Identifying cadmium and lead co-accumulation from living rice blade spectrum.

Neither cadmium (Cd) nor lead (Pb) is necessary for crop growth, but they both can accumulate in soil and crop tissues, resulting in land degradation and crop reduction. Few researchers have explored how to detect Cd-Pb co-accumulation in leaves using proximal sensing techniques, especially by low-cost, easy-to-use leaf clips that capture hyperspectral reflections at suitable foliar positions. In this study, a hyperspectral imager was employed to collect images of the rice canopy from a designed greenhouse experiment that included 16 pretreatments of Cd-Pb co-accumulation, followed by spectral extractions from 3 foliar positions: the blade root, the middle of the leaf, and the leaf apex. A support vector machine with leave-one-out cross-validation was performed to diagnose the contaminative levels based on the feature wavelengths selected by an improved successive projection algorithm. Partial least squares regression was used to predict Cd-Pb concentrations in rice blades. The results indicated that diagnostic accuracies were varied using spectra of different foliar positions. The blade root and leaf apex of rice blades were the optimal foliar position for detecting Cd and Pb contamination, respectively. At the optimal foliar positions, diagnostic accuracies exceeded 0.80 for distinguishing whether the rice is subject to Cd-Pb contamination. The Cd prediction performed 'very good' with a residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 2.21, a R2 of 0.79, and a root mean square error (RMSE)of 6.14, while that of Pb was 1.62, 0.61, and 186.54. Important wavelengths were identified at 659-694 nm and 667-694 nm to detect Cd and Pb contamination. In summary, our results verified the feasibility and clarified the optimal foliar positions of rice blades to detect Cd-Pb contamination. The wavelengths selecting have the great potential in the design of future leaf clips, and the optimal foliar position can provide suggestions to improve diagnostic performances in field applications.

Efficacy and Safety of Minimally Invasive Transcatheter Closure of Congenital Heart Disease under the Guidance of Transesophageal Ultrasound: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of minimally invasive transcatheter closure of congenital heart disease (CHD) under the guidance of transesophageal ultrasound. Methods: A total of 100 patients with CHD treated in our hospital from February 2019 to April 2020 were enrolled in the group. The patients were randomly divided into control group and research group. The control group received minimally invasive transcatheter closure under the guidance of X-ray, and the research group received minimally invasive transcatheter closure under the guidance of transesophageal ultrasound. The operative results, the intraoperative- and postoperative-related indexes, and the incidence of early postoperative complications and follow-up results were compared. Results: First of all, we compared the results of the two groups: 48 cases of success, 2 cases of difficulty in the research group, 35 cases of success, 11 cases of difficulty, and 4 cases of failure in the control group. The success rate in the research group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Secondly, we compare the relevant indicators in the process of operation. The operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, upper and lower cavity obstruction time, and blood transfusion volume in the research group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In terms of postoperative-related indexes, the ventilator-assisted time, 24 h postoperative drainage, ICU time, and postoperative hospital stay in the research group were all lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of early postoperative complications in the research group was significantly lower than that in the control group such as secondary pleural hemostasis, pulmonary infection, pleural effusion, subcutaneous emphysema, poor incision healing, phrenic nerve loss, and right lower limb numbness (P < 0.05). All patients were followed up for 6 months, and the cardiac function of both groups returned to normal. There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative residual shunt and new tricuspid regurgitation. There was no significant difference in the data (P > 0.05). Considering abnormal ECG events, the incidence of abnormal ECG events (complete right bundle branch block, incomplete right bundle branch block, second- and third-degree block, left anterior branch block) in the research group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Minimally invasive transcatheter closure of CHD under the guidance of transesophageal ultrasound has the advantages of less trauma, less blood loss, short hospital stay, simple operation, less postoperative complications, and remarkable therapeutic effect. Minimally invasive transcatheter closure under the guidance of transesophageal ultrasound has the advantage of adapting to a wide range of syndromes and can be used for the closure of CHD in children. According to different types of CHD, registering the corresponding occlusive pathway can improve the success rate of operation. Through postoperative reexamination and regular follow-up, it is proved that minimally invasive transcatheter closure under the guidance of transesophageal ultrasound is safe, effective, and feasible.

