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Objective To investigate the protective mechanism of dexmedetomidine (Dex) on early postoperative cognitive function in the elderly by determining cognitive function-related metabolites during the early postoperative period following intervention. Methods A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 48 elderly patients undergoing joint replacement surgery (including hip and knee replacement surgeries) due to arthritis in Army medical center from January to May 2022. They were 10 males and 38 females, at an average age of 71.38 (ranging from 65 to 89) years. They were randomly divided into a Dex group (n=32) and a control group (CON group, receiving 0.9% saline at an equal rate and volume via same way, n=16) in a ratio of 2 ∶1. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was performed to evaluate cognitive function before and 1 d after the surgery. Metabolomic analysis was carried out on the serum samples harvested on the day of surgery and 1 d after using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QE-MS) in order to screen for differential metabolites and their pathways. Results Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) was defined as a decrease in MMSE score by ≥2 points when compared to the preoperative score. The incidence of POCD was 6.25% and 37.5%, respectively, in the Dex group and CON group, with statistical significance (Chi-square=5.419, P=0.02). Metabolomics analysis revealed 70 differential metabolites, including significantly down-regulated compounds such as ethyl dodecanote, prostaglandin D2, Indoxyl sulfate, Epibrassinolide, Diacylglycerol (18 ∶4/15 ∶0/0 ∶0), Ganoderide H. Up-regulated metabolites included, L-Alloisoleucine, L-Norleucine, Betaine, 3, 3, 5-triiodo-L-thyronine-beta-D-glucuronoside, Phosphatidylcholine (22 ∶6/16 ∶1), Phosphatidylcholine (22 ∶5/14 ∶0), Phosphatidylcholine (18 ∶4/18 ∶1), Cephalin (20 ∶3/14 ∶1), Glycerophosphocholine, L-Serine, Gamma-Aminobutyric acid. The main pathways involved were glycerophospholipid metabolism, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, and pathways related to glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism, as well as pathways related to alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. Conclusion Dex protects early postoperative cognitive function by participating in various biological pathways such as lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, suppressing inflammatory reactions, alleviating oxidative stress, improving synaptic structure and function, and regulating cellular energy metabolism.

IntroductionDetermining the causal relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) holds significant implications for GDM prevention and treatment. Despite numerous observational studies suggesting an association between PCOS and GDM, it remains unclear whether a definitive causal relationship exists between these two conditions and which specific features of PCOS contribute to increased incidence of GDM.MethodsThe causal relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), its characteristic indices, and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was investigated using a two-sample Mendelian randomization study based on publicly available statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The inverse-variance weighted method was employed as the primary analytical approach to examine the association between PCOS, its characteristic indices, and GDM. MR Egger intercept was used to assess pleiotropy, while Q values and their corresponding P values were utilized to evaluate heterogeneity. It is important to note that this study adopts a two-sample MR design where PCOS and its characteristic indices are considered as exposures, while GDM is treated as an outcome.ResultsThe study results indicate that there is no causal relationship between PCOS and GDM (all methods P > 0.05, 95% CI of OR values passed 1). The IVW OR value was 1.007 with a 95% CI of 0.906 to 1.119 and a P value of 0.904. Moreover, the MR Egger Q value was 8.141 with a P value of 0.701, while the IVW Q value was also 8.141 with a P value of 0.774, indicating no significant heterogeneity. Additionally, the MR Egger intercept was 0.0004, which was close to zero with a P value of 0.988, suggesting no pleiotropy. However, the study did find a causal relationship between several other factors such as testosterone, high-density lipoprotein, sex hormone-binding globulin, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, apolipoprotein A-I, number of children, diabetes illnesses of mother, father and siblings, hemoglobin A1c, fasting insulin, fasting blood glucose, years of schooling, and GDM based on the IVW method.ConclusionWe observed no association between genetically predicted PCOS and the risk of GDM, implying that PCOS itself does not confer an increased susceptibility to GDM. The presence of other PCOS-related factors such as testosterone, high-density lipoprotein, and sex hormone-binding globulin may elucidate the link between PCOS and GDM. Based on these findings, efforts aimed at preventing GDM in individuals with PCOS should prioritize those exhibiting high-risk features rather than encompassing all women with PCOS.

Abstract Autonomous electric vehicles promise to improve traffic safety, increase fuel efficiency and reduce congestion in future intelligent transportation systems. Ecological driving characteristics are first studied to concentrate on energy consumption, the ability to quickly pass its destination, etc. of autonomous electric vehicle plans (AEVPs) to maximize total energy efficiency benefits. To realize this goal, an optimal control model is developed to provide ecological driving suggestions to AEVPs. The Radau pseudospectral method (RPM) is adopted to put the optimal control model into nonlinear programs (NLP), and multiobjective optimization, including safety, economy and fast mobility, is considered, which conditions and constraints such as vehicle dynamics, traffic rules, and energy consumption. To enhance optimal model applicability, two ecological driving procedures are proposed. One procedure is that two-phase trajectory optimization and ecological driving states, such as velocity and acceleration, for the leading vehicle are developed according to RPM characteristics, while the other provides a set of targeted driving states to the following vehicles. The objective of the procedure is to minimize the total energy consumption of AEVPs, while travel comfort and safety are integrated into the schematization by optimization functions. Numerical experiments illustrate significance when ecological driving strategy for AEVPs considers energy consumption characteristics, thereby ensuring total energy consumption efficiency for AEVPs.

