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Ischemic heart disease (IHD) remains a leading cause of mortalities worldwide, necessitating timely reperfusion to reduce acute mortality. Paradoxically, reperfusion can induce myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, which is primarily characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction. Translocator protein (TSPO) participates in multiple cellular events; however, its role in IHD, especially in the process of myocardial I/R injury, has not been well determined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the functional role of TSPO in myocardial I/R injury and dissect the concomitant cellular events involved. This study utilized small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology to knock down TSPO expression. The I/R process was simulated using an anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) model. The role of TSPO in H9c2 cardiomyocytes was assessed using various techniques, such as Western blotting, Flow cytometry, Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), Immunofluorescence, Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and similar methods. It was found that A/R markedly upregulated the expression of TSPO in cardiomyocytes. Inhibition of TSPO improved myocardial cell apoptosis and damage following A/R stimulation. Additionally, targeting TSPO alleviated mitochondrial damage, reduced mitochondrial ROS release and enhanced ATP synthesis following A/R stimulation. It was further confirmed that A/R stimulation induced a significant increase in the expression of pivotal markers [phosporylated-PKR-like ER kinase (PERK)/PERK, activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and inositol-requiring enzyme 1] involved in the adaptive unfolded protein response, which is accompanied by downstream signaling during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Notably, TSPO knockdown increased the expression of the aforementioned markers and, subsequently, TSPO was confirmed to interact with ATF6, suggesting that TSPO might play a role in ER stress during myocardial I/R injury. Finally, inhibition of TSPO upregulated mitophagy, as indicated by further decreases in P62 and increases in Parkin and PINK1 levels following A/R stimulation. Together, the results suggest that TSPO plays a multifaceted role in myocardial I/R injury. Understanding TSPO-induced cellular responses could inform targeted therapeutic strategies for patients with IHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field pea (Pisum sativum) is an important pulse crop globally for human consumption and livestock feed. A panel of 92 diverse pea cultivars was evaluated across nine environments and genotyped using 1536 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) arranged in a GoldenGate array. Population structure analysis revealed three subpopulations roughly consistent with the cultivar origin. Phenotyping included days to flowering (DTF), duration of flowering (DOF), number of reproductive nodes, number of pods on the main stem, percentage of pods set, percentage of pods retained with seed and pollen germination reduction due to heat stress. Association analyses identified a total of 60 SNPs significantly associated (−log10 p ≥ 4.3) with these seven reproductive development-related traits. Among these 60 marker-trait associations, 33 SNPs were associated with the onset of flowering, 8 SNPs with pod development and 19 SNPs with the number of reproductive nodes. No SNP marker was significantly associated with in vitro pollen germination reduction caused by high temperature stress. We found that 12 SNPs associated with DTF and 2 SNPs associated with DOF overlapped with the SNP markers associated with the number of reproductive nodes. Genomic regions associated with variation for reproductive development-related traits identified in this study provide grounds for future genetic improvement in pea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] is an alternative oil crop that has potential in aquaculture and food production. However, glucosinolates (GSs) in camelina seed and meal constrain their application in human and animal consumption. Glucosinolates are plant secondary metabolites commonly found in the Brassicaceae family. The aims of this study were to determine whether nitrogen (N) alone or in combination with sulphur (S) application affected GS concentration in camelina seeds, as well as whether different genotypes differed in GS concentrations. Our results showed that the application of 25 kg S ha-1 significantly increased GS content compared with 0 kg S ha-1. Applied N rates were negatively correlated with the amounts of total and individual GSs when no S was applied. The low GS content with high N rates was probably due to a dilution effect of S content. Applied N rates did not affect the amounts of total and individual GSs when 25 kg S ha-1 was applied. Seed protein content was negatively correlated with the total GSs depending on growing season and genotype when no S was applied. The cultivar, Calena, had the highest amount of GSs among five genotypes. The results indicated that GSs in camelina can be manipulated by cultural management practices including N and S application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidrug resistance Klebsiella pneumoniae infection is an essential factor threatening the life of patients with severe infection. Polymyxin B is widely used in treating multidrug resistance Klebsiella pneumoniae, but few studies on its efficacy and safety. In our study, 205 patients with multidrug resistance Klebsiella pneumoniae infection were admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to December 2020, treated with polymyxin B for antibacterial and selected as the subjects. These patients were divided into two therapy groups: A monotherapy group (polymyxin B) and a combined therapy group (polymyxin B-tigecycline). The efficacy and safety of the two groups were analyzed. Also, the risk factors were analyzed. The changes of cystatin C, beta 2-microglobulin and microalbuminuria in the two groups showed an upward trend during the treatment. The descent degree of procalcitonin, C-reaction protein and white blood cell count in the polymyxin B-tigecycline group was higher than that in the polymyxin B group. The two groups had a similar effective rate, while acute kidney injury incidence in the polymyxin B-tigecycline group was higher than in the polymyxin B group. Blood infection, hypertension, high dose of tigecycline were risk factors for acute kidney injury. It was the first time to report that hypertension is an independent risk factor of acute kidney injury when polymyxin B combined with tigecycline is used to treat multidrug resistance Klebsiella pneumoniae infection. Patients with hypertension infected with multidrug resistance Klebsiella pneumonia should avoid accepting the combination therapy of polymyxin B and tigecycline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Mn-Ce-Ox/γ-Al2O3 supported catalysts were adopted to promote the removal efficiency of aniline in simulated wastewater with ozone. Mn-Ce-Ox/γ-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by the impregnation-calcination method. Its phase structure, specific surface area, loading amount and distribution of active units were analyzed by XRD, BET, ICP-AES and TEM/SEM respectively. The characterization results demonstrated that the catalysts had a good dispersion of Mn-Ce-Ox active sites and an abundant porous structure from the γ-Al2O3 support. The catalytic ozonation results showed that with Mn3-Ce1-Ox/γ-Al2O3(1.0), the aniline removal efficiency was highly improved, 15.0% higher than that of ozonation without a catalyst. Furthermore, from the variation in loading amounts of Mn and Ce, it can be seen that the molar ratio of Mn and Ce within the Mn-Ce-Ox plays a key role in accelerating the ozonation of aniline in simulated wastewater with ozone, while Mn:Ce - 1.9:1 showed the best performance. More importantly, the catalysts showed high recycling performance and could be reused at least 12 times without obvious loss of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) and water availabilities are two important environmental factors affecting crop growth and yield. Effects of applied N and water deficit imposition on photosynthesis rate (Pn), transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs), and shoot and root biomass accumulation in camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] and canola (Brassica napus L.) were compared in a greenhouse. Water deficit significantly decreased Pn, E, gs, and shoot/root biomass ratio in both crops. The relative reduction of Pn, E, and gs caused by water deficit was greater in canola than in camelina. Under drought conditions, applied N enhanced Pn and gs but had less pronounced effects on E in camelina. Camelina maintained higher Pn at N levels >125 kg N ha-1 under water deficit. In contrast, when exposed to drought, applied N decreased Pn, E, and gs in canola. The shoot/root ratio was more responsive to applied N in camelina, whereas applied N did not affect the shoot/root ratio in canola. Under drought conditions, camelina maintained a higher shoot/root ratio than canola. These results suggest that camelina is more tolerant to drought stress and potentially has greater adaptability to dryland production than canola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous suspensions of highly luminescent Eu3chelate nanoparticles are prepared by a novel reprecipitation−encapsulation method. An alkyl alkoxysilane encapsulation agent is included during the nanoparticle formation process, forming a nanoparticle encapsulation layer that inhibits aggregation as evidenced by UV−vis spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. In addition, the encapsulated nanoparticles exhibit a small size (10 nm), intense luminescence, and excellent photostability. We estimate that the molar extinction coefficients of the ∼10 nm particles are approximately 5.0 × 107M-1cm-1with a luminescence quantum yield of 6%, indicating a luminescence brightness many times larger than that of conventional fluorescent dyes and comparable to that of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots. The small size, high brightness, highly red-shifted luminescence, and long luminescence lifetimes of the nanoparticles are of interest for luminescence labeling and sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles consisting of a derivative of the blue-emitting conjugated polymer polyfluorene doped with green-, yellow-, and red-emitting conjugated polymers were prepared by a reprecipitation method. The nanoparticles can be described as a system of densely packed chromophores that exhibit efficient energy transfer from the host to the dopant polymers. Fluorescence quenching analysis of the host polymer as a function of the dopant concentration indicates that one energy acceptor molecule can effectively quench 90% of the fluorescence of a nanoparticle consisting of 100−200 host conjugated polymer molecules. A nanoparticle energy transfer model was developed that successfully describes the quenching behavior of a small number of highly efficient energy acceptors per nanoparticle. The fluorescence brightness of the blended polymer nanoparticles was determined to be much higher than that of inorganic quantum dots and dye-loaded silica particles of similar dimensions. The combination of high fluorescence brightness and tunable fluorescence of these blended nanoparticles is promising for ultrasensitive fluorescence-based assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an improved model-based reasoning method to test circuit faults. The testing procedure is applicable even when the target system contains multiple faulty modes. Using our method, the observation could be planned appropriately to guarantee correct solutions to be in the restricted candidate space. The existent consistency-checking method and abductive reasoning method are special cases of our method. The relationship between the testing procedure and the corresponding prime implication is analyzed for algorithmic implementation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]