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Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by plaque accumulation in the arteries. Macrophages are immune cells that are crucial in the development of atherosclerosis. Macrophages can adopt different phenotypes, with the M1 phenotype promoting inflammation while the M2 phenotype counteracting it. This review focuses on the factors that drive the polarisation of M1 macrophages towards a pro-inflammatory phenotype during AS. Additionally, we explored metabolic reprogramming mechanisms and cytokines secretion by M1 macrophages. Hyperlipidaemia is widely recognised as a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. Modified lipoproteins released in the presence of hyperlipidaemia can trigger the release of cytokines and recruit circulating monocytes, which adhere to the damaged endothelium and differentiate into macrophages. Macrophages engulf lipids, leading to the formation of foam cells. As atherosclerosis progresses, foam cells become the necrotic core within the atherosclerotic plaques, destabilising them and triggering ischaemic disease. Furthermore, we discuss recent research focusing on targeting macrophages or inflammatory pathways for preventive or therapeutic purposes. These include statins, PCSK9 inhibitors, and promising nanotargeted drugs. These new developments hold the potential for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis and its related complications.

IntroductionContrast-enhanced T1WI flow-sensitive black-blood (CE-T1WI FSBB) is a newly developed sequence which had not been widely used for differential diagnosis of brain tumors.MethodsTo quantify the pre-operative imaging features of intratumoral microbleeds and intratumoral vessels using CE-T1WI FSBB scan and study the differences in biological behavior of meningiomas and schwannomas underlying the imaging features. Seventy-three cases of meningiomas and 24 cases of schwannomas confirmed by postoperative pathology were included. Two neuroradiologists independently counted intratumoral vessels and intratumoral microbleeds based on CE-T1WI FSBB images. The vessel density index (VDI) and microbleed density index (MDI) were the number of intratumoral vessels and the number of intratumoral microbleeds divided by the tumor volume, respectively. The consistency test of intratumoral vessel count and intratumoral microbleed count based on CE-T1WI FSBB were summarized using 2-way random intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Mann–Whitney U-test and chi-square test were used to determine significant differences between meningiomas and schwannomas, and fibrous meningiomas and epithelial meningiomas. P

The use of a directional overcurrent protection relay (DOPR) to protect an electrical power system is a crucial instrument for keeping the system dynamic and avoiding undue interruption. The coordination of a DOPR’s primary and backup relays is modelled as a highly constrained optimization problem. The goal is to determine an ideal value that will reduce the overall working time of all primary relays. The coordination is accomplished by the use of particle swarm optimization hybridization (HPSO). Comprehensive simulation experiments are carried out to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed HPSO by employing the time multiplier setting (TMS) and plug setting (PS) as an optimization variable and constant, respectively. The HPSO has been examined satisfactorily utilizing certain IEEE benchmark test systems (9-bus and 14-bus). The outcomes are contrasted with earlier heuristics and evolutionary approaches. Based on the acquired findings, it is clear that the obtained results exceed the other conventional and state of the art procedures in terms of total DOPR operation and the computing time necessary to achieve the global optimal solution.