To meet complex ethical challenges in the engineering profession, students need ethics learning experiences that are integrated systematically across the engineering curriculum. Sustaining systematic changes in the engineering curriculum also calls for processes that respect and engage the engineering faculty. This paper reports the work to date of creating a faculty-driven process for infusing ethics across an undergraduate biological engineering curriculum. To illustrate this emerging change process, we report the generation of program level ethics learning objectives, the identification of an ethics course sequence, and the design, implementation, and assessment of an ethics module in a junior engineering biochemistry and microbiology course. Our project to date highlights a number of lessons for enabling a change process for program-wide ethics education in engineering. These lessons include strategies for disrupting existing curriculum patterns and encouraging novel ideas, engaging the faculty adopters of new curriculum, as well as seeking and maintaining leadership and support for ethics education in the discipline.

Abstract Background Extensive studies have demonstrated that the COBRA gene is critical for biosynthesis of cell wall constituents comprising structural tissues of roots, stalks, leaves and other vegetative organs, however, its role in fruit development and ripening remains largely unknown. Results We identified a tomato gene (SlCOBRA-like) homologous to Arabidopsis COBRA, and determined its role in fleshy fruit biology. The SlCOBRA-like gene is highly expressed in vegetative organs and in early fruit development, but its expression in fruit declines dramatically during ripening stages, implying a primary role in early fruit development. Fruit-specific suppression of SlCOBRA-like resulted in impaired cell wall integrity and up-regulation of genes encoding proteins involved in cell wall degradation during early fruit development. In contrast, fruit-specific overexpression of SlCOBRA-like resulted in increased wall thickness of fruit epidermal cells, more collenchymatous cells beneath the epidermis, elevated levels of cellulose and reduced pectin solubilization in the pericarp cells of red ripe fruits. Moreover, transgenic tomato fruits overexpressing SlCOBRA-like exhibited desirable early development phenotypes including enhanced firmness and a prolonged shelf life. Conclusions Our results suggest that SlCOBRA-like plays an important role in fruit cell wall architecture and provides a potential genetic tool for extending the shelf life of tomato and potentially additional fruits.

BACKGROUND Mild asymptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (aICAS) is common in Chinese patients with hypertension. However, there are no data on its prognostic value in this population. The aim of the present study was to clarify the prevalence and associated cardiovascular risk factors of mild aICAS and determine its prognostic value for overall and cardiovascular mortality in patients with hypertension. METHODS In total, 1,813 participants were evaluated for aICAS using computed tomographic angiography. The predictive effect of mild to severe aICAS on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS The prevalence rate of mild aICAS was 35.7%. Poorly controlled hypertension, in combination with diabetes and dyslipidemia, was associated with aICAS. Patients with aICAS had an independently significant increase in the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for mild to severe stenosis ranging from 1.56 to 3.30 for all-cause death and from 2.48 to 6.38 for cardiovascular death. Among the patients with mild aICAS, only those with more than two stenoses had increased mortality after adjustment, with an HR of 2.44 (95% CI: 1.42–4.18) for total death and 4.49 (95% CI: 1.82–11.05) for cardiovascular death. CONCLUSIONS A significant association between mild aICAS and mortality in stroke-free patients with hypertension was revealed. The results indicate that mild aICAS might be an imaging marker for cerebrovascular lesions in patients with hypertension and poor control of blood pressure and lipids in this population requires further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In plant species, anthocyanin accumulation is specifically regulated by light signaling. Although the CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1/SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA‐105 (COP1/SPA) complex is known to control anthocyanin biosynthesis in response to light, the precise mechanism underlying this process remains largely unknown.Here, we report that Increase in BONSAI Methylation 1 (IBM1), a JmjC domain‐containing histone demethylase, participates in the regulation of light‐induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.The expression of IBM1 was induced by high light (HL) stress, and loss‐of‐function mutations in IBM1 led to accelerated anthocyanin accumulation under HL conditions. We further identified that IBM1 is directly associated with SPA1/3/4 chromatin in vivo to establish a hypomethylation status on H3K9 and DNA non‐CG at these loci under HL, thereby releasing their expression. Genetic analysis showed that quadruple mutants of IBM1 and SPA1/3/4 resemble spa134 mutants. Overexpression of SPA1 in ibm1 mutants complements the mutant phenotype.Our results elucidate the significance and mechanism of IBM1 histone demethylase in the epigenetic regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis under HL conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]