Interaction of CEND1 gene and life events in susceptibility to depressive symptoms in Chinese Han college students

BACKGROUND

. The development of depressive symptoms (DSs) is a complex process caused by both genetic and environmental factors. CEND1 gene coordinates cell division, differentiation and maturation of neural precursor cells, which affects brain structure and function. Our study investigated whether CEND1 was a genetic factor for DSs, particularly under negative life events.

METHODS

. 272 freshmen with DSs and 467 healthy controls were recruited via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The adolescent Self-rating Life Event Checklist (ASLEC) was adopted to assess stressful life events during the past 12 months. Two SNPs (rs7946354, rs6597982) within the CEND1 gene were genotyped using Agena MassARRAY iPLEX technology. We combined generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) with RStudio programming to assess the direct association and gene-environment interaction (G × E).

RESULTS

. Rs7946354 was associated with DSs in an overdominant model (GT vs. GG+TT). In addition, both rs7946354 and rs6597982 had considerable impacts on negative life events. GMDR showed a statistical G × E that the AG genotype of rs6597982 and GT genotype of rs7946354 contribute to the maximum risk of DSs under high negative life events.

LIMITATIONS

. Only two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined. Verification studies with bigger sample size and more varied demographic background information could be adopted to further support the generalization of these findings.

CONCLUSIONS

.CEND1 can potentially cause high sensitivity to life events and affect DSs especially in the presence of negative life events, which contribute to the field of depression prevention and treatment.

Nicotinamide, a vitamin B3 ameliorates depressive behaviors independent of SIRT1 activity in mice

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺)-dependent protein deacetylase and a candidate gene for depression. Nicotinamide (NAM), a form of vitamin B3, is reported as a potential inhibitor of SIRT1. Our previous study found that the 24-h-restraint stress could induce long-term depressive-like phenotypes in mice. These mice displayed increased SIRT1 activity. Here, we studied whether NAM was capable of attenuating depressive behaviors through inhibiting SIRT1 activity. Surprisingly, the application of NAM significantly reversed the depressive behaviors but increased SIRT1 activity further. In contrast, the level of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was reduced in the restraint model for depression, and recovered by the administration of NAM. Furthermore, the Sirt1^flox/flox; Nestin-Cre mice exhibited antidepressant behaviors and increased ATP levels. These data suggest that ATP plays an important role in depression pathogenesis, and NAM could be a potential treatment method for depression by regulating ATP independent of SIRT1 activity.

Association and functional study between ADIPOQ and metabolic syndrome in elderly Chinese Han population

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of health problems that places individuals at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke. The prevalence of MetS is increasing worldwide. It is also well accepted that genetic and environmental factors play significant roles in the occurrence/development of MetS, but studies exploring genetic factors are still lacking. Here, we aimed to investigate the association of ADIPOQ gene variants with MetS in an elderly Chinese Han population.

Results: We found that the allelic frequencies of rs6773957 and rs3774261 were significantly different between MetS and the control (p = 0.031; p = 0.049). Furthermore, a reduction in luciferase activity was observed when HEK293T cells were transfected with rs6773957 mutant fragments compared with wild type.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that rs6773957 and rs3774261 of ADIPOQ were associated with MetS in the elderly Chinese Han population. The functional assays performed indicate that the rs6773957 variant might be pathogenic and may provide evidence for mechanistic studies of MetS in the future.

Methods: Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected and genotyped (rs6773957, rs182052, rs3774261 and rs17366568) in 1337 subjects, including 569 healthy controls and 768 MetS cases. The clinical characteristics of all the subjects were obtained and analyzed. Additionally, a functional study of rs6773957 in regulating the expression of ADIPOQ was performed in this study.

Raman Study of Cooper Pairing Instabilities in (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe

We studied the electronic Raman spectra of (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe as a function of light polarization and temperature. In the B_{1g} spectra alone we observe the redistribution of spectral weight expected for a superconductor and two well-resolved peaks below T_{c}. The nearly resolution-limited peak at 110  cm^{-1} (13.6 meV) is identified as a collective mode. The peak at 190  cm^{-1} (23.6 meV) is presumably another collective mode since the line is symmetric and its energy is significantly below the gap energy observed by single-particle spectroscopies. Given the experimental band structure of (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe, the most plausible explanations include conventional spin-fluctuation pairing between the electron bands and the incipient hole band and pairing between the hybridized electron bands. The absence of gap features in A_{1g} and B_{2g} symmetry favors the second case. Thus, in spite of various differences between the pnictides and chalcogenides, this Letter demonstrates the proximity of pairing states and the importance of band structure effects in the Fe-based compounds.

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for trigeminal neuralgia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a disease accompanied by severe facial pain, which seriously affects the daily life of patients. Acupuncture is widely used by Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors to treat various painful diseases. Acupuncture combined with the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia can increase the analgesic effect and reduce side effects. However, there is still a lack of more quality multi-center clinical controlled trials and comprehensive meta-analysis, and a lack of more comprehensive and stronger evidence-based medical evidence.

