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Background: Photoreceptor degeneration underpinned by oxidative stress-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death leads to progressive and irreversible vision impairment. Drug treatments that protect against photoreceptor degeneration are currently available in the clinical settings. It has been shown that hyperoside, a flavonol glycoside, protects against neuronal loss in part by suppressing oxidative stress and maintaining the functional integrity of mitochondria. However, whether hyperoside protects against photoreceptor degeneration remains unknown. Methods: To address the pharmacological potentials of hyperoside against oxidative stress-mediated photoreceptor degeneration on molecular, cellular, structural and functional levels, multiple in vitro and in vivo methodologies were employed in the current study, including live-cell imaging, optical coherence tomography, electroretinography, histological/immunohistochemical examinations, transmission electron microscopy, RNA-sequencing and real-time qPCR. Results: The in vitro results demonstrate that hyperoside suppresses oxidative stress-mediated photoreceptor cell death in part by mitigating mitochondrial dysfunction. The in vivo results reveal that hyperoside protects against photooxidative stress-induced photoreceptor morphological, functional and ultrastructural degeneration. Meanwhile, hyperoside treatment offsets the deleterious impact of photooxidative stress on multiple molecular pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of photoreceptor degeneration. Lastly, hyperoside attenuates photoreceptor degeneration-associated microglial inflammatory activation and reactive Müller cell gliosis. Conclusions: All things considered, the present study demonstrates for the first time that hyperoside attenuates oxidative stress-induced photoreceptor mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. The photoreceptor-intrinsic protective effects of hyperoside are corroborated by hyperoside-conferred protection against photooxidative stress-mediated photoreceptor degeneration and perturbation in retinal homeostasis, warranting further evaluation of hyperoside as a photoreceptor protective agent for the treatment of related photoreceptor degenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left bundle branch pacing (LBBP) has emerged as a novel physiological pacing method to produce narrower QRS duration, but whether it could restore mechanical synchrony and improve myocardial work still lacks sufficient evidence. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate mechanical synchrony and myocardial work in LBBP. We collected 20 patients with LBBP due to symptomatic bradycardia and another 29 age-matched patients with right ventricular pacing (RVP). For LBBP patients, cardiac electro-mechanical synchrony and myocardial work were measured at baseline and 7 days after implantation and compared with the RVP patients. In the LBBP group, paced QRS duration and mechanical synchrony were not significantly different from baseline(all P > 0.05), but significantly smaller than that in the RVP group (all P<0.05). Meanwhile, global longitudinal strain (GLS) in LBBP was greater than that in the RVP group (17.7 ± 3.5% vs. 14.8 ± 3.1%, P < 0.05). Global myocardial work index and global constructive work were also better than that in the RVP group(all P<0.05). Global work efficiency was 91.9 ± 3.1%, which was greater when compared with RVP (P < 0.05). LBBP provides better cardiac electro-mechanical synchrony and more effective myocardial work than that in RVP, thus improving global heart function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute measurement of radiant power in the X-ray region is essential for many applications in astrophysics, spectroscopy, and X-ray diagnostics. Comparison between different measuring methods is an effective way to check their reliability. In the present work, a comparison of X-ray radiant power absolute measurement between a free-air ionization chamber and a cryogenic electrical substitution radiometer was performed at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The absolute radiant power obtained by these two methods were mutually compared via a transfer standard detector's spectral responsivity at a photon energy of 10 keV. The result of the comparison showed that the difference was 0.47%. A conclusion was reached that the free-air ionization chamber and the cryogenic electrical substitution radiometer agreed within the combined relative uncertainty of 3.35%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full-duplex (FD) systems have been introduced to provide high data rates for beyond fifth-generation wireless networks through simultaneous transmission of information over the same frequency resources. However, the operation of FD systems is practically limited by self-interference (SI), and efficient SI cancelers are sought to make the FD systems realizable. Typically, polynomial-based cancelers are employed to mitigate the SI; nevertheless, they suffer from high complexity. This article proposes two novel hybrid-layers neural network (NN) architectures to cancel the SI with low complexity. The first architecture is referred to as hybrid-convolutional recurrent NN (HCRNN), whereas the second is termed as hybrid-convolutional recurrent dense NN (HCRDNN).In the HCRNN, a convolutional layer is employed to extract the input data features using a reduced network scale. Moreover, a recurrent layer is then applied to assist in learning the temporal behavior of the input signal from the localized feature map of the convolutional layer. In the HCRDNN, an additional dense layer is exploited to add another degree of freedom for adapting the NN settings in order to achieve the best compromise between the cancellation performance and computational complexity. The complexity analysis of the proposed NN architectures is provided, and the optimum settings for their training are selected. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed HCRNN and HCRDNN-based cancelers attain the same cancellation of the polynomial and the state-of-the-art NN-based cancelers with an astounding computational complexity reduction. Furthermore, the proposed cancelers show high design flexibility for hardware implementation, depending on the system demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-band full-duplex (FD) technology has protruded as one of the most promising solutions for spectrum scarcity, by allowing users to transmit and receive simultaneously at the same center frequency. However, the FD systems suffer from a severe self-interference (SI) caused by the coupling between the transmit and receive antennas. Thereby, the potential of FD systems can not be attained without employing robust SI cancellation techniques. Traditionally, the SI is modeled using the polynomial-based cancelers, which are computationally expensive. Consequently, neural networks (NNs) have been recently introduced to model the SI with lower computational complexity. In this letter, a novel NN structure referred to as the dual neurons- $\ell $ hidden layers NN (DN- $\ell $ HLNN) is proposed. The DN- $\ell $ HLNN exploits two neurons in the first hidden layer to recognize the memory effect of the input and output samples with reduced complexity. The numerical simulations show that the DN- $\ell $ HLNN-based canceler significantly reduces the computational complexity and the memory requirements compared to the polynomial-and the existing NN-based cancelers while maintaining a similar non-linear cancellation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have made a breakthrough in the systemic treatment of patients with advanced tumors. However, little is known about their efficacy and safety in adjuvant settings after the resection of solid tumors. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of programmed death 1 (PD1)/PD-1 ligand (PDL1) inhibitors in adjuvant therapy after tumor resection using Review Manager 5.3, based on published clinical studies. The outcomes included recurrence-free survival (RFS), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs). Results: Eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in the analysis. The use of PD1/PDL1 inhibitors in adjuvant therapy significantly improved RFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.67–0.78, p < 0.00001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in OS between PD1/PDL1 inhibitors and placebo (HR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.74–1.00, p = 0.05). Gender, age, and PDL1 status were independent predictors of RFS with PD1/PDL1 inhibitors. As for the safety analysis results, PD1/PDL1 inhibitors had a higher incidence of fatigue (risk ratio [RR] = 1.22; 95% CI 1.01–1.49, p = 0.04), nausea (RR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.11–1.94, p = 0.007), and pruritus (RR = 1.96; 95% CI 1.57–2.44, p < 0.00001). In addition, the incidence of any grade adverse events increased in the PD1/PDL1 inhibitor group (RR = 1.03; 95% CI 1.02–1.05, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: This is the first meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of PD1/PDL1 inhibitors in adjuvant therapy. The use of PD1/PDL1 inhibitors in adjuvant therapy could significantly reduce the recurrence rate after solid tumor resection. However, the incidence of fatigue, nausea, pruritus, and any grade AEs also increased, which should be monitored with vigilance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels and blood tumor mutation burden (bTMB) have a significant impact on the prognosis of tumor patients. However, their prognostic role in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer patients is still unclear. Methods: We used the Review Manager software (version 5.3) to perform a meta-analysis based on the published literature to explore the prognostic value of ctDNA and bTMB in patients receiving immunotherapy. We extracted the hazard ratios (HRs) of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for each included study and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p -values for analysis. Results: Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Higher ctDNA levels were significantly associated with shorter OS (HR = 3.35, 95%CI = 2.49–4.51, p < 0.00001) and PFS (HR = 3.28, 95%CI = 2.47–4.35, p < 0.00001). The results of ctDNA subgroup analysis showed that high posttreatment ctDNA levels significantly correlated with shorter OS in cancer patients receiving ICIs (HR = 5.09, 95%CI = 1.43–18.07, p = 0.01). Moreover, patients with ctDNA clearance had better OS (HR = 4.94, 95%CI = 2.96–8.26, p < 0.00001). Patients with high posttreatment ctDNA levels had shorter PFS (HR = 3.00, 95%CI = 2.02–4.46, p < 0.00001) and those with ctDNA clearance had longer PFS (HR = 4.61, 95%CI = 2.78–7.65, p < 0.00001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the OS benefits between a high and a low bTMB after ICI therapy (HR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.33–1.37, p = 0.28). Conclusions: The host immune system and tumor burden together determine whether cancer patients can benefit from ICI therapy. Our systematic review and meta-analysis revealed for the first time that the levels of pretreatment and posttreatment ctDNA and the clearance of ctDNA can independently be used as prognostic factors for antitumor immunotherapy, while bTMB cannot. In conclusion, ctDNA levels have great potential as an assistant tool for radiological assessments to make clinical therapeutic decisions. The prognostic utility of bTMB still requires further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prognostic value of memory CD8(+) T cells in cancer patients with immunotherapy. Methods: EMBASE, MEDLINE (PubMed), and Web of Science databases were searched to identify suitabile articles published before March 2021. Risk of bias on the study level was assessed using the Cochrane Bias Risk Assessment Tool. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pooled progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using RevMan 5.4 to evaluate the prognostic impact of memory CD8(+) T cells. Results: In total, nine studies were included in the final analysis. High levels of memory CD8(+) T cells were significantly closely correlated with better progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of cancer patients with immunotherapy (PFS, HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.53–0.78; OS, HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.21–0.65). Memory CD8(+) T cells still have significant prognostic value in cancer patients given immunotherapy alone after excluding of other interfering factors such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy (PFS, HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.48–0.89; OS, HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.13–0.42). However, high memory CD8(+) T cells levels did not correspond to a longer PFS or OS in cancer patients with non-immunotherapy (PFS, HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.63–1.73; OS, HR 1.29, 95% CI 0.48–3.48). Thus, memory CD8(+) T cells might be a promising predictor in cancer patients with immunotherapy. Conclusions: The host's overall immune status, and not only the tumor itself, should be considered to predict the efficacy of immunotherapy in cancer patients. This study is the first to show the significant prognostic value of memory CD8(+) T cells in immunotherapy of cancer patients through systematic review and meta-analysis. Thus, the detection of memory CD8(+) T cells has a considerable value in clinical practice in cancer patients with immunotherapy. Memory CD8(+) T cells may be promising immunotherapy targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Owing to the important mechanistic implications in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, inflammation has been proposed as a druggable target for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Ginseng is a widely used medicinal herb for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. As one of the major chemical components of ginseng, ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) contributes to the cardiovascular effects of ginseng. Meanwhile, anti-inflammatory activity of Rb1 has also been documented. The current work aims to further delineate the pharmacological implications of Rb1 in the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy. Methods: Angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion mouse model was adopted to investigate the effects of Rb1 on cardiac hypertrophic remodeling and associated inflammation in vivo. Furthermore, the mechanisms of actions of Rb1 in modulating the hypertrophic and inflammatory responses were investigated in cardiomyocytes and macrophages, respectively. Results: Rb1 mitigates Ang II–induced cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac inflammation and systemic inflammation in vivo. In cardiomyocytes, Rb1 directly counteracts the pro-hypertrophic effects of Ang II and phenylephrine and maintains the mitochondrial function. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages, Rb1 decreases the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) and reduces the production of inflammation mediators such as interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Rb1 also suppresses the expression of pro-hypertrophic microRNA-155 (miR-155) in LPS- or Ang II-stimulated macrophages. Furthermore, in activated macrophages, miR-155 is in part accountable for the suppressive effect of Rb1 on the production of IL-6, an inflammation mediator with pro-hypertrophic functions in the heart. Conclusion: The work here provides novel experimental evidence supporting the notion that Rb1 protects against cardiac hypertrophy in part through suppressing the inflammatory mechanisms that promotes the pathological remodeling of the heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-interference (SI) is considered as a main challenge in full-duplex (FD) systems. Therefore, efficient SI cancelers are required for the influential deployment of FD systems in beyond fifth-generation wireless networks. Existing methods for SI cancellation have mostly considered the polynomial representation of the SI signal at the receiver. These methods are shown to operate well in practice while requiring high computational complexity. Alternatively, neural networks (NNs) are envisioned as promising candidates for modeling the SI signal with reduced computational complexity. Consequently, in this article, two novel low complexity NN structures, referred to as the ladder-wise grid structure (LWGS) and moving-window grid structure (MWGS), are proposed. The core idea of these two structures is to mimic the non-linearity and memory effect introduced to the SI signal in order to achieve proper SI cancellation while exhibiting low computational complexity. The simulation results reveal that the LWGS and MWGS NN-based cancelers attain the same cancellation performance of the polynomial-based canceler while providing 49.87% and 34.19% complexity reduction, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute measurement of photon flux under high‐fluence rate X‐rays was required in photon diagnostics for X‐ray lasers. A free‐air ionization chamber used for the reproducibility of air‐kerma in high‐fluence rate X‐ray was designed, and the monoenergetic X‐rays flux of (6–20) keV were absolutely measured on Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The energy spectrum of the monoenergetic X‐rays was measured using a silicon drift detector, and the proportion of higher harmonics was