Montreal Cognitive Assessment - Single Cutoff Achieves Screening Purpose.

Background And Purpose: The study evaluated the performance between norm-derived age and education adjusted vs single cutoff scores of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Hong Kong version (HK-MoCA) in classifying cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults.

Methods: Total scores of HK-MoCA were collected from 315 subjects (128 with dementia, 122 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 65 normal) attending a public district hospital-based cognition clinic from 2012 to 2017. The HK-MoCA total scores were evaluated using different cutoffs.

A high-throughput method for the quantitative analysis of indole-3-acetic acid and other auxins from plant tissue.

To investigate novel pathways involved in auxin biosynthesis, transport, metabolism, and response, we have developed a high-throughput screen for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) levels. Historically, the quantitative analysis of IAA has been a cumbersome and time-consuming process that does not lend itself to the screening of large numbers of samples. The method described here can be performed with or without an automated liquid handler and involves purification solely by solid-phase extraction in a 96-well format, allowing the analysis of up to 96 samples per day.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase potentiates apoptosis via p53- and p38-dependent pathways and is down-regulated in colon cancer.

Sphingolipid metabolites such as sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and ceramide modulate apoptosis during development and in response to stress. In general, ceramide promotes apoptosis, whereas S1P stimulates cell proliferation and protects against apoptosis. S1P is irreversibly degraded by the enzyme S1P lyase (SPL).

Sphingosine 1-phosphate/sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 signaling in rheumatoid synovium: regulation of synovial proliferation and inflammatory gene expression.

Objective: Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is involved in various pathologic conditions and has been implicated as an important mediator of angiogenesis, inflammation, cancer, and autoimmunity. This study was undertaken to examine the role of S1P/S1P1 signaling in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We examined S1P1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels in RA synoviocytes and MH7A cells by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting.

The immune modulator FTY720 inhibits sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase activity.

FTY720 is a novel immunomodulatory agent that inhibits lymphocyte trafficking and prevents allograft rejection. FTY720 is phosphorylated in vivo, and the phosphorylated drug acts as agonist for a family of G protein-coupled receptors that recognize sphingosine 1-phosphate. Evidence suggests that FTY720-phosphate-induced activation of S1P1 is responsible for its mechanism of action.

Overexpression of a bacterial indole-3-acetyl-l-aspartic acid hydrolase in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Transgenic Arabidopsis lines (ecotype Col-0) carrying the Enterobacter agglomerans IaaspH gene under CaMV 35S promoter control were more sensitive to exogenous indole-3-acetyl aspartic acid (IAA-Asp) and metabolized [2'-14C]IAA-Asp more rapidly than control lines. Free IAA, total IAA and IAN levels in independent transgenic lines that accumulated IaaspH mRNA varied insignificantly from control levels, yet IAA-Asp levels were significantly reduced. The transgenic lines were grown in a variety of conditions and subjected to morphometric analysis.

Indole-3-acetic acid metabolism in Lemna gibba undergoes dynamic changes in response to growth temperature.

Auxin is the mobile signal controlling the rate of growth and specific aspects of the development of plants. It has been known for over a century that auxins act as the messenger linking plant development to specific environmental changes. An often overlooked aspect of how this is accomplished is the effect of the environment on metabolism of the major plant auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA).