Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Quang Nam Province (Vietnam) from 2020 to 2022-A Study on Serotypes Distribution and Immunology Factors.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is the most prevalent and fastest-growing vector-borne disease globally, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe and, in some cases, fatal. Quang Nam province in Vietnam can serve as a model for dengue epidemiological study, as it is an endemic region for DHF with a tropical climate, which significantly constrains the health system. However, there are very few epidemiological and microbiological reports on Dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in this region due to the limited availability of advanced surveillance infrastructure.

Discovery of Transacting Long Noncoding RNAs That Regulate Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype.

Background: Smooth muscle cells (SMC), the major cell type in atherosclerotic plaques, are vital in coronary artery diseases (CADs). SMC phenotypic transition, which leads to the formation of various cell types in atherosclerotic plaques, is regulated by a network of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and governs the risk of disease. The involvement of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been increasingly identified in cardiovascular disease.

Molecular mechanisms of coronary artery disease risk at the PDGFD locus.

Genome wide association studies for coronary artery disease (CAD) have identified a risk locus at 11q22.3. Here, we verify with mechanistic studies that rs2019090 and PDGFD represent the functional variant and gene at this locus.

Temperature and Pressure-Dependent Rate Constants for the Reaction of the Propargyl Radical with Molecular Oxygen.

Ab initio CCSD(T)/CBS(T,Q,5)//B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2p) calculations have been conducted to map the CHO potential energy surface. The temperature- and pressure-dependent reaction rate constants have been calculated using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus Master Equation model. The calculated results indicate that the prevailing reaction channels lead to CHCO + CO and CHCO + HCO products.

Shapes the Epigenetic Landscape of Atherosclerosis.

Background: Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) transition into a number of different phenotypes during atherosclerosis, including those that resemble fibroblasts and chondrocytes, and make up the majority of cells in the atherosclerotic plaque. To better understand the epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms that mediate these cell state changes, and how they relate to risk for coronary artery disease (CAD), we have investigated the causality and function of transcription factors at genome-wide associated loci.

Methods: We used CRISPR-Cas 9 genome and epigenome editing to identify the causal gene and cells for a complex CAD genome-wide association study signal at 2q22.

Computational Investigation on the Formation and Decomposition Reactions of the CHO Compound.

Gas-phase mechanism and kinetics of the formation and decomposition reactions of the CHO compound, a crucial intermediate of the atmospheric and combustion chemistry, were investigated using ab initio molecular orbital theory and the very expensive coupled-cluster CCSD(T)/CBS(T,Q,5)//B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,2p) method together with transition state theory and Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Macus kinetic predictions. The potential energy surface established shows that the CH + CO addition reaction has four main entrances in which CH + CO → (CHCCHCO) is the most energetically favorable channel. The calculated results revealed that the bimolecular rate constants are positively dependent on both temperatures ( = 300-2000 K) and pressures ( = 1-76,000 Torr).

Global Impact of COVID-19 on Stroke Care and IV Thrombolysis.

Objective: To measure the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of IV thrombolysis (IVT), IVT transfers, and stroke hospitalizations over 4 months at the height of the pandemic (March 1 to June 30, 2020) compared with 2 control 4-month periods.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study across 6 continents, 70 countries, and 457 stroke centers. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.

Environment-Sensing Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Inhibits the Chondrogenic Fate of Modulated Smooth Muscle Cells in Atherosclerotic Lesions.

Background: Smooth muscle cells (SMC) play a critical role in atherosclerosis. The Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is an environment-sensing transcription factor that contributes to vascular development, and has been implicated in coronary artery disease risk. We hypothesized that AHR can affect atherosclerosis by regulating phenotypic modulation of SMC.

Coronary Disease-Associated Gene Inhibits Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation by Blocking the Myocardin-Serum Response Factor Pathway.

Rationale: The gene encoding TCF21 (transcription factor 21) has been linked to coronary artery disease risk by human genome-wide association studies in multiple racial ethnic groups. In murine models, Tcf21 is required for phenotypic modulation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in atherosclerotic tissues and promotes a fibroblast phenotype in these cells. In humans, TCF21 expression inhibits risk for coronary artery disease.

Rapid hepatic clearance of full length CCN-2/CTGF: a putative role for LRP1-mediated endocytosis.

