Apoptosis and cuproptosis Co-activated Copper-based metal-organic frameworks for cancer therapy.

Lung cancer, predominantly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), remains a significant global health challenge, with limited therapeutic options for patients with KRAS-mutated tumors. Herein, a copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) was applied as a novel cuproptosis-mediated nanoplatform for lung cancer therapy. Cu-MOF would disassemble and liberate copper ions under the acidic microenvironment of lysosomes of cancer cells, initiating a cascade of cellular events. The released copper ions catalyzes the Fenton reaction, generating hydroxyl radicals that induce oxidative damage, leading to cytoskeletal disruption and activation of caspase-3, ultimately triggering apoptosis. Simultaneously, with the mediation of the key regulatory factor FDX1, we found that the copper ions binding to the mitochondrial protein DLAT could result in the loss of iron-sulfur cluster proteins and aggregation of lipoylated proteins, which culminated in proteotoxic stress-induced cuproptosis. The pronounced anti-tumor effects of Cu-MOF with apoptosis and cuproptosis were confirmed both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Such dual induction of apoptosis and cuproptosis by Cu-MOF presents a promising therapeutic strategy for NSCLC, particularly for KRAS-mutated tumors, and expands potential applications of Cu-based nanomateirals for other cancers.

Quantitative Prediction of Surface Hardness in Cr12MoV Steel and S136 Steel with Two Magnetic Barkhausen Noise Feature Extraction Methods.

The correlation between magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) features and the surface hardness of two types of die steels (Cr12MoV steel and S136 steel in Chinese standards) was investigated in this study. Back-propagation neural network (BP-NN) models were established with MBN magnetic features extracted by different methods as the input nodes to realize the quantitative prediction of surface hardness. The accuracy of the BP-NN model largely depended on the quality of the input features. In the extraction process of magnetic features, simplifying parameter settings and reducing manual intervention could significantly improve the stability of magnetic features. In this study, we proposed a method similar to the magnetic Barkhausen noise hysteresis loop (MBNHL) and extracted features. Compared with traditional MBN feature extraction methods, this method simplifies the steps of parameter setting in the feature extraction process and improves the stability of the features. Finally, a BP-NN model of surface hardness was established and compared with the traditional MBN feature extraction methods. The proposed MBNHL method achieved the advantages of simple parameter setting, less manual intervention, and stability of the extracted parameters at the cost of small accuracy reduction.

The predictive value of inflammatory biomarkers for major pathological response in non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and its association with the immune-related tumor microenvironment: a multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory biomarkers in the peripheral blood have been established as predictors for immunotherapeutic efficacy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Whether they can also predict major pathological response (MPR) in neoadjuvant setting remains unclear. METHODS: In this multi-center retrospective study, 122 and 92 stage I-IIIB NSCLC patients from six hospitals who received neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy followed by surgery were included in the discovery and external validation cohort, respectively. Baseline and on-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived NLR (dNLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were calculated and associated with MPR. Furthermore, resected tumor samples from 37 patients were collected for RNA-sequencing to investigate the immune-related tumor microenvironment. RESULTS: In both the discovery and validation cohorts, the on-treatment NLR, dNLR, PLR, and SII levels were significantly lower in the patients with MPR versus non-MPR. On-treatment SII remained an independent predictor of MPR in multivariate logistic regression analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) of on-treatment SII for predicting MPR was 0.75 (95%CI, 0.67-0.84) in the discovery cohort. Moreover, the predictive value was further improved by combining the on-treatment SII and radiological tumor regression data, demonstrating an AUC of 0.82 (95%CI, 0.74-0.90). The predictive accuracy was validated in the external cohort. Compared with the SII-high group, patients with SII-Low were associated with the activated B cell receptor signaling pathway and a higher intratumoral immune cell infiltration level. CONCLUSIONS: On-treatment SII was independently associated with MPR in NSCLC patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy. Further prospective studies are warranted.

Propionate reduces the viability of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi in macrophages by propionylation of PhoP K102.

