Discovery of as a Novel Gene Underlying Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most prevalent type of sustained cardiac dysrhythmia globally, confers strikingly enhanced risks for cognitive dysfunction, stroke, chronic cardiac failure, and sudden cardiovascular demise. Aggregating studies underscore the crucial roles of inherited determinants in the occurrence and perpetuation of AF. However, due to conspicuous genetic heterogeneity, the inherited defects accounting for AF remain largely indefinite.

Application of a hospital-community-family trinity rehabilitation nursing model combined with motor imagery therapy in patients with cerebral infarction.

Background: Rehabilitation nursing is considered an indispensable part of the cerebral infarction treatment system. The hospital-community-family trinity rehabilitation nursing model can provide continuous nursing services across hospitals, communities, and families for patients.

Aim: To explore the application of a hospital-community-family rehabilitation nursing model combined with motor imagery therapy in patients with cerebral infarction.

KLF13 Loss-of-Function Mutations Underlying Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), characterized by progressive left ventricular enlargement and systolic dysfunction, is the most common type of cardiomyopathy and a leading cause of heart failure and cardiac death. Accumulating evidence underscores the critical role of genetic defects in the pathogenesis of DCM, and >250 genes have been implicated in DCM to date. However, DCM is of substantial genetic heterogeneity, and the genetic basis underpinning DCM remains elusive in most cases.

Responses of leaf functional traits to different hydrological regimes and leaf economics spectrum in the water level fluctuation zone of Three Gorges Reservoir, China.

A unique riparian ecosystem has been created as a result of anti-seasonal flooding after reservoir operations, which notably influences the distribution patterns of plant communities and their functional characteristics in the riparian zone. Plant functional traits which reflect the physiological and ecological processes of plants in particular ecosystems are crucial for indicating the variations in the ecosystem structure and function. To better understand the adaptation strategies of plants to hydrological changes and provide a scientific basis for the selection of species in the re-vegetation of the newly formed ecosystems, 14 leaf functional traits and leaf economics spectrum (LES) of 19 dominant plants under different hydrological conditions were investigated in the water level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR).

PRRX1 Loss-of-Function Mutations Underlying Familial Atrial Fibrillation.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of clinical cardiac dysrhythmia responsible for thromboembolic cerebral stroke, congestive heart failure, and death. Aggregating evidence highlights the strong genetic basis of AF. Nevertheless, AF is of pronounced genetic heterogeneity, and in an overwhelming majority of patients, the genetic determinants underpinning AF remain elusive.

Imaging of cardiac fibroblast activation in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the association of cardiac fibroblast activation with clinical parameters and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging parameters in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Methods: Thirteen CTEPH patients were prospectively enrolled. All of the patients underwent cardiac Gallium-labelled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor ( Ga-FAPI-04)-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), right heart catheterisation, and echocardiography, and 11 of them additionally underwent CMR.

Clinical Features and Outcomes of Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma.

Objectives: A retrospective cohort study was designed to describe the clinical features and outcomes of pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS).

Methods: Twenty-two (22) consecutive patients diagnosed with PAS by pathological examination were enrolled and followed up until they died or until January 2020. The medical records were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the clinical characteristics, image findings, and outcomes.

Sclerotinia Stem Rot Resistance in Rapeseed: Recent Progress and Future Prospects.

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) of rapeseed (), caused by the soil-borne fungus , is one of the main diseases seriously affecting the yield and oil quality of infected rapeseed crops. The complexity of the inheritance of resistance and of the interaction mechanisms between rapeseed and limits resistance gene identification and molecular breeding. In this review, the latest progress of research into resistance to SSR in is summarized from the following three directions: the pathogenesis mechanisms of , the resistance mechanisms of toward , and rapeseed breeding for resistance to SSR.

Value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the evaluation of pulmonary artery activity in patients with Takayasu's arteritis.

Aims: To explore the value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the detection of active pulmonary artery (PA) lesions in patients with Takayasu's arteritis (TA).

Methods And Results: Consecutive TA patients with PA involvement were prospectively recruited. Clinical activity was assessed according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria.

ISL1 loss-of-function variation causes familial atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents the most frequent form of sustained cardiac rhythm disturbance, affecting approximately 1% of the general population worldwide, and confers a substantially enhanced risk of cerebral stroke, heart failure, and death. Increasing epidemiological studies have clearly demonstrated a strong genetic basis for AF, and variants in a wide range of genes, including those coding for ion channels, gap junction channels, cardiac structural proteins and transcription factors, have been identified to underlie AF. Nevertheless, the genetic pathogenesis of AF is complex and still far from completely understood.

A New TBX5 Loss-of-Function Mutation Contributes to Congenital Heart Defect and Atrioventricular Block.

Congenital heart defect (CHD) represents the most common birth deformity, afflicting 1% of all births worldwide, and accounts for substantial morbidity and mortality. Increasing evidence highlights the pivotal roles of genetic etiologies in the pathogenesis of CHD, and pathogenic mutations in multiple genes, including TBX5 encoding a cardiac core transcription factor key to cardiovascular morphogenesis, have been involved in CHD. However, due to pronounced genetic heterogeneity of CHD, the genetic determinants underlying CHD in most cases remain obscure.

