An updated clinical prediction model of protein-energy wasting for hemodialysis patients.

Background And Aim: Protein-energy wasting (PEW) is critically associated with the reduced quality of life and poor prognosis of hemodialysis patients. However, the diagnosis criteria of PEW are complex, characterized by difficulty in estimating dietary intake and assessing muscle mass loss objectively. We performed a cross-sectional study in hemodialysis patients to propose a novel PEW prediction model.

Synthesis of side-chain regioregular and main-chain alternating poly(bichalcogenophene)s and an ABC-type periodic poly(terchalcogenophene).

Three unsymmetrical diiodobichalcogenophenes , , and and a diiodoterchalcogenophene were prepared. Grignard metathesis of , , , and occurred regioselectively at the lighter chalcogenophene site because of its relatively lower electron density and less steric bulk. Nickel-catalyzed Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation of these Mg species provided a new class of side-chain regioregular and main-chain AB-type alternating poly(bichalcogenophene)s-, , and -through a chain-growth mechanism.

Wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 down-regulation promotes apoptosis by activating the DNA damage-response pathway in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Accumulation of DNA damage has been detected in the spinal cord of patients as well as in the G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (Wip1) is a p53-inducible serine/threonine phosphatase that terminates DNA-damage responses via dephosphorylation of DNA-damage response proteins, namely ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase, checkpoint kinase 2, and p53, thus enhancing cell proliferation. However, the role of Wip1, DNA-damage responses, and their interaction in ALS development remains to be elucidated.

Effects of Taurine on Bowel Inflammatory Factor of Small Intestinal Mucosa Impaired by Heat Stress in Broilers.

This study investigated the effects of taurine on bowel inflammation resulting from heat stress in broilers, with the intent of providing insight into potential improvement of the condition of broilers. A total of 300 healthy 1 day AA broilers were selected, fed normally until day 7, and allocated randomly to 5 treatment groups, namely, the control group(C), the heat stress group(HS), the low Tau (LTau) group, the middle Tau (MTau) group and the high Tau (HTau) group, which represent low, medium and high concentrations of taurine respectively. In the study, various concentrations of taurine were added to the drinking water.

Metabonomics reveals peripheral and central short-chain fatty acid and amino acid dysfunction in a naturally occurring depressive model of macaques.

Purpose: Depression is a complex psychiatric disorder. Various depressive rodent models are usually constructed based on different pathogenesis hypotheses.

Materials And Methods: Herein, using our previously established naturally occurring depressive (NOD) model in a non-human primate (cynomolgus monkey, ), we performed metabolomics analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from NOD female macaques (N=10) and age-and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) (N=12).

Absence of gut microbiota during early life affects anxiolytic Behaviors and monoamine neurotransmitters system in the hippocampal of mice.

The gut microbiome is composed of an enormous number of microorganisms, generally regarded as commensal bacteria. Resident gut bacteria are an important contributor to health and significant evidence suggests that the presence of healthy and diverse gut microbiota is important for normal cognitive and emotional processing. Here we measured the expression of monoamine neurotransmitter-related genes in the hippocampus of germ-free (GF) mice and specific-pathogen-free (SPF) mice to explore the effect of gut microbiota on hippocampal monoamine functioning.

Spy1, a unique cell cycle regulator, alters viability in ALS motor neurons and cell lines in response to mutant SOD1-induced DNA damage.

Increasing evidence indicates that DNA damage and p53 activation play major roles in the pathological process of motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Human SpeedyA1 (Spy1), a member of the Speedy/Ringo family, enhances cell proliferation and promotes tumorigenesis. Further studies have demonstrated that Spy1 promotes cell survival and inhibits DNA damage-induced apoptosis.

Diagnosis of major depressive disorder based on changes in multiple plasma neurotransmitters: a targeted metabolomics study.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating psychiatric illness. However, there is currently no objective laboratory-based diagnostic tests for this disorder. Although, perturbations in multiple neurotransmitter systems have been implicated in MDD, the biochemical changes underlying the disorder remain unclear, and a comprehensive global evaluation of neurotransmitters in MDD has not yet been performed.

MicroRNA-mediated responses to long-term magnesium-deficiency in Citrus sinensis roots revealed by Illumina sequencing.

Background: Magnesium (Mg)-deficiency occurs most frequently in strongly acidic, sandy soils. Citrus are grown mainly on acidic and strong acidic soils. Mg-deficiency causes poor fruit quality and low fruit yield in some Citrus orchards.

[Estimating aboveground biomass of Trifolium repens community using measuring plates.].

Aboveground biomass is an important indicator of grassland community. Direct harvesting has a great damage to the fragile ecosystem. In order to estimate the aboveground biomass of Trifolium repens community more effectively without destroying herbaceous community, various handmade measuring plates were used to study the community height and aboveground biomass of T.

Flat-on ambipolar triphenylamine/C nano-stacks formed from the self-organization of a pyramid-sphere-shaped amphiphile.

A giant amphiphile, which is constructed with an amorphous nano-pyramid (triphenylamine, TPA) and a crystalline nano-sphere (C), was synthesized. Structural characterization indicates that this pyramid-sphere-shaped amphiphile ( ) forms a solvent-induced ordered phase, in which the two constituent units self-assemble into alternating stacks of two-dimensional (2D) TPA and C nano-sheets. Due to the complexity of the molecular structure and the amorphous nature of the nano-pyramid, phase formation was driven by intermolecular C-C interactions and the ordered phase could not be reformed from the melt.

MicroRNA Regulatory Mechanisms on Citrus sinensis leaves to Magnesium-Deficiency.

Magnesium (Mg)-deficiency, which affects crop productivity and quality, widespreadly exists in many agricultural crops, including citrus. However, very limited data are available on Mg-deficiency-responsive microRNAs (miRNAs) in higher plants. Using Illumina sequencing, we isolated 75 (73 known and 2 novel) up- and 71 (64 known and 7 novel) down-regulated miRNAs from Mg-deficient Citrus sinensis leaves.

Reducing regioisomers of fullerene-bisadducts by tether-directed remote functionalization: investigation of electronically and sterically isomeric effects on bulk-heterojunction solar cells.

C60 bis-adduct containing a mixture of regio-isomers with different LUMO energy levels and steric geometries could greatly affect the morphological and bulk properties. To investigate the regio-isomer effect on solar cell performance, we have successfully designed and synthesized a regio-selective 4-acetatephenyl-4'-methylphenylmethano C60 bis-adduct (S-APM-CBA) by "tether-directed remote functionalization" strategy and a random 4-acetatephenyl-4'-methylphenylmethano C60 bis-adduct denoted as R-APM-CBA by traditional cyclopropanation. The dramatic reduction in the number of regio-isomers in S-APM-CBA is confirmed by the (1)H NMR and HPLC measurements and theoretical calculation.

Meta-analysis of association between particulate matter and stroke attack.

Aims: We conducted systematic review as well as meta-analyses on the association between particulate matter and daily stroke attack from a number of epidemiologic studies.

Methods: Twelve quantitative studies about the associations between particulate matter and stroke attack met the inclusive criteria. We evaluated the odds ratio (OR) of stroke attack associated with per 10 μg/m(3) increase of the concentration of PM(10) (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm) or PM(2.

[Purification of Taq DNA polymerase expressed in Escherichia coli].

Taq DNA polymerase is one of the most commonly thermostable DNA polymerases in molecular biological researches, which shares its basic characters with others of the family, thereby its purifying strategy could be used not only in itself production but also in the extraction of the others as a reference. At present, the protocols reported for large scale preparation of Taq DNA are high cost, so a cheaper method was described here. In this protocol, by heat denaturation, ammonium sulfate precipitation and cation exchange chromatography of 724 resin, about 18 g powder of Na form resin could recover about 27.