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Jian Zou,&ast; Jia-Yun Zhong,&ast; Yan-Xin Liu, Yu Liu, Dan Huang, Bian-Tiao Xu, Xi-Wen Li, Wen-Jun Gong, Jia Tao Department of Clinical Pharmacy, The People’s Hospital of Pengzhou, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jian Zou, The People’s Hospital of Pengzhou, No. 255 Second Section of South Third Ring Road, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 28 86239898, Email 70336641@qq.comPurpose: Quality control circle (QCC) has acquired success in many fields in healthcare industry as a process management tool, whereas its efficacy in surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) remains unknown. This study aimed to implement QCC interventions to improve the appropriateness of SAP.Methods: A QCC activity team was established to grasp the current situation of SAP in clean surgery procedure, set target, formulate corresponding countermeasures and implement and review them in stages. The plan-do-check-act (PDCA) method was cyclically applied.Results: The appropriateness of antibiotic prophylaxis before (January to December 2020) and after (January to December 2021) the implementation of QCC activities were evaluated based on relevant international and Chinese SAP guidelines. The overall SAP appropriateness was significantly improved from 68.72% before QCC to 93.7% post QCC implementation (P< 0.01). A significant improvement (P< 0.05) was also determined for each category: selection (from 78.82% to 96.06%), duration (from 90.15% to 96.46%), indication (from 94.09% to 97.64%), timing of first dose (from 96.55% to 99.21%), antimicrobial usage (from 96.8% to 99.41%), re-dosing of antimicrobial (from 96.55% to 99.21%).Conclusion: Implementation of a QCC program can optimize the use of antibiotics and improve the appropriateness of SAP and is of practical importance to their standardization.Keywords: surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, quality control circle, appropriateness

Despite the proven impermeability of graphene toward most standard gases, graphene/graphite sealed SiO

Objective To investigate the feasibility of home hospice care based on the practical experience in Puhuangyu community of Beijing.Methods We selected the patients assessed by hospice care team and receiving home hospice care from Puhuangyu Community Health Service Center of Beijing from January 1,2020 to December 31,2021.The clinical manifestations,hospice services received,and place of death of the patients were analyzed. Results A total of 24 patients were included in this study.They mainly suffered from malignant tumors(18 patients,75.0%),with pain as the most common symptom(12 patients,50.0%).The patients received a variety of hospice services through a combination of outpatient visits,home visits,and WeChat follow-up.The service time of each patient was(2.8±1.7) h each week on average and 57.9%(11/19) of the patients passed away at home. Conclusions The home hospice care in Puhuangyu community has a stable source of patients.The members of this hospice team can provide a variety of home hospice services.With this model,the wish to pass away at home can be achievable for most patients.Therefore,this model of community-based home hospice care is feasible.

Community-based home hospice care provided by community service centers and family physician teams aims to alleviate the suffering of terminally ill patients and help them to receive end-of-life care and pass away at home.The Puhuangyu Community Health Service Center established the home hospice care model of PUMCH-Puhuangyu Coordination at the end of 2019.The model has been practiced and improved to date.This paper introduces this model of home hospice care.

To improve fermentative production of α-amylase, heavy-ion mutagenesis technology was used to irradiate Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) to obtain the high yielding mutants in this study. After continuous cultivation for 12 generations, eight mutants exhibited positive mutation rate with greater H/C. The α-amylase production was stable and obviously exceeded that by the parent strain, which shows that the mutants have a good genetic stability. Among the mutants, the α-amylase activity of B. subtilis KC-180-2 was 72.26 U·mL

Freestanding poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanowires (NWs) were synthesized using a facile, self-assembled, micellar soft-template method. Thermoelectric properties of the PEDOT NWs under different reaction conditions were measured, and optimal experimental conditions were confirmed. To obtain preferential thermoelectric performance, PEDOT NWs/graphene composite films with various graphene mass fractions were fabricated. The maximum power factor of the hybrids was observed to reach 42.0 μWm−1K−2 with 3 wt% graphene loading, corresponding to a 200% improvement compared with pure PEDOT NWs. The thermoelectric devices were investigated using the PEDOT NWs/graphene hybrids as a p-type leg and PEDOT NWs/nitrogen-doped graphene as an n-type leg. The device, in series, shows a preferable cooling effect with an approximate temperature decrease of 0.5°C after energization. Our work provides a novel means of fabricating n-type PEDOT hybrids and promotes their practical applications as thermoelectric coolers. These findings indicate a new means of developing high-performance, flexible, organic thermoelectric materials and devices.

Background: Appropriate implementation of perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery is considered an effective measure to prevent the incidence of surgical site infection and the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. To reduce the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, there is a need to improve the correct implementation of PAP. Methods: A QCC activity team was established to grasp the current situation of PAP in clean surgery procedure, set target, formulated corresponding countermeasures and implement and review them in stages. The plan-do-check-act method was cyclically applied. The appropriateness of PAP before (July to December 2018) and after (April to September 2019) the implementation of QCC activities were evaluated based on relevant international and Chinese perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines. Results: The appropriate rate of PAP was significantly improved from 68.72% (n=406) before QCC to 93.7% (n=508) post QCC implementation (P＜0.01). A significant improvement (P＜0.05) was also determined for each category: selection (from 78.82 to 96.06%), duration (from 90.15 to 96.46%), indication (from 94.09 to 97.64%), timing of first dose (from 96.55 to 99.21%), antibiotic usage (from 96.8 to 99.41%), re-dosing of antibiotic (from 96.55 to 99.21%). Conclusions: The appropriate application of PAP is improved through QCC activities, providing a useful reference for the prevention of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and the development of medical quality improvement activities.

Neutron-rich Pm ( Z = 61 ) isotopes were studied by delayed γ -ray spectroscopy at RIBF, RIKEN Nishina Center using the in-flight fission of a 345 MeV/nucleon U 238 beam. A cluster-type Ge detector array, EURICA, was used to measure the delayed γ rays from stopped ions. Isomeric γ decays were observed in Pm 159 and Pm 161 with half-lives of 4.97(12) μ s and 0.79(4) μ s , respectively. Level schemes for Pm 159 and Pm 161 were constructed in this study. The isomeric states of Pm 159 and Pm 161 could be interpreted as two quasiparticle excitations of neutrons with the configurations of ν ( 7 / 2 [ 633 ] ⊗ 5 / 2 [ 523 ] ) and ν ( 7 / 2 [ 633 ] ⊗ 1 / 2 [ 521 ] ) , respectively. They are analogous to the isomers that have been observed systematically in other even-mass N = 98 and N = 100 isotones in this region. A projected shell model calculation was performed and it reproduced the order of three-quasiparticle states only if new Nilsson parameters with an N -dependent spin-orbit interaction were used. This work demonstrates that the strength of spin-orbit interactions in standard Nilsson parameters needs to be modified to study the properties of neutron-rich rare-earth nuclei around A = 165 , and provides new evidence supporting the existence of the deformed N = 98 subshell gap in odd-mass nuclei for the first time.

Tea saponin intumescent flame-retardant coatings (TS-IFRCs) is a green and high-efficiency flame-retardant coating based on natural-based tea saponin (TS), and has been confirmed with superior flame retardancy. The present study determined and assessed the effects of TS on the flame-retardant mechanism in composite tea saponin intumescent flame-retardant coatings (CTS-IFRCs) through the analysis of TG-DSC, FT-IR, SEM-EDS and pyrolysis kinetics. It has been demonstrated from the results that TS, synergized with other components in CTS-IFRCs, has direct and significant impacts on the char layer microstructure, flame retardancy and pyrolysis performance, these influences contributed to the double effects of TS as a blowing agent in gas phase flame-retardant mechanism, and as a carbon agent in condensed phase flame-retardant mechanism. High synergistic effects of natural-based TS revealed in this study have provided effective theoretical basis for emerging environmentally friendly bio-based flame-retardant materials and explored a new way for the utilization of TS.