METHODS

The 2 reviewers used the same search strategy to search CNKI, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, EBSCO, and the search date is until July 19, 2020. Two people read the retrieved literatures independently, and then delete duplications. Then, use the "risk of bias" tool in Cochrane Handbook 5.2 to score. Only documents with a score greater than 5 can be included. Make a table of literature characteristics, extract baseline patient data, research methods and possible risks of bias in the literature, interventions in treatment and control groups, outcome evaluation indicators (BNI, VAS, ER and AE), and research funding support. Use Review Manager 5.3.5 for meta-analysis, use Stata 15 for regression analysis to find the source of heterogeneity, and then perform subgroup analysis to resolve the heterogeneity based on the corresponding source.

RESULTS

The analysis of BNI, VAS, ER and AE data can provide high-quality evidence for high-quality synthesis and/or descriptive analysis of the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment of various causes of urinary retention.

CONCLUSION

This study can provide more comprehensive and strong evidence to prove whether acupuncture is effective and safe in the treatment of TN patients.

REGISTRATION

The research has been registered and approved on the PROSPERO website. The registration number is CRD42019119606.

Identification of de novo mutations in prenatal neurodevelopment-associated genes in schizophrenia in two Han Chinese patient-sibling family-based cohorts

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic component. High heritability of SCZ suggests a major role for transmitted genetic variants. Furthermore, SCZ is also associated with a marked reduction in fecundity, leading to the hypothesis that alleles with large effects on risk might often occur de novo. In this study, we conducted whole-genome sequencing for 23 families from two cohorts with unaffected siblings and parents. Two nonsense de novo mutations (DNMs) in GJC1 and HIST1H2AD were identified in SCZ patients. Ten genes (DPYSL2, NBPF1, SDK1, ZNF595, ZNF718, GCNT2, SNX9, AACS, KCNQ1, and MSI2) were found to carry more DNMs in SCZ patients than their unaffected siblings by burden test. Expression analyses indicated that these DNM implicated genes showed significantly higher expression in prefrontal cortex in prenatal stage. The DNM in the GJC1 gene is highly likely a loss function mutation (pLI = 0.94), leading to the dysregulation of ion channel in the glutamatergic excitatory neurons. Analysis of rare variants in independent exome sequencing dataset indicates that GJC1 has significantly more rare variants in SCZ patients than in unaffected controls. Data from genome-wide association studies suggested that common variants in the GJC1 gene may be associated with SCZ and SCZ-related traits. Genes co-expressed with GJC1 are involved in SCZ, SCZ-associated pathways, and drug targets. These evidences suggest that GJC1 may be a risk gene for SCZ and its function may be involved in prenatal and early neurodevelopment, a vulnerable period for developmental disorders such as SCZ.

A novel neoantigen discovery approach based on chromatin high order conformation

Background

High-throughput sequencing technology has yielded reliable and ultra-fast sequencing for DNA and RNA. For tumor cells of cancer patients, when combining the results of DNA and RNA sequencing, one can identify potential neoantigens that stimulate the immune response of the T cell. However, when the somatic mutations are abundant, it is computationally challenging to efficiently prioritize the identified neoantigen candidates according to their ability of activating the T cell immuno-response.

Methods

Numerous prioritization or prediction approaches have been proposed to address this issue but none of them considers the original DNA loci of the neoantigens from the perspective of 3D genome. Based on our previous discoveries, we propose to investigate the distribution of neoantigens with different immunogenicity abilities in 3D genome and propose to adopt this important information into neoantigen prediction.

Results

We retrospect the DNA origins of the immuno-positive and immuno-negative neoantigens in the context of 3D genome and discovered that DNA loci of the immuno-positive neoantigens and immuno-negative neoantigens have very different distribution pattern. Specifically, comparing to the background 3D genome, DNA loci of the immuno-positive neoantigens tend to locate at specific regions in the 3D genome. We thus used this information into neoantigen prediction and demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach.

Conclusion

We believe that the 3D genome information will help to increase the precision of neoantigen prioritization and discovery and eventually benefit precision and personalized medicine in cancer immunotherapy.

FTO Polymorphisms are Associated with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) Susceptibility in the Older Chinese Han Population

Background

As fat and obesity play a vital role in the pathophysiology of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), this study aims to investigate the association between the fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) and MAFLD.

Methods

Six SNPs (rs6499640, rs1421085, rs8050136, rs3751812, rs9939609 and rs9930506) within FTO were genotyped for 741 MAFLD patients (median age, 69.98; interquartile range, 66.55–75.93) and 825 healthy people (median age, 69.94; interquartile range, 66.39–75.64). Allele and genotype frequencies, pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analysis were calculated.

Results

BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride, alanine transaminase, glutamyl transpeptidase and the prevalence of diabetes were found to be higher in the MAFLD individuals comparing to the control ones (P < 0.05). For rs1421085, the C allele frequency was remarkably higher in MAFLD after Bonferroni correction (OR [95% CI] =1.353 [1.095–1.671]; P_corr =0.030), and a significantly different genotype result was observed in log-additive model (OR [95% CI] =1.369 [1.108–1.691]; P_corr =0.024). For rs8050136, significantly increased A allele frequency was observed in MAFLD (OR [95% CI] =1.371 [1.109–1.695]; P_corr =0.024), and A-allele carriers showed increased MAFLD risk (OR [95% CI] =1.393 [1.103–1.759]; P_corr =0.030). For rs3751812, the T allele frequency was remarkably higher in MAFLD (OR [95% CI] =1.369 [1.108–1.691]; P_corr =0.024), and T-allele carriers demonstrated high MAFLD risk (OR [95% CI] =1.392 [1.103–1.756]; P_corr =0.030). For rs9939609, A allele frequency was also remarkably high in MAFLD (OR [95% CI] =1.369 [1.108–1.691]; P_corr =0.024), and A-allele carriers were more susceptible to MAFLD (OR [95% CI] =[1.103–1.756]; P_corr =0.030). A strong LD was found among rs1421085, rs8050136, rs3751812 and rs9939609 (r² >0.8), and individuals with C-A-T-A haplotype had an elevated MAFLD risk (P =0.005).

Conclusion

The case-control study indicated that C variant of rs1421085, A variant of rs8050136, T variant of rs3751812 and A variant of rs9939609 are associated with elevated MAFLD risk in the older Chinese Han population.

Dealloyed Nanoporous Materials for Rechargeable Post-Lithium Batteries

Nanoporous materials (NPMs) made by dealloying have been well recognized as multifunctional electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In recent years, there are ever-increasing demands on grid-scale energy storage devices composed by earth-abundant elements such as Na, K, Mg, Al, and Zn. Compared to LIBs, these electrochemical cells face critical challenges such as slow kinetics of redox reactions and structural instability owing to large ion size and/or multiple-electron process. Much interest has been focused on NPMs to address these issues with great success. This Minireview discusses the recent research progresses on these novel electrode materials in the emerging post-lithium batteries, including the rational-design of NPMs, structure-performance correlation in each battery system, and insights into future development of this rapidly growing field.

Dealloyed Nanoporous Materials for Rechargeable Post-Lithium Batteries

Invited for this month's cover is the group of Yi Ding at the Tianjin University of Technology. The image highlights the fast electron/ion transport in a bicontinuous open network of dealloyed nanoporous materials and describes their applications in several emerging post-lithium batteries, including Na, K, Mg, Zn, and Al batteries. The Minireview itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202001069.

Genetic regulatory subnetworks and key regulating genes in rat hippocampus perturbed by prenatal malnutrition: implications for major brain disorders

OBJECTIVE

Many population studies have shown that maternal prenatal nutrition deficiency may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in their offspring, but its potential transcriptomic effects on brain development are not clear. We aimed to investigate the transcriptional regulatory interactions between genes in particular pathways responding to the prenatal nutritional deficiency and to explore their effects on neurodevelopment and related disorders.

RESULTS

We identified three modules in rat hippocampus responding to maternal prenatal nutritional deficiency and found 15 key genes (Hmgn1, Ssbp1, LOC684988, Rpl23, Gga1, Rhobtb2, Dhcr24, Atg9a, Dlgap3, Grm5, Scn2b, Furin, Sh3kbp1, Ubqln1, and Unc13a) related to the rat hippocampus developmental dysregulation, of which Hmgn1, Rhobtb2 and Unc13a related to autism, and Dlgap3, Grm5, Furin and Ubqln1 are related to Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia. Transcriptional alterations of the hub genes were confirmed except for Atg9a. Additionally, through modeling miRNA-mRNA-transcription factor interactions for the hub genes, we confirmed a transcription factor, Cebpa, is essential to regulate the expression of Rhobtb2. We did not find singificent singals in the prefrontal cortex responding to maternal prenatal nutritional deficiency.

CONCLUSION

These findings demonstrated that these genes with the three modules in rat hippocampus involved in synaptic development, neuronal projection, cognitive function, and learning function are significantly enriched hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and suggest that three genetic regulatory subnetworks and thirteen key regulating genes in rat hippocampus perturbed by a prenatal nutrition deficiency. These genes and related subnetworks may be prenatally involved in the etiologies of major brain disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, autism, and schizophrenia.

METHODS

We compared the transcriptomic differences in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex between 10 rats with prenatal nutritional deficiency and 10 rats with prenatal normal chow feeding by differential analysis and co-expression network analysis. A network-driven integrative analysis with microRNAs and transcription factors was performed to define significant modules and hub genes responding to prenatal nutritional deficiency. Meanwhile, the module preservation test was conducted between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Expression levels of the hub genes were further validated with a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction based on additional 40 pairs of rats.

Cannabis-Associated Psychotic-like Experiences Are Mediated by Developmental Changes in the Parahippocampal Gyrus

OBJECTIVE

Cannabis consumption during adolescence has been reported as a risk factor for psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and schizophrenia. However, brain developmental processes associated with cannabis-related PLEs are still poorly described.

METHOD

A total of 706 adolescents from the general population who were recruited by the IMAGEN consortium had structural magnetic resonance imaging scans at both 14 and 19 years of age. We used deformation-based morphometry to map voxelwise brain changes between the two time points, using the pairwise algorithm in SPM12b. We used an a priori region-of-interest approach focusing on the hippocampus/parahippocampus to perform voxelwise linear regressions. Lifetime cannabis consumption was assessed using the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD), and PLEs were assessed with the Comprehensive Assessment Psychotic-like experiences (CAPE) tool. We first tested whether hippocampus/parahippocampus development was associated with PLEs. Then we formulated and tested an a priori simple mediation model in which uncus development mediates the association between lifetime cannabis consumption and PLEs.

RESULTS

We found that PLEs were associated with reduced expansion within a specific region of the right hippocampus/parahippocampus formation, the uncus (p = .002 at the cluster level, p = .018 at the peak level). The partial simple mediation model revealed a significant total effect from lifetime cannabis consumption to PLEs (b = 0.069, 95% CI = 0.04-0.1, p =2 × 10^-16), as well as a small yet significant, indirect effect of right uncus development (0.004; 95% CI = 0.0004-0.01, p = .026).

CONCLUSION

We show here that the uncus development is involved in the cerebral basis of PLEs in a population-based sample of healthy adolescents.

Universal scaling of weak localization in graphene due to bias-induced dispersion decoherence

The differential conductance of graphene is shown to exhibit a zero-bias anomaly at low temperatures, arising from a suppression of the quantum corrections due to weak localization and electron interactions. A simple rescaling of these data, free of any adjustable parameters, shows that this anomaly exhibits a universal, temperature- (T) independent form. According to this, the differential conductance is approximately constant at small voltages (V < kBT/e), while at larger voltages it increases logarithmically with the applied bias. For theoretical insight into the origins of this behaviour, which is inconsistent with electron heating, we formulate a model for weak-localization in the presence of nonequilibrium transport. According to this model, the applied voltage causes unavoidable dispersion decoherence, which arises as diffusing electron partial waves, with a spread of energies defined by the value of the applied voltage, gradually decohere with one another as they diffuse through the system. The decoherence yields a universal scaling of the conductance as a function of eV/kBT, with a logarithmic variation for eV/kBT > 1, variations in accordance with the results of experiment. Our theoretical description of nonequilibrium transport in the presence of this source of decoherence exhibits strong similarities with the results of experiment, including the aforementioned rescaling of the conductance and its logarithmic variation as a function of the applied voltage.

Effects of wet atmospheric nitrogen deposition on epiphytic lichens in the subtropical forests of Central China: Evaluation of the lichen food supply and quality of two endangered primates

Over the last few decades, the threat posed to biodiversity and ecosystem function by atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been increasingly recognized. The disturbed nutrient balance and species composition of plants induced by higher N deposition can impact the biodiversity of the organisms that consume the plants. In this research, we implemented several experiments to estimate the effects of increased N deposition on the growth, survival, and nutrients of the dominant epiphytic lichens in the subtropical mountains in Central China to assess the lichen food amount and nutritional quality for two endangered primates endemic to China. Our results indicated that the thallus growth and propagule survival of the lichens were significantly decreased when nitrogen addition changed from 6.25 to 50.0 kg N·ha^-1·y^-1; it was also shown that lichen biomass could be decreased by 11.2%-70.2% when the deposition addition exceeded 6.25 kg N·ha^-1·y^-1. Further, our study revealed that increased nitrogen deposition also reduced the nutritional quality of the lichens via reducing the soluble protein and soluble sugar levels and increasing the fiber content, which would substantially affect the diet selection of the plants consumers in the region, particularly the populations of the two lichen-eating endangered primate species, Rhinopithecus roxellana and R. bieti. Our experimental study suggested that the nitrogen pollution derived from anthropogenic activities could cause cascading effects for the whole forest ecosystem of Central China; thus, more studies about nitrogen deposition in this region are required.

An amalgam route to stabilize potassium metal anodes over a wide temperature range

Potassium metal anodes are very appealing due to their high theoretical capacity (687 mA h g^-1), but violent reactivity and severe dendrite issues hinder their practical application. Here we report the in situ fabrication of an amalgam layer to stabilize potassium anodes over a wide temperature range of -20-40 °C.

A Case-Control Study of ABCB1, ABCB6, and ABCG1 Polymorphisms and Schizophrenia in a Han Chinese Population

BACKGROUND

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex, heritable, and devastating psychiatric disorder. Mutations in the members of ABC transporters have been associated with psychiatric illnesses.

AIMS

In this study, we investigated whether 9 SNPs in ABCB1 (rs6946119, rs28401781, rs4148739, and rs3747802), ABCB6 (rs1109866, rs1109867, rs3731885, and rs3755047), and ABCG1 (rs182694) contribute to the risk of SCZ in a Han Chinese population.

METHODS

We conducted a case-control study in a Han Chinese population, involving 1,034 SCZ patients and 1,034 unrelated healthy controls to genotype 9 SNPs.

RESULTS

The analysis demonstrated that rs182694 of ABCG1 was significantly different between SCZ patients and controls as to allele (rs182694: p = 0.0070, χ2 = 7.27) and genotype frequencies (rs182694: p = 0.0013, χ2 = 13.35).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support an association between ABCG1 polymorphism and SCZ in a Han Chinese population.

A novel NR3C2 polymorphism and the increased thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration are associated with venlafaxine treatment outcome in Chinese Han MDD patients

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to study the association among venlafaxine antidepressive outcome, NR3C2 gene polymorphisms and the change of two neuroendocrine hormones during treatment.

METHODS

195 Chinese Han major depressive disorder (MDD) patients were recruited and received a 6-week venlafaxine treatment in this study. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were measured at the beginning and at the end of treatment. Six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (NR3C2: rs1512325, rs1512342, rs2070951; NR3C1: rs6191, rs6196, rs10482614) were selected for high-throughput SNP genotyping. Allele and genotype frequencies of them were compared between remission and non-remission groups.

RESULTS

We found that genotype frequency of the rs1512325 located in the NR3C2 gene was significantly different between remission and non-remission groups respectively (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the frequency of the rs1512325 C-allele was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in remission group. The TSH concentration significantly increased after venlafaxine treatment in remission group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The rs1512325 in NR3C2 gene and TSH concentration may be related to venlafaxine treatment outcome in Chinese Han MDD patients.

Metabolomic profiling on rat brain of prenatal malnutrition: implicated for oxidative stress and schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a kind of neurodevelopmental disease. Epidemiological data associates schizophrenia with prenatal exposure to famine. Relevant prenatal protein deprivation (PPD) rodent models support this result by observing decreasing prepulse inhibition, altered hippocampal morphology and impaired memory in offspring. All these abnormalities are highly consistent with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. We developed a prenatal famine rat model by restricting daily diet of the pregnant rat to 50% of low protein diet. A metabolomics study of prefrontal cortex was performed to integrate GC-TOFMS and UPLC-QTOFMS. Thirteen controls and thirteen famine offspring were used to differentiate in PLS-DA (partial least squares-discriminate analysis) model. Furthermore, metabolic pathways and diseases were enriched via KEGG and HMDB databases, respectively. A total of 67 important metabolites were screened out according to the multivariate analysis. Schizophrenia was the most statistical significant disease (P = 0.0016) in our famine model. These metabolites were enriched in key metabolic pathways related to energy metabolism and glutamate metabolism. Based on these important metabolites, further discussion speculated famine group was characterized by higher level of oxidized damage compared to control group. We proposed that oxidative stress might be the pathogenesis of prenatal undernutrition which is induced schizophrenia.

Dysregulation of neuron differentiation in an autistic savant with exceptional memory

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders without a unique or definite underlying pathogenesis. Although savant syndrome is common in ASD, few models are available for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of this syndrome. In this study, we generated urinary induced pluripotent stem cells (UiPSCs) from a 13-year-old male autistic savant with exceptional memory. The UiPSC-derived neurons of the autistic savant exhibited upregulated expression levels of ASD genes/learning difficulty-related genes, namely PAX6, TBR1 and FOXP2, accompanied by hypertrophic neural somas, enlarged spines, reduced spine density, and an increased frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents. Although this study involved only a single patient and a single control because of the rarity of such cases, it provides the first autistic savant UiPSC model that elucidates the potential cellular mechanisms underlying the condition.

Flexible Amalgam Film Enables Stable Lithium Metal Anodes with High Capacities

Dendrite formation is a critical challenge for the applications of lithium (Li) metal anodes. In this work a new strategy is demonstrated to address this issue by fabricating an Li amalgam film on its surface. This protective film serves as a flexible buffer that affords repeated Li plating/stripping. In symmetric cells, the protected Li electrodes exhibit stable cycling over 750 hours at a high plating current and capacity of 8 mA cm^-2 and 8 mAh cm^-2 , respectively. Coupled with high-loading cathodes (ca. 12 mg cm^-2 ) such as LiFePO₄ and LiNi_0.6 Co_0.2 Mn_0.2 O₂ , the protected hybrid anodes demonstrate significantly improved cell stability, indicating its reliability for practical development of Li metal batteries. Interfacial analyses reveal a unique plating-alloying synergistic function of the protective film, where Li beneath the film is actively involved in the electrode reactions upon cycling. Lithium amalgams enrich the alloy anode family and provide new perspectives for the rational design of dendrite-free anodes.

