NtMYB4 and NtCHS1 Are Critical Factors in the Regulation of Flavonoid Biosynthesis and Are Involved in Salinity Responsiveness

High levels of salinity induce serious oxidative damage in plants. Flavonoids, as antioxidants, have important roles in reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging. In the present study, the tobacco R2R3 MYB type repressor, NtMYB4, was isolated and characterized. The expression of NtMYB4 was suppressed by salinity. Overexpression of NtMYB4 reduced the salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco plants. NtMYB4 repressed the promoter activity of NtCHS1 and negatively regulated its expression. Rutin accumulation was significantly decreased in NtMYB4 overexpressing transgenic plants and NtCHS1 RNAi silenced transgenic plants. Moreover, high H2O2 and O2− contents were detected in both types of rutin-reduced transgenic plants under high salt stress. In addition, exogenous rutin supplementation effectively scavenged ROS (H2O2 and O2−) and improved the salt tolerance of the rutin-reduced transgenic plants. In contrast, NtCHS1 overexpressing plants had increased rutin accumulation, lower H2O2 and O2− contents, and higher tolerance to salinity. These results suggested that tobacco NtMYB4 acts as a salinity response repressor and negatively regulates NtCHS1 expression, which results in the reduced flavonoid accumulation and weakened ROS-scavenging ability under salt stress

Preliminary clinical study of left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy by three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common cardiomyopathy worldwide, with significant mortality. Correct evaluation of the patient's myocardial function has important clinical significance in the diagnosis, therapeutic effect assessment and prognosis in non-ischemic DCM patients. This study evaluated the feasibility of three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STE) for assessment of the left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Apical full-volume images were acquired from 65 patients with non-ischemic DCM (DCM group) and 59 age-matched normal controls (NC group), respectively. The following parameters were measured by 3D-STE: the peak systolic radial strain (RS), circumferential strain (CS), longitudinal strain (LS) of each segment. Then all the parameters were compared between the two groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The peak systolic strain in different planes had certain regularities in normal groups, radial strain (RS) was the largest in the mid region, the smallest in the apical region, while circumferential strain (CS) and longitudinal strain (LS) increased from the basal to the apical region. In contrast, the regularity could not be applied to the DCM group. RS, CS, LS were significantly decreased in DCM group as compared with NC group (<it>P </it>< 0.001 for all). The interobserver, intraobserver and test-retest reliability were acceptable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>3D-STE is a reliable tool for evaluation of left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with non-ischemic DCM, with huge advantage in clinical application.</p

Single nucleotide polymorphisms at the TRAF1/C5 locus are associated with rheumatoid arthritis in a Han Chinese population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic variants in <it>TRAF1C5 </it>and <it>PTPN22 </it>genes have been shown to be significantly associated with arthritis rheumatoid in Caucasian populations. This study investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>and <it>PTPN22 </it>genes and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a Han Chinese population. We genotyped SNPs rs3761847 and rs7021206 at the <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>locus and rs2476601 SNP in the <it>PTPN22 </it>gene in a Han Chinese cohort composed of 576 patients with RA and 689 controls. The concentrations of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (CCP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) were determined for all affected patients. The difference between the cases and the controls was compared using <it>χ</it>²analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant differences in SNPs rs3761847 and rs7021206 at <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>were observed between the case and control groups in this cohort; the allelic p-value was 0.0018 with an odds ratio of 1.28 for rs3761847 and 0.005 with an odds ratio of 1.27 for rs7021206. This significant association between rs3761847 and RA was independent of the concentrations of anti-CCP and RF. No polymorphism of rs2476601 was observed in this cohort.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We first demonstrated that genetic variants at the <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>locus are significantly associated with RA in Han Chinese, suggesting that <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>may play a role in the development of RA in this population, which expands the pathogenesis role of <it>TRAF1/C5 </it>in a different ethnicity.</p

Internal mammary artery injury during percutaneous coronary intervention: a case report

