Increasing evidence suggests that EPCs improve neovascularization and endothelial regeneration via the production of paracrine factors. VEGF and IL-8 are major cytokines involved in EPC-mediated ...angiogenesis and re-endothelialization. In our previous studies, Hcy impaired EPC migratory and adhesive activities. We devised this study to determine whether Hcy could affect the expression and secretion of VEGF and IL-8 from EPCs. We found that high levels of Hcy (100-500 μM) decreased the EPC-mediated protein secretion and mRNA expression of VEGF and IL-8. Moreover, PIO, a PPARγ agonist, has been suggested to regulate EPC adhesion, migration, survival. In this study, PIO normalized the production of these cytokines by EPCs stimulated with Hcy. These effects of Hcy and PIO were primarily mediated by PKC and ROS via NADPH oxidase. We further confirmed this mechanism via knockdown of the NADPH oxidase subunits p67phox and Nox2. Furthermore, the PPARγ inhibitor GW9662 was not observed to abrogate the beneficial effect of PIO, indicating that PIO protected EPC paracrine function against Hcy in a PPARγ-independent manner.
Background:Attenuation-compensated (AC) technique was recently introduced to improve the plaque characterization of optical coherence tomography (OCT). Histological validation demonstrated promising ...results but the efficacy and reproducibility of this technique for assessing in-vivo tissue composition remains unclear.Methods and Results:OCT images portraying native (n=200) and stented (n=200) segments and 31 histological cross-sections were analyzed. AC-OCT appeared superior to conventional (C)-OCT in detecting the external elastic lamina (EEM) borders (76% vs. 65.5%); AC-OCT enabled larger EEM arc detection compared with C-OCT (174.2±58.7° vs. 137.5±57.9°; P<0.001). There was poor agreement between the 2 techniques for detection of lipid in native and lipid and calcific tissue in stented segments (κ range: 0.164–0.466) but the agreement of C-OCT and AC-OCT was high for calcific tissue in native segments (κ=0.825). Intra and interobserver agreement of the 2 analysts was moderate to excellent with C-OCT (κ range: 0.681–0.979) and AC-OCT (κ range: 0.733–0.892) for all tissue types in both native and stented segments. Ex-vivoanalysis demonstrated that C-OCT was superior to AC-OCT (κ=0.545 vs. κ=0.296) for the detection of the lipid component in native segments.Conclusions:The AC technique allows better delineation of the EEM but it remains inferior for lipid pool detection and neointima characterization. Combined AC- and C-OCT imaging may provide additional value for complete assessment of plaque and neointima characteristics.
More and more evidence suggests that the density of calcification plays an important role in the plaque stability. However, few studies have investigated the statin treatment on the density of plaque ...calcification in patients with both coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
One hundred and twenty-two CAD patients with type 2 diabetes with confirmed coronary artery calcification (CAC) will be recruited consecutively in a 12-month period. These patients will receive rosuvastatin (20 mg/day) therapy in the next 24 months. Blood tests and adverse events will be collected at routine follow-up of 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. The primary endpoint will be the change of CAC density score measured by coronary CT angiography after 24 months' treatment of rosuvastatin (20 mg/day) compared with baseline. The secondary endpoints will be the change of serum sclerostin and the effect on the volume score of CAC in those patients.
We expect that rosuvastatin could both increase the density of CAC to improve plaque stability and up-regulate serum sclerostin, which would suggest the underlying mechanism of the plaque stabilization by a statin.
This study would be the first to demonstrate the impact of rosuvastatin on the density score of coronary artery calcification in CAD patients with type 2 diabetes. This study has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02418884).
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a protective role in the cardiovascular system by enhancing the maintenance of endothelium homeostasis and the process of new vessel formation. Recent studies ...show that EPCs may induce vascular regeneration and neovascularization mainly through paracrine signaling, that is, through the secretion of growth factors and pro-angiogenic cytokines. However, multiple factors might function synergistically and therefore make it difficult to manipulate EPC paracrine effects. MicroRNAs, a family of small, non-coding RNAs, are characterized by post-transcriptionally regulating multiple functionally related genes, which renders them potentially powerful therapeutic targets or tools. In this paper we propose the hypothesis that microRNAs can be utilized as a novel therapeutic strategy for regulating EPC paracrine secretion.
