Changes of ubiquitylated proteins in atrial fibrillation associated with heart valve disease: proteomics in human left atrial appendage tissue.

Background: Correlations between posttranslational modifications and atrial fibrillation (AF) have been demonstrated in recent studies. However, it is still unclear whether and how ubiquitylated proteins relate to AF in the left atrial appendage of patients with AF and valvular heart disease. Methods: Through LC-MS/MS analyses, we performed a study on tissues from eighteen subjects (9 with sinus rhythm and 9 with AF) who underwent cardiac valvular surgery. Specifically, we explored the ubiquitination profiles of left atrial appendage samples. Results: In summary, after the quantification ratios for the upregulated and downregulated ubiquitination cutoff values were set at >1.5 and <1:1.5, respectively, a total of 271 sites in 162 proteins exhibiting upregulated ubiquitination and 467 sites in 156 proteins exhibiting downregulated ubiquitination were identified. The ubiquitylated proteins in the AF samples were enriched in proteins associated with ribosomes, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), glycolysis, and endocytosis. Conclusions: Our findings can be used to clarify differences in the ubiquitination levels of ribosome-related and HCM-related proteins, especially titin (TTN) and myosin heavy chain 6 (MYH6), in patients with AF, and therefore, regulating ubiquitination may be a feasible strategy for AF.

Pharmaceutical-eluting hybrid degradable hydrogel/microparticle loaded sacs for finger joint interpositional arthroplasty.

Despite recent advances in medical technology, treatment of chronic osteomyelitis in the small joint of the hand remains challenging. Here, we exploited hybrid biodegradable hydrogel/microparticle/polycaprolactone (PCL) sacs for finger joint interpositional arthroplasty via electrospraying and rotational molding techniques. Degradable Pluronic F127, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and PCL were starting materials for the hydrogels, microparticles, and sac, respectively. Vancomycin, ceftazidime, and lidocaine were the embedded pharmaceuticals. The in vitro and in vivo drug release behaviors of hybrid drug-eluting sacs were assessed. The empirical outcomes show that the size distribution of the electrosprayed vancomycin/ceftazidime/lidocaine PLGA microparticles was 8.25 ± 3.35 µm. Biodegradable PCL sacs offered sustainable and effective release of vancomycin, ceftazidime, and lidocaine, respectively, after 30, 16, and 11 days in vitro. The sacs also discharged high levels of anti-microbial agents for 56 days and analgesics for 14 days in a rabbit knee joint model. The blood urea nitrogen (creatinine) levels remained normal at various time points: 16.5 ± 2.5 mg/dL (0.85 ± 0.24 mg/dL), 20.0 ± 1.4 mg/dL (1.0 ± 0.16 mg/dL), 19.3 ± 2.4 mg/dL (1.13 ± 0.15 mg/dL), and 20.0 ± 2.16 mg/dL (1.0 ± 0.16 mg/dL) at days 7, 14, 21, and 35, respectively. The empirical outcomes of this study suggested that the hybrid biodegradable drug-eluting sacs with extended liberation of pharmaceuticals may find applications in the small joints for post-operative pain relief and infection control.

[Investigation of light penetration depth and distribution inside citrus tissue].

Experiment was carried out to explore the light intensity change inside citrus samples in the present study. An experimental platform was set up, including a light box, a spectrometer, a sample stage, an optic fiber probe, light sources, etc. The sample stage is adjustable in three dimensions. The optic fiber probe was used to measure the light changes by observing the light attenuation and intensity variation within the citrus tissues. A 632 nm laser source and a 50 W tungsten halogen lamp light source were used. Light intensity and transmittance were investigated at different positions within the citrus fruit. The band with most significant intensity difference was selected to analyze the light intensity and transmittance trends in different positions inside the citrus fruit In order to examine the influence significance of the sample factor on test results, SPSS software was used to do the analysis of variation (ANOVA) of different samples. The results showed that light intensity and transmittance have a positive correlation with puncture depth, while citrus peel and stone have a more obvious attenuation effect than citrus flesh, and the influence of the sample factor on the test results is not significant. Further research can be carried out by improving the experimental device. The method used and results obtained in this study are valuable for studies on light transmission properties inside fruit tissue, not only for citrus but also for other kinds of fruits.

[Study on the influence of light intensity on near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra of pear soluble solids content].

The objective of the present research was to study the influence of four kinds of light intensity of near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra on the determination of pear soluble solids content. Qualitative analysis of the four spectra showed that the differences between them were too slight to find. After further analysis by principal component regression (PCR), stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) as well as comparisons among them, the results of PCR model and SMLR models which had low correlation coefficients (r) were worse than those of PLSR model. The model based on PLSR was further optimized by the second order derivative pretreatments of the spectra, and its correlation coefficients ranged from 0.947 to 0.970. The relative coefficients in PLSR model based on spectra from four sets were 0.958. The results indicate that light intensity has little influence on the determination of pear soluble solids content based on near-infrared diffuse reflection spectra.