Purpose: To investigate the primary components and effect of Danshen-Chuanxiong (DS-CX) in the treatment of Kawasaki disease. Methods: Active ingredients of DS-CX and targets of action were screened via the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systematic Pharmacology (TCMSP) and SwissTargetPrediction databases. Targets of Kawasaki disease were queried in OMIM, GeneCards, DRUGBANK, and Disgenet databases, and intersected with drug targets. Protein-protein interaction maps (PPIs) were constructed using STRING database and Cytoscape software, and core genes of Kawasaki disease were screened. Pathway enrichment analyses (DAVID database, Gene Ontology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)) were conducted for DS-CX targeting Kawasaki disease crossover targets. Results: A total of 64 active ingredients and corresponding potential target genes of DS-CX were obtained. Also, 928 human genes related to Kawasaki disease were obtained from OMIM, DRUGBANK, GeneCards and Disgenet databases. Potential target genes of DS-CX was intersected with 928 human Kawasaki disease-related genes, and a total of 55 genes were screened. The PPI network was built using STRING database and Cyotoscape software, and overlapping genes were further screened. A total of 61 active ingredients were screened for their effects on Kawasaki disease-related targets. GOfunction analysis revealed that DS-CX affected Kawasaki disease by positively regulating gene expression. Also, KEGG enrichment analysis found that DS-CX and Kawasaki disease was mainly enriched in pathways involved in cancer. Conclusion: DS-CX regulates core genes (AKT1, IL6, and TP53) and other genes through active ingredients which in turn act on cancer pathway. Thus, DS-CX demonstrates anti-inflammatory and antiplatelet activities and helps blood vessel repair and remodeling in Kawasaki disease. Further studies to validate Danshen and Chuanxiong for the treatment of Kawasaki disease are needed to determine its mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Contrast-enhanced T1WI flow-sensitive black-blood (CE-T1WI FSBB) is a newly developed sequence which had not been widely used for differential diagnosis of brain tumors. Methods: To quantify the pre-operative imaging features of intratumoral microbleeds and intratumoral vessels using CE-T1WI FSBB scan and study the differences in biological behavior of meningiomas and schwannomas underlying the imaging features. Seventy-three cases of meningiomas and 24 cases of schwannomas confirmed by postoperative pathology were included. Two neuroradiologists independently counted intratumoral vessels and intratumoral microbleeds based on CE-T1WI FSBB images. The vessel density index (VDI) and microbleed density index (MDI) were the number of intratumoral vessels and the number of intratumoral microbleeds divided by the tumor volume, respectively. The consistency test of intratumoral vessel count and intratumoral microbleed count based on CE-T1WI FSBB were summarized using 2-way random intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square test were used to determine significant differences between meningiomas and schwannomas, and fibrous meningiomas and epithelial meningiomas. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The ICC of intratumoral vessels count and intratumoral microbleeds count were 0.89 and 0.99, respectively. There were significant differences in the number of intratumoral microbleeds (P<0.01) and MDI values (P<0.01) between meningiomas and schwannomas. There were no differences in the number of intratumoral vessels (P=0.64), VDI (P=0.17), or tumor volume (P=0.33). There were also differences in the number of intratumoral microbleeds (P<0.01), the MDI value (P<0.01), and the sex of patients (P<0.05) between fibrous meningiomas and epithelial meningiomas. Discussion: CE-T1WI FSBB can be a new technique for differentiating schwannomas from meningiomas, and even different types of meningiomas. Schwannomas have a higher incidence of intratumoral hemorrhage, more intratumoral microbleeds, and higher MDI values than meningiomas, which provides a newbasis for preoperative differential diagnosis and treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although bottom-up attention can improve visual performance with and without awareness to the exogenous cue, whether they are governed by a common neural computation remains unclear. Using a modified Posner paradigm with backward masking, we found that the cueing effect displayed a monotonic gradient profile (Gaussian-like), both with and without awareness, whose scope, however, was significantly wider with than without awareness. This awareness-dependent scope offered us a unique opportunity to change the relative size of the attention field to the stimulus, differentially modulating the gain of attentional selection, as proposed by the normalization model of attention. Therefore, for each human subject (male and female), the stimulus size was manipulated as their respective mean attention fields with and without awareness while stimulus contrast was varied in a spatial cueing task. By measuring the gain pattern of contrast-response functions on the spatial cueing effect derived by visible or invisible cues, we observed changes in the cueing effect consonant with changes in contrast gain for visible cues and response gain for invisible cues. Importantly, a complementary analysis confirmed that subjects' awareness-dependent attention fields can be simulated by using the normalization model of attention. Together, our findings indicate an awareness-dependent normalization framework of visual bottom-up attention, placing a necessary constraint, namely, awareness, on our understanding of the neural computations underlying visual attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]