Interplay between heme oxygenase-1 and the multifunctional transcription factor yin yang 1 in the inhibition of intimal hyperplasia.

Rationale: induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 protects against experimental atherosclerotic diseases, and certain pharmacological HO-1 inducers, like probucol, inhibit the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and, at the same time, promote the growth of endothelial cells in vivo and in vitro.

Objective: because such cell-specific effects are reminiscent of the action of the transcription factor Yin Yang (YY)1, we tested the hypothesis that there is a functional relationship between HO-1 and YY1.

Methods And Results: we report that probucol increases the number of YY1(+) cells in rat carotid artery following balloon injury at a time coinciding with increased HO-1 expression.

Design improvement and failure reduction of endodontic files through finite element analysis: application to V-Taper file designs.

Introduction: Torsional stiffness and bending flexibility are essential characteristics as far as the performance and safety of the endodontic files are concerned. Inadequacy in addressing these requirements in file design leads to increased risk of file failure. The stiffness and flexibility of the endodontic file are greatly dependent on its geometric design.

In vivo high-resolution MR imaging of symptomatic and asymptomatic middle cerebral artery atherosclerotic stenosis.

Objective: Recently, the technique of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) has been developed to depict intracranial artery wall. We aimed to compare the vessel wall properties between symptomatic and asymptomatic atherosclerotic middle cerebral arteries (MCA) using HR-MRI.

Methods: We studied 26 patients with symptomatic and 35 patients with asymptomatic MCA stenosis.

Angiotensin AT1 receptor activation mediates high glucose-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in renal proximal tubular cells.

1. Renal tubular epithelial cells can undergo epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) under hyperglycaemic conditions, which is associated with renal interstitial fibrosis. Activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in diabetic nephropathy.

The clinical and radiological spectrum of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: a retrospective series of 24 patients.

Background And Purpose: Some patients with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) present with atypical clinical and neuroimaging findings. The purpose of this study is to review the clinical and neuroimaging findings in patients diagnosed with PRES.

Methods: We retrospectively included all patients diagnosed with PRES between January 2005 and March 2009.

c-Jun regulates shear- and injury-inducible Egr-1 expression, vein graft stenosis after autologous end-to-side transplantation in rabbits, and intimal hyperplasia in human saphenous veins.

Coronary artery bypass graft failure represents an unsolved problem in interventional cardiology and heart surgery. Late occlusion of autologous saphenous vein bypass grafts is a consequence of neointima formation underpinned by smooth muscle cell (SMC) migration and proliferation. Poor long term patency and the lack of pharmacologic agents that prevent graft failure necessitate effective alternative therapies.

CoAl(001) surface structures: a kinetic Monte Carlo simulation.

The growth processes of CoAl(001) films are studied by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations (KMC) combined with first principle calculations. The calculation results show that (i) for stoichiometric CoAl(001) films, the surface is occupied by pure Al; (ii) for Co slightly enriched films, the Co anti-sites segregate on the surface with a c(2 × 2) short range order; (iii) there is a peak value for the number of Co anti-sites on the surface with a change of temperature. At high temperature, the number of anti-sites c(Co)(s) on the surface is low because of the entropy effect.

Enhanced catalytic dehydrogenation of LiBH(4) by carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles.

The investigation of thermally induced dehydrogenation of LiBH(4) catalyzed by carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd/C) reveals that LiBH(4) doped with the Pd/C catalysts shows superior dehydrogenation performance, compared to dehydrogenation in the absence of catalyst, even at very low catalyst content. We have found that smaller Pd nanoparticles result in greater enhanced catalytic dehydrogenation of LiBH(4) than do larger Pd nanoparticles. For doping with 10 wt.

Luminescence vapochromism of a platinum(II) complex for detection of low molecular weight halohydrocarbon.

Platinum(II) complex [Pt(Me(3)SiC[triple bond]CbpyC[triple bond]CSiMe(3))(C[triple bond]CPh)(2)] (1) with 5,5-bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (Me(3)SiC[triple bond]CbpyC[triple bond]CSiMe(3)) and phenylacetylene (PhC[triple bond]CH) exhibits unusual luminescence vapochromism to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including CH(2)Cl(2), CHCl(3), and CH(3)I, which is useful for detection of volatile halohydrocarbon with one carbon atom and molecular weight less of than 150. Crystal structural determination of 1, 1 x CHCl(3), 1 x 1/2(CH(2)ClCH(2)Cl), and 1 x 1/2(toluene) revealed a staggered packing for 1 x CHCl(3) whereas there was an antiparallel packing for other three structures in stacking of planar platinum(II) moieties. The Pt.

Genome-wide survey of rice microRNAs and microRNA-target pairs in the root of a novel auxin-resistant mutant.

Auxin is one of the central hormones in plants, and auxin response factor (ARF) is a key regulator in the early auxin response. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in auxin signal transduction, but knowledge remains limited about the regulatory network between miRNAs and protein-coding genes (e.g.

[The expressions of PPAR-gamma, COX-2 in the lesions of patients with condyloma acuminatum and bowenoid papulosis].

Objective: To investigate the expression of PPAR-gamma, COX-2 in the skin lesion of condyloma acuminatum and bowenoid papulosis.

Methods: The expression levels of PPAR-gamma, COX-2 were measured by immunohistochemistry in 17 cases of condyloma acuminatum, 17 cases of bowenoid papulosis, as well as 17 cases of normal foreskin lesions.

Results: The immunohistochemical study showed that PPAR-gamma and COX-2 weakly expressed in normal foreskin, but overexepressed in the skin lesions of both condyloma acuminatum and bowenoid papulosis (P<0.

[Characteristics of cerebral artery lesions in patients with limb-shaking transient ischemic attacks and its treatment].