Prediction of adolescent subjective well-being: A machine learning approach

Background

Subjective well-being (SWB), also known as happiness, plays an important role in evaluating both mental and physical health. Adolescents deserve specific attention because they are under a great variety of stresses and are at risk for mental disorders during adulthood.

Aim

The present paper aims to predict undergraduate students’ SWB by machine learning method.

Methods

Gradient Boosting Classifier which was an innovative yet validated machine learning approach was used to analyse data from 10 518 Chinese adolescents. The online survey included 298 factors such as depression and personality. Quality control procedure was used to minimise biases due to online survey reports. We applied feature selection to achieve the balance between optimal prediction and result interpretation.

Results

The top 20 happiness risks and protective factors were finally brought into the predicting model. Approximately 90% individuals’ SWB can be predicted correctly, and the sensitivity and specificity were about 92% and 90%, respectively.

Conclusions

This result identifies at-risk individuals according to new characteristics and established the foundation for adolescent prevention strategies.

Isolation of H8N4 avian influenza virus from wild birds in Shanghai, China

The H8 subtype viruses are rarely isolated from wild ducks. Shanghai is one of the important wintering or stopover sites on the East Asia-Australia Migration Flyway. An influenza virus, subtype H8N4, was firstly isolated from a common teal (Anas crecca) in Shanghai during 2017-2018 in this study. To clarify the genetic characteristics of the H8N4 virus, the whole genome sequences were analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes showed that they shared highest nucleotide identity (99.19%-99.64%) with the Japan duck-origin H8N4 virus collected in 2016 (A/duck/Aichi/231003/2016) and belonged to the Eurasian-like avian lineage. Six other genes of the H8N4 isolated virus were all highly similar to the corresponding genes of a wide range of AIV subtypes including H9N2, H5N7, H3N8, H1N2, H4N6 and H1N1. The results indicated that the H8N4 virus was a multiple reassortant virus. The study emphasized that the continuous surveillance of influenza virus in wild birds should be strengthened. Keywords: avian influenza virus; H8N4; phylogenetic analysis; Shanghai.

Simulated weightlessness procedure, head-down bed rest impairs adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus of rhesus macaque

The microgravity environment in space can impact astronauts' cognitive and behavioral activities. However, due to the limitations of research conditions, studies of biological changes in the primate brain, such as neurogenesis, have been comparatively few. We take advantage of - 6° head-down bed rest (HDBR), one of the most implemented space analogue on the ground, to investigate the effects of weightlessness on neurogenesis of non-human primate brain. Rhesus Macaque monkeys were subjected to HDBR for 42 days to simulate weightlessness. BrdU (5-bromodeoxyuridin) and IdU (iododeoxyuridine) were intraperitoneally injected separately before or after HDBR to label the survival and proliferation of newborn neurons. Immunohistochemistry was performed to study the effect of simulated weightlessness on neurogenesis. BrdU staining showed that survival of newborn neurons was reduced, while there were fewer BrdU-positive neurons in the HDBR group compared with the control. Furthermore, IdU-positive neurons also decreased in the HDBR group suggesting a reduced proliferation capacity for these newborn neurons. Our results demonstrate the definite neurogenesis in the adult rhesus macaque hippocampus, and simulated weightlessness HDBR procedure impairs the adult neurogenesis.

GRIK4 and GRM7 gene may be potential indicator of venlafaxine treatment reponses in Chinese of Han ethnicity

Venlafaxine is one of commonly prescribed antidepressants for major depressive disorder (MDD). Accumulated evidence implicates the involvement of glutamatergic receptors in the pathophysiology of MDD and antidepressant treatment.By using 193 MDD patients who have been taking venlafaxine for 6 weeks, we investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in glutamate ionotropic receptor kainate type subunit 4 (GRIK4), glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 1 (GRIA1) and glutamate metabotropic receptor 7 (GRM7) were associated with treatment response. 14 SNPs were selected randomly depended on association studies. Efficacy of treatment was determined by 17-item of Hamilton Rating Scale. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between responders and non-responders.After adjusting by the false discovery rate (FDR), rs6589847 and rs56275759 in GRIK4 and rs9870680 in GRM7 showed associating with venlafaxine treatment response at week 6. (FDR: P = .018, P = .042, and P = .040, respectively).Our results indicated that genetic variants in the GRIK4 and GRM7 may associate with the treatment response in MDD patients treated by venlafaxine.

GSK-3β and BDNF genes may not be associated with venlafaxine treatment response in Chinese of Han ethnicity

PURPOSE

Venlafaxine is one of the commonly prescribed antidepressants for major depressive disorder (MDD). Accumulated evidence revealed the involvement of glutamatergic system in the pathophysiology of MDD and antidepressant treatment.

METHODS

We recruited 193 MDD patients who have been taking venlafaxine for 6 weeks, and investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GSK-3β and BDNF were associated with treatment response. Nine SNPs were selected randomly depending on association studies. Efficacy of treatment was determined by 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between responders and nonresponders.

RESULTS

After adjusting the false discovery rate, no significant difference was observed between response and nonresponse groups in allele or genotype distributions after venlafaxine treatment for 6 weeks.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that genetic variants in the GSK-3β and BDNF may not be associated with treatment response in MDD patients treated with venlafaxine.

Semi-dominant mutation in the cysteine-rich receptor-like kinase gene, ALS1, conducts constitutive defence response in rice

Plants have evolved a sophisticated two-branch defence system to prevent the growth and spread of pathogen infection. The novel Cys-rich repeat (CRR) containing receptor-like kinases, known as CRKs, were reported to mediate defence resistance in plants. For rice, there are only two reports of CRKs. A semi-dominant lesion mimic mutant als1 (apoptosis leaf and sheath 1) in rice was identified to demonstrate spontaneous lesions on the leaf blade and sheath. A map-based cloning strategy was used for fine mapping and cloning of ALS1, which was confirmed to be a typical CRK in rice. Functional studies of ALS1 were conducted, including phylogenetic analysis, expression analysis, subcellular location and blast resistance identification. Most pathogenesis-related (PR) genes and other defence-related genes were activated and up-regulated to a high degree. ALS1 was expressed mainly in the leaf blade and sheath, in which further study revealed that ALS1 was present in the vascular bundles. ALS1 was located in the cell membrane of rice protoplasts, and its mutation did not change its subcellular location. Jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) accumulation were observed in als1, and enhanced blast resistance was also observed. The mutation of ALS1 caused a constitutively activated defence response in als1. The results of our study imply that ALS1 participates in a defence response resembling the common SA-, JA- and NH1-mediated defence responses in rice.

Etching gas-sieving nanopores in single-layer graphene with an angstrom precision for high-performance gas mixture separation

One of the bottlenecks in realizing the potential of atom-thick graphene membrane for gas sieving is the difficulty in incorporating nanopores in an otherwise impermeable graphene lattice, with an angstrom precision at a high-enough pore density. We realize this design by developing a synergistic, partially decoupled defect nucleation and pore expansion strategy using O₂ plasma and O₃ treatment. A high density (ca. 2.1 × 10¹² cm^-2) of H₂-sieving pores was achieved while limiting the percentage of CH₄-permeating pores to 13 to 22 parts per million. As a result, a record-high gas mixture separation performance was achieved (H₂ permeance, 1340 to 6045 gas permeation units; H₂/CH₄ separation factor, 15.6 to 25.1; H₂/C₃H₈ separation factor, 38.0 to 57.8). This highly scalable pore etching strategy will accelerate the development of single-layer graphene-based energy-efficient membranes.

Delithiation/lithiation behaviors of three polymorphs of LiVOPO4

LiVOPO4 is an attractive high-voltage cathode with rich polymorphs (α, β and αI). We present here a comparison of the behaviors of three LiVOPO4 polymorphs during delithiation/lithiation. Experimental and computational work suggests that α-LiVOPO4 suffers from more severe conductivity problems among the three forms. For the first time, our preliminary studies on lithiated β-Li2VOPO4 demonstrate that the orthorhombic structure of β-LiVOPO4 could be retained after lithiation, which is consistent with the finding for the other two forms.

[The treatment of nose-eye correlated diseases with external nasal incision combined with nasal cavity approach surgery through endoscope]

Objective:To explore the indications and characteristics for the treatment of nose-eye correlated diseases with endoscopic surgery through external nasal incision combined with nasal cavity approach.Method:The clinical data of 13 patients whom hospitalized in our department and treated by endoscopic surgery through external nasal incision combined with nasal cavity approach since October 2011, were retrospectively analyzed and the characteristics of different pathological changes, clinical manifestations, surgical approach and follow-up results were summarized.Four cases of patients underwent endoscopic surgery through nasal cavity and lacrimal caruncle conjunctival incision, 4 cases received bone fracture reduction and DCR with endoscope through double path of nasal cavity and the original trauma wound, 2 cases with endoscopic bone tumor resection through nasal cavity and external nasal incision, the rest of the 3 cases with endonasal endoscopic and peri-orbit incision surgery.Result:Two cases of tumor patients showed no recurrence followed up for 1.5 to 2 years; the diplopia disappeared in 2 cases of orbital medial wall fracture; surgeries of 4 cases of orbital wall fracture with lacrimal duct obstruction patients, 3 cases succeeded, 1 case failed and change into dacryocystorhinotomy with external nasal incision, and epiphora of all patients vanished; all of the patients of sinus osteoma, foreign bodies and abscess were cured and symptoms disappeared; the symptoms of ectopic meningioma patient gradually died down with eyebrow scars left.Conclusion:The surgery with external nasal incision combined with nasal cavity approach through endoscope to treat noseeye correlated diseases can effectively deal with relevant pathological changes, with the advantages of clear operation field and less damage, but its exact indications and surgical methods still need to be further explored.

Rechargeable Al-CO2 Batteries for Reversible Utilization of CO2

The excessive emission of CO₂ and the energy crisis are two major issues facing humanity. Thus, the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ and its utilization in metal-CO₂ batteries have attracted wide attention because the batteries can simultaneously accelerate CO₂ fixation/utilization and energy storage/release. Here, rechargeable Al-CO₂ batteries are proposed and realized, which use chemically stable Al as the anode. The batteries display small discharge/charge voltage gaps down to 0.091 V and high energy efficiencies up to 87.7%, indicating an efficient battery performance. Their chemical reaction mechanism to produce the performance is revealed to be 4Al + 9CO₂ ↔ 2Al₂ (CO₃ )₃ + 3C, by which CO₂ is reversibly utilized. These batteries are envisaged to effectively and safely serve as a potential CO₂ fixation/utilization strategy with stable Al.

Maternal nicotine exposure has severe cross-generational effects on offspring behavior

Our previous studies showed that paternal nicotine exposure can lead to hyperactivity in the offspring. Nevertheless, the cross-generational effects of maternal and biparental nicotine exposure remain unclear. In this study, female and male mice were exposed respectively by nicotine before pregnancy. The maternal pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure led to depression-like behaviors in the F1 offspring. However, after biparental pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure, seventy percentage of the offspring exhibited a depressive phenotype while 20% were hyperactive, and the remaining exhibited no obvious abnormal behavior. The cross-generational effects appeared to be mediated via disruption of the balance between GSK3 and p-GKS3 by nicotine. These results suggested that pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure can induce alterations in the behavior of the offspring, and the cross-generational effects of maternal nicotine exposure were particularly serious.

Phf8 histone demethylase deficiency causes cognitive impairments through the mTOR pathway

Epigenomic abnormalities caused by genetic mutation in epigenetic regulators can result in neurodevelopmental disorders, deficiency in neural plasticity and mental retardation. As a histone demethylase, plant homeodomain finger protein 8 (Phf8) is a candidate gene for syndromal and non-specific forms of X-chromosome-linked intellectual disability (XLID). Here we report that Phf8 knockout mice displayed impaired learning and memory, and impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) without gross morphological defects. We also show that mTOR signaling pathway is hyperactive in hippocampus in Phf8 knockout mouse. Mechanistically, we show that demethylation of H4K20me1 by Phf8 results in transcriptional suppression of RSK1 and homeostasis of mTOR signaling. Pharmacological suppression of mTOR signaling with rapamycin in Phf8 knockout mice recovers the weakened LTP and cognitive deficits. Together, our results indicate that loss of Phf8 in animals causes deficient learning and memory by epigenetic disruption of mTOR signaling, and provides a potential therapeutic drug target to treat XLID.

Mutations in PHF8 gene are genetically associated with X-linked mental retardation. Here, Chen et al. show that Phf8 KO mouse have cognitive and synaptic plasticity impairment, and pharmacological inhibition of mTOR signaling can partially alleviate such defects.

Total synthesis of teixobactin and its stereoisomers

The total syntheses of teixobactin and a series of its stereoisomers at positions 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 were achieved via a combined strategy of solution and solid phase peptide synthesis.

Genome-wide association analysis identifies 30 new susceptibility loci for schizophrenia

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with replication in 36,180 Chinese individuals and performed further transancestry meta-analyses with data from the Psychiatry Genomics Consortium (PGC2). Approximately 95% of the genome-wide significant (GWS) index alleles (or their proxies) from the PGC2 study were overrepresented in Chinese schizophrenia cases, including ∼50% that achieved nominal significance and ∼75% that continued to be GWS in the transancestry analysis. The Chinese-only analysis identified seven GWS loci; three of these also were GWS in the transancestry analyses, which identified 109 GWS loci, thus yielding a total of 113 GWS loci (30 novel) in at least one of these analyses. We observed improvements in the fine-mapping resolution at many susceptibility loci. Our results provide several lines of evidence supporting candidate genes at many loci and highlight some pathways for further research. Together, our findings provide novel insight into the genetic architecture and biological etiology of schizophrenia.