Propionate, a major constituent of short chain fatty acids, has recently been reported to be involved in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic lysine propionylation (Kpr). However, the propionylation characteristics of the enteric pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) following invasion of the human gut under the influence of propionate, whether virulence is affected, and the underlying mechanisms are not yet known. In the present study, we report that propionate significantly reduces the viability of S. Typhi in macrophages through intra-macrophage survival assays. We also demonstrate that the concentration of propionate and the propionate metabolic intermediate propionyl coenzyme A can affect the level of modification of PhoP by propionylation, which is tightly linked to intracellular survival. By expressing and purifying PhoP protein in vitro and performing EMSA and protein phosphorylation analyses, We provide evidence that K102 of PhoP is modified by Kpr propionate, which regulates S. Typhi viability in macrophages by decreasing the phosphorylation and DNA-binding ability of PhoP. In conclusion, our study reveals a potential molecular mechanism by which propionate reduces the viability of S. Typhi in macrophages via Kpr.

Pigment epithelium-derived factor maintains tight junction stability after myocardial infarction in rats through inhibition of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

PURPOSE: The impairment of the coronary microcirculatory barrier caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is closely related to poor prognosis. Recently, pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF) has been proven to be a promising cardiovascular protective drug. In this study, we demonstrated the protective role of PEDF in endothelial tight junctions (TJs) and the vascular barrier in AMI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), echocardiography and immunofluorescence staining were used to observe the size of infarcted myocardium area and cardiac function in myocardial tissue, and the distribution of TJ proteins in human coronary endothelial cells (HCAEC). Dextran leakage assay and Transwell were used to assess the extent of vascular and HCAEC leakage. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot were used to detect TJ-related mRNA and protein, and signaling pathway protein expression. RESULTS: PEDF effectively reduced the infarction area and improved cardiac function in AMI rats, and lowered the leakage in AMI rats' angiocarpy and oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-treated HCAEC. Furthermore, PEDF upregulated the expression of TJ mRNA and proteins in vivo and vitro. Mechanistically, PEDF inhibited the expression of phosphorylated low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (p-LRP6) and active ß-catenin under OGD, thus suppressing the activation of the classical Wnt pathway. CONCLUSIONS: These novel findings demonstrated that PEDF maintained the expression of TJ proteins and endothelial barrier integrity by inhibiting the classical Wnt pathway during AMI.

Establishment of a risk prediction model for prolonged mechanical ventilation after lung transplantation: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV), mostly defined as mechanical ventilation > 72 h after lung transplantation with or without tracheostomy, is associated with increased mortality. Nevertheless, the predictive factors of PMV after lung transplant remain unclear. The present study aimed to develop a novel scoring system to identify PMV after lung transplantation. METHODS: A total of 141 patients who underwent lung transplantation were investigated in this study. The patients were divided into PMV and non-prolonged ventilation (NPMV) groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess factors associated with PMV. A risk nomogram was then established based on the multivariate analysis, and model performance was further examined regarding its calibration, discrimination, and clinical usefulness. RESULTS: Eight factors were finally identified to be significantly associated with PMV by the multivariate analysis and therefore were included as risk factors in the nomogram as follows: the body mass index (BMI, P = 0.036); primary diagnosis as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, P = 0.038); pulmonary hypertension (PAH, P = 0.034); primary graft dysfunction grading (PGD, P = 0.011) at T0; cold ischemia time (CIT P = 0.012); and three ventilation parameters (peak inspiratory pressure [PIP, P < 0.001], dynamic compliance [Cdyn, P = 0.001], and P/F ratio [P = 0.015]) at T0. The nomogram exhibited superior discrimination ability with an area under the curve of 0.895. Furthermore, both calibration curve and decision-curve analysis indicated satisfactory performance. CONCLUSION: A novel nomogram to predict individual risk of receiving PMV for patients after lung transplantation was established, which may guide preventative measures for tackling this adverse event.

Micromagnetic and Robust Evaluation of Surface Hardness in Cr12MoV Steel Considering Repeatability of the Instrument.

The combination of multifunctional micromagnetic testing and neural network-based prediction models is a promising way of nondestructive and quantitative measurement of steel surface hardness. Current studies mainly focused on improving the prediction accuracy of intelligent models, but the unavoidable and random uncertainties related to instruments were seldom explored. The robustness of the prediction model considering the repeatability of instruments was seldom discussed. In this work, a self-developed multifunctional micromagnetic instrument was employed to perform the repeatability test with Cr12MoV steel. The repeatability of the instrument in measuring multiple magnetic features under both static and dynamic conditions was evaluated. The magnetic features for establishing the prediction model were selected based on the consideration of both the repeatability of the instrument and the ability of magnetic features in surface hardness evaluation. To improve the robustness of the model in surface hardness prediction, a modelling strategy considering the repeatability of the instrument was proposed. Through removing partial magnetic features with higher mean impact values from input nodes, robust evaluation of surface hardness in Cr12MoV steel was realized with the multifunctional micromagnetic instrument.

Surface Decarburization Depth Detection in Rods of 60Si2Mn Steel with Magnetic Barkhausen Noise Technique.

Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN), sensitive to the microstructure of materials, can be applied in the surface decarburization depth detection of ferromagnetic specimens. However, the effects of core microstructures on the determination results of decarburization depth have not been explored. In this study, MBN was employed to evaluate the magnetic properties of the decarburized 60Si2Mn spring steels with martensitic and pearlitic core microstructures. Spring steel samples were austenitized at different times to generate different decarburization depths. Seven magnetic features were extracted from the MBN butterfly profiles. We used the variation coefficient, linear correlation coefficient, and normalized sensitivity to discuss the influence of the core microstructures on these seven features. The different core microstructures led to a large difference in the ability of MBN features to characterize the decarburization layer depth. However, three features of MBN butterfly profiles demonstrated an approximately linear dependency (linear correlation coefficient > 94%) on surface decarburization depth and monotonically increased with the increase in depth in both core microstructures of spring steels.

PEDF Protects Endothelial Barrier Integrity during Acute Myocardial Infarction via 67LR.

Maintaining the integrity and protecting the stability of tight junctions in endothelial cells is a potential therapeutic strategy against myocardial ischaemia. Laminin receptors (67LR) are highly expressed on endothelial cell membranes and are associated with endothelial barrier function. Herein, we sought to demonstrate the direct effects of pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF) on tight junctions between endothelial cells via 67LR during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. We detected that PEDF directly increased the level of the tight junction protein zonula occludens protein 1 (ZO-1) after overexpression in vitro and in vivo using Western blotting. Evans Blue/TTC staining showed that PEDF significantly reduced the size of the infarcted myocardium. Immunofluorescence and the transwell cellular experiments suggested that PEDF significantly upregulated PI3K-AKT permeability and the distribution of ZO-1 between endothelial cells under OGD conditions. Interestingly, PEDF significantly upregulated the phosphorylation levels of PI3K-AKT-mTOR under oxygen and glucose deprivation conditions but had no significant effects on the total protein expression. The protective effect of PEDF on ZO-1 was significantly inhibited following the inhibition of PI3K-AKT-mTOR. The activation of phosphorylation of PI3K-AKT-mTOR by PEDF was blocked after silencing 67LR, as were the protective effects of PEDF on ZO-1. Therefore, we have reason to believe that PEDF increased ZO-1 expression through the 67LR-dependent PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway, thus maintaining tight junction stability and protecting cardiac function.

Novel long non-coding RNA CYB561-5 promotes aerobic glycolysis and tumorigenesis by interacting with basigin in non-small cell lung cancer.

Abnormally expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recognized as potential diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The role of the novel lnc-CYB561-5 in NSCLC and its specific biological activity remain unknown. In this study, lncRNAs highly expressed in NSCLC tissue samples compared with paired adjacent normal tissue samples and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia were identified by RNA-seq analysis. Lnc-CYB561-5 is highly expressed in human NSCLC and is associated with a poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. In vivo, downregulation of lnc-CYB561-5 significantly decreases tumour growth and metastasis. In vitro, lnc-CYB561-5 knockdown treatment inhibits cell migration, invasion and proliferation ability, as well as glycolysis rates. In addition, RNA pulldown and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays show that basigin (Bsg) protein interacts with lnc-CYB561-5. Overall, this study demonstrates that lnc-CYB561-5 is an oncogene in NSCLC, which is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and metastasis. Lnc-CYB561-5 interacts with Bsg to promote the expression of Hk2 and Pfk1 and further lead to metabolic reprogramming of NSCLC cells.

Inspiratory hyperoxia suppresses lung cancer metastasis through a MYC/SLC1A5-dependent metabolic pathway.

