Genetic analysis of SLC41A1 in Chinese Parkinson's disease patients.

Sequence variants in SLC41A1 (solute carrier family 41 member 1) within the PARK16 locus have been reported to be associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). We performed direct DNA sequencing of the SLC41A1 gene in 100 early-onset PD cases. A novel intron variant (NM_173854.

Benchmark calculations on the nuclear quadrupole-coupling parameters for open-shell molecules using non-relativistic and scalar-relativistic coupled-cluster methods.

Quantum-chemical computations of nuclear quadrupole-coupling parameters for 24 open-shell states of small molecules based on non-relativistic and spin-free exact two-component (SFX2C) relativistic equation-of-motion coupled-cluster (EOM-CC) as well as spin-orbital-based restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock coupled-cluster (ROHF-CC) methods are reported. Relativistic effects, the performance of the EOM-CC and ROHF-CC methods for treating electron correlation, as well as basis-set convergence have been carefully analyzed. Consideration of relativistic effects is necessary for accurate calculations on systems containing third-row (K-Kr) and heavier elements, as expected, and the SFX2C approach is shown to be a useful cost-effective option here.

Interaction between SNCA, LRRK2 and GAK increases susceptibility to Parkinson's disease in a Chinese population.

PD is a complex disease, and may result from gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. There are limited studies on gene-gene interactions in PD. We and others have previously shown that SNCA rs356219, LRRK2 (rs2046932 and rs7304279) and GAK (rs1564282) are risk factors in sporadic PD.

Preinduction of heat shock protein 70 protects mice against post-infection irritable bowel syndrome via NF-κB and NOS/NO signaling pathways.

This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of preinduction of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) on Trichinella spiralis infection-induced post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) in mice. Trichinella spiralis infection significantly reduced HSP70 abundance, ileal villus height and crypt depth, expression of tight junctions, serum lysine and arginine concentrations, and ileal SCL7A6 and SCL7A7 mRNA levels, induced inflammatory response, and activated NF-κB signaling pathway. Meanwhile, the heat treatment upregulated HSP70 expression, and then reversed intestinal dysfunction and inflammatory response.

[Study on the relations among the screen-based sedentary behaviors, family factors and body mass index of children].

Objective: To explore the relations among screen-based sedentary behaviors (SSB), family factors and body mass index (BMI) of children, and to study how family factors have effect on BMI through influencing SSB.

Methods: A total of 1,846 students aged 7-11 years from 12 primary schools in one district of Beijing were included. Their body weight and height were measured to calculate the BMI.

Relativistic coupled-cluster calculations on XeF6: Delicate interplay between electron-correlation and basis-set effects.

A systematic relativistic coupled-cluster study is reported on the harmonic vibrational frequencies of the O(h), C(3v), and C(2v) conformers of XeF6, with scalar-relativistic effects efficiently treated using the spin-free exact two-component theory in its one-electron variant (SFX2C-1e). Atomic natural orbital type basis sets recontracted for the SFX2C-1e scheme have been shown to provide rapid basis-set convergence for the vibrational frequencies. SFX2C-1e as well as complementary pseudopotential based computations consistently predicts that both O(h) and C(3v) structures are local minima on the potential energy surface, while the C(2v) structure is a transition state.

Inner-shell photoionization and core-hole decay of Xe and XeF2.

Photoionization cross sections and partial ion yields of Xe and XeF2 from Xe 3d(5/2), Xe 3d(3/2), and F 1s subshells in the 660-740 eV range are compared to explore effects of the F ligands. The Xe 3d-ϵf continuum shape resonances dominate the photoionization cross sections of both the atom and molecule, but prominent resonances appear in the XeF2 cross section due to nominal excitation of Xe 3d and F 1s electrons to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), a delocalized anti-bonding MO. Comparisons of the ion products from the atom and molecule following Xe 3d photoionization show that the charge-state distribution of Xe ions is shifted to lower charge states in the molecule along with production of energetic F(+) and F(2+) ions.

