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Aims Premature ventricular contractions (PVC) and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) are commonly observed in light chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA), but their association with prognosis is still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of PVCs and NSVT in patients with moderate-to-advanced AL-CA. Methods and results We retrospectively included patients with AL-CA at modified 2004 Mayo stages II-IIIb between February 2014 and December 2020. Twenty-four-hour Holter recordings were assessed on admission. The outcomes included (i) new onset of adverse ventricular arrhythmia (VA) or sudden cardiac death (SCD) and (ii) cardiac death during follow-up. Of the 143 patients studied (60.41 ± 11.06 years, male 64.34%), 132 (92.31%) had presence of PVC, and 50 (34.97%) had NSVT on Holter. Twelve (8.4%) patients died in hospital and 131 patients were followed up (median 24.4 months), among whom 71 patients had cardiac death, and 15 underwent adverse VA/SCD. NSVT [hazard ratio (HR): 13.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.06–60.18, P < 0.001], log-transformed PVC counts (HR: 1.46, 95%CI: 1.15–1.86, P = 0.002) and PVC burden (HR: 1.43 95%CI:1.14–1.80, P = 0.002) were predictive of new onset of adverse VA/SCD. The highest tertile of PVC counts (HR: 2.33, 95%CI: 1.27–4.28, P = 0.006) and PVC burden (HR: 2.58, 95%CI: 1.42–4.69, P = 0.002), rather than NSVT (HR: 1.16, 95%CI: 0.67–1.98, P = 0.603), was associated with cardiac death. Higher PVC counts/burden provided incremental value on modified 2004 Mayo stage in predicting cardiac death, with C index increasing from 0.681 to 0.712 and 0.717, respectively (P values <0.05). Conclusion PVC count, burden, and NSVT significantly correlated with adverse VA/SCD during follow-up in patients with AL-CA. Higher PVC counts/burdens added incremental value for predicting cardiac death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PKA signaling is important for the post-translational modification of proteins, especially those in cardiomyocytes involved in cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. PKA activity is spatially and temporally regulated through compartmentalization by protein kinase A anchoring proteins. Cypher/ZASP, a member of PDZ-LIM domain protein family, is a cytoskeletal protein that forms multiprotein complexes at sarcomeric Z-lines. It has been demonstrated that Cypher/ZASP plays a pivotal structural role in the structural integrity of sarcomeres, and several of its mutations are associated with myopathies including dilated cardiomyopathy. Here we show that Cypher/ZASP, interacting specifically with the type II regulatory subunit RIIα of PKA, acted as a typical protein kinase A anchoring protein in cardiomyocytes. In addition, we show that Cypher/ZASP itself was phosphorylated at Ser(265) and Ser(296) by PKA. Furthermore, the PDZ domain of Cypher/ZASP interacted with the L-type calcium channel through its C-terminal PDZ binding motif. Expression of Cypher/ZASP facilitated PKA-mediated phosphorylation of the L-type calcium channel in vitro. Additionally, the phosphorylation of the L-type calcium channel at Ser(1928) induced by isoproterenol was impaired in neonatal Cypher/ZASP-null cardiomyocytes. Moreover, Cypher/ZASP interacted with the Ser/Thr phosphatase calcineurin, which is a phosphatase for the L-type calcium channel. Taken together, our data strongly suggest that Cypher/ZASP not only plays a structural role for the sarcomeric integrity, but is also an important sarcomeric signaling scaffold in regulating the phosphorylation of channels or contractile proteins.

The electro-photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin in aqueous solution was investigated using single factor test by the potassium permanganate method for measuring the values of chemical oxygen demand (CODMn). Batch experiments were carried out successfully under different conditions, including initial amoxicillin concentration, calcium titanate dosage, pH, UV irradiation time, electrolyte and temperature. The experimental results show that there is a great difference between electro-photocatalytic and photocatalitic degradation. The maximum electro-photocatalytic degradation efficiency can increase to 79% under the experimental conditions of 200 mL amoxicillin solution (100 mg L-1) with 0.5 g calcium titanate by pH=3 for 120 min irradiation and 0.058 g sodium chloride as electrolyte at 318.5K. In addition, the reaction rate constant of 0.00848~0.01349 min-1, activation energy of 9.8934 kJ mol-1 and the pre-exponential factor of 0.5728 were obtained based on kinetics studies, indicating that the electro-photocatalytic reaction approximately followed the first-order kinetics model.

