[Development and application of SSR markers of Saposhnikovia divaricata based on transcriptome].

Transcriptome sequencing was employed to mine the simple sequence repeat(SSR) locus information of Saposhnikovia divaricata and design specific primers, which aimed to provide a basis for the research on the genetic diversity of S. divaricata germplasm resources. The seed purity, 1 000-seed weight, germination rate, and seed vigor were determined. MISA was used to obtain the SSR locus information from 12 606 unigene longer than 1 kb in the transcriptome database. Forty-three pairs of SSR primers designed in Primer 3 were used to analyze the polymorphism of 28 S. divaricata samples of different sources. The results showed that there were differences in the seed purity, 1 000-seed weight, germination rate, vigor, and seed length and width among S. divaricata samples of different sources. Particularly, the germination rate and seed vigor had significant differences, and HB-ZJK1, NMG-CF4, NMG-BT, NMG-HLE1, and NMG-CF2 had significantly higher 1 000-seed weight, germination rate, and seed vigor than the samples of other sources. Among the 86 233 unigene, 12 606(14.62%) unigene contained 15 958 SSR loci, with one SSR locus every 5 009 bp on average. The SSR loci were mainly single nucleotide and dinucleotide repeats, which were dominated by G/C and TC/AG, respectively. All the primers were screened by using 28 S. divaricata sample from different habitats, and the primers corresponding to the amplification products with clear bands and stable polymorphism were obtained. The clustering results of the biological characteristics and genetic diversity of the 28 S. divaricata samples were basically consistent, and the samples of the same origin(HB-AG1, HB-AG2, HB-ZJK1, and HB-ZJK2) generally gathered together and had close genetic relationship. The SSRs in S. divaricata transcriptome has high frequency, rich types, and high polymorphism, which provides candidate molecular markers for the germplasm identification, genetic map construction, and molecular-assisted breeding.

Research on the improvement effect of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk on rheumatoid arthritis based on the "component-target-pathway" association.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicine Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk in rats with complete Freund's adjuvant-induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: The chemical targets and RA targets of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk were acquired by the network pharmacological method. The complete Freund's adjuvant-induced rat RA model was used to further explore the mechanism of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk in improving RA. Pathological changes in the volume of toes, body weight and synovial tissues of joints as well as serum inflammatory factor levels before and after the intervention of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk were investigated. The key metabolic pathways were screened by correlations between metabolites and key targets. Finally, a quantitative analysis of key targets and metabolites was experimentally validated. RESULTS: Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk administration increased body weight, mitigated foot swelling and downregulated inflammatory cytokine levels in model rats. The histopathology showed that treatment with Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk can induce inflammatory cell infiltration and synovial hyperplasia and obviously reduce cartilage injuries, thus improving arthritis symptoms in rats. According to the network pharmacology-metabonomics association analysis results, the purine metabolic signaling pathway might be the key pathway for RA intervention with Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk. Targeted metabonomics, Western blotting (WB) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT‒PCR) assays showed that the recombinant adenosine deaminase (ADA) mRNA expression level and metabolic level of inosine in Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk administration group were lower than those of the model group. This reflected that Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk could improve RA by downregulating ADA mRNA expression levels and the metabolic level of inosine in the purine signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Based on the "component-disease-target" association analysis, this study concludes that Saposhnikovia divaricata (Trucz.) Schischk improves complete Freund's adjuvant-induced RA symptoms in rats mainly by downregulating ADA mRNA expression levels in the purine metabolic signaling pathway, mitigating foot swelling, improving the levels of serum inflammatory factors (IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α), and decreasing the ADA protein expression level to intervene in purine metabolism.

