Altered intrinsic local activity and cognitive dysfunction in HIV patients: A resting-state fMRI study.

PurposeTo characterize resting-state brain activation patterns and investigate altered areas for cognitive decline in HIV patients.MethodsTwelve male HIV patients with intact cognition (HIV-IC), 10 with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), and 11 male healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI). Three rsfMRI values, regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), and fractional ALFF (fALFF) were calculated and compared between groups. Correlation analyses were performed between rsfMRI values and neuropsychological tests.ResultsrsfMRI analyses revealed decreased rsfMRI values in the frontal areas, and increases in the posterior brain regions for both HIV-IC and HAND compared to HC. When directly compared to HIV-IC, HAND showed lower fALFF in the orbitofrontal cortex and higher ReHo in the primary sensorimotor area. Additionally, decreased orbitofrontal fALFF, increased sensorimotor ReHo, and a larger difference between the two values were highly correlated with decreased verbal memory and executive function in HIV patients.ConclusionsRegardless of cognitive status, altered local intrinsic activities were found in HIV patients. The orbitofrontal cortex and primary sensorimotor area were more disrupted in HAND relative to HIV-IC and correlated with behavioral performance, suggesting these areas are relevant to cognitive impairment in HIV patients

Cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity in patients with their first episode of major depression

BackgroundThe uncertainty over the true morphological changes in brains with major depressive disorder (MDD) underlines the necessity of comprehensive studies with multimodal structural brain imaging analyses. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity between first episode, medication-naïve MDD patients and healthy controls.MethodsSubjects with their first episode of MDD whose illness duration had not exceeded 6 months (n=20) were enrolled in this study and were compared to age-, sex-, and education level-matched healthy controls (n=22). All participants were subjected to T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used an automated procedure of FreeSurfer and Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to analyze differences in cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and white matter integrity between two groups.ResultsThe patients with first episode MDD exhibited significantly reduced cortical volume in the caudal anterior cingulate gyrus (

Changes in Lesional and Non-lesional Skin Microbiome During Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the skin surface microbiome in patients with atopic dermatitis during treatment. The effect of narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy was also studied to determine the influence of exposure to ultraviolet. A total of 18 patients with atopic dermatitis were included in the study. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on treatment: 1 group treated with narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy and topical corticosteroid, and the other group treated with topical corticosteroid only. Skin swabs and high-throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA bacterial genes were performed at 3 time-points. The microbial diversity of lesional skin increased greatly after treatment. The proportion of Staphylococcus aureus showed a significant positive correlation with eczema severity. In conclusion, a drastic increase in microbial diversity and decrease in S. aureus proportion were observed with eczema treatment. Narrowband ultraviolet B treatment did not exert additive effects on eczema improvement; however, it appeared to reduce the recurrence of eczema

The Effects of a Delirium Notification Program on the Clinical Outcomes of the Intensive Care Unit: A Preliminary Pilot Study

Background Delirium is common among intensive care unit (ICU) patients, so recent clinical guidelines recommended routine delirium monitoring in the ICU. But, its effect on the patient’s clinical outcome is still controversial. In particular, the effect of systems that inform the primary physician of the results of monitoring is largely unknown. Methods The delirium notification program using bedside signs and electronic chart notifications was applied to the pre-existing delirium monitoring protocol. Every patient was routinely evaluated for delirium, pain, and anxiety using validated tools. Clinical outcomes, including duration of delirium, ICU stay, and mortality were reviewed and compared for 3 months before and after the program implementation. Results There was no significant difference between the two periods of delirium, ICU stay, and mortality. However, anxiety, an important prognostic factor in the ICU survivor’s mental health, was significantly reduced and pain tended to decrease. Conclusions Increasing the physician’s awareness of the patient’s mental state by using a notification program could reduce the anxiety of ICU patients even though it may not reduce delirium. The results suggested that the method of delivering the results of monitoring was also an important factor in the success of the delirium monitoring program

