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The traditional finite element method-based fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT)/ X-ray computed tomography (XCT) imaging reconstruction suffers from complicated mesh generation and dual-modality image data fusion, which limits the application of in vivo imaging. To solve this problem, a novel standardized imaging space reconstruction (SISR) method for the quantitative determination of fluorescent probe distributions inside small animals was developed. In conjunction with a standardized dual-modality image data fusion technology, and novel reconstruction strategy based on Laplace regularization and L1-fused Lasso method, the in vivo distribution can be calculated rapidly and accurately, which enables standardized and algorithm-driven data process. We demonstrated the method's feasibility through numerical simulations and quantitatively monitored in vivo programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in mouse tumor xenografts, and the results demonstrate that our proposed SISR can increase data throughput and reproducibility, which helps to realize the dynamically and accurately in vivo imaging.

Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is a new type of medical imaging technology that can quantitatively reconstruct the three-dimensional distribution of fluorescent probes in vivo . Traditional Lp norm regularization techniques used in FMT reconstruction often face problems such as over-sparseness, over-smoothness, spatial discontinuity, and poor robustness. To address these problems, this paper proposes an adaptive parameter search elastic net (APSEN) method that is based on elastic net regularization, using weight parameters to combine the L1 and L2 norms. For the selection of elastic net weight parameters, this approach introduces the L0 norm of valid reconstruction results and the L2 norm of the residual vector, which are used to adjust the weight parameters adaptively. To verify the proposed method, a series of numerical simulation experiments were performed using digital mice with tumors as experimental subjects, and in vivo experiments of liver tumors were also conducted. The results showed that, compared with the state-of-the-art methods with different light source sizes or distances, Gaussian noise of 5%–25%, and the brute-force parameter search method, the APSEN method has better location accuracy, spatial resolution, fluorescence yield recovery ability, morphological characteristics, and robustness. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments demonstrated the applicability of APSEN for FMT.

A new strategy to enhance the photocatalytic properties of graphitic carbon nitride is reported via constructing an effective NiO decorated Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4 S-scheme heterostructure photocatalyst thin film (Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4/NiO). This thin film photocatalyst can separate hydrogen gas and oxygen gas into different sides of the Ti substrate. Owing to the synergistic effect of the NiO as co-catalyst and the formation of Step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction between g-C3N4 and TiO2, the electrons and holes were successfully separated to their opposing active centers, which is beneficial to inhibiting the recombination of the charge carriers. The gas evolution rate of Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4/NiO is 7.97 μmol h−1 cm−2 under the irradiation of high-pressure mercury lamp, which was 3 and 1.3 times as high as that of the Ti/TiO2NT/g-C3N4 and Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4, respectively. Firstly, benefiting from the well-matched band structure, a direct S-scheme Ti/TiO2NT/g-C3N4 heterojunction thin film is constructed easily driven by the built-in electric field across the Ti/TiO2NT/g-C3N4 interface. Furthermore, the introduction of the TiO2 layer on the TiO2NT will broaden light absorption range and increase the heterojunction area, which in turn conduces to effective charge separation. In addition, NiO as a co-catalyst cannot only accelerate the charge separation but also provide plentiful catalytic sites and decompose H2O2 produced by g-C3N4. The thin film photocatalysts can be recycled again, which is different from traditional powdered photocatalysts. This work constructs a NiO decorated Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4 S-scheme heterostructure photocatalyst thin film, and provides a new insight to promote photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 under the synergetic impact of S-scheme heterostructure and NiO co-catalyst. A novel NiO decorated Ti/TiO2NT/TiO2/g-C3N4 S-scheme heterostructure photocatalyst thin film was fabricated to enhance photocatalytic activity for water splitting.

