Predictive value of soluble CD40L combined with APACHE II score in elderly patients with sepsis in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic performance of soluble CD40L (sCD40L) for illness severity in infectious diseases is rarely reported. We investigated the ability of sCD40L combined with Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score to evaluate mortality in septic patients in the emergency department(ED). METHODS: We enrolled 222 septic patients in the ED of Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital from October 2020 to April 2021. Their serum sCD40L, PCT, lactate (Lac), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score were used to predict the prognosis of septic patients in terms of 28-day mortality. Serum sCD40L was detected by Human XL Cytokine Luminex. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the prognostic value of the variables. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-five patients met the inclusion criteria, divided into survival group (55 cases) and non-survival group (140 cases). sCD40L, PCT, Lac, SOFA and APACHE II score were found to independently predict 28-day mortality (P < 0.05). The AUC values of sCD40L, PCT, Lac, SOFA and APACHE II score were 0.662,0.727,0.704, 0.719 and 0.716, respectively. There was no difference in the diagnostic value of sCD40L compared with the PCT, Lac, SOFA score or APACHE II score (Z1 = 1.19, P = 0.234; Z2 = 0.77, P = 0.441; Z3 = 1.05, P = 0.294; Z4 = 0.97, P = 0.332). However, the combined evaluation of sCD40L + APACHE II (AUC:0.772, Z = 2.10, P = 0.036) was much better than sCD40L alone in predicting 28-day mortality. CONCLUSION: The predictive value of sCD40L + APACHE II is better than sCD40L alone for 28-day mortality. sCD40L combined with APACHE II score is valuable for predicting 28-day mortality in elderly patients with sepsis.

Anisotropic Nonlocal Damping in Ferromagnet/α-GeTe Bilayers Enabled by Splitting Energy Bands.

The understanding and manipulation of anisotropic Gilbert damping is crucial for both fundamental research and versatile engineering and optimization. Although several works on anisotropic damping have been reported, no direct relationship between the band structure and anisotropic damping was established. Here, we observed an anisotropic damping in Fe/GeTe manipulated by the symmetric band structures of GeTe via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Moreover, the anisotropic damping can be modified by the symmetry of band structures. Our Letter provides insightful understandings of the anisotropic Gilbert damping in ferromagnets interfaced with Rashba semiconductors and suggests the possibility of manipulating the Gilbert damping by band engineering.

Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Rhabdomyolysis: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Rhabdomyolysis (RM) refers to a clinical syndrome in which muscle cells are damaged by various causes and the clinical manifestations are mainly muscle pain, weakness, and dark urine. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication of RM with complex mechanisms and high mortality. Therefore, understanding the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, early diagnosis and treatment of RM are crucial to improve its prognosis. Method: Analysis of medical records of RM patients admitted to Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from October 2019 to October 2022. Statistical software SPSS 25.0 was used to analyze the data. The risk factors of RM-complicated AKI were analyzed by logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted, the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated, and the optimal cutoff value was determined by the Youden index. P < 0.05 indicates a statistically significant difference between the groups. Result: Among the 71 patients, the median age of the patients was 53.0 (30.0, 71.0) years and was 2.5 times higher in men than in women. Infection was the most common etiology. History of alcohol consumption, CK, and creatinine were independent influencing factors for AKI due to RM. Logistic regression analysis showed that CK combined with creatinine had a better predictive value than the single index. Conclusion: Our study revealed the clinical and laboratory characteristics of RM in the population attending the Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in the last three years, which is a reference for future multicenter, prospective studies.

Surface coupling in Bi2Se3 ultrathin films by screened Coulomb interaction.

Single-particle band theory has been very successful in describing the band structure of topological insulators. However, with decreasing thickness of topological insulator thin films, single-particle band theory is insufficient to explain their band structures and transport properties due to the existence of top and bottom surface-state coupling. Here, we reconstruct this coupling with an equivalently screened Coulomb interaction in Bi2Se3 ultrathin films. The thickness-dependent position of the Dirac point and the magnitude of the mass gap are discussed in terms of the Hartree approximation and the self-consistent gap equation. We find that for thicknesses below 6 quintuple layers, the magnitude of the mass gap is in good agreement with the experimental results. Our work provides a more accurate means of describing and predicting the behaviour of quasi-particles in ultrathin topological insulator films and stacked topological systems.

