Serum Homocysteine and Intracranial Aneurysms

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) occurs as a result of rupture of intracranial aneurysms. SAH causes significant morbidity and mortality. In addition, SAH leads to significant financial burden. In this chapter, we will look into the association between raised serum homocysteine and intracranial aneurysms. In a study on the Han Chinese patients with intracranial aneurysm who were admitted to the hospital, the mean serum total homocysteine level in the patient group with intracranial aneurysm was significantly higher than those in the control group. In the same study, the patients with raised serum homocysteine had 2.196 higher risk of developing intracranial aneurysms. Ren et al. proposed that homocysteine should be seen as an indicator of the risk of intracranial aneurysm and not a direct cause of intracranial aneurysm. In another study, homocysteine increases the development of intracranial aneurysms in rats. Endothelial damage is an early change in the walls of intracranial aneurysms. Polymorphisms of the genes coding for the various components of the vessel walls may be associated with the formation of intracranial aneurysms. In a previous animal study, the size of intracranial aneurysms is significantly smaller in the mice with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) compared with the mice without iNOS

Ontology-based HBIM for historic buildings with traditional woodwork in Taiwan

In recent years, the use of Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) has grown prevalent and thus provided a research opportunity. Differing from newly constructed buildings, structural components of historic buildings come with unique physical configurations and have amassed impressive amount of restoration data, all of which must be taken into consideration when incorporating Building Information Modeling. In terms of modelling, it is critical to determine the appropriate level of detail (LoD), level of information (LoI), especially the comprehensiveness and expandability of the database. International Committee for Documentation/Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM) is a widely accepted standard for ontology model. This study aims to integrate the HBIM and CIDOC CRM to construct a framework and comprehensive operational procedure for the modeling of traditional Minan architecture and a database with complete semantics archiving the background and restoration data. Autodesk A360 is ideal for collaborative. However, there are limitations when it comes to developing advanced models for data management or query; interactive experience; meeting model applications derived from future scenarios. Therefore, the study also offers a 3D modeling platform constructed using Unity, as well as a comparison of the platforms built with Unity, three.js and Autodesk A360 as a reference for users

Atherosclerosis at Extracranial Carotid Vessels and Serum Homocysteine

In this chapter we will discuss more about the role of homocysteine in atherosclerosis and also association between serum homocysteine with extracranial carotid atherosclerosis. Carotid atherosclerosis comprises an increase in carotid intima-media (CIMT) thickening, plaque formation and carotid stenosis. Atherogenic property of homocysteine was discovered in 1969. Atherosclerosis is initiated by endothelial dysfunction. One of the causes of endothelial abnormality is homocysteine. The development of aggregates of homocysteinylated lipoproteins with microorganisms obstructs the vasa vasorum in vulnerable plaques. In one study, serum homocysteine in the highest quartile was independently associated with extracranial carotid artery stenosis ≥50%. In another study, raised serum homocysteine was also independently associated with severe extracranial carotid stenosis in both genders. In other studies, serum homocysteine was significantly associated with carotid artery stenosis in internal carotid arteries and external carotid arteries as well as the degree of stenosis. The hypertensive patients who had raised serum homocysteine were reported to have higher risk of developing asymptomatic extracranial carotid artery stenosis

Phyllanthus urinaria Induces Apoptosis in Human Osteosarcoma 143B Cells via Activation of Fas/FasL- and Mitochondria-Mediated Pathways

Phyllanthus urinaria (P. urinaria), in this study, was used for the treatment of human osteosarcoma cells, which is one of the tough malignancies with few therapeutic modalities. Herein, we demonstrated that P. urinaria inhibited human osteosarcoma 143B cells growth through an apoptotic extrinsic pathway to activate Fas receptor/ligand expression. Both intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species were increased to lead to alterations of mitochondrial membrane permeability and Bcl-2 family including upregulation of Bid, tBid, and Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. P. urinaria triggered an intrinsic pathway and amplified the caspase cascade to induce apoptosis of 143B cells. However, upregulation of both intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and the sequential membrane potential change were less pronounced in the mitochondrial respiratory-defective 143Bρ0 cells compared with the 143B cells. This study offers the evidence that mitochondria are essential for the anticancer mechanism induced by P. urinaria through both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways

Fever Screening at Airports and Imported Dengue

Airport fever screening in Taiwan, July 2003–June 2004, identified 40 confirmed dengue cases. Results obtained by capture immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG enzyme-linked immunoassay, real time 1-step polymerase chain reaction, and virus isolation showed that 33 (82.5%) of 40 patients were viremic. Airport fever screening can thus quickly identify imported dengue cases

PYCR1 and PYCR2 Interact and Collaborate with RRM2B to Protect Cells from Overt Oxidative Stress

Ribonucleotide reductase small subunit B (RRM2B) is a stress response protein that protects normal human fibroblasts from oxidative stress. However, the underlying mechanism that governs this function is not entirely understood. To identify factors that interact with RRM2B and mediate anti-oxidation function, large-scale purification of human Flag-tagged RRM2B complexes was performed. Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase 1 and 2 (PYCR1, PYCR2) were identified by mass spectrometry analysis as components of RRM2B complexes. Silencing of both PYCR1 and PYCR2 by expressing short hairpin RNAs induced defects in cell proliferation, partial fragmentation of the mitochondrial network, and hypersensitivity to oxidative stress in hTERT-immortalized human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF-hTERT). Moderate overexpression of RRM2B, comparable to stress-induced level, protected cells from oxidative stress. Silencing of both PYCR1 and PYCR2 completely abolished anti-oxidation activity of RRM2B, demonstrating a functional collaboration of these metabolic enzymes in response to oxidative stress

NPRL-Z-1, as a New Topoisomerase II Poison, Induces Cell Apoptosis and ROS Generation in Human Renal Carcinoma Cells

NPRL-Z-1 is a 4β-[(4″-benzamido)-amino]-4′-O-demethyl-epipodophyllotoxin derivative. Previous reports have shown that NPRL-Z-1 possesses anticancer activity. Here NPRL-Z-1 displayed cytotoxic effects against four human cancer cell lines (HCT 116, A549, ACHN, and A498) and exhibited potent activity in A498 human renal carcinoma cells, with an IC50 value of 2.38 µM via the MTT assay. We also found that NPRL-Z-1 induced cell cycle arrest in G1-phase and detected DNA double-strand breaks in A498 cells. NPRL-Z-1 induced ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) protein kinase phosphorylation at serine 1981, leading to the activation of DNA damage signaling pathways, including Chk2, histone H2AX, and p53/p21. By ICE assay, the data suggested that NPRL-Z-1 acted on and stabilized the topoisomerase II (TOP2)–DNA complex, leading to TOP2cc formation. NPRL-Z-1-induced DNA damage signaling and apoptotic death was also reversed by TOP2α or TOP2β knockdown. In addition, NPRL-Z-1 inhibited the Akt signaling pathway and induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. These results demonstrated that NPRL-Z-1 appeared to be a novel TOP2 poison and ROS generator. Thus, NPRL-Z-1 may present a significant potential anticancer candidate against renal carcinoma

A cytoplasmic RNA virus generates functional viral small RNAs and regulates viral IRES activity in mammalian cells

The roles of virus-derived small RNAs (vsRNAs) have been studied in plants and insects. However, the generation and function of small RNAs from cytoplasmic RNA viruses in mammalian cells remain unexplored. This study describes four vsRNAs that were detected in enterovirus 71-infected cells using next-generation sequencing and northern blots. Viral infection produced substantial levels (\u3e105 copy numbers per cell) of vsRNA1, one of the four vsRNAs. We also demonstrated that Dicer is involved in vsRNA1 generation in infected cells. vsRNA1 overexpression inhibited viral translation and internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) activity in infected cells. Conversely, blocking vsRNA1 enhanced viral yield and viral protein synthesis. We also present evidence that vsRNA1 targets stem-loop II of the viral 5′ untranslated region and inhibits the activity of the IRES through this sequence-specific targeting. Our study demonstrates the ability of a cytoplasmic RNA virus to generate functional vsRNA in mammalian cells. In addition, we also demonstrate a potential novel mechanism for a positive-stranded RNA virus to regulate viral translation: generating a vsRNA that targets the IRES