Interfacial modification plays a vital role in boosting the performance of planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, perovskite-type BaTiO3 nanocrystals prepared by immersing dense blocking TiO2 (bl-TiO2) in Ba(NO3)2 solution were used as an interfacial modifier. The interface bonding was improved due to the fact that BaTiO3 and CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) have the same structure. Incorporation of BaTiO3 nanocrystals effectively boosted the electron extraction rate and suppressed the carrier recombination at the interface. The MAPbI3 grains nucleated and grew rapidly, resulting in larger grain size after introduction of BaTiO3 nanocrystals. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, time-resolved PL decay spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements verified that the BaTiO3 nanocrystals indeed promoted the carrier separation rate while suppressing nonradiative carrier recombination. By optimizing the bl-TiO2/MAPbI3 interface, the power conversion efficiency of planar PSCs based on bl-TiO2/BaTiO3 was improved from 15.03% to 17.71% [Jsc = 22.49 mA/cm2, Voc = 1.12 V, fill factor (FF) = 70%].

Anatase TiO2 nanocrystalline film prepared by using sol–gel method was assembled on TiO2 nanotubes to produce composite thin film photocatalyst and investigated as interfacial layer for the catalytic performance of Ti/TNT/N–P/NaTaO3:La (the nanostructures is Ti/TiO2 nanotubes/TiO2 nanocrystalline film/NiO film/NaTaO3:La) photocatalyst to generate hydrogen and oxygen under UV irradiation. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by FESEM, XRD, Element Mapping, UV–Vis, PL, I–V, and EIS. Characteristic analyses show that the interface between the TNT layer (TiO2 nanotubes) and P layer (NiO film) can be optimized by adjusting the number of N layers (TiO2 nanocrystalline film), thus affecting the efficiency of the photocatalyst. Compared with unformed TiO2 film, the Ti/TNT/N–P/NaTaO3:La photocatalyst with four TiO2 layers enhanced the H2 and O2 generation rate from 43.7 to 87.1 μmol/h which realized almost 2.0 times. The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the low defect density and the effective separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs. Furthermore, the performance stability of thin film photocatalyst was favorably showcased through multiple water splitting reactions, and the rational mechanism of improved photocatalytic property was interpreted systematically. In summary, such results have certain guiding effect on solving the weakness of composite film catalyst of interface defects and carrier recombination.

Electron transport layer plays a key role in improving charge extraction efficiency and inhibiting electron–hole recombination in perovskite solar cells. In this study, Ce ion was doped into compact TiO2 layer to improve electron transport performance of TiO2 thin film. Through UV–Vis and UPS tests, it was found that TiO2 obtained an appropriate band position after Ce ions doping. Specially speaking, Ce-doped TiO2 band position facilitates electron transport at the interface. As a result, the device based on 0.009 M Ce-TiO2 shows the power conversion efficiency is 16.18%, which is 5.75% higher than the device without Ce ions doping. In this work, we provided a new method to improve the electron extraction rate of TiO2 thin film, which is beneficial for performance of the devices.

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) are a group of antibacterial proteins that play an important role in the host’s innate immune defense against pathogen infection. In this study, two BPI/LBPs, named ToBPI1/LBP (1434 bp in length, 478 amino acids) and ToBPI2/LBP (1422 bp in length, 474 amino acids), were identified from the golden pompano. ToBPI1/LBP and ToBPI2/LBP were significantly expressed in immune-related tissues after being challenged with Streptococcus agalactiae and Vibrio alginolyticus. The two BPI/LBPs showed significant antibacterial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive S. agalactiae and Streptococcus iniae. In contrast, the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus and Vibrio harveyi was low and decreased with time. The membrane permeability of bacteria treated with recombinant ToBPI1/LBP and ToBPI2/LBP was significantly enhanced. These results suggest that ToBPI1/LBP and ToBPI2/LBP may play important immunological roles in the immune response of the golden pompano to bacteria. This study will provide basic information and new insights into the immune response mechanism of the golden pompano to bacteria and the function of BPI/LBP.