In this work, the O,O’-dithiophosphate derivatives of S-4-methylbenzyl-O,O’-di(phenyl) dithiophosphate (Inhi-Ph) and S-4-methyl benzyl-O,O’-di(4-bromophenyl) dithiophosphate (Inhi-BrPh) were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1H, 13C and 31P NMR. Meanwhile, the corrosion inhibition of Q235 steel in HCl solution by synthesized inhibitors was evaluated by weight loss and electrochemical measurements. Measurement results indicate that the two inhibitors of Inhi-Ph and Inhi-BrPh are mixed-type inhibitor, the inhibition efficiency increase with inhibitor concentration increasing, decrease with HCl concentration and temperature increasing. The adsorption of Inhi-Ph and Inhi-BrPh on Q235 steel surface obeys Langmuir isotherm, which belongs to chemical adsorption.

Context The association between free fatty acids (FFAs) and unfavorable clinical outcomes has been reported in the general population. However, evidence in the secondary prevention population is relatively scarce. Objective We aimed to examine the relationship between FFA and cardiovascular risk in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods This study was based on a multicenter cohort of patients with CAD enrolled from January 2015 to May 2019. The primary outcome was all-cause death. Secondary outcomes included cardiac death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of death, myocardial infarction, and unplanned revascularization. Results During a follow-up of 2 years, there were 468 (3.0%) all-cause deaths, 335 (2.1%) cardiac deaths, and 1279 (8.1%) MACE. Elevated FFA levels were independently associated with increased risks of all-cause death, cardiac death, and MACE (all P <.05). Moreover, When FFA were combined with an original model derived from the Cox regression, there were significant improvements in discrimination and reclassification for prediction of all-cause death (net reclassification improvement [NRI] 0.245, P <.001; integrated discrimination improvement [IDI] 0.004, P =.004), cardiac death (NRI 0.269, P <.001; IDI 0.003, P =.006), and MACE (NRI 0.268, P <.001; IDI 0.004, P <.001). Notably, when stratified by age, we found that the association between FFA with MACE risk appeared to be stronger in patients aged ≥60 years compared with those aged <60 years. Conclusion In patients with CAD, FFAs are associated with all-cause death, cardiac death, and MACE. Combined evaluation of FFAs with other traditional risk factors could help identify high-risk individuals who may require closer monitoring and aggressive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to simultaneously tailor the on-demand heat release and in situ information encryption properties of high energy metastable intermolecular composites (MICs) to meet complex application environments represents an important endeavour toward advanced self-protected energetic materials. Herein, we report a simple yet efficient strategy for the construction of a multifunctional nano-Al/MnO2 MIC via a combined electrophoretic deposition and molecule-level interface tailoring approach. Notably, the orientation of the molecule lauryl-OSO3 can be adjusted through applying an electric field force and changing the affinity between polar molecules, thus achieving a wettability switch for MICs with uniform microstructure distribution and high purity. Interestingly, information encryption was demonstrated by constructing a hydrophilic–hydrophobic interface and two kinds of information encryption procedures were realized via superhydrophobization and superhydrophilization of the surface. More importantly, the highly controllable heat release properties of the product were demonstrated, largely contributing to the heat-release stability improvement (HRSI) and on-demand remote clearance or sheering properties (RC/SPs) of the product under changeable circumstances. This work provides a paradigm for the construction of a smart MIC chip and scientifically reveals the role of wettability in its heat release and information encryption capabilities, which may further broaden its potential application space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three novel hexagonal Si–C–N structures, namely SiC3N3, SiC7N6, and SiC13N14, were constructed on the basis of the α-Si3N4 crystal structure. The stability of the three structures is demonstrated by analyzing their elastic constants and phonon dispersion spectra and by calculating their formation energies. The calculated band structures and partial densities of states suggest that the SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 structures possess hole conductivity. The electron orbital analyses indicate that the SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 crystals possess three-dimensional and one-dimensional conductivity, respectively. SiC13N14 is a semiconductor with a wide bandgap of 4.39 eV. Based on two different hardness models and indentation shear stress calculations, the Vickers hardness values of SiC3N3, SiC7N6, and SiC13N14 are estimated to be 28.04/28.45/16.18 GPa, 31.17/34.19/20.24 GPa, and 40.60/41.59/36.40 GPa. This result indicates that SiC3N3 and SiC7N6 are conductive hard materials while SiC13N14 is a quasi superhard material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]