Identification of intrinsic genes across general hypertension, hypertension with left ventricular remodeling, and uncontrolled hypertension.

The purpose of the present article is to identify intrinsic genes across general hypertension (HT), hypertension with left ventricular remodeling (HT-LVR), and uncontrolled hypertension (UN-HT). In total, four microarray datasets (GSE24752, GSE75360, GSE74144, and GSE71994) were downloaded from the GEO database and were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was utilized to screen for significantly enriched biological pathways across the four datasets above, respectively. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and functional enrichment analysis were applied to screen out gene modules of interest and potential biological functions, respectively. Finally, a Metascape-based multiple gene list meta-analysis was used to investigate intrinsic genes at different stages of the progression of hypertension. A total of 75 DEGs (63 upregulated genes and 12 downregulated genes, GSE24752) and 23 DEGs (2 upregulated genes and 21 downregulated genes, GSE74144) were identified. However, there were few DEGs identified in GSE75360, GSE71994, and part of the GSE74144 datasets. GSEA and functional enrichment of gene module of interest have indicated that "Heme metabolism," "TNF alpha/NFkB," and "interferon alpha response signaling," and MYC target v1/v2 were enriched significantly in different stages of hypertension progression. Significantly, findings from the multiple gene list meta-analysis suggested that FBXW4 and other 13 genes were unique to the hypertension group, and TRIM11 and other 40 genes were mainly involved in hypertension with the left ventricular remodeling group, while the other 18 genes including F13A1 significantly enriched in uncontrolled hypertension. Collectively, the precise switch of the "immune-metabolic-inflammatory" loop pathway was the most significant hallmark across different stages of hypertension, thereby providing a potential therapeutic target for uncontrolled hypertension treatment.

An innovative oncoplastic technique for immediate small to medium volume breast reconstruction in lower inner quadrant cancer: The Zhuo-technique.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient glandular tissue in the lower quadrant of the breast is the main source of difficulty in repairing defects after oncoplastic surgery. Especially in small to medium sized breasts, this issue is more common. Here, we describe a novel oncoplastic approach that could help to solve this problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of breast cancer patients with tumors in the lower inner quadrants, who underwent Zhuo's technique between January 2017 and August 2019. Aesthetic outcomes were evaluated in terms of the Paris Breast Center's 5-point scale. The work was reported according to the STROCSS criteria. RESULTS: Nine patients (mean age 54 years) with small to medium volume breast received Zhuo's oncoplastic technique after tumor excision. The mean size tumor was 18.0 mm. The median follow-up time was 27.0 months. Sentinel lymph node biopsy results for all patients were negative. None of the patients had local recurrences or metastases and postoperative complications were not observed. Seven patients (77.8%) achieved aesthetic scores of 5 and two patients (22.2%) achieved 4 points. CONCLUSIONS: Zhuo's oncoplastic technique could provide a favorable and flexible surgical approach for small to medium volume breast with tumors of the lower inner quadrant with a low risk of recurrence and good aesthetic results. PROTOCOL REGISTER: Chinese clinical trial register No. ChiCTR2100043484.

Crystalline Multi-Metallic Compounds as Host Materials in Cathode for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is one of the most promising next-generation rechargeable batteries. Lots of fundamental research has been done for the problems during cycling like capacity fading and columbic efficiency reducing owing to severe diffusion and migration of polysulfide intermediates. In the early stage, a wide variety of carbon materials are used as host materials for sulfur to enhance electrical conductivity and adsorb soluble polysulfides. Beyond carbon materials, metal based polar compounds are introduced as host materials for sulfur because of their strong catalytic activity and adsorption ability to suppress the shuttle effect. In addition, relatively high density of metal compounds is helpful for increasing volumetric energy density of Li-S batteries. This review focuses on crystalline multi-metal compounds as host materials in sulfur cathodes. The multi-metal compounds involve not only transition metal composite oxides with specific crystalline structures, binary metal chalcogenides, double or complex salts, but also the metal compounds doped or partially substituted by other metal ions. Generally, for the multi-metal compounds, microstructure and morphologies in micro-nano scale are very significant for mass transfer in electrodes; moreover, adsorption and catalytic ability for polysulfides make fast kinetics in the electrode processes.

Concise Total Synthesis and Antifungal Activities of Fusaric Acid, a Natural Product.

The total synthesis of a natural product alkaloid fusaric acid (FA), which exhibits herbicide, fungicide, insecticide and even diverse notable pharmacological activities, was accomplished in four steps using commercially available materials. The synthesis, based on a unified and flexible strategy using 6-bromonicotinaldehyde as a common intermediate, is concise, convergent, practical and can be carried out on a two-gram scale. This approach could be readily applicable to the synthesis of its analogues. In addition, FA had a wide range of inhibitory activities against 14 plant pathogenic fungi in this study, which demonstrated that as a leading compound, and it has great potential to be further developed as an agricultural fungicide.