Spatial distribution of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) along with tumor gene mutation status are of vital importance to the guidance of cancer immunotherapy and prognoses. In this work, we developed a deep learning-based computational framework, termed ImmunoAIzer, which involves: (1) the implementation of a semi-supervised strategy to train a cellular biomarker distribution prediction network (CBDPN) to make predictions of spatial distributions of CD3, CD20, PanCK, and DAPI biomarkers in the tumor microenvironment with an accuracy of 90.4%, (2) using CBDPN to select tumor areas on hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp, E) staining tissue slides and training a multilabel tumor gene mutation detection network (TGMDN), which can detect APC, KRAS, and TP53 mutations with area-under-the-curve (AUC) values of 0.76, 0.77, and 0.79. These findings suggest that ImmunoAIzer could provide comprehensive information of cell distribution and tumor gene mutation status of colon cancer patients efficiently and less costly, hence, it could serve as an effective auxiliary tool for the guidance of immunotherapy and prognoses. The method is also generalizable and has the potential to be extended for application to other types of cancers other than colon cancer.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the internal environment in which tumors develop and consist of tumor cells, various immune cells, and interstitial cells. Understanding different cell distribution in TME can help predict clinical response of immunotherapy and offer guidance for therapeutic optimization. Current pathological practice utilizes multiplexed immunohistochemistry (mIHC) to make assessment of different types of cell distribution in TME. However, these staining methods are time- and cost consuming and staining results often require professional pathologists to interpret, which can be possibly influenced by subjectivity. In this work, we propose a computational prediction method for cell distribution in TME using a modified U-Net structure, which can learn useful features from the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) images and predict PanCK positive colon cancer cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) at cellular-level. Our created datasets contain H&E images and cellular-level segmentation labels annotated by board-certified pathologists according to the corresponding registered mIHC images. We optimize the structure of the traditional U-Net network, and extract multi-scale features by integrating the Inception block, so as to create a modified U-Net structure which can predict PanCK positive colon cancer cells and TILs distribution in TME with the accuracy of 84.6% on test set. Hence, this method shows the potential to predict different types of cell distribution in TME more objectively and efficiently.

Sludge dewatering is necessary to reduce the volume of sludge for cost-effective transport and ultimate disposal. In this study, a novel combined chemical conditioning process was proposed to improve sludge dewatering performance in which sludge flocs were destructed by sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCNa) and re-flocculated by Al2(SO4)3 and the mechanism was elucidated. The results showed that sludge capillary suction time (CST) dropped to 15.4 s and moisture content of dewatered sludge cake (Mc) deceased to 71.01% respectively, after the application of combined conditioning with the optimal dosage of 200 mg DCCNa/g dry solids (DS) and 80 mg Al2(SO4)3/g DS. With chemical conditioning, sludge physicochemical properties were greatly changed. With the DCCNa application, the percentage of low-molecular-weight substances in soluble extracellular polymeric substances (S-EPS) increased. Also, the sludge zeta potential dropped from −16.85 mV to −25.45 mV and the median particle size (D50) decreased from 54.1 μm to 51.6 μm. However, the subsequent conditioning by Al2(SO4)3 dosing not only led to an increment of 18% in the portion of macromolecules in S-EPS, but also increased the zeta potential and D50 to −10.74 mV and 53.2 μm, respectively. The bound water content in sludge declined from 2.92 g/g DS to 1.98 g/g DS after combined conditioning. We concluded that DCCNa disintegrated the sludge flocs and microbial cells leading to the release of bound water, fine particles and organic substances with negative charge, and the fine colloidal particles can be flocculated into large dense aggregations with the dosing of Al2(SO4)3. In summary, the proposed combined conditioning provided a highly effective and environmental friendly approach to improve the sludge dewatering performance.

Combustion residue is one of the main research subjects in arson evidence identification. In this paper, the common evidence of arson were tested and analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis. The combustion residue of the mixture of combustion agent and the carrier was selected as the research object, in order to research the thermal properties of the residue under different conditions. The results show that characteristic temperature of each sample is mainly affected by the types of carrier, and the characteristic temperature of the same carrier is similar. Combustion of PE and PET is not sufficient, and the corresponding residue has a significant weight loss in the text. In the process of combustion, wood and cotton cloth is burning completely, and the corresponding residue is not obvious in heat loss. The pyrolysis temperature of the combustion residue is higher than 400°C, and it will be not deteriorate before 400°C.

