CDKL5-mediated developmental tuning of neuronal excitability and concomitant regulation of transcriptome.

Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) is a serine-threonine kinase enriched in the forebrain to regulate neuronal development and function. Patients with CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), a severe neurodevelopmental condition caused by mutations of CDKL5 gene, present early-onset epilepsy as the most prominent feature. However, spontaneous seizures have not been reported in mouse models of CDD, raising vital questions on the human-mouse differences and the roles of CDKL5 in early postnatal brains.

Perinatal blockade of neuronal glutamine transport sex-differentially alters glutamatergic synaptic transmission and organization of neurons in the ventrolateral ventral media hypothalamus of adult rats.

Compared to male pups, perinatal female rats rely heavily on neuronal glutamine (Gln) transport for sustaining glutamatergic synaptic release in neurons of the ventrolateral ventral media nucleus of the hypothalamus (vlVMH). VMH mainly regulates female sexual behavior and increases glutamate release of perinatal hypothalamic neurons, permanently enhances dendrite spine numbers and is associated with brain and behavioral defeminization. We hypothesized that perinatal interruption of neuronal Gln transport may alter the glutamatergic synaptic transmission during adulthood.

A Highly Accurate Method for Deformation Reconstruction of Smart Deformable Structures Based on Flexible Strain Sensors.

Smart deformable structures that integrate designing, sensing, and controlling technology have been widely applied in the fields of aerospace, robotics, and biomedical engineering due to their multi-functional requirements. The deformation reconstruction method essential for security monitoring and shape controlling, especially for the large deflection deformation, remains a challenge on accuracy and efficiency. This paper takes a wind tunnel's fixed-flexible nozzle (FFN) plate as the research object to develop a highly accurate deformation reconstruction method based on sensing information from flexible strain sensors.

Dopaminergic loss of cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 recapitulates methylphenidate-remediable hyperlocomotion in mouse model of CDKL5 deficiency disorder.

Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5), a serine-threonine kinase encoded by an X-linked gene, is highly expressed in the mammalian forebrain. Mutations in this gene cause CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a neurodevelopmental encephalopathy characterized by early-onset seizures, motor dysfunction, and intellectual disability. We previously found that mice lacking CDKL5 exhibit hyperlocomotion and increased impulsivity, resembling the core symptoms in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Transgenic plant generated by RNAi-mediated knocking down of soybean Vma12 and soybean mosaic virus resistance evaluation.

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is one of the most destructive viral diseases in soybean and causes severe reduction of soybean yield and destroys the seed quality. However, the production of SMV resistant plants by transgenic is the most effective and economical means. Based on our previous yeast two-hybrid assay, the GmVma12 was selected as a strong candidate gene for further function characterization.

Comprehensive Analysis of Soybean Mosaic Virus P3 Protein Interactors and Hypersensitive Response-Like Lesion-Inducing Protein Function.

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is one of the most prevalent and important pathogens of soybean, which produces 11 proteins, and the third protein, P3, was suggested to be involved in virus movement and replication, as well as host infection. During the virus infection, host proteins are essential in the virus cycle. However, there is no comprehensive report on the network of host proteins that interact with P3.

Psychomotor Dysfunction in Rett Syndrome: Insights into the Neurochemical and Circuit Roots.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a monogenic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. Patients with RTT develop symptoms after 6-18 months of age, exhibiting characteristic movement deficits, such as ambulatory difficulties and loss of hand skills, in addition to breathing abnormalities and intellectual disability. Given the striking psychomotor dysfunction, numerous studies have investigated the underlying neurochemical and circuit mechanisms from different aspects.

Evolution mechanism of surface roughness during ion beam sputtering of fused silica.

Ultrasmooth surfaces with sub-nanometer roughness and low damage are a great challenge for optical fabrication. Ion beam sputtering (IBS) has obvious advantages on the improvement of surface quality and the removal of surface defects. However, surface defects with different properties and structures display different evolution laws during the IBS process, which affects the roughness change and needs classification studies.

Loss of CDKL5 disrupts respiratory function in mice.

Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) is an X-linked gene encoding a serine-threonine kinase that is highly expressed in the central nervous system. Mutations in CDKL5 cause neurological and psychiatric symptoms, including early-onset seizures, motor dysfunction, autistic features and sleep breathing abnormalities in patients. It remains to be addressed whether loss of CDKL5 causes respiratory dysfunction in mice.

Mice lacking cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 manifest autistic and ADHD-like behaviors.

Neurodevelopmental disorders frequently share common clinical features and appear high rate of comorbidity, such as those present in patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). While characterizing behavioral phenotypes in the mouse model of cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the X-linked gene encoding CDKL5, we found that these mice manifested behavioral phenotypes mimicking multiple key features of ASD, such as impaired social interaction and communication, as well as increased stereotypic digging behaviors. These mice also displayed hyper-locomotion, increased aggressiveness and impulsivity, plus deficits in motor and associative learning, resembling primary symptoms of ADHD.

Autophagy and its link to type II diabetes mellitus.

Autophagy, a double-edged sword for cell survival, is the research object on 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Autophagy is a molecular mechanism for maintaining cellular physiology and promoting survival. Defects in autophagy lead to the etiology of many diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), cancer, neurodegeneration, infection disease and aging.

Neurotensin-Conjugated Reduced Graphene Oxide with Multi-Stage Near-Infrared-Triggered Synergic Targeted Neuron Gene Transfection In Vitro and In Vivo for Neurodegenerative Disease Therapy.