Combination of SVI/S' and diagnostic scores for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

The diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains a challenge. There are three methods proposed as diagnostic tools. H2 FPEF score was determined by six weighted clinical characteristics and echocardiographic variables. Heart Failure Association (HFA)-PEFF algorithm consists of various functional and morphological variables as well as natriuretic peptides. SVI/S' is a novel echocardiographic parameter calculated by stroke volume index and mitral annulus systolic peak velocity. This study aimed to compare the three approaches in patients with suspected HFpEF. Patients referred to right heart catheterization for suspected HFpEF were classified into low-, intermediate- and high-likelihood groups according to H2 FPEF or HFA-PEFF scores. A diagnosis of HFpEF was confirmed by pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) of ≥15 mm Hg according to the guidelines. In result, a total of 128 patients were included. Of these, 71 patients with PCWP ≥15 mm Hg and 57 patients with PCWP <15 mm Hg. Moderate correlations were observed between H2 FPEF score, HFA-PEFF score, SVI/S' and PCWP. The area under curve of SVI/S' was 0.82 for diagnosis of HFpEF, compared with 0.67 for H2 FPEF score and 0.75 for HFA-PEFF score by receiver-operating characteristics analysis. Combining SVI/S' with diagnostic scores showed higher Youden index and accuracy than each score alone. Kaplan-Meier analysis reported that the high-likelihood group showed poorer outcomes regardless the method used for diagnosis. Among the contemporary tools for identifying HFpEF in this study, the combination of SVI/S' with risk scores showed best diagnostic ability. Each of the strategies can determine rehospitalisation because of heart failure.

[Determination of 10 mycotoxins in Hippophae Fructus medicinal and edible products by ultra-performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry].

An analytical method for 10 mycotoxins in Hippophae Fructus medicinal and edible products was established in this study, and the contamination of their mycotoxins was analyzed. First of all, the mixed reference solution of ten mycotoxins such as aflatoxin, ochratoxin, zearalenone, and dexoynivalenol was selected as the control, and the Hippophae Fructus medicinal and edible products were prepared. Secondly, based on the ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS) technology, 10 mycotoxins in Hippophae Fructus medicinal and edible products were quantitatively investigated and their content was determined. Finally, the contamination of mycotoxins was analyzed and evaluated. The optimal analysis conditions were determined, and the methodological inspection results showed that the 10 mycotoxins established a good linear relationship(r>0.99). The method had good repeatability, test sample specificity, stability, and instrument precision. The average recovery rates of 10 mycotoxins in Hippophae Fructus medicinal products, edible solids, and edible liquids were 90.31%-109.4%, 87.86%-107.8%, and 85.61%-109.1%, respectively. Relative standard deviation(RSD) values were 0.22%-10%, 0.75%-13%, and 0.84%-8.5%, repsectively. Based on UPLC-MS/MS technology, the simultaneous determination method for the limits of 10 mycotoxins established in this study has fast detection speed, less matrix interference, high sensitivity, and accurate results, which is suitable for the limit examination of 10 mycoto-xins in Hippophae Fructus medicinal and edible products.

[Transcriptome profiling of Saposhnikovia divaricata growing for different years and mining of key genes in active ingredient biosynthesis].

Saposhnikovia divaricata is a commonly used bulk medicinal plant. To explore the key enzyme genes and their expression in the biosynthesis of chromone and coumarin, the key active components, we carried out transcriptome sequencing(Illumina HiSeq) and bioinformatics analysis for the 1-year-old(S1) and 2-year-old(S2) plants of S. divaricata. A total of 40.8 Gb data was obtained. After the sequence assembly via Trinity, 110 732 transcripts and 86 233 unigenes were obtained, which were aligned and annotated with NR, Swiss-Prot, GO, KEGG, and PFAM. Daucus carota and S. divaricata had the highest sequence homology. KEGG pathway enrichment showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. A total of 27 differentially expressed unigenes, including 13 enzyme genes, were identified in the pathways related to the synthesis of active ingredients in S. divaricata. Compared with S1 plant, S2 plant showed up-regulated expression of PAL, BGL, C4H, 4CL, CYP98A, CSE, REF, and CCoAOMT and down-regulated expression of CHS, CAD, and COMT. HCT and POD had both up-regulated and down-regulated unigenes. Among them, PAL, C4H, 4CL, BGL, and CHS can be used as candidate genes for the synthesis of the active ingredients in S. divaricata. The four key enzyme genes were verified by RT-qPCR, which showed the results consistent with transcriptome sequencing. This study enriches the genetic information of S. divaricata and provides support for the identification of candidate genes in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.