Dual Topology of Dirac Electron Transport and Photogalvanic Effect in Low-Dimensional Topological Insulator Superlattices.

Dual topological insulators, simultaneously protected by time-reversal symmetry and crystalline symmetry, open great opportunities to explore different symmetry-protected metallic surface states. However, the conventional dual topological states located on different facets hinder integration into planar opto-electronic/spintronic devices. Here, dual topological superlattices (TSLs) Bi2 Se3 -(Bi2 /Bi2 Se3 )N with limited stacking layer number N are constructed. Angle-resolved photoelectron emission spectra of the TSLs identify the coexistence and adjustment of dual topological surface states on Bi2 Se3 facet. The existence and tunability of spin-polarized dual-topological bands with N on Bi2 Se3 facet result in an unconventionally weak antilocalization effect (WAL) with variable WAL coefficient α (maximum close to 3/2) from quantum transport experiments. Most importantly, it is identified that the spin-polarized surface electrons from dual topological bands exhibit circularly and linearly polarized photogalvanic effect (CPGE and LPGE). It is anticipated that the stacked dual-topology and stacking layer number controlled bands evolution provide a platform for realizing intrinsic CPGE and LPGE. The results show that the surface electronic structure of the dual TSLs is highly tunable and well-regulated for quantum transport and photoexcitation, which shed light on engineering for opto-electronic/spintronic applications.

Predictive Value of Combination of Procalcitonin and Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ Dysfunction (PIRO) System in Septic Patients with Positive Blood Cultures in the Emergency Department.

Purpose: Procalcitonin and predisposition, infection, response, and organ dysfunction (PIRO) system have high predictive value for the prognosis of critically ill patients. There are few studies on the predictive value of patients with positive blood cultures. The aim of the study was to evaluate risk stratification and sepsis-related mortality in patients with positive blood cultures via procalcitonin (PCT) combined with the PIRO system in emergency departments (ED). Methods: A total of 1074 patients with positive blood cultures were admitted to Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital ED from December 2017 to October 2020. Their serum PCT was recorded, along with a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS) score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, and PIRO score to predict the prognosis of septic patients with positive blood culture in terms of ICU (intensive care unit) admission, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) development, and 28-day mortality. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of the scoring systems. Results: A total of 978 patients met the inclusion criteria. PCT, MEDS, APACHE II, and PIRO scores were found to independently predict ICU-admission, MODS development, and 28-day mortality (P<0.05), whereas SOFA did not. The AUC values of the PCT, MEDS, APACHE II, and PIRO scores for ICU-admission were 0.620, 0.740, 0.780, and 0.751, respectively. In the prediction of 28-day mortality, the AUC values of PCT, MEDS, APACHE II, and PIRO were 0.782, 0.745, 0.805, and 0.831, respectively. The AUC values combined PCT and PIRO system in predicting MODS and 28-day mortality were better than when predicting ICU-admission. Conclusion: This study indicates that PCT combined with the PIRO scoring system has a higher predictive value and is superior in predicting MODS and 28-day mortality in septic patients with positive blood cultures.

Value of Neutrophil:Lymphocyte Ratio Combined with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score in Assessing the Prognosis of Sepsis Patients.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate risk factors and assessment values in patients with sepsis and to explore a method of improving prognosis-prediction efficiency for patients with sepsis. METHODS: Patients with sepsis admitted to the Emergency Medicine Clinical Research Center, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2020 to December 2020 were enrolled. Demographic data of patients and laboratory values at admission were collected. Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scores were calculated within 24 hours of admission and logistic regression used to analyze risk factors of death within 28 days, as well as the combined predictor of SOFA score and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Predicted values of various indicators for 28-day mortality in sepsis patients were analyzed using receiver-operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: A total of 302 patients were included in this study, of whom 64 (21.2%) died. Age, Pct, CRP, Lac, NLR (OR 1.054, 95% CI 1.032-1.076), SOFA score (OR 1.434, 95% CI 1.293-1.591), APACHE II score (OR 1.231, 95% CI 1.166-1.300), and NLR combined with SOFA (SOFA+NLR×0.149: OR 1.455, 95% CI 1.318-1.605) were risk factors of 28-day mortality in sepsis patients, and areas under the curve of NLR combined with SOFA score were significantly higher than each of NLR and SOFA scores and similar to APACHE II scores. The sensitivity and specificity of NLR combined with SOFA and APACHE II scores to predict the 28-day prognosis of sepsis patients were better than the other indicators. CONCLUSION: NLR combined with SOFA was a risk factor of the death of sepsis patients and its predictive efficacy similar to that of the APACHE II score, which is superior to other predictive indices.

Acute pancreatitis with hypercalcemia caused by primary hyperparathyroidism associated with paraneoplastic syndrome: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Although acute pancreatitis associated with hyperparathyroidism has occasionally been reported, acute pancreatitis with metabolic encephalopathy caused by hyperparathyroidism combined with paraneoplastic syndrome is an extremely rare entity and poorly described in the literature. CASE SUMMARY: We present a case of a 56-year-old female with upper abdominal discomfort and intermittent nausea and vomiting for 1 wk, without apparent abdominal pain or bloating, no jaundice and decreased blood pressure at the outset. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with moderately severe acute pancreatitis (according to the revised Atlanta classification of acute pancreatitis) combined with metabolic encephalopathy secondary to hypercalcemia caused by primary hyperparathyroidism associated with paraneoplastic syndrome. After active treatment of acute pancreatitis, massive fluid resuscitation, resection of parathyroid and uterine malignant tumors, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and other treatments, her serum calcium eventually returned to the normal level. The patient was successfully discharged from hospital. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of acute pancreatitis caused by primary hyperparathyroidism associated with paraneoplastic syndrome.

Predictive Value of Immune Cell Subsets for Mortality Risk in Patients With Sepsis.

This study investigates the prognostic value of immune cell subsets in assessing the risk of death in patients with sepsis. This retrospective study collected 169 patients from March 2020 to February 2021 at our hospital. Baseline data were collected from patients. The absolute values (Abs) and percentages (%) of immune cell subsets for lymphocytes, T cells, CD4+ cells, CD8+, B cells, NK cells, and NKT cells were measured using flow Cytometry. Among the included patients, 43 patients were in the nonsurvivor group and 126 patients were in the survivor group. The age of patients in the nonsurvivor survivor was higher than that of survivor group patients (P = .020). SOFA, APACHE II, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin were higher in the nonsurvivor group than in the survivor group (all P values < .05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that lymphocytes (%) and SOFA were independent risk factors affecting patients' prognosis. Lymphocytes (%) have the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (0.812). The model area under the ROC curve for immune cell subsets was 0.800, with a sensitivity of 72.09%, and specificity of 79.27% (z = 7.796, P < .001). Analysis of patient prognosis by immune cell subsets diagnostic showed statistically significant differences in the grouping of cut-off values for all 5 indicators (all P < .05). The lymphocytes (%) and SOFA score are independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients. A moderate predictive power for mortality in sepsis patients by immune cell subsets model.

Photodynamic therapy for synovial hyperplasia in patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis: a study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, blank-controlled prospective trial.

BACKGROUND: Persistent synovial hyperplasia with inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis is one of the main pathogeneses of refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RRA). Photodynamic therapy (PDT) causes less trauma than steroid injections or arthroscopic synovectomy while providing stronger targeting and more durable curative effects. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the short-, medium-, and long-term clinical efficacy of PDT when applied as a treatment for RRA synovial hyperplasia and synovitis. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol is for a single-center, randomized, double-blind, blank-controlled prospective trial. A sample of 126 RRA patients will be randomly divided into 3 groups: the control group, the "PDT once" group, and the "PDT twice" group, with 42 participants per group. The trial will be conducted by the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of the Integrated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University. The Ultrasound Compound Score of Synovitis (UCSS) has been selected as the primary outcome measure. The secondary outcome measures include knee joint clinical assessments, ratio of relapse, duration of remission, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28), inflammation indexes, serum concentrations of specific antibodies, and changes in articular structures as detected by X-ray scans in the 48th week. The improvement ratios of the UCSS at the 8th, 24th, and 48th weeks (compared with baseline) reflect short-, medium-, and long-term time frames, respectively. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Integrated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, China (Approval No. granted by the ethics committee: NFZXYEC-2017-005) and then entered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry under registration number ChiCTR1800014918 (approval date: February 21, 2018). All procedures are in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations and with the Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association (WMA). Any modifications of this protocol during execution will need additional approval from the Ethics Committee of our hospital. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1800014918 .

Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes Between Positive and Negative Blood Culture Septic Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have studied the relationship between blood culture and mortality in sepsis patients. The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics and outcomes of positive and negative blood culture sepsis. METHODS: We performed a study on 640 patients suffering from sepsis in Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital from October 2017 to December 2019. The primary findings revolved around length and expenditure of hospital stay, the possibility of suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and any requirements for mechanical ventilation. The secondary findings revolved around whether the patient died early (28-day) or late (28-to-90-day). RESULTS: A total of 592 of the 640 patients met the inclusion criteria for sepsis, with 274 of them having culture-positive results. The culture-positive patients were mostly elderly suffering from diabetes and at risk of cancer, with a higher white blood cell count, and higher procalcitonin. Additionally, they scored higher in their acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score (15 vs.11, P=0.010), as well as in their predisposition, infection, response, and organ dysfunction (17 vs 11, P<0.001) than the individuals in the culture-negative group. Culture-positive patients had a longer duration of hospital stay (14 vs 6, P<0.001) and higher in-hospital mortality (14.6% vs 8.5%, P=0.019) than culture-negative ones. No significant difference in intensive care unit (ICU) mortality (45.7% vs.36.4%, P=0.254) or early mortality (9.5% vs 7.2%, P=0.321) was noted between the two groups. However, the culture-positive patients had increased late mortality (15.7% vs.6.9%, P=0.001), when compared with those with culture-negative results in the cohort. Furthermore, the culture-positive patients who received the appropriate antibiotics early had a lower mortality rate than the culture-negative patients (7.3% vs.14.2%, P=0.008). CONCLUSION: Culture-positive patients had higher in-hospital mortality, comparable early mortality, and worse late mortality than the culture-negative patients. Early appropriate use of antibiotics might reduce mortality and improve clinical prognosis.

Drag effect induced large anisotropic damping behavior in magnetic thin films with strong magnetic anisotropy.

The determination of intrinsic Gilbert damping is one of the central interests in the field of spintronics. However, some external factors in magnetic films tend to play a remarkable role in the magnetization dynamics. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the magnetic relaxation in ferromagnetic films with various in-plane magnetic anisotropy via ferromagnetic resonance technique. We find that the magnetic drag effect can result in the resonant linewidth broadening and the nonlinear dependence of linewidth on frequency stemming from field-magnetization misalignment. As a result, this could lead to the imprecise extraction of the key dynamic parameter-Gilbert damping and cause the confusing behaviors of ultra-low and anisotropic damping in thin films and multi-layers with high magnetic anisotropy. Our results provide a crucial way for the accurately quantitative estimation of the Gilbert damping in spintronics measurements.

Three-Dimensional Limit of Bulk Rashba Effect in Ferroelectric Semiconductor GeTe.

Ferroelectric Rashba semiconductors (FERSCs) have recently attracted intensive attention due to their giant bulk Rashba parameter, αR, which results in a locking between the spin degrees of freedom and the switchable electric polarization. However, the integration of FERSCs into microelectronic devices has provoked questions concerning whether the Rashba effect can persist when the material thickness is reduced to several nanometers. Here we find that αR can keep a large value of 2.12 eV Å in the 5.0 nm thick GeTe film. The behavior of αR with thickness can be expressed by the scaling law and provides a 3D thickness limit of the bulk Rashba effect, dc = 2.1 ± 0.5 nm. Finally, we find that the thickness can modify the Berry curvature as well, which influences the polarization and consequently alters the αR. Our results give insight into understanding the factors influencing αR in FERSCs and pave a novel route for designing Rashba-type quantum materials.

Visualizing Tailored Spin Phenomena in a Reduced-Dimensional Topological Superlattice.