The paper presents the pilot test of the Moto Tiles Body & Brain Test combined with automatically generated individualized training protocols. The test is performed with seniors (avg. 80 years old) with mild dementia in senior care centers in Roskilde, Denmark. The seniors performed pre- and post-test on tests correlated with timed-up-and-go, chair-to-stand, and four square stepping test. During the intervention, the dementia-affected seniors performed their individualized training on the Moto Tiles games over 3 weeks with an average total of nine sessions of 7 min each. On average, the seniors improve 41%, 31%, 42% and 3% on the four tests. In terms of cut-points for multiple falls risk, the seniors are at high risk at pre-test, while they are at low risk at post-test. This indicates that the very short time (1 h over 3 weeks) playful training on Moto Tiles can potentially bring seniors from high risk of falling to a much lower risk of falling. The present study is a small pilot test, and results should be verified in randomized controlled trial(s).

We developed a Big Data and AI approach for the screening and early detection of health risks among seniors. The approach is based on seniors performing playful activities on the Moto Tiles. The activities are organized in a Body & Brain Age Test, which is composed on four games of 30 s each on the Moto Tiles. A whole population of individuals take the Body & Brain Age Test, and the performance data is collected for each game in the test. The Big Data approach allows the system to identify the nominal score for each age. The system can automatically generate a personalized training protocol based on the score in the Body & Brain Age Test. This is done by using the performance score to identify which physical and/or cognitive abilities are in need of training, and then generate a protocol based on Moto Tiles games, which tend to increase those particular skills as verified in clinical effect studies. The suitability of the method was tested in a small effect test with seniors with mild dementia at a care institution in Denmark. The results show that the seniors with dementia who were screened to be at high risk of falling, within the short period of training with the automatically generated personalized protocol increased their skills to no longer be at risk of falling.

Poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanowires (PEDOT NWs) with high electric conductivity were synthesized by a facile self-assembled micellar soft-template method. And then, Bi2Te3 powders and Bi2Te3 nanowires (Bi2Te3 NWs) were added as inorganic filler to form the PEDOT NWs/inorganic nanocomposite films by a simple and convenient vacuum filtration method. The thermoelectric (TE) properties of the flexible films were characterized. PEDOT NWs film exhibited the high σ value of 249.5 S cm−1 and does not require any treatment at room temperature. By incorporating both Bi2Te3 powders and Bi2Te3 NWs into these PEDOT NWs, the power factor of the polymer/inorganic composite materials is enhanced. The resulting PEDOT NWs/Bi2Te3 powders nanocomposite film exhibited a high power factor of 7.49 µW m−1 K−2 compared to that of 2.54 µW m−1 K−2 in PEDOT NWs. A maximum power factor of 9.06 µW m−1 K−2 is obtained from the PEDOT NWs/Bi2Te3 NWs composite film containing 10 wt% Bi2Te3 NWs at room temperature, which is about 3 of times that of the pure PEDOT NWs film. These composites provide a promising route to flexible and high-performance thermoelectric materials.

Hybrids of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT):poly(4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/graphene (P/M/G), which have high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, were successfully prepared in aqueous solution through in situ polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomers in the presence of poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSSNa). Meanwhile, the composites were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy. Thermoelectric properties of the samples were measured at room temperature and 50°C. Compared with pristine PEDOT:PSS (P), PEDOT:PSS/MWCNT (P/M) and PEDOT:PSS/graphene (P/G), the power factor of P/M/G composites was significantly improved, whatever the temperature. It increased from 0.061 μW/mK2 to 0.105 μW/mK2 at room temperature and from 0.070 μW/mK2 to 0.142 μW/mK2 at 50°C, meaning 72% and 103% enhancement, respectively. The increased power factor is attributed to the synergic effects of MWCNT and graphene, a hybrid structure with excellent electronic coupling and more electric channels.

