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Glioblastomas (GBM) are most common types of primary brain tumors and miRNAs play an important role in pathogenesis of glioblastomas. Here, we reported a new miRNA, miR-3154, which regulates glioblastoma proliferation and metastasis. miR-3154 was elevated in glioblastoma tissue and cell lines, and its elevation was associated with grade of glioblastomas. Knockdown of miR-3154 in cell lines weakened ability of proliferation and colony formation, and caused cell cycle arrested and higher percentage of apoptosis. Knockdown of miR-3154 also impaired ability of migration and invasion in glioblastoma cells. In mechanism, miR-3154 bound directly to Tumor Protein P53 Inducible Nuclear Protein 1 (TP53INP1), down-regulating TP53INP1 expression at both mRNA and protein level. Silence of TP53INP1 reversed the effect of miR-3154 knockdown on proliferation and metastasis of glioblastoma cells. These findings show that miR-3154 promotes glioblastoma proliferation and metastasis via targeting TP53INP1.

With the renewable energy application fields of film capacitors gradually expanding, mining film capacitors' data is an important issue. When the aging mechanism and environment are unfamiliar, it will be hard to extract the capacitance's variation law and predict its changes. At the same time, the parallel operation of film capacitor components also brings practical needs and data basis for collaborative prediction. In this work, the capacitance of five film capacitors at room temperature and humidity for 70 days was measured and the characteristics of capacitance variation were analyzed. Then, the capacitance law extraction, single prediction, and collaborative prediction methods for film capacitors were proposed based on the smoothing splines theory. Finally, the effectiveness and application potential of the single prediction and collaborative prediction methods were verified by actual data. The performance of the single prediction and collaborative prediction methods is evaluated by error analysis. The single prediction and collaborative prediction methods proposed in this work can also provide a reference for the prediction and evaluation of other parameters like equivalent series resistance of film capacitors, and help to effectively and accurately explore the aging mechanism.

Near-infrared light (NIR) triggered transdermal drug delivery systems are of great interest due to their on-demand drug release, which enable to enhance drug treatment efficiency as well as reduce side effect. Herein, a NIR-triggered microneedle (MN) patch array has been fabricated through depositing the photothermal conversion agent and anti-diabetic drug-loaded polymer vesicles with upper critical solution temperature (UCST) into dissolvable polymer matrix. The UCST-type polymer has a clearing point temperature of 41 °C and the drug-loaded polymer vesicles present excellent NIR-triggered and temperature responsive drug release behavior in vitro due to the disassociation of polymer vesicles upon NIR irradiation. After applying MNs to diabetic rats, significant hypoglycemic effect is achieved upon interval NIR irradiation and the blood glucose concentration can decrease to normal state for several hours, which enables to achieve the goal of on-demand drug release. This work suggests that the NIR-triggered MN drug release device has a potential application in the treatment of diabetes, especially for those requiring an active drug release manner.

This study examines the international performance of emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) from a strategic configuration perspective. We propose that the strategic patterns of EMNEs that deliver growth and/or profitability are characterized by different configurations of environment, strategy, and managerial resource factors. Therefore, identifying and assessing strategic configurations is key to understanding EMNEs’ international performance. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we analyze a multi-sourced dataset of Chinese firms’ outward investment and identify multiple equifinal strategic configurations that are associated with superior international performance in terms of sales growth and/or profitability. These findings inform the development of a taxonomy of EMNEs’ strategic configurations corresponding with three performance groups, namely profitable growth, profitable niche, and poor performers.

The traditional pretreatment leads to the recalcitration of C-C bonds during lignin fractionation, thus hindering their depolymerization into aromatic monomers. It is essential to develop an applicable approach to extract noncondensed lignin for its high-value applications. In this work, noncondensed lignins were extracted from poplar sawdust using recyclable p-toluenesulfonic acid for cleaving lignin-carbohydrate complex bonds effectively and ethanol as a stabilization reagent to inhibit lignin condensation. Lignin yield of 83.74% was recovered by 3 mol/L acid in ethanol at 85 °C for 5 h, and carbohydrates were well preserved (retaining 98.97% cellulose and 50.01% hemicelluloses). During lignin fractionation, the acid concentration and extraction time were the major drivers of condensation. Ethanol reacted with lignin at the α-position to prevent the formation of the condensed structure. The extracted lignin depolymerized over the Pd/C catalysts gave a yield of 50.35% of aromatic monomers, suggesting that the novel extraction process provided a promising way for noncondensed lignin production.

