Search

Shi Chen,1,&ast; Xugui Song,2,&ast; Hongfei Shi,3 Jing Li,4 Shengqi Ma,4 Linan Chen,4 Ying Lu,4 Conglin Hong,4 Hanyun Zhu,4 Hongyan Sun,3 Mingzhi Zhang5 1Department of Nursing, School of Nursing, Suzhou Vocational Health College, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Shishan Community Health Service Center, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Tianning District, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Mingzhi Zhang, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China, 215123, Tel +86 512 6588 0079, Fax +86 512 6588 0052, Email zhangmingzhi@suda.edu.cn Hongyan Sun, Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Tianning District, Changzhou, People’s Republic of China, Email 1106925654@qq.comBackground: Poor sleep quality is becoming very common in a developed society and relates to many health disorders. However, the association between sleep quality and hypertension has not been well studied in Chinese adults.Methods: Blood pressure was measured and sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for 5167 participants (mean aged 51± 15 years, 41.5% males) in the Tianning Cohort. A logistic regression model was constructed to examine the association between sleep quality, as well as its components, and hypertension, adjusting for age, sex, education level, current smoking, current drinking, physical activity, obesity, glucose, and blood lipids.Results: After multivariate adjustment, a higher score Of the PSQI was significantly associated with an increased risk of prevalent hypertension (OR=1.03, P=0.018). Compared to participants with normal sleep (the PSQI score < 5), those with a poor sleep quality (the PSQI score ≥ 5) had a 17% increased risk of prevalent hypertension (OR=1.17, P=0.042). Three of the seven components of sleep quality, such as subjective sleep quality (OR=1.17, P=0.001), sleep latency (OR=1.11, P=0.010), and sleep disturbances (OR=1.19, P=0.004), were also significantly associated with prevalent hypertension.Conclusion: Poor sleep quality is increasingly prevalent in developed societies and may be related to an increased risk of hypertension in Chinese adults. The underlying causality is waiting to be studied.Keywords: sleep quality, hypertension, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

N-PhPABZ successfully cured the brittleness of PMDA-based poly(benzimidazole imide)s. N-PhPABZ-PMDA film illustrated an extremely high Tg of 486 °C and a low CTE of 9.7 ppm K−1.

To prepare soluble polyimides with high temperature resistance, two new diamine monomers, namely, 2,2′-(4,4′-oxybisphenylene)-bis(1-phenyl-5-aminobenzimidazole) (5a), and 2,2′-(4,4′-hexafluoroisopropylidene)-bis(1-phenyl-5- aminobenzimidazole) (5b), were synthesized and exploited to prepare three series of poly(benzimidazole imides)s (PBIIs) by a conventional two-stage synthesis. The resulting PI films were flexible and tough, possessing high glass-transition temperatures (Tgs = 311°C–390°C), improved optical transparency, and excellent solubility. Moreover, the effect of different configuration on performance was revealed, and these data provided a feasible method to enhance both Tg and solubility of PIs by incorporating N-phenyl benzimidazole and corresponding functional moieties.

