High-temperature, high-pressure hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure, and solid state NMR spectroscopy of a lead borosilicate with boron-silicon mixing: Pb6B2Si8O25.

A new lead(ii) borosilicate, Pb6B2Si8O25 (1), has been synthesized by a high-temperature, high-pressure hydrothermal reaction at 480 °C and 990 bar. Its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The reaction product was phase-pure as indicated by powder X-ray diffraction and whole pattern fitting using the Pawley method. Compound 1 has a 2D layer structure with the lead ions being located at interlayer regions. Each layer is formed of corner-sharing BO4 or SiO4 tetrahedra and contains an eight-ring window. The layer consists of a new fundamental building block (FBB) with the formula T8O23 (T: B or Si) formed by two (B(1)0.8Si(1)0.2)O4 tetrahedra and six (Si(2)0.933B(2)0.067)O4 tetrahedra. The FBB can be described as double open-branched triple tetrahedra. Another interesting structural feature of 1 is boron-silicon mixing which is uncommon in borosilicates. There are three unique tetrahedra in the structure: B(1)O4 tetrahedra with 20% substitution of Si for B, Si(2)O4 tetrahedra with 6.67% substitution of B for Si, and Si(3)O4 tetrahedra without substitution. We have applied 11B and 29Si MAS NMR spectroscopy to study the substitutional disorder. The NMR study results not only confirm the mixing of B and Si atoms in the structure, but also verify quantitatively the results from single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The reasons for boron-silicon mixing in the structure are discussed. Crystal data for 1: trigonal, R3[combining macron]c (no. 167), a = 9.5090(2) Å, c = 42.3552(8) Å, V = 3316.7(2) Å3, Z = 6, R1 = 0.0147, and wR2 = 0.0309.

Study on morphological classification and chemical-type of Perilla frutescens cultivated germplasm / 中国中药杂志

Fifty cultivated Perilla seeds were collected all over the country and planted in Beijing experiment field for morphology and chemical-type researches. Twenty morphological characteristics were selected and observed, and the essential oil from leaves was extracted by steam distillation and analyzed by GC-MS to confirm chemical-types. There were significant diversities in plant height, leaf color and morphology, and fruit color and weight. Clustering analysis was carried out based on these morphological characteristics. Six types were divided with their chemical-type designated. Type Ⅰ: Six germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. crispa, with dwarf plants, thin creased purple leaf, named Crispa, their chemical types were diversified, including EK, PAPK, PA and PK. Type Ⅱ: Six germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. crispa, plants were taller than type I and with thin and creased green leaf, named Big Crispa, all PK type. Type Ⅲ: Seventeen germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. frutescens with leaf color upside green and underside purple, tall plant and wide distribution all over the China, named Ordinary Frutescens, all PK. Type Ⅳ: Four germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. acuta with tall plant and small seed, named Acuta, all PK. Type Ⅴ: Seven germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. frutescens with green leaves, tall plants and long clusters, named Long-spike Frutescens, all PK. Type Ⅵ: Ten germplasms, attributed to P. frutescens var. frutescens with big, thick and creased leaf, named Thick-leaf Frutescens, including PK, PP, PL and PA. The morphological classification of this paper would lay the foundation for the taxonomic naming and following evaluation of the Perilla germplasm resources.This study also showed that there was no correspondence but a certain correlation between volatile oil chemical-types and subspecies classification and morphological characteristics of Perilla.

Morphological characteristics of Chinese Perilla fruits / 中国中药杂志

The morphological traits of 55 Chinese Perilla fruit samples (size, 100 grains weight, color, hardness, surface ridge height) are described and the statistically analyzed. It can be divided into 6 categories by cluster analysis, namely: Ⅰ, big grain (diameter 1.5 mm above and 100 grains weight above 0.16 g), low ridge, hard; Ⅱ, big grain, low ridge, soft; Ⅲ, big grain, high ridge, soft, fruit; Ⅳ, big grain. high ridge, gray brown or dark brown; Ⅴ, small grain (diameter 1.5 mm below and 100 grain weight 0.16 g below), low ridge, hard, dark brown; Ⅵ, small grain, low ridge, hard, yellow brown. The 38 fruit samples were planted, among which 31 ones were P. frutescens var. frutescens, 4 ones P. frutescens var. crispa and 3 ones P. frutescens var. acuta. By chemotype classification, they were 29 PK type, 3 PA type, 2 PL type, 2 PP type, 1 EK type and 1 PAPK type. According the description of herb Perillae Fructus in China Pharmacopoeia, the plant originates from P. frutescens var. frutescens. In contrast, not all fruits of P. frutescens var. frutescens have accord features. The fruits with white pericarp are mainly from P. frutescens var. frutescens with purple leaves. The materials with small grain, low ridge, hard, yellow brown or dark brown, are likely to be PA type and mainly P. frutescens var. crispa.

Research on effects of chemotype and components of Perilla frutescens leaf volatile oil I: different phenological periods / 中国中药杂志

This experiment researched on three kinds of Perilla frutescens including the widespread PK, PA and rare PL chemotype. The Perilla samples were the mature leaves collected in nutrition, flowering and frutescence three different phenological periods, and at 7 am, 12 pm and 6 pm three day time. The volatile oil was extracted by steam distillationand analyzed by GC-MS, as a result, the three chemotype samples'volatile oil yield was between 0.08% and 0.96%; volatile oil yield of different growth period was as follow: nutrition>flowering>fructescence, and the volatile oil yield of nutrition period: PA type>PK type>PL type. Each chemotype was not affected by the growth and development, indicating that the chemotype is determined by genetic factors. Characteristic and main components of PA and PK type are relatively stable, and the characteristic components of PL type are significantly decreased with the growth. There are still a large number of upstream metabolism components, and the chemical type may have their primitiveness and changeability. The relative content of perillaldehyde, characteristic components of PA type, is basically decreased from morning to night, in all the period. The relative content of perillaketone, characteristic components of PK type, in nutrition and flowering period, when samples were collected at 12 noon is relatively higher than that at 7 am and 6 pm, and contrary to samples collected in frutescence period. The relative content of perillene, characteristic components of PL type, in nutrition and frutescence period are highest at 12 noon, while in flowering period is highest at 6 pm. According to the volatile oil yield and relative content of maincomponents, the best harvest time of PA type is in the morning of the nutrition period; the best harvest time of PK type is in the morning of all the period; and the best harvest time of PL type is at dusk of the nutrition period.

Perilla resources of China and essential oil chemotypes of Perilla leaves / 中国中药杂志

This study, based on the findings for Perilla resources, aimed to describe the species, distribution, importance, features, utilization and status of quantitative Perilla resources in China. This not only helps people to know well about the existing resources and researching development, but also indicates the overall distribution, selection and rational use of Perilla resource in the future. According to the output types, Perilla resources are divided into two categories: wild resources and cultivated resources; and based on its common uses, the cultivated resources are further divided into medicine resources, seed-used resources and export resources. The distribution areas of wild resources include Henan, Sichuan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The distribution areas of medicine resources are concentrated in Hebei, Anhui, Chongqing, Guangxi and Guangdong. Seed-used resources are mainly distributed in Gansu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Chongqing and Yunnan. Export resource areas are mainly concentrated in coastal cities, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang. For the further study, the essential oil of leaf samples from different areas were extracted by the steam distillation method and analyzed by GC-MS. The differences in essential oil chemotypes among different Perilla leaves were compared by analyzing their chemical constituents. The main 31 constituents of all samples included: perillaketone (0.93%-96.55%), perillaldehyde (0.10%-61.24%), perillene (52.15%), caryophyllene (3.22%-26.67%), and α-farnesene (2.10%-21.54%). These samples can be classified into following five chemotypes based on the synthesis pathways: PK-type, PA-type, PL-type, PP-type and EK-type. The chemotypes of wild resources included PK-type and PA-type, with PK-type as the majority. All of the five chemotypes are included in cultivated resources, with PA-type as the majority. Seed-used resources are all PK-type, and export resources are all PA-type. The P. frutescens var. frutescens include five chemotypes, with PK-type as the majority. The PK-type leaves of P. frutescens var. acuta are green, while the PA-type leaves are reddish purple. The P. fruteseens var. crispa was mainly PA type with reddish purple leaves. The differences of the main chemotypes provide a scientific basis for distinguishing between Zisu and Baisu in previous literatures. Based on the lung toxicity of PK and the traditional use of Perilla, the testing standard of essential oil and Perilla herb shall be built, and PA type is recommended to be used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Advances in research of volatile oil and its different chemotypes in leaves of Perilla frutescens / 中国中药杂志

The volatile oil is the main component in the leaves of Perilla frutescens. According to the main types of monoterpenoids or aromatic compounds, it can be divided into different chemotypes and the main chemotypes of Chinese producing Perilla are PA type (mainly containing Perilla aldehyde and limonene), PK type (mainly containing perillaketone) and PP type (subdivided as PP-a type, with apiole as its main component; PP-m type, with myristicin as its main component; PP-e type, with elemicin as main component; PP-as type, with asarone as main component). Based on the biosynthetic pathways analysis, we also found that the formation of the particular chemotype is usually controlled by a single gene or a few genes, and different types have different pharmacological effects. In this paper, the classification under the species P. frutescens, main chemotypes of the volatile oil, and their biogenesis and regulation, pharmacological effect and influence factors are summarized and reviewed.

Association of extremely skewed X-chromosome inactivation with Taiwanese women presenting with recurrent pregnancy loss.

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a phenomenon that occurs in female mammals. Typically, maternally and paternally-derived X chromosomes are inactivated at approximately the same frequency. If preferential inactivation occurs, the person is considered to have skewed XCI. Skewed XCI has been reported to occur more frequently in women who experience recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). In this study, we sought to investigate if there is an association between skewed XCI and unexplained RPL in Taiwanese women. A total of 194 women who had experienced unexplained RPL were recruited into the study. Human androgen receptor or DXS6673E and DX15-134 loci were used in the XCI assay. The results of our study suggested that a cut-off point less than 90% may not be justified for skewed XCI. Only extremely skewed (more than 95%) XCI is associated with RPL. Extremely skewed XCI occurs in a subset of Taiwanese women with RPL.