The antitumor activity of PNA modified vinblastine cationic liposomes on Lewis lung tumor cells: In vitro and in vivo evaluation.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the frequently-occurring disease in the world, and the treatment effects are usually unsatisfactory. Vinblastine is an anti-microtubule drug in clinic. In this study, a nanostructured liposome was designed and prepared for treating NSCLC.

Changes of cytokine levels in a mouse model of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorder. Post-infectious IBS (PI-IBS) is caused by an acute gastrointestinal infection preceding the onset of symptoms. However, the pathophysiology of PI-IBS is not clear, and the purpose of this study was to investigate the probable immune mechanisms of PI-IBS.

Knockout of Adamts7, a novel coronary artery disease locus in humans, reduces atherosclerosis in mice.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have established ADAMTS7 as a locus for coronary artery disease in humans. However, these studies fail to provide directionality for the association between ADAMTS7 and coronary artery disease. Previous reports have implicated ADAMTS7 in the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell migration, but a role for and the direction of impact of this gene in atherogenesis have not been shown in relevant model systems.

Pretreatment with intravenous levetiracetam in the rhesus monkey Coriaria lactone-induced status epilepticus model.

Purpose: To investigate the antiepileptic and protective effects of intravenous levetiracetam (iv LEV) in the rhesus monkey model of acute status epilepticus (SE).

Methods: Thirty minutes before intraperitoneal induction of SE by Coriaria lactone (CL), rhesus monkeys were treated with LEV (15 or 150 mg/kg) delivered intravenously as a single bolus. CL dose and epileptic behavior were recorded.

[Functional evaluation of auditory cortex by functional magnetic resonance before cochlear implantation: a pilot study].

Objective: To investigate the functional evaluation of auditory cortex by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before cochlear implantation (CI).

Methods: Twenty-one children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) (7 cases with normal inner ear structure, 3 cases with large vestibular aqueduct syndrome, 1 case with cochlear nerve hypoplasia) and 7 children with normal hearing were examined by fMRI under sedation. The subjects received acoustic stimuli at four random frequencies (500, 1 000, 2 000, 4 000 Hz) during fMRI examination.

Impact of the alterations in the interstitial cells of Cajal on intestinal motility in post-infection irritable bowel syndrome.

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are basic components of gastrointestinal motility. However, changes in ICC and their role in post‑infection irritable bowel syndrome (PI‑IBS) remain to be elucidated. To observe the impact of alterations in the ICC on intestinal motility in a PI‑IBS mouse model, female C57BL\6 mice were infected by the oral administration of 400 Trichinella spiralis larvae.

PEGylated VRB plus quinacrine cationic liposomes for treating non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form of lung cancer, and the treatment effects are usually unsatisfactory. Vinorelbine (VRB) is extensively used in cancer treatment, but it has some disadvantages when used alone. PEGylated liposomes have been extensively used as a delivery carrier for antitumor drugs via prolonging the circulation time in the blood.

Perturbative treatment of spin-orbit coupling within spin-free exact two-component theory.

This work deals with the perturbative treatment of spin-orbit-coupling (SOC) effects within the spin-free exact two-component theory in its one-electron variant (SFX2C-1e). We investigate two schemes for constructing the SFX2C-1e SOC matrix: the SFX2C-1e+SOC [der] scheme defines the SOC matrix elements based on SFX2C-1e analytic-derivative theory, hereby treating the SOC integrals as the perturbation; the SFX2C-1e+SOC [fd] scheme takes the difference between the X2C-1e and SFX2C-1e Hamiltonian matrices as the SOC perturbation. Furthermore, a mean-field approach in the SFX2C-1e framework is formulated and implemented to efficiently include two-electron SOC effects.

Follow-up of postpartum women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Aim: The incidence of type 2 diabetes in postpartum women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is high, and blood glucose screening for postpartum women is recommended. Follow-up procedures for women with GDM in the postnatal period need to be improved. We investigated the incidence of GDM and the follow-up of women with GDM in Tianjin, China.

