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Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent cardiac arrhythmia with significant clinical implications. The potential influence of lipid-lowering therapies, specifically PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9i) and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), on AF risk remains a topic of interest. This mendelian randomization (MR) study aimed to elucidate the causal relationship between genetically predicted inhibition of PCSK9 and HMG-CoA reductase and the risk of AF. Methods: Utilizing publicly available, summary-level genome-wide association study data, we employed single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with lower LDL-C levels as instruments for gene-simulated inhibition of PCSK9 and HMG-CoA reductase. Multiple MR techniques were applied to estimate the causal effects, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to validate the results. Results: Genetically predicted inhibition of PCSK9 demonstrated a reduced risk of AF, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.85–0.99, p = 0.01) using the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method. In contrast, the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase did not exhibit a statistically significant association with AF risk (IVW: OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.00–1.22, p = 0.05). Conclusion: Our MR study suggests that genetically predicted inhibition of PCSK9, but not HMG-CoA reductase, is associated with a lower risk of AF. These findings provide evidence for a causal protective effect of PCSK9i on AF and support the use of PCSK9i for AF prevention in patients with dyslipidemia. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the differential effects of PCSK9i and statins on AF and to confirm the clinical implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Wastewater containing m‐cresol has become a global water environmental problem because its degradation is difficult, and it is highly toxic to plants, animals, and humans. The heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process has been widely used in the treatment of environmental pollution, so it is very important to study efficient catalysts. Perovskite catalysts have been widely investigated and applied in catalytic ozonation processes. Among them, strontium zirconate is a promising perovskite catalyst owing to its high oxidation efficiency and environmental friendliness. RESULTS: Strontium zirconate was successfully synthesized via the co‐precipitation method. To improve strontium zirconate catalytic performance, some methods such as changing the doping ratio of cobalt and iron, changing the amount of polyethylene glycol added, changing the calcination temperature, and changing the aging time were carried out during the synthesis process. Finally, the optimal conditions were determined. 0.4 g L−1 Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 prepared under the optimal conditions was used for catalytic ozonation of 100 ppm m‐cresol, which achieved the optimum degradation (0.136 min−1), m‐cresol conversion rate (92.2%) and total organic carbon removal rate (12.1%) within 20 min. CONCLUSION: This work provides the best preparation conditions. The Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 catalyst, as prepared, is the optimal catalyst for catalytic ozonation of m‐cresol among the investigated Sr2CoxFe1−xZrO6 catalysts. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional gradient is an effective way to improve the impact resistance of materials. The combination of functional gradient and brick-mud structure is also considered as a potential research direction of nacre structure. Based on this, a design scheme of nacre biomimetic composite (NBC) with interlamination functional gradient is proposed in this paper. The hard component of NBC is formed by scattering random discrete points to construct Tyson polygon, and the number of random discrete points in each layer forms an increasing or decreasing interlamination gradient. The impact response of pendulum was simulated by FEM. By comparing and analyzing the impact response results of different functional gradient groups (positive gradient, negative gradient and non-gradient), the influence mechanism of functional gradient on energy absorption properties of NBC is revealed. The results show that the positive gradient group K70 has the strongest impact resistance, the peak impact reaction force is increased by 34% and the energy absorption value is increased by 51% compared with the non-gradient scheme. The positive gradient can make full use of the stiffness of hard component and the elasticity of soft component, so that NBC has a more reasonable energy distribution and improves the impact resistance of the whole NBC structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seafloor spreading is an important cornerstone of the theory of plate tectonics. Asymmetric seafloor spreading and oceanic ridge jumps are common phenomena in this process and play important roles in controlling oceanic crust accretion, regional tectonics and geological geometric boundaries. As the largest marginal sea in the western Pacific, the South China Sea is an ideal laboratory for dissecting the Wilson cycle of small marginal sea-type ocean basins restricted by surrounding blocks and exploring the deep dynamic processes of confined small ocean basins. In recent years, a lot of research has been conducted on the spreading history of the South China Sea and has achieved fruitful results. However, the detailed dynamic mechanisms of asymmetric seafloor spreading and ridge jumps are still unclear. Therefore, this paper summarizes the basic understanding about the dynamic mechanisms of global asymmetric seafloor spreading and ridge jumps and reviews the related research results of asymmetric seafloor spreading and ridge jumps in the South China Sea. Previous studies have basically confirmed that seafloor spreading in the South China Sea started between ~32 and 34 Ma in the east sub-basin and ended at ~15 Ma in the northwest sub-basin, with at least once oceanic ridge jump in the east sub-basin. The current research mainly focuses on the age of the seafloor spreading in the South China Sea and the location, time and stage of the ridge jumps, but there are relatively few studies on high-resolution lithospheric structure across these ridges and the dynamic mechanism of oceanic ridge jumps. Based on the current research progress, we propose that further studies should focus on the lithosphere–asthenosphere scale in the future, suggesting that marine magnetotelluric and Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) surveys should be conducted across the residual oceanic ridges to perform a detailed analysis of the tectonics magmatism in the east sub-basin to gain insights into the dynamic mechanisms of oceanic ridge jumps and asymmetric seafloor spreading, which can promote understanding of the tectonic evolution of the South China Sea and improve the classical plate tectonics theory that was constructed based on the open ocean basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most outer layer between itself and the environment, integuments are necessary for insects with various important functions. Cuticular proteins (CPs) are the main components in integuments, while the functions of CP genes remain unknown in Mythimna separata (Walker), which is a devastating agricultural pest. In this study, 79 CP genes were identified from the transcriptomes of larval integuments, 57 of which were from the family containing conserved Rebers & Riddiford (R&R) consensus (CPR family). Amongst these CPRs, 44 genes belonged to the subfamily with RR-1 motif (RR-1 genes) and clustered into three clades, with the top 15 most abundant RR-1 genes identified based on fragments per kilobase per million mapped fragments (FPKM) values. RT-qPCR analysis showed that most of RR-1 genes such as MsCPR1 - 4 were highly expressed at larval stages and in their integuments. The expression levels of RR-1 genes were generally decreased at the beginning but increased at the late stage of molting process. RNAi was applied for six RR-1 genes, and MsCPR1 - 4 were knocked down significantly. Silence of MsCPR2 resulted in abnormal integument formed after molting, while knockdown of MsCPR3 and MsCPR4 led to failure of molting, respectively. No phenotype was obtained for the RNAi of MsCPR1. Therefore, the expression of RR-1 genes and their functions were analyzed in the development of integuments in M. separata , providing new insights of RR-1 genes and potential targets for the development of growth regulators and new insecticides for M. separata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]