The lack of knowledge about the effect of inspiratory hyperoxia on the lung-specific tumour microenvironment and progression of lung cancer has attracted considerable attention. This study proposes that inspiratory hyperoxia has special significance for the malignant phenotype of lung cancer cells. The effects of different oxygenation parameters on the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration of lung cancer cells were systematically evaluated in vitro and in vivo Our results reveal that inspiratory hyperoxia treatment (60% oxygen, 6 h·day-1) not only has no tumour progression-promoting effects, but also suppresses lung cancer metastasis and promotes long-term survival. In addition, we combined transcriptome, proteome and metabolome analysis and found that hyperoxia treatment induced significant intracellular metabolic changes in lung cancer cells. Overall, we established that MYC/SLC1A5-induced metabolic reprogramming and glutamine addiction is a new mechanism that drives lung cancer metastasis, which can be significantly suppressed by inspiratory hyperoxia treatment. These findings are relevant to the debate on the perils, promises and antitumour effect of inspiratory hyperoxia, especially for patients with lung cancer.

Luteolin alleviates ischemia/reperfusion injury-induced no-reflow by regulating Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in rats.

The no-reflow phenomenon induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury seriously limits the therapeutic value of coronary recanalization and leads to a poor prognosis. Previous studies have shown that luteolin (LUT) is a vasoprotective factor. However, whether LUT can be used to prevent the no-reflow phenomenon remains unknown. Positron emission tomography perfusion imaging, performed to detect the effects of LUT on the no-reflow phenomenon in vivo, revealed that LUT treatment was able to reduce the no-reflow area in rat I/R models. In vitro, LUT was shown to reduce the hypoxia-reoxygenation injury-induced endothelial permeability and apoptosis. The levels of malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species and NADPH were also measured and the results indicated that LUT could inhibit the oxidative stress. Western blot analysis revealed that LUT protected endothelial cells from I/R injury by regulating the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. Overall, we concluded that the use of LUT to minimize I/R induced microvascular damage is a feasible strategy to prevent the no-reflow phenomenon.

PEDF is an antifibrosis factor that inhibits the activation of fibroblasts in a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis rat model.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a highly heterogeneous and fatal lung disease. In addition to dense fibrous tissue, abnormal angiogenesis is also an important feature of IPF. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is an angiogenesis inhibitor and a potential anti-fibrous factor. The purpose of this experiment is to observe the effect of PEDF on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats. METHODS: In vivo, pathological examination and detection of related factors were performed on pulmonary fibrosis induced by BLM in rats, and the temporal and spatial distribution of PEDF was investigated. Furthermore, lung gene delivery (PEDF-adeno-associated virus) was performed to investigate the effect of PEDF on pulmonary fibrosis. In vitro, lentiviral vectors were used to construct PEDF over-expression or knock out primary rat lung (PRL) fibroblasts. The effect of PEDF on fibroblast activation under TGF-ß1 stimulation was evaluated, and the activation of TGF-ß1/smad pathway and PPAR-γ expression (in the presence or absence of PPAR-γ inhibitors) were analyzed. RESULTS: In vivo results showed that PEDF expression decreased during the inflammatory phase and increased during the fibrotic phase. PEDF could inhibit the progression of pulmonary fibrosis in rats. In vitro results showed that PEDF could effectively inhibit TGF-ß1-stimulated fibroblast activation and reduce the production of α-SMA and collagen-I. PEDF could inhibit the TGF-ß1/smad pathway by up-regulating the activity of PPAR-γ. CONCLUSIONS: PEDF can act as an anti-fibrotic factor, inhibit fibroblast activation by upregulating PPAR-γ activity and reduce BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

