Concurrent administration of amiodarone and atenolol in the treatment of coronary artery disease complicated with arrhythmia, and its effect on serum levels of CD40L, TNF-α and IL-6

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of the combination of amiodarone and atenolol in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) complicated with arrhythmia, and its effect on serum levels of CD-40L, TNF-α and IL-6.Methods: One hundred and twenty CAD patients with arrhythmia on admission in The First People'sHospital of Shuangliu District Chengdu, China were assigned to groups A and B, each having 60 patients. Amiodarone was administered to all the patients, while atenolol was additionally given to patients in group A. Levels of heart function indicators, inflammatory factors, blood pressure, heart rate, adverse reaction rate (ARR) and overall efficacy were evaluated for the two groups.Results: There were significantly improved levels of heart function indicators, and lower levels of CD40L, TNF-α and IL-6 in group A, when compared with group B (p < 0.001). Moreover, treatment effectiveness was higher in group A than in group B (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in ARR between groups A and B.Conclusion: The combined use of amiodarone and atenolol improves heart function indicators in patients with CAD and arrhythmia, reduces the levels of inflammatory factors, normalizes blood pressure and heart rate, and lowers ARR. However, further clinical trials on this combined therapy are required prior to its use in clinical practice

The Cytochrome bd Complex Is Essential for Chromate and Sulfide Resistance and Is Regulated by a GbsR-Type Regulator, CydE, in Alishewanella Sp. WH16-1

Sulfate-reducing bacteria are a group of microorganisms that use sulfate as an electron acceptor. These bacteria are useful in the bioremediation of heavy metal pollution since they can reduce/precipitate metals. Previously, we identified the Alishewanella strain WH16-1 from soil of a copper and iron mine and determined that it can reduce sulfate and chromate and that it was tolerant to many heavy metals. In this study, we investigated the chromate reduction mechanism of strain WH16-1 through Tn5 transposon mutagenesis. A cytochrome bd (cytbd) Tn5 mutant was generated (Δcytbd), and a detail analysis showed that the following: (1) gene cydE (coding for a GbsR-type regulator) was co-transcribed with the two subunits coding genes of the Cytochrome bd complex (Cytbd), namely, cydA and cydB, based on RT-PCR analysis, and similar gene arrangements were also found in other Alteromonadaceae family strains; (2) the chromate resistance level was dramatically decreased and chromate reduction efficiency also decreased in strain Δcytbd compared to the wild-type and a complemented strain (Δcytbd-C); (3) Cytbd could catalyze the decomposition of H2O2 according to the analyses of H2O2 decomposition ability, cellular H2O2 contents, H2O2 inhibition zone, and H2O2 sensitivity tests; (4) surprisingly, chromate was not an inducer of the expression of Cytbd, but sulfate induced expression of Cytbd, and sulfate/sulfide resistance levels were also decreased in the Δcytbd strain; (5) the addition of sulfate enhanced the chromate resistance level and reduction efficiency; (6) Cytbd expression was repressed by CydE and derepressed by sulfate based on an in vivo bacterial one hybrid system and in vitro EMSA tests; and (7) DNA footprinting and short-fragment EMSA tests revealed two binding sites of CydE in its promoter region. All these results showed that Cytbd is negatively regulated by CydE and derepressed by sulfate. In addition, Cytbd contributes to the resistance of sulfate and sulfide, and sulfide could be used as a reductant to reduce chromate. Moreover, Cytbd is essential to decompose H2O2 to decrease cellular oxidative stress. Thus, the regulation and function of Cytbd may explain why sulfate could enhance chromate reduction

Characterization of cellulase production by carbon sources in two Bacillus species

The induction of cellulase production in two Bacillus spp. was studied by means of measuring cellulase activities under the condition of different carbon sources. The results indicate that cellulase could not be induced by cellulose material as a sole carbon source. Instead, they could be induced by monosaccharide or disaccharide with reducing group. Moreover, the expression of cellulase components was synergistic. When cell wall/envelope enzyme and endoenzyme from two Bacillus spp. acted on these inducers, analysis of reaction products by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed that cell wall/envelope enzyme and endoenzyme from two Bacillus spp. were inactive on these inducers. It also indicated that these inducers entered cells directly and served function of induction.Keywords: Bacillus, cellulase, induction, carbon source

Synthesis and characterization of a bimetallic iridium complex with a ten sp(2)-carbon chain bridge

A special sp(2)-carbon chain bridged bimetallic iridium complex has been synthesized and characterized; the compound has excellent air-stability, thermo-stability and electrochemical properties

Directional Selection from Host Plants Is a Major Force Driving Host Specificity in Magnaporthe Species

One major threat to global food security that requires immediate attention, is the increasing incidence of host shift and host expansion in growing number of pathogenic fungi and emergence of new pathogens. The threat is more alarming because, yield quality and quantity improvement efforts are encouraging the cultivation of uniform plants with low genetic diversity that are increasingly susceptible to emerging pathogens. However, the influence of host genome differentiation on pathogen genome differentiation and its contribution to emergence and adaptability is still obscure. Here, we compared genome sequence of 6 isolates of Magnaporthe species obtained from three different host plants. We demonstrated the evolutionary relationship between Magnaporthe species and the influence of host differentiation on pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis showed that evolution of pathogen directly corresponds with host divergence, suggesting that host-pathogen interaction has led to co-evolution. Furthermore, we identified an asymmetric selection pressure on Magnaporthe species. Oryza sativa-infecting isolates showed higher directional selection from host and subsequently tends to lower the genetic diversity in its genome. We concluded that, frequent gene loss or gain, new transposon acquisition and sequence divergence are host adaptability mechanisms for Magnaporthe species, and this coevolution processes is greatly driven by directional selection from host plants

Field Coupling-Based Image Filter for Sand Painting Stylization

Sand painting is a very new and popular performance art technique, and it has important meaning for the artistic creation. Computer-aided sand painting is now in the ascendant, whose fully automated mechanism is still an attractive challenge. Image data field, inspired from short-range nuclear force in physics, is introduced into sand painting stylization. With preserving edges and features, a fully automatic image filter pipeline based on image field coupling is proposed, which consists of three main steps, including image data field generating, multiscale field coupling, and additional details optimizing. The visual comparisons indicate that the proposed pipeline and image filter are feasible and effective, and sand painting-like artistic images can be produced by using multiscale field coupling. The qualities of various rendering images are also investigated from the perspective of feature similarity measures. The quantitative and qualitative results suggest that the field coupling-based filter is appropriate for sand painting stylization, and the time cost is satisfied for practice applications. Generally, the proposed method provides a reference for automatic creation of computer-aided sand painting art

Web The Effects of Dracaena Sanderiana Extract on The Rooting of Myrtle Cuttings

In this paper, to identify a utilization direction for the processing waste of dracaena sanderiana and improve the rooting rate of myrtle cuttings, with rooting rate, average number of roots and average root length as rooting indicators, we discussed the effects of D. sanderiana extract, different concentrations, IAA and other factors on the rooting of myrtle cuttings. The results showed that D. sanderiana aqueous extract had a comparable rooting-promoting effect to that of IAA and suggested that a rooting-promoting substance existed in D. sanderiana extract, which can provide an experimental technical support for a cheap, non-toxic and effective specialized rooting agent for myrtle, as well as the cutting breeding of myrtle