We have previously reported the involvement of the striatum in acute ethanol-induced motor incoordination and the striatal adenosinergic modulation of ethanol-induced motor incoordination through A
1 ...receptor-mediated mechanism(s). The present study, a continuation of our previous work, was carried out to investigate the possible functional correlation between striatal cyclic AMP and ethanol-induced motor incoordination, and its modulation by striatal adenosine in Sprague–Dawley rats. Forskolin (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0
pmol), a known activator of adenylate cyclase, significantly attenuated ethanol-induced motor incoordination in a dose-dependent manner following its direct intrastriatal microinfusion. Forskolin also antagonized the accentuating effect of intrastriatal
N
6-cyclohexyladenosine on ethanol-induced motor incoordination. These results suggested that ethanol-induced motor incoordination might be functionally correlated to a decrease in the striatal cyclic AMP levels and that the striatal adenosine A
1 receptors might modulate ethanol-induced motor incoordination through cyclic AMP signaling mechanism(s). Further support to this hypothesis was obtained by the actual measurement of the striatal cyclic AMP levels in the same experimental conditions as in motor coordination studies using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluoroscence detection. Regardless of the method (focused microwave irradiation, cervical dislocation or decapitation into a dry ice–ethanol mixture) used to kill the animals, a significant decrease in the striatal cyclic AMP levels was observed due to ethanol. Intrastriatal adenosine A
1-selective agonist,
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6-cyclohexyladenosine (24
ng), caused a further significant decrease in the striatal cyclic AMP levels in the ethanol- but not in the vehicle-treated animals. The further enhancement in the ethanol-induced decrease in the striatal cyclic AMP levels by intrastriatal
N
6-cyclohexyladenosine, therefore, functionally correlated with the observed potentiating effect of intrastriatal
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6-cyclohexyladenosine on ethanol-induced motor incoordination. The effects of intrastriatal
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6-cyclohexyladenosine+ethanol and of ethanol alone on the striatal cyclic AMP levels were blocked by intrastriatal pertussis toxin (500
ng) pretreatment, indicating the involvement of pertussis toxin-sensitive G-proteins (G
i, G
o) and possibly of the adenosine A
1 receptor coupled to the G-proteins in the striatum. Furthermore, ethanol alone significantly decreased the basal as well as the cyclic AMP-stimulated catalytic activities of the striatal cyclic AMP protein kinase, which were further reduced by intrastriatal
N
6-cyclohexyladenosine.
The results of the present study therefore support an involvement of a cyclic AMP signaling pathway in the striatal adenosinergic modulation of ethanol-induced motor incoordination at the post-adenosine A
1 receptor level.
Human and animal imaging in magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) demands high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data. We therefore perform MREIT experiments with a higher bandwidth ...per pixel. This leads to bigger chemical shift artifacts in MR images from fat regions. We may correct such artifacts in MREIT using a recently proposed method based on the three-point Dixon technique. This method is however not suitable for fast imaging pulse sequences. It has a poor SNR and also sometimes leads to swapping of water and fat signals in certain pixels when the field inhomogeneity phase unwrapping algorithm fails. This work demonstrates a new chemical shift artifact correction method in MREIT using a least square estimation method. Iterative separations of water and fat complex images obviate the phase unwrapping step. We present the separated water and fat images using the conventional and also the least square method. These two algorithms are compared in terms of the SNR and their water-fat separation capability. We propose the new method for future studies of fast MREIT imaging experiments.
Five musk deer species (genus Moschus) are distributed in China, and the present estimated numbers in the wild are between 220 000 and 320 000. Population size of musk deer has dropped significantly ...due to historical over-hunting and loss or degradation of their habitat. Musk deer farming, therefore, has become one of the most appropriate ways to protect and utilize musk deer resources. In China, musk deer farming and extracting musk from the captive musk deer have been reasonably successful since the early 1950s. At present three species of musk deer, namely forest (Moschus Berezovskii), alpine (M. sifanicus) and Siberian (M. moschiferus) musk deer are farmed in China and, of these, the forest musk deer is the main captive population. The present patterns of musk deer farming in China, however, need to be improved and developed into more economic and scientific modes in order to improve the rate of survival and reproduction, and to increase the production of musk.
Computation of the stabilizing solution pair of a system of nonlinear matrix equations is of great interest in calculating the Green's function of nanoparticles. By noting that each solution of the ...pair might have various sizes, an inversion-free iteration with dynamical parameters is proposed in this paper. Under proper assumptions the convergence of the algorithm is established, as well as the bound of the iteration sequence. Preliminary numerical experiments indicate that the dynamically parameterized inversion-free iteration is very efficient to compute the stabilizing solution pair.
In recent years, an increasing number of systems displaying exotic quantum states like unconventional superconductivity, quantum spin‐liquids, or topological states were experimentally found. Here we ...summarize findings in quantum Monte Carlo simulations of correlated electrons on a honeycomb lattice, the structure of graphene, that revealed an unexpected spin‐liquid emerging between a state described by massless Dirac fermions and an antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator. Moreover, we found that this quantum‐disordered state is a resonating valence‐bond (RVB) liquid, akin to the one proposed for high temperature superconductors. This was the first unbiased determination of a RVB‐liquid in an electronic system.
