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Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of intravenous administration of a microRNA-1 (miR-1) agomir on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced heart failure (HF) in mice. Methods Mouse models of HF were established by intraperitoneal injection of ISO for 28 consecutive days at a daily dose of 60 mg/kg, and the control mice were injected with normal saline in the same manner. The success of modeling was verified by echocardiography on the next day after completion of the injections. On days 1 and 4 after successful modeling, the mice were received injections of a miR-1 agomir (miR-1 group) or a control agomir (model group) via the tail vein; the control mice were injected with normal saline only. The 3 groups of mice were again subjected to echocardiography on day 7. At the end of the experiment, the mice were sacrificed for assessing ventricular remodeling using HE staining, Sirius Red staining, WGA staining and Ki67 assay; the levels of serum NT-proBNP were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the expression of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU, the target gene of miR-1) in the cardiac tissues was detected with Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. Results The HF model was successfully established by intraperitoneal injections of ISO for 28 consecutive days. Intravenous administration of the miR-1 agomir significantly improved cardiac function and ventricular remodeling. Compared with that in the model group, the serum level of NT-proBNP in the HF models was significantly lowered following treatment with the miR-1 agomir, but still remained higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The results of Western blotting and immunohistochemistry demonstrated a significant reduction of the expression of MCU in the cardiac tissues of miR-1-treated mice (P < 0.05). Conclusion Intravenous injection of the miR-1 agomir can improve ISO-induced HF in mice probably by modulating MCU expression in the cardiac tissues.

The prevalence and accumulation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were frequently detected in biological wastewater treatment processes, which might cause potential health crisis to human. In present study, the fates of ARGs during two different aerobic granular sludge (AGS) cultivation processes were investigated. The results showed that traditional AGS (T-AGS) cultivation process and enhanced AGS (E-AGS) cultivation process had significant differences (P

CdTe films, Ag nanoparticles, and Ag/CdTe composites are successfully fabricated on substrates by means of the physical vapor deposition process. The morphological structure, crystal growth and bandgap of the samples are specifically characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffractometer, and UV–vis spectrophotometer. Picosecond (ps) Z‐scan technology is used to investigate the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of the composites under 532 nm. The results indicate that all samples exhibit saturated absorption nonlinear absorption properties and self‐dispersion nonlinear refraction properties. In addition, Ag nanoparticles can improve the NLO properties of Ag/CdTe composites, and this improvement is more obvious with the increase of Ag power. The results show that the excellent properties of the Ag/CdTe composites are expected to make them an ideal material for use in the photoelectric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poplar is a major afforestation species which is widely planted worldwide. With the continuous expansion of poplar plant areas, the occurrence of poplar canker disease increased rapidly, causing serious damage to the trees. Currently, the major controlling method for poplar canker is chemical agents, but side effects such as environmental pollution and pathogen resistance are becoming more and more serious. There is an urgent need for developing effective non-polluting means to control the canker disease. By using microbiomes as a research tool, beneficial microorganisms that enhance plant disease resistance can be obtained. These antagonistic bacteria can inhibit the growth of canker pathogens without environmental pollution, and have good biological-control potential. This review mainly explores the role and mechanisms of antagonistic bacteria in the control of poplar canker, including inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria through nutrient and water competition, secreting bacteriostatic substances, improving plant disease resistance to resist pathogen infection, and improving the host's own reactive oxygen species tolerance, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the development of efficient and specific bacterial agents, and scientific prevention and control technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 1-bit phase reconfigurable fixed-frequency beam steering leaky-wave antenna (FBSLWA) with wide-angle steering is proposed in this paper. By controlling two p–i–n diodes on the branches of the element, a stable 180° phase difference is realized. Moreover, the open stop-band effect at the broadside radiation is suppressed by reducing the reflection coefficients of the element. The proposed FBSLWA can achieve wide-angle steering within a frequency bandwidth of 10.4 GHz–11.8 GHz. As for the measured results, they show that the achievable beam steering ranges of the FBSLWA at 10.4 GHz, 11.0 GHz, and 11.8 GHz are −61° to +59°, −64° to +71°, and −62° to +58° respectively, with measured peak gains of 12.1 dBi, 13.9 dBi, and 11.7 dBi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]