In order to protect the data privacy, cloud users usually outsource the encrypted form of their data to the cloud servers, which brings a challenge when they want to search their encrypted data in ...cloud. Searchable encryption techniques solve this problem by allowing the cloud servers to search on the encrypted data without decrypting the ciphertext or the searching keywords. In this paper, we propose a construction which can dramatically reduce the size of extra storage in the searchable symmetric encryption schemes and still remain efficiency. And security analysis shows that our construction can achieve non-adaptive secure. Further investigation and experiments show that our construction is suitable for not only single keyword search but also more complex search including conjunctive search, disjunctive search and phrase search.
In present work, rhodamine B hydrazide and rhodamine 6G hydrazide were synthesized and the chemiluminescence performance has been investigated. Based on the chemiluminescence of rhodamine 6G ...hydrazide‑chromium(VI), a selective and sensitive method for the direct detection of chromium(VI) was developed. The chemiluminescence intensity was linearly related to the concentration of chromium(VI) in the range of 2.60×10−8–8.00×10−6mol/L with a correlation coefficient of r=0.998 and a detection limit of 1.4×10−8mol/L (S/N=3). The results indicated rhodamine 6G hydrazide was an excellent chemiluminescent probe for chromium(VI) without reduction of chromium(VI) to chromium(III). A possible mechanism of CL emission was also suggested.
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•Chemiluminescence of R6GH was investigated.•Chromium(VI) strongly enhances Chemiluminescence emission of R6GH–H2O2–Tween 80 in acidic medium.•Determination of Chromium(VI) by R6GH chemiluminescence without reduction of Chromium(VI) to Chromium(III).
The drumstick tree (
Moringa oleifera
Lam.) is a perennial crop that has gained popularity in certain developing countries for its high-nutrition content and adaptability to arid and semi-arid ...environments. Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of
M. oleifera
. This assembly represents 91.78% of the estimated genome size and contains 19,465 protein-coding genes. Comparative genomic analysis between
M. oleifera
and related woody plant genomes helps clarify the general evolution of this species, while the identification of several species-specific gene families and positively selected genes in
M. oleifera
may help identify genes related to
M. oleifera
’s high protein content, fast-growth, heat and stress tolerance. This reference genome greatly extends the basic research on
M. oleifera
, and may further promote applying genomics to enhanced breeding and improvement of
M. oleifera
.
In this study, amorphous silicon carbide (α-SiC) films were synthesized on 316L stainless steel by low pressure, high density helicon wave plasma (HWP), using tetramethylsilane (TMS) as the ...single-source precursor which is organometallic compound. The influence of the substrate bias voltage (Vs) on the surface morphology, structure, chemical composition, and mechanical properties of the α-SiC films is investigated. The increase of VS from 0 to 200 V causes the removal of organic moieties from the film and results in the formation condition for α-SiC. The maximum deposition rate of the coating is up to 250 nm/s, which is related to the high-density (>1019 m−3) plasma production of HWP 1. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) results imply that the film is mainly composed of SiC. The films deposited at VS = 200 V appear to be high-hardness (up to 33.6 GPa) materials with very small surface roughness (∼0.5 nm). Considering the easy control of the bias voltage, our work provides a new method for achieving α-SiC films with high-yield at room temperature.
•α-SiC films were synthesized on 316L stainless steel by HWP from TMS.•Very deposition rate of the coating is up to 250 nm/s.•Very hard materials with hardness of 33.6 GPa and very small surface roughness (∼0.5 nm).
To optimize the flow structure in a soft‐capsule drying room, the notable inhomogeneous characteristics of flow behavior and thermal feature are numerically explored. An advanced three‐dimensional ...numerical model is established and a verified large eddy simulation (LES) model is adopted. The results indicated that there is a highly inhomogeneous flow structure especially approaching the bilateral region of the drying room, mainly caused by the large velocity gradient whereas a relatively uniform flow structure is observed in the middle region. In the drying process, the inhomogeneous flow feature is sensitive to the increased inlet velocity and aspect ratio λ. It was found that a suitable inlet velocity and a small aspect ratio λ can provide a better drying flow environment.
The internal flow and temperature characteristics of a classical drying room are numerically studied through an advanced transient large eddy simulation model. The inhomogeneous flow structure and thermal performance in a drying room are investigated in detail. The results can provide a technical guidance for improved drying efficiency and optimal design of drying rooms.
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