily monitoring of plantar pressure in diabetics. It includes an insole with pressure sensor array, which can dynamically monitor the plantar pressure and display the changes of plantar pressure in real time in the mobile phone to provide early warning for patients with high risk of diabetic foot. As for the sensor, copper and carbon black were adopted as the electrode and conductive filler respectively, enabling a mass production with low price. It was soft and bendable, meeting the performance needs of daily plantar pressure monitoring. All devices were encapsulated in shoes, and the data was transmitted wirelessly through Bluetooth, which did not affect the user's walking. After using random forest for feature selection, five classifiers were used to classify the plantar pressure of healthy people, diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy collected by this system. The experimental results showed that the accuracy of the random forest classifier was the highest, reaching 94.7%, which indicated that the system could be useful for daily plantar pressure monitoring of diabetic patients.

Investigation on the structure of ventricular mass using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging.

OBJECTIVE: The 3-dimensional arrangement of the ventricular mass remains controversial. In this study, we used magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MRDTI) in an attempt to determine whether the ventricular mass is arranged in the form of a helical ventricular myocardial band (HVMB) and what the geometrical features of the HVMB are in postmortem pig hearts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten pig hearts were harvested from the slaughterhouse, and their whole-body MR images were obtained. The data were obtained via DTI by single-shot echo planar imaging and sensitivity encoding. The pig hearts were scanned with single-shot echo planar imaging and sensitivity-encoding scans (TE/TRZ78.5/10000 ms) with diffusion-sensitized gradients (b = 800 s/mm2) along 6 directions. Color-coded imaging and fiber-tracking techniques were used to investigate the arrangement of the fibers of ventricular mass on a GE Healthcare Advantage Workstation (Microsoft Windows). RESULTS: Color-coded images showed that the ventricular wall in each section was uniformly divided into 3 layers (subendocardial, middle, and subepicardial) in all samples. Fiber tracking showed that the subendocardial layer ran obliquely from base to apex, turned a circle, and transformed into the middle layer at the apex, and then ran obliquely upward. The ventricular mass was arranged in the form of double-helical coils. The crossing angle between subendocardial layer and middle layer was nearly vertical. CONCLUSION: Results of our investigation with MRDTI support the theory of Torrent-Guasp et al that the ventricular mass is arranged in the form of an HVMB.

Characterization of endophytic Rahnella sp. JN6 from Polygonum pubescens and its potential in promoting growth and Cd, Pb, Zn uptake by Brassica napus.

Microbe-assisted phytoremediation has been considered as a promising measure for the remediation of heavy metal-polluted soils. In this study, a metal-tolerance and plant growth-promoting endophytic bacterium JN6 was firstly isolated from roots of Mn-hyperaccumulator Polygonum pubescens grown in metal-contaminated soil and identified as Rahnella sp. based on 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Strain JN6 showed very high Cd, Pb and Zn tolerance and effectively solubilized CdCO(3), PbCO(3) and Zn(3)(PO(4))(2) in culture solution. The isolate produced plant growth-promoting substances such as indole-3-acetic acid, siderophore, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic deaminase, and also solubilized inorganic phosphate. Based upon its ability in metal tolerance and solubilization, the isolate JN6 was further studied for its effects on the growth and accumulation of Cd, Pb and Zn in Brassica napus (rape) by pot experiments. Rape plants inoculated with the isolate JN6 had significantly higher dry weights, concentrations and uptake of Cd, Pb and Zn in both above-ground and root tissues than those without inoculation grown in soils amended with Cd (25 mg kg(-1)), Pb (200 mg kg(-1)) or Zn (200 mg kg(-1)). The isolate also showed a high level of colonization in tissue interior of rapes. The present results demonstrated that Rahnella sp. JN6 is a valuable microorganism, which can cost-effectively improve the efficiency of phytoremediation in soils contaminated by Cd, Pb and Zn.

Pravastatin attenuates cardiac dysfunction induced by lysophosphatidylcholine in isolated rat hearts.

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), which accumulates in the ischemic myocardium, is responsible for mechanical and metabolic derangements of hearts, and also contributes to the development of ventricular arrhythmias. We examined the effects of pravastatin on the LPC-induced cardiac dysfunction in isolated rat hearts. Rat hearts were randomly divided into four groups. The groups comprised a control group (n=10), a group treated with LPC (5 microM) (n=20), a group treated with pravastatin (400 ng/ml) (n=10) and a group treated with both LPC and pravastatin (n=20). Our data suggest that, pravastatin possesses some protective profiles against LPC, as manifested by better recovery of cardiac function (improvement in heart rate, left ventricular developed pressure, maximal and minimal first derivatives of left ventricular developed pressure, coronary flow and coronary resistance, less release of biomarkers of cardiac injury (lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase-MB and endothelin-1), and attenuation of ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachyarrhythmia and ventricular fibrillation).

[Study of the three-dimensional structure of the ventricular myocardial fiber in human heart].

OBJECTIVE: To study the three-dimensional structure of ventricular myocardial fiber in human heart. METHODS: Eight human heart were obtained from male donors aged 81.9-/+7.2 years with a heart weight of 455.6-/+65.7 g. Each sample was immersed in water and scanned by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) using a 3 Tesla Exicte HD by an eight-channel head coils. The duration was 18.6-/+5.2 h from heart arresting to the scanning. The data were obtained using the protocol of single shot echo planar imaging (sshEPI) and sensitivity encoding (SENSE). The SENSE-sshEPI-scans (TE/TRZ86.4/2000 ms) of the whole heart were carried out (b=1000 s/mm(2), voxels 128x128, resolution 1.1 mmx1.1 mmx(3) mm, and FOV 14 cmx14 cm). Fiber tracking and reconstruction were performed using GE Advantage Windows Workstation. The three-dimensional structure of the ventricular myocardial fiber was observed. RESULTS: The left ventricular myocardial fibers showed two layers with different directions of alignment in such regions as the anterior, septum, and posterior walls and the free left ventricular wall. The subendocardial layer ran obliquely from the base to the apex, and the middle layer ran obliquely upward from the base to the apex. The two layers were linked together and aligned in the pattern of helical coils near the apex. CONCLUSIONS: The three-dimensional structure of the myocardial fibers in human heart conforms to Torrent's hypothesis of helical ventricular myocardial band (HVMB).