Shengqi Ma,1,&ast; Lei Wu,2,&ast; Qing Yu,3,&ast; Donghui Chen,2 Chunsong Geng,3 Hao Peng,1 Lugang Yu,2 Mingzhi Zhang1 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Maternal and Child Health, Suzhou Industrial Park Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Suzhou Kowloon Hospital, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lugang YuDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, Suzhou Industrial Park Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 200 Suhong West Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 512 6761 4200Fax +86 512 6761 4233Email YLG@sipcdc.comMingzhi ZhangDepartment of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 512 6588 0079Fax +86 512 6588 0052Email zhangmingzhi@suda.edu.cnBackground: High blood pressure during pregnancy has been suggested to be associated with adverse birth outcomes (ABO), but it is unclear how different blood pressure changes and the extent of the effect. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between blood pressure trajectories (systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP)) of pregnant women and ABO in a real-world study.Material and Methods: Leveraging 28,679 pregnant women and their fetuses from a register-based cohort from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019. Blood pressure trajectories were estimated by package “traj” in R software using real-world blood pressure data of routine antenatal care examinations. Logistic regression models were applied to examine the association between trajectories of different blood pressure components (SBP, DBP, MAP, and PP) during pregnancy and the risk of ABO.Results: Trajectories of all blood pressure components were identically labeled as low-stable, moderate-increasing, moderate-decreasing and high-stable. After adjusting for confounding factors, compared with pregnant women with the low-stable pattern, pregnant women with a high-stable or moderate-increasing pattern had a significantly increased risk of developing adverse birth outcomes. Pregnant women with a moderate-decreasing pattern had no significant increased risk of ABO but had a lower risk of adverse birth outcomes than those with a moderate-increasing pattern. The trajectories crossed at 17– 20 weeks of gestation for all blood pressure components.Conclusion: Our study results indicated that reduction and maintenance of blood pressure to a low level of less than 110 mmHg for SBP and 65 mmHg for DBP after 20 weeks of gestation would benefit prevention of adverse birth outcomes, regardless of the level of blood pressure at early pregnancy.Keywords: blood pressure, trajectory, pregnancy, adverse birth outcomes, real-world study

Conglin Hong,1,&ast; Qiu Zhang,2,&ast; Yan Chen,3,&ast; Ying Lu,1 Linan Chen,1 Yan He,1 Jing Li,1 Shengqi Ma,1 Jun Jiang,4 Xiaolong Zhang,4 Jianwei Hu,5 Yi Ding,6 Mingzhi Zhang,1 Hao Peng1,7 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Chronic Disease, Gusu Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Nephrology, The Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Southeast University Medical College, Jiangyin, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Tuberculosis Control, Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Central Office, Maternal and Child Health Bureau of Kunshan, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Clinical Medicine, Suzhou Vocational Health College, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China; 7Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hao Peng; Mingzhi Zhang, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, 199 Renai Road, Industrial Park District, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 512 6588 0078; 86 512 6588 0079, Email penghao@suda.edu.cn; zhangmingzhi@suda.edu.cnObjective: Although elevated uric acid is associated with obesity and considered a predictor of hypertension, the causal linkage between the three metabolic conditions is not very clear. We aim to examine whether elevated uric acid mediates the effects of obesity on hypertension development.Methods: A total of 1984 participants (mean aged 53 years, 62.10% female) with repeated measurements of obesity, blood pressure, and uric acid 4 years apart in the Gusu cohort were included. We first applied cross-lagged panel analysis and bidirectional association analysis to delineate the temporal association between obesity and hyperuricemia. Then, a causal mediation model was constructed to further examine the causal role of hyperuricemia in the linkage between obesity and hypertension. Age, sex, education, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, fasting blood glucose, and lipids were adjusted.Results: The cross-lagged panel analysis demonstrated that the relationship from baseline obesity to follow-up hyperuricemia was stronger than that from baseline hyperuricemia to follow-up obesity (β: 0.09 vs 0.06, P< 0.01 for BMI, β: 0.13 vs 0.07, P< 0.01 for WC). Bidirectional association analysis found that baseline obesity predicted the risk of incident hyperuricemia (OR = 1.09, P< 0.01 for BMI, OR = 1.05, P< 0.01 for WC), but the other directional association was not statistically significant (all P> 0.05). The causal mediation analysis found that hyperuricemia partially mediated the association of baseline BMI (mediate proportion: 3.09%, 95% CI: 0.97%∼ 6.00% for SBP, 3.74%, 95% CI: 1.55%∼ 7.00% for DBP) and baseline WC (mediate proportion: 5.56%, 95% CI: 2.01%∼ 11.00% for SBP, 5.81%, 95% CI: 2.59%∼ 10.00% for DBP) with follow-up blood pressures.Conclusion: Obesity preceded hyperuricemia and the latter partially mediated the relationship between obesity and hypertension, independent of behavioral and other metabolic factors.Keywords: bidirectional association analysis, causal mediation analysis, cross-lagged panel analysis, blood pressures, temporal relationship, uric acid, obesity

Corin, a physical activator of atrial natriuretic peptide, has been associated with hypertension with unclear mechanisms. Here, we aimed to examine whetherDNA methylation levels ofOf the 9 CpGs assayed, hypermethylation at all CpGs were significantly associated with a lower level of blood pressure in the discovery sample and eight associations were also significant in the replication sample (all FDR-adjusted p0.05). Serum corin mediated approximately 3.07% (p=0.004), 6.25% (p=0.002) and 10.11% (p=0.034) of the associations of hypermethylation at one CpG (Chr4:47840096) with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and hypertension, respectively. All these mediations passed the causal inference test.These results suggest that hypermethylation in the

Lightweight structures are often used for applications requiring higher strength-to-weight ratios and lower densities, such as in aircraft, vehicles, and various engine components. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been widely used for lightweight polymer structures because of the superior flexibility, personalized design, and ease of operation offered by it. However, synthesis of lightweight polymeric structures that possess both high specific strength and glass transfer temperature (

Objectives: Furin has been associated with hypertension through unclear underlying mechanisms. FURIN promoter methylation may participate in the underlying mechanisms, but no evidence supports this possibility. Here, we performed a prospective analysis to study the association between FURIN promoter methylation and incident hypertension. Methods: DNA methylation levels in the FURIN promoter were quantified by target bisulfite sequencing using peripheral blood from 1043 participants in the Gusu cohort (mean age: 50 years, 30% men) who were free of hypertension at baseline. After an average of 4 years of follow-up, 149 (14.3%) participants developed hypertension. Multiple testing was controlled for by measuring the false-discovery rate. Results: Of the eight CpG loci assayed, DNA methylation levels at Chr15: 91416118 were significantly associated with incident hypertension after adjusting for covariates and multiple testing (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–1.64, q = 0.001). The weighted truncated-product method, which combines single CpG associations, revealed that DNA methylation at multiple CpG sites was jointly associated with incident hypertension (P < 0.001). Using the average methylation level of all CpG sites as a surrogate for FURIN promoter methylation revealed a similar association (HR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.08–1.72, P = 0.009). Almost all CpG methylations negatively correlated with serum furin levels, which mediated approximately 29.44% of the association between FURIN promoter methylation and incident hypertension. Conclusions: These results suggest that FURIN promoter hypermethylation is associated with an increased risk for hypertension in Chinese adults, partially through suppressing furin expression or excretion.

As a key enzyme of the natriuretic peptides system, corin may participate in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Its level in circulation predicted CVD recurrence in patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure, but no study examined this prediction in general populations.This study sought to examine the prospective association between corin and CVD in a community-based population of Chinese adults.The Gusu cohort included 2,498 participants (mean age 53 years, 39% men) who were free of CVD at baseline. Serum corin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits at baseline and CVD events were followed every 2 years for all participants. A competing-risks survival regression model was used to examine the association between serum corin and CVD.During 10 years of follow-up, 210 participants developed CVD including 88 stroke events. A higher serum corin (after log-transformation) at baseline was significantly associated with an increased risk of CVD (HR: 1.88;A higher serum corin at baseline predicted a higher risk of CVD events and stroke, but not coronary heart disease, in Chinese adults, independent of conventional risk factors. Serum corin may be a predictor for stroke but the underlying mechanism needs further investigation.