Gi proteins mediate activation of the canonical hedgehog pathway in the myocardium.

During myocardial ischemia, upregulation of the hedgehog (Hh) pathway promotes neovascularization and increases cardiomyocyte survival. The canonical Hh pathway activates a transcriptional program through the Gli family of transcription factors by derepression of the seven-transmembrane protein smoothened (Smo). The mechanisms linking Smo to Gli are complex and, in some cell types, involve coupling of Smo to Gi proteins.

No association of four candidate genetic variants in MnSOD and SYNIII with Parkinson's disease in two Chinese populations.

Background: The manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) gene, which encodes a chief reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzyme, has been reported to be associated with the risk of developing sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) in some Asian races and the synapsin III (SYN3) gene with some neuropsychiatric diseases.

Objective: To explore the associations between the MnSOD and SYN III variations and PD in two Chinese populations from mainland China and Singapore.

Methods: We recruited 2342 subjects including 1200 sporadic PD patients and 1142 healthy controls from two independent Asian countries.

Spin-free Dirac-Coulomb calculations augmented with a perturbative treatment of spin-orbit effects at the Hartree-Fock level.

A perturbative approach to compute second-order spin-orbit (SO) corrections to a spin-free Dirac-Coulomb Hartree-Fock (SFDC-HF) calculation is suggested. The proposed scheme treats the difference between the DC and SFDC Hamiltonian as perturbation and exploits analytic second-derivative techniques. In addition, a cost-effective scheme for incorporating relativistic effects in high-accuracy calculations is suggested consisting of a SFDC coupled-cluster treatment augmented by perturbative SO corrections obtained at the HF level.

The pure rotational spectrum of ruthenium monocarbide, RuC, and relativistic ab initio predictions.

The J = 1 ← J = 0 and J = 2 ← J = 1 rotational transitions of ruthenium monocarbide, RuC, have been recorded using the separated field pump/probe microwave optical double resonance technique and analyzed to determine the fine and hyperfine parameters for the X(1)Σ(+) state. The (101)Ru(I = 5/2) electric quadrupole parameter, eq0Q, and nuclear spin-rotation interaction parameter, C(I)(eff), were determined to be 433.19(8) MHz and -0.

Role of JNK and NF-κB pathways in Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in human aortic endothelial cells.

An increasing number of studies have shown a correlation between Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) infection and atherosclerosis. A recent study demonstrated that the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was induced by P.

Treatment of scalar-relativistic effects on nuclear magnetic shieldings using a spin-free exact-two-component approach.

A cost-effective treatment of scalar-relativistic effects on nuclear magnetic shieldings based on the spin-free exact-two-component theory in its one-electron variant (SFX2C-1e) is presented. The SFX2C-1e scheme gains its computational efficiency, in comparison to the four-component approach, from a focus on spin-free contributions and from the elimination of the small component. For the calculation of nuclear magnetic shieldings, the separation of spin-free and spin-dependent terms in the parent four-component theory is carried out here for the matrix representation of the Dirac equation in terms of a restricted-magnetically balanced gauge-including atomic orbital basis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide activates canonical Wnt/β-catenin and p38 MAPK signalling in stem cells from the apical papilla.

As dental precursor cells, stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAP) are capable of forming roots and undergoing apexogenesis, which are impaired upon exposure to bacterial infection. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a common Gram-negative bacterium that is involved in pulpal and periapical infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of P.

Hyperfine interactions and electric dipole moments in the [16.0]1.5(v = 6), [16.0]3.5(v = 7), and X2Δ(5/2) states of iridium monosilicide, IrSi.

The (6,0)[16.0]1.5-X(2)Δ(5/2) and (7,0)[16.

Routine exposure of recurrent laryngeal nerve in thyroid surgery can prevent nerve injury.

To determine the value of dissecting the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery with respect to preventing recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, we retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 5 344 patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Among these cases, 548 underwent dissection of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, while 4 796 did not. There were 12 cases of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury following recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection (injury rate of 2.