Myocardial infarction (MI) is a life-threatening cardiac event that results in extreme damage to the heart muscle. The Wnt signaling pathway has been implicated in the development of heart diseases. ...Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA (miRNA) in association with the Wnt signaling pathway to identify potential candidates for MI therapy. Differentially expressed miRNAs associated with MI occurrence were screened, and miR-494 was selected for subsequent experiments. Sprague-Dawley rats were included to establish a MI model via intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 mg/kg atropine sulfate and 40 mg/kg pentobarbital sodium. Then, the interaction between miR-494 and LRG1 was identified. The effect of miR-494 on expression of the Wnt signaling pathway-related genes, proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells (VECs) was subsequently evaluated through a series of gain- and loss-of-function experiments. The results revealed that miR-494 was poorly expressed and LRG1 was highly expressed in MI rats. miR-494 targets and downregulates LRG1, which resulted in the inactivation of the Wnt signaling pathway and promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of fibroblasts and VECs. In conclusion, this study provided evidence suggesting that overexpressed miR-494 could potentially promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of fibroblasts and VECs in MI through the inactivation of the Wnt signaling pathway by binding to LRG1.
Maize and soybean intercropping is a cereal-legume intercropping pattern that not only increases grain yield but also improves the nutritional value of silage. Experiments were conducted in the ...summer season to compare the yield and nutritional composition of the forage and silage quality of mono-cropped maize and intercropped maize-soybean harvested at two stages of maturity. The main treatments were one sole crop maize (SM) and four maize-soybean intercropping patterns (one-row maize to one-row soybean (1M1S), one-row maize to two-row soybean (1M2S), one-row maize to three-row soybean (1M3S), and two-row maize to one-row soybean (2M1S). The crops were harvested when the maize reached the milk (R3) and maturity (R6) stages. Results indicated a significant increase in the fresh biomass and dry-matter production of maize fodder alone compared with those of maize intercropped with soybean fodder. After 60 days of ensiling period, silage samples were analyzed for pH, organic acids, dry matter, crude protein (CP), ether extract, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and other mineral compositions. All intercropped silages showed higher CP values (1M1S, 12.1%; 1M2S, 12.2%; 1M3S, 12.4%; and 2M1S, 12.1%) than the SM silage (8.7%). Higher organic acids were produced in 1M3S than in the other silages. Correlation data showed that CP was highly correlated with lactic acid but negatively associated with crude fiber, nitrogen-free extract, and NDF. Thus, the intercropping of maize and soybean silage is recommended due its enhanced crop production, nutritional values in dairy animals, and prolific animal feedings and because it was scientifically evaluated as a feed stuff. This study indicated that 1M3S was the most preferable among intercropped silages in terms of nutrient composition.
Histologically, melanoma tissues had fewer positive cells percentage of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs), GZMA, GSDMB, NLRP1, IL18, and CHMP4A in epidermal than in normal skin. Pyroptosis, a new ...frontier in cancer, affects the tumor microenvironment and tumor immunotherapy. Nevertheless, the role of pyroptosis remains controversial, which reason is partly due to the heterogeneity of the cellular composition in melanoma. In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of the single-cell transcriptome landscape of pyroptosis in melanoma specimens. Our findings reveal dysregulation in the expression of PRGs, particularly in immune cells, such as CD8
cells (representing CD8
T cells) and CD57
cells (representing NK cells). Additionally, the immunohistochemical and multiplex immunofluorescence staining experiments results further confirmed GZMA
cells and GSDMB
cells were predominantly expressed in immune cells, especially in CD8
T cells and NK cells. Melanoma specimens secreted a minimal presence of GZMA
merged CD8
T cells (0.11%) and GSDMB
merged CD57
cells (0.08%), compared to the control groups exhibiting proportions of 4.02% and 0.62%, respectively. The aforementioned findings indicate that a reduced presence of immune cells within tumors may play a role in diminishing the ability of pyroptosis, consequently posing a potential risk to the anti-melanoma properties. To quantify clinical relevance, we constructed a prognostic risk model and an individualized nomogram (C-index=0.58, P = 0.002), suggesting a potential role of PRGs in malignant melanoma prevention. In conclusion, our integrated single-cell and bulk RNA-seq analysis identified immune cell clusters and immune gene modules with experiment validation, contributing to our better understanding of pyroptosis in melanoma.
The effect of grain boundary engineering (GBE) on the Te diffusion along the surface grain boundaries was investigated in GH3535 alloy. It can be found that GBE treatment increases obviously the ...fraction of low-Σ coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries, especially the Σ3 ones, and introduces the large-size grain clusters. When the as-received (AR) and GBE-treated (GBET) specimens were exposed to Te vapor, only Σ3 boundaries were found to be resistant to Te diffusion. From the cross section and the surface, the fewer Te-attacked grain boundaries and the thinner corrosion layer can be observed in the GBET sample. The improvement of resistance to Te diffusion in the GBET sample can be attributed to the large size grain-clusters associated with high proportion of the Σ3n boundaries.
Abstract
Widespread soil acidification due to atmospheric acid deposition and agricultural fertilization may greatly accelerate soil carbonate dissolution and CO2 release. However, to date, few ...studies have addressed these processes. Here, we use meta-analysis and nationwide-survey datasets to investigate changes in soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks in China. We observe an overall decrease in SIC stocks in topsoil (0–30 cm) (11.33 g C m–2 yr–1) from the 1980s to the 2010s. Total SIC stocks have decreased by ∼8.99 ± 2.24% (1.37 ± 0.37 Pg C). The average SIC losses across China (0.046 Pg C yr–1) and in cropland (0.016 Pg C yr–1) account for ∼17.6%–24.0% of the terrestrial C sink and 57.1% of the soil organic carbon sink in cropland, respectively. Nitrogen deposition and climate change have profound influences on SIC cycling. We estimate that ∼19.12%–19.47% of SIC stocks will be further lost by 2100. The consumption of SIC may offset a large portion of global efforts aimed at ecosystem carbon sequestration, which emphasizes the importance of achieving a better understanding of the indirect coupling mechanisms of nitrogen and carbon cycling and of effective countermeasures to minimize SIC loss.
