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Nga Phi Thi Nguyen,1,2,* Thuc Luong Cong,3,4,* Thi Thanh Hoa Tran,5 Binh Nhu Do,6 Son Tien Nguyen,1,2 Binh Thanh Vu,7,* Lan Ho Thi Nguyen,8 Manh Van Ngo,9 Hoa Trung Dinh,10 Hoang Duong Huy,11 Nghia Xuan Vu,12 Kien Nguyen Trung,13 Duong Ngoc Vu,14 Nghia The Pham,14 Tuan Dinh Le2,15,* 1Department of Endocrinology, Military Hospital 103, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Rheumatology and Endocrinology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Cardiovascular Center, Military Hospital 103, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Department of Cardiology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Emergency Resuscitation Department, National Hospital of Endocrinology, Hanoi, Vietnam; 6Division of Military Science, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 7Department of Internal Medicine, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 8Department of General Internal Medicine, National Hospital of Endocrinology, Hanoi, Vietnam; 9Postgraduate Training Management Department, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 10Department of Requested Treatment, National Hospital of Endocrinology, Hanoi, Vietnam; 11Department of Neurology, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 12Department of Blood Transfusion, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 13Department of Science Management, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 14Department of Imaging Diagnosis, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 15Center of Emergency, Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Tuan Dinh Le, Center of Emergency, Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Military Hospital 103, Vietnam Military Medical University, 261 Phung Hung Street, Phuc La Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi, Vietnam, Tel +84 388166078, Email letuan985@gmail.com Binh Thanh Vu, Department of Internal Medicine, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 373 Ly Bon Street, Ky Ba Ward, Thai Binh, Vietnam, Tel +84 334588298, Email binhvt@tbump.edu.vnIntroduction: Low albumin levels, high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and high white blood cell count were risk factors for changes in arterial intima-media thickness (IMT). Femoral artery IMT damages were one of the common peripheral artery type 2 diabetes. This study was conducted to determine the association between femoral artery IMT and plasma albumin, hs-CRP levels, and white blood cell count in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2D).Materials and Methods: From January 2015 to May 2020, 306 patients with nT2D were recruited for this cross-sectional descriptive study at Vietnam’s National Endocrinology Hospital. We measured IMT by Doppler ultrasound.Results: There was a statistically significant difference in albumin, hs-CRP levels, hs-CRP-to-albumin ratio, and white blood cell counts between three different IMT groups namely normal IMT, thick IMT, and atherosclerosis (p = 0.003, p = 0.001, p = 0.001 and p = 0.049, respectively). In the multivariate linear regression analysis, white blood cell count, and hs-CRP levels showed a significantly positive correlation to IMT (standardized B and p of 0.17, 0.015 and 0.163, 0.024, respectively), but albumin levels were a significantly negative correlation to IMT (standardized B = – 0.151, p = 0.029). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that albumin (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.65– 0.90, p = 0.018), hs-CRP (OR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.01– 1.18, p = 0.026), and white blood cell count (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.03– 1.81, p = 0.033) had correlation to atherosclerosis of femoral artery.Conclusion: Reduced plasma albumin, elevated hs-CRP, and white blood cell count associated with IMT increased the odds for atherosclerosis of femoral artery among nT2D.Keywords: plasma albumin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, intima-media thickness, atherosclerotic plaque, femoral artery

We present a heuristic approach to formulate physical fields from systems of first order linear partial differential equations by considering the symmetric and antisymmetric properties of the matrices that represent the systems of equations. Particularly, we show that Maxwell and Dirac fields can be established by imposing different types of symmetric and antisymmetric conditions on their associated representing matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a general formulation of special relativity with generalized Lorentz transformations and Minkowski line element. Besides the Minkowski and Euclidean metrics associated, respectively, with the Lorentz and Euclidean transformations, the general formulation can also be used to establish new forms of coordinate transformations that also leave their associated metrics invariant. We also formulate relativistic mechanics under the framework of the generalized special relativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have uncovered extensive presence and functions of small noncoding RNAs in gene regulation in eukaryotes. In particular, RNA interference (RNAi) has been the subject of significant investigations for its unique role in post-transcriptional gene regulation and utility as a tool for artificial gene knockdown. Here, we describe a novel strategy for post-transcriptional gene regulation in mammalian cells in which RNAi is specifically modulated through RNA aptamer-small molecule interaction. Incorporation of an RNA aptamer for theophylline in the loop region of a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) designed to silence fluorescent reporter genes led to dose-dependent inhibition of RNAi by theophylline. shRNA cleavage experiments using recombinant Dicer demonstrated that theophylline inhibited cleavage of an aptamer-fused shRNA by Dicer in vitro. Inhibition of siRNA production by theophylline was also observed in vivo. The results presented here provide the first evidence of specific RNA-small molecule interaction affecting RNAi, and a novel strategy to regulate mammalian gene expression by small molecules without engineered proteins.

In this work, we examine the possible existence of dark fields by showing that an energy-momentum tensor associated with a dark field can be introduced into Einstein field equations of general relativity, in which the trace of the energy-momentum of the dark field is identified with the cosmological constant. The introduction of dark fields into Einstein field equations is made possible by establishing field equations for the Ricci curvature tensor, which have similar mathematical structure to Maxwell field equations of electromagnetism. We also establish a system of field equations for the Riemann curvature tensor and investigate the possibility to represent physical systems consisting of dark fields and observable fields as spaces of constant scalar curvature, which are maximally symmetric spaces that admit the maximal number of Killing vectors. As an illustration, we show that if a dark field is considered as a dark fluid, then the pressure associated with the dark field can take negative values if the cosmological constant is assigned with positive values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]