Experimental Identification of Electric Dipoles Induced by Magnetic Monopoles in Tb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}.

The fundamental principles of electrodynamics allow an electron carrying both electric monopole (charge) and magnetic dipole (spin) but prohibit its magnetic counterpart. Recently, it was predicted that the magnetic "monopoles" carrying emergent magnetic charges in spin ice systems can induce electric dipoles. The inspiring prediction offers a novel way to study magnetic monopole excitations and magnetoelectric coupling. However, no clear example has been identified up to now. Here, we report the experimental evidence for electric dipoles induced by magnetic monopoles in spin frustrated Tb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}. The magnetic field applied to pyrochlore Tb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7} along the [111] direction, brings out a "3-in-1-out" magnetic monopole configuration, and then induces a subtle structural phase transition at H_{c}∼2.3 T. The transition is made evident by the nonlinear phonon splitting under magnetic fields and the anomalous crystal-field excitations of Tb^{3+} ions. The observations consistently point to the displacement of the oxygen O^{''} anions along the [111] axis which gives rise to the formation of electric dipoles. The finding demonstrates that the scenario of magnetic monopole having both magnetic charge and electric dipole is realized in Tb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7} and sheds light into the coupling between electricity and magnetism of magnetic monopoles in spin frustrated systems.

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection promotes vascular smooth muscle cell migration via c-Fos/interleukin-17C signaling.

Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) infection is associated with the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. The migration of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) from the media to the intima is a key event in the development of atherosclerosis. Interleukin-17C (IL-17C) could enhance cell migration ability. The aim of our study is to investigate the role of IL-17C in C. pneumoniae infection-promoted VSMC migration, thereby possibly accelerating atherosclerosis. We firstly demonstrated that C. pneumoniae infection significantly increased IL-17C expression in VSMCs in the atherosclerotic lesion area from ApoE deficient mice. Our in vitro study further showed that IL-17C is required for C. pneumoniae infection-promoted VSMC migration, and its expression could be regulated by c-Fos through phosphorylating extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Unexpectedly, in the present study, we also found that IL-17C is critical for C. pneumoniae infection-induced c-Fos activation. c-Fos expression and activation induced by the exposure to recombinant IL-17C were markedly suppressed in the presence of the ERK inhibitor PD98059. These results suggest a possible positive feedback between c-Fos and IL-17C after C. pneumoniae infection. Taken together, our results indicate that C. pneumoniae infection promotes VSMC migration via c-Fos/IL-17C signaling.

Alogliptin prevents diastolic dysfunction and preserves left ventricular mitochondrial function in diabetic rabbits.

BACKGROUND: There are increasing evidence that left ventricle diastolic dysfunction is the initial functional alteration in the diabetic myocardium. In this study, we hypothesized that alogliptin prevents diastolic dysfunction and preserves left ventricular mitochondrial function and structure in diabetic rabbits. METHODS: A total of 30 rabbits were randomized into control group (CON, n = 10), alloxan-induced diabetic group (DM, n = 10) and alogliptin-treated (12.5 mg/kd/day for 12 weeks) diabetic group (DM-A, n = 10). Echocardiographic and hemodynamic studies were performed in vivo. Mitochondrial morphology, respiratory function, membrane potential and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation rate of left ventricular tissue were assessed. The serum concentrations of glucagon-like peptide-1, insulin, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers were measured. Protein expression of TGF-ß1, NF-κB p65 and mitochondrial biogenesis related proteins were determined by Western blotting. RESULTS: DM rabbits exhibited left ventricular hypertrophy, left atrial dilation, increased E/e' ratio and normal left ventricular ejection fraction. Elevated left ventricular end diastolic pressure combined with decreased maximal decreasing rate of left intraventricular pressure (- dp/dtmax) were observed. Alogliptin alleviated ventricular hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction in diabetic rabbits. These changes were associated with decreased mitochondrial ROS production rate, prevented mitochondrial membrane depolarization and improved mitochondrial swelling. It also improved mitochondrial biogenesis by PGC-1α/NRF1/Tfam signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: The DPP-4 inhibitor alogliptin prevents cardiac diastolic dysfunction by inhibiting ventricular remodeling, explicable by improved mitochondrial function and increased mitochondrial biogenesis.

