Ethanol Extract of the Flower Chrysanthemum morifolium Augments Pentobarbital-Induced Sleep Behaviors: Involvement of Cl− Channel Activation

Dried Chrysanthemum morifolium flowers have traditionally been used in Korea for the treatment of insomnia. This study was performed to investigate whether the ethanol extract of Chrysanthemum morifolium flowers (EFC) enhances pentobarbital-induced sleep behaviors. EFC prolonged sleep time induced by pentobarbital similar to muscimol, a GABAA receptors agonist. EFC also increased sleep rate and sleep time when administrated with pentobarbital at a subhypnotic dosage. Both EFC and pentobarbital increased chloride (Cl−) influx in primary cultured cerebellar granule cells. EFC increased glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) expression levels, but had no effect on the expression of α1-, β2-, and γ2-subunits of the GABAA receptor in the hippocampus of a mouse brain. This is in contrast to treatment with pentobarbital, which showed decreased α1-subunit expression and no change in GAD expression. In conclusion, EFC augments pentobarbital-induced sleep behaviors; these effects may result from Cl− channel activation

High frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroup O2b-SRY465 lineages in Korea: a genetic perspective on the peopling of Korea

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Koreans are generally considered a Northeast Asian group, thought to be related to Altaic-language-speaking populations. However, recent findings have indicated that the peopling of Korea might have been more complex, involving dual origins from both southern and northern parts of East Asia. To understand the male lineage history of Korea, more data from informative genetic markers from Korea and its surrounding regions are necessary. In this study, 25 Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism markers and 17 Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci were genotyped in 1,108 males from several populations in East Asia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In general, we found East Asian populations to be characterized by male haplogroup homogeneity, showing major Y-chromosomal expansions of haplogroup O-M175 lineages. Interestingly, a high frequency (31.4%) of haplogroup O2b-SRY465 (and its sublineage) is characteristic of male Koreans, whereas the haplogroup distribution elsewhere in East Asian populations is patchy. The ages of the haplogroup O2b-SRY465 lineages (~9,900 years) and the pattern of variation within the lineages suggested an ancient origin in a nearby part of northeastern Asia, followed by an expansion in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula. In addition, the coalescence time (~4,400 years) for the age of haplogroup O2b1-47z, and its Y-STR diversity, suggest that this lineage probably originated in Korea. Further studies with sufficiently large sample sizes to cover the vast East Asian region and using genomewide genotyping should provide further insights.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings are consistent with linguistic, archaeological and historical evidence, which suggest that the direct ancestors of Koreans were proto-Koreans who inhabited the northeastern region of China and the Korean Peninsula during the Neolithic (8,000-1,000 BC) and Bronze (1,500-400 BC) Ages.</p

Dysnatremia, its correction, and mortality in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy: a prospective observational study

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background Although dysnatremia has been reported to be correlated with mortality risk, this issue remains unresolved in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Furthermore, it has not been determined whether change in or correction of sodium is related to mortality risk in this subset. Methods A total of 569 patients were prospectively enrolled at the start of CRRT between May 2010 and September 2013. The patients were divided into 5 groups: normonatremia (135–145 mmol/L), mild hyponatremia (131.1–134.9 mmol/L), moderate to severe hyponatremia (115.4–131.0 mmol/L), mild hypernatremia (145.1–148.4 mmol/L), and moderate to severe hypernatremia (148.5–166.0 mmol/L). The non-linear relationship between sodium and mortality was initially explored. Subsequently, the odds ratios (ORs) for 30-day mortality were calculated after adjustment of multiple covariates. Results The relationship between baseline sodium and mortality was U-shaped. The mild hyponatremia, moderate to severe hyponatremia, and moderate to severe hypernatremia groups had greater ORs for mortality (1.65, 1.91, and 2.32, respectively) than the normonatremia group (all P values < 0.05). However, later sodium levels (24 and 72 h after CRRT) did not predict 30-day mortality. Furthermore, the changes in sodium over 24 or 72 h, including the appropriate correction of dysnatremia, did not show any relationships with mortality, irrespective of baseline sodium level. Conclusions Sodium level at the start of CRRT was a strong predictor of mortality. However, changes in sodium level and the degree of sodium correction were not associated with the mortality risk in the patients with CRRT

Dieulafoy's Lesion of Jejunum: Presenting Small Bowel Mass and Stricture

Dieulafoy's lesion is an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. Hemorrhage occurs through mucosal erosion from an abnormally dilated submucosal artery. Although Dieulafoy's lesion is usually located in the stomach, it may occur anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. We report here on a case of jejunal Dieulafoy's lesion presenting as a mass and short segment stricture on CT and enteroclysis

Monoclinic and Correlated Metal Phase in VO_2 as Evidence of the Mott Transition: Coherent Phonon Analysis

In femtosecond pump-probe measurements, the appearance of coherent phonon oscillations at 4.5 THz and 6.0 THz indicating the rutile metal phase of VO_2 does not occur simultaneously with the first-order metal-insulator transition (MIT) near 68^oC. The monoclinic and correlated metal(MCM) phase between the MIT and the structural phase transition (SPT) is generated by a photo-assisted hole excitation which is evidence of the Mott transition. The SPT between the MCM phase and the rutile metal phase occurs due to subsequent Joule heating. The MCM phase can be regarded as an intermediate non-equilibrium state.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

High-quality thin-film passivation by catalyzer-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for organic light-emitting diodes

The thin-film passivation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by a SiNx film grown by catalyzer-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was investigated. Using a tungsten catalyzer connected in series, a high-density SiNx passivation layer was deposited on OLEDs and bare polycarbonate (PC) substrates at a substrate temperature of 50 °C. Despite the low substrate temperature, the single SiNx passivation layer, grown on the PC substrate, exhibited a low water vapor transmission rate of (2–6)×10−2 g/m2/day and a high transmittance of 87%. In addition, current-voltage-luminescence results of an OLED passivated with a 150-nm-thick SiNx film compared to nonpassivated sample were identical indicating that the performance of an OLED is not critically affected by radiation from tungsten catalyzer during the SiNx deposition. Moreover, the lifetime to half initial luminance of an OLED passivated with the single 150-nm-thick SiNx layer was 2.5 times longer than that of a nonpassivated sample.This work was supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by Korea Government (MOEHRD: Basic Research Promotion Fund)(KRF-2006-331-D00243) and Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Experiments at PLS were supported in part by MOST and POSTECH