Sludge dewatering, as one of the most important steps of sludge treatment, can facilitate transportation and improve disposal efficiency by reducing the volume of sludge. This study investigated the effects of electrolysis-activated persulfate oxidation on improving sludge dewaterability. The results indicated that the sludge capillary suction time (CST) and water content of dewatered sludge cake (Wc) reduced from 93.7 s and 87.8% to 9.7 s and 68.3% respectively at the optimized process parameters: electrolysis voltage of 40 V, electrolysis time of 20 min, and 1.2 mmol/g TS S2O82-. Correlation analysis revealed that the enhancement of sludge dewaterability was closely associated with the increased floc size and zeta potential, decreased protein content in three-layers extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and viscosity (R = -0.868, p = 0.002; R = -0.703, p = 0.035; R ≥ 0.961, p

The typical projects of NB-IoT technology in the agricultural Internet of Things are being planned, which has broad application prospects and development space. NB-IoT and cloud computing promotes the development of the agricultural Internet of Things and improves the development model. Smart Agriculture Information System Based on Cloud Computing and NB-IoT designed in this paper monitors crops or farmland through information transmission equipment in real time, and records the growth status of crops, so as to adjust the planting technology and planting methods.

At present, wastewater and sludge management departments are in urgent of the sludge deep-dewatering technique, which can substantially reduce sludge volume, enhance sludge calorific value and save costs. Ozonation pre-oxidation and chitosan (CT) re-flocculation conditioning have been verified to be an efficacious and environmental-friendly approach to realize sludge deep-dewatering. This paper focused on the novel insights into sludge properties under ozonation and CT conditioning. With 60 mg/gTS O3 and 20 mg/gTS CT, the water content of the conditioned sludge cake satisfied the deep-dewatering level (

The study proposed the ultrasound-activated persulfate oxidation as a novel approach to enhance sludge dewaterability. The results demonstrated that the reduction of water content of dewatered sludge cake was 16.5% and the capillary suction time was reduced to 39.5 s at the optimal conditions of 1.0 mmol/g-TS S2O82- and ultrasound energy density of 2.0 kW L−1 within 15 min. The promotion of dewaterability was closely associated with the enlarged floc size, decreased viscosity, and near-neutral zeta potential. Meanwhile, the correlation analysis revealed that the protein in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) governed sludge dewaterability, especially in loosely bound EPS. Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electronic microscopy analysis revealed that ultrasound-activated persulfate oxidation treatment effectively degraded the gel-like EPS matrix and attacked cells, releasing the moisture which was trapped in EPS and cells. The aggregation of particles promoted the elimination of moisture. Furthermore, heavy metals in conditioned dewatered sludge cakes all satisfied the A level of agricultural land (GB4284-2018) requirements and the chemical speciation distribution of some heavy metals changed significantly.

Key Clinical Message Radiofrequency catheter ablation has been used for treating cardiac arrhythmias, such as premature ventricular contractions and accessory pathway. We report two cases with successful ablation of left-sided accessory pathways and premature ventricular contractions from mitral annulus with one ablation. To our knowledge, no similar reports have been found so far.

Waste activated sludge (WAS), as a kind of hydrophilic colloid substance, is still a major technical challenge in wastewater treatment industry. For enhancing WAS dewaterability, the approach of tannic acid (TA)/Fe3+ conditioning was verified to be feasible. During conditioning, sludge extracellular protein decreased pronouncedly. Fluorescence quenching analysis revealed that Fe3+ reduced the binding sites of extracellular polymeric substances available for TA, and the formed TA-Fe3+ complexes possibly promoted TA aggregates’ settlement and compression. Sludge supernatant viscosity, absolute value of zeta potential and pH value also decreased distinctly, and sludge particle size became larger than that of raw sludge or Fe3+-conditioned sludge. Scanning electron microscope suggested that sludge surface morphology became more compacted and denser after TA/Fe3+ conditioning, which was helpful for the release of water trapped in sludge bio-polymeric network. With 0.15 mmol/gTS TA and 0.9 mmol/gTS Fe3+ conditioning, sludge capillary suction time, specific resistance of filtration and water content of dewatered sludge cake were decreased by 76.3%, 94.7% and 13.5%, respectively. The findings not only shed new light on the means of applying natural plant organic polymer coupled with inorganic cation to promote WAS dewaterability but offered a potentially theoretical principle of the utilization of plant waste containing TA in WAS treatment.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Several prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the effect of intact and removed anterior fat pads on the incidence of AF after CABG with conflicting results. We collected these RCTs and conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether anterior fat pad removal is effective in preventing the new onset of AF after CABG. Methods and Results Prospective RCTs were collected for analysis and the main outcomes include the occurrence of AF after CABG, total hospital stay, and major complications. Statistical analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.0.18 software (The Cochrane Collaboration), and pooled estimates of the effect were reported as risk ratios (RRs) or mean differences (MDs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that anterior fat pad removal was not associated with a decreased risk of occurrence of AF after CABG (RR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.88–2.03; P = 0.18), and it also did not increase the risk of major complications (RR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.75–1.47; P = 0.79) or lengthen total hospital stay (MD = 0.06, 95% CI: −0.46 to 0.58; P = 0.83) compared with the control group. Conclusion Anterior fat pad removal did not decrease the risk of the occurrence of AF after CABG despite its safety and convenience, and it should not be used to prevent new-onset AF after CABG unless new evidence is provided.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmic complication after cardiac surgery. Several studies have compared the efficacy of landiolol and placebo or other agents in preventing new-onset AF in patients after cardiac surgery. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether landiolol is effective in preventing new-onset AF after cardiac surgery. Methods and Results Five randomized controlled trials and two retrospective analyses were included in this study. The clinical outcomes of interest were the occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery and major complications. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0.18 software, and pooled estimates of the effect were reported as risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that landiolol is significantly associated with a decreased risk of occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery (RR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.23–0.48; P < 0.00001) and is not associated with an increased risk of major complications (RR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.43–1.45; P = 0.45) compared with the control group. Conclusion Landiolol administration in the perioperative period can reduce the occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery without increasing the risk of major complications. It can be used to prevent new-onset AF safely after cardiac surgery.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels (CTGV) is a rare congenital cardiac and great vessel abnormality. The anomalous inversion of the ventricles and great vessels makes performing catheter ablation difficult. We herein report a successful case of atrioventricular node reentrant tachycardia ablation in a patient with coexistent CTGV and situs inversus.

Sludge deep-dewatering, capable of reducing water content (Wc) of sludge cake under 60%, is one of the current hot topics in sludge treatment. In this study, a new environmentally friendly two-step approach of ozonation and chitosan (CT) conditioning was proposed and examined to be practicable for sludge deep-dewatering. With 60 mg/gTS ozone and 20 mg/gTS CT conditioning, sludge capillary suction time (CST) and Wc of the dewatered sludge cake decreased from 196.3 s and 84.7% of raw sludge to 15.8 s and 57.5%, respectively. Ozonation treatment could efficiently crack sludge flocs and cells, and release biopolymers, causing the decreases in viscosity, zeta potential and particle size. Subsequently, CT ameliorated the sludge dewaterability successfully by neutralizing negative charges and flocculating colloids to promote the spread of interstitial water. Furthermore, the contents of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) in conditioned sludge cake decreased obviously except Cu, but all detected heavy metals contents satisfied the A level of agricultural land (GB4284-2018). For chemical speciation of heavy metals, the proportions of the acid soluble/exchangeable state and the reductive state increased apparently, implying higher toxicity and bioavailability, except Pb. Hence, pretreatments were required to reduce the environmental risk of heavy metals in conditioned sludge cake prior to a further utilization.

Permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) now is widely used in hybrid vehicle drive area. When the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) is used in PMSM control, the stator three phase currents must be collected for its control calculation. In this paper, a PMSM stator current collection system based on C8051F500 and AD7865 is designed, and proved to be effective with experiments.

Background Reperfusion therapy is widely utilized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), so ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) of the heart is frequently encountered in clinical practice. The curative effects of reperfusion therapy for AMI are favourable in most cases, but reperfusion can also cause harmful effect to cardiomyocytes. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is an effective therapeutic agent to alleviate I/R injury, but the mechanisms underlying this therapeutic effect are unknown. Methods and results The H9c2 cardiomyocyte cell line was incubated with or without HSYA during hypoxia, then it was reoxygenated. In the presence of HSYA, reoxygenation resulted in the upregulated expression and activity of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), phosphorylation of Akt, translocation of nuclear factor Nrf2, and most importantly, a reduction in A/R-induced apoptosis. An HO-1 inhibitor completely suppressed HO-1 enzymatic activity upregulated by HSYA and notably diminished the anti-apoptotic effect of HSYA. An inhibitor of PI3K, completely blocked Akt phosphorylation induced by HSYA and partly negated HSYA-induced upregulation of HO-1, translocation of nuclear factor Nrf2 and suppression of apoptosis in the H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Conclusions Our study suggests that HSYA can provide protection to H9c2 cardiomyocytes against A/R-induced apoptosis. This protective effect largely depends on the upregulation of HO-1 expression through the PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Several prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the effect of intact and removed anterior fat pads on the incidence of AF after CABG with conflicting results. We collected these RCTs and conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether anterior fat pad removal is effective in preventing the new onset of AF after CABG.Prospective RCTs were collected for analysis and the main outcomes include the occurrence of AF after CABG, total hospital stay, and major complications. Statistical analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.0.18 software (The Cochrane Collaboration), and pooled estimates of the effect were reported as risk ratios (RRs) or mean differences (MDs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that anterior fat pad removal was not associated with a decreased risk of occurrence of AF after CABG (RR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.88-2.03; P = 0.18), and it also did not increase the risk of major complications (RR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.75-1.47; P = 0.79) or lengthen total hospital stay (MD = 0.06, 95% CI: -0.46 to 0.58; P = 0.83) compared with the control group.Anterior fat pad removal did not decrease the risk of the occurrence of AF after CABG despite its safety and convenience, and it should not be used to prevent new-onset AF after CABG unless new evidence is provided.

Objective: To establish normally conditionally-immortalized human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by ectopic expression of the human telomerase catalytic enzyme (hTERT) and simian virus 40 large T (SV40 LT) antigen. Methods: Primary HUVECs were transfected with recombinant retrovirus containing hTERT or SV40 LT respectively. Subsequently drug resistant cell clones were screened and expanded for further studies. Endothelial cell biomarkers were confirmed by examination. Results: The morphological phenotype of the transfected cells was similar to the non-transfected cells. Von Willebrand factor, hTERT and SV40 LT could be detected in transfected HUVECs. Moreover, higher telomerase activity in transfected cells was maintained for over 50 population doublings compared with only low level of endogenous telomerase transiently at early population doublings in primary HUVECs. When exposed to TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α), the expression of E-selectin in transfected cells was significantly up-regulated, but no alteration of endothelial lipase was found. Conclusion: Ectopic coexpression of hTERT and SV40 LT can effectively immortalize HUVECs without tumorigenicity in vitro. Immortalized HUVECs may be an ideal target of further molecular function studies.

We report a 33-year-old man with idiopathic frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) originating from the superior tricuspid annulus. The PVCs were successfully abolished via a transjugular approach because of poor contact of the ablation catheter via a femoral vein approach. (PACE 2012;XX).

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmic complication after cardiac surgery. Several studies have compared the efficacy of landiolol and placebo or other agents in preventing new-onset AF in patients after cardiac surgery. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether landiolol is effective in preventing new-onset AF after cardiac surgery.Five randomized controlled trials and two retrospective analyses were included in this study. The clinical outcomes of interest were the occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery and major complications. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0.18 software, and pooled estimates of the effect were reported as risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that landiolol is significantly associated with a decreased risk of occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery (RR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.23-0.48; P0.00001) and is not associated with an increased risk of major complications (RR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.43-1.45; P = 0.45) compared with the control group.Landiolol administration in the perioperative period can reduce the occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery without increasing the risk of major complications. It can be used to prevent new-onset AF safely after cardiac surgery.

We report a 33-year-old man with idiopathic frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) originating from the superior tricuspid annulus. The PVCs were successfully abolished via a transjugular approach because of poor contact of the ablation catheter via a femoral vein approach.

In recent years, researchers have investigated the relationship between biological markers of inflammation and prognosis in patients who experience acute coronary syndromes; however, the association between plasma fibrinogen and coronary heart disease is still not clear. We studied the prognostic value of fibrinogen, an acute-phase protein that is directly involved in thrombotic processes, by measuring plasma fibrinogen levels serially in 136 patients who had acute coronary syndromes, 142 patients who had stable coronary heart disease, and 82 healthy control participants. Plasma fibrinogen levels were significantly higher in the patients with acute coronary syndromes (302 +/- 90 mg/dL) than in the patients with stable coronary heart disease (274 +/- 61 mg/dL) and the control group (243 +/- 55 mg/dL) (both P0.05). We also found significantly higher plasma fibrinogen levels in patients who developed clinical events than in those who did not, at 30 days and 2 years (P0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that high C-reactive protein values and plasma fibrinogen levelsor =350 mg/dL were predictors of poor long-term prognosis. The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for patients who had higher levels of plasma fibrinogen was 5.207. Plasma fibrinogen level can be used as an independent predictor of major adverse cardiac events during short- and long-term follow-up (P0.01). The association is independent of other classical risk factors, such as age and sex.

Purpose. Hypercholesterolemia and tight junctions play important roles in atherosclerosis. But the relationship between these two factors is unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether hypercholesterolemic serum could change the permeability of endothelial cells through altering expression and/or distribution of tight junction protein zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1). Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway was also examined.Materials and Methods. Cultured endothelial cells were treated with different concentration levels of hypercholesterolemic serum. The expression and distribution of ZO-1, the permeability of cultured cells and the involvement of PI3K signaling pathway were measured by various methods.Results. In the present study, we found that hypercholesterolemic serum could not change the expression of ZO-1 either in mRNA or protein level. However, hypercholesterolemic serum could change the distribution of ZO-1 in cultured endothelial cells, and increase the permeability with a dose-dependent manner. When PI3K specific inhibitor wortmannin was used, the effects induced by hypercholesterolemic serum could be partly reversed. The role of PI3K signaling pathway was further confirmed by PI3K activity assay.Conclusions. Our results suggested that although hypercholesterolemic serum could not change the expression of ZO-1, it could change the distribution and increase the permeability in endothelial cells through PI3K signaling pathway.

Angiotensin receptor-1 blockers (ARBs) have been used for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Tight junctions are very important in the regulation of cellular permeability which may have a profound role in atherosclerosis. The relationship between them is unresolved. The expression and distribution of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), the permeability of cultured endothelial cells, and the activity of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) were all detected with various methods after cultured endothelial cells were exposed to valsartan and the special ARB telmisartan or combined with PI3K inhibitor wortmannin or the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma antagonist GW9662. We found that telmisartan but not valsartan downregulated ZO-1 mRNA and protein levels, disrupted the distribution of ZO-1 in cultured endothelial cells, and increased the permeability of endothelial cells in a dose-dependent manner. When the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin was used, the effect induced by telmisartan was at least partly reversed. The role of the PI3K signaling pathway was further confirmed in the PI3K activity assay. GW9662 significantly blocked telmisartan-induced ZO-1 changes. Our results suggest that telmisartan disrupts the continuous pericellular distribution of ZO-1, downregulates the expression of ZO-1 in endothelial cells, and increases the permeability of endothelial cells at least partly through PI3K and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-dependent pathway.

The physiological stress suffered by patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) may result in a shift in leukocyte differential toward a decreased percentage of lymphocytes (L%). The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value of a low L% in CHD. One hundred forty patients evaluated in our department between 2007 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Thirty-eight patients had primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and 102 patients had elective PCI. Various statistical analyses were used to examine the association between a low L% or other clinical characteristics and CHD. Univariate analysis showed that low L% was significantly related to ACS compared with stable CHD or control. White blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) were also correlated with CHD. Multivariate analysis and logistic regression analysis revealed that L%, CRP, WBC count and LVSD were all independently significant risk factors to have predictive value for CHD and 1 year major adverse cardiac events (MACE). A low L% could be used as an independent predictor for ACS on admission and is associated with MACE during clinical follow-up in CHD patients.

To clarify whether hypercholesterolaemia can increase vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, and whether a special angiotensin II receptor blocker, telmisartan, can attenuate VEGF expression induced by hypercholesterolaemia.Levels of VEGF expression, PI3K activity and angiogenesis in vitro were determined by various methods after HUVECs were incubated with hypercholesterolaemic serum or combined with telmisartan and/or wortmannin.We found that hypercholesterolaemic serum (cholesterolor = 0.08 mmol/L) can increase VEGF expression in HUVECs and that telmisartan cooperates with hypercholesterolaemic serum in promoting VEGF expression. The increased VEGF expression was associated with enhanced PI3K activity and could be significantly inhibited by wortmannin, a potent PI3K inhibitor. Likewise, hypercholesterolaemic serum significantly promoted angiogenesis in vitro, which could be inhibited when PI3K activity was suppressed.Our study suggests that hypercholesterolaemic serum induces VEGF expression through PI3K in HUVECs and that telmisartan cooperates with hypercholesterolaemia in promoting VEGF expression.

To immortalize human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) by ectopic expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase enzyme (hTERT), and by Simian Virus 40 Large T (SV40LT) antigen without malignant transformation.Two different retroviruses that contained hTERT/SV40LT cDNA fragment and drug resistance gene were constructed, and were used to transfect normal primary HUVECs. The transfected cells were screened with 500 microg/ml G418 and 4 microg/ml puromycin. Drug resistance cell clones were selected 3 days after transfection and cultured for further studies. An under inverted microscope and a scanning electron microscope were used to observe the morphology and growth of the cells. The expression of VIII factor and transfected DNA fragments were detected for identification of the endothelial origin and successful transfection. And the expression of E-selectin and endothelial lipase with or without the stimulus of TNF-alpha were also assayed to analyze the biological activity of the transfected cells.The cells were homogenous, closely apposed, large, flat, and polygonal, displayed a characteristic ovoid nucleus with one or two nucleoli and formed monolayer with polygonal shape without overlapping. Immunocytochemical staining showed the existence of VIII factor. SV40LT/hTERT antigen expressed by the transfected cells was detected, while the contrasts had non-expression. Telomerase activity of the cell was detected in the transfected cells, which was 0.36 at 12 th passage and 0.38 at 50 th passage. However, the activity in the normal HUVECs was 1.12 at the first passage and 0.06 at the third passage assayed by PCR-ELISA. Both E-selectin and endothelial lipase were all specific in endothelial cells. The expressions of these two were also detected. And the expression of E-selectin can be up-regulated with the stimulus of TNF-alpha, while the expression of endothelial lipase was not unregulated significantly.Ectopic expression of hTERT and SV40LT can effectively immortalize HUVECs without tumorigenesis.