Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Pyrus pyrifolia ‘Yunhongli No. 1’

‘Yunhongli No. 1’ is a rare and well-colored red pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) germplasm resource, and is popular in the market due to its bright red color and high quality. This study used Illumina high-throughput sequencing technologies for red pear ‘Yunhongli No. 1’ of chloroplast genome sequencing and analysis. The genome features of P. pyrifolia ‘Yunhongli No. 1’ and the phylogenetic relationships were reported and established. The complete chloroplast genome is 160,113 bp in length, consisting of a pair of inverse duplication regions 26,386 bp, a large single-copy region 88,052 bp, and a small single-copy region 19,214 bp. The entire genome contains 80 messenger RNA (mRNA) genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The phylogenetic tree of 15 Rosaceae species revealed red pear ‘Yunhongli No. 1’ is more closely related to Pyrus communis × P. pyrifolia ‘Greensis.

Cationic Tropidinyl Scandium Catalyst: A Perfectly Acceptable Substitute for Cationic Half-Sandwich Scandium Catalysts in <i>cis</i>-1,4-Polymerization of Isoprene and Copolymerization with Norbornene

Different nonmetallocene rare earth metal alkyl complexes such as monotropidinyl (Trop) scandium dialkyl complex (Trop)­Sc­(CH₂SiMe₃)₂(THF) (<b>1</b>), ditropidinyl yttrium alkyl complex (Trop)₂Y­(CH₂SiMe₃)­(THF) (<b>3</b>) as well as binuclear lutetium alkyl complex bearing one tetradentate dianionic 6-<i>N</i>-methyl-1,4-cycloheptadienyl (NMCH) ligand [(NMCH)­Lu­(CH₂SiMe₃)­(THF)]₂ (<b>2</b>) have been synthesized in high yields via one-pot acid–base reaction by using of the tris­(trimethylsilylmethyl) rare earth metal complexes with the readily available natural product tropidine. The polymerization experiments indicate that the monotropidinyl scandium dialkyl complex <b>1</b> displays reactivity akin to that of the analogous monocyclopentadienyl scandium dialkyl complexes. In the presence of activator and a small amount of AlMe₃, complex <b>1</b> exhibits similar activities (up to 1.6 × 10⁶ g mol_Sc^–1 h^–1) but higher <i>cis</i>-1,4-selectivities (up to 100%) than (C₅H₅)­Sc­(CH₂SiMe₃)₂(THF) (<i>cis</i>-1,4-selectivity as 95%) in the isoprene polymerization, yielding the pure <i>cis</i>-1,4-PIPs with moderate molecular weights (<i>M</i>_n = 0.5–11.2 × 10⁴ g/mol) and bimodal molecular weight distributions (<i>M</i>_w/<i>M</i>_n = 1.48–6.07). Moreover, the complex <b>1</b>/[Ph₃C]­[B­(C₆F₅)₄/Al^<i>i</i>Bu₃ ternary system also shows good comonomer incorporation ability in the copolymerization of isoprene and norbornene similar to the [C₅Me₄(SiMe₃)]­Sc­(η³-CH₂CHCH₂)₂/activator binary system, affording the random isoprene/norbornene copolymers with a wide range of isoprene contents around 57–91 mol % containing <i>cis</i>-1,4 configuration up to 88%

Contemporary update of overall prognosis and nomogram to predict individualized survival for Chinese patients with eyelid sebaceous carcinomaResearch in context

Background: The prognosis of Chinese patients with eyelid sebaceous carcinoma (SC) has not been updated for >3 decades. The prognostic predictors are multifactorial, and there is no validated prognostic model for eyelid SC. Methods: This study included 238 consecutive patients with eyelid SC. All eligible patients were followed up for metastasis and mortality. The predictors of tumor-related survival were explored by Cox analyses. A prognostic nomogram was developed and validated using bootstrap resampling. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability were compared between the nomogram and the Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging system. Findings: After a median follow-up period of 55.5 months, 27 (11.3%) patients died of metastatic SC, with a median survival time of 48.0 months. The 5-year and 10-year tumor-related survival rates were 88.1% and 77.9%, respectively. Orbital involvement (HR: 3.11, p = .022), the greatest tumor basal diameter (HR: 1.06, p = .003), the presence of pagetoid spread (HR: 2.90, p = .017), and having lymph node metastasis at initial diagnosis (HR: 13.66, p < .001) were independent risk factors for tumor-related death. A nomogram integrating these 4 factors was developed with a C-index of 0.887, which is significantly better than that of the TNM staging system (p = .002). The risk groups stratified by nomogram scores (p < .001 (low vs intermediate risk); p = .001 (intermediate vs high risk)) displayed better discrimination ability than TNM staging (T1 vs T2: p = .358; T2 vs T3: p = .171; T3 vs T4: p < .001) in patients at an early stage. Interpretation: The prognosis of Chinese patients with eyelid SC has improved over the last 3 decades, and it is comparable to that of patients from other countries. This nomogram provides more accurate individualized estimates of survival for eyelid SC patients and may guide clinicians in their therapeutic decisions. Keywords: Eyelid sebaceous carcinoma, Nomogram, Tumor-related surviva

Loss of function of NCOR1 and NCOR2 impairs memory through a novel GABAergic hypothalamus-CA3 projection

Nuclear receptor corepressor 1 (NCOR1) and NCOR2 (also known as SMRT) regulate gene expression by activating histone deacetylase 3 through their deacetylase activation domain (DAD). We show that mice with DAD knock-in mutations have memory deficits, reduced anxiety levels, and reduced social interactions. Mice with NCOR1 and NORC2 depletion specifically in GABAergic neurons (NS-V mice) recapitulated the memory deficits and had reduced GABAA receptor subunit α2 (GABRA2) expression in lateral hypothalamus GABAergic (LHGABA) neurons. This was associated with LHGABA neuron hyperexcitability and impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation, through a monosynaptic LHGABA to CA3GABA projection. Optogenetic activation of this projection caused memory deficits, whereas targeted manipulation of LHGABA or CA3GABA neuron activity reversed memory deficits in NS-V mice. We describe de novo variants in NCOR1, NCOR2 or HDAC3 in patients with intellectual disability or neurodevelopmental disorders. These findings identify a hypothalamus-hippocampus projection that may link endocrine signals with synaptic plasticity through NCOR-mediated regulation of GABA signaling