determined. The saturation curve, air attenuation correction factor, and composite loss correction factor of the free‐air ionization chamber were obtained experimentally. The air‐kerma rate for the (6~20) keV monoenergetic X‐ray was measured accurately, and the relative combined standard uncertainty of the air‐kerma is 0.61%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fall-related injuries exert an enormous health burden on older adults in long-term care (LTC). Softer landing surfaces, such as those provided by low-stiffness "compliant" flooring, may prevent fall-related injuries by decreasing the forces applied to the body during fall impact. Our primary objective was to assess the clinical effectiveness of compliant flooring at preventing serious fall-related injuries among LTC residents.Methods and Findings: The Flooring for Injury Prevention (FLIP) Study was a 4-year, randomized superiority trial in 150 single-occupancy resident rooms at a single Canadian LTC site. In April 2013, resident rooms were block randomized (1:1) to installation of intervention compliant flooring (2.54 cm SmartCells) or rigid control flooring (2.54 cm plywood) covered with identical hospital-grade vinyl. The primary outcome was serious fall-related injury over 4 years that required an emergency department visit or hospital admission and a treatment procedure or diagnostic evaluation in hospital. Secondary outcomes included minor fall-related injury, any fall-related injury, falls, and fracture. Outcomes were ascertained by blinded assessors between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2017 and analyzed by intention to treat. Adverse outcomes were not assessed. During follow-up, 184 residents occupied 74 intervention rooms, and 173 residents occupied 76 control rooms. Residents were 64.3% female with mean (SD) baseline age 81.7 (9.5) years (range 51.1 to 104.6 years), body mass index 25.9 (7.7) kg/m2, and follow-up 1.64 (1.39) years. 1,907 falls were reported; 23 intervention residents experienced 38 serious injuries (from 29 falls in 22 rooms), while 23 control residents experienced 47 serious injuries (from 34 falls in 23 rooms). Compliant flooring did not affect odds of ≥1 serious fall-related injury (12.5% intervention versus 13.3% control, odds ratio [OR]: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.52 to 1.84, p = 0.950) or ≥2 serious fall-related injuries (5.4% versus 7.5%, OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.31 to 1.75, p = 0.500). Compliant flooring did not affect rate of serious fall-related injuries (0.362 versus 0.422 per 1,000 bed nights, rate ratio [RR]: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.45 to 2.39, p = 0.925; 0.038 versus 0.053 per fall, RR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.38 to 1.71, p = 0.560), rate of falls with ≥1 serious fall-related injury (0.276 versus 0.303 per 1,000 bed nights, RR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.52 to 1.79, p = 0.920), or time to first serious fall-related injury (0.237 versus 0.257, hazard ratio [HR]: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.52 to 1.62, p = 0.760). Compliant flooring did not affect any secondary outcome in this study. Study limitations included the following: findings were specific to 2.54 cm SmartCells compliant flooring installed in LTC resident rooms, standard fall and injury prevention interventions were in use throughout the study and may have influenced the observed effect of compliant flooring, and challenges with concussion detection in LTC residents may have prevented estimation of the effect of compliant flooring on fall-related concussions.Conclusions: In contrast to results from previous retrospective and nonrandomized studies, this study found that compliant flooring underneath hospital-grade vinyl was not effective at preventing serious fall-related injuries in LTC. Future studies are needed to identify effective methods for preventing fall-related injuries in LTC.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01618786. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Cardiac lead perforation is a rare but potentially life-threatening event. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performances of chest radiography, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and electrocardiography (ECG)-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT in the assessment of cardiac lead perforation.Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the ethics review board of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital at Sun Yat-Sen University (Guangzhou, China), and the need to obtain informed consent was waived. Between May 2010 and Oct 2017, 52 patients were clinically suspected to have a cardiac lead perforation and received chest radiography, TTE and ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT. Among them, 13 patients were identified as having cardiac lead perforation. The diagnostic performances of these three modalities were evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves using a composite reference standard of surgical and electrophysiological results and clinical follow-up. The areas under ROCs (AUROCs) were compared with the McNemar test.Results: The accuracies of chest radiography, TTE and ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT imaging for the diagnosis of cardiac lead perforation were 73.1%, 82.7% and 98.1%, respectively. ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT had a higher AUROC than chest radiography (p < 0.001) and TTE (p < 0.001).Conclusions: ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT is superior to both chest radiography and TTE imaging for the assessment of cardiac lead perforation.Key Points: • ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT has an accuracy of 98.1% in the diagnosis of cardiac lead perforation. • The AUROC of ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT is higher than those of chest radiography and TTE imaging. • ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT imaging has better diagnostic performance than both chest radiography and TTE imaging for the assessment of cardiac lead perforation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathological angiogenesis leads to the development of retinal vasculopathies and causes severe vision impairment. Increased understanding of the mechanisms underlying the angiogenic behavior of retinal endothelial cells helps provide new insights for developing treatment of retinal vasculopathies. Pro-angiogenic function of miR-210 has previously been identified. However, the functional implication of miR-210 in retinal endothelial cells remains unknown. Human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRECs) were employed to investigate the impact of miR-210 on the angiogenic capacity of retinal endothelial cells. It was observed that without affecting the viability of HRECs, miR-210 significantly suppressed the migration and capillary-like tube formation in HRECs. Moreover, pro-angiogenic insulin growth factor 2 (IGF2) was newly identified as a direct target of miR-210 in HRECs. MiR-210 decreased the expression of IGF2 at both mRNA and protein levels in HRECs. IGF2-simulated activation of p38 MAPK was attenuated by miR-210 in HRECs. Recombinant IGF2 protein rescued miR-210-induced impairment of tube formation in HRECs. Therefore, in contrast to the previously reported pro-angiogenic function of miR-210, the current work reveals novel anti-angiogenic activity of miR-210 in HRECs. Furthermore, IGF2 is identified for the first time as a direct target of miR-210 in HRECs, adding new mechanistic insights into the expression regulation of pro-angiogenic IGF2 in human retinal endothelial cells. The current work helps increase the understanding of regulatory mechanisms underlying retinal endothelial cell physiology, justifying further evaluation for the therapeutic implications of miR-210/IGF2 interaction in the treatment of related retinal vasculopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Photoreceptor death leads to vision impairment in several retinal degenerative disorders. Therapies protecting photoreceptor from degeneration remain to be developed. Anti-inflammation, anti-oxidative stress, and neuroprotective effects of celastrol have been demonstrated in a variety of disease models. The current study aimed to investigate the photoreceptor protective effect of celastrol.Methods: Bright light-induced retinal degeneration in BALB/c mice was used, and morphological, functional, and molecular changes of retina were evaluated in the absence and presence of celastrol treatment.Results: Significant morphological and functional protection was observed as a result of celastrol treatment in bright light-exposed BALB/c mice. Celastrol treatment resulted in suppression of cell death in photoreceptor cells, alleviation of oxidative stress in the retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors, downregulation of retinal expression of proinflammatory genes, and suppression of microglia activation and gliosis in the retina. Additionally, leukostasis was found to be induced in the retinal vasculature in light-exposed BALB/c mice, which was significantly attenuated by celastrol treatment. In vitro, celastrol attenuated all-trans-retinal-induced oxidative stress in cultured APRE19 cells. Moreover, celastrol treatment significantly suppressed lipopolysaccharides-stimulated expression of proinflammatory genes in both APRE19 and RAW264.7 cells.Conclusions: The results demonstrated for the first time that celastrol prevents against light-induced retinal degeneration through inhibition of retinal oxidative stress and inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. The current study evaluated the interventional effects of a naturally occurring compound Notoginsenoside R1 (NR1) on atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice. Methods and Results: The atherosclerotic lesion was significantly alleviated by NR1 treatment and this attenuation was marked by reduction in lipid deposition, fibrosis and oxidative stress. Increased serum levels of GSH and SOD and decreased level of MDH were observed in NR1-treated ApoE−/− mice. NR1 treatment also significantly decreased the levels of CHO, TG, ox-LDL and increased the level of HDL. Additionally, the levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α and γ-IFN were markedly reduced in NR1-treated ApoE−/− mice. Furthermore, significantly increased aortic expression of miR-26a, miR-21, miR-126a, miR-132, miR-146 and miR-155 and decreased expression of miR-20a and miR-92a were observed in the vehicle-treated ApoE−/− mice. While NR1 treatment led to a significant reduction in the expression of miR-21, miR-26a, miR-126 and increased expression of miR-20a. Conclusion: Collectively, our results demonstrated for the first time the anti-atherosclerotic effects of NR1, which could be in part mediated through its multiple targeting effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid metabolism and microRNA expression. These results therefore justify further evaluation of NR1 as a therapeutic agent treating atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photon beam lines from beam port 3B1 recently constructed at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (BSRL) are beam lines for soft x-ray lithography and VUV-visible spectroscopy alternately. The commissioning of these beam lines has been carried out under both the parasitic and dedicated modes of the storage ring Beijing electron-positron collider (BEPC). This article reports the status of these two beam lines as well as the comparison of the preliminary measurement results with the calculated synchrotron radiation spectra of these beam lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]