Background and purpose
The effect of the triglyceride (TG) to high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) ratio (TG/HDL‐C) on clinical outcomes of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients is unclear. ...This study sought to determine whether the TG/HDL‐C ratio in AIS patients is associated with worse outcomes at 3 months.
Methods
Acute ischaemic stroke patients who were admitted from 2011 to 2014 were enrolled in this study. TG, total cholesterol (TC), HDL‐C and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) were collected on admission. Three end‐points were defined according to the modified Rankin scale (mRS) score at 3 months after symptom onset (excellent outcome, mRS 0–1; good outcome, mRS 0–2; and death, mRS 6).
Results
In all, 1006 patients were included (median age 68.5 years; 58.2% male). Higher TG, non‐HDL‐C and TG/HDL‐C were strongly associated with the three end‐points after adjustments: excellent odds ratio (OR) = 1.39, OR 1.89 and OR 2.34, respectively and good (OR 1.48, OR 2.90 and OR 4.12) outcomes, and death (OR 0.59, OR 0.29 and OR 0.26). According to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the best discriminating factor was a TG/HDL‐C ≥ 0.87 for excellent outcomes area under the ROC curve (AUC) 0.596; sensitivity 73.3%; specificity 42.7% and non‐death (AUC 0.674; sensitivity 67.8%; specificity 60.6%) as well as a TG/HDL‐C ≥ 1.01 for a good outcome (AUC 0.652; sensitivity 61.6%; specificity 63.2%). Patients with a TG/HDL‐C < 0.87 had a 2.94‐fold increased risk of death (95% confidence interval 1.89–4.55) compared with patients with a TG/HDL‐C ≥ 0.87.
Conclusions
A lower TG/HDL‐C was independently associated with death and worse outcome at 3 months in AIS.
Cells apoptosis induced by intense heat stress is the prominent feature of heat-related illness. However, little is known about the biological effects of heat stress on cells apoptosis. Herein, we ...presented evidence that intense heat stress could induce early apoptosis of HUVEC cells through activating mitochondrial pathway with changes in mitochondrial membrane potential(ΔΨm), release of cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-9 and -3. We further revealed that p53 played a crucial role in heat stress-induced early apoptosis, with p53 protein rapidly translocated into mitochondria. Using pifithrin-α(PFT), a p53's mitochondrial translocation inhibitor, we found that pretreated with PFT, heat stress induced mitochondrial p53 translocation was significantly suppressed, accompanied by a significant alleviation in the loss of ΔΨm, cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation. Furthermore, we also found that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was a critical mediator in heat stress-induced apoptosis. In addition, the antioxidant MnTMPyP significantly decreased the heat stress-induced p53's mitochondrial translocation, followed by the loss of ΔΨm, cytochrome c release, caspase-9 activation and heat stress-mediated apoptosis. Conclusively, these findings indicate the contribution of the transcription-independent mitochondrial p53 pathway to early apoptosis in HUVEC cells induced by oxidative stress in response to intense heat stress.
Free-electron lasers have been successfully operated with ultrahigh brightness and excellent transverse coherence at X-ray wavelengths. One of the next goals for further improvements is full ...coherence. An obvious approach is to seed the free-electron laser interaction using a conventional source that has good temporal coherence. Here, we show the first lasing of a free-electron laser with an echo-enabled harmonic generation scheme, which shows great promise for producing coherent lasing at short wavelengths, even in the X-ray regime. The experiment was conducted at a test facility that combines a 135.4 MeV electron accelerator with an amplifier consisting of a series of undulator magnets. Lasing was achieved at the third harmonic of the seed with a gain of ∼100,000 over spontaneous radiation. The measurements show typical exponential growth and excellent spectral characteristics, as well as good intensity stability.
Abstract
In this study, We demonstrated that Bax mitochondrial translocation plays a vital role in the initiation of the mitochondrial signaling pathway upon activation by heat stress. In addition, ...both p53 mitochondrial translocation and Ca
2+
signal mediated MPTP opening activate Bax mitochondrial translocation. Employing pifithrin-α (a p53 mitochondrial translocation inhibitor) and CsA (a permeability transition pore (MPTP) inhibitor), we found that heat stress induced Bax mitochondrial translocation was significantly inhibited in cells pretreated with both PFT and CsA. Furthermore, we demonstrated that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a critical mediator in heat stress induced apoptosis and that the antioxidant MnTBAP significantly decreased heat stress induced p53 mitochondrial translocation and Ca
2+
signal mediated MPTP opening, as well as the subsequent Bax mitochondrial translocation and activation of the caspase cascade. Taken together, our results indicate that heat stress induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway with ROS dependent mitochondrial p53 translocation and Ca
2+
dyshomeostasis and the ensuing intro Bax mitochondrial translocation as the upstream events involved in triggering the apoptotic process observed upon cellular exposure to heat stress.