Lowering effects of fish oil supplementation on proinflammatory markers in hypertension: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Reduced inflammation is one of the potential mechanisms underlying the cardioprotective efficacy of fish oil enriched with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Supplementation with fish oil has favorable effects on cardiometabolic profiles in Inner Mongolia patients with hypertension, but whether the cardiovascular benefits can be ascribed to reduced subclinical inflammation is unclear among this population. Seventy-seven middle-aged/elderly hypertensive volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either fish oil (FO, n = 38, 2 g day-1 EPA + DHA) or control corn oil (CO, n = 39) for 90 days.

Arabidopsis GDSL1 overexpression enhances rapeseed Sclerotinia sclerotiorum resistance and the functional identification of its homolog in Brassica napus.

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a devastating disease of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). To date, the genetic mechanisms of rapeseed' interactions with S.

Correction to: Multiple cardiovascular involvements in Behçet's disease: unique utility of F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and follow-up.

Figure c of the original version of this article was not converted properly. Correct figure is presented here. The original article has been corrected.

Effects of n-3 fatty acid supplements on cardiometabolic profiles in hypertensive patients with abdominal obesity in Inner Mongolia: a randomized controlled trial.

Daily supplementation with n-3 fatty acid (FA) has been believed to be an adjunct or alternative to drug treatments to reduce blood pressure (BP) and triglyceride (TG) levels in western patients with high risk of cardiovascular disease. The BP-lowering effect of n-3 FA supplements among Chinese hypertensive patients has been reported in our previous 12-week, double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT), but the benefits on cardiometabolic profiles among obese Chinese populations are not well known. We therefore used the data from the previous RCT to investigate the effects of marine- and plant-derived n-3 FA supplements on cardiometabolic profiles in middle-aged and elderly Chinese hypertensive patients with abdominal obesity.

Value of F-FDG PET/CT in differentiating malignancy of pulmonary artery from pulmonary thromboembolism: a cohort study and literature review.

To determine the value of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in differentiating malignancy of pulmonary artery (PA) from pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) based on a larger number of cases by pooling our cases and those from the literature. Consecutive patients with a PA lesion who had undergone F-FDG PET/CT in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Moreover, PubMed, Embase, and Medline were searched for literature reporting individual maximum standardised uptake value (SUV) of the malignant PA lesion and/or PTE.

Identification and Functional Characterization of an ISL1 Mutation Predisposing to Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most prevalent cause of non-ischemic cardiac failure and the commonest indication for cardiac transplantation. Compelling evidence highlights the pivotal roles of genetic defects in the occurrence of DCM. Nevertheless, the genetic determinants underpinning DCM remain largely obscure.

Improving seed germination and oil contents by regulating the GDSL transcriptional level in Brassica napus.

Seed germination rate and oil content can be regulated at theGDSL transcriptional level by eitherAtGDSL1 orBnGDSL1 inB. napus. Gly-Asp-Ser-Leu (GDSL)-motif lipases represent an important subfamily of lipolytic enzymes, which play important roles in lipid metabolism, seed development, abiotic stress, and pathogen defense.

Lowering Effects of n-3 Fatty Acid Supplements on Blood Pressure by Reducing Plasma Angiotensin II in Inner Mongolia Hypertensive Patients: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

Whether n-3 fatty acid (FA) has hypotensive actions among Chinese adults remains inconclusive. Hypertensive patients from Inner Mongolia, China ( n = 126) were recruited to a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. We investigated the effects of n-3 FA supplements on blood pressure (BP, mm Hg), plasma concentrations of angiotensin II (Ang II, pg/mL), and nitric oxygen (NO, μmol/L), using fish oil ( n = 41, 4 capsules/day, equivalent to 2 g of eicosapentaenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid) and flaxseed oil ( n = 42, 4 capsules/day, equivalent to 2.

A loss-of-function mutation underlying familial atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), as the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, is associated with substantially increased morbidity and mortality. Aggregating evidence demonstrates that genetic defects play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AF, especially in familial AF. Nevertheless, AF is of pronounced genetic heterogeneity, and in an overwhelming majority of cases the genetic determinants underlying AF remain elusive.

A case series pilot study on the combination of 5-aminolevulinic acid and photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) for treatment of vitiligo.

Background: To study the effective therapeutic concentration, drug application duration, irradiation duration and irradiation dosage of 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) for treating vitiligo and observe its clinical efficacy.

Objective: To assess the clinical efficacy of ALA-PDT for treating vitiligo.

Methods: ALA with different drug concentrations, drug application durations, irradiation durations and irradiation dosages were adopted to treat skin lesions caused by vitiligo to determine the effective drug concentration, drug application duration, irradiation duration and irradiation dosage for treating three vitiligo volunteers and observe the therapeutic results.

DNA assembly technique simplifies the construction of infectious clone of fowl adenovirus.

Plasmid bearing adenovirus genome is generally constructed with the method of homologous recombination in E. coli BJ5183 strain. Here, we utilized Gibson gene assembly technique to generate infectious clone of fowl adenovirus 4 (FAdV-4).