In this work, 4,4′-isopropylidenedicyclohexanol (HBPA)-based dinitro isomers mixture (H″BPBN and H′BPBN) was synthesized and separated, and the structures of dinitro isomers were confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A series of copolyimides were prepared from diamino monomers with different percentages of novel diamine H″BPDA and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride via a conventional two-step procedure. All the copolyimides could afford flexible, tough, and transparent films with transmittance no less than 73% at 450 nm, which was attributed to the fact that nonplanar alicyclic diamine and the bulky and weakly polarizable trifluoromethyl hampered the formation of charge-transfer complex. Moreover, all the copolyimides were soluble not only in polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide but also in low-boiling-point solvents such as dichloromethane, which was related to the fact that the existence of alicyclic diamine and bulky trifluoromethyl decreased the intermolecular force. In addition, the conformation effects of H″BPDA and H′BPDA on the aspects of thermal, mechanical, optical, and soluble performance of copolyimides were investigated and their structure–property relationships were discussed in detail.

Six polyimides, containing pyridine and spirocyclic units, were successfully synthesized by chemical imidization. Structure-dependent properties such as thermal decomposition temperatures and gas permeabilities of the high-performance polymers were explicitly investigated. Results showed that all polyimide films exhibited good solubility in common organic solvents and non-polar solvents such as chloroform and tetrahydrofuran. The polymers exhibited good thermal stability, all demonstrating thermal decomposition temperatures (Td10%) over 496 °C in nitrogen. Important from a commercial viewpoint, the permeability coefficients of these for the acidic gas CO2 showed an increase over other tested gases by virtue of the basic group pyridine (C–N linkages) in their structures.

Background Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), one of the main members of the natriuretic peptides system, has been associated with hypertension and related complications, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not very clear. Here, we aimed to examine whether DNA methylation, a molecular modification to the genome, of the natriuretic peptide A gene (NPPA), the coding gene of ANP, was associated with hypertension. Methods Peripheral blood DNA methylation of NPPA promoter was quantified by target bisulfite sequencing in 2498 community members (mean aged 53 years, 38% men) as a discovery sample and 1771 independent participants (mean aged 62 years, 54% men) as a replication sample. In both samples, we conducted a single CpG association analysis, followed by a gene-based association analysis, to examine the association between NPPA promoter methylation and hypertension, adjusting for age, sex, education level, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, fasting glucose, and lipids. Multiple testing was controlled by the false discovery rate approach. Results Of the 9 CpG loci assayed, hypermethylation at 5 CpGs (CpG1, CpG3, CpG6, CpG8, and CpG9) was significantly associated with a lower odds of prevalent hypertension in the discovery sample, and one CpG methylation (CpG1 located at Chr1:11908353) was successfully replicated in the replication sample (OR = 0.82, 95%CI 0.74–0.91, q = 0.002) after adjusting for covariates and multiple testing. The gene-based analysis found that DNA methylation of the 9 CpGs at NPPA promoter as a whole was significantly associated with blood pressure and prevalent hypertension in both samples (all P < 0.05). Conclusions DNA methylation levels at NPPA promoter were decreased in Chinese adults with hypertension. Aberrant DNA methylation of the NPPA gene may participate in the mechanisms of hypertension.

Hypothesis: Corin protein, a physiological activator of the atrial natriuretic peptide, has been associated with hypertension with unclear mechanisms. Its coding gene methylation may be involved in the underlined mechanisms but with no evidence. Objectives: We aimed to examine 1) whether CORIN gene methylation was associated with hypertension and 2) whether this association was mediated by corin protein. Methods: As illustrated in the following picture, peripheral blood DNA methylation of CORIN promoter was quantified by targeted bisulfite sequencing in 2,498 community members (mean aged 53 years, 38% men) as a discovery sample and 1,771 independent participants (mean aged 62 years, 54% men) as a replication sample. We constructed a causal mediation model with DNA methylation as the predictor variable, serum corin as the mediator variable, and blood pressure as the outcome variable, adjusting for age, sex, education level, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, fasting glucose, lipids, and antihypertensive medications. Multiple testing was controlled by adjusting for the total number of CpG loci tested. Results: Of the 9 CpG loci assayed, hyper-methylation methylation of 8 CpGs was significantly associated with lower systolic blood pressure in the discovery sample and 7 associations were also significant in the replication sample (all FDR-adjusted P P =0.038). Serum corin mediated approximately 2.45% (95%CI: 0.05%-7.00%, P =0.046), 7.15% (95%CI: 0.60%-28.00%, P =0.036), and 6.37% (95%CI: 0.10%-42.00%, P =0.048) of the negative associations of hyper-methylation at this CpG site with systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and hypertension, respectively. Conclusions: Hyper-methylation at CORIN promoter is associated with hypertension, at least partially through suppressing corin expression or excretion.

Heat-resistant and crosslinked polymers/ceramic composites have been prepared and investigated for enhancing high-temperature dielectric properties to adapt the development of advanced electric and electronic systems. Here, a series of crosslinkable heat-resistant poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (DPAES) with large dipole units of -SO

Additional file 1: Supplementary Table S1. Biologic processes for the NPPA gene identified by Gene Ontology (GO). Supplementary Figure S1. The Pearson correlation matrix among DNA methylation levels of all CpG loci assayed in NPPA promoter in the discovery sample. Supplementary Figure S2. Results of the meta-analysis. Supplementary Figure S3. Gene net-work involving the NPPA gene.

OBJECTIVES Although hyperuricemia, microalbuminuria, and hypertension are highly correlated, their temporal relationship is largely unknown. We aimed to examine whether microalbuminuria mediated the association between hyperuricemia and hypertension. METHODS Leveraging a longitudinal cohort including 1981 Chinese adults who had blood pressures, urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR), and uric acid measured twice 4 years apart, we examined the temporal relationships among hyperuricemia, microalbuminuria, and hypertension by cross-lagged panel analysis followed by a causal mediation analysis to confirm the temporal consequence. Age, sex, education level, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, blood glucose, and lipids were adjusted. RESULTS The cross-lagged panel analysis demonstrated that the relationship from baseline UACR to follow-up uric acid was significantly smaller than that from baseline uric acid to follow-up UACR (β: 0.010 vs. 0.054, P

A simple strategy is provided to construct novel shape memory polyimides with both physical and chemical crosslinks. The resulting materials exhibited an ultrahigh strain and a multiple shape memory effect without sacrificing the shape fixity and recovery, thereby presenting its potential application in the aerospace industry.

Supplemental Material, Revised_supporting_information for Soluble copolyimides containing 4,4′-isopropylidenedicyclohexanol (HBPA) isomer units: Synthesis, characterization, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties by Ziwen Hou, Sizhuo Jin, Xiaowen Wang, Shuai Wang, Junyu Zhao, Zhiming Mi, Shengqi Ma, Daming Wang, Xiaogang Zhao, Hongwei Zhou and Chunhai Chen in High Performance Polymers

Heat-resistant and crosslinked polymers/ceramic composites have been prepared and investigated for enhancing high-temperature dielectric properties to adapt the development of advanced electric and electronic systems. Here, a series of crosslinkable heat-resistant poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (DPAES) with large dipole units of -SO2 - are designed and synthesized as matrix, which are blended with BaTiO3 (BT) nanoparticles to fabricate crosslinked polymer composites for boosting high-temperature dielectric properties. The results show that BT/c-DPAES possess great dielectric stability at measured frequency and temperature. Meanwhile, the discharged energy density and efficiency of BT/c-DPAES composites are higher than that of BT/DPAES at high temperatures, e.g., 10 vol% BT/c-DPAES has a discharged energy density of 1.7 J cm-3 and efficiency of 73%, increasing by 42% and 128% in contrast to BT/DPAES, respectively. The enhanced high-temperature energy storage properties can be attributed to the construction of a crosslinked polymer network, reducing leakage current density of composites.