A Giant Silence - An atypical association of sensorineural hearing loss with Giant Cell Arteritis.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic vasculitic disorder predominantly affecting medium to large sized arteries, prevalent in the 50 plus age group. This case illustrates an atypical presentation of this disease in the form of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Apart from the presence of constitutional and vertiginous symptoms, there were essentially no classical features of GCA.

[Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis with thoracolumbar fractures by robot-assisted internal fixation in lateral decubitus position].

Objective: To explore the effect of robot-assisted internal fixation in lateral decubitus position for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) complicated with thoracolumbar fractures.

Methods: The clinical data of 26 patients with ankylosing spondylitis complicated with thoracolumbar fractures treated from January 2018 to June 2020 was retrospectively analyzed. According to different surgical methods, these patients were divided into observation group and control group.

Azepine- or Oxepine-embedded Double Saddle-Helix Nanographenes.

The azepine- and oxepine-embedded polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) 1-3, as the hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC)-based nanographenes (NG) were designed and synthesized by Diels-Alder reaction of cyclic alkene with tetrachlorothiophene-S,S-dioxide, followed by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and Scholl-type cyclodehydrogenation. Due to the strained seven-membered ring and the inherent structural pattern, heteroatom-doped NGs 1-3 show C symmetrical, double saddle-helix hybrid conformation, which represents a new shape for HBC based nanographenes. The calculation studies reveal the low aromaticity of the 8π heterocycles themselves and the heterocycles also decrease the electron delocalization of benzenes surrounding them.

Brain tumors: Cancer stem-like cells interact with tumor microenvironment.

Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) with potential of self-renewal drive tumorigenesis. Brain tumor microenvironment (TME) has been identified as a critical regulator of malignancy progression. Many researchers are searching new ways to characterize tumors with the goal of predicting how they respond to treatment.

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 serves as a target of miR542 to promote glioblastoma proliferation and invasion.

Background: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is strongly linked with tumor invasion and metastasis, which performs a vital role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Emerging evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) expression are closely associated to EMT by regulating targeted genes. MiR542 has been found to be involved in the EMT program and bound up with various cancers.

TRIM24 promotes stemness and invasiveness of glioblastoma cells via activating Sox2 expression.

Background: Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) are a subpopulation of glioblastoma (GBM) cells that are critical for tumor invasion and treatment resistance. However, little is known about the function and mechanism of tripartite motif-containing 24 (TRIM24) in GSCs.

Methods: Immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and western blot analyses were used to evaluate TRIM24 and cluster of differentiation (CD)133 expression profiles in GBM surgical specimens and GSC tumorspheres.

Endocrinological Outcomes of Intraoperative MRI-Guided Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery for Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenoma.

Aim: To assess the endocrinological outcomes of high-field (1.5-T) intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI)-guided endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) for non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs).

Material And Methods: Radiological and endocrinological data were retrospectively collected and analyzed for 133 consecutive patients who underwent iMRI-guided endoscopic TSS for NFPA.

Microsurgical treatment of craniopharyngioma: Experiences on 183 consecutive patients.

This study aimed to summarize the clinical experiences and postoperative effects of microsurgical approaches for craniopharyngioma.A total of 183 craniopharyngioma patients who underwent microsurgical treatment since March 2009 to March 2015 in our hospital were included in current research. Surgical approaches were selected based on preoperative evaluations, including tumor locations, sizes, and growth patterns.

Anterior interhemispheric approach for removing large sellar region tumor.

The aim of the study was to explore anterior interhemispheric approach microsurgery for removing large sellar region tumors.A total of 118 patients with large sellar region tumors were treated with the anterior interhemispheric approach microsurgery. There were 58 craniopharyngioma, 37 pituitary adenoma, 5 hypothalamic glioma, 7 meningioma, and 11 other tumors cases.

A central neural circuit for itch sensation.

Although itch sensation is an important protective mechanism for animals, chronic itch remains a challenging clinical problem. Itch processing has been studied extensively at the spinal level. However, how itch information is transmitted to the brain and what central circuits underlie the itch-induced scratching behavior remain largely unknown.

Three-Dimensional Biologically Relevant Spectrum (BRS-3D): Shape Similarity Profile Based on PDB Ligands as Molecular Descriptors.

The crystallized ligands in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) can be treated as the inverse shapes of the active sites of corresponding proteins. Therefore, the shape similarity between a molecule and PDB ligands indicated the possibility of the molecule to bind with the targets. In this paper, we proposed a shape similarity profile that can be used as a molecular descriptor for ligand-based virtual screening.

Predicting subtype selectivity of dopamine receptor ligands with three-dimensional biologically relevant spectrum.

We applied a novel molecular descriptor, three-dimensional biologically relevant spectrum (BRS-3D), in subtype selectivity prediction of dopamine receptor (DR) ligands. BRS-3D is a shape similarity profile calculated by superimposing the objective compounds against 300 template ligands from sc-PDB. First, we constructed five subtype selectivity regression models between DR subtypes D1-D2, D1-D3, D2-D3, D2-D4, and D3-D4.

Silencing of Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons Using Archaerhodopsin Prolongs Slow-Wave Sleep in Mice.

The basal forebrain (BF) plays a crucial role in cortical activation. Our previous study showed that activation of cholinergic BF neurons alone is sufficient to suppress slow-wave sleep (SWS) and promote wakefulness and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. However, the exact role of silencing cholinergic BF neurons in the sleep-wake cycle remains unclear.

Minimally invasive image-guided keyhole aspiration of cerebral abscesses.

Despite the low incidence of brain abscesses in Western nations (1-2%), the incidence in developing countries is as high as 8%. We evaluate a minimally invasive image-guided keyhole aspiration of cerebral abscesses and compare it with a series of cases treated with surgical excision. 23 patients (20 male and 3 female, aged 7-67 years) underwent image-guided burr hole aspiration of single or multiple cerebral abscesses.

Selective activation of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons induces immediate sleep-wake transitions.

The basal forebrain (BF) plays a crucial role in cortical activation [1, 2]. However, the exact role of cholinergic BF (ch-BF) neurons in the sleep-wake cycle remains unclear [3, 4]. We demonstrated that photostimulation of ch-BF neurons genetically targeted with channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2) was sufficient to induce an immediate transition to waking or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep from slow-wave sleep (SWS).

[Trans-extradural approach to resect trigeminal schwannomas involving the cavernous sinus region].

Objective: To investigate the techniques and effect of extradural approach for the resection of trigeminal schwannomas involving the cavernous sinus.

Methods: Twenty-three patients (range 26-63 years, mean age 46.2 years) with trigeminal schwannomas involving the cavernous sinus treated by middle fossa extradural approach were retrospectively analyzed.

Momentum imaging spectrometer for molecular fragmentation dynamics induced by pulsed electron beam.

A momentum imaging spectrometer has been built for studying the electron impact molecular fragmentation dynamics. The setup consists of a pulsed electron gun and a time of flight system as well as a two-dimensional time and position sensitive multi-hit detector. The charged fragments with kinetic energy up to 10 eV can be detected in 4π solid angles and their three-dimensional momentum vectors can be reconstructed.

[The roles of glutamate in sleep and wakefulness].

Glutamate as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, participate in initiation and maintaining of sleep and wakefulness. The paper presents an overview of the research progress of glutamate in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, especially focuses on its role in the brainstem, lateral hypothalamus and basal forebrain. Glutamate in the brain stem regulates the brain activity and maintains muscle tone during the wakefulness, as well as adjusts the electroencephalograph (EEG) in rapid eye movement phase and leads to muscle weakness.

Exploring the biologically relevant chemical space for drug discovery.

Both recent studies and our calculation suggest that the physicochemical properties of launched drugs changed continuously over the past decades. Besides shifting of commonly used properties, the average biological relevance (BR) and similarity to natural products (NPs) of launched drugs decreased, reflecting the fact that current drug discovery deviated away from NPs. To change the current situation characterized by high investment but low productivity in drug discovery, efforts should be made to improve the BR of the screening library and hunt drugs more effectively in the biologically relevant chemical space.

Outer- and inner-valence satellites of carbon dioxide: electron momentum spectroscopy compared with symmetry-adapted-cluster configuration interaction general-R calculations.

The extensive study of outer- and inner-valence satellites of carbon dioxide by electron momentum spectroscopy is reported. The experiments have been performed using a high-sensitivity electron momentum spectrometer employing non-coplanar symmetric geometry at impact energy of about 1200 eV. Binding energy spectrum up to 50 eV, above the first double ionization threshold (~37.

[Development of detector for pulse and fill-liquid in one body].

This paper describes the principle of detector for pulse and fill-liquid in one body, which is used to detect the body pulse and the number of liquid-drop within one minute when filling liquid. The detector works exactly and rapidly. It makes doctors and nurses disentangle from the annoyed daily grinds.

[Study on elemental speciation analysis and transference characteristics of Arnebia euthroma (Royle) Johnst by ICP-MS].

The elemental transference characteristics and primary speciation analysis of Arnebia euthroma (Royle) Johnst were investigated in the present paper. The results showed: sealed digestion at high temperature was more efficient and thorough than microwave-assisted process (MAP) digestion in the preparation of speciation analysis; Most of the elements analyzed, excluding potassium and zinc, exist in particulate speciation in the plant; The transference characteristics of elements were associated with the polarity of extraction solvents. Contents of all 22 elements basically were directly proportional to the polarity of solvents varying from almost no polarity to strong, especially for 7 elements: magnesium, potassium, calcium, manganese, cobalt, thallium and lead.