Proteomic analysis of the heart under aerobic condition and after ischemia/reperfusion

Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of mortality and one of the significant burdens to society. Major cardiovascular diseases such as acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia often result in the development of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Untreated I/R injury is known to cause cardiac contractile dysfunction. It is established that matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is activated and degrades contractile proteins during I/R, and many other factors including metabolic enzymes, kinases and structural proteins are affected by I/R. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these changes are unclear. Since MMP-2 is known to its broad spectrum of action, I hypothesize that, in addition to contractile proteins, proteins related to regulation of energy metabolism are MMP-2 targets during I/R, and protein kinase such as myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is also involved in this process. The use of proteomics in studying heart injury triggered by I/R will reveal new potential targets for pharmacological protection of heart from I/R induced contractile dysfunction. In addition, selective inhibition of MMP-2 using MMP-2 siRNA protects the heart from I/R injury. In this study, we investigated the protein modulation during I/R using proteomic approach. In order to study the effect of protein kinases (MLCK) and MMP-2, their selective inhibitors were used to inhibit those factors and evaluate the changes in energy metabolic proteins during I/R. Proteomic analysis revealed that six proteins are involved in energy metabolism: ATP synthase β subunit, cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit 1, 24-kDa mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] iron-sulfur protein 8, cytochrome c oxidase subunit, and succinyl-CoA ligase subunit, resulting in decreased levels in I/R hearts. The data suggests that energy metabolic proteins, especially the metabolic enzymes involved in the electron transport chain in the mitochondria may contribute to I/R injury. In addition, our data provides evidence that the right and left ventricles of the heart respond differently to I/R injury, in terms of the regulation of contractile proteins and energy metabolic enzymes. Studies using MLCK inhibitor, ML-7, and MMP-2 inhibitor, MMP-2 siRNA to investigate the effect of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and MMP-2 in energy metabolic proteins have shown that succinyl-CoA ligase and ATP synthase are affected by MLCK and MMP-2 respectively. These results demonstrate that the effect of inhibition of the MLCK and MMP-2 involves optimization of energy metabolism in I/R injury, likely resulting in increased energy production. Hence, the observed proteins increase in cardiac recovery after I/R. Also, inhibition of MLCK and MMP-2 by ML-7 and MMP-2 respectively shows cardio protective effect during I/R. In summary, this study provides a novel pathogenesis in the development of I/R-induced cardiac contractile dysfunction. Moreover, we suggest a new therapeutic approach whereby using MMP-2 siRNA can be a promising gene therapy in the development of new preventive or treatment strategies against I/R injury

Digital technology for quality management in construction:A review and future research directions

Significant developments in digital technologies can potentially provide managers and engineers with the ability to improve the quality of the construction industry. Acknowledging the current and future use of digital technologies in construction quality management (CQM), we address the following research question: What developments in digital technologies can be used to improve quality in the construction industry? In addressing this research question, a systematic review approach is used to examine the studies that have been used for the management of quality in the construction industry. This review indicates that there is a need for digital technology-based quality management to be: (1) enhance defect management for concealed work, (2) enhance pre-construction defects prevention as well as post-completion product function testing, and (3) research on construction compliance inspection as a direction. We suggest that future research focus on quality culture development, advanced data analytics, and behavioral quality assessment

Genome-Wide Characterization and Analysis of bHLH Transcription Factors Related to Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Cinnamomum camphora ('Gantong 1')

Cinnamomum camphora is one of the most commonly used tree species in landscaping. Improving its ornamental traits, particularly bark and leaf colors, is one of the key breeding goals. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors (TFs) are crucial in controlling anthocyanin biosynthesis in many plants. However, their role in C. camphora remains largely unknown. In this study, we identified 150 bHLH TFs (CcbHLHs) using natural mutant C. camphora 'Gantong 1', which has unusual bark and leaf colors. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 150 CcbHLHs were divided into 26 subfamilies which shared similar gene structures and conserved motifs. According to the protein homology analysis, we identified four candidate CcbHLHs that were highly conserved compared to the TT8 protein in A. thaliana. These TFs are potentially involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in C. camphora. RNA-seq analysis revealed specific expression patterns of CcbHLHs in different tissue types. Furthermore, we verified expression patterns of seven CcbHLHs (CcbHLH001, CcbHLH015, CcbHLH017, CcbHLH022, CcbHLH101, CcbHLH118, and CcbHLH134) in various tissue types at different growth stages using qRT-PCR. This study opens a new avenue for subsequent research on anthocyanin biosynthesis regulated by CcbHLH TFs in C. camphora

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.)

Drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is an industrially important tree species. Due to the availability of an efficient regeneration system, the present study was undertaken to develop a reliable and stable Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation system for the genetic improvement of drumstick. A. tumefaciens strain EHA105, harbouring the plasmid pCAMBIA1301 containing the hygromycin phosphotransferase II and ß-glucuronidase genes driven by the CaMV 35S promoter, was used to establish a transformation system in drumstick. The use of vacuum infiltration-assisted Agrobacterium infection (excluding a pre-culture step) and co-cultivation for two days significantly increased the transformation frequency. Genomic integration and transgene expression were confirmed by β-glucuronidase (GUS) assays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot analysis and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). This transformation protocol provides a basis for the future development of genetic engineering techniques to improve the performance of drumstick

Design of Aluminum Alloy H-Sections under Minor-Axis Bending

Much research has been reported on the global response of aluminum alloy H-sections members, while studies on the local buckling behavior of H-sections under pure bending remain relatively limited. The purpose of the research is to investigate the response of aluminum alloy H-sections subjected to minor axis bending. Using a finite element model, this study analyzed the stress distribution and failure mechanism of aluminum alloy H-sections under minor-axis bending and obtained the ultimate capacities of cross-sections covering a wide range of plate slenderness. The results were compared with the strength predictions based on EN1999-1-1 and the effective width method in AS/NZS 4600. The flange slenderness was found to play the most significant role in determining the normalized capacity. The sections are shown to exhibit an elastic-plastic stress distribution in the tensile flanges. The comparisons given in this study indicate that EN1999-1-1 underestimates the predicted bending strengths. The predictions based on the effective width method are shown to be more accurate than EN1999-1-1. An alternative design method is proposed for treating aluminum H-sections in minor axis bending. This method considers plastic stress distributions in the tensile flanges after the compressed flanges have locally buckled

Study of Generalized Interaction Wake Models Systems with ELM Variation for Off-Shore Wind Farms

This paper reports a novel frandsen generalized wake model and its variation model-frandsen generalized normal distribution wake model for off-shore wind farms. Two different new wake models in off-shore wind farms have been studied comparatively. Their characteristics have been analyzed through mathematical modeling and derivation. Meanwhile, simulation experiments show that the proposed two new wake models have different properties. Furthermore, the distributions of wind speed and wind direction are modeled by the statistical methods and Extreme Learning Machine through the off-shore wind farms of Yangshan Deepwater Harbor in the Port of Shanghai, China. In addition, the data of wind energy are provided to verify and test the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed two models. Wind power has been demonstrated by wind rose and wind resources with real-time data. These techniques contribute to enhance planning, utilization and exploitation for wind power of off-shore wind farms