// Yu Liu 1, * , Duo Li 3, * , Dan Nie 1, * , Shang-Kun Liu 1 , Fang Qiu 1 , Mei-Tong Liu 1 , Yuan-Yuan Li 1 , Jia-Xin Wang 1 , Yan-Xin Liu 1 , Chang-Jiang Dong 1 , Di Wu 1 , Wei Tian 1 , Jia Yang 1 , Wei Mu 1 , Jia-Tong Li 1 , Dan Zhao 2 , Xiao-Feng Wang 3 , Wen-Feng Chu 1 and Bao-Feng Yang 1 1 Department of Pharmacology, The State-Province Key Laboratories of Biomedicine Pharmaceutics of China, Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Research, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University at Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P. R. China 2 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Key Laboratories of Education Ministry for Myocardial Ischemia Mechanism and Treatment, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University at Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P. R. China 3 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University at Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P. R. China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wen-Feng Chu, email: cwf76928@aliyun.com Bao-Feng Yang, email: yangbf@ems.hrbmu.edu.cn Keywords: cardiotoxicity, human ether-a-go-go-related gene, transforming growth factor β1, PML nuclear body, SUMOylation Received: October 12, 2016 Accepted: April 17, 2017 Published: May 02, 2017 ABSTRACT The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) channel is a novel target for the treatment of drug-induced long QT syndrome, which causes lethal cardiotoxicity. This study is designed to explore the possible role of PML SUMOylation and its associated nuclear bodies (NBs) in the regulation of HERG protein expression. Both arsenic trioxide (ATO) and angiotensin II (Ang II) were able to significantly reduce HERG protein expression, while also increasing PML SUMOylation and accelerating the formation of PML-NBs. Pre-exposure of cardiomyocytes to a SUMOylation chemical inhibitor, ginkgolic acid, or the silencing of UBC9 suppressed PML SUMOylation, subsequently preventing the downregulation of HERG induced by ATO or Ang II. Conversely, knockdown of RNF4 led to a remarkable increase in PML SUMOylation and the function of PML-NBs, further promoting ATO- or Ang II-induced HERG protein downregulation. Mechanistically, an increase in PML SUMOylation by ATO or Ang II dramatically enhanced the formation of PML and Pin1 complexes in PML-NBs, leading to the upregulation of TGF-β1 protein, eventually inhibiting HERG expression through activation of protein kinase A. The present work uncovered a novel molecular mechanism underlying HERG protein expression and indicated that PML SUMOylation is a critical step in the development of drug-acquired arrhythmia.

A large area of thick unconsolidated stratum layer overlying the coal seam of eastern China, which brought the regional disaster prevention issue under the circumstance of unconsolidated layer settlement triggered by mining activities. In this paper, the multi-point monitoring system based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors array was implemented into the deep unconsolidated layer to realize a long-term ground monitoring, which investigated the compression process of ground rock layers at different burial depths and revealed the mechanical weakening characteristics of clay. The deformation characteristics of the aquifers were analyzed, including a sand layer, gravel layer, and clay water barrier, as well as the weakening characteristics of the clay layer aquifer. The monitoring results of the FBG sensing system show that unconsolidated layer settlement usually occurs in thick and stable aquifers and adjacent clay layers, and the peripheral part of the deep clay layer in contact with the aquifer will become a weakened zone. The clay layer at such locations should also be a key monitoring layer with increasing depth. The survival rate of FBG sensors were discussed to propose the suggestions of system installation. These findings could provide important guidance for predicting the unconsolidated layer settlement process and for the timely implementation of governance measures.

Objective: To investigate the effect of general anesthesia on stress response and inflammatory cytokines in elderly patients undergoing abdominal surgery under the guidance of Narcotrend. Methods: A total of 150 elderly patients with abdominal surgery in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2015 were randomly divided into three groups: D0, D2 and E2 group, each 50 cases. With different depth of anesthesia, the stress response indexes COR, ACTH, CRP and ET-1, the inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-毩 before anesthesia, postoperative 1 h and postoperative 1 d were compared. Results: The differences of Cor, ACTH, CRP and ET-1 in the three groups D0, D2 and E2 were all statistically significant (P

Type-2 self-organizing fuzzy logic controllers for automatic anesthesia control.Type-2 SOFLC use type-2 fuzzy sets to handle anesthesia control uncertainties.Data capturing inter and intra-patient variability used to define type-2 fuzzy sets.Simulations show effectiveness of type-2 SOFLC in control of anesthetic infusion under noisy and uncertain surgical conditions.Type-2 SOFLC are able to outperform the existing type-1 SOFLC. In this paper, novel interval and general type-2 self-organizing fuzzy logic controllers (SOFLCs) are proposed for the automatic control of anesthesia during surgical procedures. The type-2 SOFLC is a hierarchical adaptive fuzzy controller able to generate and modify its rule-base in response to the controller's performance. The type-2 SOFLC uses type-2 fuzzy sets derived from real surgical data capturing patient variability in monitored physiological parameters during anesthetic sedation, which are used to define the footprint of uncertainty (FOU) of the type-2 fuzzy sets. Experimental simulations were carried out to evaluate the performance of the type-2 SOFLCs in their ability to control anesthetic delivery rates for maintaining desired physiological set points for anesthesia (muscle relaxation and blood pressure) under signal and patient noise. Results show that the type-2 SOFLCs can perform well and outperform previous type-1 SOFLC and comparative approaches for anesthesia control producing lower performance errors while using better defined rules in regulating anesthesia set points while handling the control uncertainties. The results are further supported by statistical analysis which also show that zSlices general type-2 SOFLCs are able to outperform interval type-2 SOFLC in terms of their steady state performance.

40Ar is among the few sd -shell nuclei known to exhibit superdeformation. An interesting question is whether the experimentally identified superdeformed rotational band in 40Ar has an axially or triaxially deformed shape. Projected shell model calculations assuming an axially deformed basis are performed up to high spins for this nucleus. Our detailed analysis of the wave functions reveals that the high-spin states are dominated by mixed 0-, 2-, and 4-quasiparticle configurations with different K-components. The calculated electric quadrupole transition probabilities reproduce well the known experimental data and suggest a reduced but still significant collectivity in the high spin region. Due to the mixing of various multi-quasiparticle K-configurations, axial asymmetry emerges in the calculation. Throughout the entire rotational band, the extracted triaxial deformation parameters are small but non-zero. Relations of triaxiality and unnatural spin-parity states of the superdeformed side-band are discussed.

We propose novel cognitive training which focuses on certain specific cognitive abilities. The training is formed by playing games with physical interactive tiles (the MOTO tiles). A randomized controlled trial was conducted so as to examine the effect of the designed cognitive training program. 19 older adults (some with mild dementia) completed full trial and were analyzed. The results show that our short training (10 sessions of 30 minutes) improved reaction time of Visual Search task, which indicates beneficial effects on attention, scanning and visualization abilities

We perform randomized controlled trial in order to investigate the effect of a modular interactive playware, the MOTO tiles, on cognitive abilities. Twenty university students were enrolled and equally assigned to an intervention group and a control group. The intervention was a 30 minutes training program consisting of 4 MOTO games. Training outcomes were measured by 4 cognitive tests implemented on Android tablet. Results of statistical analyses reveal that the intervention group got more improvement in reaction time of the tests Visual Search, Choice Reaction Time, and Sternberg Scanning.

To understand the status of soil-transmitted nematode infections in Xiding Township, Menghai County, Yunnan Province, so as to provide the reference for formulating the strategy of soil-transmitted nematodosis control.Soil-transmitted nematode eggs in feces were detected by the Kato-Katz method, and the eggs ofThe stool samples from 1 002 residents were examined and the soil -transmitted nematode infection rate was 20.06% (201/1 002). The infection rates of hookworm,The infection rate of soil-transmitted nematode in Xiding Township, Menghai County is high, but the infectiosity is light. The control and monitoring of soil-transmitted nematodosis should be strengthened in this area.［摘要］

Natural product tea saponin (TS), extracted from the nutshell of camellia (Camellia oleifera Abel, Theaceae), was introduced into intumescent flame retardant formulations as blowing agent and carbon source. The formulations of the flame retardant system were optimized to get the optimum proportion of TS, and intumescent flame retardant coatings containing tea saponin (TS-IFRCs) were then prepared. It was found that TS can significantly affect the combustion behavior and the thermal stability of TS-IFRCs evaluated by cone calorimetry and simultaneous thermal analyzer, respectively. It was shown that TS, degraded to water vapor and carbon at high temperatures, can combine with other components to form a well-developed char layer. The char layer was supposed to inhibit erosion upon exposure to heat and oxygen and enhance the flame retardancy of TS-IFRCs. In addition, the smoke release of TS-IFRCs was also studied, which provided a low amount of smoke production.

