The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11663 deg^2 of imaging data, with most of the roughly 2000 deg^2 increment over the previous data release lying in regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for 357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry over 250 deg^2 along the Celestial Equator in the Southern Galactic Cap. A coaddition of these data goes roughly two magnitudes fainter than the main survey. The spectroscopy is now complete over a contiguous area of 7500 deg^2 in the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000 galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC-2), reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45 milli-arcseconds per coordinate. A systematic error in bright galaxy photometr is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally, we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including better flat-fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end, better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and an improved determination of stellar metallicities. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 10 embedded figures. Accepted to ApJS after minor correction

Retinoic Acid Functions as a Key GABAergic Differentiation Signal in the Basal Ganglia

Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for the generation of GABAergic inhibitory neurons in the mouse forebrain, and RA treatment of embryonic stem cells induces the production of GABAergic neurons

Intrinsically determined cell death of developing cortical interneurons

Cortical inhibitory circuits are formed by GABAergic interneurons, a cell population that originates far from the cerebral cortex in the embryonic ventral forebrain. Given their distant developmental origins, it is intriguing how the number of cortical interneurons is ultimately determined. One possibility, suggested by the neurotrophic hypothesis1-5, is that cortical interneurons are overproduced, and then following their migration into cortex, excess interneurons are eliminated through a competition for extrinsically derived trophic signals. Here we have characterized the developmental cell death of mouse cortical interneurons in vivo, in vitro, and following transplantation. We found that 40% of developing cortical interneurons were eliminated through Bax- (Bcl-2 associated X-) dependent apoptosis during postnatal life. When cultured in vitro or transplanted into the cortex, interneuron precursors died at a cellular age similar to that at which endogenous interneurons died during normal development. Remarkably, over transplant sizes that varied 200-fold, a constant fraction of the transplanted population underwent cell death. The death of transplanted neurons was not affected by the cell-autonomous disruption of TrkB (tropomyosin kinase receptor B), the main neurotrophin receptor expressed by central nervous system (CNS) neurons6-8. Transplantation expanded the cortical interneuron population by up to 35%, but the frequency of inhibitory synaptic events did not scale with the number of transplanted interneurons. Together, our findings indicate that interneuron cell death is intrinsically determined, either cell-autonomously, or through a population-autonomous competition for survival signals derived from other interneurons

Endoscopic sphincterotomy to prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis after self-expandable metal stent placement for distal malignant biliary obstruction (SPHINX): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial

Background: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with fully covered self-expandable metal stent (FCSEMS) placement is the preferred approach for biliary drainage in patients with suspected distal malignant biliary obstruction (MBO). However, FCSEMS placement is associated with a high risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). Endoscopic sphincterotomy prior to FCSEMS placement may reduce PEP risk. Objective: To compare endoscopic sphincterotomy to no sphincterotomy prior to FCSEMS placement. Design: This multicentre, randomised, superiority trial was conducted in 17 hospitals and included patients with suspected distal MBO. Patients were randomised during ERCP to receive either endoscopic sphincterotomy (sphincterotomy group) or no sphincterotomy (control group) prior to FCSEMS placement. The primary outcome was PEP within 30 days. Secondary outcomes included procedure-related complications and 30-day mortality. An interim analysis was performed after 50% of patients (n=259) had completed follow-up. Results: Between May 2016 and June 2023, 297 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis, with 156 in the sphincterotomy group and 141 in the control group. After the interim analysis, the study was terminated prematurely due to futility. PEP did not differ between groups, occurring in 26 patients (17%) in the sphincterotomy group compared with 30 patients (21%) in the control group (relative risk 0.78, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.26, p=0.37). There were no significant differences in bleeding, perforation, cholangitis, cholecystitis or 30-day mortality. Conclusion: This trial found that endoscopic sphincterotomy was not superior to no sphincterotomy in reducing PEP in patients with distal MBO. Therefore, there was insufficient evidence to recommend routine endoscopic sphincterotomy prior to FCEMS placement. Trial registration number: NL5130

Anticancer activity of a sub-fraction of dichloromethane extract of Strobilanthes crispus on human breast and prostate cancer cells in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The leaves of <it>Strobilanthes crispus </it>(<it>S. crispus</it>) which is native to the regions of Madagascar to the Malay Archipelago, are used in folk medicine for their antidiabetic, diuretic, anticancer and blood pressure lowering properties. Crude extracts of this plant have been found to be cytotoxic to human cancer cell lines and protective against chemically-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. In this study, the cytotoxicity of various sub-fractions of dichloromethane extract isolated from the leaves of <it>S. crispus </it>was determined and the anticancer activity of one of the bioactive sub-fractions, SC/D-F9, was further analysed in breast and prostate cancer cell lines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The dichloromethane extract of <it>S. crispus </it>was chromatographed on silica gel by flash column chromatography. The ability of the various sub-fractions obtained to induce cell death of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, PC-3 and DU-145 cell lines was determined using the LDH assay. The dose-response effect and the EC₅₀values of the active sub-fraction, SC/D-F9, were determined. Apoptosis was detected using Annexin V antibody and propidium iodide staining and analysed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, while caspase 3/7 activity was detected using FLICA caspase inhibitor and analysed by fluorescence microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Selected sub-fractions of the dichloromethane extract induced death of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, PC-3 and DU-145 cells. The sub-fraction SC/D-F9, consistently killed breast and prostate cancer cell lines with low EC₅₀values but is non-cytotoxic to the normal breast epithelial cell line, MCF-10A. SC/D-F9 displayed relatively higher cytotoxicity compared to tamoxifen, paclitaxel, docetaxel and doxorubicin. Cell death induced by SC/D-F9 occurred via apoptosis with the involvement of caspase 3 and/or 7.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A dichloromethane sub-fraction of <it>S. crispus </it>displayed potent anticancer activities <it>in vitro </it>that can be further exploited for the development of a potential therapeutic anticancer agent.</p

Increased serum miR-193a-5p during non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression: Diagnostic and mechanistic relevance

Background &amp; Aims: Serum microRNA (miRNA) levels are known to change in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and may serve as useful biomarkers. This study aimed to profile miRNAs comprehensively at all NAFLD stages. Methods: We profiled 2,083 serum miRNAs in a discovery cohort (183 cases with NAFLD representing the complete NAFLD spectrum and 10 population controls). miRNA libraries generated by HTG EdgeSeq were sequenced by Illumina NextSeq. Selected serum miRNAs were profiled in 372 additional cases with NAFLD and 15 population controls by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Results: Levels of 275 miRNAs differed between cases and population controls. Fewer differences were seen within individual NAFLD stages, but miR-193a-5p consistently showed increased levels in all comparisons. Relative to NAFL/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with mild fibrosis (stage 0/1), 3 miRNAs (miR-193a-5p, miR-378d, and miR378d) were increased in cases with NASH and clinically significant fibrosis (stages 2–4), 7 (miR193a-5p, miR-378d, miR-378e, miR-320b, miR-320c, miR-320d, and miR-320e) increased in cases with NAFLD activity score (NAS) 5–8 compared with lower NAS, and 3 (miR-193a-5p, miR-378d, and miR-378e) increased but 1 (miR-19b-3p) decreased in steatosis, activity, and fibrosis (SAF) activity score 2–4 compared with lower SAF activity. The significant findings for miR-193a-5p were replicated in the additional cohort with NAFLD. Studies in Hep G2 cells showed that following palmitic acid treatment, miR-193a-5p expression decreased significantly. Gene targets for miR-193a-5p were investigated in liver RNAseq data for a case subgroup (n = 80); liver GPX8 levels correlated positively with serum miR-193a-5p. Conclusions: Serum miR-193a-5p levels correlate strongly with NAFLD activity grade and fibrosis stage. MiR-193a-5p may have a role in the hepatic response to oxidative stress and is a potential clinically tractable circulating biomarker for progressive NAFLD. Lay summary: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small pieces of nucleic acid that may turn expression of genes on or off. These molecules can be detected in the blood circulation, and their levels in blood may change in liver disease including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To see if we could detect specific miRNA associated with advanced stages of NAFLD, we carried out miRNA sequencing in a group of 183 patients with NAFLD of varying severity together with 10 population controls. We found that a number of miRNAs showed changes, mainly increases, in serum levels but that 1 particular miRNA miR-193a-5p consistently increased. We confirmed this increase in a second group of cases with NAFLD. Measuring this miRNA in a blood sample may be a useful way to determine whether a patient has advanced NAFLD without an invasive liver biopsy

Directing Astroglia from the Cerebral Cortex into Subtype Specific Functional Neurons

Forced expression of single defined transcription factors can selectively and stably convert cultured astroglia into synapse-forming excitatory and inhibitory neurons