NCAPD2 augments the tumorigenesis and progression of human liver cancer via the PI3K‑Akt‑mTOR signaling pathway.

Non‑SMC condensin I complex subunit D2 () is a newly identified oncogene; however, the specific biological function and molecular mechanism of NCAPD2 in liver cancer progression remain unknown. In the present study, the aberrant expression of in liver cancer was investigated using public tumor databases, including TNMplot, The Cancer Genome Atlas and the International Cancer Genome Consortium based on bioinformatics analyses, and it was validated using a clinical cohort. It was revealed that NCAPD2 was significantly upregulated in liver cancer tissues compared with in control liver tissues, and served as an independent prognostic factor and predicted poor prognosis in liver cancer.

Berkeleylactones S-T, novel 16-membered macrolides isolated from the endophytic fungus .

The fungus has been reported as a producer of the 16-membered macrolide antibiotic A26771B. In this study, two new berkeleylactone analogues, berkeleylactones S-T (-), were isolated from . Their structures were determined by the analyses of 1D- and 2D-NMR data, HRESIMS, and chemical derivatization.

Two pairs of 2-pyrone enantiomers and a benzophenone analogue from the endophytic fungus .

Four new 2-pyrone derivatives, two pairs of enantiomers, (±)-egypyrone A [(±)-] and (±)-egypyrone B [(±)-], together with a new benzophenone analogue, orbiophenone B (), were isolated from the endophytic fungus . The enantiomeric mixtures (±)- and (±)- were separated through chiral HPLC, respectively. Their structures were elucidated by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data and the absolute configuration was determined by comparing the optical rotation of structurally similar molecule.

Image-based visualization of stents in mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke: Preliminary findings from a series of cases.

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy is the most effective treatment for great cerebral artery embolization within a set time window. Typically, an arteriogram does not show the localization of the stent after release and whether a thrombus is captured or not. Thus, improving the visualization of a stent in interventional therapy will be helpful for clinicians.

Baicalein ameliorates Alzheimer's disease via orchestration of CX3CR1/NF-κB pathway in a triple transgenic mouse model.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common chronic neurodegenerative disease. Some studies have suggested that dysregulation of microglia activation and the resulting neuroinflammation play an important role in the development of AD pathology. Activated microglia have both M1 and M2 phenotypes and inhibition of M1 phenotype while stimulating M2 phenotype has been considered as a potential treatment for neuroinflammation-related diseases.

Cornuside Is a Potential Agent against Alzheimer's Disease via Orchestration of Reactive Astrocytes.

Cornuside is an iridoid glycoside from , with the activities of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroprotection. In the present research, a triple-transgenic mice model of AD (3 × Tg-AD) was used to explore the beneficial actions and potential mechanism of cornuside on the memory deficits. We found that cornuside prominently alleviated neuronal injuries, reduced amyloid plaque pathology, inhibited Tau phosphorylation, and repaired synaptic damage.

L-Carnitine Alleviates the Myocardial Infarction and Left Ventricular Remodeling through Bax/Bcl-2 Signal Pathway.

Purpose: L-carnitine (LC) is considered to have good therapeutic potential for myocardial infarction (MI), but its mechanism has not been clarified. The aim of the study is to elucidate the cardioprotective effects of LC in mice following MI and related mechanisms.

Methods: ICR mice were treated with LC for 2 weeks after induction of MI with ligation of left anterior descending artery.

Safety and Efficacy of Ginkgo-Damole and Nitroglycerin or Sodium Nitroprusside on Hypertensive Cerebropathies: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the safety and efficacy of ginko-damole combined with nitroglycerin or unitary sodium nitroprusside on hypertensive cerebropathy.

Methods: Four Chinese databases (VIP, CBM, Wanfang database, and CNKI database) and three English databases (Cochrane, PubMed, and EMBASE) were used to screen randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on treatments of hypertensive cerebropathy using both ginko-damole and nitroglycerin or unitary sodium nitroprusside. Outcomes included clinical effect, blood pressure after treatment, and adverse effects.

Divergence in flowering time is a major component contributing to reproductive isolation between two wild rice species (Oryza rufipogon and O. nivara).

It is of critical importance for our understanding of speciation process to determine the forms of reproductive isolation and their relative importance in species divergence. Oryza nivara and O. rufipogon are direct ancestors of Asian cultivated rice and a progenitor-daughter species pair.

Syntheses, crystal-solution structures and magnetic properties of a series of decanuclear heterometallic [LnCoCo] (Ln = Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy) clusters.

Four unprecedented decanuclear heterometallic [Ln2CoII4CoIII4] clusters based on a diethanolamine ligand (H2dea), namely [Eu2CoII4CoIII4(dea)8(HCOO)4(OH)2(Cl)2(CH3OH)2]Cl2·4CH3OH·2H2O (1), [Gd2CoII4CoIII4(dea)8(HCOO)4(OH)2(Cl)2(CH3OH)2]Cl2·4CH3OH·2H2O (2), [Tb2CoII4CoIII4(dea)8(HCOO)4(OH)2(Cl)2(CH3OH)2]Cl2·2CH3OH·4H2O (3) and [Dy2CoII4CoIII4(dea)8(HCOO)4(OH)2(Cl)2(CH3OH)2]Cl2·2CH3OH·4H2O (4) were synthesized through a facile solution method. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that complexes 1-4 consist of a [Ln2CoII4CoIII4] core, which is constructed by bridging a quasi-double cuboidal [Ln2CoII2CoIII2] core with two [CoIICoIII] units. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) using methanol solution reveals that complexes 1-4 are stable in the solution, and the clusters undergo three different substitution reactions (Cl- replaced by OH-, OH- replaced by CH3O- and HCOO- replaced by OH-/CH3O-) at the same time in the ionization state.

