Antisense Smad3 adenoviral vectors were used to transfect vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from rats with balloon injury or infused into the rat balloon-catheter injured carotid arteries, and the role of TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway in the secretion of type I and III collagen by VSMCs following balloon injury was investigated. Antisense Smad3 adenoviral vectors were used to transfect these VSMCs (antisense Smad3 group). A total 90 rats were randomly assigned into blank control group, experiment group, negative control group. In the in vitro study, the expression of type I and III collagen was markedly reduced in the antisense Smad3 group when compared with the control groups (P < 0.05). In the in vivo study, the expression of type I and III collagen was significantly lower than that in the negative control group at 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks after injury (P < 0.05). At 2 weeks and 3 months after injury, the lumen area in the antisense Smad3 group was markedly increased but the intimal area dramatically reduced when compared with the negative control (P < 0.05). We conclude that transfection of VSMCs with antisense Smad3 can reduce the secretion of type I and III collagen which then inhibit intimal hyperplasia.

We investigated expression of TGF-beta 1/Smad3 after balloon injury in rat carotid arteries as well as the effects of blocking the TGF-beta 1/smad3 signaling pathway on carotid intimal hyperplasia. Rats were randomly divided into control group (C group) and injury group (S group). The latter were randomly divided into intervention group (antisense Smad3 adenovirus vector transfection after balloon injury) and blank control group (blank adenovirus vector transfection after balloon injury). Expression of Smad3 mRNA 1 d, 3 d, 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month after injury and intima/media thickness ratios 1 d, 2 weeks and 3 months after injury in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the injury group. Ki-67 expression in the intervention group was inhibited as shown in immunohistochemistry studies. These results demonstrated that antisense Smad3 adenovirus vector transfection can block TGF-beta 1/Smad3 signal transduction and thus inhibit intimal hyperplasia.

Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among elderly individuals. Patients with CHD are at high risk for mental health disorders, and psychological issues may affect the quality of life (QoL) of these patients. Nevertheless, there is little evidence regarding the psychological issues and QoL of patients with CHD among the elderly population. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between comorbidities and mental status as well as QoL among elderly patients with CHD. Methods Overall, 216 patients were included in this cross-sectional, observational, single-center study. The demographics and clinical manifestations of the patients were collected from electronic medical records. All patients were interviewed using the Chinese version of Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) to assess the mental health status and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) to assess the QoL. Results In total, 96 men and 120 women, with a mean age of 71.69 ±  8.30 years, were included. When controlling for the patients’ sex, marital status and stroke, multiple stepwise linear regression analyses suggested that for CHD patients, comorbid type 2 diabetes mellitus had the significant influence on average positive factors (Coef., 5.809; 95% CI [2.467–9.152] p = 0.001); when controlling for the patients’ sex, marital status and type 2 diabetes mellitus, multiple stepwise linear regression analyses suggested that for CHD patients, comorbid stroke had the significant influence on average positive factors (Coef., 8.680; 95% CI [4.826–12.534]; p < 0.001); when controlling for the patients’ sex, marital status, type 2 diabetes mellitus and stroke, multiple stepwise linear regression analyses suggested that for CHD patients, comorbid primary hypertension had the significant influence on phobic anxiety (Coef., 0.178; 95% CI [0.010–0.347]; p = 0.038). Conclusions For elderly CHD patients, comorbid type 2 diabetes mellitus and stroke were at risk for psychological problems and lower QoL. Our findings may guide patients and clinicians to make better decisions and achieve better outcomes.

Concerns about the environmental impacts of used and discarded products have recently led to enactment of laws that regulate the amounts of hazardous substances and recyclable content in products. The laws also make the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) responsible for recovery and proper treatment of these end-of-life products. In this two part paper, we present methodologies for OEMs to use the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) framework to effectively meet the challenges posed by these regulations. In this second part, we outline a methodology that can enable case-by-case selection of the treatment strategy for incoming end-of-life products. To extract product information required for this selection, we develop rule-based heuristics for identification of joints directly from CAD assembly models, along with their type, size, location and orientation.