[Relationship between executive functioning and behaviour in children with cerebral palsy].
Cerebral palsy is defined as a group of developmental disorders of movement and posture that causes social and cognitive deficits, emotional, and behavior disturbances. To study the relationship between executive functioning and behavior in children with cerebral palsy from the answers given by parents and teachers on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and on the System Assessment Adaptive Behavior (ABAS-II). The sample consisted on 46 children with CP with a mean age of 10.26 ± 2.95 years. Forty-four of the 46 children were distributed in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) into level I (n = 16), level II (n = 3), level III (n = 11), level IV (n = 10) and level V (n = 4). The results showed a relationship between BRIEF and ABAS-II. Furthermore, discrepancies between the responses from parents and teachers, both in the ABAS-II and in the BRIEF, were obtained. We found a significant relationship between executive functioning in children with cerebral palsy and adaptive behavior. We found discrepancies in the answers given by parents and teachers. Finally, the data showed that the higher motor impairment increases difficulties at home.


A light-up fluorescence probe for wash-free analysis of Mu-opioid receptor and ligand-binding events.
With the aggravated burden of opioid use disorder spreading worldwide, demands for new forms of opioid receptor agonist/antagonist constitute immense research interest. The Mu-opioid receptor (MOR) is currently in the spotlight on account of its general involvement in opioid-induced antinociception, tolerance and dependence. MOR binding assay, however, is often complicated by difficulty in MOR separation and purification, as well as the tedious procedure in standard biolayer interferometry and surface plasmon resonance measurements. To this end, we present TPE2N as a light-up fluorescent probe for MOR, which exhibits satisfactory performance in both live cells and lysates. TPE2N was elaborately designed based on the synergistic effect of twisted intramolecular charge-transfer and aggregation-induced emission by incorporating a tetraphenylethene unit to emit strong fluorescence in a restrained environment upon binding with MOR through the naloxone pharmacore. The developed assay enabled high-throughput screening of a compound library, and successfully identified three ligands as lead compounds for further development.


Fractionation of Cynara cardunculus (cardoon) biomass by dilute-acid pretreatment.
Cynara cardunculus L. (cardoon) is a Mediterranean perennial herb offering good potential as substrate for sustainable production of bioethanol. In this work the first approach to the study of dilute-acid pretreatment of cardoon biomass for biological conversion was made. The influence of temperature (160-200 degrees C), acid concentration (0-0.2% [w/w]), and solid concentration (5-10% [w/v]) in the formation of free sugars and sugar decomposition products in the prehydrolyzate was studied using a response surface methodology. Results show a negative interaction effect between acid concentration and temperature in xylose recovery yield in prehydrolyzate, whereas dry matter concentration does not exert a significant effect. Xylose recovery yield reaches a maximum of about 80% of the content in dry untreated raw material at 180 degrees C and 0.1 or 0.2% acid addition. At these conditions the ratio of monomers found in prehydrolyzate in relation to total sugar yield for xylose is close to 100%. Furfural concentration, the major furan determined in the prehydrolyzate, increases as pretreatment severity rises. Maximum furfural yield of 4.2 g/100 g dry untreated raw material was found at 200 degrees C and 0.2% acid concentration. The yield of furfural at the conditions in which maximum xylose recovery is attained is substantially lower, less than 2 g/100 g dry untreated raw material. This fact supports the idea of using moderate temperatures in dilute-acid processes, which at the same time provides reasonably high sugar recovery yield and avoids high inhibitory products formation.


Sleep deprivation as a probe of homeostatic sleep regulation in primary alcoholics.
Alcoholic patients show prominent disturbances of sleep electroencephalograms (EEGs) with a marked loss of slow wave sleep that is even more profound in African American alcoholics as compared to European Americans. Using partial sleep deprivation, this study examined the extent to which abnormal sleep is reversible in alcoholic subjects. In a sample stratified on ethnicity, polysomnographic and spectral sleep EEG measures were compared in male primary alcoholic in patients (n=46) and age-matched comparison controls (n=32) at baseline-and recovery sleep following a night of partial sleep deprivation. As compared to controls, alcoholic patients showed a loss of slow wave sleep and more spectral power in beta frequencies. Following sleep deprivation, slow wave sleep and delta power differentially changed between the groups. European American controls showed increases of slow wave sleep that were more robust than responses found in African American controls, whereas both alcoholic groups failed to show increases of slow wave sleep from baseline to recovery. Spectral EEG analyses revealed similar results; sleep deprivation induced significant increases of delta power during NREM-1 in the controls, but not in the alcoholics. Alcohol dependence compromises the augmentation of slow wave sleep and delta power seen in healthy adults following sleep deprivation. The differential effect of alcoholism on sleep stage physiology suggests a defect in the regulation or plasticity of slow wave sleep with implications for theories linking sleep depth to morbidity and outcome in alcoholics.


Ampulla cardiomyopathy associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: report of 6 patients.
The authors report 6 cases of aneurysmal SAH associated with ampulla cardiomyopathy, which has been considered a unique type of stunned myocaridum. All patients were female, ranged from 35 to 79 years, and their echocardiograms revealed typical cardiac wall motions: the hypokinesia in the apical area of the left ventricle associated with the hyperkinesia in the basal area. In all, the cardiac function started to recover in the first few days; however, associated pulmonary congestions delayed aneurysmal surgeries in 3 patients. Among 3 patients whose surgeries were delayed, one died due to rerupture of aneurysm and another due to severe pneumonia. The other 4 patients recovered well, although one had left ventricular mural thrombus, which was treated successively with anticoagulant. It is considered highly important for neurosurgeons to be familiar with this clinical entity, since this transient cardiac function disturbance can be diagnosed at the initial presentation with a unique wall motion. The significance and clinical features of ampulla cardiomyopathy are discussed.


Glucocorticoid modulation of prolactin receptors on mammary cells of lactating mice.
Prolactin receptors were monitored by measuring 125I-labeled prolactin binding to collagenase-dissociated mammary epithelial cells of lactating BALB/c mice. Specific receptors for iodine-labeled prolactin with an apparent dissociation constant (Kd) of 0.99 . 10(-9) M were present on the dissociated mammary cells. The binding was inhibited by ovine prolactin, human growth hormone and human placental lactogen but not by follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, bovine growth hormone or insulin. Adrenal ablation of nursing mothers caused a reduction of the number of prolactin receptors and this effect was preventable by hydrocortisone therapy. Hydrocortisone injections to mothers 3 days after adrenalectomy also induced a replenishment of the prolactin receptors on the mammary cells. Injections of progesterone failed to sustain the high level of mammary cell prolactin receptors in adrenalectomized animals. Stimultaneous injections of hydrocortisone and progesterone to animals 3 days after adrenalectomy caused a partial suppression of the stimulatory action of hydrocortisone alone. The results suggest that hydrocortisone can exert a modulatory influence on mammary cell prolactin receptors in non-hypophysectomized post-partum mice without altering the dissociation constant (Kd) of the receptors.


Hydrodynamic analysis of feeding in sand dollars.
Subtidal sand dollars, Dendraster excentricus, assume an inclined posture under conditions of moderate water flow (10 cm s-1 to 2 m s-1). In this posture, when the test is in the usual position parallel to the water flow, the test acts as a lifting body. Analysis of the hydrodynamic characteristics of the sand dollar test was accomplished by slender body theory. Streamline curvature due to lift moves food particles in the direction of the feeding surface and enhances feeding efficiency. The position parallel to water flow is most advantageous to sand dollars in reversing flows, such as wave surge, whereas sand dollars in unidirectional flows can place the test at a slight angle to the water flow to increase lift. The high camber of sand dollars from a bay habitat characterized by low water velocities was interpreted as an adaptation allowing efficient lift production in low velocity flows; sand dollars from a protected outer coast location characterized by higher water velocities were significantly less cambered.Within sand dollar beds, the animals alter their spacing as a function of the water velocity. This movement is construed as a method for maintaining the optimal gap between sand dollars. Sand dollar tests induce mutual interference effects which vary with the configuration of the animals. In the prevalent configuration, sand dollars are able to take advantage of the streamline curvature induced by neighboring animals. The optimal gap increases as the square of the water velocity. At distances grater than or less than the optimal gap, feeding efficiency was shown to decrease from that at the optimal gap.


Oxidation as a crucial reaction for cholesterol to induce tissue degeneration: CD36 overexpression in human promonocytic cells treated with a biologically relevant oxysterol mixture.
Oxidative stress, inflammation and altered cholesterol metabolism and levels are among the pathogenetic mechanisms of cognitive impairment that may accompany aging. Within the research area of hypercholesterolemia and age-related disease processes, the molecular mechanisms of cholesterol interaction with the inflammatory cells of the macrophage lineage are yet to be elucidated. We thus investigated the effect of both non-oxidized and oxidized cholesterol on monocytic cell differentiation and foam cell formation, as it occurs within vascular lesions during progression of atherosclerosis. In vitro experiments performed on human U937 promonocytic cells showed that a biologically representative mixture of oxysterols markedly stimulated CD36 expression and synthesis. In contrast, non-oxidized cholesterol did not exert any effect on CD36 mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, the oxysterol-induced up-regulation of CD36 appeared to be based on the subsequent activation of protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta), extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma). Cells overexpressing CD36 were indeed able to actively take up oxidized low-density lipoproteins, and become foam cells. The essential role of ERK pathway and CD36 receptor in oxysterol-induced foam cell formation was proved by the prevention of the latter event when monocytic cells were incubated in the presence of MEK1/2 selective inhibitor or anti-CD36 specific antibody. These experimental findings point to cholesterol oxidation as an essential reaction for this sterol to exert cellular stress and tissue damage in age-related diseases in which inflammation represents a main driving force.


Dimesitylborylethynylated Arenes: Unique Electronic and Photophysical Properties Caused by Ethynediyl (C≡C) Spacers.
Herein, we report the synthesis and electrochemical and photophysical properties of aromatic hydrocarbons having one or two dimesitylborylethynyl peripherals. The mono- (1) and diboryl compounds (2), readily prepared by nucleophilic substitution reaction, are fairly stable to air and moisture in the solid state. The inserted ethynediyl (C≡C) spacer cancels the steric hindrance between the bulky dimesitylboryl groups and aromatic rings, leading to effective π conjugation over the B-C≡C-Ar linkages, as revealed by cyclic voltammetry. Despite the small structural differences, the photophysical properties of the benzene, naphthalene, and anthracene derivatives are different. Virtually no emission was observed from the benzene derivatives, whereas the anthracene derivatives emitted with high quantum yields both in solution and in the solid state. Notably, the naphthalene derivatives showed aggregation-induced emission behavior. Unlike the common sterically congested triarylborane derivatives reported so far, the anthracene derivatives showed π-π*-type absorption and emission bands, which derive from efficient intramolecular orbital interactions between the boron centers and anthracene moieties, as supported by DFT calculations. As a result, the dimesitylborylethynyl substituents effectively lower the LUMO levels of the aromatic hydrocarbon parts, whereas the HOMO levels are almost unaffected, thereby leading to materials with controllable HOMO-LUMO gaps.


The Impact of Adipose Tissue on Insulin Resistance in Acromegaly.
Adipose tissue (AT) is recognized as key contributor to the systemic insulin resistance and overt diabetes seen in metabolic syndrome. Acromegaly is a disease characterized by excessive secretion of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). GH is known both for its action on AT and for its detrimental effect on glucose metabolism and insulin signaling. In active acromegaly, while body fat deports are diminished, insulin resistance is increased. Early studies have demonstrated defects in insulin action, both at the hepatic and extrahepatic (i.e., muscle and fat) levels, in active disease. This review discusses recent data suggesting that AT inflammation, altered AT distribution, and impaired adipogenesis are potential mechanisms contributing to systemic insulin resistance in acromegaly.