Predictive models of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage ii colorectal cancer: A retrospective study.

Background: It remains controversial whether patients with Stage II colorectal cancer would benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after radical resection. The aim of this study was to establish two mathematical models to identify the suitable patients for adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: The current study comprised of two steps.

OsCOL16, encoding a CONSTANS-like protein, represses flowering by up-regulating Ghd7 expression in rice.

Flowering time is an important agronomic trait that coordinates the plant life cycle with regional adaptability and thereby impacts yield potentials for cereal crops. The CONSTANS (CO)-like gene family plays vital roles in the regulation of flowering time. CO-like proteins are typically divided into four phylogenetic groups in rice.

Inferring the evolutionary mechanism of the chloroplast genome size by comparing whole-chloroplast genome sequences in seed plants.

The chloroplast genome originated from photosynthetic organisms and has retained the core genes that mainly encode components of photosynthesis. However, the causes of variations in chloroplast genome size in seed plants have only been thoroughly analyzed within small subsets of spermatophytes. In this study, we conducted the first comparative analysis on a large scale to examine the relationship between sequence characteristics and genome size in 272 seed plants based on cross-species and phylogenetic signal analysis.

Time-cumulated blood pressure exposure and incident impairment of glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus.

Background: With the marked increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, it was the purpose of our study to assess a potential association of time-cumulated exposure to systolic (CumSBP) and of diastolic blood pressure (CumDBP) with onset of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The prospective investigation included participants of the longitudinal Kailuan Study with three baseline examinations in 2006-2007, 2008-2009 and 2010-2011, re-examination in 2012-2013, and no diabetes mellitus at baseline. Cumulative blood pressure (BP) was calculated as cumBP = [(BP + BP)/2 × time] + [(BP + BP)/2 × time].

Ideal cardiovascular health and incident hypertension: The longitudinal community-based Kailuan study.

Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) has been defined by the American Heart Association as the absence of disease and presence of 7 key health factors. Since it is unknown whether cumulative exposure to CVH reduces the risk of developing arterial hypertension, we prospectively examined the potential association between cumulative CVH (cumCVH) score (except for blood pressure metrics) and incident hypertension.Of the 101,510 participants with an age range of 18 to 98 years in this longitudinal community-based Kailuan study, our cohort included those 15,014 participants without hypertension at baseline and who had follow-up examinations 2, 4, and 6 years later.

Widespread and Adaptive Alterations in Genome-Wide Gene Expression Associated with Ecological Divergence of Two Oryza Species.

Ecological speciation is a common mechanism by which new species arise. Despite great efforts, the role of gene expression in ecological divergence and speciation is poorly understood. Here, we conducted a genome-wide gene expression investigation of two Oryza species that are evolutionarily young and distinct in ecology and morphology.

Population genetic structure of Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara: implications for the origin of O. nivara.

Ecological speciation plays a primary role in driving species divergence and adaptation. Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara are two incipient species at the early stage of speciation with distinct differences in morphology, life history traits and habitat preference, and therefore provide a unique model for the study of ecological speciation. However, the population genetic structure of the ancestral O.

Nonfunctional alleles of long-day suppressor genes independently regulate flowering time.

Due to the remarkable adaptability to various environments, rice varieties with diverse flowering times have been domesticated or improved from Oryza rufipogon. Detailed knowledge of the genetic factors controlling flowering time will facilitate understanding the adaptation mechanism in cultivated rice and enable breeders to design appropriate genotypes for distinct preferences. In this study, four genes (Hd1, DTH8, Ghd7 and OsPRR37) in a rice long-day suppression pathway were collected and sequenced in 154, 74, 69 and 62 varieties of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) respectively.

An evolutionarily conserved gene, FUWA, plays a role in determining panicle architecture, grain shape and grain weight in rice.

Plant breeding relies on creation of novel allelic combinations for desired traits. Identification and utilization of beneficial alleles, rare alleles and evolutionarily conserved genes in the germplasm (referred to as 'hidden' genes) provide an effective approach to achieve this goal. Here we show that a chemically induced null mutation in an evolutionarily conserved gene, FUWA, alters multiple important agronomic traits in rice, including panicle architecture, grain shape and grain weight.

Days to heading 7, a major quantitative locus determining photoperiod sensitivity and regional adaptation in rice.

Success of modern agriculture relies heavily on breeding of crops with maximal regional adaptability and yield potentials. A major limiting factor for crop cultivation is their flowering time, which is strongly regulated by day length (photoperiod) and temperature. Here we report identification and characterization of Days to heading 7 (DTH7), a major genetic locus underlying photoperiod sensitivity and grain yield in rice.

Rice LTG1 is involved in adaptive growth and fitness under low ambient temperature.

Low temperature (LT) is one of the most prevalent factors limiting the productivity and geographical distribution of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Although significant progress has been made in elucidating the effect of LT on seed germination and reproductive development in rice, the genetic component affecting vegetative growth under LT remains poorly understood.