Purinergic P2X7 receptor functional genetic polymorphisms are associated with the susceptibility to osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a major public health problem worldwide. Genetic factors are considered to be major contributors to the pathogenesis of OP. The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) has been shown to play a role in the regulation of osteoblast and osteoclast activity and has been considered as an important candidate gene for OP. A case-control study was performed to investigate the associations of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the P2X7R gene (rs2393799, rs7958311, rs1718119, rs2230911, and rs3751143) with susceptibility to OP in 400 Chinese OP patients and 400 controls. Results showed that rs3751143 was associated with OP; in particular, carriers of the C allele and CC/(AC + CC) genotypes were at a higher risk of OP, but no significant association of rs2230911, rs7958311, rs1718119, and rs2393799 with OP risk was observed. Analysis of the haplotypes revealed one haplotype (rs1718119G-rs2230911G-rs3751143C) that appeared to be a significant "risk" haplotype with OP. The rs3751143 polymorphism was associated with osteoclast apoptosis; ATP-induced caspase-1 activity of osteoclasts with AC and CC genotypes is lower than that of osteoclasts with AA genotype in vitro. The findings suggest that the P2X7R rs3751143 functional polymorphism might contribute to OP susceptibility in Chinese postmenopausal women.

LncRNA NONRATT021972 siRNA attenuates P2X7 receptor expression and inflammatory cytokine production induced by combined high glucose and free fatty acids in PC12 cells.

Diabetic neuropathy (DNP) is a frequent chronic complication of diabetes mellitus with potentially life-threatening outcomes. High glucose and elevated free fatty acids (FFAs) have been recently recognized as major causes of nervous system damage in diabetes. Our previous study has indicated extracellular stimuli, such as high glucose and/or FFA stress, may activate the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and induce a p38 MAPK-dependent sensitization of the P2X7 receptor and release of inflammatory factors in PC12 cells, while the mechanisms underlying remain to be elucidated. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in diverse biological processes, including activation of a series of pathway signalings. Here, we showed combined high D-glucose and FFAs (HGHF) induced an increment of lncRNA-NONRATT021972 (NONCODE ID, nc021972) in PC12 cells. Nc021972 small interference RNA (siRNA) alleviated HGHF-induced activation of p38 MAPK, expression of the P2X7 receptor, and [Ca(2+)]i increment upon P2X7 receptor activation. Further experiments showed that there existed a crosstalk between nc021972 and the p38 MAPK signaling pathway. Inhibition of p38 MAPK signaling decreased nc021972-induced expression of the P2X7 receptor and [Ca(2+)]i increment upon P2X7 receptor activation. Also, nc021972 siRNA inhibited HGHF-induced PC12 release of TNF-α and IL-6 and rescued decreased cell viability mediated by the P2X7 receptor. Therefore, inhibition of nc021972 may serve as a novel therapeutic strategy for diabetes complicated with nervous inflammatory diseases.

Probucol prevents atrial remodeling by inhibiting oxidative stress and TNF-α/NF-κB/TGF-ß signal transduction pathway in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the underlying mechanisms for the increased propensity for AF in the setting of DM and the potential effects of probucol on atrial remodeling remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty Japanese rabbits were randomly assigned to normal/control group (Control, n = 20), alloxan-induced diabetic group (DM, n = 20), probucol-treated group (Control-P, n = 20), and probucol-treated diabetic group (DM-P, n = 20). Rabbits in the DPR and CPR groups were orally administered probucol (1,000 mg/day) for 8 weeks. Serum and left atrial tissue malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and catalase (CAT) levels were assessed. Isolated Langendorff perfused rabbit hearts were prepared to evaluate atrial refractory effective period (AERP) and its dispersion (AERPD), interatrial conduction time (IACT), and vulnerability to AF. Atrial interstitial fibrosis was also evaluated. The mRNA expression levels of TNF-α and TLR4 were analyzed. The protein expressions of NF-κB, HSP70, TGF-ß, and ERK in left atrial tissue were analyzed by Western blot. Probucol administration decreased the inducibility of AF in diabetic rabbits and attenuated atrial interstitial fibrosis. The DM-P rabbits exhibited significant alleviation of oxidative stress, evidenced by reduced serum and tissue MDA, compared with diabetic rabbits. Moreover, NF-κB, TGF-ß, and HSP70 protein expression and TNF-α mRNA expression were significantly downregulated by probucol treatment in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. CONCLUSIONS: Probucol prevents atrial remodeling and suppresses AF development in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Its inhibitory effects on oxidative stress, NF-κB, TGF-ß, and TNF-α overexpression may contribute to its antiremodeling effects.

