Effects of L-3-n-butylphthalide on caspase-3 and nuclear factor kappa-B expression in primary basal forebrain and hippocampal cultures after beta-amyloid peptide 1-42 treatment

BACKGROUND： L-3-n-butylphthalide （L-NBP） can inhibit phosphorylation of tau protein and reduce the neurotoxicity of beta-amyloid peptide 1-42 （Aβ1-42）. OBJECTIVE： To observe the neuroprotective effects of L-NBP on caspase-3 and nuclear factor kappa-B （NF- K B） expression in a rat model of Alzheimer＇s disease. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A cell experiment was performed at the Central Laboratory of Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University between January 2008 and August 2008. MATERIALS： L-NBP （purity 〉 98%） was provided by Shijiazhuang Pharma Group NBP Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Aβ1-42, 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazolo-2]-2,5 iphenyltetrazolium bromide （MTT）, and rabbit anti-Caspase-3 polyclonal antibody were provided by Cell Signaling, USA; goat anti-choactase and rabbit anti-NF- kB antibodies were provided by Santa Cruz, USA. METHODS： Primary cultures were generated from rat basal forebrain and hippocampal neurons at 17 or 19 days of gestation. The cells were assigned into five groups： the control group, the Aβ1-42 group （2 μmol/L）, the Aβ1-42 ＋ 0.1 μmol/L L-NBP group, the Aβ1-42 ＋ 1 μ mol/L L-NBP group, and the Aβ1-42 ＋ 10μmol/L L-NBP group. The neurons were treated with Aβ1-42 （2 μmol/L） alone or in combination with L-NBP （0.1, 1, 10 μmol/L） for 48 hours. Cells in the control group were incubated in PBS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Morphologic changes were evaluated using inverted microscopy, viability using the M-I-I- method, and the changes in caspase-3 and NF- k B expression using Western blot. RESULTS： Induction with Aβ1-42 for 48 hours caused cell death and soma atrophy, and increased caspase-3 and NF- K B expression （P 〈 0.05）. L-NBP blocked these changes in cell morphology, decreased caspase-3 and NF- k B expression （P 〈 0.05）, and improved cell viability, especially at the high dose （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： AI3^-42 is toxic to basal forebrain and hippocampal primary neurons; L-NBP protects against this toxicity and inhibits the induction of caspase-3 and NF- K B expression.

Association of microRNA polymorphisms with the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese population:a case-control study

Background:MicroRNA(miRNA) polymorphisms may alter miRNA-related processes,and they likely contribute to cancer susceptibility.Various studies have investigated the associations between genetic variants in several key miRNAs and the risk of human cancers;however,few studies have focused on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC) risk.This study aimed to evaluate the associations between several key miRNA polymorphisms and HNSCC risk in a Chinese population.Methods:In this study,we genotyped five common single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) in several key miRNAs(miR-149 rs2292832,miR-146 a rs2910164,miR-605 rs2043556,miR-608 rs4919510,and miR-196a2 rs11614913) and evaluated the associations between these SNPs and HNSCC risk according to cancer site with a case-control study including 576 cases and 1552 controls,which were matched by age and sex in a Chinese population.Results:The results revealed that miR-605 rs2043556[dominant model:adjusted odds ratio(OR) 0.71,95%confidence interval(CI) 0.58-0.88;additive model:adjusted OR 0.74,95%CI 0.62-0.89]and miR-196a2 rs11614913(dominant model:adjusted OR 1.36,95%C11.08-1.72;additive model:adjusted OR 1.28,95%C11.10-1.48) were significantly associated with the risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).Furthermore,when these two loci were evaluated together based on the number of putative risk alleles(rs2043556 A and rs11614913 G),a significant locus-dosage effect was noted on the risk of OSCC(P_(trend) < 0.001).However,no significant association was detected between the other three SNPs(miR-149 rs2292832,miR- 146 a rs2910164,and miR-608 rs4919510) and HNSCC risk.Conclusion:Our study provided the evidence that miR-605 rs2043556 and miR-196a2 rs11614913 may have an impact on genetic susceptibility to OSCC in Chinese population.

Complete population transfer between next-adjacent energy levels of a transmon qudit

The utilization of qudits in quantum systems has led to significant advantages in quantum computation and information processing.Therefore,qudits have gained increased attention in recent research for their precise and efficient operations.In this work,we demonstrate the complete population transfer between the next-adjacent energy levels of a transmon qudit using the Pythagorean coupling method and energy level mapping.We achieve a|0>to|2>transfer with a process fidelity of 97.76%in the subspace spanned by|0>to|2>.Moreover,the transfer operation is achieved within a remarkably fast timescale,as short as 20 ns.This study may present a promising avenue for enhancing the operation flexibility and efficiency of qudits in future implementations.

Effect of Fertilizing Amount and Planting Density on Yield and Qual-ity of Strong-gluten Wheat Taishan 27

To get the cultivation pattern featured by improved varieties and fine methods for strong-gluten and high-yielding wheat variety Taishan 27,this paper used Taishan 27 as material to study the effect of fertilizing amount and planting density on yield and quality of material.The results showed that Taishan 27 had high yield under fertilizing amount of 225 kg/ha pure nitrogen and planting density of 240 × 104-300× 10~4/ha; the yield was lowest under fertilizing amount of 300 kg/ha pure nitrogen and planting density of 360 × 10~4/ha. The suitable planting density for Taishan 27 was 240 × 104-300 × 10~4/ha,and the fertilizing amount of nitrogen should be based on different soil fertility conditions to avoid water and fertilizer stress and improve yield.

钩吻镇痛活性成分与吗啡的计算研究

在X3LYP/6-31++G(d,p)水平,对钩吻16种镇痛活性成分和吗啡的几何结构、谱学性质和电子结构进行了详细的计算研究,并根据概念密度泛函理论对所有化合物的化学性质进行考察。研究结果表明:钩吻镇痛活性成分的几何结构与吗啡的部分结构类似;钩吻镇痛活性成分的红外光谱吸收峰主要分布于波数1700~1832 cm-1,3500~3600 cm-1和3730~3860 cm-1的三个区域;乙醇溶剂中钩吻和吗啡的极性增加,电负性、硬度、软度和亲电指数显示gw7、gw12和gw15与吗啡的性质最为相似。药代动力学数据表明gw7的药代动力学评价最佳。

Second-order magnetic field gradient-induced strong coupling between nitrogen-vacancy centers and a mechanical oscillator

We consider a cantilever mechanical oscillator(MO) made of diamond. A nitrogen-vacancy(NV) center lies at the end of the cantilever. Two magnetic tips near the NV center induce a strong second-order magnetic field gradient. Under coherent driving of the MO, we find that the coupling between the MO and the NV center is greatly enhanced. We studied how to generate entanglement between the MO and the NV center and realize quantum state transfer between them. We also propose a scheme to generate two-mode squeezing between different MO modes by coupling them to the same NV center. The decoherence and dissipation effects for both the MO and the NV center are numerically calculated using the present parameter values of the experimental configuration. We have achieved high fidelity for entanglement generation, quantum state transfer, and large twomode squeezing.