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of cerebral artery lesions in patients with limb-shaking transient ischemic attacks (LS-TIA) and its treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 20 patients with LS-TIA who received treatment in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2005 to 2008.

Results: Critical stenosis or occlusion of contralateral arteries were found in the siphonic part of internal carotid artery (ICA) in 6 patients, terminal ICA or proximal middle cerebral artery (MCA) in 6 patients, and distal MCA in 1 patient.

[Etiological, clinical and imaging characters of reversible posterior encephalopathy syndrome].

Objective: To elucidate the clinical and imaging characters of reversible posterior encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) and to discuss the etiological factors and the probable pathogenesis.

Method: Retrospective analysis of basal diseases, clinical manifestations and imaging characters of 13 PRES patients was conducted with follow-ups.

Results: The common associated diseases are various kinds of kidney disease and renal inadequacy, eclampsia of gravidity and postpartum, connective tissue disease and immunosuppressives, et al.

c-Jun DNAzymes inhibit myocardial inflammation, ROS generation, infarct size, and improve cardiac function after ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Objective: Coronary reperfusion has been the mainstay therapy for reduced infarct size after a heart attack. However, this intervention also results in myocardial injury by initiating a marked inflammatory reaction, and new treatments are keenly sought.

Methods And Results: The basic-region leucine zipper protein, c-Jun is poorly expressed in the normal myocardium and is induced within 24 hours after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Luminescence vapochromic properties of a platinum(II) complex with 5,5'-bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)-2,2'-bipyridine.

A platinum(II) complex of 5,5'-bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)-2,2'-bipyridine displays unusually reversible colour and luminescence changes when exposed to specific organic vapours, correlated well with Pt...

Pressure-induced structural phase transitions on Na(0.5)CoO(2): a first principles study.

First principles calculations have been carried out to study the pressure effects on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Na(0.5)CoO(2). An unexpected Na ion structural transformation has been predicted from our calculations.

Parallelism of iterative CT reconstruction based on local reconstruction algorithm.

An iterative algorithm is suited to reconstruct CT images from noisy or truncated projection data. However, as a disadvantage, the algorithm requires significant computational time. Although a parallel technique can be used to reduce the computational time, a large amount of communication overhead becomes an obstacle to its performance (Li et al.

Ground-state phase diagram of Na(x)CoO(2): correlation of Na ordering with CoO(2) stacking sequences.

We have proposed a Hamiltonian that takes into account both Na-Na interactions and coupling between Na ions and CoO(2) layers. By a combination of the Monte Carlo and first-principles approaches, all the possible stacking sequences of CoO(2) layers together with the Na ordering have been obtained. In particular, an infinite series of ground states of Na ordering has been predicted in P3-Na(x)CoO(2).

Transposon tools hopping in vertebrates.

In the past decade, tools derived from DNA transposons have made major contributions to vertebrate genetic studies from gene delivery to gene discovery. Multiple, highly complementary systems have been developed, and many more are in the pipeline. Judging which DNA transposon element will work the best in diverse uses from zebrafish genetic manipulation to human gene therapy is currently a complex task.

Atherosclerosis of middle cerebral artery: evaluation with high-resolution MR imaging at 3T.

Objective: Three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D TOF MRA) has been wildly used in the diagnosis of intracranial artery diseases, but it only shows the arterial lumen and does not delineate the vessel wall. The aim of this study was to assess whether high resolution cross sectional magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) could compensate the limitation of 3D TOF MRA in the atherosclerotic disease of middle cerebral artery (MCA).

Methods: Fourty-eight suspected patients with atherosclerotic stenosis of MCA underwent 3D TOF MRA and HRMRI with a 3T scanner.

Conformation changes and luminescent properties of Au-Ln (Ln = Nd, Eu, Er, Yb) arrays with 5-ethynyl-2,2'-bipyridine.

Reaction of polymeric gold(I) acetylide species (bpyC[triple bond]CAu)n (bpyC[triple bond]CH = 5-ethynyl-2,2'-bipyridine) with diphosphine ligands Ph2P(CH2)nPPh2 (n = 2-6) or 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-ferrocene (dppf) in dichloromethane induces isolation of binuclear gold(I) complexes (bpyC[triple bond]CAu)2{mu-Ph2P(CH2)nPPh2} or (bpyC[triple bond]CAu)2(mu-dppf). Complexation of Ln(hfac)3 (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate, Ln = Nd, Eu, Er, Yb) subunits to the binuclear gold(I) complexes through 2,2'-bipyridyl chelation gives the corresponding Au4Ln4 or Au2Ln2 heteropolynuclear complexes. Noticeably, upon formation of the Au4Ln4 arrays by complexation of (bpyC[triple bond]CAu)2(mu-Ph2P(CH2)4PPh2) (3) with Ln(hfac)3 units, trans-conformation in 3 transforms dramatically to the cis-arranged form due to the strong driving force from ligand-unsupported Au-Au contacts between two Au2Ln2 subunits.

[Trend of bone development of adolescent at 14 years old].

Objective: To describe characteristic of hand-wrist bone development in adolescents of 14 years old in China, and to estimate trend of bone development of them.

Methods: A total of 109 adolescents of 14 years was selected as subjects (males: 53, females: 56). X-rays examination of their left hand-wrist bone were performed and analyzed.

Application of the Linux cluster for exhaustive window haplotype analysis using the FBAT and Unphased programs.

Background: Genetic association studies have been used to map disease-causing genes. A newly introduced statistical method, called exhaustive haplotype association study, analyzes genetic information consisting of different numbers and combinations of DNA sequence variations along a chromosome. Such studies involve a large number of statistical calculations and subsequently high computing power.