Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy is Related to Learning Strategy Changes in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

OBJECTIVE: Deficits in the semantic learning strategy were observed in subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in our previous study. In the present study, we explored the contributions of executive function and brain structure changes to the decline in the semantic learning strategy in aMCI. METHODS: A neuropsychological battery was used to test memory and executive function in 96 aMCI subjects and 90 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs). The semantic clustering ratio on the verbal learning test was calculated to evaluate learning strategy. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) were measured on MRI with the MTA and Fazekas visual rating scales, respectively. RESULTS: Compared to HCs, aMCI subjects had poorer performance in terms of memory, executive function, and the semantic clustering ratio (P < .001). In aMCI subjects, no significant correlation between learning strategy and executive function was observed. aMCI subjects with obvious MTA demonstrated a lower semantic clustering ratio than those without MTA (P < .001). There was no significant difference in the learning strategies between subjects with high-grade WMH and subjects with low-grade WMH. CONCLUSION: aMCI subjects showed obvious impairment in the semantic learning strategy, which was attributable to MTA but independent of executive dysfunction and subcortical WMH. These findings need to be further validated in large cohorts with biomarkers identified using volumetric brain measurements. (JINS, 2019, 25, 706-717).

[New Bipyridinium Salt: Synthesis and Application as a Fluorescence Enhancement Probe of Nitrate Ion].

Anions are ubiquitously distributed not only in biological systems but also in environment. Accordingly, anion recognition and sensing have attracted increasing attention due to the important roles anion plays in biological, chemical and environmental fields. Among various anionic species, NO3- is a very important inorganic anions which has a great harm to the environment and human health. At present, methods for the determination of NO3- mainly contained electrochemical method, ion chromatography and ion selective electrode method. Although all methods have their own advantages, but also has the obvious deficiency. Such as, the reproducibility of electrochemical method is not good, and ion chromatography and ion selective electrode method usually require expensive apparatus and lengthy analytical time. As a contrast, fluorescence spectroscopy become a hot research topic in anion recognition and detection because of its high sensitivity and easy operation and other advantages in recent years. New bipyridinium salt L was designed and synthesized using pyrylium as a starting material. The molecular structure was determined by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and high resolution mass spectrometry. The molecular recognition properties of L have been investigated through fluorescence titration experiments. The results indicate that L has sensitive and selective fluorescent response to NO3- among other different anions. Significant enhancements in the fluorescence intensity of L were observed when various concentrations of NO3- were added, while other competing anions have a quenching effect towards the initial fluorescence of solution. The fluorescence titration spectra shows that the bonding stoichiometry between receptor L and NO3- is 1 : 1 as a supramolecular complexes (1gK = 5 ± 0.02). The chemosensing properties of L were evaluated through quantum chemical calculations and the variable temperature 1H NMR titration. These results suggested that L has strong binding affinity towards NO3- with high selectivity, which may be ascribed to the specific hydrogen bonding between the L and active H atom of the bipyrydinium salts. The interaction between L and NO3- made the complex more planar compared with L giving rise to enhanced fluorescence and specific selectivity towards NO3-.

First description of the females of Qinorapalaqinlingana Chou & Wang, 1995 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Shaanxi and Sichuan Provinces, western China.

Background: The family Lycaenidae is a widely distributed and species-rich group with approximately 5300 described species. The rare genus Qinorapala Chou & Wang, with Q.qinlingana Chou & Wang as its type species was established as monotypic. In the original description, Q.qinlingana was described from a male holotype; the female remained unknown. To date, the genus is only recorded from the Qinling Mountains (Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces). In this study, two female specimens, from Shaanxi Province and western Sichuan Province (bordering Yunnan Province) are described and illustrated for the first time. New information: Female specimens of Q.qinlingana from Shaanxi and Sichuan are described for the first time. The species' distribution is updated and a distribution map is provided.

Out-of-set association analysis of lung cancer drugs and symptoms based on clinical case data mining.

BACKGROUND: There are 1.8 million lung cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for 18% of global cancer deaths, including 710,000 in China, accounting for 23.8% of all cancer deaths in China. OBJECTIVE: To explore the out-of-set association rules of lung cancer symptoms and drugs through text mining of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment of lung cancer, and form medical case analysis to analyze the experience of TCM syndrome differentiation in its treatment. METHODS: The medical records of all patients diagnosed with lung cancer in Nanjing Chest Hospital from January to December 2018 were collected, and the out-of-set association analysis was performed using the MedCase v5.2 TCM clinical scientific research auxiliary platform based on the frequent pattern growth enhanced association analysis algorithm. RESULTS: In terms of TCM treatment of lung cancer, the clinical symptoms with high correlation included cough, expectoration, chest distress, and white phlegm; and the drugs with high correlation included Pinellia ternata, licorice root, white Atractylodes rhizome, and Radix Ophiopogonis; with the prescriptions based on Erchen and Maimendong decoctions. CONCLUSION: This analytical study of the medical cases of TCM treatment for lung cancer was performed using data mining techniques, and the out-of-set association rules between clinical symptoms and drugs were analyzed, including the understanding of lung cancer in TCM. Moreover, the essence of experience in drug use was gathered, providing significant scientific guidance for the clinical treatment of lung cancer.

Analysis of the cluster efficacy and prescription characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine intervention for non-small cell lung cancer based on a clustering algorithm.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, malignant tumors have gradually become one of the main causes of death for Chinese residents, of which lung cancer ranks first in both the incidence and mortality in China. OBJECTIVE: To mine the text of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical medical cases after data cleaning, analyze it, and study the experience of TCM doctors in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The applied approach was based on the data mining methods of decentralized and hierarchical system clustering of data from a drug and prescription database. This study involved 215 patients, 287 cases, and 147 types of clinical drugs. RESULTS: The data analysis of the clinical treatment of NSCLC in TCM showed that Erchen Decoction was the main method for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in clinical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Junjian recipes were close to each other, with Banzhilian, Lobelia, Shanci Mushroom, Hedyotis diffusa to anticancer and detoxify. CONCLUSION: This study analyzed the core TCM prescription for NSCLC by collecting the empirical essence and characteristics of specific medications. It has some guiding scientific significance for the clinical treatment of lung cancer.

[Genetic diversity and genetic effects of Myf6 gene in chickens].

The population genetic information about genetic distribution, variation and heterozygosity of Myf6 gene in five purelines and three crossbreds of chicken was analyzed using PCR-SSCP. And the genetic effects of Myf6 gene on fiber density and partial carcass traits were investigated. Only one mutation G/A at base position 47 of the whole CDS was found among individuals in each line. The distribution of Myf6 genotype strayed off the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the heterozygosity was low in two purelines but not in three crossbreds. The wild-type allele A had significant positive effects on live-weight, carcass-weight, breast-muscle-weight and leg-muscle-weight (P<0.05), but had negative effects on most of meat quality traits. The A allele had additive effects of increasing 45.54 g of the live-weight, 41.03 g of the carcass-weight, 6 g of the breast-muscle-weight, 9.775 g of the leg-muscle-weight. The A allele had dominant effects of increasing 1.025 mm of the diameter of muscle fiber, -29.99 mm2 of the density of muscle fiber.

Time dependent neuroprotection of dexamethasone in experimental focal cerebral ischemia: The involvement of NF-κB pathways.

We propose that the neuroprotective effect of glucocorticoid in ischemic damage may be time dependent. The present study was designed to test the proposal and its possible mechanismin cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury model. Reperfusion injury was induced after 120 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Atdifferenttimepoints after MCAO, rats were treated with high dose dexamethasone (10 mg/kg), and neurological deficit and infarct sizes were measured 2 h, 24 h after MCAO. The expression of NF-κB target genes, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), were determined by western blot analysis and ELISA. Dexamethasone delivered 30 min (but not 60 min, 120 min) after MCAO markedly decreased the infarct size, improved neurological deficits in I/R injury model. Dexamethasone delivered 30 min (but not 60 min) after MCAO significantly inhibited NF-κB p65 expression and phosphorylation, compared with I/R group. The expression of iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α and IL-1ß, were also suppressed by dexamethasone delivered 30 min (but not 60 min) after MCAO. The results imply that neuroprotective action of dexamethasone in focal ischemic stroke model may be time dependent and attributed to inhibiting inflammation-related NF-κB p65 pathways.

[Effects of inter-row economic crop planting on soil moisture in a rain-fed jujube orchard in loess hilly region, China].

Soil moisture variation in dryland sloping jujube. orchard was investigated after introducing two economic crops, i.e., feed Brassica napus (JR) and Hemerocallis fulva (JH) planted between jujube rows. Jujube tree without inter-row crop was set as control (CK). The results showed that mean soil moisture for JR and JH in the 0-180 cm soil layer increased by 6.2% and 10.1% compared with CK, respectively. Soil moisture changed mainly in the 0-60 cm soil layer in growth stage of Jujube trees. Soil moisture in JR and JH treatments significantly increased in the 0-60 cm soil layer, which could meet the demand in water resource of jujube plantation. The water consumption of jujube trees also mainly concentrated in the 0-60 cm soil layer. There was a significant decay exponential relationship between the soil moisture in the 0-20 cm layer and the drought duration after rainfall. During the 18-day dry period after rain, the soil moisture contents of JR and JH were apparently higher than that of CK. In conclusion, the jujube-crop intercropping system improved the soil moisture condition. It was an effective measure to overcome the seasonal drought in jujube orchards on the loess hilly region.

A new middle cerebral artery occlusion model for intra-arterial drug infusion in rats.

With the wide application of intra-arterial therapy for cerebrovascular disorders, preclinical intra-arterial drug-delivery studies based on middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) models have become urgent. In the present study, a novel stroke model was developed for intra-arterial drug delivery: MCAO and drug delivery were accomplished using a microcatheter device. MCAO was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats using the microcatheter device (cMCAO group, n=10) or a nylon suture (sMCAO group, n=10). After 24-h occlusion, neurological deficit and infarct volume were compared between the groups. Drug-delivery models used in stroke studies were compared with the present model to verify the drug-delivery ability of the microcatheter device. MCAO was induced using the microcatheter device in 21 Sprague-Dawley rats. At 4h after occlusion, 2% Evans blue dye was infused using different methods, and 1h later, the dye was extracted from each hemisphere and spectrophotometrically quantified. All cMCAO group rats showed neurological deficits; none developed subarachnoid hemorrhage or died before sacrifice. Neurological deficits and infarct volumes were similar in the cMCAO and sMCAO groups. Significantly more dye leakage occurred in the ischemic hemispheres of the rats that received the dye via the microcatheter device. Compared to other intra-arterial drug-delivery models used in stroke studies, the present model was easily established, had a high success rate, caused minimal surgical injury, and enabled highly efficient drug delivery. Thus, the present model is an efficient tool for investigating the effect of intra-arterial drug delivery on ischemic cerebral tissue.