A retrospective cohort analysis for the risk factors of intraoperative hypotension.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To reveal the risk factors of intraoperative hypotension (IH) and investigate whether IH was corrected in time. METHODS USED TO CONDUCT THE STUDY: This retrospective cohort study included patients undergoing surgeries in one medical centre. We divided all patients into two groups, the IH group and non-IH group. The clinical features of these two groups were compared and the independent risk factors for IH were analysed. RESULTS OF THE STUDY: A total of 5864 non-cardiac surgery patients were included, of which 931 patients had IH diagnose. The independent risk factors of IH include older age, high grade American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, intrathecal anaesthesia, emergency surgery and medical history of hypertension (P < .01). Among the patients with IH, 44.5% had hypotension lasting between 30 and 120 minutes, and 25.2% had hypotension lasting >120 minutes. Patients with IH are more likely to develop major post-operative complications after surgery (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The independent risk factors of IH include older age, high grade ASA physical status, intrathecal anaesthesia, emergency surgery and history of hypertension. Hypotension during surgery is not always effectively treated.

[Prognosis in patients underwent craniotomy for aneurysm clipping with cardiovascular diseases].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prognostic factors for patients with or without cardiovascular diseases after craniotomy for aneurysm clipping, and to provide evidences for the improvement of perioperative management in these patients.
 Methods: We collected 297 patients who underwent craniotomy for aneurysm clipping in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from May 2016 to February 2017. The patients were divided into two groups: the cardiovascular disease group and the non-cardiovascular disease group. The perioperative clinical data, neurological function assessments at admission and discharge and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores of one-year-follow-up after discharge were analyzed. The primary outcome of this study was the GOS scores collected at one year after discharge. The secondary outcomes were the lengths of their ICU stay, neurological functions at discharge and adverse events morbidity during the hospitalization.
 Results: A total of 241 patients were eventually enrolled. There was no significant difference in their general data between the two groups except for their ages. The GOS scores of the one-year-follow-up were significantly different between the two groups (P=0.007). The lengths of ICU stay, neurological dysfunctions at discharge and adverse events morbidity during hospitalization were also significantly different (P=0.036, P=0.011, P=0.005, respectively). A multivariate logistic regression analysis in which GOS score was the dependent variable with age adjusted also supported the previous results that long-term prognosis was not significantly correlated with the age of patients (P>0.05), but it was correlated with cardiovascular disease and sanity at admission (P=0.001). In patients with cardiovascular diseases, there was significantly different in perioperative mortality and neurological recovery of patients who had or had not cardiovascular events (P=0.006, P=0.001, respectively).
 Conclusion: Undergoing craniotomy for aneurysm clipping, patients with cardiovascular diseases have worse outcomes in both of short and long terms. Perioperative treatments for cardiovascular disease could not only improve postoperative neurological deficits, but also reduce mortality for these patients.

Excellent microwave response derived from the construction of dielectric-loss 1D nanostructure.

Increasing efforts have recently been devoted to the artificial design and function of nanostructures for their application prospects in catalysis, drug delivery, energy storage, and microwave absorption. With the advantages of natural abundance, low cost, and environment friendliness, a one-dimensional (1D) MnO2 nanowire (MW) is the representative dielectric-loss absorber for its special morphology and crystalline structure. However, its low reflection loss (RL) value due to its thin thickness limits its wide development and application in the microwave absorption field. In this work, artificially designed MnO2@AIR@C (MCs), namely, 1D hollow carbon nanotubes filled with nano-MnO2, were designed and synthesized. It is found that the RL value of the MC is almost lower than -10 dB. Furthermore, the RL value was able to achieve -18.9 dB with an effective bandwidth (-10 dB) of 5.84 GHz at 2.25 mm. Simultaneously, the dielectric and interfacial polarization became stronger while the impedance matching was much better than in the single MWs. Hence, the rational design and fabrication of micro-architecture are essential and MC has great potential to be an outstanding microwave absorber.

[Influential factors of cerebral oxygen saturation in pediatric cardiovascular surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the intervention measures for the decrease of cerebral tissue oxygen saturation during anesthesia for the congenital heart disease in children.
 Methods: Twenty-eight children with cardiac surgery were enrolled. Anesthesia was deepened with propofol (3 mg/kg) intravenous injection. The data of cerebral tissue oxygen saturation(SctO2), mean arterial pressure (MAP), HR, bispectral index (BIS), arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2), hemoglobin (Hb) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) mean flow velocity (Vm) at different points were collected after intravenous injection of propofol at 3 mg/kg. The changes of SctO2 and the influential factors were analyzed.
 Results: SctO2 decreased by 4.99% after deepen anesthesia, with 95% CI 4.33% to 5.65% (P>0.05). There was no significant differince in MAP, PaO2, PaCO2, and Hb between the time points after deepen anesthesia and the baseline (P>0.05). MCA Vm decreased obviously after deepen anesthesia for 1, 5, 10 min (P<0.05). The decrease in MAP, HR, PaCO2 and MCA Vm is positively correlated with the decrease in SctO2.
 Conclusion: The decrease of MAP, HR, PaCO2, and MCA Vm is the risk factor for SctO2. To avoid the decrease, it needs to maintain the stability of SctO2 and prevent neurological complications.

Role of macrophage polarization in heart failure and traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

Heart failure (HF) has a severe impact on public health development due to high morbidity and mortality and is associated with imbalances in cardiac immunoregulation. Macrophages, a major cell population involved in cardiac immune response and inflammation, are highly heterogeneous and polarized into M1 and M2 types depending on the microenvironment. M1 macrophage releases inflammatory factors and chemokines to activate the immune response and remove harmful substances, while M2 macrophage releases anti-inflammatory factors to inhibit the overactive immune response and promote tissue repair. M1 and M2 restrict each other to maintain cardiac homeostasis. The dynamic balance of M1 and M2 is closely related to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) yin-yang theory, and the imbalance of yin and yang will result in a pathological state of the organism. Studies have confirmed that TCM produces positive effects on HF by regulating macrophage polarization. This review describes the critical role of macrophage polarization in inflammation, fibrosis, angiogenesis and electrophysiology in the course of HF, as well as the potential mechanism of TCM regulation of macrophage polarization in preventing and treating HF, thereby providing new ideas for clinical treatment and scientific research design of HF.

Sleep fragmentation exacerbates myocardial ischemia‒reperfusion injury by promoting copper overload in cardiomyocytes.

Sleep disorders increase the risk and mortality of heart disease, but the brain-heart interaction has not yet been fully elucidated. Cuproptosis is a copper-dependent type of cell death activated by the excessive accumulation of intracellular copper. Here, we showed that 16 weeks of sleep fragmentation (SF) resulted in elevated copper levels in the male mouse heart and exacerbated myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury with increased myocardial cuproptosis and apoptosis. Mechanistically, we found that SF promotes sympathetic overactivity, increases the germination of myocardial sympathetic nerve terminals, and increases the level of norepinephrine in cardiac tissue, thereby inhibits VPS35 expression and leads to impaired ATP7A related copper transport and copper overload in cardiomyocytes. Copper overload further leads to exacerbated cuproptosis and apoptosis, and these effects can be rescued by excision of the sympathetic nerve or administration of copper chelating agent. Our study elucidates one of the molecular mechanisms by which sleep disorders aggravate myocardial injury and suggests possible targets for intervention.

Efficacy and safety of Yangxinshi tablet for chronic heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The specific benefits of Yangxinshi tablet (YXST) in the treating chronic heart failure (CHF) remain uncertain. AIM: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of YXST in the treatment of CHF. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating YXST for CHF treatment were retrieved from eight public databases up to November 2023. Meta-analyses of the included clinical studies were conducted using Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: Twenty RCTs and 1845 patients were included. The meta-analysis results showed that the YXST combination group, compared to the conventional drug group, significantly increased the clinical efficacy rate by 23% [relative risk (RR) = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.17-1.29], P < 0.00001), left ventricular ejection fraction by 6.69% [mean difference (MD) = 6.69, 95%CI: 4.42-8.95, P < 0.00001] and 6-min walk test by 49.82 m (MD = 49.82, 95%C: 38.84-60.80, P < 0.00001), and reduced N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide by 1.03 ng/L [standardized MD (SMD) = -1.03, 95%CI: -1.32 to -0.74, P < 0.00001], brain natriuretic peptide by 80.95 ng/L (MD = -80.95, 95%CI: -143.31 to -18.59, P = 0.01), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter by 3.92 mm (MD = -3.92, 95%CI: -5.06 to -2.78, P < 0.00001), and left ventricular end-systolic diameter by 4.34 mm (MD = -4.34, 95%CI: -6.22 to -2.47, P < 0.00001). Regarding safety, neither group reported any serious adverse events during treatment (RR = 0.54, 95%CI: 0.15-1.90, P = 0.33). In addition, Egger's test results indicated no significant publication bias (P = 0.557). CONCLUSION: YXST effectively improves clinical symptoms and cardiac function in patients with CHF while maintaining a favorable safety profile, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic strategy for CHF.

[Peripheral Blood Laboratory Test Results Combined with TCF1+CD8+ T Lymphocytes 
Ratio to Predict the Response and Prognosis of Immunotherapy to 
Advanced Lung Cancer].

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy lacks viable biomarkers for response and prognosis prediction. This study aimed to investigate the correlation of peripheral blood laboratory test results combined with lymphocyte subset ratios to the response and prognosis of immunotherapy in advanced lung cancer. METHODS: Advanced lung cancer patients admitted to West China Hospital, Sichuan University from May 2021 to July 2023 were prospectively enrolled in this study. Clinical data and peripheral blood were collected before and after treatment and lymphocyte subset ratios were analyzed by flow cytometry. Logistic regression was used to identify factors correlated to ICIs treatment efficacy. Cox modeling was applied to explore the prognostic factors. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that the baseline level of transcription factor T cell factor 1 (TCF1)+CD8+ T cell ratio and peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count, lymphocyte percentage, cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1) after 1 cycle of ICIs treatment were the potential predictors for ICIs response (P<0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that the baseline level of TCF1+CD8+ T cell ratio (P=0.020) and peripheral WBC count after 1 cycle of ICIs treatment (P<0.001) were prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with high baseline TCF1+CD8+ T cell ratio combined with low WBC counts and low CYFRA21-1 level after 1 cycle of ICIs treatment are more likely to benefit from ICIs therapy.

PD-1 combined with lenvatinib and TACE for the transformational treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma combined with portal vein tumor thrombus: a case report and literature review.

Background: The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma combined with portal vein tumor thrombus is poor, with a median survival of only 3-6 months. PD-1 combined with targeted therapy may provide an opportunity for patients with BCLC C stage hepatocellular carcinoma combined with portal vein tumor thrombus to undergo radical surgery, significantly prolonging their survival time. Case presentation: A middle-aged 51-year-old male who was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma combined with portal vein main stem tumor thrombus at our center in May 2020, with a BCLC stage of C, liver cirrhosis, HBV infection, and preoperative evaluation as unresectable. The liver function was Child-Pugh A. The initial treatment was lenvatinib combined with PD-1 therapy, followed by one cycle of TACE treatment. The tumor and thrombus volume significantly reduced, followed by continuous TACE combined with immunotherapy and targeted therapy, leading to the appearance of portal vein main stem emboli. After multidisciplinary discussion, surgical resection was performed, and the embolus was removed, achieving a cure. The patient has been tumor-free for over 34 months. Conclusion: PD-1 combined with lenvatinib and local TACE create conditions for radical surgery, and it is hoped that more real-world research data can provide better evidence for the transformational treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma combined with portal vein tumor thrombus.

Impacts of Frailty on Prognosis in Lung Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome and is described as a limited ability to compensate and recover from stressors. Lung cancer is largely diagnosed in old age, when frailty is common and might have predictive value on prognosis. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to evaluate the prognostic role of frailty in lung cancer. Methods: The online PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang literature databases were searched to identify all related articles that reported the predictive value of frailty for mortality and therapeutic toxicity. Review Manager 5.3 was used to analyze results by standard meta-analysis methodology. Results: Seven studies were included in this review, and only six studies with 2,359 patients were enrolled in meta-analysis. Patients in two studies received chemotherapy, two studies radiotherapy, two studies surgery, one study not reported. Compared to non-frail patients, frail patients had a higher risk of overall mortality [Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.32-1.87], and therapeutic toxicity [Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.60, 95% CI, 0.82-8.24]. Prefrail patients also showed higher overall mortality and therapeutic toxicity than non-frail patients (HR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.05-1.38; OR = 1.72, 95% CI, 1.18-2.51, respectively). Conclusions: Frailty is a powerful predictor of overall mortality and therapeutic toxicity in lung cancer patients.

Influence of ADRB1, ADRB2, and COMT Genetic Polymorphisms on Postoperative Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Cardiac Valve Surgery.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to prospectively investigate the influence of ADRB and COMT gene polymorphisms on postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 223 patients undergoing elective cardiac valve surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass. Demographic information, intraoperative data, postoperative data, and blood samples were collected. Patients were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ADRB1 rs1801253, ADRB2 rs1042713, and COMT rs4680. Major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) were used as the primary outcome to evaluate the postoperative prognosis of patients. Secondary outcomes included the duration of mechanical ventilatory support, intensive care unit stay, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative need of inotropic or vasoactive agents. FINDINGS: The overall incidence of MACCEs was 15.2%. Among 3 SNP loci, only different genotyped carriers of ADRB2 rs1042713 had statistically significant differences in the incidence of MACCEs (P = 0.005), especially for acute kidney injury (P = 0.023). The proportions of postoperative norepinephrine demand of patients carrying the AA genotype of ADRB2 rs1042713 (P = 0.016) and the AG genotype of COMT rs4680 (P = 0.018) were low. The duration of mechanical ventilatory support (P = 0.034) and postoperative hospital stay (P = 0.045) of patients carrying the AG genotype of COMT rs4680 was shortest. After multiple logistic regression analysis, we found that the G allele carriers of ADRB2 rs1042713 had a higher risk of MACCEs (AG vs AA genotype: odds ratio [OR] = 4.348; 95% CI, 1.529-12.359, P = 0.006; GG vs AA genotype: OR = 3.722; 95% CI, 1.060-13.071; P = 0.040), in particular with acute kidney injury (AG vs AA genotype: OR = 5.273; 95% CI, 1.093-25.451; P = 0.038; GG vs AA genotype: OR = 7.533; 95% CI, 1.275-44.522; P = 0.026). There was no SNP-SNP interaction found among the 3 SNPs with multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis. IMPLICATION: The ADRB2 rs1042713 polymorphism might be related to prognosis of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients carrying the G allele of ADRB2 rs1042713 had a higher risk of developing MACCEs, especially acute kidney injury. chictr.org.com identifier: ChiCTR1800015105.

Regulation of the Immune Microenvironment by an NLRP3 Inhibitor Contributes to Attenuation of Acute Right Ventricular Failure in Rats with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Right heart failure is the terminal stage of PAH. When PAH patients suffer from pulmonary infection or puerperal infection heart failure often rapidly develops. Low dose of lipopolysaccharide induces rapid right ventricular failure in rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the NLRP3 inflammasome mediates disturbance of the ventricular immune microenvironment of PAH rats and promotes right ventricular failure. METHODS: Intraperitoneal injection of monocrotaline was used to induce PAH in rats. Right ventricular function was measured via echocardiography before and after the rats were treated with lipopolysaccharide and MCC950. The degree of immune microenvironment disturbance in right ventricular tissue was measured with a rat chemokine and cytokine antibody array, Western blot, flow cytometry and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. RESULTS: After the rats were injected with LPS, they exhibited right ventricular dysfunction and a significant increase in right ventricular tissue inflammation with elevated M1 macrophage proportion. Administration of MCC950 suppressed inflammation and improved right ventricular function. The number of M1 macrophages was decreased after MCC950 treatment. NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition ameliorated LPS-induced changes in the immune microenvironment in the right heart and right ventricular dysfunction in rats with PAH. CONCLUSION: Selective inhibition of NLRP3 pathway interfered the interaction between hypertrophic cardiomyocytes and macrophages in the initial stage of inflammation and maintained the immune microenvironment balance, eventually contributing to attenuation of LPS-induced acute heart failure in PAH rats.

A network meta-analysis of the long- and short-term efficacy of sleep medicines in adults and older adults.

BACKGROUND: This study focuses on seven commonly used hypnotics to comprehensively analyze the effects of long- and short-term use on sleep outcomes among adults and older adults. METHODS: A network meta-analysis was performed. The insomnia medications were classified into seven categories: benzodiazepines, z-drugs, melatonin, H1-antagonists, orexin receptor antagonists (ORAs), antidepressants, and anticonvulsants. We compared their efficacy of total sleep time, sleep latency, sleep efficiency and wake after sleep onset in subgroups short-term, long-term, elderly, and adults. RESULTS: A total of 111 RCTs involving 25,923 participants were included in this study. CONCLUSIONS: ORAs can be widely used in adults and the elderly, and both short-term and long-term use are effective for primary insomnia. H1-antagonists are more effective in adults than in the elderly. Although benzodiazepines have a more obvious effect on sleep maintenance, it is best to reduce their use due to their side effects, especially for the elderly. As a food supplement, melatonin has little effect on adults, but it still has a certain effect on the elderly.

