[Therapeutic effect and mechanism of Jingfang Granules on acute lung injury based on intestinal flora and fecal metabolomics].

This study aims to elucidate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Jingfang Granules on acute lung injury, and to investigate the regulatory effect of Jingfang Granules on the metabolic disorders of endogenous metabolites in feces and the homeostasis of intestinal microbiota in acute lung injury, mice were randomly divided into a sham group, a model group, and a Jingfang Granules group. After modeling, the mice were continuously administered for 6 days. Using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole/electrostatic field orbital trap high-resolution mass spectrometry(UHPLC-HESI-QE-Orbitrap-MS/MS) metabolomics technology and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology, changes in endogenous small molecule substances and gut microbiota in mouse intestines were determined, and potential biomarkers were identified. The results showed that Jingfang Granules can regulate 11 biomarkers, including L-glutamic acid, succinic acid, arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, phenylalanine, sphingosine, 2-hydroxy-2-methyl butyric acid, pyruvate, tryptophan, and palmitic acid. Metabolic pathway analysis was conducted on these 11 biomarkers using the online software MetaboAnalyst, identifying potential major metabolic pathways. Among them, a total of 10 metabolic pathways are closely related to the treatment of acute lung injury with Jingfang Granules, including alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, citrate cycle(TCA cycle), alyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism and linolenic acid metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, D-glutamine and D-gluta-matemetabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism. The results of gut microbiota showed significant differences in bacteria, mainly including Bacteroides, Akkermansia, Lachnospiraceae＿NK4A136＿group, Lachnochlostridium, and Klebsiella. Spearman analysis confirms that Akkermansia and Lachnospiraceae＿NK4A136＿group is a significant positive correlation between the abundance of succinic acid, arachidonic acid, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, butyric acid, and pyruvate in the group; Bacteroides, Klebsiella, Lachnochlostrium are significantly positively correlated with the abundance of L-glutamic acid, phenylalanine, and sphingosine. The above results indicate that the therapeutic effect of Jingfang Granules on acute lung injury is achieved by improving the imbalance of gut microbiota in mice with acute lung injury, balancing the metabolism of alanine, biosynthesis of aminoacyl tRNA, aspartic acid, glutamate, tricarboxylic acid cycle, biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, and metabolism of linoleic acid.

A Two-Dimensional Precision Level for Real-Time Measurement Based on Zoom Fast Fourier Transform.

This paper proposes a two-dimensional precision level for real-time measurement using a zoom fast Fourier transform (zoom FFT)-based decoupling algorithm that was developed and integrated in an FPGA. This algorithm solves the contradiction between obtaining high resolution and obtaining high measurement speed, and achieves both high angle-resolution measurement and real-time measurement. The proposed level adopts a silicone-oil surface as the angle-sensitive interface and combines the principle of homodyne interference. By analyzing the frequency of the interference fringes, the angle variation can be determined. The zoom-FFT-based decoupling algorithm improves the system's frequency resolution of the interference fringes, thereby significantly enhancing the angle resolution. Furthermore, this algorithm improves the efficiency of angle decoupling, while the angle decoupling process can also be transplanted to the board to realize real-time measurement of the level. Finally, a prototype based on the level principle was tested to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The principle analysis and test results showed that the angle resolution of the prototype improved from 9 arcsec to about 0.1 arcsec using this angle-solution method. At the same time, the measurement repeatability of the prototype was approximately ±0.2 arcsec. In comparison with a commercial autocollimator, the angle measurement accuracy reached ±0.6 arcsec.

Methyl-CpG-Binding protein 2 duplication syndrome in a Chinese patient: A case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Chromosomal Xq28 region duplication encompassing methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) results in an identifiable phenotype and global developmental delay known as MECP2 duplication syndrome (MDS). This syndrome has a wide range of clinical manifestations, including abnormalities in appearance, neurodevelopment, and gastrointestinal motility; recurrent infections; and spasticity. Here, we report a case of confirmed MDS at our institution. CASE SUMMARY: A 12-year-old Chinese boy presented with intellectual disability (poor intellectual [reasoning, judgment, abstract thinking, and learning] and adaptive [lack of communication and absent social skills, apraxia, and ataxia] functioning) and dysmorphism. He had no history of recurrent infections, seizures, or bowel dysfunction, which is different from that in reported cases. Microarray comparative genomic hybridization confirmed MECP2 duplication in the patient and his mother who is a carrier. The duplication size was the same in the patient and his mother. No prophylactic antibiotic or anti-seizure therapy was offered to the patient or his mother before or after the consultation. CONCLUSION: MDS is rare and has various clinical presentations. Clinical suspicion is critical in patients presenting with developmental delays.

Lipidomics reveals the lipid metabolism disorders in Fructus Psoraleae-induced hepatotoxicity in rats with kidney-yin deficiency syndrome.

Fructus Psoraleae (FP), one of the important traditional Chinese medicines, is widely used in clinic and has been reported to be hepatotoxic. However, there is no report on the mechanism of FP-induced hepatotoxicity based on the theory of You Gu Wu Yun. In this study, plasma samples of rats with different kidney deficiency syndromes were investigated using a lipidomics approach based on UPLC/Q-TOF-MS technique. Firstly, multivariate statistical analysis, VIP value test, statistical test and other methods were used to find the lipid metabolites in the two syndrome model groups that were different from the normal group. The screening of differential lipid metabolites revealed that there were 12 biomarkers between the blank group and the kidney-yang deficiency model group as well as 16 differential metabolites between the kidney-yin deficiency model group, and finally a total of 17 relevant endogenous metabolites were identified, which could be used as differential lipid metabolites to distinguish between kidney-yin deficiency and kidney-yang deficiency evidence. Secondly, the relative content changes of metabolites in rats after administration of FP decoction were further compared to find the substances associated with toxicity after administration, and the diagnostic ability of the identified biomarkers was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Results a total of 14 potential differential lipid metabolites, including LysoPC(20:0/0:0) and LysoPC(16:0/0:0), which may be related to hepatotoxicity in rats with kidney-yin deficiency syndrome were further screened, namely, the potential active lipid metabolites related to hepatotoxicity in rats induced by FP. Finally, cluster analysis, MetPA analysis and KEGG database were used to analyze metabolic pathways. It was discovered that the metabolism of glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid may be strongly related to the mechanism of hepatotoxicity brought on by FP. Overall, we described the lipidomics changes in rats treated with FP decoction and screened out 14 lipid metabolites related to hepatotoxicity in rats with kidney-yin deficiency, which served as a foundation for the theory of "syndrome differentiation and treatment" in traditional Chinese medicine and a guide for further investigation into the subsequent mechanism.

Effect of ice popsicle treatment on emergence agitation in children undergoing oral surgery with sevoflurane anaesthesia: A prospective randomized controlled study.

PURPOSE: Emergence agitation is a common postoperative complication during recovery in children. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the use of ice popsicle could prevent emergence agitation in children undergoing oral surgery with sevoflurane anaesthesia. DESIGN AND METHODS: In this prospective randomized controlled study, 100 children undergoing oral surgery were randomly assigned to Group 1 which received ice popsicle after emergence (intervention, n = 50) or Group 2 which received verbal encouragement from their parents (control, n = 50). The primary outcome was the 2-hour postoperative incidence of EA. RESULTS: Group 1 had a significant lower incidence of emergence agitation (22% vs 58%, P < 0.001) compared with Group 2. The mean agitation score was significantly lower in Group 1 vs Group 2 at 10  minutes (1.64 vs 2.12, P = 0.024) and 20 min (1.60 vs 2.14, P = 0.004) after emergence. The peak agitation and pain scores were significantly lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study suggest that ice popsicle is an effective, cheap, pleasurable, and easily administered method for alleviating emergence agitation in paediatric patients after oral surgery under general anaesthesia. These results are worthy of confirmation in other surgeries. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This approach is highly accepted by both children and their parents, and our findings support the effectiveness of ice popsicle in relieving emergence agitation and pain after oral surgery in children. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800015634.

Directional methanolysis of kitchen waste for the co-production of methyl levulinate and fatty acid methyl esters: Catalytic strategy and machine learning modeling.

To add value to ordinary kitchen waste, heterogeneous acid-base catalytic methanolysis was conducted to produce high-value liquid biofuels, methyl levulinate (ML) and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). Yields of 53.3 % ML and 98.5 % FAME were achieved by methanolysis of kitchen waste under the co-catalysis of carbon-silica composite (C/Si-SO3H) and zirconium modified ultrastable Y zeolite (Zr/USY). These target products can be easily recovered from the methanolic phase and can be purified at the end of the reaction. The collaborative combination of C/Si-SO3H and Zr/USY exhibited higher activity than their commercial counterpart. This strategy can be applied to differently composed kitchen waste and kitchen waste with different water content. Product yields were predicted using an artificial neural network method, and the relative importance of the influencing factors was investigated by the random forest method. The systematic insight gained from this work supports the value-added utilization of kitchen waste.

