Let $h(G)$ denote the largest $t$ such that $G$ contains $K_t$ as a minor, $\chi(G)$ the chromatic number of $G$ respectively. In 1943, Hadwiger conjectured that $h(G) \geq \chi(G)$ for any graph $G$. In this paper, we will prove Hadwiger's Conjecture holds for $H$-free graphs with independence number two, where $H$ is any one of some given graphs.

The relationship between relative hyperglycemia and ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) and VA in this population. This retrospective and observational study analyzed data from 4324 critically ill patients admitted to the ICU, obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The SHR was calculated as the highest blood glucose level during the first 24 h of ICU admission divided by the admission blood glucose level. Based on the optimal cut-off values under the receiver operating characteristic curve, patients were stratified into high SHR (≥ 1.31) and low SHR (< 1.31) group. To investigate the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the outcome, patients were stratified as low SHR/DM; low SHR/non-DM; high SHR/DM, and high SHR/non-DM. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) and logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the relationship between SHR and VA. A total of 4,324 critically ill patients were included in this retrospective and observational study. The incidence of VA was higher in the high SHR group. Multiple-adjusted RCS revealed a “J-shaped” correlation between SHR and VA morbidity. The logistic regression model demonstrated that high SHR was associated with VA. The high SHR/non-DM group had a higher risk of VA than other groups stratified based on SHR and DM. Subgroup analysis showed that high SHR was associated with an increased risk of VA in patients with coronary artery disease. High SHR is an independent risk factor and has potential as a biomarker of higher VT/VF risk in ICU-admitted patients.

Background Obesity plays an important role in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and myocardial infarction (MI). Ferroptosis and ferritinophagy are related to metabolic pathways, such as fatty acid metabolism and mitochondrial respiration. We aimed to investigate the ferroptosis- and autophagy-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that might be potential targets for MI progression. Methods GSE116250 was analyzed to obtain DEGs. A Venn diagram was used to obtain the overlapping ferroptosis- and autophagy-related DEGs. The enrichment pathway analysis was performed and the hub genes were obtained. Pivotal miRNAs, transcription factors, and drugs with the hub genes interactions were also predicted. The MI mice model was constructed, and qPCR analysis and single-cell sequencing were used to validate the hub genes. Results Utilizing the limma package and the Venn diagram, 26 ferroptosis-related and 29 autophagy-related DEGs were obtained. The list of ferroptosis-related DEGs was analyzed, which were involved in the cellular response to a toxic substance, cellular oxidant detoxification, and the IL-17 signaling pathway. The list of autophagy-related DEGs was involved in the regulation of autophagy, the regulation of JAK-STAT signaling pathway, and the regulation of MAPK cascade. In the protein-protein interaction network, the hub DEGs, such as IL-6, PTGS2, JUN, NQO1, NOS3, LEPR, NAMPT, CDKN2A, CDKN1A, and Snai1, were obtained. After validation using qPCR analysis in the MI mice model and single-cell sequencing, the 10 hub genes can be the potential targets for MI deterioration. Conclusion The screened hub genes, IL-6, PTGS2, JUN, NQO1, NOS3, LEPR, NAMPT, CDKN2A, CDKN1A, and Snai1, may be therapeutic targets for patients with MI and may prevent adverse cardiovascular events.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of endogenous long non-coding RNAs, have attracted considerable attention due to their closed continuous loop structure and potential clinical value. In this study, we investigated the function of circFASTKD1 in vascular endothelial cells. CircFASTKD1 bound directly to miR106a and relieved its inhibition of Large Tumor Suppressor Kinases 1 and 2, thereby suppressing the Yes-Associated Protein signaling pathway. Under both normal and hypoxic conditions, the ectopic expression of circFASTKD1 reduced the viability, migration, mobility and tube formation of vascular endothelial cells, whereas the downregulation of circFASTKD1 induced angiogenesis by promoting these processes. Moreover, downregulation of circFASTKD1 in mice improved cardiac function and repair after myocardial infarction. These findings indicate that circFASTKD1 is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis after myocardial infarction and that silencing circFASTKD1 exerts therapeutic effects during hypoxia by stimulating angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

Background: Wistar and Sprague-Dawley (SD) Outbred Rat can be considered the standard rodents for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, a direct comparison between Wistar and SD Rat as models of AMI has not been adequately evaluated so far. Methods: MI was constructed and cardiac functions were measured to show the success of model construction. The metabolites among Wistar, SD rats and patients with AMI were screened, respectively, and further three groups and subgroups metabolic pathway analysis was applied through MetaboAnalyst 4.0. Results: The animal MI model was constructed successfully. All the QC samples we inserted qualified, which allowed us to confirm that the analytical results were valid. After screening by three methods, there are 42 significant plasma metabolites determined in our study, which consist of 19, 18 and 23 metabolites in Wistar, SD rats and human with AMI, respectively. Therefore, to discuss the similarity of Wistar and SD rats to human, SD rats and human had two similar screened metabolic pathways, whereas Wistars rats and human had three screened metabolic pathways. Through subgroup analysis, Glycerophospholipid metabolism was only one which possessed metabolic pathway difference and did not affected by age and time, whereas Sphingolipid metabolism increased only in AMI when compared to SHAM group. Conclusions: Sphingolipid metabolism in SD rats is not suggested to be substitute for human metabolic research and the effect of Wistar rats on metabonomic is better than that of SD rats because their metabolic pathways are relatively closer to human’s real world.

OBJECTIVE:To determine the validity of self-reported hypertension and its associated factors in Chinese elderly populations.METHODS:Self-reported data of 13 610 elderly participants of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were compared with their actual blood pressure measurements. The sensitivity and specificity of self-reported hypertension were calculated corrected for current medication use. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify individual characteristics that independently predicted the accuracy of self-reports.RESULTS:Overall, self-reported hypertension had low sensitivity (56. 3%) and high specificity (96.9%). Agreement between self-reported data and medical records was moderate (Kappa= 0. 57). The multivariate analysis identified age, sex, education, financial situation, health service utilization, history of diabetes and types of medical insurance as significant factors that determined the validity of self-reported data.CONCLUSION:Self-reporting leads to underestimation of the prevalence of hypertension. The accuracy of self-reporting differs among subpopulations.