Molecular characteristics of primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma based on integrated genomic analyses.

Primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (pLELC) is a rare non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) subtype. Clinical features have been described in our previous report, but molecular characteristics remain unclear. Herein, pLELC genomic features were explored. Among 41,574 lung cancers, 128 pLELCs and 162 non-pLELC NSCLCs were enrolled. Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and protein 53 (p53) expression was detected in 47 surgically resected pLELC samples by immunohistochemical assays. Multiomics genomic analyses, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) integration analyses, were performed on eight frozen pLELC tissues and compared with 50 lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs) and 50 lung squamous cell carcinomas (LUSCs) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and another 26 EBV-positive nasopharynx cancers (EBV+-NPCs). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of pLELC patients were better than those of non-pLELC patients. High PD-L1 or p53 expression was associated with extended disease-free survival (DFS). pLELC had 14 frequently mutated genes (FMGs). Somatically mutated genes and enrichment of genetic lesions were found, which differed from observations in LUAD, LUSC, and EBV+-nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Three tumor-associated genes, zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 16 (ZBTB16), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG), and transforming growth factor beta receptor 2 (TGFBR2), were downregulated with copy number variation (CNV) loss. EBV was prone to integrating into intergenic and intronic regions with two upregulated miR-BamH1-A rightward transcripts (BARTs), BART5-3P and BART20-3P. Our findings reveal that pLELC has a distinct genomic signature. Three tumor-associated genes with CNV loss and two miR-BARTs might be involved in pLELC tumorigenesis.

Plasma MIR-212-3p as a biomarker for acute right heart failure with pulmonary artery hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Acute right heart failure occurs in patients with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) with exposure to acute inflammation, the mortality rate is very high when right heart failure occurs. Biomarkers that can be used to detect acute right heart failure in patients with pulmonary hypertension need to be studied. METHODS: A PAH rat model was established using monocrotaline, and lipopolysaccharide was used to induce acute right heart failure. The Agilent rat miRNA microarray, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were used to assess the microRNA expression of PAH rats. The expression of up- and downregulated miRNAs in plasma from PAH patients with acute right heart failure was validated with quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, the Wilcoxon matched paired test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed. RESULTS: Thirty-three miRNAs were upregulated, and 7 miRNAs were downregulated in plasma of PAH rats with acute right heart failure. In the plasma of PAH patients, the miR-212-3p level was inversely correlated with the level of NT-pro BNP, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.751. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the reduction of the expression of MIR-212-3p may be a biomarker for PAH patients with right heart dysfunction.

Interfacial polarizations induced by incorporating traditional perovskites into reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for strong microwave response.

Incorporation of traditional perovskites into reduced graphene oxide (RGO) is an effective strategy to develop useful microwave absorbents. Taking advantage of the suitable impedance of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO), a novel and available microwave absorber was obtained. Here, we showed an outstanding and stable RGO material decorated with LSMO that can be used as an active component of microwave absorption devices. The as-prepared LSMO/RGO composites adopted the merits of RGO and LSMO and provided good properties, such as a controllable dissipation ability, optimized impedance matching, and broadened effective frequency bandwidth. For example, the minimum reflection loss (RL) value of LSMO/RGO composites with a 60% loading filler ratio reached -38.81 dB with a matching thickness of only 1.7 mm. Furthermore, the effective frequency bandwidth can be as wide as 5.64 GHz, with a thickness of 1.95 mm. Therefore, this work initiates a brand new avenue for artificial research of new materials for electromagnetic wave absorption.

Nanofiber network with adjustable nanostructure controlled by PVP content for an excellent microwave absorption.

Carbon nanofibers were widely utilized to improve microwave absorption properties since they are a promising lightweight candidate. Adjustable conductive nanostructures of carbon nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning technique. The conductive network is controlled by the polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) content due to the special hygroscopicity of PVP. The increased adhesive contacts of nanofibers provide more transmission paths for electrons to reduce the effect of air dielectric. Satisfactorily, the carbon nanofibers that carbonized from the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and PVP (the mass ratio is 6:4) show excellent microwave absorption performance. The minimum reflection loss (RL) value is -51.3 dB at 15.2 GHz and the maximum effective absorption frequency width (<-10 dB) is 5.1 GHz with the matching thickness of only 1.8 mm. Thereby, we believe that this research may offer an effective way to synthesize lightweight carbon nanofibers microwave absorbents.

Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist for Screening for Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: The Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist (MBI-C), a screening scale for neuropsychiatric symptom evaluation, facilitates Alzheimer's disease (AD) screening. However, its validity and reliability for use as an AD screening tool have not been determined. OBJECTIVE: To develop an AD screening scale suitable for the Chinese population. METHODS: The MBI-C was translated into Chinese and back-translated with the original author's consent. Forty-six AD patients, attending the Xuanwu hospital memory clinic, and 50 sex- and education-matched controls from the community underwent a full neuropsychological evaluation, including MBI-C assessment. Among them, 15 AD patients were evaluated repeatedly, and eight were evaluated simultaneously by two different clinicians, to assess MBI-C reliability. RESULTS: The MBI-C demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Its optimal cutoff point was 6/7 for identifying AD dementia, with a sensitivity of 86.96% and specificity of 86.00%, and its detection rate for moderate-severe AD dementia was higher than that of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q). Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.702 to 0.831, indicating content validity. Seven factors were extracted during principal component analysis, with a cumulative contribution of 70.55%. Moreover, the Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.758, indicating its criterion validity. The MBI-C could also distinguish AD dementia severity. MBI-C scores were significantly negatively correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores, and positively correlated with ADL scores. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the Chinese version of MBI-C has high reliability and validity, and could replace the NPI-Q for AD dementia screening in the Chinese population.

Long non-coding RNA expression profiling in the lungs of pulmonary arterial hypertension rats with acute inflammation.

BACKGROUND: We performed RNA-sequencing to investigate the changes and expression profiles in long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their potential functional roles in the lungs of pulmonary arterial hypertension rats responding to acute inflammation. METHODS: To establish a pulmonary arterial hypertension rat model, monocrotaline was injected intraperitoneally and lipopolysaccharide was given to induce acute inflammation. Selected lncRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Bioinformatics analyses were carried out to predict the potential biological roles of key lncRNAs. RESULTS: Twenty-eight lncRNAs and seven mRNAs with elevated expression and 202 lncRNAs and 36 mRNAs with decreased expression were found in the lung tissues of lipopolysaccharide-treated pulmonary arterial hypertension rats compared with control group. The qRT-PCR validation results were consistent with the bioinformatics analysis. Gene ontology analyses showed that the mRNAs and lncRNAs were differentially expressed in different pathways regarding biological process, cellular components, and molecular function. The functions of differentially expressed messenger RNAs (DEmRNAs) and DElncRNAs were indicated by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment. CONCLUSION: The DEmRNAs co-expressed with DElncRNAs were obviously enriched in inflammation. DElncRNAs and DEmRNAs in the lungs of pulmonary arterial hypertension rats changed with acute inflammation may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Constructing multi-interface Mo2C/Co@C nanorods for a microwave response based on a double attenuation mechanism.

In this work, novel one-dimensional (1D) Mo2C/Co@C nanorods (MCRs), using a metal-organic framework (zeolitic imidazolate framework; ZIF-67) as the coating layer to form multi-interfaces, were formed via a facile hard template method. Compared with previous works relating to porous-carbon-based Mo2C nanocomposites, the well-designed MCRs in this study possess a double attenuation mechanism due to the existence of the dielectric materials Mo2C and remaining carbon (RC) and the magnetic compound Co. Thanks to a new design and the multiple useful compounds, the as-prepared MCRs have the features of demonstrating multi-interfacial polarization, a large surface area and highly isotropic dissipation. Hence, the samples not only inherit the excellent microwave absorbing abilities of Mo2C but they also have a broadened effective bandwidth. For example, the minimum reflection loss (RL) value of MCRs with 35% sample loading could reach -47.98 dB. More importantly, RL values of less than -10 dB can be observed from 11.08 to 17.08 GHz (an effective bandwidth of 6.0 GHz) with a matching thickness of 1.6 mm, which is much better than previous work involving porous-carbon-based Mo2C nanocomposites. Firstly, we have reasonably redesigned the samples to have good absorbing properties for practical applications. Secondly, we have paved a highly efficient and universal way to synthesize 1D microwave absorbers with multiple valuable interfaces.