Accurate and Comprehensive Spectrum Characterization for Cavity-Enhanced Electro-Optic Comb Generators.

Cavity-enhanced electro-optic comb generators (CEEOCGs) can provide optical frequency combs with excellent stability and configurability. The existing methods for CEEOCGs spectrum characterization, however, are based on approximations and have suffered from either iterative calculations or limited applicable conditions. In this paper, we show a spectrum characterization method by accumulating the optical electrical field with respect to the count of the round-trip propagation inside of CEEOCGs. The identity transformation and complete analysis of the intracavity phase delay were conducted to eliminate approximations and be applicable to arbitrary conditions, respectively. The calculation efficiency was improved by the noniterative matrix operations. Setting the maximum propagation count as 1000, the spectrum of the center ±300 comb modes can be characterized with merely the truncation error of floating-point numbers within 1.2 s. More importantly, the effects of all CEEOCG parameters were comprehensively characterized for the first time. Accordingly, not only the exact working condition of CEEOCG can be identified for further optimization, but also the power of each comb mode can be predicted accurately and efficiently for applications in optical communications and waveform synthesis.

Catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into 5-ethoxymethylfurfural using γ-AlOOH and CeO2@B2O3 catalyst synergistic effect.

Selective catalytic conversion of carbohydrates to 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) is a critical approach to the biorefinery. In this work, solid acid catalysts of γ-AlOOH and CeO2@B2O3 were used to convert carbohydrates to EMF in a one-pot process, performed in an ethanol/DMSO solvent system. The synergistic effect of γ-AlOOH and CeO2@B2O3 was studied. Furthermore, the morpho-structural properties of the catalysts were characterized, and the effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, catalyst load, and the amount of cosolvent on the conversion of glucose to EMF were examined and optimized. Under the reaction conditions of 170 °C for 20 h, glucose, sucrose, cellobiose, inulin and starch were used as raw materials, and the EMF yield range was 9.2-27.7%. The results showed that the synergistic effect of γ-AlOOH and CeO2@B2O3 further causes the combination of multiple acid sites with different types and strength distributions. Particularly, the collaboration between weak, medium-strong, and strong acid, as well as between Lewis and Brønsted acidity, is of great significance for EMF generation. The reusability experiments showed that the combined catalytic system was easily separated and maintained catalytic activity for five successive reactions without further intermediate regeneration steps. This work provides a promising route for the catalytic conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates into EMF.

[Application of high content imaging technique in research on effective components of traditional Chinese medicine: a review].

High content imaging(HCI) technique that combines automatic high throughput with high-resolution cell imaging, is characterized by abundant data information, high imaging sensitivity, easy visualization and standardization, and is commonly used in the cellular(or subcellular) phenotypic analysis. Abundant phenotypic information can be obtained by using HCI in one experiment, including cellular morphology, cellular structure, and signal transduction pathways of related functions, on the basis of the maintenance of the integrity of cellular structures and functions. Multiple studies have shown that a series of dynamic spatio-temporal interactive change processes were induced by the disturbance of cells by specific factors, making cell phenotypes change accordingly, especially for the slight perturbation response of cells. Generally, the detection of one or several endpoint effect indicators is often difficult to accurately and comprehensively reflect the overall efficacy information of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) because of its unique characteristics of multi-components and multi-targets. The application of HCI is thus helpful to discover the effective components and their action modes in the complex system of TCM. This paper reviewed the application progress in the HCI technique in the screening of active components and their regulation mechanism to provide references for further research.

[Effects of attapulgite addition on soil evaporation and crack characteristics]. / å‡¹å‡¸æ£’åœŸæ·»åŠ å¯¹åœŸå£¤è’¸å‘åŠè£‚ç¼ç‰¹å¾çš„å½±å“.