Feasibility and Safety of Very-Low Contrast Combined Ringer's Solution in Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an important modality used in coronary intervention. However, OCT requires a high amount of contrast media, limiting its extensive application in clinical practice. This study compared OCT images of coronary lesions obtained using contrast media and very-low contrast combined Ringer's solution (VLCCR) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: Thirty ACS patients with a total of 36 native lesions and stenoses from 70 to 90% were included in this study. Two kinds of flushing media (a contrast medium and VLCCR) were used in succession in a random order for OCT image pullback of each lesion. VLCCR method is using low volume contrast (4-5 ml) injected into the guiding catheter previously combination with injector infused Ringer's solution instead of pure contrast medium. The safety of procedure was evaluated by recording the patients 'symptoms, changes of ECG, blood pressure and heart rate. OCT images were analyzed to determine the image clarity. Lumen area and diameter were also measured and the consistency between the two media was compared. Results: OCT procedure using either contrast or VLCCR did not show any peri-procedural adverse events. There was no difference in changes of blood pressure and heart rate in both procedures, however, VLCCR procedure showed less procedure-related symptoms and ECG changes. We found that the percentage of clear image frame was equivalent between the contrast and VLCCR media (98.0 vs. 96.9%, P = 0.90). We also observed a high degree of similarity between the different lesion phenotypes of ACS for both media. There was a linear correlation of the phenotypes obtained with these two different methods, and a significant correlation was observed between measurements obtained with contrast and VLCCR without correction for the refractive index of VLCCR (correlation coefficients ranged between 0.829 and 0.948). Conclusions: OCT imaging using VLCCR for blood clearance is feasible and safe and provides similar imaging quality compared to OCT imaging obtained using radiographic contrast media for ACS patients.

Upregulation of lncRNA RMRP promotes the activation of cardiac fibroblasts by regulating miR­613.

Long non­coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to serve a key role in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including in cardiac fibrosis. The present study aimed to investigate the biological role and underlying mechanisms of the induction of cardiac fibroblasts by the lncRNA, RNA component of mitochondrial RNA processing endoribonuclease (RMRP). The results demonstrated that RMRP expression was upregulated in the presence of cardiac fibrosis in an abdominal aortic banding­treated rat model. Treatment with angiotensin II increased RMRP expression in cardiac fibroblasts, while the knockdown of RMRP by small­interfering RNA inhibited cardiac fibroblast proliferation, differentiation and collagen accumulation. To further investigate the underlying mechanisms of this interaction, microRNA (miR)­613 was predicted to be a target miR of RMRP and sequence alignment, luciferase activity and MS2 RNA immunoprecipitation were performed to detect the interaction between RMRP and miR­613. The results suggested that RMRP negatively regulated miR­613 in cardiac fibroblasts. Furthermore, miR­613 was indicated to mediate the promoting effect of RMRP on cardiac fibroblast activation. The current study suggested that RMRP promoted cardiac fibroblast activation by acting as a competing endogenous RNA for miR­613. Therefore, RMRP may be a novel target for the prevention or treatment of cardiac fibrosis.

Selection of the Optimal Spectral Resolution for the Cadmium-Lead Cross Contamination Diagnosing Based on the Hyperspectral Reflectance of Rice Canopy.

This paper proposed an optimal spectral resolution for diagnosing cadmium-lead (Cd-Pb) cross contamination with different pollution levels based on the hyperspectral reflectance of rice canopy. Feature bands were sequentially selected by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA2) and random forests from the high-dimensional hyperspectral data after preprocessing. Then Support Vector Machine (SVM) was applied to diagnose the pollution levels using different feature bands combination with different spectral resolutions and cross validation was conducted to evaluate the distinguishing accuracies. Finally, the optimal spectral resolution could be determined by comparing the diagnosing accuracies of the optimal feature bands combination in each spectral resolution. In the experiments, the hyperspectral reflectance data of rice canopy with ten different spectral resolutions was captured, covering 16 pretreatments of Cd and Pb pollution. The experimental results showed the optimal spectral resolution was 9 nm with the highest average accuracy of 0.71 and relatively standard deviation of 0.07 for diagnosing the categories and levels of Cd-Pb cross contamination. The useful exploration provided an evidence for optimal spectral resolution selection to reduce the cost of heavy metal pollution diagnose.