PCNA Unloading Is Negatively Regulated by BET Proteins

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a DNA clamp essential for DNA replication. During DNA synthesis, PCNA is continuously loaded onto and unloaded from DNA. PCNA recruits various proteins to nascent DNA to facilitate chromosome duplication. Therefore, timely PCNA unloading is crucial for high-fidelity DNA replication. The ATAD5-RFC-like complex (ATAD5-RLC) unloads PCNA from replicated DNA. It is unclear how ATAD5-RLC activity is regulated to prevent premature PCNA unloading. Here, we find that BRD4, an acetyl-histone-binding chromatin reader, inhibits the PCNA-unloading activity of ATAD5-RLC. The BRD4 ET domain interacts with a region upstream of the ATAD5 PCNA-unloading domain. BRD4-ATAD5 binds to acetyl-histones in nascent chromatin. BRD4 release from chromatin correlates with PCNA unloading. Disruption of the interaction between BRD4 and acetyl-histones or between BRD4 and ATAD5 reduces the PCNA amount on chromatin. In contrast, the overexpression of BRD4 increases the amount of chromatin-bound PCNA. Thus, acetyl-histone-bound BRD4 fine-tunes PCNA unloading from nascent DNA

Factors Affecting the Rate of CO₂ Absorption after Partial Desorption in NaNO₃‑Promoted MgO

Sodium nitrate (NaNO₃) and other alkali nitrates are known to accelerate the CO₂ absorption rate of MgO above their melting points. This absorption rate is further enhanced if absorption is performed after partial desorption. Moreover, it does not show any induction period, which is otherwise present if absorption is performed after complete desorption. A thorough study of various factors affecting the rate after partial desorption is performed in this work. We exposed a sample to CO₂ for several different periods before partial desorption and N₂ for several different periods during partial desorption in a thermogravimetric analyzer. Absorbents were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and studied in an <i>in situ</i> infrared (IR) cell to understand the changes at the molecular scale. The absorbed amount of CO₂ with a fast initial rate after partial desorption is affected by both the amount of CO₂ absorbed before partial desorption as well as the amount of MgO formed during partial desorption. <i>In situ</i> IR studies showed that two phases of bulk MgCO₃ were formed along with the surface carbonate. It can be concluded from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and <i>in situ</i> IR study that defects in MgO, which were introduced from the defect MgCO₃ phase during partial desorption, are responsible for the faster rate after partial desorption. It seems that substitution of nitrate ions in the MgCO₃ phase is responsible for the defect MgCO₃ phase (out-of-plane bending vibration at 876 cm^–1)

Association between Glucocorticoid Receptor Methylation and Hippocampal Subfields in Major Depressive Disorder

<div><p>Background</p><p>DNA methylation in the promoter region of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (<i>NR3C1</i>) is closely associated with childhood adversity and suicide. However, few studies have examined <i>NR3C1</i> methylation in relation to major depressive disorder (MDD) and hippocampal subfield volumes. We investigated the possible association between <i>NR3C1</i> methylation and structural brain alterations in MDD in comparison with healthy controls.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We compared the degree of <i>NR3C1</i> promoter methylation in the peripheral blood of non-psychotic outpatients with MDD and that of healthy controls. Correlations among <i>NR3C1</i> promoter methylation, structural abnormalities in hippocampal subfield volumes and whole-brain cortical thickness, and clinical variables were also analyzed.</p><p>Results</p><p>In total, 117 participants (45 with MDD and 72 healthy controls) were recruited. Patients with MDD had significantly lower methylation than healthy controls at 2 CpG sites. In MDD, methylations had positive correlations with the bilateral cornu ammonis (CA) 2–3 and CA4-dentate gyrus (DG) subfields. However, in healthy controls, methylations had positive correlation with the subiculum and presubiculum. There were no differences in total and subfield volumes of the hippocampus between patients with MDD and healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, patients with MDD had a significantly thinner cortex in the left rostromiddle frontal, right lateral orbitofrontal, and right pars triangularis areas.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Lower methylation in the <i>NR3C1</i> promoter, which might have compensatory effects relating to CA2-3 and CA4-DG, is a distinct epigenetic characteristic in non-psychotic outpatients with MDD. Future studies with a longitudinal design and a comprehensive neurobiological approach are warranted in order to elucidate the effects of <i>NR3C1</i> methylation.</p></div