Ischemic accumulation of succinate causes cerebral damage by excess production of reactive oxygen species. However, it is unknown whether ischemic accumulation of succinate affects neural stem cell proliferation. In this study, we established a rat model of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. We found that succinate levels increased in serum and brain tissue (cortex and hippocampus) after ischemia/reperfusion injury. Oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation stimulated primary neural stem cells to produce abundant succinate. Succinate can be converted into diethyl succinate in cells. Exogenous diethyl succinate inhibited the proliferation of mouse-derived C17.2 neural stem cells and increased the infarct volume in the rat model of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Exogenous diethyl succinate also increased the succinylation of the Rho family GTPase Cdc42 but repressed Cdc42 GTPase activity in C17.2 cells. Increasing Cdc42 succinylation by knockdown of the desuccinylase Sirt5 also inhibited Cdc42 GTPase activity in C17.2 cells. Our findings suggest that ischemic accumulation of succinate decreases Cdc42 GTPase activity by induction of Cdc42 succinylation, which inhibits the proliferation of neural stem cells and aggravates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Degenerative joint disease (DJD) can be associated with disc displacement (DD) in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. However, the relationship between different types of DDs and DJD remains unclear.To investigate the odds ratios of different types of sagittal and coronal DDs confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DJD confirmed by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in TMD patients.Radiographic data from 69 males and 232 females were collected for analysis. CBCT was used to diagnose DJD, with criteria including erosion, osteophytes, generalised sclerosis and cysts in the joint. Eight types of DDs were evaluated by sagittal and coronal MRIs: NA, no abnormality; SW, sideways; ADDR, anterior with reduction; ADDR+SW; ADDNR, anterior without reduction; ADDNR + SW; single SW; PDD, posterior; PDD + SW. The odds ratios of DJD in joints with different types of DDs were determined after joint correlation, age and gender adjustment.Compared with NA, the odds ratio of DJD in ADDR was 2.397 (95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.070-5.368), ADDR + SW was 4.808 (95% CI: 1.709-3.528), ADDNR was 29.982 (95% CI: 15.512-57.950) and ADDNR + SW was 25.974 (95% CI: 12.743-52.945). Erosion was significantly increased in ADDR, ADDR + SW, ADDNR and ADDNR + SW; osteophytes were significantly increased in ADDR + SW, ADDNR and ADDNR + SW; and generalised sclerosis and cysts were significantly increased in ADDNR and ADDNR + SW. There were no significant associations between single SW, PDD, PDD + SW and the DJD.ADDR, ADDR+SW, ADDNR and ADDNR+SW were associated with DJD. ADDNR had a significantly higher prevalence of DJD than ADDR. There were no significant relationships between single SW, PDD, PDD + SW and the DJD.

ObjectiveThis study aims to develop a new category scheme for the profile morphology of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) based on lateral cephalometric morphology.MethodsFive hundred and one adult patients (91 males and 410 females) with TMD were enrolled in this study. Cluster tendency analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed using 36 lateral cephalometric measurements. Classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm was used to construct a binary decision tree based on the clustering results.ResultsTwelve principal components were discovered in the TMD patients and were responsible for 91.2% of the variability. Cluster tendency of cephalometric data from TMD patients were confirmed and three subgroups were revealed by cluster analysis: (a) cluster 1: skeletal class I malocclusion; (b) cluster 2: skeletal class I malocclusion with increased facial height; (c) cluster 3: skeletal class II malocclusion with clockwise rotation of the mandible. Besides, CART model was built and the eight key morphological indicators from the decision tree model were convenient for clinical application, with the prediction accuracy up to 85.4%.ConclusionOur study proposed a novel category system for the profile morphology of TMDs with three subgroups according to the cephalometric morphology, which may supplement the morphological understanding of TMD and benefit the management of the categorical treatment of TMD.