In this work, several polymers were synthesized via suspension polymerization when styrene and butyl acrylate were used as a rigid unit and a flexible unit, respectively, and the prepared polymers were then electrospun into fibrous membranes with good low-temperature flexibility. The obtained fibrous membranes had perfect hydrophobicity and lipophilicity, and their water contact angle approached 155.0° as the fibrous membranes were wetted by sunflower oil, thus the fibrous membranes possessed a good capability for separating oil from water. We researched the effect of initial oil content, extrusion rate, and the position of the oil–water interface on their oil–water separation capability, and the corresponding results showed that the maximum oil removal efficiency could reach 97.3%, and the oil removal efficiency was still up to 74.2% when the fibrous membrane was used for the seventh time. Additionally, the fibrous membranes could make the O/W emulsion clear via oil absorption from water. In addition, we also investigated the other aspects of the fibrous membranes through the corresponding instruments.

Background and purpose Protein modification by small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of heart diseases. The present study was designed to determine whether ginkgolic acid (GA) as a SUMO-1 inhibitor exerts an inhibitory effect on cardiac fibrosis induced by myocardial infarction (MI). Experimental approach GA was delivered by osmotic pumps in MI mice. Masson staining, electron microscopy (EM) and echocardiography were used to assess cardiac fibrosis, ultrastructure and function. Expression of SUMO-1, PML, TGF-β1 and Pin1 was measured with Western blot or Real-time PCR. Collagen content, cell viability and myofibroblast transformation were measured in neonatal mouse cardiac fibroblasts (NMCFs). Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein was over-expressed by plasmid transfection. Key results GA improved cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction, and decreased SUMO-1 expression in MI mice. GA (>20 μM) inhibited NMCF viability in a dose-dependent manner. Nontoxic GA (10 μM) restrained angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced myofibroblast transformation and collagen production. GA also inhibited expression of TGF-β1 mRNA and protein in vitro and in vivo. GA suppressed PML SUMOylation and PML nuclear body (PML-NB) organization, and disrupted expression and recruitment of Pin1 (a positive regulator of TGF-β1 mRNA), whereas over-expression of PML reversed that. Conclusions and implications Inhibition of SUMO-1 by GA alleviated MI-induced heart dysfunction and fibrosis, and the SUMOylated PML/Pin1/TGF-β1 pathway is crucial for GA-inhibited cardiac fibrosis.

Background Myocardial infarction ( MI ) is often accompanied by cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which decreases heart function and leads to an increased risk of heart failure. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of transforming growth factor‐β receptor III ( TGF βR3) on cardiomyocyte apoptosis during MI . Methods and Results An MI mouse model was established by left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. Cell viability, apoptosis, TGF βR3, and mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling were assessed by methylthiazolyldiphenyl‐tetrazolium bromide assay, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy, and Western blotting. Our results demonstrated that TGF βR3 expression in the border region of the heart was dynamically changed during MI . After stimulation with H 2 O 2 , TGF βR3 overexpression in cardiomyocytes led to increased cell apoptosis and activation of p38 signaling, whereas TGF βR3 knockdown had the opposite effect. ERK 1/2 and JNK 1/2 signaling was not altered by TGF βR3 modulation, and p38 inhibitor ( SB 203580) reduced the effect of TGF βR3 on apoptosis, suggesting that p38 has a nonredundant function in activating apoptosis. Consistent with the in vitro observations, cardiac TGF βR3 transgenic mice showed augmented cardiomyocyte apoptosis, enlarged infarct size, increased injury, and enhanced p38 signaling upon MI . Conversely, cardiac loss of function of TGF βR3 by adeno‐associated viral vector serotype 9–TGFβR3 short hairpin RNA attenuated the effects of MI in mice. Conclusions TGF βR3 promotes apoptosis of cardiomyocytes via a p38 pathway–associated mechanism, and loss of TGF βR3 reduces MI injury, which suggests that TGF βR3 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for MI .

The promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) is essential in the assembly of dynamic subnuclear structures called PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), which are involved in regulating diverse cellular functions. However, the possibility of PML being involved in cardiac disease has not been examined. In mice undergoing transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and arsenic trioxide (ATO) injection, transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) was upregulated along with dynamic alteration of PML SUMOylation. In cultured neonatal mouse cardiac fibroblasts (NMCFs), ATO, angiotensin II (Ang II), and fetal bovine serum (FBS) significantly triggered PML SUMOylation and the assembly of PML-NBs. Inhibition of SUMOylated PML by silencing UBC9, the unique SUMO E2-conjugating enzyme, reduced the development of cardiac fibrosis and partially improved cardiac function in TAC mice. In contrast, enhancing SUMOylated PML accumulation, by silencing RNF4, a poly-SUMO-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase, accelerated the induction of cardiac fibrosis and promoted cardiac function injury. PML colocalized with Pin1 (a positive regulator for TGF-β1 mRNA expression in PML-NBs) and increased TGF-β1 activity. These findings suggest that the UBC9/PML/RNF4 axis plays a critical role as an important SUMO pathway in cardiac fibrosis. Modulating the protein levels of the pathway provides an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiac fibrosis and heart failure.

This paper presents a method for construction contractor selection based on trust building. By classifying criteria into three types of trust and applying gray correlation analysis, the presented method concerns multi-criteria for evaluation other than price, selects trust-and selection-related criteria, provides approaches for indicator quantification and determines the contractor on the basis of gray correlation degree.

PsdVoigt2 function was used to fit SGW function and a series of bar beam elements based on the theory of SGW and wavelet finite element were constructed. Traditional finite element polynomial interpolation was replaced by the SGW scaling function and transformation matrix was utilized to transform wavelet interpolation coefficients to physical space. Thereby the shape function and element were constructed. The precision of a series of bar beam elements constructed with the SGW scale function as the interpolation function were verified by the calculation cases. The calculation results showed that the precision of the SGW-based element constructed was higher in calculating the deformation and strain. And the SGW-based bar beam element constructed enriched the element library of wavelet-finite element method.

Tuberculosis is a serious threat to public health throughout the world. A series of new 13- n -nonylprotoberberine derivatives was designed, synthesized and evaluated for anti-mycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H 37 Rv. Several compounds ( 2 , 11a-c , 11g , 13d , 15c ) exhibited excellent anti-tubercular activity with an MIC below 1.0μg/mL. Notably, compound 13d showed potential antibacterial effect against both drug-susceptible and multidrug-resistant (MDR) M. tuberculosis with MIC ranges of 0.0625–1.0 μg/mL. These results suggest a mode of action different from that of the current anti-mycobacterial drugs rifampicin and isoniazid. Hence, compound 13d is an attractive lead compound for the development of new antitubercular agents.

Alzheimer disease has been defined as Type 3 Diabetes due to their shared metabolic profiles. Like our previously research, results of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, systematic analysis of diabetes- and glucose metabolism-related proteins also provides help in the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients. Some interesting results indicate that diabetes-related proteins (DRPs) are rich in Lys and the content of Trp can distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus in particular, while glucose metabolism-related proteins (GMRPs) possess Leurich and Trp-poor character. Moreover, the usage biases of codons depend on GC contents to a great extent, in concord with all codons of the highly expressed genes with the terminal of C/G. Especially, the deficit of CpG dinucleotides is largely attributed to the hypermutability of methylated CpGs to UpGs by the mutational pressure. Besides a common node insulin receptor, there are some similar node proteins, such as glucose transporter member, protein tyrosine phosphatase, and adipose metabolism signal protein. The sharing proteins involve glucagon, amylin, insulin, PPARγ, angiopoietin, PC-1/ENPP1, and adiponectin mediated signal pathway. Meanwhile, the gene sequences of node proteins contained the binding sites of 37 transcription factors divide into four kinds of superclasses. Additionally, BAD complex can integrate pathways of glucose metabolism and apoptosis by BH3 domain of BAD directly interacting with GK as well as GK binding with the consensus motif [G]-[1]-[K]-[2]-[S/T] or [L/M]-[R/K]-[2]-[T] of PP1 or WAVE1. This facilitates the therapies for diabetes mellitus as well as Alzheimer’s disease.