This study explored the relationship between visceral adiposity index (VAI) and cervical arterial atherosclerosis in a total of 3688 residents aged ≥40 in northeast China. The VAI could be a ...practical indicator for cervical artery atherosclerosis, especially for carotid plaque and moderate‐to‐severe atherosclerosis (multiple plaques and stenosis). The correlations were more significant in non‐overweight or obese, non‐central obesity and non‐hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (HTWP) participants
Background and purpose
The burden of cervical arterial atherosclerosis, which is an important risk factor of stroke, is huge in China. The visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a convenient index that is related to a series of metabolic abnormalities and a variety of diseases, including cerebrovascular diseases. This study aimed to explore the relationship between VAI and cervical arterial atherosclerosis.
Methods
This cross‐sectional study used the multistage stratified random cluster sampling method to acquire a representative sample of residents aged ≥40 in the general population of northeast China. All participants completed a detailed questionnaire and provided blood samples. Cervical vascular ultrasound was performed by experienced ultrasound doctors. VAI was calculated by a well‐established formula and analyzed by quartiles (Q1–Q4).
Results
A total of 3688 people aged ≥40 years who underwent cervical arterial ultrasound were finally included, amongst whom 3.2% had increased intima‐media thickness (IMT), 48.6% had carotid plaque and 4.0% had cervical artery stenosis (CAS). After adjusting for several parameters, little statistical significance was found between VAI and increased IMT; compared with the VAI‐Q1 group, the VAI‐Q2, VAI‐Q3 and VAI‐Q4 groups were more likely to have CAS odds ratio (OR) 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17–3.43; OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.05–3.15; OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.03–3.12 and the VAI‐Q3 and VAI‐Q4 groups were at greater risk of carotid plaque (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.05–1.62; OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.07–1.67).
Conclusions
The VAI was related to carotid plaque and CAS in the general population that is older than 40 years.
Ensuring high vaccination and even booster vaccination coverage is critical in preventing severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Among the various COVID-19 vaccines currently in use, the mRNA ...vaccines have shown remarkable effectiveness. However, systemic adverse events (AEs), such as postvaccination fatigue, are prevalent following mRNA vaccination, and the underpinnings of which are not understood. Herein, we found that higher baseline expression of genes related to T and NK cell exhaustion and suppression were positively correlated with the development of moderately severe fatigue after Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccination; increased expression of genes associated with T and NK cell exhaustion and suppression reacted to vaccination were associated with greater levels of innate immune activation at 1 day postvaccination. We further found, in a mouse model, that altering the route of vaccination from intramuscular (i.m.) to subcutaneous (s.c.) could lessen the pro-inflammatory response and correspondingly the extent of systemic AEs; the humoral immune response to BNT162b2 vaccination was not compromised. Instead, it is possible that the s.c. route could improve cytotoxic CD8 T-cell responses to BNT162b2 vaccination. Our findings thus provide a glimpse of the molecular basis of postvaccination fatigue from mRNA vaccination and suggest a readily translatable solution to minimize systemic AEs.
Atherosclerosis is one of the most common vascular disorders. Endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. ...Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in several biological processes and human diseases. Here we show that lncRNA-RNCR3 is expressed in ECs and VSMCs. RNCR3 expression is significantly upregulated in mouse and human aortic atherosclerotic lesions, and cultured ECs and VSMCs upon ox-LDL treatment in vitro. RNCR3 knockdown accelerates the development of atherosclerosis, aggravates hypercholesterolemia and inflammatory factor releases, and decreases EC and VSMC proliferation in vivo. RNCR3 knockdown also reduces the proliferation and migration, and accelerates apoptosis development of EC and VSMC in vitro. RNCR3 acts as a ceRNA, and forms a feedback loop with Kruppel-like factor 2 and miR-185-5p to regulate cell function. This study reveals that RNCR3 has an atheroprotective role in atherosclerosis, and its intervention is a promising strategy for treating atherosclerosis-related vascular dysfunction.
