Hemoglobin to red cell distribution width ratio as a prognostic marker for ischemic stroke after mechanical thrombectomy

BackgroundThe hemoglobin to red cell distribution width ratio (HRR) has been experimentally associated with the prognosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). However, its relationship with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for AIS remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between HRR at admission, follow-up HRR, and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing MT.MethodsAcute ischemic stroke patients undergoing MT were consecutively enrolled from January 2017 to December 2022. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory information were collected. HRR was measured by dividing hemoglobin (Hb) by red cell distribution width (RDW) at admission and after 24 h of MT. Clinical outcomes after 3 months were evaluated using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). The primary outcome was poor prognosis (mRS > 2) at 3 months, while the secondary outcome was death within 3 months.ResultsA total of 310 patients were analyzed, of whom 216 patients (69.7%) had poor prognosis, and 92 patients (29.6%) died. Patients with a poor prognosis and death had significantly lower HRR levels at admission and after 24 h. HRR at admission was not associated with clinical outcomes according to multivariable logistic regression analysis. However, HRR after 24 h was significantly associated with poor prognosis (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.646, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.520–0.803, p < 0.001) and death (adjusted OR: 0.615, 95% CI: 0.508–0.744, p < 0.001). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated the predictive ability of HRR after 24 h, with areas under the curves of 0.790 for poor prognosis and 0.771 for death.ConclusionRapidly measurable HRR levels are an independent marker of outcome after MT in AIS patients. This may provide a reliable auxiliary outcome measure for clinical routine and interventional therapy

miR-24 is involved in vertebrate LC-PUFA biosynthesis as demonstrated in marine teleost Siganus canaliculatus

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as crucial regulators of lipid metabolism. However, the miRNA-mediated regulatory mechanism on long-chain (≥C20) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) biosynthesis in vertebrates remains largely unknown. Here, we address a potentially important role of miRNA-24 (miR-24) in the regulation of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus. miR-24 showed significantly higher abundance in liver of rabbitfish reared in brackish water than in seawater for fish fed vegetable oil diets and in S. canaliculatus hepatocyte line (SCHL) cells incubated with alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) than the control group. Similar expression patterns were also observed on the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (srebp1) and LC-PUFA biosynthesis related genes. While opposite results were observed on the expression of insulin-induced gene 1 (insig1), an endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein blocking Srebp1 proteolytic activation. Luciferase reporter assays revealed rabbitfish insig1 as a target of miR-24. Knockdown of miR-24 in SCHL cells resulted in increased Insig1 protein, and subsequently reduced mature Srebp1 protein and expression of genes required for LC-PUFA biosynthesis, and these effects could be attenuated after additional insig1 knockdown. Opposite results were observed with overexpression of miR-24. Moreover, increasing endogenous insig1 by knockdown of miR-24 inhibited Srebp1 processing and consequently suppressed LC-PUFA biosynthesis in rabbitfish hepatocytes. These results indicate a potentially critical role for miR-24 in regulating LC-PUFA biosynthesis through the Insig1/Srebp1 pathway by targeting insig1. This is the first report of miR-24 involved in LC-PUFA biosynthesis and thus may provide knowledge on the regulatory mechanisms of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in vertebrates

National wetland mapping in China: a new product resulting from object-based and hierarchical classification of Landsat 8 OLI images

Spatially and thematically explicit information of wetlands is important to understanding ecosystem functions and services, as well as for establishment of management policy and implementation. However, accurate wetland mapping is limited due to lacking an operational classification system and an effective classification approach at a large scale. This study was aimed to map wetlands in China by developing a hybrid object-based and hierarchical classification approach (HOHC) and a new wetland classification system for remote sensing. Application of the hybrid approach and the wetland classification system to Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager data resulted in a wetland map of China with an overall classification accuracy of 95.1%. This national scale wetland map, so named CAS_Wetlands, reveals that China’s wetland area is estimated to be 451,084 ± 2014 km2, of which 70.5% is accounted by inland wetlands. Of the 14 sub-categories, inland marsh has the largest area (152,429 ± 373 km2), while coastal swamp has the smallest coverage (259 ± 15 km2). Geospatial variations in wetland areas at multiple scales indicate that China’s wetlands mostly present in Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang Provinces. This new map provides a new baseline data to establish multi-temporal and continuous datasets for China’s wetlands and biodiversity conservation

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements