Novel diagnostic biomarkers related to necroptosis and immune infiltration landscape in acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can occur suddenly, which may induce deadly outcomes, and the population suffering from AMI presents a younger trend. Necroptosis, the new cell necrosis type, is associated with the pathogenic mechanisms of diverse cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Its diagnostic value and molecular mechanisms in AMI are still unclear. Objective: This study focused on determining key necroptosis-related genes as well as immune infiltration in AMI. Methods: We first examined the GSE66360 dataset for identifying necroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (NRDEGs). Thereafter, GO and functional annotation were performed, then a PPI network was built. In addition, "CIBERSORT" in R was applied in comparing different immune infiltration degrees in AMI compared with control groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate whether hub NRDEGs could be used in AMI diagnosis. Associations of immune cells with candidate NRDEGs biomarkers were examined by Spearman analysis. Finally, hub NRDEGs were validated by cell qPCR assays and another two datasets. Results: A total of 15 NRDEGs were identified and multiple enrichment terms associated with necroptosis were discovered through GO and KEGG analysis. Upon module analysis, 10 hub NRDEGs were filtered out, and the top six hub NRDEGs were identified after ROC analysis. These top six NRDEGs might have a certain effect on modulating immune infiltrating cells, especially for mast cells activated, NK cells activated and neutrophils. Finally, two AMI datasets and qPCR assay came to identical findings. Conclusion: Our results offer the reliable molecular biomarkers and new perspectives for necroptosis in AMI, which lay a certain foundation for developing novel anti-AMI therapeutic targets.

Antiplatelet therapy with or without PPIs for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in patients at high risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Recurrent upper gastrointestinal (UGI) and cardiovascular (CV) events of the three antiplatelet therapies in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were compared. Studies published in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials electronic databases that compared differences in adverse outcomes associated with the three antiplatelet therapies were reviewed. Five studies with a total number of 7,399 patients were included. No significant differences were found in the incidence of recurrent UGI events among the three antiplatelet therapies. However, in the aspirin-induced ulcer bleeding subgroups, aspirin plus proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) was associated with a significantly lower risk of recurrent UGI events (OR: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.32; z=3.30 and P=0.001) and UGI bleeding (OR: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01-0.34; z=3.24 and P=0.001) compared to clopidogrel alone. Both aspirin plus PPIs (OR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.58-2.84; z=5.00 and P<0.01) and clopidogrel plus PPIs (OR: 2.57, 95% CI: 1.89-3.51; z=5.97 and P<0.01) were related to a comparatively higher risk of recurrent CV events when compared to clopidogrel alone. In patients at high UGI bleeding risk (regardless of whether it was aspirin-induced) and under treatment of single antiplatelet therapy, aspirin plus PPIs should be considered as the first choice for UGI protection rather than clopidogrel alone and clopidogrel plus PPIs. However, in terms of CV protection, clopidogrel alone appears to be superior in reducing CV risk, while clopidogrel plus PPIs may relate to an increased CV risk due to the potential drug-drug interaction.

Strong/Weak Feature Recognition of Promoters Based on Position Weight Matrix and Ensemble Set-Valued Models.

In this article, we propose a method to recognize the strong/weak property of the promoters based on the nucleotide sequence. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to predict the strong/weak property of the promoters. First, position weight matrix (PWM) is used to evaluate the contributions of the nucleotides to the promoter strength. Then, the set-valued model is used to describe the relation between the nucleotide sequence and the strength. Considering the small-sample and imbalance features of the promoter data, we propose an ensemble approach to predict the strong/weak property of the promoters. The proposed method is used to recognize 60 [Formula: see text] promoters of Escherichia coli. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. This article provides a simple way for a biologist to evaluate the strong/weak feature of promoters from the nucleotide sequence.

Atomic-Monolayer Two-Dimensional Lateral Quasi-Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors with Resonant Tunneling Phenomenon.

High-frequency operation with ultrathin, lightweight, and extremely flexible semiconducting electronics is highly desirable for the development of mobile devices, wearable electronic systems, and defense technologies. In this work, the experimental observation of quasi-heterojunction bipolar transistors utilizing a monolayer of the lateral WSe2-MoS2 junctions as the conducting p-n channel is demonstrated. Both lateral n-p-n and p-n-p heterojunction bipolar transistors are fabricated to exhibit the output characteristics and current gain. A maximum common-emitter current gain of around 3 is obtained in our prototype two-dimensional quasi-heterojunction bipolar transistors. Interestingly, we also observe the negative differential resistance in the electrical characteristics. A potential mechanism is that the negative differential resistance is induced by resonant tunneling phenomenon due to the formation of quantum well under applying high bias voltages. Our results open the door to two-dimensional materials for high-frequency, high-speed, high-density, and flexible electronics.

Boosted photocatalytic efficiency through plasmonic field confinement with bowtie and diabolo nanostructures under LED irradiation.

Photoresist and electron beam lithography techniques were used to fabricate embedded Ag bowtie and diabolo nanostructures with various apex angles on the surface of a TiO2 film. The reinforced localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and electric field generated at both the Ag/TiO2 and air/TiO2 interfaces enabled high light absorbance in the TiO2 nanostructure. Results for both the bowtie and diabolo nanostructures showed that a reduction in the apex angle enhances both LSPR and Raman intensity. The maximum electric current density observed at the apex indicates that the strongest SPR confines at the tip gap of the bowtie and corners of the diabolo. In a long-wavelength region, as the apex angle increases, the resonant peak wavelength of the standing wave matches the increased length of the prism edges of the bowtie and diabolo to create a redshift. In a short-wavelength region, as the apex angle increases, the blueshift of the resonant peak wavelength is presumably attributable to the increase in the effective index of the local surface plasmon polariton standing wave mainly residing along both the bowtie and diabolo axes. The redshift and blueshift trend in the simulation results for the resonant peak wavelength agrees well with the experimental results. The fastest photocatalytic rate was obtained by placing the Ag/TiO2 bowtie at an apex angle of 30° in the methylene blue solution, revealing that the plasmonic photocatalysis causes the highest degradation efficiency. This is because the Schottky junction and LSPR can stimulate many valid radicals for the environmental improvement.

Mesoporous silica reinforced by silica nanoparticles to enhance mechanical performance.

Silica nanoparticle/mesoporous silica composite films were prepared by direct mixing with mechanical stirring and thermal imidization. The structural morphology was elucidated by scanning electron microscopy and the surface of the film was imaged by atomic force microscopy. The functional groups and desorption process of the films were elucidated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy. The mechanical properties were investigated using a nanoindenter system. The gel matrix and the filler are very compatible because they have similar molecular content. The composite films had a higher mechanical strength than pure porous silica film. Their strength is related to the silica nanoparticle content. The interfacial compatibility, dispersion effect, and interfacial strength also affect the mechanical strength of composite films.