Jing Chen

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies suggest that vegetable protein intake is inversely related to blood pressure. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of soybean protein supplementation on blood pressure in persons with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. SETTING: Three communities in the People's Republic of China. PATIENTS: 302 participants 35 to 64 years of age with an initial untreated systolic blood pressure of 130 to 159 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure of 80 to 99 mm Hg, or both. INTERVENTION: Study participants were randomly assigned to receive 40 g of isolated soybean protein supplements per day or complex carbohydrate control for 12 weeks; 91.4% completed the intervention. MEASUREMENTS: Blood pressure measurements were obtained by using random-zero sphygmomanometers at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 135.0 mm Hg (SD 10.9) and 84.7 mm Hg (SD 6.9), respectively. Compared with the control group, the net changes in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were -4.31 mm Hg (95% CI, -2.11 to -6.51 mm Hg; P < 0.001) and -2.76 mm Hg (CI, -1.35 to -4.16 mm Hg; P < 0.001), respectively, after the 12-week intervention. The net changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions were -7.88 mm Hg (CI, -4.66 to -11.1 mm Hg) and -5.27 mm Hg (CI, -3.05 to -7.49 mm Hg), respectively, in persons with hypertension and -2.34 mm Hg (CI, 0.48 to -5.17 mm Hg) and -1.28 mm Hg (CI, 0.52 to -3.07 mm Hg), respectively, in those without hypertension. LIMITATIONS: This trial did not examine whether the blood pressure reduction was due to protein or isoflavones in soybean. CONCLUSIONS: Soybean protein supplementation resulted in a reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These findings suggest that increased intake of soybean protein may play an important role in preventing and treating hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Masked hypertension and elevated nighttime BP are associated with increased risk of hypertensive target organ damage and adverse cardiovascular and renal outcomes in patients with normal kidney function. The significance of masked hypertension for these risks in patients with CKD is less well defined. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between masked hypertension and kidney function and markers of cardiovascular target organ damage, and to determine whether this relationship was consistent among those with and without elevated nighttime BP. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This was a cross-sectional study. We performed 24-hour ambulatory BP in 1492 men and women with CKD enrolled in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study. We categorized participants into controlled BP, white-coat, masked, and sustained hypertension on the basis of clinic and 24-hour ambulatory BP. We obtained echocardiograms and measured pulse wave velocity in 1278 and 1394 participants, respectively. RESULTS: The percentages of participants with controlled BP, white-coat, masked, and sustained hypertension were 49.3%, 4.1%, 27.8%, and 18.8%, respectively. Compared with controlled BP, masked hypertension independently associated with low eGFR (-3.2 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); 95% confidence interval, -5.5 to -0.9), higher proteinuria (+0.9 unit higher in log2 urine protein; 95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 1.1), and higher left ventricular mass index (+2.52 g/m(2.7); 95% confidence interval, 0.9 to 4.1), and pulse wave velocity (+0.92 m/s; 95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 1.3). Participants with masked hypertension had lower eGFR only in the presence of elevated nighttime BP (-3.6 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); 95% confidence interval, -6.1 to -1.1; versus -1.4 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); 95% confidence interval, -6.9 to 4.0, among those with nighttime BP <120/70 mmHg; P value for interaction with nighttime systolic BP 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Masked hypertension is common in patients with CKD and associated with lower eGFR, proteinuria, and cardiovascular target organ damage. In patients with CKD, ambulatory BP characterizes the relationship between BP and target organ damage better than BP measured in the clinic alone.

Although many oxide semiconductors possess wide bandgaps in the ultraviolet (UV) regime, currently the majority of them cannot efficiently emit UV light because the band-edge optical transition is forbidden in a perfect lattice as a result of the symmetry of the band-edge states. This quantum mechanical rule severely constrains the optical applications of wide-bandgap oxides, which is also the reason why so few oxides enjoy the success of ZnO. Here, using SnO2 as an example, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that UV photoluminescence and electroluminescence can be recovered and enhanced in wide-bandgap oxide thin films with ‘forbidden’ energy gaps by engineering their nanocrystalline structures. In our experiments, the tailored low-temperature annealing process results in a hybrid structure containing SnO2 nanocrystals in an amorphous matrix, and UV emission is observed in such hybrid SnO2 thin films, indicating that the quantum mechanical dipole-forbidden rule has been effectively overcome. Using this approach, we demonstrate the first prototypical electrically pumped UV-light-emitting diode based on nanostructured SnO2 thin films. Oxide semiconductors typically possess wide energy gaps between the conduction and valence bands in their electronic structure. This predisposes them to be efficient ultraviolet light emitters, and thus promising components in lighting, display and photonic devices. Yet, in most cases, the optical transition between electronic states that is responsible for this emission is a forbidden one in quantum mechanics. A research team led by Tom Wu and Su-Huai Wei has now circumvented this issue with tin dioxide by altering the material's nanoscale structure, in particular its effective surface. Calculations were carried out that subsequently guided the preparation of hybrid nanocrystalline-amorphous thin films through an annealing step. The tin dioxide thin films were then used to construct an efficient UV light-emitting diode. These findings suggest that engineering the nanostructure of other oxides might also render them optically active. It is commonly believed that bulk SnO2 is not a suitable ultraviolet (UV) light emitter due to the dipole-forbidden nature of its band-edge states, which has hindered its potential use in optical applications. Here, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally an effective method to break the dipole-forbidden rule in SnO2 via nano-engineering its crystalline structure. Furthermore, we designed and fabricated a prototypical UV-light-emitting diode (LED) based on SnO2 thin films. Our methodology is transferable to other semiconductors with ‘forbidden’ energy gaps, offering a promising route toward adding new members to the family of light-emitting materials.

The past two decades has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of microbial genomes retrieved from marine systems1,2. However, it has remained challenging to translate this marine genomic diversity into biotechnological and biomedical applications3,4. Here we recovered 43,191 bacterial and archaeal genomes from publicly available marine metagenomes, encompassing a wide range of diversity with 138 distinct phyla, redefining the upper limit of marine bacterial genome size and revealing complex trade-offs between the occurrence of CRISPR–Cas systems and antibiotic resistance genes. In silico bioprospecting of these marine genomes led to the discovery of a novel CRISPR–Cas9 system, ten antimicrobial peptides, and three enzymes that degrade polyethylene terephthalate. In vitro experiments confirmed their effectiveness and efficacy. This work provides evidence that global-scale sequencing initiatives advance our understanding of how microbial diversity has evolved in the oceans and is maintained, and demonstrates how such initiatives can be sustainably exploited to advance biotechnology and biomedicine. Analysis of 43,191 genomes obtained from publicly available marine bacterial and archaeal metagenome data provides insights into marine bacterial evolution, CRISPR–Cas defence and antibiotic resistance genes, and demonstrates the potential of marine metagenomes for biotechnological applications.