Emergent topological insulators (TIs) and their design are in high demand for manipulating and transmitting spin information toward ultralow-power-consumption spintronic applications. Here, distinct topological states with tailored spin properties can be achieved in a single reduced-dimensional TI-superlattice, (Bi2 /Bi2 Se3 )-(Bi2 /Bi2 Se3 )N or (□/Bi2 Se3 )-(Bi2 /Bi2 Se3 )N (N is the repeating unit, □ represents an empty layer) by controlling the termination via molecular beam epitaxy. The Bi2 -terminated superlattice exhibits a single Dirac cone with a spin momentum splitting ≈0.5 Å-1 , producing a pronounced inverse Edelstein effect with a coherence length up to 1.26 nm. In contrast, the Bi2 Se3 -terminated superlattice is identified as a dual TI protected by coexisting time reversal and mirror symmetries, showing an unexpectedly long spin lifetime up to 1 ns. The work elucidates the key role of dimensionality and dual topological phases in selecting desired spin properties, suggesting a promise route for engineering topological superlattices for high-performance TI-spintronic devices.

Identification of Gene Signatures for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinomas Patients at Early Stage.

The onset of liver cancer is insidious. Currently, there is no effective method for the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Transcriptomic profiles of 826 tissue samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype tissue expression (GTEx), and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases were utilized to establish models for early detection and surveillance of HCC. The overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by elastic net and robust rank aggregation (RRA) analyses to construct the diagnostic prediction model for early HCC (DP.eHCC). Prognostic prediction genes were screened by univariate cox regression and lasso cox regression analyses to construct the survival risk prediction model for early HCC (SP.eHCC). The relationship between the variation of transcriptome profile and the oncogenic risk-score of early HCC was analyzed by combining Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA), Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), and genome networks (GeNets). The results showed that the AUC of DP.eHCC model for the diagnosis of early HCC was 0.956 (95% CI: 0.941-0.972; p < 0.001) with a sensitivity of 90.91%, a specificity of 92.97%. The SP.eHCC model performed well for predicting the overall survival risk of HCC patients (HR = 10.79; 95% CI: 6.16-18.89; p < 0.001). The oncogenesis of early HCC was revealed mainly involving in pathways associated with cell proliferation and tumor microenvironment. And the transcription factors including EZH2, EGR1, and SOX17 were screened in the genome networks as the promising targets used for precise treatment in patients with HCC. Our findings provide robust models for the early diagnosis and prognosis of HCC, and are crucial for the development of novel targets applied in the precision therapy of HCC.

Efficacy of the quick sequential organ failure assessment for predicting clinical outcomes among community-acquired pneumonia patients presenting in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to investigate the predictive value of the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) for clinical outcomes in emergency patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: A total of 742 CAP cases from the emergency department (ED) were enrolled in this study. The scoring systems including the qSOFA, SOFA and CURB-65 (confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure and age) were used to predict the prognostic outcomes of CAP in ICU-admission, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and 28-day mortality. According to the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the accuracies of prediction of the scoring systems were analyzed among CAP patients. RESULTS: The AUC values of the qSOFA, SOFA and CURB-65 scores for ICU-admission among CAP patients were 0.712 (95%CI: 0.678-0.745, P < 0.001), 0.744 (95%CI: 0.711-0.775, P < 0.001) and 0.705 (95%CI: 0.671-0.738, P < 0.001), respectively. For ARDS, the AUC values of the qSOFA, SOFA and CURB-65 scores were 0.730 (95%CI: 0.697-0.762, P < 0.001), 0.724 (95%CI: 0.690-0.756, P < 0.001) and 0.749 (95%CI: 0.716-0.780, P < 0.001), respectively. After 28 days of follow-up, the AUC values of the qSOFA, SOFA and CURB-65 scores for 28-day mortality were 0.602 (95%CI: 0.566-0.638, P < 0.001), 0.587 (95%CI: 0.551-0.623, P < 0.001) and 0.614 (95%CI: 0.577-0.649, P < 0.001) in turn. There were no statistical differences between qSOFA and SOFA scores for predicting ICU-admission (Z = 1.482, P = 0.138), ARDS (Z = 0.321, P = 0.748) and 28-day mortality (Z = 0.573, P = 0.567). Moreover, we found no differences to predict the ICU-admission (Z = 0.370, P = 0.712), ARDS (Z = 0.900, P = 0.368) and 28-day mortality (Z = 0.768, P = 0.442) using qSOFA or CURB-65 scores. CONCLUSION: qSOFA was not inferior to SOFA or CURB-65 scores in predicting the ICU-admission, ARDS and 28-day mortality of patients presenting in the ED with CAP.

Large Tunable Spin-to-Charge Conversion Induced by Hybrid Rashba and Dirac Surface States in Topological Insulator Heterostructures.

Topological insulators (TIs) have emerged as some of the most efficient spin-to-charge convertors because of their correlated spin-momentum locking at helical Dirac surface states. While endeavors have been made to pursue large "charge-to-spin" conversions in novel TI materials using spin-torque-transfer geometries, the reciprocal process "spin-to-charge" conversion, characterized by the inverse Edelstein effect length (λIEE) in the prototypical TI material (Bi2Se3), remains moderate. Here, we demonstrate that, by incorporating a "second" spin-splitting band, namely, a Rashba interface formed by inserting a bismuth interlayer between the ferromagnet and the Bi2Se3 (i.e., ferromagnet/Bi/Bi2Se3 heterostructure), λIEE shows a pronounced increase (up to 280 pm) compared with that in pure TIs. We found that λIEE alters as a function of bismuth interlayer thickness, suggesting a new degree of freedom to manipulate λIEE by engineering the interplay of Rashba and Dirac surface states. Our finding launches a new route for designing TI- and Rashba-type quantum materials for next-generation spintronic applications.

Upregulation of miR­122 is associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis in atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia, which is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. microRNA (miRNA/miR)­122 has been reported to be related with heart diseases, however, the functional role of miR­122 in atrial fibrillation is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the roles of miR­122 in atrial fibrillation. Male C57BL/6 mice were divided into the following three groups: Control, sham­operation and AF. Mice in the AF group received transesophageal rapid atrial stimulation for the induction of AF. Cardiomyocytes isolated from mice in the AF group and were transfected with miR­122 inhibitors. Reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to assess the expression of miR­122 in cardiomyocytes isolated from mice in the AF, sham­operation and control groups, and in cells transfected with miR­122 inhibitors. MTT and TUNEL assays were used to evaluate cardiomyocyte viability and apoptosis, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to assess the expression levels of extracellular signal­regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphorylated (p)­ERK, as well as the apoptosis­associated proteins caspase­3 and B­cell lymphoma 2­like 1 (Bcl­x). The present results demonstrated that miR­122 expression in the AF group was significantly increased compared with the sham­operation and control groups, whereas it was significantly decreased following transfection with the miR­122 inhibitor. Cardiomyocyte viability was increased and their apoptosis rate was significantly decreased following miR­122 transfection. In addition, the expression of the anti­apoptotic protein Bcl­x was significantly upregulated, whereas the expression of the pro­apoptotic caspase­3 was significantly downregulated following miR­122 inhibition. Furthermore, the p­ERK/total ERK ratio was significantly increased in the miR­122 inhibitor group compared with the AF and control groups. The present results suggested that miR­122 may be implicated in the molecular mechanisms underlying the proliferation and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes in AF.

Ultrafast Photoinduced Multimode Antiferromagnetic Spin Dynamics in Exchange-Coupled Fe/RFeO3 (R = Er or Dy) Heterostructures.

Antiferromagnetic spin dynamics is important for both fundamental and applied antiferromagnetic spintronic devices; however, it is rarely explored by external fields because of the strong exchange interaction in antiferromagnetic materials. Here, the photoinduced excitation of ultrafast antiferromagnetic spin dynamics is achieved by capping antiferromagnetic RFeO3 (R = Er or Dy) with an exchange-coupled ferromagnetic Fe film. Compared with antiferromagnetic spin dynamics of bare RFeO3 orthoferrite single crystals, which can be triggered effectively by ultrafast laser heating just below the phase transition temperature, the ultrafast photoinduced multimode antiferromagnetic spin dynamic modes, for exchange-coupled Fe/RFeO3 heterostructures, including quasiferromagnetic resonance, impurity, coherent phonon, and quasiantiferromagnetic modes, are observed in a temperature range of 10-300 K. These experimental results not only offer an effective means to trigger ultrafast antiferromagnetic spin dynamics of rare-earth orthoferrites, but also shed light on the ultrafast manipulation of antiferromagnetic magnetization in Fe/RFeO3 heterostructures.