Ammonium and nitrate affect sexually different responses to salt stress in Populus cathayana.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is a promising approach to improve salt tolerance. However, it is poorly known how plant sex and inorganic N alter salt stress-induced Na+ uptake, distribution and tolerance. This study employed Populus cathayana Rehder females and males to examine sex-related mechanisms of salt tolerance under nitrate (NO3 - ) and ammonium (NH4 + ) nutrition. Males had a higher root Na+ efflux, lower root-to-shoot translocation of Na+ , and higher K+ /Na+ , which enhanced salt tolerance under both N forms compared to females. On the other hand, decreased root Na+ efflux and K+ retention, and an increased ratio of Na+ in leaves relative to shoots in females caused greater salt sensitivity. Females receiving NH4 + rather than NO3 - had greater net root Na+ uptake, K+ efflux, and translocation to the shoots, especially in leaves. In contrast, males receiving NO3 - rather than NH4 + had increased Na+ translocation to the shoots, especially in the bark, which may narrow the difference in leaf damage by salt stress between N forms despite a higher shoot Na+ accumulation and lower root Na+ efflux. Genes related to cell wall synthesis, K+ and Na+ transporters, and denaturized protein scavenging in the barks showed differential expression between females and males in response to salt stress under both N forms. These results suggested that the regulation of N forms in salt stress tolerance was sex-dependent, which was related to the maintenance of the K+ /Na+ ratio in tissues, the ability of Na+ translocation to the shoots, and the transcriptional regulation of bark cell wall and proteolysis profiles.

Comprehensive Indicators for Evaluating and Seeking Elasto-Magnetic Parameters for High-Performance Cable Force Monitoring.

The elasto-magnetic method is a promising pathway for cable force monitoring in cable-stayed bridges. Under the action of an externally applied pulsed magnetic field, both the variation in the main flux recorded by the induction coil and the localized surface magnetic field measured by the packaged magnetic sensor are typical signals for observing the elasto-magnetic effect in tensioned cables. However, the performances of the parameters extracted from the two types of elasto-magnetic signals are never strictly compared in the experiment. Meanwhile, comprehensive indicators for evaluating the ability of elasto-magnetic parameters on cable force characterization are seldom discussed. As a result, it is difficult to compare the performances of elasto-magnetic devices developed by different teams, and the pathway of seeking new parameters for cable force monitoring is obstructed. In this study, elasto-magnetic calibration experiments were performed on a cable of seven-wire steel strands to simultaneously measure the variation in the main flux and the localized surface magnetic field. Comprehensive indicators considering sensitivity, hysteresis error, and cable force resolution are proposed to examine the performances of classic elasto-magnetic parameters and new candidate ones. Through comparative study, two new parameters demonstrated outstanding ability for cable force measurement, and they are the minimum amplitude of the induced voltage and the area under the curve between two points of 3 dB height of the voltage measured by a Hall sensor. The latter is recommended for high-performance cable force monitoring from the perspective of simplicity in sensor configuration.

Effects of individualized positive end-expiratory pressure combined with recruitment maneuver on intraoperative ventilation during abdominal surgery: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Low tidal volume ventilation strategy may lead to atelectasis without proper positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment maneuver (RM) settings. RM followed by individualized PEEP was a new method to optimize the intraoperative pulmonary function. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials to compare the effects of individualized PEEP + RM on intraoperative pulmonary function and hemodynamic with other PEEP and RM settings. The primary outcomes were intraoperative oxygenation index and dynamic compliance, while the secondary outcomes were intraoperative heart rate and mean arterial pressure. In total, we identified 15 clinical trials containing 36 randomized groups with 3634 participants. Ventilation strategies were divided into eight groups by four PEEP (L: low, M: moderate, H: high, and I: individualized) and two RM (yes or no) settings. The main results showed that IPEEP + RM group was superior to all other groups regarding to both oxygenation index and dynamic compliance. LPEEP group was inferior to LPEEP + RM, MPEEP, MPEEP + RM, and IPEEP + RM in terms of oxygenation index and LPEEP + RM, MPEEP, MPEEP + RM, HPEEP + RM, IPEEP, and IPEEP + RM in terms of dynamic compliance. All comparisons were similar for secondary outcomes. Our analysis suggested that individualized PEEP and RM may be the optimal low tidal volume ventilation strategy at present, while low PEEP without RM is not suggested.

Characterization of the heterogeneity of endothelial cells in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis using single-cell RNA sequencing.