Abstract Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is widely used to treat coronary artery disease (CAD). However, complications of PCI are inevitable. Internal mammary artery (IMA) injury is an infrequent but potentially lethal complication of PCI. Case presentation A 78-year-old man was diagnosed with multivessel lesions by coronary angiography. The IMA was injured during PCI, then cured by early identification and active rescue. Conclusions This is the first reported case, to our knowledge, of injury to the IMA during PCI. We we report this case to discuss how to treat this injury effectively and avoid this complication during clinical therapy

Water Residence Time in a Typical Tributary Bay of the Three Gorges Reservoir

Tributary bays of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) are suffering from environmental problems, e.g., eutrophication and algae bloom, which could be related to the limited water exchange capacity of the tributary bays. To understand and quantify the water exchange capacity of a tributary bay, this study investigated the water residence time (RT) in a typical tributary bay of TGR, i.e., the Zhuyi Bay (ZB), using numerical simulation and the adjoint method to obtain the RT. The results show that RT of ZB with an annual mean of 16.7 days increases from the bay mouth to the bay top where the maximum can reach 50 days. There is a significant seasonal variation in RT, with higher RT (average 20 days) in spring and autumn and lower RT (average &lt; 5 days) in the summer. The sensitivity experiments show that the TGR water level regulation has a strong influence on RT. The increase in the water level could increase RT of ZB to some extent. Density currents induced by the temperature difference between the mainstream and tributaries play an important role in the water exchange of ZB, while the impacts of the river discharges and winds on RT are insignificant

A simple reducing approach using amine to give dual functional EuSe nanocrystals and morphological tuning

Amine for improvement: A non-injection approach using an amine as a reducing agent is developed to produce spherical EuSe nanocrystals (NCs) exhibiting blue emission (peaking at 403\u2005nm with 2.8\u2009% quantum yield) and room-temperature magnetic coercivity of 80.2\u2005Oe (see scheme). The NC morphologies can be controlled easily to be hollow, spherical, or rodlike.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Fluorescent silver nanoclusters as effective probes for highly selective detection of mercury(II) at parts-per-billion levels

Facile preparation of water-soluble and fluorescent Ag nanoclusters (NCs) stabilized by glutathione at room temperature is described. Although the glutathione layer was introduced to prevent the silver nanoparticles from decomposition and increase their water solubility, this simple surface optimization resulted in surprisingly high efficiency of selective Hg2+ sensing, where the limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 10 1210\u2009m (0.02\u2005ppb, 0.1\u2005nm). This result revealed a simple and practical strategy for Hg2+ detection using fluorescent Ag NCs as sensor probe, with the lowest detecting limits reported to date.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Comparison of intrathecal low-dose bupivacaine and morphine with intravenous patient control analgesia for postoperative analgesia for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Abstract Background Thoracoscopic surgical techniques continue to advance, yet the intensity of postoperative pain remains significant, impeding swift patient recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in postoperative pain and recuperation between patients receiving intrathecal morphine paired with low-dose bupivacaine and those administered general anesthesia exclusively. Methods This randomized controlled trial enrolled 100 patients, who were allocated into three groups: Group M (5 μg/kg morphine intrathecal injection), Group B (5 μg/kg morphine combined with bupivacaine 3 mg intrathecal injection) and Group C (intrathecal sham injection). The primary outcome was the assessment of pain relief using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Additionally, intraoperative remifentanil consumption was quantified at the end of the surgery, and postoperative opioid use was determined by the number of patient-controlled analgesia (PCIA) compressions at 48 h post-surgery. Both the efficacy of the treatments and any complications were meticulously recorded. Results Postoperative NRS scores for both rest and exercise at 6, 12, 24, and 48 h were significantly lower in groups M and B than in group C (P0.05). There was no significant difference in intraoperative propofol dosage across all three groups (P>0.05). Postoperative dosages of both sufentanil and Nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were significantly less in groups M and B compared to group C (P<0.05). The time of first analgesic request was later in both groups M and B than in group C (P<0.05). Specific and total scores were elevated at 2 days postoperative when compared to scores at 1 day for all groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, at 1 day and 2 days postoperatively, both specific scores and total scores were higher in groups M and B compared to group C (P<0.05). Conclusion Intrathecal administration of morphine combined with bupivacaine has been shown to effectively ameliorate acute pain in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. Trial registration The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: ChiCTR2200058544, registered 10/04/2022