Significant loss of soil inorganic carbon forced by the input and transformation of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen at the continental scale offsets much of carbon sequestration in the terrestrial ecosystems.
Focusing on the high user density in visible light communication ultra-dense networks (VLC-UDNs), this paper proposes a resource allocation method based on dynamic user priority (DUP). Firstly, this ...paper establishes the DUP model, which realizes a multi-dimensional measurement for differences of users. Considering the variety of network environments, we dynamically select multiple features of users and achieve the calculation of DUP by fuzzy logic (FL). Secondly, the throughput-maximizing resource allocation (TMRA) scheme with user priority guarantee is proposed. Thirdly, the lower bound of the proposed DUP-TMRA is derived. Simulation results show that the proposed multi-dimensional DUP model outperforms the conventional one-dimensional DUP model and fixed priority model. In addition, the proposed TMRA scheme outperforms the conventional proportion allocation scheme. Finally, in comparisons of system throughput, the proposed DUP-TMRA achieves 4% performance improvement against the conventional required data rate proportion allocation (RPA) method. In comparisons of fairness, DUP achieves the modest performance. In comparisons of satisfaction, when the average blocking probability is higher than 0.45, the proposed DUP-TMRA improves the proportion of satisfied users against the conventional RPA method by up to 17.5%.
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•A hybrid nanogenerator with cantilevered bistable mechanism is proposed.•The bistable mechanism and boundary limitation are systematically considered.•The key dimension parameters of ...magnetic coupling bistable mechanism are studied.•The prototype can light up 300 LEDs, and realize self-powered temperature monitoring.
This study presents a triboelectric-piezoelectric hybrid nanogenerator for harvesting rotational energy based on a bistable cantilever beam. The nonlinear bistable behavior effectively enhances the collision force with the triboelectric nanogeneration (TENG) boundary, enlarges the effective contact area of the triboelectric functional materials, and significantly increases the deformation of the piezoelectric cantilever beam, thereby improving the overall electrical output performance of the system. Excessive deformation of the piezoelectric cantilevers is effectively constrained by the TENG boundary, which prevents the degradation and failure of the piezoelectric material. A prototype is prepared and verified experimentally. The effects of key parameters on the output performance are systematically analyzed. According to the results on the overall electrical output of hybrid nanogenerator with and without bistable behavior, the hybrid nanogenerator with bistable behavior achieved an energy density of 29.04 W/m3 at a rotational speed of 450 r/min, which is 2.65 times higher than that of the hybrid nanogenerator without bistable behavior. In addition, the rotational speed range is broadened by more than 1.5 times, and the prototype can realize self-powered temperature monitoring and wireless transmission. Overall, the proposed rotational energy harvester with a magnetic coupling cantilever bistable behavior and TENG boundary mechanism offers a novel means to improve the electrical performance of energy harvesting systems for self-powered internet of things.
Aims
Mindin is a secreted extracellular matrix protein, an integrin ligand, and an angiogenesis inhibitor, other examples of which are all key players in the progression of cardiac hypertrophy. ...However, its function during cardiac hypertrophy remains unclear. This study was aimed to identify the effect of mindin on cardiac hypertrophy and the underlying mechanisms.
Methods and results
A significant down-regulation of mindin expression was observed in human failing hearts. To further investigate the role of mindin in cardiac hypertrophy, we used cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with gain and loss of mindin function and cardiac-specific Mindin-overexpressing transgenic (TG) mice. In cultured cardiomyocytes, mindin negatively regulated angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated hypertrophic growth, as detected by 3H-Leucine incorporation, cardiac myocyte area, and hypertrophic marker protein levels. Cardiac hypertrophy in vivo was produced by aortic banding (AB) or Ang II infusion in TG mice and their wild-type controls. The extent of cardiac hypertrophy was evaluated by echocardiography as well as by pathological and molecular analyses of heart samples. Mindin overexpression in the heart markedly attenuated cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and left ventricular dysfunction in mice in response to AB or Ang II. Further analysis of the signalling events in vitro and in vivo indicated that these beneficial effects of mindin were associated with the interruption of AKT/glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-Smad signalling.
Conclusion
The present study demonstrates for the first time that mindin serves as a novel mediator that protects against cardiac hypertrophy and the transition to heart failure by blocking AKT/GSK3β and TGF-β1-Smad signalling.
In this work, we propose and realize a smart metasurface for programming electromagnetic (EM) manipulations based on human speech recognition. The smart metasurface platform is composed of a digital ...coding metasurface, a speech-recognition module, a single-chip computer, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and can control EM waves according to pre-stored voice commands in a smart way. The constructed digital metasurface contains 6 × 6 super unit cells, each of which consists of 4 × 4 active elements with embedded varactor diodes. Together with the DAC and single-chip computer, the speech-recognition module can recognize voice commands and generate corresponding voltage sequences to control the metasurface. In addition, a genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted in the design of the metasurface for efficiently optimizing the phase distributions. To verify the performance of the smart metasurface platform, three typical functions are demonstrated: radar cross-section reduction, vortex beam generation, and beam splitting. The proposed strategy may offer a new avenue for controlling EM waves and establishing a link between EM and acoustic communications.
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