Atherosclerosis is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world, which is a multistep cardiovascular disease promoted by several of risk factors. However, the detailed mechanism of ...atherosclerosis remained unclear. LncRNAs have been proved to play an important role in various of biological and pathological processes, but the role of lncRNA in atherosclerosis largely remained unidentified.
Blood sample were collected from 42 patients with atherosclerosis and 37 healthy volunteers. The expression of lncRNA H19 was detected by the qRT-PCR assay. Proliferation and apoptosis of HUVEC were also detected after lncRNA H19 was overexpressed. The expression of p38 and p65 were also measured by Western blot.
Compared with the normal healthy people, the expression of H19 was higher in patients with atherosclerosis. After lncRNA H19 was overexpressed in HUVEC, the proliferation ability was increased while apoptosis was suppressed. What's more, p38 and p65 were increased after lncRNA H19 was overexpressed.
LncRNA H19 was highly expressed in atherosclerosis, which could be used as a potential target for treating atherosclerosis.
Reports of ChAdOx1 vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia and vascular adverse events have led to some countries restricting its use. Using a national prospective cohort, we estimated associations ...between exposure to first-dose ChAdOx1 or BNT162b2 vaccination and hematological and vascular adverse events using a nested incident-matched case-control study and a confirmatory self-controlled case series (SCCS) analysis. An association was found between ChAdOx1 vaccination and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) (0-27 d after vaccination; adjusted rate ratio (aRR) = 5.77, 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.41-13.83), with an estimated incidence of 1.13 (0.62-1.63) cases per 100,000 doses. An SCCS analysis confirmed that this was unlikely due to bias (RR = 1.98 (1.29-3.02)). There was also an increased risk for arterial thromboembolic events (aRR = 1.22, 1.12-1.34) 0-27 d after vaccination, with an SCCS RR of 0.97 (0.93-1.02). For hemorrhagic events 0-27 d after vaccination, the aRR was 1.48 (1.12-1.96), with an SCCS RR of 0.95 (0.82-1.11). A first dose of ChAdOx1 was found to be associated with small increased risks of ITP, with suggestive evidence of an increased risk of arterial thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events. The attenuation of effect found in the SCCS analysis means that there is the potential for overestimation of the reported results, which might indicate the presence of some residual confounding or confounding by indication. Public health authorities should inform their jurisdictions of these relatively small increased risks associated with ChAdOx1. No positive associations were seen between BNT162b2 and thrombocytopenic, thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events.
Rejuvenation of metallic glasses, bringing them to higher-energy states, is of interest in improving their plasticity. The mechanisms of rejuvenation are poorly understood, and its limits remain ...unexplored. We use constrained loading in compression to impose substantial plastic flow on a zirconium-based bulk metallic glass. The maximum measured effects are that the hardness of the glass decreases by 36%, and its excess enthalpy (above the relaxed state) increases to 41% of the enthalpy of melting. Comparably high degrees of rejuvenation have been reported only on microscopic scales at the centre of shear bands confined to low volume fractions. This extreme rejuvenation of a bulk glass gives a state equivalent to that obtainable by quenching the liquid at ~10
K s
, many orders of magnitude faster than is possible for bulk specimens. The contrast with earlier results showing relaxation in similar tests under tension emphasizes the importance of hydrostatic stress.
Gradient structured (GS) materials are ubiquitous in biological systems and now increasingly adopted in engineering systems to achieve desirable combinations of mechanical properties. However, how to ...control and characterize the gradient structure still remains challenging. In the present work, pure Ni samples possessing a gradient structure with a change in the grain size up to three orders of magnitude from 29 nm to 4 μm are prepared by electrodeposition, where the degree of grain size gradient is accurately controlled. The GS Ni samples exhibit a favorable combination of high strength and high ductility. An optimal grain size distribution profile is discovered which gives rise to a yield strength of 460 MPa and a uniform elongation of 8.9%, the latter even better than that of the coarse-grained Ni. Experimental observations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that the surface roughening of coarse grains and strain localization of nano-grains can be effectively suppressed by the mutual constraint between nano-grains and coarse grains, leading to the observed superior uniform elongation. This work not only reports a promising methodology of producing materials possessing both high strength and high ductility, but also provides a model for investigating the deformation mechanisms in GS materials.
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•We have determined the native oxide film thickness on several Al samples.•The results obtained from XRR and XPS show excellent agreement.•The results obtained from EIS show consistently thinner ...oxide films.•The oxides on the alloys are thicker than the oxides on the single crystals.
We present results from measurements of the native oxide film thickness on four different industrial aluminum alloys and three different aluminum single crystals. The thicknesses were determined using X-ray reflectivity, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, atomic force microscopy was used for micro-structural studies of the oxide surfaces. The reflectivity measurements were performed in ultra-high vacuum, vacuum, ambient, nitrogen and liquid water conditions. The results obtained using X-ray reflectivity and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrate good agreement. However, the oxide thicknesses determined from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy show a larger discrepancy from the above two methods. In the present contribution the reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. We also address the effect of the substrate type and the presence of water on the resultant oxide thickness.
Sleep spindles are characteristic electroencephalogram (EEG) signatures of stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep. Implicated in sleep regulation and cognitive functioning, spindles may represent ...heritable biomarkers of neuropsychiatric disease. Here we characterize spindles in 11,630 individuals aged 4 to 97 years, as a prelude to future genetic studies. Spindle properties are highly reliable but exhibit distinct developmental trajectories. Across the night, we observe complex patterns of age- and frequency-dependent dynamics, including signatures of circadian modulation. We identify previously unappreciated correlates of spindle activity, including confounding by body mass index mediated by cardiac interference in the EEG. After taking account of these confounds, genetic factors significantly contribute to spindle and spectral sleep traits. Finally, we consider topographical differences and critical measurement issues. Taken together, our findings will lead to an increased understanding of the genetic architecture of sleep spindles and their relation to behavioural and health outcomes, including neuropsychiatric disorders.
Shear band is the key feature that controls the plastic deformation process of metallic glasses (MGs). However, the investigation directly on the shear band and its properties is rarely conducted as ...the band is perceived as extremely narrow. We have conducted a controlled experiment to form a single shear band in the specimen, which enabled us to probe shear-induced softening and dilatation directly on the shear band itself. Extreme dilatation and free volume increase as high as 1.14% and 1.40% respectively, have been observed, resulting from a drastic structure change due to severe plastic flow in the band. Nanoindentation on the individual shear band reveals significant softening of 36% and an unexpected wide width up to 160
μm, three magnitudes higher than what has been reported. These prove beyond doubt the dilatation as a mechanism for softening. The correlation between the free volume content and softening is discussed. Our findings provide a new insight for understanding the deformation behavior of metallic glass.
Abstract
Topological superconductors (TSCs) are unconventional superconductors with bulk superconducting gap and in-gap Majorana states on the boundary that may be used as topological qubits for ...quantum computation. Despite their importance in both fundamental research and applications, natural TSCs are very rare. Here, combining state of the art synchrotron and laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we investigated a stoichiometric transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), 2M-WS
2
with a superconducting transition temperature of 8.8 K (the highest among all TMDs in the natural form up to date) and observed distinctive topological surface states (TSSs). Furthermore, in the superconducting state, we found that the TSSs acquired a nodeless superconducting gap with similar magnitude as that of the bulk states. These discoveries not only evidence 2M-WS
2
as an intrinsic TSC without the need of sensitive composition tuning or sophisticated heterostructures fabrication, but also provide an ideal platform for device applications thanks to its van der Waals layered structure.
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