Search

Lorises are a group of globally threatened strepsirrhine primates that exhibit many unusual physiological and behavioral features, including a low metabolic rate, slow movement, and hibernation. Here, we assembled a chromosome-level genome sequence of the pygmy loris (Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus) and resequenced whole genomes from 50 pygmy lorises and 6 Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis). We found that many gene families involved in detoxification have been specifically expanded in the pygmy loris, including the GSTA gene family, with many newly derived copies functioning specifically in the liver. We detected many genes displaying evolutionary convergence between pygmy loris and koala, including PITRM1. Significant decreases in PITRM1 enzymatic activity in these two species may have contributed to their characteristic low rate of metabolism. We also detected many evolutionarily convergent genes and positively selected genes in the pygmy loris that are involved in muscle development. Functional assays demonstrated the decreased ability of one positively selected gene, MYOF, to up-regulate the fast-type muscle fiber, consistent with the lower proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers in the pygmy loris. The protein product of another positively selected gene in the pygmy loris, PER2, exhibited weaker binding to the key circadian core protein CRY, a finding that may be related to this species’ unusual circadian rhythm. Finally, population genomics analysis revealed that these two extant loris species, which coexist in the same habitat, have exhibited an inverse relationship in terms of their demography over the past 1 million years, implying strong interspecies competition after speciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The underlying pathophysiology of BA distribution is unclear and intriguing. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI), we sought to explore the plaque distribution of low-grade basilar artery (BA) atherosclerosis and its clinical relevance.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the imaging and clinical data of 61 patients with low-grade atherosclerotic BA stenosis (<50%). On HR-MRI, the plaques were categorized based on the involvement of the ventral, dorsal, or lateral sides of BA wall. A culprit plaque was defined if it was on the same slice or neighboring slices of symptomatic pontine infarcts and played a probable causal role (dorsal plaques with median pontine infarcts or lateral plaques with ipsilateral pontine infarcts). The relationships between plaque distribution and clinical presentations were analyzed.Results: Twenty-five symptomatic and thirty-six asymptomatic BAs with 752 HR-MRI image slices were studied. The average length of BA atherosclerosis plaques was 12.16 ± 5.61mm (10.30 ± 6.44mm in symptomatic and 13.46 ± 7.03mm in asymptomatic patients, p = 0.079). The plaque distribution was similar at ventral (29.0%), dorsal (37.6%) and lateral walls (33.1%). The BA plaques in symptomatic patients were more frequently located at the dorsal (42.5%) and lateral (41.2%) walls than at the ventral walls (16.1%; P < 0.05). Compared with symptomatic patients, asymptomatic patients more likely had their plaques distributed at the ventral walls (P = 0.022). Culprit plaques were observed in 85.0% (17/20) pontine infarcts in symptomatic patients and only 14.3% (2/14) silent pontine infarcts in asymptomatic patients (p < 0.001).Conclusions: Low-grade BA atherosclerosis has a long distribution and evenly involves ventral, dorsal and lateral walls. The plaques at dorsal and lateral walls are associated with symptomatic pontine infarcts but not with silent infarcts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient strategy for the enantioselective construction of [6,5,6]-carbocychc compounds has been established via one-pot reaction of (E)-4-(2-ethynylphenyl)but-3-en-2-ones with maleimide sequentially catalyzed by cinchona alkaloid-based primary amine and gold complex (Ph3PAuNTf2). This methodology provided a facile approach to access the [6,5,6]-tricydic skeleton in foirly good yield and with perfect enantioselectivities (98% to >99% ee). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An enantioselective synthesis of (-)-5-epi-eupomatilone-6 has been accomplished by using relay catalytic cascade intramolecular hydrosiloxylation and Mukaiyama aldol reaction of 2,3,4-trimethoxy-6-(phenylethynyl)phenyl dimethylsilanol with fluorenylglyoxylate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new passive exchange meter (PEM) to measure inter-compartment fluxes of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at the interface between soil and the atmosphere is described. The PEM uses labeled reference compounds (RC) added in-situ to vegetation litter deployed in open cylinders designed to trap the vertical downward export of the RCs while allowing free exchange of POPs between litter and air. Fluxes of native compounds (bulk deposition, volatilization and downward export) are quantitatively tracked. One scope of the PEM is to investigate the influence of biogeochemical controls on contaminant re-mobilization. The PEM performance was tested in a subtropical forest by comparing measurements under dense canopy and in a canopy gap; conditions in which deposition and turn-over of organic matter (OM) occur at different rates. Significant differences in fate processes were successfully detected. Surprisingly, mobilization by leaching of more hydrophobic compounds was higher under canopy, possibly as a result of canopy mediated enhancement of OM degradation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new sorbent material, barium sulfate-Direct Blending Yellow D-3RNL hybrid (BSD), was synthesized and characterized by various methods. Both the anionic dyes, Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B and Weak Acid Green GS were hardly adsorbed by the BSD material, while the sorption of Ethyl Violet (EV) and Victoria Blue B were extremely obvious. The sorption of cationic dyes obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model, which depended on the electric charge attraction. The saturation amount of EV adsorbed onto the BSD material approached to 39.36 mg/g. The sorption of EV changed little with pH from 3 to 12 while it increased with increasing levels of electrolyte. A dye wastewater sampled from Jinjiang Chemicals was treated, and the color removal rate was more than the COD removal rate. In addition, the cationic dye-BSD sludge was utilized as a colorant fill-in coating. The light stability and thermal stability of the colorant was measured and exhibited good features. This work provided a simple and eco-friendly method for dye wastewater treatment with recycling of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the case of patients with early cerebral peduncle Wallerian degeneration (WD) secondary to acute hemispheric stroke. The medical history of the patients and the symptoms they manifested are presented. Physical examination, laboratory tests and imaging done on the patients are mentioned. Background information on the condition is provided.

The WW domain is composed of 38 to 40 semi-conserved amino acids shared with structural, regulatory, and signaling proteins. WW domain-binding protein 2 (WBP2), as a binding partner of WW domain protein, interacts with several WW-domain-containing proteins, such as Yes kinase-associated protein (Yap), paired box gene 8 (Pax8), WW-domain-containing transcription regulator protein 1 (TAZ), and WW-domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) through its PPxY motifs within C-terminal region, and further triggers the downstream signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. Studies have confirmed that phosphorylated form of WBP2 can move into nuclei and activate the transcription of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), whose expression were the indicators of breast cancer development, indicating that WBP2 may participate in the progression of breast cancer. Both overexpression of WBP2 and activation of tyrosine phosphorylation upregulate the signal cascades in the cross-regulation of the Wnt and ER signaling pathways in breast cancer. Following the binding of WBP2 to the WW domain region of TAZ which can accelerate migration, invasion and is required for the transformed phenotypes of breast cancer cells, the transformation of epithelial to mesenchymal of MCF10A is activated, suggesting that WBP2 is a key player in regulating cell migration. When WBP2 binds with WWOX, a tumor suppressor, ER transactivation and tumor growth can be suppressed. Thus, WBP2 may serve as a molecular on/off switch that controls the crosstalk between E2, WWOX, Wnt, TAZ, and other oncogenic signaling pathways. This review interprets the relationship between WBP2 and breast cancer, and provides comprehensive views about the function of WBP2 in the regulation of the pathogenesis of breast cancer and endocrine therapy in breast cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chromophore dibromo- o-nitrophenylfluorone (DBNPF) was used to complex Fe(III) and Cu(II) at pH 5.88. Fe(III) can competitively replace Cu(II) from its dinuclear complex Cu(DBNPF)Cu, and forms the Cu(DBNPF)Fe heterodinuclear complex. The Fe-DBNPF and Cu-DBNPF complexes were also characterized by the spectral correction technique. The heterodinuclear replacement complexation (HRC) is proposed and first used for the quantitative detection of iron in trace level with high sensitivity and good selectivity by the light-absorption ratio variation approach. The limit of detection of Fe is 1.0 µg L−1. The method has been successfully applied to the direct determination of Fe(II, III) dissolved and bound to suspended substances in natural water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the effects of long-term low dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on postmenopausal women in hormone level, cognition score, hippocampus volume, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) parameters. Methods A total of 182 postmenopausal women aged 50-87 years were chosen at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and assigned to HRT group and control group. The volunteers of HRT group had taken low dose hormone [estradiol (E2) 0. 5-1. 0 mg and progesterone 0. 5-2. 0 mg, once a day] for 4-33 years. The concentrations of E2, progesterone, and testosterone were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The gene types of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) were measured by polymerase chain reaction, and the subjects with susceptible genes (ApoE ϵ3/ϵ4) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were screened. Their hippocampus volumes and MRS parameters were obtained through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) , and results in two groups were analyzed by statistical method. Results Compared with control group, the concentrations of E2 at each age stage in HRT group were significantly higher (P < 0. 05) except the 80-89 years old subgroup; yet, there were no statistical differences in the concentrations of progesterone and testosterone between the two groups. There was no obvious difference in ApoE subtypes distribution between the two groups. The results of hippocampus MRI for the subjects with susceptible genes ApoE ϵ3/ϵ4 (HRT group 14 cases, control group 11 cases) showed that the ratio of bilateral hippocampus volume to whole brain volume in HRT group (0. 406 ± 0.028) was significantly higher than control group (0. 369 ± 0.031, P < 0.05). The results of 1H MRS for the subjects with susceptible genes ApoE ϵ3/ϵ4 (HRT group 12 cases, control group 11 cases) showed that the N-acetylaspartate/total creatine at the area of hippocampus in HRT group (1. 54 ± 0.08) were significantly higher than control group (1.45 ± 0. 13, P < 0.05). Conclusions For postmenopausal women, long-term low dose HRT can maintain the physiological concentration of E2 in plasma. Furthermore, the hippocampus MRI performed on those with ApoE ϵ3/ϵ4 genes shows that long-term low dose HRT can prevent hippocampus atrophy, which is beneficial to maintain the brain function and prevent AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate metabolic abnormalities in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) using a 3. 0T MR scanner. Methods Sixty-three patients (32 women and 31 men) with diagnosed MTLE underwent diagnostic MR imaging (MRI) and proton MRS using a 3. 01 MR scanner. The clinical history and interictal epileptiform discharges (JEDs) were recorded. Sixteen healthy volunteers served as control. The results of proton MRS were compared with the findings of electroencephalogram and structural MRI findings. Results Twenty-seven of the 63 patients with MTLE showed unilateral hippocampal sclerosis, and 9 showed bilateral hippocampal sclerosis. The concentration ratio of N-acytelaspartate (NAA )/ [ creatine (Cr) + choline (Cho)] in the hippocampal region of MTLE patients (0. 64 ± 0. 07) was significantly lower than control (0. 80 ± 0. 05, P = 0. 023). In the patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis, NAA/( Cr + Cho) in the hippocampal region ipsilateral to the sclerotic hippocampus (0. 56 ± 0. 06) was significantly lower than the ratio in the contralateral hippocampal region (0. 69 ± 0. 07, P < 0.001). There was significant difference in hippocampal NAA/(Cr + Cho) between the refractory patients and the non-refractory patients (0. 64 ± 0. 05 vs. 0. 71 ± 0. 07, P = 0. 04). Forty-five patients were lateralized by IEDs, while 49 patients were lateralized by metabolite ratio. And lateralization determined by proton MRS and IEDs was concordant in 33 patients. Conclusions MRS as a noninvasive tool adds helpful metabolite information to routine MRI in evaluation of MTLE. The method is well established and should be a routine clinical application in the investigation of epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]