Genetic association analyses of fast plasma glucose level in pre-menopausal Chinese women: potential interaction between osteocalcin and oestrogen receptor α.

BACKGROUND: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels are usually tightly regulated within a narrow physiologic range. Variation of FPG levels is clinically important and is strongly heritable. Several lines of evidence suggest the importance of the oestrogen receptor α (ER-α) and osteocalcin (also known as BGP, for bone Gla protein) in determining FPG; however, whether their polymorphisms are associated with FPG variation is not well understood. AIM: To investigate whether ER-a PvuII and BGP HindIII genetic polymorphisms and their potential interaction are associated with FPG variation. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study subjects were 328 unrelated pre-menopausal Chinese women aged 21 years and over (mean age ± SD, 33.2 ± 5.9 years), with an average FPG of 4.92 (SD = 0.81). All subjects were genotyped at the ER-α PvuII and BGP HindIII loci using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: The ER-α PvuII genotypes were significantly associated with FPG (p = 0.007). In addition, a significant interaction was observed of the ER-α PvuII polymorphism with BGP HindIII polymorphism on FPG variation (p = 0.013), although the BGP HindIII polymorphism was not shown to be individually associated with FPG. CONCLUSION: The PvuII polymorphism of the ER-α gene and its potential interaction with the HindIII polymorphism of the BGP gene were associated with FPG in pre-menopausal Chinese women.

Role of pre-hospital emergency medical systems in the rescue of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a series of clinical syndromes caused by ischemic necrosis of myocardial cells that results from severe and persistent acute ischemia of the myocardium due to a dramatic reduction or interruption of coronary blood supply. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we analyzed the role of pre-hospital emergency services in the rescue of patients suffering from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: We enrolled 229 patients with STEMI who were transported to the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University by Tianjin Emergency Center from January 2017 to June 2021. With the development of the pre-hospital emergency medical system in Tianjin (2019) as the time node, the patients were divided into three groups: A (87 cases), B (68 cases), and C (74 cases). The onset-to-call time, emergency response time, door-to-balloon (D-B) time, first medical contact to balloon dilation (FMC-B) time, symptom onset-to-balloon dilation (S-B) time, proportion of patients receiving prehospital administration of bispecific antibodies, number of days hospitalized, total hospitalization expenses, and in-hospital incidence and mortality of heart failure were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: Group C differed significantly from group A and group B in terms of emergency response time, D-B time, FMC-B time, S-B time, the proportion of patients who received prehospital administration of bispecific antibodies, and the number of days of hospitalization (P< 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the onset-to-call time (P> 0.05) and the decreasing trends in the in-hospital incidence and mortality of heart failure were not statistically significant (incidence: 9.50% vs. 13.23%, 12.64%; mortality: 4.10% vs. 5.90%, 4.60%). CONCLUSION: A reasonable pre-hospital emergency medical network layout and resource investment, as well as the strengthening of the interface between pre-hospital and in-hospital medical emergencies and pre-hospital standardized rescue, can shorten the emergency response time and the total ischemic time in patients with chest pain, which can improve patient prognosis to a certain extent.

Customized Microenvironments Spontaneously Facilitate Coupled Engineering of Real-Life Large-Scale Clean Water Capture and Pollution Remediation.

