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Yu Chen, Peilei Zhao, Weifeng Fan, Jianying Niu Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Fifth People’s Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jianying Niu, Department of Nephrology, Shanghai Fifth People’s Hospital, Fudan University, 801 Heqing Road, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-21-24289516, Fax +86-21-24289690, Email niujianying@fudan.edu.cnPurpose: Unconjugated bilirubin is one of the most endogenous antioxidant substances. Mildly elevated total bilirubin concentrations may protect against cardiovascular disease and total death. However, most studies only focused on the association between serum total bilirubin and the risk of cardiovascular disease and total death. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum indirect bilirubin (IBIL) and the cardiovascular events in maintenance hemodialysis patients.Patients and Methods: : This retrospective cohort study included 284 maintenance hemodialysis patients. Patients were divided into two groups according to the median IBIL level: high IBIL group (IBIL ≥ 3.0 μmol/L) and low IBIL group (IBIL < 3.0 μmol/L). All demographic and laboratory data were recorded at baseline. The endpoint was cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.Results: During the median follow-up time of 62 months, 96 patients developed cardiovascular disease. There were 134 deaths. In Kaplan–Meier analysis curves, the risk of cardiovascular events in the low IBIL group was significantly higher than high IBIL group (P < 0.001). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, the risk of cardiovascular events in high IBIL group was 0.484 times (95% CI 0.278– 0.844, P = 0.010) the risk in low IBIL group. However, there was no significant association between serum IBIL level and all-cause mortality (P = 0.269).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that lower circulating IBIL levels were associated with the increased risk of cardiovascular events in maintenance hemodialysis patients.Keywords: cardiovascular disease, bilirubin, hemodialysis, retrospective study

Background Due to drought stress, the growth, distribution, and production of mungbean is severely restricted. Previous study combining physiological and transcriptomic data indicated different genotypes of mungbean exhibited variable responses when exposed to drought stress. Aside from the genetic variation, the modifications of environmentally induced epigenetics alterations on mungbean drought-stress responses were still elusive. Results In this study, firstly, we compared the drought tolerance capacity at seedling stage by detecting physiological parameters in two contrasting genotypes wild mungbean 61 and cultivar 70 in response to drought stress. We found that wild mungbean 61 showed lower level of MDA and higher levels of POD and CAT, suggesting wild mungbean 61 exhibited stronger drought resistance. Transcriptomic analysis indicated totally 2859 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected when 70 compared with 61 (C70 vs C61), and the number increased to 3121 in the comparison of drought-treated 70 compared with drought-treated 61 (D70 vs D61). In addition, when drought-treated 61 and 70 were compared with their controls, the DEGs were 1117 and 185 respectively, with more down-regulated DEGs than up-regulated in D61 vs C61, which was opposite in D70 vs C70. Interestingly, corresponding to this, after drought stress, more hypermethylated differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in 61 were detected and more hypomethylated DMRs in 70 were detected. Further analysis suggested that the main variations between 61 and 70 existed in CHH methylation in promoter. Moreover, the preference of methylation status alterations in D61 vs C61 and D70 vs C70 also fell in CHH sequence context. Further analysis of the correlation between DMRs and DEGs indicated in both D61 vs C61 and D70 vs C70, the DMRs in gene body was significantly negatively correlated with DEGs. Conclusions The physiological parameters in this research suggested that wild mungbean 61 was more resistant to drought stress, with more hypermethylated DMRs and less hypomethylated DMRs after drought stress, corresponding to more down-regulated DEGs than up-regulated DEGs. Among the three DNA methylation contexts CG, CHG, and CHH, asymmetric CHH contexts were more dynamic and prone to be altered by drought stress and genotypic variations.

Background: Although recent studies showed serum bilirubin, an endogenous antioxidant, is protective against cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetic complications, less information is available its association with cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum bilirubin and the cardiovascular mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients.Methods: This retrospective study included 284 chronic hemodialysis patients who started hemodialysis between January 01, 2003, and May 30, 2019. The endpoint was cardiovascular death and all-cause death. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the risk factors for cardiovascular death in the maintenance hemodialysis. The cardiovascular mortality was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis.Results: Up to 2019, the median follow-up time was 53 months. In Kaplan–Meier analysis curves, the risk of cardiovascular death in the patients with serum indirect bilirubin (IBIL) levels＜3.0 μmol/L was significantly higher than those with serum IBIL levels≥3.0 μmol/L(p =0.045). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, the risk of cardiovascular mortality in patients with serum IBIL levels ≥3.0 μmol/L was 0.556 times the risk in patients with serum IBIL levels＜3.0 μmol/L (Hazard ratio=0.556, 95% confidence interval 0.334~0.926, p =0.024). However, there was no significant association between serum IBIL and all-cause mortality (p =0.269). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that low serum IBIL level is independently associated with high risk of cardiovascular death in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

This paper presents a long short-term memory network for estimating the charging current in electric vehicle DC fast chargers. From the prospective of testing, current estimation with deep learning techniques can provide an approach for predicting health state and remaining useful life of EV chargers in the future. A typical charging data is comprised of three control signals, two power signals, and BMS messages. Data set collection has been finished by a testing tool from five electric vehicle models and six charger models. The LSTM theory is introduced briefly, then the topology of the designed network for current estimation and the training process with root mean square error and training loss are given. The experimental results show the charging current has been estimated by the designed network with a best RMSE of 8.59 A. We also discuss the error of an estimated current waveform in comparison to a tested current waveform.

Red-fleshed apple (Malus sieversii f. neidzwetzkyana (Dieck) Langenf) has attracted more and more attention due to its enriched anthocyanins and high antioxidant activity. In this study we extracted total anthocyanins and phenols from two types of red-fleshed apples&mdash, Xinjing No.4 (XJ4) and Red Laiyang (RL)&mdash, to study the stability and antioxidant activity of anthocyanins after encapsulation onto Corn Starch Nanoparticles (CSNPs). The results indicated the anthocyanins and total phenol levels of XJ4 were 2.96 and 2.25 times higher than those of RL respectively. The anthocyanin concentration and loading time had a significant effect on CSNPs encapsulation, and XJ4 anthocyanins always showed significantly higher loading capacity than RL. After encapsulation, the morphology of RL-CSNPs and XJ4-CSNPs was still spherical with a smooth surface as CSNPs, but the particle size increased compared to CSNPs especially for RL-CSNPs. Different stress treatments including UV light, pH, temperature, and salinity suggested that XJ4-CSNPs exhibited consistently higher stability than RL-CSNPs. A significantly enhanced free radical scavenging rate under stress conditions was observed, and XJ4-CSNPs had stronger antioxidant activity than RL-CSNPs. Furthermore, XJ4-CSNPs exhibited a slower released rate than RL-CSNPs in simulated gastric (pH 2.0) and intestinal (pH 7.0) environments. Our research suggests that nanocrystallization of anthocyanins is an effective method to keep the anthocyanin ingredients intact and active while maintaining a slow release rate. Compared to RL, encapsulation of XJ4 anthocyanins has more advantages, which might be caused by the significant differences in the metabolites of XJ4. These findings give an insight into understanding the role of nanocrystallization using CSNPs in enhancing the antioxidant ability of anthocyanins from different types of red-fleshed apples, and provide theoretical foundations for red-fleshed apple anthocyanin application.

Aiming at improving the efficiency of express terminal distribution,this paper analyses two modes of domestic terminal distribution and establishes a new mode of terminal distribution based on resource integration and redistribution; The problems of terminal distribution are analyzed from six aspects,the process of terminal distribution is simplified, reengineered to improve the quality of service and reduce the cost of express delivery industry. Finally,the Countermeasures of terminal distribution are put forward,which can help express industry to produce intensively,run efficiently and provide high-quality services,and realize the sustainable operation of logistics industry.