The loss of normal alveolar capillary and deregulated angiogenesis occurs simultaneously in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); however the contributions of specific endothelial subpopulations in the development of pulmonary fibrosis are poorly understood. Herein, we perform single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the heterogeneity of endothelial cells (ECs) in bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung fibrosis in rats. One subpopulation, characterized by the expression of Nos3 and Cav1, is mostly distributed in non-fibrotic lungs and also highly expresses genes related to the "response to mechanical stimulus" and "lung/heart morphogenesis" processes. Another subpopulation of ECs expanded in BLM-treated lungs, characterized by Cxcl12, is observed to be closely related to the pro-fibrotic process in the transcriptome data, such as "regulation of angiogenesis," "collagen binding," and "chemokine activity," and spatially localized to BLM-induced neovascularization. Using CellPhoneDB software, we generated a complex cell-cell interaction network, which predicts the potential roles of EC subpopulations in recruiting monocytes, inducing the proliferation of fibroblasts and promoting the production and remolding of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Taken together, our data demonstrate the high degree of heterogeneity of ECs in fibrotic lung and it is proposed that the interaction between ECs, macrophages, and stromal cells contributes to pathologic IPF.

East-West differences in clinical manifestations of COVID-19 patients: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is currently not under control. We aimed to assess whether there are differences in clinical manifestations between COVID-19 patients from the East (East and South-East Asian countries including China, South Korea, and Thailand) and the West (North American, European, and Middle East countries, including the United States, Italy, France, and Iran). For this meta-analysis, we searched for eligible studies about COVID-19 in three databases: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Studies were divided into two cohorts for analysis: the East and the West. Stata 13.1 software was used for the meta-analysis. Of the 1527 studies initially identified by the literature search, 169 full-text articles were retrieved and screened for eligibility. Fifty-seven of these, describing 19,353 patients, were deemed eligible for inclusion. Of these, 45 studies with 8416 patients were from the East while 12 studies with 10,937 patients were from the West. The results indicated that the incidences of cough, headache, dizziness, nasal congestion, and digestive symptoms in COVID-19 patients from the East were lower than those in the West. The laboratory data showed that there were no significant differences in the levels of lymphocytes, leukocytes, C-reactive protein, and platelet counts between the two groups. In addition, our results also showed that the incidence of cardiac and kidney injury, as well as increased levels of creatinine, alanine transaminase, and aspartate transaminase, were significantly higher in patients from the West than from the East. Our meta-analysis indicated that there are differences in the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in patients from the East and the West. COVID-19 patients from the West appear to suffer more severe liver, kidney, and heart damage due to SARS-CoV-2.

Coronary Collateral Microcirculation Reserve Becomes Vestigial with Aging.

INTRODUCTION: Our previous study indicated that coronary collateral microcirculation reserve (CCMR), native collaterals, transports blood flow to an ischemic area to reduce ischemic tissue injury. This study aimed to observe the changes of CCMR in the hearts of different month-old rats. METHODS: We selected 2-, 8-, 16-, and 24-month-old rats as the research objects to monitor the changes of CCMR in rats with aging. After acute myocardial infarction, lectin-FITC was injected into the femoral vein vessels of rats to mark CCMR vessels in the ischemic area. RESULTS: Results of the lectin-FITC perfusion experiment indicated that the number and collagen IV coverage of CCMR vessels declined with aging. Moreover, data suggested a correlation between endothelial nitric oxide synthase and a decline in the number of CCMR vessels. CONCLUSION: Aging causes CCMR decline in rats.

Evaluation of the Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy of Typical Materials Using MBN Technology.

Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) signals in the stage from saturation to remanence of the hysteresis loop are closely correlated with magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. MBN events in this stage are related to the nucleation and growth of reverse domains, and mainly affected by the crystallographic textures of materials. This paper aims to explore the angle-dependent magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. Based on the consideration of macroscopic magnetic anisotropy, with the concept of coordinate transformation, a model was firstly established to simulate the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MCE) of a given material. Secondly, the MBN signals in different directions were tested with a constructed experimental system and the characteristic parameters extracted from the corresponding stage were used to evaluate the magnetic anisotropy of the material. Finally, the microstructures of 4 materials were observed with a metallographic microscope. The microtextures of local areas were measured with the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. The MBN experimental results obtained under different detection parameters showed significant differences. The optimal MBN detection parameters suitable for magnetic anisotropy research were determined and the experimental results were consistent with the results of MCE model. The study indicated that MBN technology was applicable to evaluate the MCE of pipeline steel and oriented silicon steel, especially pipeline steel.