Datasheet1_An updated meta-analysis of cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without defibrillation in patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy.docx

BackgroundCardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a major device therapy used to treat patients suffering from heart failure (HF) and electrical asynchrony. It can improve HF symptoms, reduce HF hospitalization time, and improve long-term survival in HF with and without implantable cardioverter (ICD) therapy. However, the benefit of defibrillator therapy in CRT-eligible patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) remains unknown. As a result, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare clinical outcomes in patients with NICM and HF who were treated with implantable CRT defibrillators (CRT-D) vs. a CRT pacemaker (CRT-P) alone.MethodsWe searched the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane for all studies comparing CRT-D vs. CRT-P treatment in patients with NICM. The time frame was from 1990 to September 2022. All-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality were the primary clinical outcomes of interest to us. To pool adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), a random-effects model with inverse variance was used.ResultsA pooled meta-analysis included two randomized controlled trials (RCTs), each with 1,200 CRT-eligible patients with NICM (592 with CRT-D and 608 with CRT-P) and nine cohort studies representing 27,568 CRT-eligible patients with NICM (16,196 with CRT-D and 11,372 with CRT-P). The adjusted HR for all-cause mortality for CRT-D vs. CRT-P was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.81-0.99). In a subgroup analysis of two RCTs and nine cohort studies, the adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.43–1.19) and HR 0.92 (95% CI, 0.83–1.03) for CRT-D vs. CRT-P, respectively.ConclusionWith the addition of defibrillation leads, we found a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality in patients with NICM, but this association was not found in subgroup analyses of RCTs and observational studies.</p

A modular toolset of phiC31-based fluorescent protein tagging vectors for <i>Drosophila</i>

The Drosophila transgenic technology and fluorescent protein fusions are powerful tools to analyze protein expression patterns, subcellular localization and protein dynamics. Recently, the Drosophila transgenic technology has been improved by the highly efficient phiC31 site-specific integration system. Many new and improved fluorescent proteins with desirable advantages have been developed. However, the phiC31 system and the newly developed fluorescent proteins have not been systematically applied in Drosophila transgenic vectors. Here, we have constructed a modular toolset of C-terminal fluorescent protein fusion vectors based on phiC31 site-specific integration system for the generation of transgenic Drosophila lines. These cloning vectors contain a variety of fluorescent tags, including blue, cyan, green or red fluorescent proteins, photoactivatable or photoswitchable fluorescent proteins, fluorescent timers, photosensitizers and bimolecular fluorescence complementation tags. These vectors provide a range of transcriptional regulation options including UAST, UASP, UASC, LexAop, QUAS, Ubi, αTub67C and αTub84B promoters, and two screening marker options including white and vermilion gene. The vectors have been tested in vivo and can produce fluorescent chimeric proteins that are functional.</p

Inherently Chiral Biscalix[4]arenes: Design and Syntheses

Inherently chiral biscalix[4]arenes have been designed and synthesized by covalently assembling two calix[4]arene building blocks in a 1,3-position linking with 1,2-position pattern at the lower rims via two triethylene glycol bridge

Synthesis of High Molecular Weight Polymethylene via C1 Polymerization. The Role of Oxygenated Impurities and Their Influence on Polydispersity

The living C1 polymerization of sulfoxide ylides initiated by organoborane is one of the few methods for controlling the molecular weight, polydispersity, and topology of simple hydrocarbon polymers. However, the synthesis of linear hydrocarbon polymers (polymethylene) with molecular weights >50 kDa via this method often results in some erosion of polymer polydispersity (PDI 1.3–2.0). In the absence of known chain transfer or termination steps, the origin of the PDI erosion remained a mystery. Here, we report that the PDI erosion can be attributed to small quantities of a borinic ester (R2BOR) impurity that arises from the oxidation of the trialkylborane initiator/catalyst (R3B) by trace oxygen. The propagation rate of R2BOR is substantially lower than that of R3B. Since the oxidized initiator/catalyst would produce very little polymer during the course of polymerization, the low reactivity of R2BOR alone could not account for the increased PDI. However, we have found that during the course of the polymerization (10 min) R2BOR will complex with ylide and undergo 1,2-oxygen migration. The resulting species R2BCH2OR is a more reactive initiator/catalyst than its borinic ester precursor R2BOR. The catalyst transformation introduces reactive growing polymer chains into the system after initiation and throughout the remaining polymerization, contributing to the formation of lower MW polymer. These results are supported by a computational study of the activation energies of the rate-limiting steps. The introduction of a less oxygen-sensitive amine–borane complex initiator/catalyst minimizes this complication and provides a method for synthesizing high-MW, low-PDI polymethylene

Visualization 1: Parametric distortion-adaptive neighborhood for omnidirectional camera

Video demonstration of human tracking with NEB-HW-PF. Originally published in Applied Optics on 10 August 2015 (ao-54-23-6969

Nano-Curcumin Simultaneously Protects the Blood–Brain Barrier and Reduces M1 Microglial Activation During Cerebral Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury

Oxidative stress and inflammation are two important pathophysiological mechanisms that arouse neuronal apoptosis and cerebral damage after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Here, we hypothesized that curcumin-encapsulated nanoparticles (NPcurcumin) could reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the ischemic penumbra via protecting the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and inhibiting M1-microglial activation. Under oxidative stress conditions in vitro, we found that NPcurcumin protected microvascular endothelial cells against oxidative stress and reduced BBB permeability. In vivo, NPcurcumin could cross the BBB and accumulate in the ischemic penumbra. At 3 d after I/R injury, NPcurcumin inhibited the increase in MMP-9, attenuated the decrease in occludin and zona occluden-1, and maintained BBB integrity. NPcurcumin effectively reduced the number of activated M1 microglia and weakened the increase in TNF-α and IL-1β. Furthermore, NPcurcumin also reduced the infarct size and improved function recovery

Crystal Structure and Chemical Bonding of Layered α‑In₂Se₃

Layered α-In2Se3 has found widespread applications in the electronic, optoelectronic, and thermoelectric fields. However, the crystal structure of α-In2Se3, which plays a fundamental role in understanding its diverse physical properties, remains poorly explored. In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of the temperature-dependent evolution of lattice constants, fractional coordinates, and atomic displacement parameters of α(3R)-In2Se3 using high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. The temperature range of investigation spans from 114.2 to 472.2 K. From temperature-dependent cell parameters, the linear thermal expansion coefficients along the a-axis and c-axis at room temperature are determined as 0.71 × 10–5 K–1 and 1.83 × 10–5 K–1, respectively, giving rise to a marked anisotropy owing to the weak interlayer interactions along the c-axis. Through modeling of isotropic atomic displacement parameters, the Debye temperature is evaluated to be 173 K, showing good agreement with the result by fitting the low-temperature heat capacity data. Furthermore, we conduct chemical bonding analysis within the quantum theory of atoms in molecules and reveal that α(3R)-In2Se3 exhibits polar covalent intralayer bonds with weak van der Waals interlayer interaction

DataSheet1_Wheat straw biochar and its performance in treatment of phenanthrene containing water and microbial remediation of phenanthrene contaminated soil.pdf

In recent years, biochar has been considered as an effective adsorbent and soil conditioner due to its abundant carbon and high porosity. This study applied a kind of biochar from wheat straw pyrolysis to remediate phenanthrene-contaminated water and soil. The performance of the biochar in the removal of phenanthrene was discussed by liquid phase adsorption and soil incubation experiments. Furthermore, this work explored the enhancement effect of wheat straw biochar on soil microbial numbers and soil properties. The result of liquid phase adsorption indicated, 92.2% of phenanthrene was removed after incubating 0.6 g/L of wheat straw biochar for 4 h. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.99823) and Langmuir isotherm model (R2 = 0.99577) described the removal of phenanthrene by wheat straw biochar well. In soil incubation experiment with an initial phenanthrene content of 11.2 mg/kg, 89.1% of phenanthrene was removed at biochar dosage of 12% (w/w, wheat straw biochar/soil) after 30 days of incubation. In addition, the number of soil microorganisms, soil pH and organic matter (SOM) content increased after wheat straw biochar treatment. At the dosage of 12%, soil microbial count increased to 9.8 × 108 CFU/g-soil, soil pH increased by 1.8 units and SOM increased by 8.5 folds. The addition of wheat straw biochar not only improved soil quality, but also reduced the proportion of phenanthrene components, which could provide theoretical support for the resource utilization of agricultural waste.</p

Phos-tag SDS-PAGE analysis of WT and mutant HBc proteins.

HEK293T cells were transfected and cytoplasmic lysate from transfected cells were prepared as in Fig 5. The lysate was resolved on the Phos-tag gel, and HBc proteins were detected by chemiluminescence western blot assay using the mAb T2221 (HBc NTD) (A) or 6–1 (HBc CTD) (B). The HBc protein (non-phosphorylated) expressed and purified from E. coli was include as a control (lane 1). C-P, phosphorylated HBc; C-deP, dephosphorylated (non-phosphorylated) HBc.</p

Effects of NTD phosphorylation mutants on capsid assembly and RNA packaging.

The HBV replicon construct expressing the N2A or N2E mutant, or WT HBc was transfected into HepG2 cells. Transfected cells were lysed five days later. A. Levels of HBc proteins (top) were measured by western blot analysis using the T2221 anti-HBC NTD mAb following resolution by SDS-PAGE (top). Assembled capsids (bottom) and packaged RNA (middle) were detected by using a plus strand specific RNA probe and the Dako anti-HBc polyclonal antibody, respectively, following resolution by native agarose gel electrophoresis (NAGE) and transfer to nitrocellulose membrane. C, HBc protein; Ca, HBV capsid. RNA signals were detected by phosphorimaging scan and protein signals by chemiluminescence scan. B. Quantitative results from multiple experiments shown in A. Capsid assembly efficiency (top) was determined by normalizing the levels of capsids measured following NAGE to those of HBc proteins following SDS-PAGE, with the efficiency from WT HBc set to 1.0. RNA packaging efficiency (bottom) was determined by normalizing the levels of RNA packaging to those of capsids, with the efficiency from WT HBc set to 1.0.</p