Biomechanics-mediated endocytosis in atherosclerosis

Biomechanical forces, including vascular shear stress, cyclic stretching, and extracellular matrix stiffness, which influence mechanosensitive channels in the plasma membrane, determine cell function in atherosclerosis. Being highly associated with the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, endocytosis is the key point in molecule and macromolecule trafficking, which plays an important role in lipid transportation. The process of endocytosis relies on the mobility and tension of the plasma membrane, which is sensitive to biomechanical forces. Several studies have advanced the signal transduction between endocytosis and biomechanics to elaborate the developmental role of atherosclerosis. Meanwhile, increased plaque growth also results in changes in the structure, composition and morphology of the coronary artery that contribute to the alteration of arterial biomechanics. These cross-links of biomechanics and endocytosis in atherosclerotic plaques play an important role in cell function, such as cell phenotype switching, foam cell formation, and lipoprotein transportation. We propose that biomechanical force activates the endocytosis of vascular cells and plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis

Analysis of key warning points and environmental conditions for the '4.04'strong downburst event in Hengyang of Hunan

On the afternoon of 4 April, 2023, an intense downburst event (referred to as the '4.04' strong downburst) occurred in Hengyang, Hunan, causing serious disasters. This study analyzes the key warning indicators and environmental conditions for extreme strong winds using conventional meteorological observations, Doppler weather radar, and NCEP 1°×1° reanalysis data. The results are as follows: (1) The '4.04' strong downburst occurred under a 'baroclinic frontogenesis' weather system configuration, with a surface cold front providing the triggering conditions. The Skew-T plots clearly showed characteristics of high-level dryness and low-level moisture, unstable atmospheric convective parameters, and corrected convective available potential energy (CAPE), along with strong vertical wind shear, all conducive to the occurrence of extreme strong winds. (2) A mesoscale convective system (MCS) with bow echoes swept through Hengyang, causing regional downbursts. Extreme strong winds occurred when the corresponding storm cells moved rapidly, with maximum reflectivity factors reaching 60 dBz. The vertical integrated liquid water content and centroid height rapidly decreased. The reflectivity factors displayed a noticeable tilted structure, with clear features of bow echoes, rear-inflow jets, and radial velocity ambiguity. The low elevation asymmetric high-speed regions and velocity convergence are key warning indicators for extreme strong winds. (3) The strong downburst exhibited significant convective potential, with strong low-level moisture flux convergence and high specific humidity. There were conditions of thermal instability and vertical upward motion, along with low-level convergence and upper-level divergence. Cold air played an important role in the occurrence and development of this downburst event

Tetrahedral Lithium Stuffing in Disordered Rocksalt Cathodes for High-Power-Density and Energy-Density Batteries

Li-rich cation-disordered rocksalt (DRX) materials introduce new paradigms in the design of high-capacity Li-ion battery cathode materials. However, DRX materials show strikingly sluggish kinetics due to random Li percolation with poor rate performance. Here, we demonstrate that Li stuffing into the tetrahedral sites of the Mn-based rocksalt skeleton injects a novel tetrahedron-octahedron-tetrahedron diffusion path, which acts as a low-energy-barrier hub to facilitate high-speed Li transport. Moreover, the enhanced stability of lattice oxygen and the suppression of transition metal migration preserve the efficacy of the Li percolation network during cycling. Overall, the tetrahedral Li stuffing DRX material exhibits high energy density (311 mAh g-1, 923 Wh kg-1) and high power density (251 mAh g-1, 697 Wh kg-1 at 1000 mA g-1). Our results highlight the potential to develop high-performance and earth-abundant cathode materials within the extensive range of rocksalt compounds

Prognosis for patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A multicenter cohort study based on propensity score matching

Background: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCM) is a subtype of HCM, and few studies on the prognosis in AHCM are available.Aims: This study aimed to explore the clinical prognosis for AHCM and non-AHCM patients through clinical data based on propensity score matching (PSM) in a large cohort of Chinese HCM patients.Methods: The cohort study included 2268 HCM patients, 226 AHCM and 2042 non-AHCM patients from 13 tertiary hospitals, who were treated between 1996 and 2021. Fifteen demographic and clinical variables of 226 AHCM patients and 2042 non-AHCM patients were matched using 1:2 PSM. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was constructed to assess the effect of AHCM on mortality.Results: During a median follow-up of 5.1 (2.4–8.4) years, 353 (15.6%) of the 2268 HCM patients died, of whom 205 died due to cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation and 94 experienced sudden cardiac death (SCD). In the matched cohort, the ACHM patients had lower rates of all-cause mortality (P = 0.003), cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation (P = 0.03), and SCD (P = 0.02) than the non-AHCM patients. Furthermore, the Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that AHCM was an independent prognostic predictor of all-cause HCM mortality (P = 0.004) and a univariable prognostic predictor of cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation (P = 0.03) and for SCD (P = 0.03). However, AHCM was not significant in multivariable Cox regression models in relation to cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation and SCD.Conclusion: AHCM had a favorable prognosis both before and after matching, with lower all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality/cardiac transplantation, and SCD than non-AHCM

Bacillus sp. alone or combined with salicylic acid inhibited Trichoderma spp. infection on harvested white Hypsizygus marmoreus

