Effect of Nourishing “Yin”-Removing “Fire” Chinese Herbal Mixture on Hypothalamic NKB/NK3R Expression in Female Precocious Rats

Aim. The present study aims to investigate the effects of nourishing “Yin”-removing “Fire” Chinese herb mixture on the hypothalamic NKB/NK3R expression in female precocious model rats. Materials and Methods. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal (N), central precocious puberty (CPP) model (M), CPP fed with Chinese herbal mixture (CHM), and CPP fed with normal saline (MS). Rats on postnatal day 5 were given a single subcutaneous injection of 300 μg to establish CPP model rats. Rats of CHM and MS groups were continuously administered with nourishing “Yin”-removing “Fire” Chinese herb mixture or saline since postnatal day 15. The expressions of hypothalamic NKB/NK3R were detected by means of real-time PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence histochemistry. Results. The day of vaginal opening and establishment of two regular estrous cycles were delayed in the CHM group compared with M and MS groups. The expression of hypothalamic NKB/NK3R mRNA and protein in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and medial preoptic (MPO) area were decreased significantly in the CHM group compared with the M and MS groups on the day of onset-puberty. Conclusions. These results indicate that the NKB/NK3R signaling pathway might be involved in the effect of herbal mixture treatment on CPP

(Pro)renin receptor-mediated myocardial injury, apoptosis, and inflammatory response in rats with diabetic cardiomyopathy

Excessive activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) provokes a series of structural and functional abnormalities, and causes ventricular remodeling and heart failure in diabetes. (Pro)renin receptor (PRR) is a component of the RAS and has been reported to be up-regulated in some cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, PRR blockade in some cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction and hypertension, has been demonstrated to reverse their pathogenesis. However, there have been few studies about the function of PRR in the pathogenesis of DCM. In this study, we hypothesized that PRR is involved in the pathogenesis of DCM and mediates myocardial injury in DCM. To explore the role of PRR in DCM, we evaluated the effects of PRR overexpression and knockdown on the DCM phenotype in vivo and in vitro. The results show that PRR overexpression exacerbates myocardial injury and the inflammatory response in rats with DCM. Conversely, PRR knockdown alleviates myocardial fibrosis, apoptosis, and the inflammatory response, reversing the cardiac dysfunction in rats with DCM. In cell experiments, PRR overexpression also up-regulated the protein expression of collagen I and fibronectin, aggravated the inflammatory response, and increased the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), while PRR knockdown had the opposite effect. Thus, PRR mediates myocardial injury, apoptosis, and the inflammatory response, likely through a PRR/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/ROS pathway

Positive Selection of a Pre-Expansion CAG Repeat of the Human SCA2 Gene

A region of approximately one megabase of human Chromosome 12 shows extensive linkage disequilibrium in Utah residents with ancestry from northern and western Europe. This strikingly large linkage disequilibrium block was analyzed with statistical and experimental methods to determine whether natural selection could be implicated in shaping the current genome structure. Extended Haplotype Homozygosity and Relative Extended Haplotype Homozygosity analyses on this region mapped a core region of the strongest conserved haplotype to the exon 1 of the Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 gene (SCA2). Direct DNA sequencing of this region of the SCA2 gene revealed a significant association between a pre-expanded allele [(CAG)(8)CAA(CAG)(4)CAA(CAG)(8)] of CAG repeats within exon 1 and the selected haplotype of the SCA2 gene. A significantly negative Tajima's D value (−2.20, p < 0.01) on this site consistently suggested selection on the CAG repeat. This region was also investigated in the three other populations, none of which showed signs of selection. These results suggest that a recent positive selection of the pre-expansion SCA2 CAG repeat has occurred in Utah residents with European ancestry