Abstract Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and prevention of de novo malignant tumors after liver transplantation. Methods Fourteen patients who underwent liver ...transplantation were identified as having de novo malignancies. The clinical characteristics and survival of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results Fourteen cases of de novo malignancies after liver transplantation occurred for an incidence rate of 1.94% (14/722), including 11 men (78.6%, mean age, 48 y) and 3 women (21.4%, mean age, 50 y). The mean period from transplantation to cancer diagnosis was 55 ± 35 months. The distribution of tumor histologic types included colon cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, liver cancer, parotid carcinoma, bone cancer, post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder, stomach cancer, bladder cancer, and laryngeal cancer. Twelve cases (85.7%) had hepatitis B. Five patients (35.7%) underwent operations, and the other 9 patients underwent chemotherapy or radiotherapy. During a mean follow-up period of 37 ± 26 months after the diagnosis of de novo malignancy, 8 patients (57.1%) died, with only 1 dying of causes not related to the de novo malignancy. The survival analysis showed 1-, 5-, and 7-year survival rates of 85.7%, 71.4%, and 42.9%, respectively. Conclusions De novo malignancies after organ transplantation have been suggested to be a major cause of late mortality. De novo malignancy after orthotopic liver transplantation was found to be related to smoking, sex, and low immune function due to immunosuppressive agents. Solid tumors should be removed, and the patient should receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy as early as possible. Early diagnosis and treatment are very important for improving the prognosis.
Though the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties of pure Zr after severe plastic deformation have been studied, the microstructural evolution and the variation of mechanical properties ...with progressive deformation of pure Zr have not been investigated in detail. Microstructure observation verified that dislocation slip dominated the plastic behaviour of pure Zr during room temperature deformation. With the increase in the rolling reduction (RZr) from zero to 90%, the various microstructural features, e.g. dislocation tangles, dislocation lamellas, dislocation cells or subgrain structure, and nano-crystal grains (∼72nm), etc., successively occurred. Dynamic recovery played an important role on the plastic behaviour of the pure Zr with high stacking fault energy (SFE), which slowed down the work hardening rate during high strain rate rolling deformation and caused strain softening on the pre-deformed specimens during low strain rate tension deformation. The specimens annealed at 450–600°C not only possessed higher ultimate tensile strength and yield strength, but exhibited higher elongation as compared with the undeformed specimen. The fracture mode of all annealed specimens was entirely dimple fracture.
ABSTRACT We measure a relation between the depth of four prominent rest-UV absorption complexes and metallicity for local galaxies and verify it up to . We then apply this relation to a sample of 224 ...galaxies at ( ) in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), for which unique UV spectra from the Deep Imaging Multi-object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) and accurate stellar masses from the Spitzer Large Area Survey with Hyper-Suprime-Cam (SPLASH) are available. The average galaxy population at and is characterized by 0.3-0.4 dex (in units of ) lower metallicities than at z ∼ 2, but comparable to . We find galaxies with weak or no Ly emission to have metallicities comparable to z ∼ 2 galaxies and therefore may represent an evolved subpopulation of galaxies. We find a correlation between metallicity and dust in good agreement with local galaxies and an inverse trend between metallicity and star-formation rate consistent with observations at z ∼ 2. The relation between stellar mass and metallicity (MZ relation) is similar to , but there are indications of it being slightly shallower, in particular for the young, Ly -emitting galaxies. We show that, within a "bathtub" approach, a shallower MZ relation is expected in the case of a fast (exponential) build-up of stellar mass with an e-folding time of 100-200 Myr. Because of this fast evolution, the process of dust production and metal enrichment as a function of mass could be more stochastic in the first billion years of galaxy formation compared to later times.
In order to assess the left ventricular (LV) longitudinal rotation (LR) in primary hypertension (PH) patients with a normal LV ejection fraction. Conventional echocardiography was performed in 61 ...healthy subjects and 64 PH patients. The apical four-chamber views in these patients were acquired by GE-Vivid7 or E9, then the peak radial strain in the systolic period and the strain rate in systole, in early and late diastolic periods, were measured. Segmental LR and global LR were assessed by using two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI). The peak radial strain rate in the early diastolic period in PH patients was significantly lower than that in healthy subjects. The rotational degrees of the middle and base lateral, the apex and the middle septum walls in PH patients were significantly different from those of the healthy subjects. The healthy subjects had prominent counter-clockwise LR (0.29°±2.86°) and the PH patients had prominent clockwise LR (-2.13°±2.93°) in non-LV wall hypertrophy and (-2.43°±2.66°) in LV wall hypertrophy. The time delay between the LV lateral wall and the septum wall in PH patients correlated to the peak LR. We concluded that 2D-STI can assess the time delay between the LV lateral wall and the septum wall to the peak LR and clockwise LR in patients with PH, and prove that PH patients have a clockwise LR. By this, we conclude that in PH patients, the LV early systolic function have changed.
Aim
To examine the association between depression and impaired glucose regulation, newly diagnosed diabetes and previously diagnosed diabetes in middle‐aged and elderly Chinese people, and whether ...depression was associated with different treatment regimens or durations of diabetes.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study was performed among 229 047 adults living in the community aged ≥ 40 years from 25 centres in China. The self‐reported depression rating scale Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ–9) was used to diagnose probable and sub‐threshold depression. Glucose metabolism status was determined according to World Health Organization 1999 diagnostic criteria.
Results
The numbers of participants with normal glucose regulation, impaired glucose regulation, newly diagnosed diabetes and previously diagnosed diabetes were 120 458, 59 512, 24 826 and 24 251, respectively. The prevalence of sub‐threshold depression in the total sample of participants was 4.8% (4.8%, 4.8%, 4.4% and 5.6% from normal glucose regulation to previously diagnosed diabetes, respectively), and the prevalence of probable depression was 1.1% (1.1%, 1.0%, 0.9% and 1.8% from normal glucose regulation to previously diagnosed diabetes, respectively). Compared with participants with normal glucose regulation, those with previously diagnosed diabetes had increased odds of probable depression odds ratio (OR) = 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39–1.87 and sub‐threshold depression (OR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.06–1.24), after adjustment for multiple confounding factors. Newly diagnosed diabetes or impaired glucose regulation was not associated with depression. Among those with previously diagnosed diabetes, insulin treatment was associated with greater odds of depression compared with no treatment or oral anti‐diabetic medicine.
Conclusion
Previously diagnosed diabetes, but not newly diagnosed diabetes or impaired glucose regulation, was associated with a higher prevalence of depression. Patients receiving insulin were more likely to have depression than those not receiving treatment or being treated with oral anti‐diabetic medicine.
What's new?
Using a nationwide sample of middle‐aged and elderly Chinese people, we showed that patients with previously diagnosed diabetes had a higher prevalence of depression, compared with those with normal glucose regulation. Newly diagnosed diabetes or impaired glucose regulation were not associated with depression.
Patients with diabetes treated with insulin had greater odds of suffering from depression than those who were treated with oral medicine or were untreated. Duration of diabetes was not associated with depression, after accounting for the role of different treatments.
•The life cycle of T. spiralis consist of adult, muscle larvae and newborn larvae.•4691 proteins were identified by iTRAQ involving in various functions.•1067 proteins were revealed differently ...expressed in Ad, ML and NBL.
Trichinella spiralis, an intracellular parasitic nematode, can cause severe foodborne zoonosis, trichinellosis. The life cycle of T. spiralis consists of adult (Ad), muscle larvae (ML) and newborn larvae (NBL). The protein profiles in different developmental stages of the parasite remain unknown. In the present study, proteins from lysates of Ad, ML and NBL were identified by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ). A total of 4691 proteins were identified in all the developmental stages, of which 1067 proteins were differentially expressed. The number of up-regulated proteins in NBL was higher than that of the other two groups. The protein profiles from Ad, ML and NBL were compared in pairs. The identified proteins were involved in various functions of T. spiralis life cycle, including sexual maturity, metabolism, utilization of carbohydrates, lipids and nucleotides, and other crucial developmental processes that occur at distinct stages. Further investigation of the transcriptional levels of major sperm protein, serine protease, zinc finger protein, etc. from the different protein profiles using quantitative RT-PCR showed identical results to the iTRAQ analysis. The differentially expressed proteins that are involved in developmental regulation and host-parasite interactions should be further studied.
Because of the complex geological structure, determination of the field mechanical parameters of the columnar jointed rock mass (CJRM) was a challenging task in the design and construction of the ...Baihetan hydropower plant. To model the mechanical behaviour of the CJRM, uniaxial compression tests were conducted on artificial CJRM specimens with geological structure similar to that found in the actual CJRM. Based on the test results, the anisotropic deformation and strength were mainly analysed. The empirical correlations of evaluating the field mechanical parameters were derived based on the joint factor approach and the modulus reduction factor method. The findings of the physical model tests were then used to estimate the field moduli and unconfined compressive strengths of the Baihetan CJRM. The results predicted by physical model tests were compared with those obtained from the field tests and the RMR classification system. It is concluded that physical model tests were capable of providing valuable estimations on the field mechanical parameters of the CJRM.
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