Controlling the Magnetic Anisotropy of the van der Waals Ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 through Hole Doping.

Identifying material parameters affecting properties of ferromagnets is key to optimized materials that are better suited for spintronics. Magnetic anisotropy is of particular importance in van der Waals magnets, since it not only influences magnetic and spin transport properties, but also is essential to stabilizing magnetic order in the two-dimensional limit. Here, we report that hole doping effectively modulates the magnetic anisotropy of a van der Waals ferromagnet and explore the physical origin of this effect. Fe3-xGeTe2 nanoflakes show a significant suppression of the magnetic anisotropy with hole doping. Electronic structure measurements and calculations reveal that the chemical potential shift associated with hole doping is responsible for the reduced magnetic anisotropy by decreasing the energy gain from the spin-orbit induced band splitting. Our findings provide an understanding of the intricate connection between electronic structures and magnetic properties in two-dimensional magnets and propose a method to engineer magnetic properties through doping

Neuroprotective Effects of Cuscutae Semen in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder that is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic (DA) pathway. 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) causes damage to the DA neurons, and 1-4-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) causes cell death in differentiated PC12 cells that is similar to the degeneration that occurs in PD. Moreover, MPTP treatment increases the activity of the brain’s immune cells, reactive oxygen species- (ROS-) generating processes, and glutathione peroxidase. We recently reported that Cuscutae Semen (CS), a widely used traditional herbal medicine, increases cell viability in a yeast model of PD. In the present study, we examined the inhibitory effect of CS on the neurotoxicity of MPTP in mice and on the MPP+-induced cell death in differentiated PC12 cells. The MPTP-induced loss of nigral DA neurons was partly inhibited by CS-mediated decreases in ROS generation. The activation of microglia was slightly inhibited by CS, although this effect did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, CS may reduce the MPP+ toxicity in PC12 cells by suppressing glutathione peroxidase activation. These results suggest that CS may be beneficial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as PD

Whole-exome sequencing in 168 Korean patients with inherited retinal degeneration

Background To date, no genetic analysis of inherited retinal disease (IRD) using whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been conducted in a large-scale Korean cohort. The aim of this study was to characterise the genetic profile of IRD patients in Korea using WES. Methods We performed comprehensive molecular testing in 168 unrelated Korean IRD patients using WES. The potential pathogenicity of candidate variants was assessed using the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology variant interpretation guidelines, in silico prediction tools, published literature, and compatibility with known phenotypes or inheritance patterns. Results Causative variants were detected in 86/168 (51.2%) IRD patients, including 58/107 (54.2%) with retinitis pigmentosa, 7/15 (46.7%) with cone and cone-rod dystrophy, 2/3 (66.6%) with Usher syndrome, 1/2 (50.0%) with congenital stationary night blindness, 2/2 (100.0%) with Leber congenital amaurosis, 1/1 (100.0%) with Bietti crystalline dystrophy, 1/1 (100.0%) with Joubert syndrome, 9/10 (90.0%) with Stargardt macular dystrophy, 1/10 (10.0%) with vitelliform macular dystrophy, 1/11 (9.1%) with other forms of macular dystrophy, and 3/4 (75.0%) with choroideraemia. USH2A, ABCA4, and EYS were the most common causative genes associated with IRD. For retinitis pigmentosa, variants of USH2A and EYS were the most common causative gene mutations. Conclusions This study demonstrated the distribution of causative genetic mutations in Korean IRD patients. The data will serve as a reference for future genetic screening and development of treatment modalities for Korean IRD patients.This study was supported by the Korean Association of Retinal Degenera‑tion, by a Grant Number 2620170060 from the SNUH Research Fund, and by a grant of the Korea Research-Driven Hospital (Grant Number: HI14C1277) through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW), Republic of Korea. The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript

Clinical Efficacy of Radiofrequency Cervical Zygapophyseal Neurotomy in Patients with Chronic Cervicogenic Headache

The purpose of the present study was to assess the clinical efficacy of radiofrequency (RF) cervical zygapophyseal joint neurotomy in patients with cervicogenic headache. A total of thirty consecutive patients suffering from chronic cervicogenic headaches for longer than 6 months and showing a pain relief by greater than 50% from diagnostic/prognostic blocks were included in the study. These patients were treated with RF neurotomy of the cervical zygapophyseal joints and were subsequently assessed at 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, and at 12 months following the treatment. The results of this study showed that RF neurotomy of the cervical zygapophyseal joints significantly reduced the headache severity in 22 patients (73.3%) at 12 months after the treatment. In conclusion, RF cervical zygapophyseal joint neurotomy has shown to provide substantial pain relief in patients with chronic cervicogenic headache when carefully selected

Anti-Allergic Activity of a Platycodon Root Ethanol Extract

Platycodon grandiflorum (Campanulaceae) is used as traditional medicine in Asian countries. In Korean traditional medicine, Platycodon root has been widely used since ancient times as a traditional drug to treat cold, cough and asthma. However, its effects on bone marrow-derived mast cell (BMMC)-mediated allergy and inflammation mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, the biological effect of Platycodon root ethanol extract (PE) was evaluated in BMMC after induction of allergic mediators by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus calcium ionophore A23187 (A23187) stimulation. The effect of PE on the production of several allergic mediators, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), leukotriene C4 (LTC4), β-Hexosaminidase (β-Hex) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein, was investigated. The results demonstrate that PE inhibits PMA + A23187 induced production of IL-6, PGD2, LTC4, β-Hexosaminidase and COX-2 protein. Taken together, these results indicate that PE has the potential for use in the treatment of allergy

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong