Magnetic impurity doping induced spin-glass state and short-range zigzag order in the honeycomb iridate Na2IrO3.

Based on the modified Heisenberg-Kitaev model, the effects of magnetic substitution on the magnetic properties of the honeycomb-lattice iridate [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] are studied using Monte Carlo simulations. It is observed that the long-range zigzag state of the original system is rather fragile and can be replaced by a spin-glass state even for small substitution, well consistent with the experimental observation in Ru-substituted samples (Mehlawat et al 2015 Phys. Rev. B 92 134412). Both the disordered Heisenberg and Kitaev interactions caused by the magnetic ion-doping are suggested to be responsible for the magnetic phase transitions in the system. More interestingly, a short-range zigzag order is suggested to survive above the freezing temperature even at high magnetic impurity doping levels.

Potential hippocampal genes and pathways involved in Alzheimer's disease: a bioinformatic analysis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disor-der and the most common cause of dementia in elderly people. Nu-merous studies have focused on the dysregulated genes in AD, but the pathogenesis is still unknown. In this study, we explored critical hippocampal genes and pathways that might potentially be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Four transcriptome datasets for the hip-pocampus of patients with AD were downloaded from ArrayExpress, and the gene signature was identified by integrated analysis of mul-tiple transcriptomes using novel genome-wide relative significance and genome-wide global significance models. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed, and five clusters were selected. The biologi-cal functions and pathways were identified by Gene Ontology and Kyo-to Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. A total of 6994 genes were screened, and the top 300 genes were subjected to further analysis. Four significant KEGG pathways were identified, including oxidative phosphorylation and Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Alzheimer's disease pathways. The hub network of cluster 1 with the highest average rank value was de-fined. The genes (NDUFB3, NDUFA9, NDUFV1, NDUFV2, NDUFS3, NDUFA10, COX7B, and UQCR1) were considered critical with high degree in cluster 1 as well as being shared by the four significant path-ways. The oxidative phosphorylation process was also involved in the other three pathways and is considered to be relevant to energy-related AD pathology in the hippocampus. This research provides a perspec-tive from which to explore critical genes and pathways for potential AD therapies.

Cardiac right-to-left shunt subtypes in Chinese patients with cryptogenic strokes: a multicenter case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Data on the possible association between cardiac right-to-left shunt (RLS) and cryptogenic stroke are lacking in Asians. RLS and its subtypes in Chinese cryptogenic stroke patients were investigated. METHODS: Patients (n = 153, mean age 42 ± 10 years, 81 male) with cryptogenic stroke from four medical centers in China and 135 healthy volunteers (mean age 34 ± 8 years, 54 male) were recruited. Contrast transcranial Doppler was used to assess the prevalence of RLS. A three-level RLS categorization was applied as follows: none, 0 microbubbles (MBs); small, 1-25 MBs; and large, >25 MBs. RLS was considered latent if it occurred only after the Valsalva maneuver or permanent when it occurred also during normal respiration. RESULTS: Overall, RLS (P = 0.02), large RLS (P < 0.001) and permanent RLS (P = 0.02) were more frequently detected in patients with cryptogenic stroke than in healthy volunteers. The prevalences of small RLS and latent RLS in the two groups were similar (22% vs. 21% and 11% vs. 10%, respectively). The proportion of large RLSs amongst the subjects with RLS was much higher in the patient group than in healthy volunteers (45% vs. 18%, P < 0.001), whilst the proportion of permanent RLS was similar (72% vs. 64%, P = 0.11). Most large RLSs in the patient group (22/27, 81%) were permanent RLSs. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac RLS is associated with cryptogenic stroke in Chinese. However, the higher prevalence of overall RLS in the patient group was mainly due to the increased proportion of large RLSs. The results only support large RLSs as a pathological condition.

[Clinical and experimental study of shenshao tongguan pian in treating angina pectoris of coronary heart disease].

Shenshao Tongguan Pian (SSTGP) is composed chiefly of saponins from the stem and leaf of Ginseng and Radix Paeoniae Alba, etc. The authors applied this remedy for the treatment of angina pectoris of CHD. From 1982-1988, the authors carried out a randomized double blind trial on altogether 565 cases of CHD divided into an experimental group to be treated with SSTGP and a control group treated with another TCM proprietory medicine, Dan Qi Pian, that had been used for many years clinically. The total effective rate of treating angina pectoris was 94.71% and ECG improvement rate 63.38% in experimental group whereas 66.99% and 23.38% respectively in the control group, the difference being very significant (P less than 0.01). Experiments with animals proved that SSTGP had more potent actions on CV system, such as dilatation of coronary arteries, promotion of coronary perfusion flow, lowering oxygen consumption of heart muscle, resisting the coronary spasm, anoxia and ischemia of heart muscle elicited by pituitrin, and prolongation of survival time of mice under anoxic state. In addition, laboratory examination also revealed SSTGP could promote the left ventricular output, lower the blood viscosity and inhibit the aggregation of blood platelets. Both acute and chronic toxicity tests showed SSTGP has no toxicity nor side effects. Therefore SSTGP is a new, safe and effective TCM proprietory remedy for CHD and angina pectoris.