Decreased Iron Ion Concentrations in the Peripheral Blood Correlate with Coronary Atherosclerosis

(1) Background: Obesity and diabetes continue to reach epidemic levels in the population with major health impacts that include a significantly increased risk of coronary atherosclerosis. The imbalance of trace elements in the body caused by nutritional factors can lead to the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. (2) Methods: We measured the concentrations of sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), Zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) in peripheral blood samples from 4243 patients and performed baseline analysis and propensity matching of the patient datasets. The patients were grouped into acute myocardial infarction (AMI, 702 patients) and stable coronary heart disease (SCAD1, 253 patients) groups. Both of these groups were included in the AS that had a total of 1955 patients. The control group consisted of 2288 patients. The plasma concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and iron were measured using a colorimetric method. For comparison, 15 external quality assessment (EQA) samples were selected from the Clinical Laboratory Center of the Ministry of Health of China. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. The average values and deviations of all of the indicators in each group were calculated, and a p-value threshold of <0.05 was used to indicate statistical significance. (3) Results: The iron ion concentrations of the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) group were significantly lower than the control group (p < 0.05, AUC = 0.724, AUC = 0.702), irrespective of tendency matching. Compared to the data from the stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) group, the concentration of iron ions in the acute myocardial infarction group was significantly lower (p < 0.05, AUC = 0.710, AUC = 0.682). Furthermore, the iron ion concentrations in the (AMI + SCAD) group were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than in the control group. (4) Conclusions: The data presented in this study strongly indicate that the concentration of iron ions in the peripheral blood is related to coronary atherosclerosis. Decreases in the levels of iron ions in the peripheral blood can be used as a predictive biomarker of coronary atherosclerosis.

Assessment of Water Quality in the Molnár János Cave – Budapest, Hungary

Molnár János Cave (MJC) is the only underwater cave and the only active one in the Buda Thermal Karst system (BTK). At MJC, there is a large amount of water that can be considered as a possible source of drinking water. We evaluated the physical and chemical parameters of the cave water to understand natural and possible anthropogenic interference in water quality. Therefore, measurements of temperature and chemical compositions were performed for dripwaters and water from the cave conduits over a four-year period and compared to historical data. Statistical analysis of the produced data revealed yearly changes as well seasonal periodicity in the component ion concentrations. In the case of dripwaters, we observed a periodicity that revealed information about the origin of the dripwater. For the first time, we had identified seasonal variations in conduit waters. Previous studies only analyzed water at the entrance of the cave. Then, this research focuses on the water from the newly discovered inner passages.

Na+ and K+ Ions Differently Affect Nucleosome Structure, Stability, and Interactions with Proteins

Inorganic ions are essential factors stabilizing nucleosome structure; however, many aspects of their effects on DNA transactions in chromatin remain unknown. Here, differential effects of K+ and Na+ on the nucleosome structure, stability, and interactions with protein complex FACT (FAcilitates Chromatin Transcription), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1, and RNA polymerase II were studied using primarily single-particle Förster resonance energy transfer microscopy. The maximal stabilizing effect of K+ on a nucleosome structure was observed at ca. 80–150 mM, and it decreased slightly at 40 mM and considerably at >300 mM. The stabilizing effect of Na+ is noticeably lower than that of K+ and progressively decreases at ion concentrations higher than 40 mM. At 150 mM, Na+ ions support more efficient reorganization of nucleosome structure by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 and ATP-independent uncoiling of nucleosomal DNA by FACT as compared with K+ ions. In contrast, transcription through a nucleosome is nearly insensitive to K+ or Na+ environment. Taken together, the data indicate that K+ environment is more preserving for chromatin structure during various nucleosome transactions than Na+ environment.

A Novel Alternative Methods for Decalcification of Water Resources Using Green Agro-Ashes

The strategic idea in this work was to increase pH values by employing natural alkali sources (i.e., HCO3− and CO32−) from four tested agro-ashes as an alternative to chemicals (i.e., lime or soda ash). The considerable proportion of carbonates and bicarbonates in the investigated ash products had remarkable features, making them viable resources. All ash materials showed a significant ability for Ca ion elimination at high initial Ca ion concentrations. A slight quantity of ash (10 g/L) was sufficient for usage on very hard water contents up to 3000 ppm. Finally, the tested agro-ash was free of cost. Furthermore, unlike other conventional precipitants, such as NaOH, Ca(OH)2, NaHCO3, Na2CO3, and CaO, they are cost effective and ecologically sustainable. There is no need to employ any additional chemicals or modify the agro-ash materials throughout the treatment process. The benefits of the manufactured ash were assessed using a SWOT analysis.

Mean field approximation of network of biophysical neurons driven by conductance-based ion exchange dynamics

Changes in extracellular ion concentrations are known to modulate neuronal excitability and play a major role in controlling the neuronal firing rate, not just during the healthy homeostasis, but also in pathological conditions such as epilepsy. The microscopic molecular mechanisms of field effects are understood, but the precise correspondence between the microscopic mechanisms of ion exchange in the cellular space of neurons and the macroscopic behavior of neuronal populations remains to be established. We derive a mean field model of a population of Hodgkin Huxley type neurons. This model links the neuronal intra- and extra-cellular ion concentrations to the mean membrane potential and the mean synaptic input in terms of the synaptic conductance of the locally homogeneous mesoscopic network and can describe various brain activities including multi-stability at resting states, as well as more pathological spiking and bursting behaviors, and depolarizations. The results from the analytical solution of the mean field model agree with the mean behavior of numerical simulations of large-scale networks of neurons. The mean field model is analytically exact for non-autonomous ion concentration variables and provides a mean field approximation in the thermodynamic limit, for locally homogeneous mesoscopic networks of biophysical neurons driven by an ion exchange mechanism. These results may provide the missing link between high-level neural mass approaches which are used in the brain network modeling and physiological parameters that drive the neuronal dynamics.

Is foliar Cl- concentration the cause of photosynthetic decline in grapevine during mild salinity?

Moderate levels of Cl- have been associated with grapevine salt tolerance. The hypothesis to be tested in this work is: photosynthesis in grapevine is negatively correlated with foliar Cl- concentration. To further test this hypothesis, multiple mild salinity experiments on four different Vitis genotypes (Cabernet-Sauvignon, Riparia Gloire, Ramsey and SC2) were conducted and photosynthesis, ion concentrations and gene expression responses were quantified. The salt-tolerant rootstock Ramsey had greater Cl- exclusion capabilities than V. vinifera cultivars both during rooted cutting greenhouse experiments and three years of field-grafted experiments; SC2 also excluded Cl-. Differential gene expression indicated that salinity affected transcript abundance more in salt-sensitive genotypes (97.7 % of DEGs in the dataset), especially chloroplast-related transcripts. The transcript abundances of known anion transporters were determined and a family of putative B transporters was associated with the Cl- exclusion phenotype. Photosynthesis and growth were maintained in Ramsey and SC2 under mild salinity. However, photosynthesis declined in Cabernet-Sauvignon with isosmotic 20 mM salt concentrations of NaCl, KCl or NaNO3, independent of the salt type. While foliar Cl- concentrations did correlate with salt tolerance during control and NaCl conditions, it was not found to be the cause of photosynthetic decline in Vitis during mild salinity.