Griffithfaber6260

Cardiac glycosides inhibit Na

/K

-ATPase and are used to treat heart failure and arrhythmias. They can induce inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in macrophages, suggesting cytotoxicity, which remains to be elucidated in human tissues.

To determine the cell-type specificity of this cytotoxicity, we used human monocyte-derived macrophages and non-adherent peripheral blood cells from healthy donors, plus omental white adipose tissue, stromal vascular fraction-derived pre-adipocytes and adipocytes from obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery. All these cells/tissues were treated with nanomolar concentrations of ouabain (50, 100, 500 nM) to investigate the level of cytotoxicity and the mechanisms leading to cell death. In white adipose tissue, we investigated ouabain-mediated cytotoxicity by measuring insulin sensitivity, adipose tissue function and extracellular matrix deposition ex vivo.

Ouabain induced cell death through pyroptosis and apoptosis, and was more effective in monocyte-derived macrophages compared to non-adherent peripheral blood mononuclear cell populations. This cytotoxicity is dependent on K

flux, as ouabain causes intracellular depletion of K

and accumulation of Na

and Ca

. Consistently, the cell death caused by these ion imbalances can be rescued by addition of potassium chloride to human monocyte-derived macrophages. Remarkably, when white adipose tissue explants from obese patients are cultured with nanomolar concentrations of ouabain, this causes depletion of macrophages, down-regulation of type VI collagen levels and amelioration of insulin sensitivity ex vivo.

The use of nanomolar concentration of cardiac glycosides could be an attractive therapeutic treatment for metabolic syndrome, characterized by pathogenic infiltration and activation of macrophages.

The use of nanomolar concentration of cardiac glycosides could be an attractive therapeutic treatment for metabolic syndrome, characterized by pathogenic infiltration and activation of macrophages.

To develop a framework for Patient Engagement in Patient Safety (PEPS) in hospital.

The Delphi technique was embraced to involve a group of knowledgeable healthcare experts in the discussion and rating of the components of the PEPS framework. On a 5-point Likert scale, every item was separately rated based on the three aspects, which include applicability, clarity and validity. The PEPS framework included items with 75% or more of participants scoring 4-5 on all three aspects. Lumacaftor datasheet Items not attaining 75% agreement on the aspects were either changed or discarded, after the group discussion and underwent another round of rerating.

A total of 17 members participated in the consensus-building process. Following two rounds of rating, the consensus was reached on the final framework which consisted of 28 items in four dimensions, relating to healthcare professionals, patients, community, and helth system, and three components substituted with patient empowerment, effective communication and patient-centeredness.

The development of PEPS framework is a stimulus to strengthen human resources for health capabilities, sustain a high level of quality patient outcomes, and improve the health system. Further studies to identify strategies are needed for the successful implementation of this framework.

The development of PEPS framework is a stimulus to strengthen human resources for health capabilities, sustain a high level of quality patient outcomes, and improve the health system. Further studies to identify strategies are needed for the successful implementation of this framework.With the rapid development of facility agriculture, it has become popular to study the influences of different light qualities on the growth, material metabolism, and morphology of horticultural crops. Last several years, green onions cultivation models have undergone major changes, and facility cultivation has developed rapidly. To determine the impact of light quality on the green onions, we studied the parameters connected to photosynthesis, incorporating growth, and development, photosynthetic rate (Pn ), chlorophyll fluorescence, light response curve, photosynthetic electron transfer, and chloroplast ultrastructure. We roundly analyzed the influences of different LED light combination (white W, white-blue combination 31WB, white-green combination 31WG, white-yellow combination 31WY, and white-red combination 31WR, light intensity 500 ± 10 μmol photons m-2 s-1 ) on the photosynthetic performance of green onions. The WB light led to better results than those of the WR, WG, and WY. There were significant performance improvements in leaf area, plant height, stem thickness, relative growth rate (RGR), pigment content, photosynthetic capacity, photosynthetic electron transfer efficiency, and chloroplast ultrastructure integrity. In contrast, plants treated with WG and WY were exposed to appreciably blocked light, but they effectively formed a light protection mechanism. The results of this research not only provided insight into the response mechanism of crop photosynthesis to different light qualities, but they also provided a scientific foundation for better planting green onions.Global warming has reduced the productivity of many field-grown crops, as the effects of high temperatures can lead to male sterility in such plants. Genetic regulation of the high temperature (HT) response in the major crop cotton is poorly understood. We determined the functionality and transcriptomes of the anthers of 218 cotton accessions grown under HT stress. By analyzing transcriptome divergence and implementing a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified three thermal tolerance associated loci which contained 75 protein coding genes and 27 long noncoding RNAs, and provided expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for 13 132 transcripts. A transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) confirmed six causal elements for the HT response (three genes overlapped with the GWAS results) which are involved in protein kinase activity. The most susceptible gene, GhHRK1, was confirmed to be a previously uncharacterized negative regulator of the HT response in both cotton and Arabidopsis. These functional variants provide a new understanding of the genetic basis for HT tolerance in male reproductive organs.