Case report: A Chinese patient with spinocerebellar ataxia finally confirmed as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome with P102L mutation

Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS) is a rare genetic prion disease caused by a mutation in the prion protein (PRNP) gene. It is typically characterized by progressive cerebellar ataxia and slowly progressive dementia. We present a case study of the GSS from China in which a 45-year-old male with a progressive gait and balance disorder developed cerebellar ataxia onset but was misdiagnosed as spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) for 2 years. The patient's clinical, electrophysiological, and radiological data were retrospectively analyzed. Examination revealed ataxia, dysarthria, muscle weakness, areflexia in lower limbs, including a pyramidal sign, whereas cognitive decline was insignificant. His late mother had a similar unsteady gait. An electroencephalogram (EEG) showed normal findings, and 14-3-3 protein was negative. A brain MRI was performed for global brain atrophy and ventricular enlargement. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) (18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose, FDG) images showed mild to moderate decreased glucose metabolism in the left superior parietal lobe and left middle temporal lobe. According to genetic testing, his younger brother also had the P102L variant in the PRNP gene. This single case adds to the clinical and genetic phenotypes of GSS.

Age and Serum Creatinine Can Differentiate Wilson Disease Patients with Pseudonormal Ceruloplasmin

METHODS

We retrospectively screened individuals with serum Cp ≥ 140 mg/L from 1032 WD patients who were hospitalised for the first time. Logistic regression analyses were performed in a case-control study between the WD cohort and another liver disease cohort to explore the independent risk factors for WD diagnosis and establish a regression model to identify them. The follow-up medical records of the WD cohort were subjected to mixed-effects model analysis in a longitudinal study to discover factors associated with Cp normalisation.

RESULTS

Eighty-six WD patients and their 353 medical records and another 98 non-WD liver disease patients were included in the present study. Cp normalisation was significantly associated with the copper burden and liver function indexes, such as urinary copper, γ-glutamyltransferase, and albumin (p ≤ 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that age and serum creatinine (p ≤ 0.001) were independent risk factors associated with WD. The AUC value of the regression model in the total cohort was 0.926 (p ≤ 0.001). At a cutoff value of ≥0.617 and ≥-1, the positive and negative predictive values were both 90.8% for WD.

CONCLUSION

Increased serum Cp in WD patients is related to excessive copper burden and hepatic injury, and common tests can effectively distinguish WD patients from other liver injury patients.

Unconventional Transverse Transport above and below the Magnetic Transition Temperature in Weyl Semimetal EuCd_{2}As_{2}

As exemplified by the growing interest in the quantum anomalous Hall effect, the research on topology as an organizing principle of quantum matter is greatly enriched from the interplay with magnetism. In this vein, we present a combined electrical and thermoelectrical transport study on the magnetic Weyl semimetal EuCd_{2}As_{2}. Unconventional contribution to the anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst effects were observed both above and below the magnetic transition temperature of EuCd_{2}As_{2}, indicating the existence of significant Berry curvature. EuCd_{2}As_{2} represents a rare case in which this unconventional transverse transport emerges both above and below the magnetic transition temperature in the same material. The transport properties evolve with temperature and field in the antiferromagnetic phase in a different manner than in the paramagnetic phase, suggesting different mechanisms to their origin. Our results indicate EuCd_{2}As_{2} is a fertile playground for investigating the interplay between magnetism and topology, and potentially a plethora of topologically nontrivial phases rooted in this interplay.

Directional massless Dirac fermions in a layered van der Waals material with one-dimensional long-range order

One or a few layers of van der Waals (vdW) materials are promising for applications in nanoscale electronics. Established properties include high mobility in graphene, a large direct gap in monolayer MoS₂, the quantum spin Hall effect in monolayer WTe₂ and so on. These exciting properties arise from electron quantum confinement in the two-dimensional limit. Here, we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to reveal directional massless Dirac fermions due to one-dimensional confinement of carriers in the layered vdW material NbSi_0.45Te₂. The one-dimensional directional massless Dirac fermions are protected by non-symmorphic symmetry, and emerge from a stripe-like structural modulation with long-range translational symmetry only along the stripe direction as we show using scanning tunnelling microscopy. Our work not only provides a playground for investigating further the properties of directional massless Dirac fermions, but also introduces a unique component with one-dimensional long-range order for engineering nano-electronic devices based on heterostructures of vdW materials.

