A Novel Serpin with Antithrombin-Like Activity in Branchiostoma japonicum: Implications for the Presence of a Primitive Coagulation System

Serine protease inhibitors, or serpins, are a group of widely distributed proteins with similar structures that use conformational change to inhibit proteases. Antithrombin (AT) is a member of the serine protease inhibitor superfamily and a major coagulation inhibitor in all vertebrates, but its evolutionary origin remains elusive. In this study we isolated for the first time a cDNA encoding an antithrombin homolog, BjATl, from the protochordate Branchiostoma japonicum. The deduced protein BjATl consisted of 338 amino acids sharing 36.7% to 41.1% identity to known vertebrate ATs. BjATl contains a potential N-linked glycosylation site, two potential heparin binding sites and the reactive center loop with the absolutely conserved sequence Gly-Arg-Ser; all of these are features characteristic of ATs. All three phylogenetic trees constructed using Neighbor-Joining, Maximum-Likelihood and Bayesian-Inference methods also placed BjATl together with ATs. Moreover, BjATl expressed in yeast cells was able to inhibit bovine thrombin activity by forming a SDS-stable BjATl-thrombin complex. It also displays a concentration-dependent inhibition of thrombin that is accelerated by heparin. Furthermore, BjATl was predominantly expressed in the hepatic caecum and hind-gut, agreeing with the expression pattern of AT in mammalian species. All these data clearly demonstrate that BjATl is an ortholog of vertebrate ATs, suggesting that a primitive coagulation system emerged in the protochordate

Catalytic Removal of Ozone by Pd/ACFs and Optimal Design of Ozone Converter for Air Purification in Aircraft Cabin

Ozone in aircraft cabin can bring obvious adverse impact on indoor air quality and occupant health. The objective of this study is to experimentally explore the ozone removal performance of flat-type catalyst film by loading nanometer palladium on the activated carbon fibers (Pd/ACFs), and optimize the configuration of ozone converter to make it meet the design requirements. A one-through ozone removal unit with three different Pd/ACFs space was used to test the ozone removal performance and the flow resistance characteristic under various temperature and flow velocity. The results show that the ozone removal rate of the ozone removal unit with the Pd/ACFs space of 1.5 mm can reach 99% and the maximum pressure drop is only 1.9 kPa at the reaction temperature of 200℃. The relationship between pressure drop and flow velocity in the ozone removal unit has a good fit to the Darcy-Forchheimer model. An ozone converter with flat-type reactor was designed and processed based on the one-through ozone removal experiment, its ozone removal rate and maximum pressure drop were 97% and 7.51 kPa, separately, with the condition of 150℃ and 10.63 m/s. It can meet the design requirements of ozone converter for air purification and develop a healthier aircraft cabin environment

Effect of optimized thrombus aspiration on myocardial perfusion and prognosis in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients with primary percutaneous coronary intervention

ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of optimized thrombus aspiration on myocardial perfusion, prognosis, and safety in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention(primary PCI).MethodsA total of 129 patients with STEMI were randomly allocated into control group (Subgroup A and B) and experimental group(Subgroup C and D). Control group received percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA),thrombus aspiration and primary PCI. Experimental group received optimized thrombus aspiration and primary PCI. The number of thrombus aspiration was less than 4 times in Subgroup A and C. The number of thrombus aspiration was performed more than 4 times in Subgroups B and D. The classification of thrombi extracted, the TIMI flow grade, the incidence of no-reflow and slow flow, cTFC, TPI and CK-MB at 12 h and 24 h after stenting, ST segment resolution of ECG after stenting, NT-proBNP, LVEFat 24 h, 30 days and 180 days after stenting were compared between groups. The incidence of intraoperative and postoperative bleeding complications, stroke events and major cardiovascular events (MACE) were recorded and compared between groups.ResultsThe classification of thrombi extracted in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group. The TIMI flow grade of the experimental group was better than the control group after thrombus aspiration. After stenting, the advantage still existed, but the difference was not statistically significant. On cTFC, the experimental group was lower than the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant; After stenting the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group. The CK-MB at 12 h and 24 h of the experimental group was lower than the control group. After thrombus aspiration the incidence of no-reflow in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group; after stenting the incidence of no-reflow in the experimental group was still lower than the control group, but no statistically difference. After thrombus aspiration and stenting the incidence of slow flow in the experimental group were lower than that in the control group. After stenting, NT-proBNP at 24 h was lower in the experimental group than that in the control group, However, there was no statistical difference; after stenting, The NT-proBNP in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group at 30 days and 180 days. After stenting, LVEF of the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group at 24 h and 30 days; superiority remained after 180 days but no statistical difference. There was no statistical difference between two groups for intraoperative and postoperative bleeding complications, stroke events, and MACE events. In Subgroup analysis,there was no significant difference in the classification of thrombi extracted, TIMI flow grade, cTFC, CK-MB,NT-proBNP and LVEF between group C and D, but group A was better than group B. Analysis of variance showed that the optimal number of suction was 4–5 times.ConclusionsOptimized thrombus aspiration can significantly improve myocardial perfusion and short-term and medium-term prognosis of STEMI patients after PCI, and reduce the incidence of slow flow and no-reflow. The optimal suction times were 4–5 times. Traditional aspiration method with more aspiration times is harmful to cardiac prognosis. Thrombus aspiration does not increase the incidence of stroke events and is safe.Clinical Trial Registration: identifier, ChiCTR2300073410

