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Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a primary disease of the heart muscle associated with sudden cardiac death secondary to ventricular tachyarrhythmias and asystole. However, the molecular pathways linking DCM to arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death are unknown. We previously identified a S196L mutation in exon 4 of LBD3-encoded ZASP in a family with DCM and sudden cardiac death. These findings led us to hypothesize that this mutation may precipitate both cytoskeletal and conduction abnormalities in vivo. Therefore, we investigated the role of the ZASP4 mutation S196L in cardiac cytoarchitecture and ion channel biology.Methods and Results: We generated and analyzed transgenic mice with cardiac-restricted expression of the S196L mutation. We also performed cellular electrophysiological analysis on isolated S196L cardiomyocytes and protein-protein interaction studies. Ten month-old S196L mice developed hemodynamic dysfunction consistent with DCM, whereas 3-month-old S196L mice presented with cardiac conduction defects and atrioventricular block. Electrophysiological analysis on isolated S196L cardiomyocytes demonstrated that the L-type Ca(2+) currents and Na(+) currents were altered. The pull-down assay demonstrated that ZASP4 complexes with both calcium (Ca(v)1.2) and sodium (Na(v)1.5) channels.Conclusions: Our findings provide new insight into the mechanisms by which mutations of a structural/cytoskeletal protein, such as ZASP, lead to cardiac functional and electric abnormalities. This work represents a novel framework to understand the development of conduction defects and arrhythmias in subjects with cardiomyopathies, including DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficiently utilizing the energy resources in the agriculture sector to produce more agricultural output with minimum environmental degradation is a shared global challenge. The Chinese government has introduced various policies aimed at enhancing energy efficiency (EE) and total factor energy productivity (TFEP) while addressing regional technological disparities in the agricultural sector. This study utilized DEA Super-SBM, Meta frontier Analysis, and the Malmquist-Luenberger index to assess energy efficiency, changes in total factor energy productivity, and the regional technology gap ratio (TGR) across 30 provinces in mainland China and three distinct regions during the period from 2000 to 2020. The findings reveal that the average EE in China's agricultural sector is 0.8492, indicating that, on average, there is a 15.08 % potential for improvement in EE growth within the sector. Qinghai (1.5828), Shanghai (1.3716), and Hainan (1.3582) are found to be the top 3 performers with the highest EE levels. The Eastern region demonstrates high excellence in EE, with a value of 1.0532. The TGR value of Zhejiang indicates the superior production technology utilized in the agriculture sector to utilize energy resources efficiently. Except for Zhejiang, the TGR of Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong, Ningxia, and Hainan is above 0.96 and near 1, indicating superior production technology in the agriculture sector of China. The Technology Gap Ratio (TGR) of China's eastern region is superior to that of the central and western regions, consistently approaching 1. This suggests that the eastern provinces possess more advanced agricultural technologies, allowing them to optimize resource utilization for maximum output. The Malmquist-Luenberger index (MLI) score of 1.103 indicates a 10.3 % growth in the total factor energy productivity of China's agricultural sector. Further analysis reveals that this growth is primarily driven by technological change (TC), with a TC value of 1.080 surpassing the efficiency change (EC) value of 1.028. Among the three agricultural regions, the eastern region exhibits the highest total factor energy productivity. Specifically, Zhejiang (1.23), Shanghai (1.197), Liaoning (1.184), and Hebei (1.147) are identified as the top performers in total factor energy productivity growth in China's agricultural sector. Additionally, the Kruskal-Wallis test confirmed statistically significant differences in EE and TGR among the three regions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Museums are critical in safeguarding cultural heritage and cultivating community educational opportunities. This research aims to evaluate operational efficiency (OE), the impact of technological change on total factor productivity change (TFPC), and the regional heterogeneity of museum performance in three regions and 31 provinces across China. To this end, the study employed DEA-SBM and the Malmquist Productivity Index to gauge OE, TFPC, and determinants of TFPC (efficiency change or emerging technologies change) across 31 provinces for 2012-2021. Results reveal that the average OE of the Chinese Museum is 0.8394. It shows a 16.06 % growth potential in the operational efficiency of Chinese Museums. Further, the OE of Chinese Museums declined over the study period from 0.8965 in 2012 to 0.8088 in 2021. Beijing, Fujian, and Hunan are ranked top with a Museum's OE Score of 1. The average MI score of Chinese Museums is 0.9744, and technology change is the main determinant of Decline in productivity change as EC = 0.9992 is greater than TC = 0.9846. The MI of Liaoning, Shanghai, Ningxia, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Tianjin is over 1, indicating growth in total factor productivity over the study period. The eastern region of China shows higher operational efficiency and total factor productivity scores of museums than the central and western regions. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test proved that a statistically significant difference exists among different regions of China for the OE, MI, EC, and TC of museums., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Various empirical studies have examined the nexus between financial markets, but this study focused on the comovement among prominent markets. Our study examines the interrelationship among main financial markets, i.e., stock, oil, and commodity during the recent pandemic. The interconnections among the selected markets are investigated using a battery of wavelet coherence tools and the Granger causality test. From the wavelet coherence analysis, our findings indicate strong co-movements among the VIX, oil volatility, and commodity prices during pandemic and localized in all scales and over the sample period. The dependency strength among the considered economies is noted to increase in pandemic, which implies increased short- and long-term benefits for the investors. Moreover, Our result exhibits a feedback causality between OVIX and crude oil, VIX and S&P 500, and gasoline and VIX. Interestingly, a unidirectional causality exists between VIX and crude oil, S&P 500 and crude oil, Brent and crude oil, gasoline, crude oil, and VIX and OVIX. We advocate that the findings will be helpful for portfolio managers, investors, and officials around the world., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The COVID-19 crisis has drastically affected organizations worldwide, thereby influencing the employees' psychological wellbeing. Since it is a new pandemic, research is sparse in the domain of employees' psychological wellbeing in relation to the phenomenon. Drawing on social support and job demand-resource perspectives, this research adds to the factors affecting employees' wellbeing due to the coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, this study is an investigation of co-workers' instrumental support in predicting employees' emotional exhaustion via employees' perceived uncertainties experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we tested for the contextual specificity of family support on uncertainties and its link with employees' emotional exhaustion. With data drawn from two universities (n = 275), the findings reveal a negative association between co-worker task support and an employee's emotional exhaustion, and an employee's perceived uncertainties mediate this relationship. Moreover, the moderating analysis exhibits that family support mitigates the negative effect of uncertainty perception on emotional exhaustion. Our study reveals that coworker and family support are extremely important during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are equally valuable for organizations and society to mitigate the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees' wellbeing., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestAll the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021.)

Synovial sarcoma is a soft-tissue sarcoma. Its involvement of the spine is extremely rare. We report a 40 year old male who presented with shoulder pain and progressive weakness in all four limbs for six months with a visible, slowly growing bulge in his upper back. On examination he had quadriparesis and diffuse sensory deficit. MRI of the cervical spine showed a large soft tissue mass, iso to hypointense, extending into the neural canal, compressing the cord. The mass had a few internal areas of contrast enhancement with extension into the right paraspinal regions involving the vertebral bodies. Sub-periosteal spine dissection was done. Tumour was primarily extradural, involving and extending from paraspinal soft tissues to the posterior arches, laminae and spinous processes of the verteberae, with their destruction. Gross radical removal of the visible mass was done, followed by three cycles of radiation therapy. Excisional biopsy showed synovial sarcoma TYPE II. In conclusion, synovial sarcomas should be kept in the differentials of a mass arising in spinal axis.