Delivery efficiency with gene transfection is a pivotal point in achieving maximized therapeutic efficacy and has been an important challenge with central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In this study, neurotensin (NT, a neuro-specific peptide)-conjugated polyethylenimine (PEI)-modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoparticles with precisely controlled two-stage near-infrared (NIR)-laser photothermal treatment to enhance the ability to target neurons and achieve high gene transfection in neurons. First-stage NIR laser irradiation on the cells with nanoparticles attached on the surface can increase the permeability of the cell membrane, resulting in an apparent increase in cellular uptake compared to untreated cells.

Detailed subsurface damage measurement and efficient damage-free fabrication of fused silica optics assisted by ion beam sputtering.

Formation of subsurface damage has an inseparable relationship with microscopic material behaviors. In this work, our research results indicate that the formation process of subsurface damage often accompanies with the local densification effect of fused silica material, which seriously influences microscopic material properties. Interestingly, we find ion beam sputtering (IBS) is very sensitive to the local densification, and this microscopic phenomenon makes IBS as a promising technique for the detection of nanoscale subsurface damages.

Structure optimization and fabricating capability analysis of an ion-beam machine for a subnanometer optical surface.

Ultraprecise and ultrasmooth surfaces become critical requirements for some high-performance optical systems. Ion-beam figuring (IBF) is a good and highly deterministic method for the final precision optical figuring. However, the uniform convergences of all spatial frequency surface errors are strongly dependent on the dynamic performance and ion-beam stability of the IBF machine.

PTPRD silencing by DNA hypermethylation decreases insulin receptor signaling and leads to type 2 diabetes.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data showed that the protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type delta (PTPRD) is associated with increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Han Chinese. A replication study indicated that PTPRD is involved in the insulin signaling pathway; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We evaluated PTPRD expression in patients with T2D and controls.

Characterization of Soybean mosaic virus resistance derived from inverted repeat-SMV-HC-Pro genes in multiple soybean cultivars.

Soybean mosaic virus resistance was significantly improved in multiple soybean cultivars through genetic transformation induced by inverted repeat-SMV- HC - Pro genes based on RNAi and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Here, we demonstrate Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) resistance in transgenic soybean plants. Transformation of five soybean genotypes with a construct containing inverted repeat-SMV-HC-Pro genes-induced high-level SMV resistance.

MeCP2 in the rostral striatum maintains local dopamine content critical for psychomotor control.

Methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a chromatin regulator highly expressed in mature neurons. Mutations of MECP2 gene cause >90% cases of Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder featured by striking psychomotor dysfunction. In Mecp2-null mice, the motor deficits are associated with reduction of dopamine content in the striatum, the input nucleus of basal ganglia mostly composed of GABAergic neurons.

Translation-reduced ion beam figuring.

A translation-reduced ion beam figuring (TRIBF) technique for five-axis ion beam figuring (IBF) plants is proposed to process large size components which cannot be processed in the traditional way. This novel technique enhances the capability of five-axis IBF plants by taking advantage of their rotation axes. The IBF kinematic model is described and the TRIBF processing technique is established by solving the motion parameters.

Mathematical modeling and application of removal functions during deterministic ion beam figuring of optical surfaces. Part 2: application.

Ion beam figuring (IBF) is established for the final precision figuring of optical components. In this deterministic method, the figuring process is represented by a two-dimensional (2D) convolution operation of a constant removal function and the dwell time, where the figuring precision is guaranteed by the stability of the removal function as well as the solution accuracy of the dwell time. However, the current 2D convolution equation cannot factually reflect the IBF process of curved surfaces, which neglects the influence of the projection distortion and the workpiece geometry.

Mathematical modeling and application of removal functions during deterministic ion beam figuring of optical surfaces. Part 1: Mathematical modeling.

Ion beam figuring (IBF) is established for the final precision figuring of high-performance optical components, where the figuring accuracy is guaranteed by the stability of the removal function and the solution accuracy of the dwell time. In this deterministic method, the figuring process can be represented by a two-dimensional (2D) convolution operation of a constant removal function and the dwell time. However, we have found that the current 2D convolution operation cannot factually describe the IBF process of curved surfaces, which neglects the influences of the projection distortion and the workpiece geometry on the removal function.

Influence of local densification on microscopic morphology evolution during ion-beam sputtering of fused-silica surfaces.

Morphology evolution at microscopic scales has an inseparable relationship with surface material behaviors, especially during ultrasmooth surface fabrication. In this work, the influence of initially existing local densification on ion nanopatterning of a fused-silica surface is investigated. Our research results indicate that fused-silica surfaces will easily densify permanently under a compressive load, exhibiting an anisotropic surface at the nanoscale.

Association between SRC-1 gene polymorphisms and coronary artery aneurysms formation in Taiwanese children with Kawasaki disease.

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) patients who experience a cardiovascular complication known as a coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) are at high risk of developing ischemic heart disease, which may lead to sudden death. The etiology of CAA in KD patients is unclear, and this study aims to clarify the relationship between steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) gene polymorphisms and CAA pathogenesis.

Methods: We investigated four SRC-1 gene polymorphisms (rs11894248, rs17791703, rs7572475, and rs9309308) and their correlation with KD with CAA susceptibility in 327 Taiwanese people (279 KD patients without CAA and 48 KD patients with CAA).

Microscopic morphology evolution during ion beam smoothing of Zerodur® surfaces.

Ion sputtering of Zerodur material often results in the formation of nanoscale microstructures on the surfaces, which seriously influences optical surface quality. In this paper, we describe the microscopic morphology evolution during ion sputtering of Zerodur surfaces through experimental researches and theoretical analysis, which shows that preferential sputtering together with curvature-dependent sputtering overcomes ion-induced smoothing mechanisms leading to granular nanopatterns formation in morphology and the coarsening of the surface. Consequently, we propose a new method for ion beam smoothing (IBS) of Zerodur optics assisted by deterministic ion beam material adding (IBA) technology.