lncRNA SRA1 Promotes the Activation of Cardiac Myofibroblasts Through Negative Regulation of miR-148b.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play a key role in diversity cardiovascular diseases, including cardiac fibrosis. The present study aims to investigate the biological role of lncRNA SRA1 in the activation of cardiac myofibroblasts and the underlying mechanism. Results showed that the expression of SRA1 was upregulated accompanied by cardiac fibrosis in an abdominal aortic banding-treated rat model. Ang-II treatment increased the SRA1 expression of cardiac myofibroblasts, whereas SRA1 knockdown by siRNA inhibited the proliferation, myofibroblast conversion, and collagen production of cardiac myofibroblasts induced by Ang-II. SRA1 overexpression by pcDNA3.1 SRA1-stimulated cardiac myofibroblast activation. To further investigate the underlying mechanism, miR-148b was predicted to be a targeted microRNA of SRA1. Different methods, including sequence alignment, luciferase activity, and MS2 RNA immunoprecipitation were performed to detect the interaction between SRA1 and miR-148b, which suggested that SRA1 negatively regulated miR-148b in cardiac myofibroblasts. Moreover, miR-148b knockdown stimulated cardiac myofibroblast activation, and miR-148b mediated promoting effect of SRA1 on cardiac myofibroblast activation. Collectively, our study suggested that SRA1 promoted cardiac myofibroblast activation by acting as a competitive endogenous RNAs for miR-148b. SRA1 may be a novel potential target for the prevention or therapy of cardiac fibrosis.

Hemodynamic management of a patient with a huge right atrium myxoma during thoracic vertebral surgery: A case report.

RATIONALE: Myxoma is the most common primary benign cardiac tumor, which could lead to some fatal complications because of its strategic position. PATIENT CONCERNS: The patient was admitted to our hospital due to sudden onset of palpitation, chest tightness, mild fever, night sweats, accompanied with bilateral lower extremities adynamia, and paralysis for 5 days, but no obvious syncope and edema. DIAGNOSES: Transthoracic echocardiography showed a giant mobile myxoma (72 × 58 mm) in the right atrium (RA). Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an erosive space-occupying lesion located between the first and third thoracic vertebrae. INTERVENTIONS: Thoracic vertebral lesions were resected immediately to rescue the incomplete paraplegia. After the patient was placed in the prone position, significant hemodynamics changes were observed due to the displacement of the huge RA myxoma. OUTCOMES: Stable hemodynamics was maintained during the operation through control of fluid infusion combined with vasoactive drugs. LESSONS: Change in body position may lead to obstruction of intracardiac blood flow in patients with giant myxoma. This clinical manifestation is rarely reported.

Plant homologue constitutive photomorphogenesis 9 (COP9) signalosome subunit CSN5 regulates innate immune responses in macrophages.

COP9 plays a role in plant innate immunity. The role of COP9 in mammalian innate immune responses is unknown. Here, we show that the COP9 signalosome subunit 5 (CSN5) is required for activation of proinflammatory kinases p38 and Erk and for down-regulation of the expression of genes regulated by nuclear factor E2-related factor 2. Mice with myeloid-specific CSN5 deficiency have lower mortality in polymicrobial sepsis. CSN5 is required for both Toll-like receptor (TLR) and reactive oxygen species-mediated deneddylation of Cul3, which is essential for Cul3/Keap1-mediated degradation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2. On the basis of our results COP9 subunit CSN5 is considered to be an essential component of mammalian innate immunity.

A novel nanoparticle drug delivery system: the anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin is enhanced when encapsulated in exosomes.

Monocyte-derived myeloid cells play vital roles in inflammation-related autoimmune/inflammatory diseases and cancers. Here, we report that exosomes can deliver anti-inflammatory agents, such as curcumin, to activated myeloid cells in vivo. This technology provides a means for anti-inflammatory drugs, such as curcumin, to target the inflammatory cells as well as to overcome unwanted off-target effects that limit their utility. Using exosomes as a delivery vehicle, we provide evidence that curcumin delivered by exosomes is more stable and more highly concentrated in the blood. We show that the target specificity is determined by exosomes, and the improvement of curcumin activity is achieved by directing curcumin to inflammatory cells associated with therapeutic, but not toxic, effects. Furthermore, we validate the therapeutic relevance of this technique in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced septic shock mouse model. We further show that exosomes, but not lipid alone, are required for the enhanced anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin. The specificity of using exosomes as a drug carrier creates opportunities for treatments of many inflammation-related diseases without significant side effects due to innocent bystander or off-target effects.