IntroductionWhite Hypsizygus marmoreus is a popular edible mushroom. It is rich in nutrition and flavor but vulnerable to fungal disease, resulting in nutrient loss and aging.MethodsIn this study, the pathogenic fungus Trichoderma spp. BBP-6 and its antagonist Bacillus sp. 1–23 were isolated and identified. The negative effects caused by this pathogen were judged by detecting a series of changes in the infected white H. marmoreus. The effects of Bacillus sp. 1–23 on Trichoderma spp. BBP-6 and the infected white H. marmoreus were detected. The effect of Bacillus sp. 1–23 treatment combined with salicylic acid (SA) was also considered.ResultsThe results showed that Trichoderma spp. BBP-6 could affect the activities of antioxidant enzymes PAL, POD, CAT, SOD, GR, PPO, and APX to interfere with the stability of the white H. marmoreus antioxidant enzyme system and cause the mushroom severe browning and nutrition loss, as well as general quality deterioration. Bacillus sp. 1–23 could produce chitinase and chitosanase enzymes to inhibit Trichoderma spp. BBP-6 directly. SA reinforced this inhibitory. Bacillus sp. 1–23 alone or combined with SA could help white H. marmoreus from the Trichoderma spp. BBP-6 infection to effectively maintain nutrients, restore and stabilize the antioxidant system, and reduce the production of malondialdehyde, superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide.DiscussionThus, such treatments could be considered potential methods to alleviate damage from disease and extend the shelf life of white H. marmoreus

Query optimization for Federated Database Systems: the Cyrano prototype

The purpose of this research is to improve the performance for the query processing of Cyrano, a prototype deductive object-oriented meta model for Federated Database Systems (FDBSs). The hypothesis was that query optimization techniques such as Semi-Naive algorithm and Magic-Sets Rewrite algorithm could be used to improve the performance of Cyrano prototype query processing. Query optimization has not been used for an FDBS with a deductive object-oriented meta model. Most existing FDBS query optimization techniques are for FDBSs with relational meta models. This research involves two major stages. The first stage was to investigate the existing query processing methodologies and query optimization techniques for FDBSs, deductive databases, and object-oriented databases. The research analyzed the methodologies and techniques of representative works. Two typical systems, one from the object-oriented database family and the other from the deductive object-oriented database family, were studied and analyzed in detail. The survey showed that there had been no work reported on query optimization for FDBSs with deductive object-oriented meta models. The analysis showed that the established query optimization techniques for deductive and object-oriented databases could be viable candidates for query optimization in the Cyrano prototype. The second stage was to develop a new query processing methodology for Cyrano based on the analytical results of the first stage. A new query processing methodology was proposed, and Semi-Naive and Magic-Sets Rewrite algorithms were employed. Experiments showed that the application of the new query processing methodology improved the performance of the Cyrano query processing up to several hundred percent. Furthermore, the new Cyrano query processing methodology is a general methodology for deductive object-oriented data models, and it can well be applied to other FDBSs with deductive object-oriented meta models. In conclusion, the research proves that the performance of the Cyrano prototype query processing can be significantly improved with query optimization. It also suggests that query optimization will improve the performance of query processing of other FDBSs with deductive object-oriented meta models.Master of Scienc

Abstract P293: The Correlations Between NT-proBNP and Cardiac Reserve by Phonocardiogram Exercise Test

Objective: To investigate the correlations between NT-proBNP and Cardiac contractility reserve index(CCRI) and Cardiac reserve index(CRI) and find more theoretical and clinical evidence that CRI, CCRI can reflect the degree of heart failure,promote the use of them in the Primary hospitals and community health service centers. Methods: According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,155 cases were included in the study, 60 volunteers without cardiovascular disease were selected as the control group, all of them were classed by NYHA functional classification, phonocardiogra were recorded by phonocardiogram exercise test (PCGET) before and after 6 minutes walk test, measured S1 amplitude and heart rate, calculated CCRI, CRI, detected NT-proBNP, and analysed the CCRI, CRI, and NT proBNP correlations. Results: Compared with the healthy group, the NT-proBNP, CCRI, CRI, 6 minutes walking distance were significantly different in different NYHA FC, Moreover, with the increase of NYHA FC level, CRI, CCRI gradually decreased, 6 minutes walk distance gradually shortened, NT-proBNP gradually increased, the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion: The CCRI, CRI and NT- proBNP have good correlations, so they can reflect the classification of cardiac function, they are facilitate, economic, no invasive, rapid, they are worth using widely in primary hospitals and community health service centers. </jats:p

IPO Pricing, Investor Behavior, and IPO Underpricing of High-Tech Companies: Evidence from SSE STAR Market and Nasdaq Market

There is a significant IPO underpricing phenomenon in the stocks of high-tech companies on China Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR Market). In order to analyze the causes of high IPO underpricing on STAR Market, from the perspective of investor behavior, this paper uses the Two-tier Stochastic Frontier Model to decompose IPO underpricing into two parts, the pricing impact of the primary market and the transaction impact of the secondary market, and then studies the differences of the impact of different markets on IPO underpricing. The results show the following: (1) the primary market pricing of most stocks, that is, the difference between the issuance price of stocks and the real value of stocks is small, which shows that the primary market pricing has a weak impact on the IPO underpricing of the STAR Market, which in turn shows that the implementation of the registration system has significantly improved the IPO pricing efficiency of the STAR Market; (2) the closing price of most stocks fell on debut, that is, the trading price of stocks is significantly higher than its real value, which shows that the blind optimism of investors in the secondary market and the irrationality of investor structure are the main factors leading to the IPO underpricing of the STAR Market; and (3) through the variance decomposition and the robustness test of grouping the industry to which the enterprise belongs, the year of listing, and issuance and the size of the enterprise, we find that in different years and different industries, the impact of investor behavior in the secondary market on IPO underpricing is significantly higher than that in the primary market. In addition, the IPO underpricing of enterprises is not affected by the size of enterprises. This shows that the behavior of investors in the secondary market has always been the main means to affect the IPO underpricing of the STAR Market. This paper expands the analysis idea of IPO underpricing, which has a certain reference significance for the reform of STAR Market and the listing and financing of scientific and technological innovation enterprises.</jats:p