CCN-2 (connective tissue growth factor; CTGF) is a key factor in fibrosis. Plasma CCN-2 has biomarker potential in numerous fibrotic disorders, but it is unknown which pathophysiological factors determine plasma CCN-2 levels. The proteolytic amino-terminal fragment of CCN-2 is primarily eliminated by the kidney.

Theoretical study of the decomposition of formamide in the presence of water molecules.

Formamide (NH2CHO, FM) has been considered an active key precursor in prebiotic chemistry on early Earth. Under certain conditions such as dry lagoons, FM can decompose to produce reactants that lead to formation of more complex biomolecules. Specifically, FM decomposition follows many reactive channels producing small molecules such as H2, CO, H2O, HCN, HNC, NH3, and HNCO with comparable energy barriers in the range of 73-82 kcal/mol.

Structure and stability of aluminium doped lithium clusters (Li(n)Al(0/+), n = 1-8): a case of the phenomenological shell model.

Quantum chemical calculations are performed on the aluminium doped lithium clusters Li(n)Al at both neutral and cationic states using the DFT/B3LYP and CCSD(T) methods in conjugation with the aug-cc-pVaZ (a = D,T,Q) basis sets. The global minima are located and the growth mechanism is established. The electronic structure, geometrical parameters and energetic properties, such as average binding energy E(b), second difference of energy Δ(2)E, adiabatic and vertical ionization energy, and dissociated enthalpy, are evaluated using the coupled-cluster CCSD(T) method, whose energies are extrapolated to the complete basis set limit (CBS).

Thermochemistry and electronic structure of small boron and boron oxide clusters and their anions.

Thermochemical properties of a set of small boron (B(n)) and boron oxide (B(n)O(m)) clusters, with n = 1-4 and m = 0-3, their anions, and the B(4)(2-) dianion, were calculated by using coupled-cluster theory CCSD(T) calculations with the aug-cc-pVnZ (n = D, T, Q, 5) basis sets extrapolated to the complete basis set limit with additional corrections. Enthalpies of formation, bond dissociation energies, singlet-triplet or doublet-quartet separation gaps, adiabatic electron affinities (EA), and both vertical electron attachment and detachment energies were evaluated. The predicted heats of formation show agreement close to the error bars of the literature results for boron oxides with the largest error for OBO.

Thermochemical parameters of CHFO and CF2O.

Thermochemical properties of CHFO and CF 2O and their derivatives were calculated by using coupled-cluster theory (U)CCSD(T) calculations with the aug-cc-pV nZ ( n = D, T, Q, 5) basis sets extrapolated to the complete basis set limit with additional corrections. The predicted properties include the following. Enthalpies of formation (298 K, kcal/mol): Delta H f (CF 2O) = -144.

Theoretical prediction of the heats of formation of C2H5O* radicals derived from ethanol and of the kinetics of beta-C-C scission in the ethoxy radical.

Thermochemical parameters of three C(2)H(5)O* radicals derived from ethanol were reevaluated using coupled-cluster theory CCSD(T) calculations, with the aug-cc-pVnZ (n = D, T, Q) basis sets, that allow the CC energies to be extrapolated at the CBS limit. Theoretical results obtained for methanol and two CH(3)O* radicals were found to agree within +/-0.5 kcal/mol with the experiment values.

Heats of formation and singlet-triplet separations of hydroxymethylene and 1-hydroxyethylidene.

Thermochemical parameters of hydroxymethylene (HC:OH) and 1-hydroxyethylidene (CH3C:OH) were evaluated by using coupled-cluster, CCSD(T), theory, in conjunction with the augmented correlation consistent, aug-cc-pVnZ, basis sets, with n = D, T, Q, and 5, extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. The predicted value at 298 K for Delta Hf(CH2O) is -26.0 +/- 1 kcal/mol, as compared to an experimental value of -25.

Urinary connective tissue growth factor excretion correlates with clinical markers of renal disease in a large population of type 1 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Objective: Levels of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF; CCN-2) in plasma are increased in various fibrotic disorders, including diabetic nephropathy. Recently, several articles have reported a strong increase of urinary CTGF excretion (U-CTGF) in patients with diabetic nephropathy. However, these studies addressed too small a number of patients to allow general conclusions to be drawn.