Water is one of the most important factors limiting vegetation recovery and agricultural development in arid and semi-arid areas. The reduction of ineffective soil evaporation can improve soil water use efficiency. As a kind of clay mineral, attapulgite (ATP) plays a critical role in limiting soil evaporation due to its hydrophilicity and adsorption. In this study, three typical soils with different textures (dark loessial soil, cultivated loess soil, and sandy soil) were selected from the arid and semi-arid area of the Loess Plateau, and five ATP additions (0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) were set for conducting soil evaporation experiments under natural conditions using micro-evaporators to investigate the effects of ATP addition on different soil evaporation processes and the characteristics of evaporation surface cracks. The results showed that the cumulative evaporation and evaporation loss ratio of the same soil decreased with the increases of ATP addition when the ATP addition was <3%. When ATP was added at 3%, the cumulative evaporation and evaporation loss ratio of dark loessial soil and sandy soil decreased, while those of cultivated loess soil increased. When ATP was added at 4%, the cumulative evaporation decreased and the evaporation loss ratio increased for dark loessial soil, the cumulative evaporation increased and the evaporation loss ratio decreased for sandy soil, and the cumulative evaporation and evaporation loss ratio decreased for cultivated loess soil. The average cumulative evaporation of different soils followed an order of dark loessial soil > cultivated loess soil > sandy soil. Soil water content of ATP treatment was consistently higher than that of control throughout the whole evaporation process in the same soil. Simulations of cumulative evaporation versus the square root of time indicated that the amount of water released from the ATP-treated soil samples at the end of evaporation was higher than that of the control. After the addition of ATP, the crack area density of dark loessial soil and cultivated loess soil increased significantly, and the crack area density of sandy soil increased with the increase of ATP addition. The crack area density of all three soils reached the maximum at 4% of ATP addition. In summary, ATP addition of 3% could minimize the ineffective evaporation of soil water.

Activation-induced pyroptosis contributes to the loss of MAIT cells in chronic HIV-1 infected patients.

BACKGROUND: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are systemically depleted in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infected patients and are not replenished even after successful combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). This study aimed to identify the mechanism underlying MAIT cell depletion. METHODS: In the present study, we applied flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing and immunohistochemical staining to evaluate the characteristics of pyroptotic MAIT cells in a total of 127 HIV-1 infected individuals, including 69 treatment-naive patients, 28 complete responders, 15 immunological non-responders, and 15 elite controllers, at the Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China. RESULTS: Single-cell transcriptomic profiles revealed that circulating MAIT cells from HIV-1 infected subjects were highly activated, with upregulation of pyroptosis-related genes. Further analysis revealed that increased frequencies of pyroptotic MAIT cells correlated with markers of systemic T-cell activation, microbial translocation, and intestinal damage in cART-naive patients and poor CD4+ T-cell recovery in long-term cART patients. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that MAIT cells in the gut mucosa of HIV-1 infected patients exhibited a strong active gasdermin-D (GSDMD, marker of pyroptosis) signal near the cavity side, suggesting that these MAIT cells underwent active pyroptosis in the colorectal mucosa. Increased levels of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-18 were observed in HIV-1 infected patients. In addition, activated MAIT cells exhibited an increased pyroptotic phenotype after being triggered by HIV-1 virions, T-cell receptor signals, IL-12 plus IL-18, and combinations of these factors, in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Activation-induced MAIT cell pyroptosis contributes to the loss of MAIT cells in HIV-1 infected patients, which could potentiate disease progression and poor immune reconstitution.

Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on growth and leaf nitrogen metabolism of alfalfa in alkaline soil in Yinchuan Plain of Hetao Basin.

Alkaline soil is widely distributed in China. Its rational utilization is an effective measure to solve land shortage and improve the environment. Alfalfa is characterized by strong salt and alkali tolerance and high yield and protein content. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the main nutrients for plant growth, and N metabolism is one of the primary forms of plant metabolism, which plays a vital role in quality and yield formation. The exploration of the effect of N and P on N metabolism and alfalfa growth will provide a theoretical basis for scientific fertilization for alfalfa in the alkaline soil of the Yinchuan Plain of the Hetao Basin. Therefore, a 2-year experiment of N and P addition was conducted. Six treatments were set up with a randomized block design, including without N (WN), medium N (MN), high N (HN), without P (WP), medium P (MP), and high P (HP). It was found that the MN and MP treatments increased plant height, stem diameter, stem/leaf, dry/fresh, and dry matter of alfalfa. The HN and HP treatments inhibited alfalfa biomass formation. The MN and MP treatments increased key products and enzymes of leaf N metabolism of alfalfa and promoted activities of leaf nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthase (GS), glutamate synthase (GOGAT), glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT), and glutamic-pyruvate transaminase (GPT), and inhibited activities of leaf protease of alfalfa. The MN and MP treatments increased contents of leaf N, P, ammonium nitrogen (NH4 +-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 --N), total chlorophyll, and protein and reduced leaf chlorophyll a/b and amino acid, results after HN and HP treatments were opposite. The correlation among leaf P, N, NO3 --N, amino acid, and protein reached significant levels (P < 0.01). It is suggested that MN and MP treatments can improve the yield and quality of alfalfa by increasing key products and enzymes of N metabolism and can be adopted to promote alfalfa production in the alkaline soil of the Yinchuan Plain of the Hetao Basin.

