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Abstract Background Guidelines recommended remote monitoring (RM) in managing patients with Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices. In recent years, smart device (phone or tablet) monitoring‐based RM (SM‐RM) was introduced. This study aims to systematically review SM‐RM versus bedside monitor RM (BM‐RM) using radiofrequency in terms of compliance, connectivity, and episode transmission time. Methods We conducted a systematic review, searching three international databases from inception until July 2023 for studies comparing SM‐RM (intervention group) versus BM‐RM (control group). Results Two matched studies (21 978 patients) were retrieved (SM‐RM arm: 9642 patients, BM‐RM arm: 12 336 patients). There is significantly higher compliance among SM‐RM patients compared with BM‐RM patients in both pacemaker and defibrillator patients. Manyam et al. found that more SM‐RM patients than BM‐RM patients transmitted at least once (98.1% vs. 94.3%, p

Abstract Drug-eluting stents are a commonly used treatment for coronary artery disease. However, the coatings used in drug-eluting stents have some limitations such as poor biocompatibility and drug loading capacity. In recent years, self-assembly methods have emerged as a promising alternative for stent coatings. Self-assembled coatings employ biomaterials and offer several advantages over traditional coatings, including thinner thickness, stronger binding capacity, and better biocompatibility. This review discusses the latest research on self-assembled biomaterial-based coatings for drug-eluting stents. We explore how layer-by-layer coatings and composite coating films have been utilized to load and release drugs with high drug loading capacity and biocompatibility, as well as how they promote endothelial adhesion and growth. Additionally, we examine how self-assembled coatings have been used to release active molecules for anti-coagulation and deliver gene therapy. Moreover, we discuss the potential of self-assembled coatings for future development, including intelligent targeted drug delivery, bionic stent coatings, and 3D printed stent coatings. These advancements have the potential to further improve the effectiveness of drug-eluting stents in treating coronary artery disease.

Abstract In heterogeneous catalysis catalyst activation is often observed during the reaction process, which is mostly attributed to the induction by reactants. In this work we report that surface structure of molybdenum nitride (MoN x ) catalyst exhibits a high dependency on the partial pressure or concentration of reaction products i.e., CO and H2O in reverse water gas-shift reaction (RWGS) (CO2:H2 = 1:3) but not reactants of CO2 and H2. Molybdenum oxide (MoO x ) overlayers formed by oxidation with H2O are observed at reaction pressure below 10 mbar or with low partial pressure of CO/H2O products, while CO-induced surface carbonization happens at reaction pressure above 100 mbar and with high partial pressure of CO/H2O products. The reaction products induce restructuring of MoN x surface into more active molybdenum carbide (MoC x ) to increase the reaction rate and make for higher partial pressure CO, which in turn promote further surface carbonization of MoN x . We refer to this as the positive feedback between catalytic activity and catalyst activation in RWGS, which should be widely present in heterogeneous catalysis.

Emphysema is a respiratory disease that causes the progressive loss of lung extracellular matrix (ECM) organisation, subsequently undermining lung integrity and reducing lung function. Fibroblasts must constantly repair damage to the lungs to preserve lung health, however, fibroblast ECM repair is reduced during emphysema, causing ECM damage to outweigh fibroblast ECM maintenance. Current treatments for emphysema fail to address the root causes of emphysematous progression, highlighting the need for novel methods of treating emphysema. Nitrofurantoin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic indicated for the treatment of urinary tract infections that also displays potential as a novel avenue of emphysema treatment. Nitrofurantoin is known to potentially cause fibrotic effects that could be repurposed to increase fibroblast repair and outweigh the progressive ECM damage of the emphysematous lung. Therefore, this study examined the effects of nitrofurantoin treatment on primary human lung fibroblasts derived from emphysema patients to determine if the drug holds potential as a novel treatment for emphysema. Nitrofurantoin was shown to stimulate migration and alter fibroblast morphology by increasing cell area and reducing roundness, suggesting that it could induce an ECM-repair primed phenotype in fibroblasts. Interestingly, nitrofurantoin treatment did not alter collagen-IV, perlecan, periostin or tenascin-C deposition, though fibronectin deposition was significantly upregulated at a higher dosage (20 μg/mL). This study highlighted the nitrofurantoin induced changes to fibroblast motility and morphology that facilitate ECM repair. Thus, nitrofurantoin induced pulmonary fibrosis could be caused by a change in cell phenotype that subsequently upregulates ECM repair, indicating its potential as a treatment for emphysema.

Abstract Understanding flower developmental processes is a prerequisite for improving flowering ‘plants’ production. Adonis amurensis is a fascinating spring ephemeral plant that develops its flower organs underground. Nevertheless, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms driving this particular process is scarce. Herein, we examined transcriptional changes during underground flower differentiation in A. amurensis and unveiled key differently regulated genes and pathways. High-throughput RNA sequencing of meristems at different flower developmental stages, including flower primordium (FP), sepal stage (SE), perianth primordium (PE), stamen stage (ST), and pistil stage (PI), identified 303,234 unigenes that showed 44.79% similarity with sequences in Aquilegia coerulea. Correlations, principal component, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analyses revealed that few molecular changes occurred during the transition from PE to ST. Many DEGs exhibited stage-specific regulations. Transcription factor (TF) and phytohormone family genes are critical regulators of the floral differentiation process in A. amurensis. The most differentially regulated TFs were MADS, FAR1, MYBs, AP2/ERF, B3, C2H2, and LOBs. We filtered out 186 candidate genes for future functional studies, including 18 flowering/circadian-related, 32 phytohormone-related, and TF family genes. Our findings deepen our understanding of the underground flower differentiation process and offer critical resources to dissect its regulatory network in A. amurensis. These findings establish a foundational platform for researchers dedicated to exploring the unique phenotypic characteristics of this specific flowering modality and delving into the intricate molecular mechanisms underpinning its regulation and expression.

Summary: Background: The public health burden of cardiomyopathies and competency in their management by health agencies in China are not well understood. Methods: This study adopted a multi-stage sampling method for hospital selection. In the first stage, nationwide tertiary hospital recruitment was performed. As a result, 88 hospitals with the consent of the director of cardiology and access to an established electronic medical records system, were recruited. In the second stage, we sampled 66 hospitals within each geographic-economic stratification through a random sampling process. Data on (1) the outpatient and inpatient visits for cardiomyopathies between 2017 and 2021 and (2) the competency in the management of patients with cardiomyopathies, were collected. The competency of a hospital to provide cardiomyopathy care was evaluated using a specifically devised scale. Findings: The outpatient and inpatient visits for cardiomyopathies increased between 2017 and 2021 by 38.6% and 33.0%, respectively. Most hospitals had basic facilities for cardiomyopathy assessment. However, access to more complex procedures was limited, and the integrated management pathway needs improvement. Only 4 (6.1%) of the 66 participating hospitals met the criteria for being designated as a comprehensive cardiomyopathy center, and only 29 (43.9%) could be classified as a primary cardiomyopathy center. There were significant variations in competency between hospitals with different administrative and economic levels. Interpretation: The health burden of cardiomyopathies has increased significantly between 2017 and 2021 in China. Although most tertiary hospitals in China can offer basic cardiomyopathy care, more advanced facilities are not yet universally available. Moreover, inconsistencies in the management of cardiomyopathies across hospitals due to differing administrative and economic levels warrants a review of the nation allocation of medical resources. Funding: This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2023-I2M-1-001) and the National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding (2022-GSP-GG-17).

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are multifactorial chronic diseases and have the highest rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) plays a crucial role in posttranslational modification and quality control of proteins, maintaining intracellular homeostasis via degradation of misfolded, short-lived, or nonfunctional regulatory proteins. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs, such as microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs and small interfering RNAs) serve as epigenetic factors and directly or indirectly participate in various physiological and pathological processes. NcRNAs that regulate ubiquitination or are regulated by the UPS are involved in the execution of target protein stability. The cross-linked relationship between the UPS, ncRNAs and CVDs has drawn researchers’ attention. Herein, we provide an update on recent developments and perspectives on how the crosstalk of the UPS and ncRNAs affects the pathological mechanisms of CVDs, particularly myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and ischemic stroke. In addition, we further envision that RNA interference or ncRNA mimics or inhibitors targeting the UPS can potentially be used as therapeutic tools and strategies.