Harnessing abundant renewable resources and pollutants on a large scale to address environmental challenges, while providing sustainable freshwater, is a significant endeavour. This study presents the design of fully functional solar vaporization devices (SVD) based on organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposites (CCMs-x). These devices exhibit efficient photothermal properties that facilitate multitargeted interfacial reactions, enabling simultaneous catalysis of sewage and desalination. The localized interfacial heating generated by the photothermal effect of CCMs-x triggers surface-dominated catalysis and steam generation. The CCMs-x SVD achieves a solar water-vapor generation rate of 1.41 kg m-2 h-1 (90.8%), and it achieves over 95% removal of pollutants within 60 min under one-sun for practical application. The exceptional photothermal conversion rate of wastewater for environmental remediation and water capture is attributed to customized microenvironments within the system. The integrated parallel reaction system in SVD ensures it is a real-life application in multiple scenarios such as municipal/medical wastewater and brine containing high concentrations. Additionally, the SVD exhibits long-term durability, antifouling functionality toward complex ionic contaminants. This study not only demonstrates a one-stone-two-birds strategy for large-scale direct production of potable water from polluted seawater, but also opens up exciting possibilities for parallel production of energy and water resources.

Time-Division Multiplexing Light Field Display with Learned Coded Aperture.

Conventional stereoscopic displays suffer from vergence-accommodation conflict and cause visual fatigue. Integral-imaging-based displays resolve the problem by directly projecting the sub-aperture views of a light field into the eyes using a microlens array or a similar structure. However, such displays have an inherent trade-off between angular and spatial resolutions. In this paper, we propose a novel coded time-division multiplexing technique that projects encoded sub-aperture views to the eyes of a viewer with correct cues for vergence-accommodation reflex. Given sparse light field sub-aperture views, our pipeline can provide a perception of high-resolution refocused images with minimal aliasing by jointly optimizing the sub-aperture views for display and the coded aperture pattern. This is achieved via deep learning in an end-to-end fashion by simulating light transport and image formation with Fourier optics. To our knowledge, this work is among the first that optimize the light field display pipeline with deep learning. We verify our idea with objective image quality metrics (PSNR, SSIM, and LPIPS) and perform an extensive study on various customizable design variables in our display pipeline. Experimental results show that light fields displayed using the proposed technique indeed have higher quality than that of baseline display designs.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor alleviated atrial remodeling in STZ-induced diabetic rats by targeting TLR4 pathway.

Purpose: The mechanism of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT-2i) reducing the incidence of atrial fibrillation remains unclear. We hypothesize that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor alleviated atrial remodeling in STZ-induced diabetic rats by targeting TLR4 pathway. Methods: A total of 42 rats were randomly assigned into three groups: control group (CON group); diabetes group (DM group): diabetes mellitus rats were established by 65 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneal injection; and diabetes + dapagliflozin group (DM + DAPA group): diabetic rats were given DAPA gavage administration (DAPA 2mg/kg/d for 4 weeks by gavage administration), 14 rats in each group. Epicardial multiple-lead recording and intracardiac electrophysiology studies were performed to investigate the electrical remodeling in the heart and the atrial fibrillation inducibility in each group. Western blot analysis and real-time PCR were used to determine the protein and mRNA expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), interleukin receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1), tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), and type I collagen (collagen I). Results: Compared with rats in CON group, rats in DM group showed marked myocardial fibrosis, ectopic pacing excitement, reduced conduction velocity, decreased cardiac function. TLR4/IRAK1/TRAF6/NF-κB, collagen I proteins expressions and incidence of atrial fibrillation (27.3%) were increased in DM group. Parts of these changes were reversed by treatment of DAPA. Incidence of atrial fibrillation was decreased in DM + DAPA group (2.8%). Conclusions: SGLT-2i dapagliflozin may prevent diabetic rats' atrial remodeling and reduce the inducibility of atrial fibrillation partly by targeting TLR4/IRAK1/TRAF6/NF-κB inflammatory pathway.

