Light harvesting in purple bacteria does not rely on resonance fine-tuning in peripheral antenna complexes.

The ring-like peripheral light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) expressed by many phototrophic purple bacteria is a popular model system in biological light-harvesting research due to its robustness, small size, and known crystal structure. Furthermore, the availability of structural variants with distinct electronic structures and optical properties has made this group of light harvesters an attractive testing ground for studies of structure-function relationships in biological systems. LH2 is one of several pigment-protein complexes for which a link between functionality and effects such as excitonic coherence and vibronic coupling has been proposed.

Deep brain stimulation of the amygdala for treatment-resistant combat post-traumatic stress disorder: Long-term results.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) holds promise for neuropsychiatric conditions where imbalance in network activity contributes to symptoms. Treatment-resistant Combat post-traumatic stress disorder (TR-PTSD) is a highly morbid condition and 50% of PTSD sufferers fail to recover despite psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. Reminder-triggered symptoms may arise from inadequate top-down ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) control of amygdala reactivity.

The mitigating role of climate smart villages to the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in the Myanmar rural communities.

Climate smart village approach is identified as an important strategy laid out in the Myanmar Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy (MCSAS, 2016) Four climate smart villages were established in 2017 to facilitate participatory action research to develop the CSV approach as well as to generate evidence of outcomes. The CSV approach is based on the principle of community-directed research process where community-members collaborate with an external researcher to investigate community challenges and their solutions. Like other countries in 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Myanmar implemented wide-scale national and local restrictions on mobility that impacted trade and business resulting to an economic slowdown.

Attenuation of SARS-CoV-2 infection by losartan in human kidney organoids.

COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury (COVID-AKI) is a common complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalized patients. The susceptibility of human kidneys to direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and modulation of the renin-angiotensin II signaling (RAS) pathway by viral infection remain poorly characterized. Using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids, SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV tropism, defined by the paired expression of a host receptor (, or ) and protease (, , , or ), was identified primarily among proximal tubule cells.

Artificial intelligence-assisted auscultation in detecting congenital heart disease.

Aims: Computer-assisted auscultation has become available to assist clinicians with physical examinations to detect congenital heart disease (CHD). However, its accuracy and effectiveness remain to be evaluated. This study seeks to evaluate the accuracy of auscultations of abnormal heart sounds of an artificial intelligence-assisted auscultation (AI-AA) platform we create.

Genotoxicity evaluation of So-ochim-tang-gamibang (SOCG), a herbal medicine.

Background: So-ochim-tang-gamibang (SOCG) is a traditional Korean medicine frequently used for depression in the clinical field. In this study, we evaluated the potential genotoxicity of SOCG using three standard batteries of tests as part of a safety evaluation.

Methods: SOCG was evaluated for potential genotoxic effects using the standard three tests recommended by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of Korea.

Mixture drug-count response model for the high-dimensional drug combinatory effect on myopathy.

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are a common cause of adverse drug events (ADEs). The electronic medical record (EMR) database and the FDA's adverse event reporting system (FAERS) database are the major data sources for mining and testing the ADE associated DDI signals. Most DDI data mining methods focus on pair-wise drug interactions, and methods to detect high-dimensional DDIs in medical databases are lacking.

Preventing relapse to smoking with transcranial magnetic stimulation: Feasibility and potential efficacy.

Many smokers attempt to quit every year, but 90% relapse within 12 months. Converging evidence suggests relapse is associated with insufficient activation of the prefrontal cortex. Delay discounting rate reflects relative activity in brain regions associated with relapse.

Iterative Development and Evaluation of a Pharmacogenomic-Guided Clinical Decision Support System for Warfarin Dosing.

Objective: Pharmacogenomic-guided dosing has the potential to improve patient outcomes but its implementation has been met with clinical challenges. Our objective was to develop and evaluate a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for pharmacogenomic-guided warfarin dosing designed for physicians and pharmacists.

Methods: Twelve physicians and pharmacists completed 6 prescribing tasks using simulated patient scenarios in two iterations (development and validation phases) of a newly developed pharmacogenomic-driven CDSS prototype.

AMPD1 polymorphism and response to regadenoson.

Aims:  AMPD1 c.34C > T (rs17602729) polymorphism results in AMPD1 deficiency. We examined the association of AMPD1 deficiency and variability of hemodynamic response to regadenoson.

PTEN inhibitor bisperoxovanadium protects oligodendrocytes and myelin and prevents neuronal atrophy in adult rats following cervical hemicontusive spinal cord injury.

Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) damages axons and motor neurons responsible for ipsilateral forelimb function and causes demyelination and oligodendrocyte death. Inhibition of the phosphatase and tensin homologue, PTEN, promotes neural cell survival, neuroprotection and regeneration in vivo and in vitro. PTEN inhibition can also promote oligodendrocyte-mediated myelination of axons in vitro likely through Akt activation.

Characterizing phospholipase A2-induced spinal cord injury-a comparison with contusive spinal cord injury in adult rats.

To assess whether phospholipase A2 (PLA2) plays a role in the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury (SCI), we compared lesions either induced by PLA2 alone or by a contusive SCI. At 24-h post-injury, both methods induced a focal hemorrhagic pathology. The PLA2 injury was mainly confined within the ventrolateral white matter, whereas the contusion injury widely affected both the gray and white matter.

Critical roles of NOTCH1 in acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia.

NOTCH1 plays a central role in T-cell development and, when aberrantly activated, in acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). As a transmembrane receptor that is ultimately converted into a transcription factor, NOTCH1 directly activates a spectrum of target genes, which function to mediate NOTCH1 signaling in normal or transformed T cells. During physiologic T-cell development, NOTCH1 has important functions in cell fate determination, proliferation, survival and metabolism.

Phospholipase A2 and its molecular mechanism after spinal cord injury.

Phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) are a diverse family of lipolytic enzymes which hydrolyze the acyl bond at the sn-2 position of glycerophospholipids to produce free fatty acids and lysophospholipids. These products are precursors of bioactive eicosanoids and platelet-activating factor which have been implicated in pathological states of numerous acute and chronic neurological disorders. To date, more than 27 isoforms of PLA(2) have been found in the mammalian system which can be classified into four major categories: secretory PLA(2), cytosolic PLA(2), Ca(2+)-independent PLA(2), and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolases.

Altered microRNA expression following traumatic spinal cord injury.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level by binding to the 3' untranslated region of target mRNAs leading to their translational inhibition or sometimes degradation. We uncovered a previously unknown alteration in temporal expression of a large set of miRNAs following a contusive spinal cord injury (SCI) in adult rats using microarray analysis. These altered miRNAs can be classified into 3 categories: (1) up-regulation, (2) down-regulation and (3) an early up-regulation at 4 h followed by down-regulation at 1 and 7 days post-SCI.