Along with the rapid development of digital information technology, e-government is of great potential because it is a new form of conducting public administration and a way of demonstrating governmental innovation. The literature suggests that foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly associated with the continuing development of e-government in China. Using the Annual Census of Industrial Enterprises and e-government scores of government portals, this study examines the effects of e-government on FDI and how government subsidies mediate relationships between e-government and FDI. Our results show that e-government positively affects FDI, and government subsidies have a positive effect on foreign enterprises' investment efficiency by playing a mediating role between e-government efficiency and FDI. The findings make both theoretical and practical implications related to the role, provision and acquisition of government subsidies; e-government systems and FDI; e-government scores and government efficiency; and firms maintaining focus on areas that are government priorities.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been seen as an effective strategy that emerging market multinational enterprises increasingly adopt in order to cope with the liability of origin, yet much less attention has been paid to the micro-foundations of such a strategy. It remains less explored as to how CSR is leveraged by individuals—that is, expatriates. Addressing this research gap, a total of 150 valid survey responses from 38 Chinese multinationals were tested using the structural equation modeling technique. The results show that expatriates’ cross-cultural competence and engagement in CSR facilitate the learning efficiency of subsidiaries. The findings also suggest that expatriates’ effort positively mediates the relationship between CSR and performance outcomes (at both individual level and organizational level). Embracing the micro-foundations perspective in CSR research, this study offers both theoretical and practical implications for future international management research.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still ongoing throughout the world and has resulted in considerable fatality. Inflammation and cardiac injury are commonly observed in these cases. However, the association between the hyper-inflammatory response and cardiac injury among patients with COVID-19 remains unknown. Methods The study was designed based on severe and critically ill patients with COVID-19. Information on demographics and baseline clinical characteristics as well as laboratory examinations were collected from the electronic medical records and analyzed. Results There were 32.4% (n = 107) of patients presenting with cardiac injury. The median age was 67 years, and 48.8% (n = 161) of patients were men. Hypertension was the most common in 161 (48.8%) patients, followed by diabetes (16.7%, n = 55) and coronary heart disease (13.3%, n = 44). Moreover, compared to cases without cardiac injury, those with cardiac injury were older, had higher proportions of coronary heart disease, had significantly elevated leukocyte counts and concentrations of N-terminal pro-B-Type natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), IL-6, and IL-8, but lower lymphocyte counts. A significant positive correlation was observed between high-sensitivity troponin I and hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-2R, IL-6 and IL-8. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that hs-CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 were independent risk factors for cardiac injury. Conclusions Pro-inflammatory cytokines were associated with cardiac injury among severe and critically ill patients with COVID-19, suggesting that hyper-inflammatory response may involve in cardiac injury.

The impact of freedom of digital media in host countries has been under-researched in the literature of the internationalization decisions of emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs). Through integrating the stakeholder perspective with transaction cost economics, we examine the role of host-country digital media in influencing the foreign direct investment (FDI) entry mode choice of EMNEs and its boundary conditions associated with internal and external corruption-controlling efforts. Using a panel dataset of Chinese listed manufacturing firms’ outward FDI between 2010 and 2016, our empirical analyses indicate that freedom of digital media in a host country has positive impact on an EMNE’s wholly owned subsidiary choice as FDI entry mode. This main relationship is strengthened by EMNE transparent information disclosure and external control of corruption in the host country.