Criteria for determining the need for surgical treatment of tricuspid regurgitation during mitral valve replacement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is common in patients with mitral valve disease; however, there are no straightforward, rapidly determinably criteria available for deciding whether TR repair should be performed during mitral valve replacement. The aim of our retrospective study was to identify a simple and fast criterion for determining whether TR repair should be performed in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We reviewed the records of patients who underwent mitral valve replacement with or without (control) TR repair (DeVega or Kay procedure) from January 2005 to December 2008. Preoperative and 2-year postoperative echocardiographic measurements included right ventricular and atrial diameter, interventricular septum size, TR severity, ejection fraction, and pulmonary artery pressure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 89 patients were included (control, n = 50; DeVega, n = 27; Kay, n = 12). Demographic and clinical characteristics were similar between groups. Cardiac variables were similar between the DeVega and Kay groups. Right atrium and ventricular diameter and ejection fraction were significantly decreased postoperatively both in the control and operation (DeVega + Kay) group (<it>P </it>< 0.05). Pulmonary artery pressure was significantly decreased postoperatively in-operation groups (<it>P </it>< 0.05). Our findings indicate that surgical intervention for TR should be considered during mitral valve replacement if any of the following preoperative criteria are met: right atrial transverse diameter > 57 mm; right ventricular end-diastolic diameter > 55 mm; pulmonary artery pressure > 58 mmHg.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings suggest echocardiography may be used as a rapid and simple means of determining which patients require TR repair during mitral valve replacement.</p

Detailed Analysis of a Contiguous 22-Mb Region of the Maize Genome

Most of our understanding of plant genome structure and evolution has come from the careful annotation of small (e.g., 100 kb) sequenced genomic regions or from automated annotation of complete genome sequences. Here, we sequenced and carefully annotated a contiguous 22 Mb region of maize chromosome 4 using an improved pseudomolecule for annotation. The sequence segment was comprehensively ordered, oriented, and confirmed using the maize optical map. Nearly 84% of the sequence is composed of transposable elements (TEs) that are mostly nested within each other, of which most families are low-copy. We identified 544 gene models using multiple levels of evidence, as well as five miRNA genes. Gene fragments, many captured by TEs, are prevalent within this region. Elimination of gene redundancy from a tetraploid maize ancestor that originated a few million years ago is responsible in this region for most disruptions of synteny with sorghum and rice. Consistent with other sub-genomic analyses in maize, small RNA mapping showed that many small RNAs match TEs and that most TEs match small RNAs. These results, performed on ∼1% of the maize genome, demonstrate the feasibility of refining the B73 RefGen_v1 genome assembly by incorporating optical map, high-resolution genetic map, and comparative genomic data sets. Such improvements, along with those of gene and repeat annotation, will serve to promote future functional genomic and phylogenomic research in maize and other grasses

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

A Multistage Current Charging Method for Energy Storage Device of Microgrid Considering Energy Consumption and Capacity of Lithium Battery

Modular multilevel converter battery energy storage systems (MMC-BESSs) have become an important device for the energy storage of grid-connected microgrids. The efficiency of the power transmission of MMC-BESSs has become a new research hotspot. This paper outlines a multi-stage charging method to minimize energy consumption and maximize the capacity of MMC-BESSs. Firstly, based on condition monitoring and data collection, the functional relationship between the internal resistance/capacity and other states of lithium batteries is established. Since the energy consumption of the battery is related to internal resistance, current, and time, the energy consumption calculation expression of the battery pack is established, and the objective function is designed to optimize energy consumption and capacity in order to determine the charging current curve of each stage. Compared with the constant current charging method, the proposed multistage current charging method for an MMC-BESS decreases energy consumption by 4.3% and increases the capacity of 5 SOC intervals by 1.56%

A Multistage Current Charging Method for Energy Storage Device of Microgrid Considering Energy Consumption and Capacity of Lithium Battery

Modular multilevel converter battery energy storage systems (MMC-BESSs) have become an important device for the energy storage of grid-connected microgrids. The efficiency of the power transmission of MMC-BESSs has become a new research hotspot. This paper outlines a multi-stage charging method to minimize energy consumption and maximize the capacity of MMC-BESSs. Firstly, based on condition monitoring and data collection, the functional relationship between the internal resistance/capacity and other states of lithium batteries is established. Since the energy consumption of the battery is related to internal resistance, current, and time, the energy consumption calculation expression of the battery pack is established, and the objective function is designed to optimize energy consumption and capacity in order to determine the charging current curve of each stage. Compared with the constant current charging method, the proposed multistage current charging method for an MMC-BESS decreases energy consumption by 4.3% and increases the capacity of 5 SOC intervals by 1.56%