A series of chalcone derivatives containing piperidine sulfonamide were designed and synthesized from natural chalones, and their structures were characterized on NMR and HRMS. In vitro antifungal activity test results showed that most of the target compounds exhibited good antifungal activities against a variety of fungi in vitro. X17 showed an excellent antifungal activity against S. sclerotiorum, Phomopsis sp, P. capsica with EC50 values of 10.43, 10.78, 12.02 µg/mL, respectively. It was better than those of azoxystrobin (19.34, 18.21, 63.44 µg/mL). In vivo antifungal activity test showed that X17 at the concentration of 200 µg/mL had better curative activities on rape leaves (90.8 %) than that of azoxystrobin (86.6 %). The protective activities on kiwifruits (88.3 %) were better than that of azoxystrobin (86.1 %). Mechanical studies showed that X17 inhibited the normal hypha growth by disrupting the cell membrane of S. sclerotiorum.

19 myricetin derivatives containing thiazole were designed and synthesized. Their fungicidal activities in vitro against ten species of plant pathogenic fungi were evaluated. Bioassay results indicated that some of compounds exhibited remarkable antifungal activities. Among them, Z17 showed the strongest antifungal activity against Phomopsis sp, with in vitro EC50 of 12.3 µg/mL, which was superior to those of the control drug azoxystrobin (32.2 µg/mL) and fluopyram (77.7 µg/mL). In addition, Z18 also had the inhibitory activity against the Alternaria brassicae, with an EC50 value of 32.5 µg/mL, which was much higher than azoxystrobin (49.3 µg/mL). Z17 exhibited good protective activity (62.5 %) against Phomopsis sp on kiwifruit in vivo at 200 µg/mL. The results of in vivo experiments revealed that Z18 could effectively defend against the infestation of cabbage by Alternaria brassicae, and improve the protection ability of the crop. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) demonstrated that Z17 could destroy the integrity of cell membrane of pathogen Phomopsis sp, thus affecting the normal growth of mycelia. The results of the mechanism research further confirmed that the action of Z17 changed the mycelial morphology of Phomopsis sp, affected the permeability of cells, increased the leakage of cytoplasm and MDA contents. Molecular docking simulation results revealed that compound Z17 could readily bind with the active site of SDH and could be a potential SDH inhibitor. In summary, this study provides new ideas for effectively controlling plant fungal diseases and developing new green chemical pesticide products.

Brillouin microscopy has recently emerged as a new bio-imaging modality that provides information on the microscale mechanical properties of biological materials, cells and tissues. The data collected in a typical Brillouin microscopy experiment represents the high-dimensional set of spectral information, i.e. each pixel within a 2D/3D Brillouin image is associated with hundreds of points of spectral data. Its analysis requires non-trivial approaches due to subtlety in spectral variations as well as spatial and spectral overlaps of measured features. This article offers a guide to the application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for processing Brillouin imaging data. Being unsupervised multivariate analysis, PCA is well-suited to tackle processing of complex Brillouin spectra from heterogeneous biological samples with minimal a priori information requirements. We point out the importance of data pre-processing steps in order to improve outcomes of PCA. We also present a strategy where PCA combined with k -means clustering method can provide a working solution to data reconstruction and deeper insights into sample composition, structure and mechanics.

In general, it is still unclear, to what extent, that autistic children would develop the ability to recognize facial expression by age and which basic emotion expressions are consistently difficult to learn. Moreover, what crucial processing and mechanisms would play a key role for the autistic behavior patterns in early social interaction. To answer these questions, a deep learning model is constructed to simulate the eye movement records during judging emotion expression of typical developed and autistic children. The simulation results are: 1. for older autistic models, if the gaze fixations for eyes and mouth of positive emotion is longer, it would lead to greater recognition performance; 2. in contrast, for younger autistic models, it takes longer training sessions to correctly recognize most of negative emotions as too much inferences of internal information occurred while establishing reliable prototypes of facial figures in differentiating the angry, sad, and disgusting expressions.