Pressure is a significant parameter to investigate the properties of matter. The phenomenon of pressure-induced magnetic phase transition has attracted great interest due to its ability to detect superconducting behaviour at high pressures in diamond anvil cell. However, detection of the local sample magnetic properties is a great challenge due to the small sample chamber volume. Recently, in situ pressure-induced phase transition has been detected using optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) method of the nitrogen vacancies (NV) centers in diamond. However, the NV centers with four orientation axes and temperature-dependent zero-field-splitting present some difficulty to interpret the observed ODMR spectra. Here, we investigate and characterize the optical and spin properties of the implanted silicon vacancy defects in 4H-SiC, which is single-axis and temperature-independent zero-field-splitting. Using this technique, we observe the magnetic phase transition of a magnetic Nd2Fe14B sample at about 7 GPa. Finally, the critical temperature-pressure phase diagram of the superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.66 is mapped and refined. These experiments pave the way for the silicon vacancy-based quantum sensor being used in situ magnetic detection at high pressures.

Objective: We aimed to establish an automated digital tool for tooth surface and bracket separation and feature extraction based on deep learning algorithms and examine its application in a bracket position assessment scenario. Materials and methods: Our segmentation network for tooth surface and bracket separation was trained using dataset A containing 978 bonded teeth, 20 original teeth, and 20 brackets generated by scanners. The accuracy and separation time of the network were tested by dataset B including another 118 bonded teeth. The clinical crown center, bracket center, and orientations of separated teeth and brackets were extracted. This tool was then applied for bracket position assessment, with the linear distribution and angular deviation of bonded brackets being recorded.Results: This tool performed tooth surfaces and bracket separation in 2.9 ms per tooth with accuracies of 98.93% and 97.42% (P Conclusions: The tool has satisfactory efficiency and accuracy and can be operated without original teeth data. It can be utilized in the bracket position assessment scenario with ease.Clinical Significance: With the help of this tool, unnecessary bracket removal can be avoided when evaluating bracket positions and changing treatment plans. It holds the promise of producing retainers and orthodontic appliances in advance without original tooth data.

3D porous nano-LiMn2O4 (nano-LMO) is successfully prepared at 250 °C by a low temperature pyrolysis, using porous MnO2 and lithium acetate as reactants. The as-formed porous samples are demonstrated to be constructed by well-defined and uniform cubic nanocrystals with particle sizes regulated from tens to hundreds of nanometers by adjusting the annealing temperature. Due to its proper particle size with perfect crystallization (∼50 nm) and rich pores, sample LMO-265, prepared at 265 °C, exhibits high performance as an aqueous lithium ion cathode. It can present a high specific capacity of 102 mAh g−1 at a current density of 5C with a greatly improved rate capability (57.3%, 68C) and capacity retention (70.7%, after 5000 cycles at 13.5C) in 1 M Li2SO4. When assembled with commercial used active carbon (AC) to form an aqueous hybrid capacitor, it can deliver a high energy density of 15.8 Wh kg−1 at a large power density of 9 kW kg−1 with a good cycling life of 71.6% after 5000 at 2 A g−1. Considering of its simple and economical preparation, as-prepared porous LMO can be regarded as a promising high-performance cathode material in aqueous electrolyte.

The rapid growth of the sharing economy has attracted a recent surge of academic interest. However, few studies to date address performance variation among sharing platforms. Building on the notion of business model design and applying a configurational approach, we develop a conceptual model that investigates what combinations of design elements can enhance the performance of sharing platforms. Data from 189 platforms and fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) reveal six business model designs, each with its own performance implications. Of these, four configurations lead to high performance and two lead to low performance. Our study advances current understanding of the sharing economy and sheds important light on business model research.

Pursuing ambidextrous foreign direct investment (FDI) has been suggested as a desirable strategic choice of emerging economy (EE) firms in their internationalization. Yet, reconciling explorative and exploitative activities overseas is complicated due to their conflicting and tensional nature. This study explores why some EE firms can achieve high levels of ambidextrous FDI while others cannot. Drawing on upper echelons theory, we propose a micro-foundation perspective of ambidextrous FDI by studying top management teams’ (TMTs) attributes. Applying a configurational approach to a sample of 294 EE firms’ FDI observations (of which 43 are ambidextrous FDI in nature) from 2011 to 2015, we not only confirm the equal importance of both TMT incentive and cognitive factors as causal conditions to achieve a high degree of ambidextrous FDI, but also provide original evidence on the interactive configurations of those factors that lead to ambidextrous FDI.

In this study, we examine the moderating role of subnational institutions (marketization) in the relationship between social stratification, on the one hand, and entrepreneurial choice and income growth, on the other. Our analyses, using data from 5,581 individual-wave observations from nine provincial regions in rural China, across six data collection waves, show that: (1) lower-class status is conducive to self-employment, while being from the upper class encourages individuals to become employers; (2) compared to their middle-class counterparts, both upper- and lower-class entrepreneurs enjoy higher levels of income growth; and (3) when subnational marketization is high, the positive effect of being upper class on selecting entrepreneurship as a career is weakened, but the effect on income growth among entrepreneurs is strengthened. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and future research.

At present, person reidentification based on attention mechanism has attracted many scholars’ interests. Although attention module can improve the representation ability and reidentification accuracy of Re-ID model to a certain extent, it depends on the coupling of attention module and original network. In this paper, a person reidentification model that combines multiple attentions and multiscale residuals is proposed. The model introduces combined attention fusion module and multiscale residual fusion module in the backbone network ResNet 50 to enhance the feature flow between residual blocks and better fuse multiscale features. Furthermore, a global branch and a local branch are designed and applied to enhance the channel aggregation and position perception ability of the network by utilizing the dual ensemble attention module, as along as the fine-grained feature expression is obtained by using multiproportion block and reorganization. Thus, the global and local features are enhanced. The experimental results on Market-1501 dataset and DukeMTMC-reID dataset show that the indexes of the presented model, especially Rank-1 accuracy, reach 96.20% and 89.59%, respectively, which can be considered as a progress in Re-ID.

PurposeThis study examines whether a higher interest alignment between online travel agencies (OTAs; hosting platform) and hotels (business owners) will intensify review manipulation activities.Design/methodology/approachWith a panel data set collected from a Chinese online travel agency and a travel search engine, the authors develop a matching-based difference-indifference approach to examine the presence of partnership-intensified review manipulation.FindingsThe authors find that the ratings of agency's partner hotels (with a higher interest alignment) are abnormally higher than those of matched non-partner hotels (with a lower interest alignment), after they are benchmarked with their ratings on the search engine (without a partnership business model). Further, the analysis results indicate that this partnership-intensified manipulation deteriorates the hotel's sales performance because of damaged customer trust and satisfaction.Originality/valuePrevious studies implicitly assume that review manipulator is independent from the hosting platform. This is the first study examining the role of the hosting platform in review manipulations.

The incubation behavior of geese seriously affects their egg production performance. Studies on incubation behavior have identified functional genes, but the regulatory architecture relationship between functional genes and chromatin accessibility remains poorly understood. Here, we present an integrated analysis of open chromatin profiles and transcriptome to identify the cis-regulatory element and their potential transcription factors involved in regulating incubation behavior in goose pituitary. Assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) revealed that open chromatin regions increased in the pituitary during the transition from incubation behavior to laying. We identified 920 significant differential accessible regions (DARs) in the pituitary. Compared to the laying stage, most DARs had higher chromatin accessibility in the brooding stage. Motif analysis of open DARs showed that the most significant transcription factor (TF) occupied sites predominantly enriched in motifs binding to the RFX family (RFX5, RFX2, and RFX1). While the majority of TF motifs enriched under sites of the nuclear receptor (NR) family (ARE, GRE, and PGR) in closed DARs at the incubation behavior stage. Footprint analysis indicated that the transcription factor RFX family exhibited higher binding on chromatin at the brooding stage. To further elucidate the effect of changes in chromatin accessibility on gene expression levels, a comparison of the transcriptome revealed 279 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The transcriptome changes were associated with processes of steroid biosynthesis. By integrating ATAC-seq and RNA-seq, few DARs directly affect incubation behavior by regulating the transcription levels of genes. Five DAR-related DEGs were found to be closely related to maintaining the incubation behavior in geese. Footprinting analysis revealed a set of transcription factors (RFX1, RFX2, RFX3, RFX5, BHLHA15, SIX1, and DUX) which displayed the highest activity at the brooding stage. SREBF2 was predicted to be the unique differentially expressed transcription factor whose mRNA level was down-regulated and enriched in hyper-accessible regions of PRL in the broody stage. In the present study, we comprehensively profiled the transcriptome and chromatin accessibility in the pituitary related to incubation behavior. Our findings provided insight into the identification and analysis of regulatory elements in goose incubation behavior. The epigenetic alterations profiled here can help decipher the epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to the regulation of incubation behavior in birds.

Mn4+-activated oxide red phosphors are always a hot topic in the luminescent material field to solve the lack of red light components in white-light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). Herein, a series of novel deep red-emitting CaAl12-mPmO19+m:0.01Mn4+,0.2Mg2+ (m = 0-0.15) phosphors were synthesized and their crystal structure, luminescence properties and thermal stability were investigated in detail. The high-valence P5+ is used to replace low-valence Al3+ in the luminescent host CaAl12O19 to improve the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of phosphors. The doping of P5+ does not change the crystal phase structure of phosphors, and the luminescence intensity and PLQY are significantly enhanced. The analysis of the photocurrent and fluorescence lifetime shows that an electron trap with a quantum-confinement structure is formed in the phosphor host, which plays a key role in buffering photogenerated electrons. Therefore, the PLQY of the P5+-doped CaAl11.90P0.1O19.10:0.01Mn4+,0.2Mg2+ phosphor increased from 9.8% (P5+-undoped) to 70.2%, and the mechanism of PLQY enhancement is proposed based on the analysis of the crystal structure. Furthermore, the phosphor has superior thermal stability and color purity (96.8%). Overall, this work provides new insights and ideas on quantum confinement effects for improving the quantum yield of Mn4+-activated luminescent materials.

Polymer dielectrics for energy storage applications usually endure high electric field strength. Adjustment of the composition and structure of the dielectric bulk phase to enhance the dielectric breakdown strength has been widely studied. However, the effect of electrode–dielectric interface on the breakdown strength has received little attention, which greatly hinders further development in this field. In this work, an all-organic double-layer dielectric film consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) as the matrix and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the organic nano-interlayer was prepared. By adjusting the electrode–dielectric interface, remarkably improved electric breakdown strength (767.05 MV m−1) and discharged energy density (19.08 J cm−3) were realized concurrently without sacrificing the charge–discharge efficiency. The experimental results and computational simulations reveal that the surface morphology of dielectrics has a great effect on the electric field distribution at the electrode–dielectric interface, and further affects the leakage current and breakdown strength of the dielectric. The PMMA nano-interlayer modifies the surface defects and increases the Young's modulus at the electrode–dielectric interface, leading to the improvement of insulation performance. These findings offer a new perspective to understand the impact of the electrode–dielectric interface on the polymer dielectric breakdown strength. This work provides a novel paradigm for fabricating polymer dielectrics with high breakdown strength for energy storage.

A novel solid-state Z-scheme photocatalyst Ag3PO4/CSs/AgBr (carbon spheres, CSs) was rationally designed and successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal coprecipitation reaction. AgBr and Ag3PO4 were effectively loaded on the surface of the CSs and Ag3PO4/CSs/AgBr showed wide visible light absorption and superior photocatalytic performance. On the basis of ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) analysis and scavenger reactions, a possible photocatalytic reaction mechanism for Ag3PO4/CSs/AgBr is proposed. The CSs act as a charge carrier transfer bridge for constructing the all-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalyst. The photogenerated electrons from Ag3PO4 and holes from AgBr congregate and recombine in the CSs phase, leaving photogenerated electrons with strong reduction abilities in the conduction band (CB) of AgBr and holes with strong oxidation abilities in the valence band (VB) of Ag3PO4. Some Ag+ ions accept electrons and turn to Ag nanoparticles (NPs), leading to the surface plasmon resonance of Ag NPs on AgBr. Therefore, the photocatalytic performance and stability were significantly improved.

TMEM173 has been reported to participate in endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammation and immunology, all of which closely involved with cardiac hypertrophy. But its role in autophagy is not fully figured out. In our research, Tmem173 global knockout (KO) mice manifested more deteriorated hypertrophy, fibrosis, inflammatory infiltration and cardiac malfunction compared with wild type C57BL/6 mice after 6 weeks of transverse aortic constriction. And KO mice showed inhibited autophagosome degradation in myocardium observed under transmission electron microscope and in protein level. In in vitro experiments conducted in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes under phenylephrine treatment, the abundance of Tmem173 gene was negatively related to the abundance of LC3-Ⅱ and the number of red and yellow fluorescent dots, of which reflected the capacity of autophagosome degradation. These results indicated that TMEM173 might be a promoter of autophagic flux and protected against pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. It may serve as a potential therapeutic target for cardiac hypertrophy in the future.

Secondary wall thickening in the sclerenchyma cells is strictly controlled by a complex network of transcription factors in vascular plants. However, little is known about the epigenetic mechanism regulating secondary wall biosynthesis. In this study, we identified that ARABIDOPSIS HOMOLOG of TRITHORAX1 (ATX1), a H3K4-histone methyltransferase, mediates the regulation of fiber cell wall development in inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome-wide analysis revealed that the up-regulation of genes involved in secondary wall formation during stem development is largely coordinated by increasing level of H3K4 tri-methylation. Among all histone methyltransferases for H3K4me3 in Arabidopsis, ATX1 is markedly increased during the inflorescence stem development and loss-of-function mutant atx1 was impaired in secondary wall thickening in interfascicular fibers. Genetic analysis showed that ATX1 positively regulates secondary wall deposition through activating the expression of secondary wall NAC master switch genes, SECONDARY WALL-ASSOCIATED NAC DOMAIN PROTEIN1 (SND1) and NAC SECONDARY WALL THICKENING PROMOTING FACTOR1 (NST1). We further identified that ATX1 directly binds the loci of SND1 and NST1, and activates their expression by increasing H3K4me3 levels at these loci. Taken together, our results reveal that ATX1 plays a key role in the regulation of secondary wall biosynthesis in interfascicular fibers during inflorescence stem development of Arabidopsis.

Objective This study assessed whether ultrasonic speckle-tracking imaging (STI) could help evaluate right ventricular systolic function in repaired Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with different pulmonary artery branch angles. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 64 patients who underwent surgery for TOF and 60 normal children. The angle between the left pulmonary artery and main pulmonary artery was measured using echocardiography and computed tomography angiography (CTA). Furthermore, STI was used to record the global longitudinal strain of the four-chamber view (GLS4), the global longitudinal strain of the two-chamber view (GLS2), and the global longitudinal strain of the right ventricle (RVGLS). Results The GLS4, GLS2, and RVGLS values in the TOF groups with different pulmonary artery branch angles were significantly lower than those in the control group. Furthermore, the GLS2 and RVGLS values were significantly lower for angles of 90-100° and 100°). Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that pulmonary regurgitation and the angle between the left and main pulmonary arteries were two important factors affecting RVGLS. The Bland-Altman consistency test revealed good agreement regarding the pulmonary artery branch angles measured using echocardiography and CTA. Conclusion In patients with TOF, the RVGLS was lower for acute left pulmonary artery angulation than for round and blunt left pulmonary artery angulation. The angle of the pulmonary artery branches was an important factor affecting RVGLS. Echocardiography can be used to measure the angle of the pulmonary artery branches, which provides valuable information for surgical correction of pulmonary artery morphology.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an metabolic disorder of glucose and lipids caused by diabetes, which may strengthen oxidative stress, activate various inflammatory pathways, mediate cellular and extracellular damage, so as to induce pathological myocardial remodeling and lead to systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The exact pathogenesis of DCM remains unclear in spite of several pathophysiological mechanism of DCM have been put forward. Oxidative stress is one of the main causes of DCM, in which the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the main mechanism causing adverse myocardial remodeling. So, the main source of ROS in DCM [Nadph oxidase, mitochondria, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), xanthine oxidase, (XO)] and the ROS-mediated myocardial damage (lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and DNA damage) are summarized in present paper. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2020.12.14