Joint Configuration and Scheduling Optimization of a Dual-Trolley Quay Crane and Automatic Guided Vehicles with Consideration of Vessel Stability

This study proposes a formulation to optimize operational efficiency of a dual-trolley quay crane and automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) to reduce energy consumption at an automated container terminal. A two-phase model is used to minimize energy consumption during loading and discharging operations, as well as maximize the utilization rate of the AGVs, with consideration of relevant constraints such as the capacity of buffers for the quay crane (QC) and yard, the stability of vessel, the maximum endurance of an AGV, and the available laytime for handling. We propose a constrained partial enumeration strategy to construct quay crane schedules and a genetic algorithm to solve the AGV scheduling problem. Finally, Yangshan Phase IV automated container terminal’s data is used to verify the validity and applicability of the proposed model. The results of the tests provide evidence that the proposed method can improve energy efficiency

Data for iTRAQ-based quantification of the effect of HuganQingzhi on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled âIsobarictags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) -based proteomics for the investigation of the effect of HuganQingzhi on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in ratsâ (Yao et al., 2017) [1]. This article describes the effect of HuganQingzhi on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats at the level of the proteome (HFD: control, HH: control, HH: HFD, respectively). The field dataset is available to criticize or extended analyzes in public

The double mutations of acvr2aa and acvr2ba leads to muscle hypertrophy in zebrafish

Activin A receptor, type II (Acvr2) is a member of the transforming growth factor beta receptor family and can function as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass. Acvr2 plays an important role in regulating muscle development that can inhibit skeletal muscle growth in mice. However, there is very little research reported on the function of acvr2 in muscle development of teleost. In this study, we analyzed the effect of acvr2aa and acvr2ba on muscle development in zebrafish. Growth rates of WT and acvr2a−/−b−/− were measured from juvenile stage to adult stage. In addition, effects of acvr2 on skeletal muscle were tested in histological, protein and molecular levels. As a result, acvr2a−/−b−/− exhibited a wider body trunk than WT and showed a significant increase in body weight and width from two months old. Histological analysis of skeletal muscle indicated that the size of muscle fiber in acvr2a−/−b−/− (female:1809 ± 123 μm2; male: 2261 ± 130 μm2) was larger than that in WT (709.8 ± 49 μm2; 815 ± 53 μm2). In addition, western blot of fast MyLc protein showed the protein synthesis of acvr2a−/−b−/− are increased. Besides, Histological analysis of heart showed the ventricle area is aslo increased in acvr2a−/−b−/−. Our results demonstrated acvr2 attends the development of muscle fiber and will cause muscle hypertrophy when they were knocked out in zebrafish. In conclusion, acvr2 in zebrafish can control the development of muscle fibers during posthatch growth

Cartoon representation of homology models of the human AT (A) and BjATl (B).

<p>α-helix residues are colored with red, β-sheet residues with yellow, and loop and unassigned residues with green. Pink spheres show the heparin-binding sites, and blue spheres indicate the potential glycosylation site. Orange sticks show the RCL (reactive center loop) region.</p

Inhibitory activity of recombinant BjATl.

<p>(A) The inhibitory activity of recombinant BjATl in the presence (+) or absence (−) of heparin. (B) The inhibitory activity of different concentrations of recombinant BjATl in the presence of heparin. The inhibitory activity of BjATl was determined for each group and values were shown as means ± SD (n = 3). Significant differences (<i>p</i><0.001) are indicated by an asterisk (*).</p

SDS-PAGE and Western bloting of recombinant BjATl expressed in <i>Pichia pastoris</i>.

<p>(A) SDS-PAGE of recombinant BjATl purified on Ni-NTA resin column. Lane 1, molecular mass standards; Lane 2, recombinant BjATl. (B) Western blotting. Lane 1, the supernant of <i>Pichia pastoris</i> with <i>BjATl</i> insertion induced with methanol, and immunostained with anti-BjATl antiserum; Lane 2, the supernant of <i>Pichia pastoris</i> with <i>BjATl</i> insertion induced with methanol, and immunostained with anti-His tag antiserum.</p