An image-based fingerprint-efficacy screening strategy for uncovering active compounds with interactive effects in Yindan Xinnaotong soft capsule.

BACKGROUND: Yindan Xinnaotong soft capsule (YDXNT) is a clinically effective herbal prescription used for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Since Chinese medicines (CMs) exert their effects via a "multiple-components and multiple-targets" mode, discovery of the active compounds with interactive effects may contribute to reveal their mechanisms of action. PURPOSE: This study aimed to establish an image-based fingerprint-efficacy screening strategy to identify active compounds with interaction effects from CM prescription, using YDXNT to inhibit microglia-mediated neuroinflammation as an instance. METHODS: A multi-component random content-oriented chemical library of YDXNT was constructed by uniform design, and their chemical fingerprint was profiled by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. Then the neuroinflammation activities of chemical library members of YDXNT were determined by image-based dual phenotypic quantification. Subsequently, fingerprint-efficacy correlation and random forest analysis were applied to predict the potentially active compounds with interactive effects. Finally, the interactive effects among the active compounds were confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and apoptosis analysis, and network pharmacology was applied to explore the possible mechanisms. RESULTS: Image-based fingerprint-efficacy correlation analysis revealed that six tanshinones (TNs) and four flavonoids (FAs) were potential anti-neuroinflammatory compounds. The inter-family of TNs and FAs possessed obvious interactive effects (combination index ≤ 0.825). Moreover, the combination of scutellarein and tanshinone I (2:1, w/w) was discovered as the possible interactive combinatorial components, which, comparing with individual scutellarein or tanshinone I, shown more powerful effects on anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV2 cells. Network pharmacology showed that the active compounds might suppress microglia-mediated neuroinflammation via multiple targets in the T cell receptor, Jak-STAT, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: The image-based fingerprint-efficacy strategy simplifies the screening process of efficacious component combinations in CMs for complex diseases, which also offers a promising approach to explore the integrative therapeutic mechanisms of CMs.

Strongly coupled Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite for high-efficiency water splitting.

We developed a simple method to fabricate a strongly coupled Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite by introducing dual confinement effects during the vapor vulcanization of precursors, which involves the controlled release of metal species and the in situ formation of an N-doped carbon layer. The Fe-doped NiS2/MoS2 composite exhibited a much-enhanced hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction performance.

Ionizing Radiation-Induced RPL23a Reduction Regulates Apoptosis via RPL11-MDM2-p53 Pathway in Mouse Spermatogonia.

OBJECTIVE: The expression patterns of ribosomal large subunit protein 23a (RPL23a) in mouse testes and GC-1 cells were analyzed to investigate the potential relationship between RPL23a expression and spermatogonia apoptosis upon exposure to X-ray. METHODS: Male mice and GC-1 cells were irradiated with X-ray, terminal dUTP nick end-labelling (TUNEL) was performed to detect apoptotic spermatogonia in vivo. Apoptotic rate and cell cycle phase of GC-1 cells were analyzed with flow cytometry. Protein interactions were detected by Immunoprecipitation and protein localization as studied by immunofluorescence. Immunoblotting and real-time PCR were applied to analyze to protein and gene expression. RESULTS: Ionizing radiation (IR) increased spermatogonia apoptosis, the expression of RPL11, MDM2 and p53, and decreased RPL23a expression in mice spermatogonia in vivo and in vitro. RPL23a knockdown weakened the interaction between RPL23a and RPL11, leading to p53 accumulation. Moreover, knockdown and IR decreased RPL23a that induces spermatogonia apoptosis via RPL23a-RPL11-MDM2-p53 pathway in GC-1 cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that IR reduced RPL23a expression, leading to weakened the RPL23a-RPL11 interactions, which may have activated p53, resulting in spermatogonia apoptosis. These results provide insights into environmental and clinical risks of radiotherapy following exposure to IR in male fertility. The graphical abstract was available in the web of www.besjournal.com.

The Plant Salicylic Acid Signalling Pathway Regulates the Infection of a Biotrophic Pathogen in Grasses Associated with an Epichloë Endophyte.

The study of the contribution of the plant defence hormones, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA), in the resistance against pathogens of plants associated with Epichloë fungal endophytes has been scanty. We hypothesised that Epichloë spp., capable of inducing host plant SA-dependent defences, would increase the levels of plant resistance against biotrophic pathogens. Plants of Achnatherum inebrians, with and without the fungal endophyte Epichloë gansuensis, were inoculated with the biotrophic fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis. We measured the status of plant defences (associated with SA and JA signalling pathways) and the levels of resistance to the pathogen. Plants associated with the endophyte showed less disease symptoms caused by the biotrophic pathogen than plants without the endophyte. In agreement with our hypothesis, the Epichloë endophyte increased the plant production of SA and enhanced the expression levels of plant genes of synthesis and response to the SA hormone. The elevated expression of SA-related genes coding for putative plant enzymes with anti-fungal activities promoted by the endophyte may explain the enhanced resistance to the pathogen. The present study highlights that interaction between the plant immune system and Epichloë fungal endophytes can contribute significantly to the resistance of endophyte-symbiotic plants against pathogens.

Experimental measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with the double-scanning method.

The measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) can be immune to all detector side-channel attacks. Moreover, it can be easily implemented combining with the matured decoy-state methods under current technology. It, thus, seems a very promising candidate in practical implementation of quantum communications. However, it suffers from a severe finite-data-size effect in most existing MDI-QKD protocols, resulting in relatively low key rates. Recently, Jiang et al. [Phys. Rev. A103, 012402 (2021).PLRAAN1050-294710.1103/PhysRevA.103.012402] proposed a double-scanning method to drastically increase the key rate of MDI-QKD. Based on Jiang et al.'s theoretical work, here we for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, implement the double-scanning method into MDI-QKD and carry out corresponding experimental demonstration. With a moderate number of pulses of 1010, we can achieve 150 km secure transmission distance, which is impossible with all former methods. Therefore, our present work paves the way toward practical implementation of MDI-QKD.

Hypertrophic Preconditioning Attenuates Myocardial Ischaemia-Reperfusion Injury by Modulating SIRT3-SOD2-mROS-Dependent Autophagy.

BACKGROUND: Ischaemic preconditioning elicited by brief periods of coronary occlusion and reperfusion protects the heart from a subsequent prolonged ischaemic insult. Here, we test the hypothesis that short-term non-ischaemic stimulation of hypertrophy renders the heart resistant to subsequent ischaemic injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: Transient transverse aortic constriction (TAC) was performed for 3 days in mice and then withdrawn for 4 days by aortic debanding, followed by subsequent exposure to myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Following I/R injury, myocardial infarct size and apoptosis were significantly decreased, and cardiac dysfunction was markedly improved in the TAC preconditioning group compared with the control group. Mechanistically, TAC preconditioning markedly suppressed I/R-induced autophagy and preserved autophagic flux by deacetylating SOD2 via a SIRT3-dependent mechanism. Moreover, treatment with an adenovirus encoding SIRT3 partially mimicked the effects of hypertrophic preconditioning, whereas genetic ablation of SIRT3 in mice blocked the cardioprotective effects of hypertrophic preconditioning. Furthermore, in vivo lentiviral-mediated knockdown of Beclin 1 in the myocardium ameliorated the I/R-induced impairment of autophagic flux and was associated with a reduction in cell death, whereas treatment with a lentivirus encoding Beclin 1 abolished the cardioprotective effect of TAC preconditioning. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identifies TAC preconditioning as a novel strategy for induction of an endogenous self-defensive and cardioprotective mechanism against cardiac injury. Specifically, TAC preconditioning reduced myocardial autophagic cell death in a SIRT3/SOD2 pathway-dependent manner.

Peratrial Balloon Pulmonary Valvotomy in Infants: Right Ventricular Wall None-Touch Technique.

Peratrial balloon pulmonary valvotomy, an alternative technique for severe pulmonary valve stenosis (PVS) in infants, performed exclusively under transesophageal echocardiographic guidance, is hereby described. The technique is performed using a hollow probe through a right minithoracotomy in the fourth intercostal space. The hollow probe introduces a guidewire through the PVS without touching the right ventricular wall, therefore avoiding eliciting ventricular arrhythmias, spasm of the right ventricular outflow tract, and subsequent hemodynamic instability. Unlike conventional approaches, the peratrial technique permits quicker orientation and dilatation and allows quick conversion to open heart surgery when needed.