Magnetic-Competition-Induced Colossal Magnetoresistance in n-Type HgCr_{2}Se_{4} under High Pressure

The n-type HgCr_{2}Se_{4} exhibits a sharp semiconductor-to-metal transition (SMT) in resistivity accompanying the ferromagnetic order at T_{C}=106  K. Here, we investigate the effects of pressure and magnetic field on the concomitant SMT and ferromagnetic order by measuring resistivity, dc and ac magnetic susceptibility, as well as single-crystal neutron diffraction under various pressures up to 8 GPa and magnetic fields up to 8 T. Our results demonstrate that the ferromagnetic metallic ground state of n-type HgCr_{2}Se_{4} is destabilized and gradually replaced by an antiferromagnetic, most likely a spiral magnetic, and insulating ground state upon the application of high pressure. On the other hand, the application of external magnetic fields can restore the ferromagnetic metallic state again at high pressures, resulting in a colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) as high as ∼ 3×10^{11}% under 5 T and 2 K at 4 GPa. The present study demonstrates that n-type HgCr_{2}Se_{4} is located at a peculiar critical point where the balance of competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions can be easily tipped by external stimuli, providing a new platform for achieving CMR in a single-valent system.

Tuning the Distance to a Possible Ferromagnetic Quantum Critical Point in A_{2}Cr_{3}As_{3}

Although superconductivity in the vicinity of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) instability has been extensively explored in the last three decades or so, superconductivity in compounds with a background of ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations is still rare. We report ^{75}As nuclear quadrupole resonance measurements on the A_{2}Cr_{3}As_{3} family, which is the first group of Cr-based superconductors at ambient pressure, with A being alkali elements. From the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T_{1}), we find that by changing A in the order of A=Na, Na_{0.75}K_{0.25}, K, and Rb, the system is tuned to approach a possible FM quantum critical point (QCP). This may be ascribed to the Cr2-As2-Cr2 bond angle that decreases towards 90°, which enhances the FM interaction via the Cr2-As2-Cr2 path. Upon moving away from the QCP, the superconducting transition temperature T_{sc} increases progressively up to 8.0 K in Na_{2}Cr_{3}As_{3}, which is in sharp contrast to the AFM case where T_{sc} usually shows a maximum around a QCP. The 1/T_{1} decreases rapidly below T_{sc} with no Hebel-Slichter peak, and ubiquitously follows a T^{5} variation below a characteristic temperature T^{*}≈0.6 T_{sc}, which indicates the existence of point nodes in the superconducting gap function commonly in the family. These results suggest that the A_{2}Cr_{3}As_{3} family is a possible solid-state analog of superfluid ^{3}He.

Observation of Double Weyl Phonons in Parity-Breaking FeSi

Condensed matter systems have now become a fertile ground to discover emerging topological quasiparticles with symmetry protected modes. While many studies have focused on fermionic excitations, the same conceptual framework can also be applied to bosons yielding new types of topological states. Motivated by Zhang et al.'s recent theoretical prediction of double Weyl phonons in transition metal monosilicides [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 016401 (2018)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.120.016401], we directly measure the phonon dispersion in parity-breaking FeSi using inelastic x-ray scattering. By comparing the experimental data with theoretical calculations, we make the first observation of double Weyl points in FeSi, which will be an ideal material to explore emerging bosonic excitations and its topologically nontrivial properties.

Evolution of the Magnetic Excitations in NaOsO_{3} through its Metal-Insulator Transition

The temperature dependence of the excitation spectrum in NaOsO_{3} through its metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) at 410 K has been investigated using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering at the Os L_{3} edge. High-resolution (ΔE∼56  meV) measurements show that the well-defined, low-energy magnons in the insulating state weaken and dampen upon approaching the metallic state. Concomitantly, a broad continuum of excitations develops which is well described by the magnetic fluctuations of a nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid. By revealing the continuous evolution of the magnetic quasiparticle spectrum as it changes its character from itinerant to localized, our results provide unprecedented insight into the nature of the MIT in NaOsO_{3} [J. G. Vale, S. Calder, C. Donnerer, D. Pincini, Y. G. Shi, Y. Tsujimoto, K. Yamaura, M. M. Sala, J. van den Brink, A. D. Christianson, and D. F. McMorrow, Phys. Rev. B 97, 184429 (2018)PRBMDO2469-995010.1103/PhysRevB.97.184429].

Effect of hydrostatic pressure on the superconducting properties of quasi-1D superconductor K2Cr3As3

K₂Cr₃As₃ is a newly discovered quasi-1D superconductor with a T _c  =  6.1 K and an upper critical field µ ₀ H _c2(0)  ≈  40 T three times larger than the Pauli paramagnetic limit µ ₀ H _p that is suggestive of a spin-triplet Cooper pairing. In this paper, we have investigated the effects of hydrostatic pressure on its T _c and µ ₀ H _c2 by measuring the ac magnetic susceptibility χ'(T) under magnetic fields at various hydrostatic pressures up to 7.5 GPa. The major findings include: (1) T _c is suppressed gradually to below 2 K at 7.5 GPa; (2) the estimated µ ₀ H _c2(0) decreases dramatically to below µ ₀ H _p above ~2 GPa and becomes slight lower than the orbital limiting field [Formula: see text] estimated from the initial slope of upper critical field via [Formula: see text]  =  -0.73T _cdH _c2/[Formula: see text] in the clean limit; (3) the estimated Maki parameter α  =  √2[Formula: see text]/H _p drops from 4 at ambient pressure to well below 1 at P  >  2 GPa, suggesting the crossover from Pauli paramagnetic limiting to orbital limiting in the pair breaking process upon increasing pressure. These observations suggested that the application of hydrostatic pressure could drive K₂Cr₃As₃ away from the ferromagnetic instability and lead to a breakdown of the spin-triplet pairing channel. We have also made a side-by-side comparison and discussed the distinct effects of chemical and physical pressures on the superconducting properties of K₂Cr₃As₃.

[Analysis of a cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis case with mental retardation as the initial symptom]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze a case of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) with mental retardation as the initial neurological symptom.

METHODS

Medical imaging, histopathological assay and genetic testing were carried out to analyze the patient.

RESULTS

Neurological manifestations of the 27-year-old male patient were initiated by mental retardation and subsequently memory lapses, ataxia, spastic paraplegia and fuzzy language. Other symptoms included cataract, xanthomatosis in Achilles tendon, kidney stones and high arches. The total bile acid in serum has risen to 14.7 umol/L. There were symmetrical abnormal signals in bilateral cerebellar dentate nuclei, hypointensities on T1WI and DWI and mixed signals on T2WI. Cholesterol crystallization and cholesterol granulomatous inflammation were found upon pathological examination of the Achilles tendon. The patient was found to have carried a compound heterozygous mutation of the CTX gene, which consisted of two novel mutations including c.379C>T (p.Arg127Trp) in exon 2 and c.1174G>A (p.Glu392Lys) in exon 6 of the CYP27A1 gene.

CONCLUSION

Clinicians should be alert to cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis when the patient has mental retardation caused by genetic and metabolic factors beginning at a young age, particularly accompanied with tendinous xanthomatosis and cataracts. CTX can be readily diagnosed by histopathological assay and sequencing of the CYP27A1 gene.

The charge carrier localization in the cubic perovskite BaOsO3 revealed by an optical study

We present the optical conductivity spectra for the newly discovered cubic perovskite structure BaOsO3 at various temperatures. The compound exhibits metallic behaviour above 50 K, but becomes non-metallic below 50 K. However, below 550 cm(-1), neither the typical Drude response nor an energy gap is observed in optical conductivity spectra from 300 K to 10 K. A broad peak centred at about 550 cm(-1) is observed in the real part of optical conductivity σ1(ω). The structure could be well reproduced by the localization modified Drude model. The life time of the carrier, deduced from σ1(ω) in terms of the localization modified Drude model, decreases with T varying from 300 K to 100 K, then increases slightly at 10 K. The study indicates that the compound is at the boundary of metal-insulator transition.

Magnetically driven metal-insulator transition in NaOsO3

The metal-insulator transition (MIT) is one of the most dramatic manifestations of electron correlations in materials. Various mechanisms producing MITs have been extensively considered, including the Mott (electron localization via Coulomb repulsion), Anderson (localization via disorder), and Peierls (localization via distortion of a periodic one-dimensional lattice) mechanisms. One additional route to a MIT proposed by Slater, in which long-range magnetic order in a three dimensional system drives the MIT, has received relatively little attention. Using neutron and x-ray scattering we show that the MIT in NaOsO(3) is coincident with the onset of long-range commensurate three dimensional magnetic order. While candidate materials have been suggested, our experimental methodology allows the first definitive demonstration of the long predicted Slater MIT.

Structural properties and charge ordered states in RMnO3 (R=La, Pr, Nd, Ca, Sr) and (La, Sr)2NiO4

Structural distortions arising from the condensations of two essential kinds of phonon modes: the triply degenerate rotational modes (phix, phiy, phiz) of MnO(6) and the doubly degenerate Jahn-Teller active modes (Q1, Q2) have been systematically investigated in the perovskite manganites. Microstructural features associated with certain types of distortions have been observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In RMnO(3) and La(Sr)(2)NiO(4), we characterize the local structure, charge ordered states and orbital ordering by means of low-temperature TEM. We present direct evidence that the stripe modulation in La(Sr)(2)NiO(4) is indeed one-dimensional within each NiO(2) plane. Several typical kinds of defect structures, including antiphase boundaries and the 90 degrees -twin domains, appear commonly in the charge-ordered states.

Postantibiotic effects of eleven antimicrobials on five bacteria

AIM

To investigate the postantibiotic effects (PAE) of different classes of antimicrobials against five different types of bacteria.

METHODS

Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined by twofold macrodilution in broth. The antimicrobial agents were eliminated by washing method after the bacteria were exposed to antimicrobials for 1 h or 2 h. Growth curves were followed by viable counts, and then the PAE were calculated.

RESULTS

Macrolides induced PAE of 3.10 h to 4.15 h on S aureus, and 1.85 h to 3.3 h against S pneumoniae, which were longer than PAE induced by other tested antimicrobials (P<0.01). Macrolides induced PAE of 1 h to 4 h against H influenzae, with azithromycin producing the longest PAE of 4 h. Ciprofloxacin and amikacin induced PAE of 1.38 h to 2.00 h on E coli and K pneumoniae, which were longer than that of beta-lactams, piperacillin, cefazolin, or cefotaxime, with PAE of 0.1 h to 0.5 h (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Different classes of antimicrobials induce different periods of PAE. As an important pharmacodynamic parameter, PAE provide reference data for the determination of the optimal dosing regimen and reasonable use of antimicrobials.

[Influences of taurine and micronutrients on nitric oxide synthase expression and cGMP content in rat retina]

AIM

To investigate the influence of taurine and micronutrients on visual signal transmission.

METHODS

Wistar rats were divided into three groups, that is control group, experiment group 1 and experiment group 2, and fed for 3 weeks with normal diet, 5 times and 10 times doses of requirements of taurine, vitamin A, vitamin B, zinc and selenium, then each treatment group were divided into light group and dark adaptation group. After feeding another 3 days in different environments with normal diet, all animals were killed and cGMP level and NOS expression were analysed in retina and retinogeniculate.

RESULTS

The NOS expression and cGMP contents of photoreceptor cells, visual cortex and retinogeniculate were increased in dark adaptation group compared with light group. Nutritional intervention could enhance the NOS staining in dark environment, increased the cGMP contents whether light or dark condition.

CONCLUSION

The distribution, expression and content of NO and cGMP are quite different in various light adaptation status. Taurine and micronutrient intervention may modurate the visual signal transmission or vision function mediated by the changes of NO or cGMP.

Coordinate expression of ribosomal protein genes in Neurospora crassa and identification of conserved upstream sequences

The relative levels of rRNAs and ribosomal proteins are coordinately regulated by growth rate and carbon nutrition in Neurospora crassa. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved. To investigate the transcriptional regulation of ribosomal protein genes in N. crassa, we cloned and sequenced a ribosomal protein gene (crp-3). The inferred crp-3 protein sequence shares 89% and 83% homology at its N-terminus with the yeast rp51 and the human S17 ribosomal proteins respectively. The crp-3 gene contains two introns, neither of which are conserved in position with the RP51 or the S17 genes. The crp-3 gene is present in a single copy and was mapped by RFLP analysis to the right arm of linkage group IV, near the cot-1 locus. Sequence comparisons of the upstream regions of the three sequenced crp genes revealed several common features. These include a 'Taq box' (consensus: ARTTYGACTT) at -39, a CG repeat (consensus: CCCRCCRRR) at -65, and a major transcription initiation site embedded in a purine rich region flanked by an upstream pyrimidine rich sequence. Using four N.crassa ribosomal protein genes as probes, we demonstrated that the levels of the four ribosomal protein mRNAs were closely coordinated during a nutritional downshift from sucrose to quinic acid.

All internal promoter elements of Neurospora crassa 5 S rRNA and tRNA genes, including the A boxes, are functionally gene-specific

The internal control elements of Neurospora crassa 5 S genes include an A box and a C box as in Xenopus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, plus a novel element, the Ribo box at position +18 to +34. The Ribo box is also found in the 40 S rRNA promoter and a ribosomal protein gene but is absent from tRNA genes in N. crassa. The 5 S A box diverges from the tRNA A box consensus at two positions. We tested whether replacement of the 5 S A box with a tRNALeu A box sequence would increase 5 S gene transcription in vitro or would remove the requirement for the Ribo box. The 5 S gene with the tRNALeu A box was transcribed poorly, and the Ribo box and the C box are still required for transcription. We tested the function of the Ribo box and 5 S A box in a tRNA-like transcription unit by constructing hybrids between a 5 S gene and a tRNALeu gene. In the tRNA-like context, the 5 S A box supported a lower level of transcription than the tRNA A box, and the Ribo box was not required at all. Therefore, in N. crassa, all of the 5 S internal control elements are gene-specific. In particular, the 5 S and tRNA A box sequences are not functionally interchangeable and may bind different transcription factors. Transcription of the hybrids was initiated at the 5 S initiation site, suggesting that the mechanism of initiation site selection is the same in the 5 S and tRNA genes. Competition experiments with the tRNA B box suggested that the N. crassa 5 S and tRNA genes require at least one common transcription factor such as TFIIIC.

The in-vitro activity, pharmacokinetics and tissue penetration of temafloxacin

The in-vitro activity of temafloxacin compared with other quinolone antibiotics was evaluated using 579 bacterial strains and three isolates of Chlamydia trachomatis. The MICs of temafloxacin for 90% of Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Bacteroides fragilis and Ch. trachomatis were all less than or equal to 1 mg/l, an activity comparable with or superior to that of ofloxacin and superior to those of fleroxacin and norfloxacin. Temafloxacin, although more active against anaerobes, was in general slightly less active than ciprofloxacin. Against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) temafloxacin was twice as active as ciprofloxacin. The pharmacokinetics of temafloxacin were studied in six volunteers, following a single 400 mg oral dose, measuring concentrations in plasma, inflammatory fluid and urine. Mean peak plasma levels of 3.3 mg/l were achieved. The mean plasma elimination half life was 6.8 h and the percentage penetration into blister fluid was 104.5%. Of the administered dose 51.8% was excreted in urine by 26 h. Serum and blister fluid levels in excess of 1 mg/l were present for at least 8 h post dose, suggesting that a once or twice daily dosing regimen would be suitable for the treatment of infections caused by susceptible organisms.

Pharmacokinetics and tissue penetration of cefepime

The pharmacokinetics of cefepime were studied following a 2 g intravenous infusion, by measuring concentrations in plasma, inflammatory fluid and urine. Mean peak plasma concentrations of 193.1 mg/l were achieved at the end of the 30 min infusion. The mean plasma elimination half-life was 2.1 h. Penetration into inflammatory fluid was rapid, with mean peak levels of 91.5 mg/l occurring 0.9 h after the end of the infusion. Urinary elimination accounted for 98.9% of the dose within 8 h. Therapeutic plasma levels (greater than 2 mg/l) were present for at least 8 h after the end of the infusion, suggesting that twice or three times daily dosing should be sufficient to treat infections due to susceptible organisms.

Pyrrolidine, a non-controlled substance, can replace piperidine for the chemical sequencing of DNA

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