Single nucleotide polymorphisms of autophagy-related 16-like 1 gene are associated with ankylosing spondylitis in females: a case-control study.

Aims: To investigate the associations of autophagy-related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a Chinese Han population.

Methods: Six hundred and forty-nine AS patients from the First Affiliation Hospital of Anhui Medical University and 628 matched controls were selected. Genotyping for five SNPs in the ATG16L1 gene (rs4663421, rs2241880, rs4663396, rs6758317 and rs6431655) was performed using the improved multiplex ligase detection reaction (iMLDR) method.

A summary of relationships between alternative splicing and breast cancer.

Alternative splicing (AS) is the process of combinatorial rearrangement of parts of exons, and/or parts of introns into mature RNA to result in a multitude of transcripts. AS is a biological process through which organisms produce as many protein variants as possible by a limited genetic resource. It plays an important role in growth and development of the organisms.

White light emission from a single organic molecule with dual phosphorescence at room temperature.

The development of single molecule white light emitters is extremely challenging for pure phosphorescent metal-free system at room temperature. Here we report a single pure organic phosphor, namely 4-chlorobenzoyldibenzothiophene, emitting white room temperature phosphorescence with Commission Internationale de l'Éclair-age coordinates of (0.33, 0.

[Clinical application of cone beam computed tomography combined with micro-ultrasound technique in treating three mesial canals in mandibular first molars].

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and micro-ultrasound technique for the treatment of three mesial canals in mandibular first molars. The three mesial canals according to Pomeranz's classification were characterized. Methods A total of 75 permanent mandibular first molars for root canal treatment were randomly selected from patients belonging to the age group of 14-60 years.

Isoindigo-Based Polymers with Small Effective Masses for High-Mobility Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors.

So far, most of the reported high-mobility conjugated polymers are p-type semiconductors. By contrast, the advances in high-mobility ambipolar polymers fall greatly behind those of p-type counterparts. Instead of unipolar p-type and n-type materials, ambipolar polymers, especially balanced ambipolar polymers, are potentially serviceable for easy-fabrication and low-cost complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits.

Copy number variations of the IL-22 gene are associated with ankylosing spondylitis: A case-control study in Chinese Han population.

IL-22 provides a new insight into the mechanisms of autoimmunity, and copy number variations (CNVs) are associated with autoimmune diseases. This study aims to explore the association of IL-22 gene CNVs with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) susceptibility. The copy numbers of IL-22 gene (2 fragments: IL-22_1, IL-22_2) were examined by AccuCopy™ methods in a cohort of 649 AS patients and 628 controls.

Association between the autophagy-related gene and ankylosing spondylitis susceptibility in the Chinese Han population: a case-control study.

Purpose: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease (CD) often coexist in the same patient and these diseases have remarkably strong overlaps in genetic association. The association between Unc51like kinase 1 () gene polymorphisms and CD has been reported, and the aim of the current study was to investigate whether polymorphisms are also associated with susceptibility to AS in the Chinese Han population.

Methods: Five tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene (rs9652059, rs11616018, rs12303764, rs4964879 and rs7300908) were genotyped by the improved multiplex ligase detection reaction method in a cohort of patients with AS (n=649) and controls (n=628).

[The significances of peripheral neutrophils CD(55) and myeloperoxidase expression in patients with myeloperoxidase-specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis].

To investigate the expression of CD(55) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) on neutrophils in patients with MPO-specific anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis(MPO-AAV), and analyze the relationship between the expression and clinical manifestation. Forty untreated patients with active MPO-AAV (patient group) and 30 healthy volunteers (control group) were enrolled in this study. The CD(55) on neutrophils and both membrane and cytoplasmic MPO were detected by flow cytometry.

Real-time monitoring of hydrophobic aggregation reveals a critical role of cooperativity in hydrophobic effect.

The hydrophobic interaction drives nonpolar solutes to aggregate in aqueous solution, and hence plays a critical role in many fundamental processes in nature. An important property intrinsic to hydrophobic interaction is its cooperative nature, which is originated from the collective motions of water hydrogen bond networks surrounding hydrophobic solutes. This property is widely believed to enhance the formation of hydrophobic core in proteins.

Pathogenic variants screening in seventeen candidate genes on 2p15 for association with ankylosing spondylitis in a Han Chinese population.

Objectives: Previous studies have found the association between rs10865331 in 2p15 area and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This study aimed to identify additional functional genetic variants in 2p15 region associated with AS susceptibility.

Methods: We used next generation sequencing (NGS) in 100 AS cases and 100 healthy controls to screen AS susceptible genetic variants, and validated these variants in 620 cases and 620 controls by using imLDRTM technique for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping.

Autoreactive monoclonal antibodies from patients with primary biliary cholangitis recognize environmental xenobiotics.

Unlabelled: A major problem in autoimmunity has been identification of the earliest events that lead to breach of tolerance. Although there have been major advances in dissecting effector pathways and the multilineage immune responses to mitochondrial self-antigens in primary biliary cholangitis, the critical links between environmental factors and tolerance remain elusive. We hypothesized that environmental xenobiotic modification of the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC-E2) inner lipoyl domain can lead to loss of tolerance to genetically susceptible hosts.

Lipidomics and RNA-Seq Study of Lipid Regulation in Aphis gossypii parasitized by Lysiphlebia japonica.

The cotton-melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, is a major insect pest worldwide. Lysiphlebia japonica (Ashmead) is an obligate parasitic wasp of A. gossypii, and has the ability to regulate lipid metabolism of the cotton-melon aphid.

Role of the Dark 2A State in Donor-Acceptor Copolymers as a Pathway for Singlet Fission: A DMRG Study.

The mechanism of intramolecular singlet fission in donor-acceptor-type copolymers, especially the role of the dark 2A state, is not so clear. In this Letter, the electronic structure of the benzodithiophene (B)-thiophene-1,1-dioxide (TDO) copolymer is calculated by density matrix renormalization group theory with the Pariser-Parr-Pople model. We find that the dark 2A state is the lowest singlet excited state and is nearly degenerate with the 1B state.

The fingerprint of antimitochondrial antibodies and the etiology of primary biliary cholangitis.

Unlabelled: The identification of environmental factors that lead to loss of tolerance has been coined the holy grail of autoimmunity. Our work has focused on the reactivity of antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMA) to chemical xenobiotics and has hypothesized that a modified peptide within PDC-E2, the major mitochondrial autoantigen, will have been immunologically recognized at the time of loss of tolerance. Herein, we successfully applied intein technology to construct a PDC-E2 protein fragment containing amino acid residues 177-314 of PDC-E2 by joining a recombinant peptide spanning residues 177-252 (PDC-228) with a 62-residue synthetic peptide from 253 to 314 (PP), which encompasses PDC-E2 inner lipoyl domain (ILD).

Autophagy-related IRGM genes confer susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis in a Chinese female population: a case-control study.

It is known that ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) shared a common genetic component. The gist of current study is to assess the role of IBD-associated autophagy gene IRGM on AS susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. A total of 1270 unrelated subjects (643 AS and 627 controls) were enrolled.

Inner Space Perturbation Theory in Matrix Product States: Replacing Expensive Iterative Diagonalization.

We propose an inner space perturbation theory (isPT) to replace the expensive iterative diagonalization in the standard density matrix renormalization group theory (DMRG). The retained reduced density matrix eigenstates are partitioned into the active and secondary space. The first-order wave function and the second- and third-order energies are easily computed by using one step Davidson iteration.

Analysis on the situation of subjective well-being and its influencing factors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Background: To examine the subjective well-being (SWB) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared with the healthy controls, and to explore the associations between SWB and demographic characteristics, disease-specific variables in AS patients.

Methods: SWB was assessed with General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS) in 200 AS patients and 210 healthy controls. Comparisons among subgroups were performed to investigate how certain aspects operate as favorable or adverse factors in influencing SWB in the patients with AS.

Using the isotope effect to probe an aggregation induced emission mechanism: theoretical prediction and experimental validation.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has become a hot topic for a variety of potential applications, but the understanding of its working mechanism is still under scrutiny. Herein, we proposed the use of the isotope effect (IE) to identify the AIE mechanism: under the restriction of an internal motion mechanism, the IE is pronouncedly different in excited-state decay rates when contrasting AIE luminogens (AIEgens) and non-AIEgens in theoretical calculations. For the complete deuteration of AIEgens, the IE of nonradiative decay rate in solution (<-10%) is much weaker than that (-65% to -95%) in aggregate, because the former stems from the overall results of competitive vibronic coupling and the severe mixing of low-frequency modes while the latter mainly comes from the vibronic coupling only.

Unraveling the aggregation effect on amorphous phase AIE luminogens: a computational study.

To achieve the efficient and precise regulation of aggregation-induced emission (AIE), unraveling the aggregation effects on amorphous AIE luminogens is of vital importance. Using a theoretical protocol combining molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations, we explored the relationship between molecular packing, optical spectra and fluorescence quantum efficiency of amorphous AIE luminogens hexaphenylsilole (HPS). We confirmed that the redshifted emission of amorphous aggregates as compared to crystalline HPS is caused by the lower packing density of amorphous HPS aggregates and the reduced restrictions on their intramolecular low-frequency vibrational motions.

Electrostatic Interaction-Induced Room-Temperature Phosphorescence in Pure Organic Molecules from QM/MM Calculations.

Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) from pure organic material is rare due to the low phosphorescence quantum efficiency. That is why the recent discovery of crystallization induced RTP for several organic molecules aroused strong interests. Through a combined quantum and molecular mechanics CASPT2/AMBER scheme taking terephthalic acid (TPA) as example, we found that electrostatic interaction not only can induce an enhanced radiative decay T1 → S0 through the dipole-allowed S1 intermediate state, but also can hinder the nonradiative decay process upon crystallization.

An analysis of policy to practice initiatives in Scotland: what are the key lessons learned?

Aim: The study sought to identify and explain common issues and lessons arising from four national health policy initiatives related to nursing, midwifery and allied health professions (NMAHPs) in Scotland between 2005 and 2010.

Background: The Scottish government has been seeking effective practice developments in NMAHPs through enacting policy initiatives to improve patient care. Despite many of these initiatives being individually evaluated, no integrative systematic study has been undertaken to synthesise better understandings.