In this study, We demonstrated that Bax mitochondrial translocation plays a vital role in the initiation of the mitochondrial signaling pathway upon activation by heat stress. In addition, both p53 ...mitochondrial translocation and Ca(2+) signal mediated MPTP opening activate Bax mitochondrial translocation. Employing pifithrin-α (a p53 mitochondrial translocation inhibitor) and CsA (a permeability transition pore (MPTP) inhibitor), we found that heat stress induced Bax mitochondrial translocation was significantly inhibited in cells pretreated with both PFT and CsA. Furthermore, we demonstrated that generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a critical mediator in heat stress induced apoptosis and that the antioxidant MnTBAP significantly decreased heat stress induced p53 mitochondrial translocation and Ca(2+) signal mediated MPTP opening, as well as the subsequent Bax mitochondrial translocation and activation of the caspase cascade. Taken together, our results indicate that heat stress induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway with ROS dependent mitochondrial p53 translocation and Ca(2+) dyshomeostasis, and the ensuing intro Bax mitochondrial translocation as the upstream events involved in triggering the apoptotic process observed upon cellular exposure to heat stress.
Abstract
X-ray free-electron lasers (FEL) have contributed to many frontier applications of nanoscale science which benefit from its extraordinary properties. During FEL commissioning, the beam ...status optimization especially orbits correction is particularly significant for FEL amplification. For example, the deviation between beam orbit and the magnetic center of undulator can affect the interaction between the electron beam and the FEL pulse. Usually, FEL commissioning requires a lot of effort for multi-dimensional parameters optimization in a time-varying system. Therefore, advanced algorithms are needed to facilitate the commissioning procedure. In this paper, we propose an online method to optimize the FEL power and transverse coherence by using a twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm. The algorithm exhibits more stable learning convergence and improves learning performance because the overestimation bias of policy gradient methods is suppressed.
Abstract
Porphyromonas gingivalis
has been linked to the development and progression of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and is considered to be a high-risk factor for ESCC. Currently, the ...commonly used methods for
P. gingivalis
detection are culture or DNA extraction-based, which are either time and labour intensive especially for high-throughput applications. We aimed to establish and evaluate a rapid and sensitive direct quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) protocol for the detection of
P. gingivalis
without DNA extraction which is suitable for large-scale epidemiological studies. Paired gingival swab samples from 192 subjects undergoing general medical examinations were analysed using two direct and one extraction-based qPCR assays for
P. gingivalis
. Tris-EDTA buffer-based direct qPCR (TE-direct qPCR), lysis-based direct qPCR (lysis-direct qPCR) and DNA extraction-based qPCR (kit-qPCR) were used, respectively, in 192, 132 and 60 of these samples for quantification of
P. gingivalis
. The sensitivity and specificity of TE-direct qPCR was 95.24% and 100% compared with lysis-direct qPCR, which was 100% and 97.30% when compared with kit-qPCR; TE-direct qPCR had an almost perfect agreement with lysis-direct qPCR (
κ
= 0.954) and kit-qPCR (
κ
= 0.965). Moreover, the assay time used for TE-direct qPCR was 1.5 h. In conclusion, the TE-direct qPCR assay is a simple and efficient method for the quantification of oral
P. gingivalis
and showed high sensitivity and specificity compared with routine qPCR.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) in a Chinese Han population.
Methods: A face-to-face investigation was performed in the Han ...population of Dalang Town, Yangshan County, Guangdong Province, China, using a questionnaire established in France in 1999. First the clinical features associated with SpA were investigated, then the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 and sacroiliac joint radiographic examinations were carried out. Finally, the diagnosis of SpA was determined by rheumatologists.
Results: A total of 13 315 subjects participated in the study and 10 921 were aged >16 years; of these, 787 (7.21%) had LBP. There were 92 axial SpA patients (0.782% in subjects >16 years old and 11.96% in subjects with LBP). There were 29 (0.253%) cases of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 60 (0.507%) undifferentiated axial SpA (USpA), and three (0.022%) psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Patients in the SpA groups had higher percentages in onset <40 years, insidious onset, morning stiffness, and affected for >3 months compared with those in other LBP groups. Simultaneous symptoms associated with spondylitis, such as buttock pain, heel pain, psoriasis, and SpA family history, were more commonly present. Of the axial SpA patients, 82.67% were HLA-B27 positive, clearly a greater percentage than those (11.65%) in other LBP groups.
Conclusions: The survey questionnaire for SpA in this study is useful for axial SpA screening in China. In southern China, the prevalence of LBP is 7.21%. The prevalence of axial SpA is 0.782%. USpA is the most common subtype of SpA, followed by AS.
Two dimensional measurements of the size of soot primary particles, in both laminar and unsteady sooty C2H4/air flames, have been demonstrated in the present work. This is achieved using single-shot, ...time-resolved laser-induced incandescent (TiRe-LII) technique. The soot primary size is determined from the ratio of different signals obtained from four sequential images together with a theoretical relationship of the LII temporal decays. A laser fluence of 0.30J/cm2 was chosen for its relevance to application in turbulent sooty flames where both laser fluence attenuation and beam steering are significant. Planar measurements are firstly demonstrated in a flat laminar flame and the results are found to be in good agreement with time-resolved single-point-measurements using a photomultiplier tube. A typical uncertainty of plus or minus 9nm is estimated for the single-shot, planar measurements. Finally, planar measurements in an unsteady sooty flame reveal that the size of soot primary particles is very sensitive to local flame conditions.
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