No relationship between 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase and schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population: an expression study and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>2',3'-Cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (<it>CNP</it>), one of the promising candidate genes for schizophrenia, plays a key part in the oligodendrocyte function and in myelination. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between <it>CNP </it>and schizophrenia in the Chinese population and the effect of different factors on the expression level of <it>CNP </it>in schizophrenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five <it>CNP </it>single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were investigated in a Chinese Han schizophrenia case-control sample set (n = 180) using direct sequencing. The results were included in the following meta-analysis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted to examine <it>CNP </it>expression levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Factors including gender, genotype, sub-diagnosis and antipsychotics-treatment were found not to contribute to the expression regulation of the <it>CNP </it>gene in schizophrenia. Our meta-analysis produced similar negative results.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that the <it>CNP </it>gene may not be involved in the etiology and pathology of schizophrenia in the Chinese population.</p

A Review of Current Methodologies for Regional Evapotranspiration Estimation from Remotely Sensed Data

An overview of the commonly applied evapotranspiration (ET) models using remotely sensed data is given to provide insight into the estimation of ET on a regional scale from satellite data. Generally, these models vary greatly in inputs, main assumptions and accuracy of results, etc. Besides the generally used remotely sensed multi-spectral data from visible to thermal infrared bands, most remotely sensed ET models, from simplified equations models to the more complex physically based two-source energy balance models, must rely to a certain degree on ground-based auxiliary measurements in order to derive the turbulent heat fluxes on a regional scale. We discuss the main inputs, assumptions, theories, advantages and drawbacks of each model. Moreover, approaches to the extrapolation of instantaneous ET to the daily values are also briefly presented. In the final part, both associated problems and future trends regarding these remotely sensed ET models were analyzed to objectively show the limitations and promising aspects of the estimation of regional ET based on remotely sensed data and ground-based measurements

Broadband Vertically/Horizontally Dual-Polarized Antenna for Base Stations

A broadband vertically/horizontally (V/H) dual-polarized antenna is proposed for mobile communication base stations. The antenna consists of two perpendicularly placed broadband planar antenna elements. By shaping the reflector for V/H dual-polarized antenna, a half-power beam width of 65±8° is achieved for both vertical and horizontal polarization. The V/H dual-polarized antenna has a bandwidth of 48% (1.7–2.75 GHz) for return loss >15 dB, an isolation of 30 dB, and an antenna gain of 9 dBi. An 8-element V/H dual-polarized antenna array is developed, which achieves a bandwidth of 45% (1.7–2.7 GHz) and an antenna gain of 16 dBi, suitable for GSM/UMTS/LTE base stations

Osteoarthritis or arthritis? Toward understanding of primary Sjögren’s syndrome patients with arthralgia

Abstract Objective To identify primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) patients with arthralgia at risk for osteoarthritis (OA) or arthritis. Methods This study included 368 pSS patients admitted to a mono-centric from March 2010 to December 2020. Patients were divided into groups according to whether complicated with OA or arthritis. Data were analyzed to determine the differences in demographical characteristics, symptoms, and laboratory examination. Results The involvement of the OA joints was predominately knee and spine sites (including cervical and lumbar spine degeneration). When diagnosing arthritis, it was mainly peripheral symmetric polyarthritis, the most affected sites were the interphalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints. There were significant differences in age, disease duration, uric acid (UA), and total cholesterol (TC) between pSS-OA and pSS-nOA patients (P < 0.050). Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR = 1.965; P = 0.009) and joint pain (OR = 3.382; P < 0.001) were dangerous factors associated with OA. Interestingly, although the level of UA, TC, and triglycerides (TG) was shown to be positive with OA, there was no statistical significance after the OR was computed in the four-cell table. In pSS-arthritis, EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) (P = 0.011), the frequency of joint pain (P < 0.001), and muscular involvement (P = 0.037) were higher than non-arthritis group. In pSS patients only presenting with joint pain, arthritis patients had higher ESSDAI and system involvements, but lower UA and TG levels compared with OA group (P < 0.050). Conclusion In pSS patients with arthralgia, OA accounted for the majority. pSS patients with advanced age and more pronounced metabolic characteristics, such as elevated blood lipids and uric acid, was a key factor in groups at risk for OA. However, arthritis patients had higher rates of dry mouth and eye, higher disease activity, antibodies positive, and more organs damage. In the future, it may be necessary to be more cautious in the diagnosis of joint manifestations in pSS patients in order to make the appropriate treatments

Estimation of Soil Evaporation and Vegetation Transpiration Using Two Trapezoidal Models From MODIS Data

International audienceSoil evaporation and vegetation transpiration were estimated using two trapezoidal models. Land surface temperature of MODIS pixel was decomposed into soil and vegetation component temperatures

Effect of Ge doping on the magnetic properties of Fe-6.5Si soft magnetic composites

In this work, the effect of Ge content on the soft magnetic properties and microstructure of FeSiGe soft magnetic powder cores (SMPCs) was systematically investigated. The results show that the addition of Ge is beneficial to increase the electrical resistivity of Fe93.5-xSi6.5Gex SMPCs, and the coercivity (Hc) shows a trend of decreasing and then increasing with the increase of Ge content. When the content of Ge is 2 wt%, the SMPCs exhibit the best magnetic properties with stable effective permeability of 78.4 up to 1 MHz, low core loss of 589.5 mW/cm3 at a maximum magnetic induction of 0.1 T and frequency of 50 kHz. By doping with Ge, the micro-vortex dots in the magnetic domain structure are reduced and the domain walls move more easily with the applied field, and the magnetic properties are improved

A Charcot-Marie-Tooth-Causing Mutation in HSPB1 Decreases Cell Adaptation to Repeated Stress by Disrupting Autophagic Clearance of Misfolded Proteins

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common inherited neurodegenerative disorder with selective degeneration of peripheral nerves. Despite advances in identifying CMT-causing genes, the underlying molecular mechanism, particularly of selective degeneration of peripheral neurons remains to be elucidated. Since peripheral neurons are sensitive to multiple stresses, we hypothesized that daily repeated stress might be an essential contributor to the selective degeneration of peripheral neurons induced by CMT-causing mutations. Here, we mainly focused on the biological effects of the dominant missense mutation (S135F) in the 27-kDa small heat-shock protein HSPB1 under repeated heat shock. HSPB1S135F presented hyperactive binding to both &alpha;-tubulin and acetylated &alpha;-tubulin during repeated heat shock when compared with the wild type. The aberrant interactions with tubulin prevented microtubule-based transport of heat shock-induced misfolded proteins for the formation of perinuclear aggresomes. Furthermore, the transport of autophagosomes along microtubules was also blocked. These results indicate that the autophagy pathway was disrupted, leading to an accumulation of ubiquitinated protein aggregates and a significant decrease in cell adaptation to repeated stress. Our findings provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of HSPB1S135F-induced selective degeneration of peripheral neurons and perspectives for targeting autophagy as a promising therapeutic strategy for CMT neuropathy

Tofacitinib in the treatment of primary Sjögren’s syndrome-associated interstitial lung disease: study protocol for a prospective, randomized, controlled and open-label trial

Abstract Introduction Tofacitinib, a selective inhibitor of JAK1 and/or JAK3, is considered to alleviate the pulmonary condition of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS)-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) through its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects. Methods and analysis This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, open-label trial. The trial will compare a 52-week course of oral tofacitinib with traditional therapy cyclophosphamide (CYC) combined with azathioprine (AZA) in the treatment of pSS-ILD. A total of 120 patients will be randomly assigned into two treatment groups with a 1:1 ratio and followed for 52 weeks from the first dose. The primary endpoint of the study is the increase of forced vital capacity (FVC) at 52 weeks. Secondary endpoints include high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the lung (DLCO), the Mahler dyspnea index, the health-related quality of life (HARQoL) score, the cough symptom score, EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI), and safety. Discussion This study will be the first randomized controlled trial to investigate tofacitinib compared to the traditional regimen of CYC in combination with AZA in the treatment of pSS-ILD, which will provide data on efficacy and safety and further elucidate the role of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway in the development of pSS-ILD. Ethics and dissemination Before starting the experiment, the research proposal, informed consent (ICF) and relevant documents in accordance with the ethical principles of the Helsinki Declaration and the relevant requirements of the local GCP rules for ethical approval shall be submitted to the ethics committee of the hospital. The ethical approval of this study is reviewed by the Ethics Committee of Tongji Hospital and the ethical approval number is 2021-LCYJ-007. When the experiment is completed, the results will also be disseminated to patients and the public through publishing papers in international medical journals. Trial registration The study was registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, www.chictr.org.cn ; ID ChiCTR2000031389

Vacancies on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides elicit ferroptotic cell death

It is unclear whether 2D metal dichalcogenides (TMD) alone can cause ferroptotic cell death. Here, the authors show TMD nanosheets induced ferroptosis in mammalian cell lines and in a mouse model after aspiration of TMD materials into lungs, causing ferroptotic cell death