Early-initiated childhood reading for pleasure: associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in young adolescence.

Background: Childhood is a crucial neurodevelopmental period. We investigated whether childhood reading for pleasure (RfP) was related to young adolescent assessments of cognition, mental health, and brain structure.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional and longitudinal study in a large-scale US national cohort (10 000 + young adolescents), using the well-established linear mixed model and structural equation methods for twin study, longitudinal and mediation analyses.

NSDHL-containing duplication at Xq28 in a male patient with autism spectrum disorder: a case report.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which genetics plays a key aetiological role. The gene encoding NAD(P)H steroid dehydrogenase-like protein (NSDHL) is expressed in developing cortical neurons and glia, and its mutation may result in intellectual disability or congenital hemidysplasia.

Case Presentation: An 8-year-old boy presented with a 260-kb NSDHL-containing duplication at Xq28 (151,868,909 - 152,129,300) inherited from his mother.

PDGFRβ Cells Rapidly Relay Inflammatory Signal from the Circulatory System to Neurons via Chemokine CCL2.

Acute infection, if not kept in check, can lead to systemic inflammatory responses in the brain. Here, we show that within 2 hr of systemic inflammation, PDGFRβ mural cells of blood vessels rapidly secrete chemokine CCL2, which in turn increases total neuronal excitability by promoting excitatory synaptic transmission in glutamatergic neurons of multiple brain regions. By single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified Col1a1 and Rgs5 subgroups of PDGFRβ cells as the main source of CCL2.

Alterations in plasma cytokine levels in chinese children with autism spectrum disorder.

Unlabelled: Genetic alterations, together with environmental risk factors during infancy and childhood, contribute significantly to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impairments in social interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors. Mounting evidence points to a critical contribution of immunological risk factors to the development of ASD. By affecting multiple neurodevelopmental processes, immune system dysfunction could act as a point of convergence between genetics and environmental factors in ASD.

High activity of the stress promoter contributes to susceptibility to stress in the tree shrew.

Stress is increasingly present in everyday life in our fast-paced society and involved in the pathogenesis of many psychiatric diseases. Corticotrophin-releasing-hormone (CRH) plays a pivotal role in regulating the stress responses. The tree shrews are highly vulnerable to stress which makes them the promising animal models for studying stress responses.

Distribution of corticotropin-releasing factor in the tree shrew brain.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the brain plays an important role in regulations of physiological and behavioral processes, yet CRF distribution in tree shrew brain has not been thoroughly and systematically reported. Here we examined the distribution of CRF immunoreactivity in the brain of tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) using immunohistochemical techniques. CRF-immunoreactive (-ir) cells and fibers were present in the rhinencephalon, telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, metencephalon and myelencephalon of saline- and colchicine-treated tree shrews.

The theoretical 3D structure of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry5Ba.

Cry5Ba is a delta-endotoxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis PS86A1 NRRL B-18900. It is active against nematodes and has great potential for nematode control. Here, we predict the first theoretical model of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of a Cry5Ba toxin by homology modeling on the structure of the Cry1Aa toxin, which is specific to Lepidopteran insects.

[Analysis of insecticidal crystal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis strain 4.0718 through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry].

The present study analyses the insecticidal crystal proteins (ICPs) from Bacillus thuringiensis strain 4.0718 through two-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). By comparing and optimizing the composition of lysis solution, the volume of sample loading and the protocol for isoelectric focusing, a well-focused 2-DE map with high resolution and reproducibility was achieved for the first time.