A Novel Three-Dimensional and Tissue Doppler Echocardiographic Index for Diagnosing and Prognosticating Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains challenging. In this study, a novel echocardiography index based on three-dimensional and tissue Doppler echocardiography for diagnosing and estimating prognosis in HFpEF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with symptoms and/or signs of heart failure and normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF ≥50%) who underwent right heart catheterization were screened. Patients were divided based on pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) of ≥15 mmHg and PCWP <15 mmHg. A diagnosis of HFpEF was confirmed by PCWP of ≥15 mmHg according to ESC guidelines. A novel index was calculated by the ratio between stroke volume standardized to body surface area (SVI) and tissue Doppler mitral annulus systolic peak velocity S' (SVI/S'). Its diagnostic and prognostic values were determined. RESULTS: A total of 104 patients (mean age 64 ± 12 years) were included. Of these, 63 had PCWP ≥15 mmHg and 41 patients had PCWP <15 mmHg. Compared to the PCWP <15 mmHg group, the ≥15 mmHg group had a significantly lower SVI/S' (P < 0.001). Logistic regression showed that SVI/S' was associated with high PCWP measured invasively. The SVI/S' had an area under the curve of 0.761 for diagnosing classifying between PCWP ≥15 mmHg and <15 mmHg. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the lower SVI/S' group showed a poorer prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: SVI/S' is a non-invasive index calculated by three-dimensional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. It is a surrogate measure of PCWP and can be used to diagnose and determine prognosis in HFpEF.

Field-tuned quantum effects in a triangular-lattice Ising magnet.

We report thermodynamic and neutron scattering measurements of the triangular-lattice quantum Ising magnet TmMgGaO4 in longitudinal magnetic fields. Our experiments reveal a quasi-plateau state induced by quantum fluctuations. This state exhibits an unconventional non-monotonic field and temperature dependence of the magnetic order and excitation gap. In the high field regime where the quantum fluctuations are largely suppressed, we observed a disordered state with coherent magnon-like excitations despite the suppression of the spin excitation intensity. Through detailed semi-classical calculations, we are able to understand these behaviors quantitatively from the subtle competition between quantum fluctuations and frustrated Ising interactions.

QTL Mapping and GWAS Reveal the Genetic Mechanism Controlling Soluble Solids Content in Brassica napus Shoots.

Oilseed-vegetable-dual-purpose (OVDP) rapeseed can effectively alleviate the land contradiction between crops and it supplements vegetable supplies in winter or spring. The soluble solids content (SSC) is an important index that is used to evaluate the quality and sugar content of fruits and vegetables. However, the genetic architecture underlying the SSC in Brassica napus shoots is still unclear. Here, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the SSC in B. napus shoots were investigated by performing linkage mapping using a recombinant inbred line population containing 189 lines. A germplasm set comprising 302 accessions was also used to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The QTL mapping revealed six QTLs located on chromosomes A01, A04, A08, and A09 in two experiments. Among them, two major QTLs, qSSC/21GY.A04-1 and qSSC/21NJ.A08-1, accounted for 12.92% and 10.18% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. In addition, eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms with phenotypic variances between 5.62% and 10.18% were identified by the GWAS method. However, no locus was simultaneously identified by QTL mapping and GWAS. We identified AH174 (7.55 °Brix and 7.9 °Brix), L166 (8.9 °Brix and 8.38 °Brix), and L380 (8.9 °Brix and 7.74 °Brix) accessions can be used as superior parents. These results provide valuable information that increases our understanding of the genetic control of SSC and will facilitate the breeding of high-SSC B. napus shoots.

Light Field Synthesis by Training Deep Network in the Refocused Image Domain.

Light field imaging, which captures spatial-angular information of light incident on image sensors, enables many interesting applications such as image refocusing and augmented reality. However, due to the limited sensor resolution, a trade-off exists between the spatial and angular resolutions. To increase the angular resolution, view synthesis techniques have been adopted to generate new views from existing views. However, traditional learning-based view synthesis mainly considers the image quality of each view of the light field and neglects the quality of the refocused images. In this paper, we propose a new loss function called refocused image error (RIE) to address the issue. The main idea is that the image quality of the synthesized light field should be optimized in the refocused image domain because it is where the light field is viewed. We analyze the behavior of RIE in the spectral domain and test the performance of our approach against previous approaches on both real (INRIA) and software-rendered (HCI) light field datasets using objective assessment metrics such as MSE, MAE, PSNR, SSIM, and GMSD. Experimental results show that the light field generated by our method results in better refocused images than previous methods.