Contribution of MyD88 to the tumor exosome-mediated induction of myeloid derived suppressor cells.

In this study we observed that mice pretreated with tumor exosomes had a significant acceleration of tumor metastasis in the lung. Tumor metastasis correlated significantly with an increase in recruitment of more Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the lung of C57BL/6j (B6) mice pretreated with tumor exosomes. These effects were blunted when MyD88 knockout (KO) mice were pretreated with tumor exosomes. MDSCs induced by tumor exosomes and isolated from wild-type B6 mice also more potently inhibited T cell activation and induction of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha than MDSCs isolated from the lung of MyD88 KO mice. In vitro, addition of tumor exosomes to bone marrow-derived CD11b(+)Gr-1(+) cells isolated from wild-type B6 mice resulted in more cytokine production, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and the chemokine CCL2, than CD11b(+)Gr-1(+) cells isolated from MyD88 KO mice. Moreover, lower levels of CCL2 were observed in the lungs in MyD88 KO mice pretreated with tumor exosomes than that in wild-type mice. Together these data demonstrate a pivotal role for MyD88 in tumor exosome-mediated expansion of MDSCs and tumor metastasis.

Immature myeloid cells induced by a high-fat diet contribute to liver inflammation.

UNLABELLED: Chronic inflammation plays a critical role in promoting obesity-related disorders, such as fatty liver disease. The inflammatory cells that mediate these effects remain unknown. This study investigated the accumulation of immature myeloid cells in the liver and their role in liver inflammation. We found that the accumulation of immature myeloid cells, i.e., CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)Ly6G(-) cells, in the liver of B6 mice fed a high-fat diet contribute to liver inflammation. Adoptive transfer of CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)Ly6G(-) cells isolated from the liver of obese B6 mice, but not from lean B6 mice, resulted in liver damage that was evident by an increase in the activity of liver transferases in serum. CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)Ly6G(-) cells isolated from the liver of obese mice are more easily activated by way of Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation resulting in interleukin 12 and other inflammatory cytokine expression in an MyD88-dependent fashion. TLR7-activated CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)Ly6G(-) cells also enhance liver natural killer T cell (NKT) death in an Fas-dependent manner. Experiments using mice depleted of Gr-1(+) immature myeloid cells demonstrated the important role of CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)Ly6G(-) in liver inflammation. Repeated injection of exosome-like particles causes CD11b(+) cell activation and subsequent homing to and accumulation of the cells in the liver. CONCLUSION: Consumption of a high-fat diet by B6 mice triggers an accumulation of immature myeloid cells in the liver. The immature myeloid cells release proinflammatory cytokines and induce NKT cell apoptosis. Activation-induced NKT apoptosis further promotes excessive production of Th-1 cytokines. This diet-induced accumulation of immature myeloid cells may contribute to obesity-related liver disease.

Expression of the immunoregulatory molecule FcRH4 defines a distinctive tissue-based population of memory B cells.

The FcRH4 transmembrane molecule, a member of the Fc receptor homologue family, can potently inhibit B cell receptor (BCR) signaling. We show that cell surface expression of this immunoregulatory molecule is restricted to a subpopulation of memory B cells, most of which lack the classical CD27 marker for memory B cells in humans. The FcRH4+ and FcRH4- memory B cells have undergone comparable levels of immunoglobulin isotype switching and somatic hypermutation, while neither subpopulation expresses the transcription factors involved in plasma cell differentiation. The FcRH4+ memory cells are morphologically distinctive large lymphocytes that express the CD69, CD80, and CD86 cell activation markers. They are also shown to be poised to secrete high levels of immunoglobulins in response to stimulation with T cell cytokines, but they fail to proliferate in response either to BCR ligation or Staphylococcus aureus stimulation. A heightened expression of the CCR1 and CCR5 chemokine receptors may facilitate their preferential localization in lymphoid tissues near epithelial surfaces. Cell surface FcRH4 expression thus marks a unique population of memory B cells with distinctive morphology, functional capabilities, and tissue localization.