In recent years, an increasing number of systems displaying exotic quantum states like unconventional superconductivity, quantum spin‐liquids, or topological states were experimentally found. This work summarizes findings in quantum Monte Carlo simulations of correlated electrons on a honeycomb lattice, the structure of graphene, that revealed an unexpected spin‐liquid emerging between a state described by massless Dirac fermions and an antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator.
Host genetic factors play an important role in susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection and tuberculosis (TB). Receptor interacting-serine/threonine-protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) is a ...critical adapter protein for signal propagation of NOD2, dysregulation of which leads to defects in bacterial detection. To investigate the role of RIPK2 on the susceptibility of tuberculosis, we conducted a large sample size case-control study in a Western Chinese Han population.
Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within or near to RIPK2 were genotyped in 1359 TB cases and 1534 controls using the improved multiplex ligation detection reaction method in a case-control study.
Of the five variants, rs39509 was observed to be associated with TB risk in the allelic effects (P = 0.015), additive (P = 0.020) and recessive model (P = 0.005) after Bonferroni correction. Rs39509 might fall in putative functional regions and might be eQTL for the RIPK2 and long non-coding RNA RP11-37B2.1 according to the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Project.
Our findings firstly exhibit that the G allele of rs39509 in nearGene-3 region of RIPK2 might serve as a hazard for TB in this Western Chinese Han population. Further validation studies on a variety of ethnic populations and function experiments are needed to confirm the roles of the variants identified.
•A case-control study with a large sample size.•Rs39509 in nearGene-3 region of RIPK2 was associated with TB risk.•Rs39509 might fall in putative functional regions.•Rs39509 might be eQTLs for the RIPK2 and RP11-37B2.1.
Sulfur dioxide (SO
2) is a major air pollutant suspected to act as a promoter or co-carcinogen. The present study was designed to investigate whether SO
2 derivatives (bisulfite and sulfite) had ...effects on the expression of several proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in cultured human bronchial epithelial (BEP2D) cells. The mRNA and protein levels were measured by real-time RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively, following exposure to differing SO
2-derivative concentrations and exposure times. SO
2 derivatives caused mRNA and protein over-expression of c-fos, c-jun, and c-myc at all tested doses (0.001–2
mM). Over-expression of H-ras and p53 were observed in cells receiving the highest concentration (0.1–2
mM), as well as the under-expression of p16 and Rb. The over-expression of c-fos and c-jun was observed after 24
h recovery. The expression of c-myc and H-ras decreased to base line levels while the p53 expression decreased compared with control after 24
h recovery. The mRNA and protein expression of p16 and Rb remained at initial levels after 24
h recovery. The data support the hypothesis that SO
2 derivatives could cause the activation of proto-oncogenes and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and SO
2 derivatives may play a role in the pathogenesis of SO
2-associated lung cancer.
Inguinal Hernia: Post OP Chronic Pain Sevonius, D.; Montgomery, A.; Smedberg, S. ...
Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery
19, Številka:
Suppl 1
Journal Article
The Chandrasekhar equation describes the particles emerging from the atmospheric radiation and its solution of physical significance is the minimal positive solution. This paper analyses the ...efficiency index of Newton's iteration in detail, which then helps to design a structured Shamanskii method for calculating the minimal positive solution. The monotone convergence of the presented algorithm is subsequently established as well as the elementary monotonicity of the solution. Preliminary numerical experiments are listed to indicate that the newely developed two-step Shamanskii method outperforms the Newton's method in terms of CPU time and iterative number with almost no loss in accuracy.
Keloids are a type of benign hyperplasia that cause dermatologic dysfunction and esthetic deformity by invading adjacent normal tissues. Little is known about their etiology, therefore, they are a ...challenge to treat using plastic surgery. In a previous study, it was demonstrated that the expression of the long non-coding RNA CACNA1G-AS1 (CAS1) is high in keloid tissue, suggesting that CAS1 is involved in keloid formation. In the present study, the aim was to identify potential keloid target proteins by exploring CAS1 biological function during cell proliferation and migration, cytokine secretion, collagen secretion and the control of calcium channel protein expression in human keloid fibroblasts. Three biopsy samples were collected from each patient with keloids at The Peking Union Medical College Hospital, which were then used to investigate the role of CAS1 in cell proliferation and migration. CAS1 silencing was also carried out using small interfering RNA; cell factors, collagen and calcium channel protein levels were compared with control cells. The interference of CAS1 expression reached 50% compared with the control group. CACNA1G and type I collagen expression was significantly downregulated by CAS1 knockdown, while the expression of transforming growth factor-β and type III collagen was not affected. Wound healing time was longer in the CAS1-knockdown group, but there was no visible change in cell proliferation. In conclusion, CAS1 appeared to promote calcium channel protein and type I collagen expression, and to have a positive effect on cell migration in human keloid fibroblasts. Therefore it has potential as a novel therapeutic target for keloids.
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