Integrin-linked kinase stabilizes myotendinous junctions and protects muscle from stress-induced damage.

Skeletal muscle expresses high levels of integrin-linked kinase (ILK), predominantly at myotendinous junctions (MTJs) and costameres. ILK binds the cytoplasmic domain of beta1 integrin and mediates phosphorylation of protein kinase B (PKB)/Akt, which in turn plays a central role during skeletal muscle regeneration. We show that mice with a skeletal muscle-restricted deletion of ILK develop a mild progressive muscular dystrophy mainly restricted to the MTJs with detachment of basement membranes and accumulation of extracellular matrix. Endurance exercise training enhances the defects at MTJs, leads to disturbed subsarcolemmal myofiber architecture, and abrogates phosphorylation of Ser473 as well as phosphorylation of Thr308 of PKB/Akt. The reduction in PKB/Akt activation is accompanied by an impaired insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) activation. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments reveal that the beta1 integrin subunit is associated with the IGF-1R in muscle cells. Our data identify the beta1 integrin-ILK complex as an important component of IGF-1R/insulin receptor substrate signaling to PKB/Akt during mechanical stress in skeletal muscle.

Purification of recombinant enhanced green fluorescent protein expressed in Escherichia coli with new immobilized metal ion affinity magnetic absorbents.

A new immobilized metal ion affinity (IMA) adsorbent containing superparamagnetic nanoparticles and coated with hydrophilic resins are proposed here to improve the purification of His-tagged proteins. The magnetic chelating resin was prepared by radical polymerization of magnetite (Fe3O4), styrene, divinyl benzene (DVB) and glycidyl methacrylate-iminodiacetic acid (GMA-IDA) in ethanol/water medium. IDA is immobilized on magnetite as a ligand and pre-charged Cu2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+ as metal ions. To identify the GMA-IDA magnetic particles easily, we named these particles MPGI. The MPGI adsorbent was used to test their suitability for the direct recovery of an intracellular, polyhistidine-tagged protein, enhanced green fluorescent protein [EGFP-(His)(6)], from Escherichia coli lysates in a single step. Parameters influencing the purification efficiencies such as pH, ionic strength and imidazole concentration were optimized to achieve improved separation. The optimal selectively was observed in binding buffer (0.2M NaCl, 0.02M imidazole), washing buffer (0.4M NaCl, 0.03 M imidazole) and elution buffer (0.50M imidazole). The Cu2+-charged MPGI adsorbent had the highest yield and purification factor at 70.4% and 12.3, respectively. The calculated isotherm parameters (Q(m)=53.5 mg/g, K(d)=5.84 mg/mL and Q(m)/K(d)=9.2 mL/g) indicated that the MPGI adsorbent could be used as a suitable adsorbent for EGFP from an aqueous solution.

Maternal derivative chromosome 9 and recurrent pregnancy loss.

OBJECTIVE: To disclose the relationship between a derivative chromosome 9 and recurrent pregnancy loss. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Referral from primary clinical care to tertiary hospital for further intervention. PATIENT(S): A 31-year-old woman who had four recurrent early spontaneous abortions. INTERVENTION(S): Cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses of the chromosome harvested from peripheral blood sample. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Karyotype of the patient. RESULT(S): The patient has a unique derivative chromosome 9, der(9)(9qter-->9p24::9p24-->9p11::9p13-->9qter). ish der(9) (CEP9x1,43N6x1,D9Z3x1). CONCLUSION(S): Maternal derivative chromosome 9 may cause recurrent pregnancy loss.

Prenatal diagnosis of fetal multicystic dysplastic kidney with two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasound.

Fetal multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) may have grave prognosis and prenatal diagnosis of MCDK by ultrasound (US) is very important. Traditionally, MCDK is diagnosed by 2-D US. Recently, 3-D US has emerged, and may overcome the weakness of 2-D US. In this series, we retrospectively analysed the cases of MCDK diagnosed by prenatal 2-D and 3-D US from November 1995 to March 2002 to evaluate the prenatal sonographic characteristics of this disease and to compare the efficacy of 2-D and 3-D US. The 2-D assessment included the lesion of MCDK, the amniotic fluid volume and associated anomalies. The 3-D assessment included three-orthogonal multiplanar views and various rendering modes of reconstruction of MCDK. In total, 28 cases were diagnosed by prenatal 2-D and 3-D US. Within the study period, 2-D US detected 100% of MCDK, as did 3-D US, and revealed that left, right and bilateral MCDK were in 46.4%, 28.6%, and 25% of cases, respectively. Oligohydromnios was present in 6 cases (21.4%). In addition, 3-D US showed fetal MCDK vividly and provided a whole view of the disease that assisted comprehension of the severity and extent better than 2-D US. In conclusion, although 2-D US detected all the cases of fetal MCDK in utero as did 3-D US, the 3-D images generated by various rendering modes can further assist in evaluating the severity and extent of MCDK, with a novel view that substantially aids the medical team in prenatal management and the parents in genetic consultation.