Influence of drug:hydroxypropylmethylcellulose ratio, drug and polymer particle size and compression force on the release of diclofenac sodium from HPMC tablets.
This study evaluates the relationship and influence of formulation and technological factors such as drug:hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) ratio, particle size of the drug, particle size of HPMC and compression force, on drug release from matrices containing HPMC and diclofenac sodium as a model drug. The influence of these variables was assessed by multi-way analysis of variance. The results of the present study point out that the rate and mechanism of diclofenac sodium release from HPMC K15M matrices are mainly controlled by the drug:HPMC ratio. The drug and HPMC particle size also influence the drug release parameters, although to a lesser extent. Finally, the independence of the drug release from matrix tablets with respect to the compression force is reported.


Shared and individual specificities of immunodominant cytotoxic T-cell clones in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria as determined by molecular analysis.
Similar immune mechanisms have been suggested to operate in aplastic anemia (AA) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and the presence of PNH clones in AA may indicate that an immune reaction directed against hematopoietic stem cells may be responsible for the immune selection pressure leading to PNH evolution. We previously described expansions of selective cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clones in AA patients. We applied a molecular analysis of the T-cell receptor repertoire to study the characteristics of CTL response in patients with various forms of PNH. Immunodominant T-cell clones were detected using combined flow cytometric and molecular analysis of the variable beta (VB) chain and CDR3 representation, followed by determination of the frequency of individual CDR3 clonotypes. Clonotypic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to establish clonotypic utilization pattern. In patients with a past history of AA, and when subgrouped by current blood counts as "hypoproliferative" PNH patients (in contrast to purely hemolytic form of PNH), more pronounced skewing of VB family utilization was found, consistent with T-cell responses involving several immunodominant CTL clones. Sequences of the PNH-derived clonotypes were used to design PCR-based assays for the utilization analysis of individual clones in PNH patients. The clonotypic distribution pattern established by this PCR method indicated that immunodominant T-cell specificities were shared between some patients but also may be found at low frequencies in controls. Analysis of the CDR3 sequence pattern as a marker for expanded immunodominant clonotypes may have an application in the study of T-cell responses in PNH.


Expressive suppression and rumination mediate the relationship between frailty and depression among older medical inpatients.
Frailty is common among older medical inpatients and has been found to be an independent risk factor for depression. However, few studies have explored the underlying mechanisms of the frailty-depression relationship. The present study was aimed to examine emotional regulation strategies as mediators in the frailty-depression relationship based on the process model of emotional regulation. Older medical inpatients (N=684) completed questionnaires and tests on frailty, emotional regulation strategies, and depressive symptoms. Structural equation models showed that expressive suppression and rumination, but not cognitive reappraisal, mediated the relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms (RMSEA = 0.059, CFI = 0.963, TLI = 0.957). Frail older medical inpatients habitually use expressive suppression and rumination in their daily lives, which may lead to more psychological disturbance. Interventions targeting expressive suppression and rumination might be effective in reducing the detrimental effect of frailty on psychological well-being among older medical inpatients.


Synthesis of new carbon-11 labeled naphthalene-sulfonamides for PET imaging of human CCR8.
Carbon-11 labeled naphthalene-sulfonamides, N-(4-(N-(4-[(11)C]methoxyphenyl)sulfamoyl)naphthalene-1-yl)benzamide ([(11)C]5a), N-(4-(N-(4-[(11)C]methoxyphenyl)sulfamoyl)naphthalene-1-yl)-2-methylbenzamide ([(11)C]5b), N-(4-(N-(4-[(11)C]methoxyphenyl)sulfamoyl)naphthalene-1-yl)-3-methylbenzamide ([(11)C]5c), N-[(11)C]methyl-N-methyl-4-(4-benzamidonaphthalene-1-sulfonamido)piperidine-1-carboxamide ([(11)C]9a) and N-[(11)C]methyl-N-methyl-4-(4-(2-methylbenzamido)naphthalene-1-sulfonamido)piperidine-1-carboxamide ([(11)C]9b), have been synthesized as new potential positron emission tomography (PET) agents for imaging of human CCR8. The target tracers were prepared by either O-[(11)C]methylation or N-[(11)C]methylation of their corresponding precursors using [(11)C]CH(3)OTf and isolated by either a simplified solid-phase extraction (SPE) purification procedure or a high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) method in 30-50% radiochemical yields decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB), 20-25 min overall synthesis time, and 74-111 GBq/micromol specific activity at end of synthesis (EOS).


Over two hundred polypeptides resolved from the human erythrocyte membrane.
A modification of O'Farrell's method of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis has allowed for the resolution of erythrocyte membranes showing up to 200 individual components. Data is presented which indicates that this protein heterogeneity is not produced by artifactual protein-protein aggregation, ednogenous protease activity of secondary charge modification. Similar patterns are obtained when the samples are added to the unpolymerized isoelectric focusing gel, and isolated and stored in protease inhibitor. Individual spots could be eluted off of stained gels, resolubilized under extreme detergent solubilization conditions and run on one-dimensional gels; these run as sodium dodecyl sulfate in the solubilization procedure. The method chosen for solubilization prior to isoelectric focusing appears to cause selective aggregation of all or most of the spectrin and band 3 proteins. This further allows for excellent resolution of more components.


Zinc significantly changes the aggregation pathway and the conformation of aggregates of human prion protein.
Prion diseases are caused by the conformational change of cellular prion protein PrP(C) into pathological prion protein PrP(Sc). Here we study the effect of zinc on the aggregation and conformational change of human prion protein (PrP). As revealed by thioflavin T binding assays, Sarkosyl-soluble SDS-PAGE, and transmission electron microscopy, aggregation of wild-type PrP in the absence of Zn(2+) undergoes four steps: amorphous aggregates, profibrils, mature fibrils, and fragmented fibrils. When the molar ratio of Zn(2+) to PrP was 9:1, however, aggregation of wild-type PrP undergoes another pathway in which wild-type PrP forms oligomers quickly and then forms short-rod aggregates. Unlike wild-type PrP, the octarepeats deletion mutant PrPΔocta forms typical mature fibrils either with or without zinc. As evidenced by isothermal titration calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and proteinase K digestion assays, Zn(2+) strongly binds to wild-type PrP monomers with the first binding constant exceeding 10(7)M(-1) under denaturing conditions, and changes the conformation of wild-type PrP aggregates remarkably, but weakly binds to PrPΔocta with binding affinity around 10(4)M(-1) and has no obvious effects on the conformation of PrPΔocta aggregates. Our data demonstrate that zinc significantly changes the aggregation pathway and the conformation of wild-type PrP aggregates mainly via interaction with its octarepeat region. Our findings could explain how zinc modifies pathological PrP conformation associated with prion diseases.


Formation of ochratoxin A and aflatoxins following the use of propionic acid as a grain preservative for storing damp barley.
The growth of storage moulds was studied in barley at 22% and approximately 28% moisture content treated with the recommended and reduced commercial doses of propionic acid over a 6 month storage period at 20°C. Experimental sample size was 5 kg barley per lot. Barley was fully protected against the growth ofA. flavus and aflatoxin formation when the recommended dose was applied. However, the treatment was less effective in controlling growth ofP. verrucosum and preventing ochratoxin A formation such that by 4 to 6 months of storage, the fungus had started to develop and toxin had formed even in some of the samples treated with propionic acid. The risk of the development of ochratoxin A during storage increased as the optimum dose was reduced, particularly for barley at 22% moisture content.


Complexity of Heart Rate Variability Can Predict Stroke-In-Evolution in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.
About one-third of acute stroke patients may experience stroke-in-evolution, which is often associated with a worse outcome. Recently, we showed that multiscale entropy (MSE), a non-linear method for analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), is an early outcome predictor in non-atrial fibrillation (non-AF) stroke patients. We aimed to further investigate MSE as a predictor of SIE. We included 90 non-AF ischemic stroke patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Nineteen (21.1%) patients met the criteria of SIE, which was defined as an increase in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of ≥2 points within 3 days of admission. The MSE of HRV was analyzed from 1-hour continuous ECG signals during the first 24 hours of admission. The complexity index was defined as the area under the MSE curve. Compared with patients without SIE, those with SIE had a significantly lower complexity index value (21.3 ± 8.5 vs 26.5 ± 7.7, P = 0.012). After adjustment for clinical variables, patients with higher complexity index values were significantly less likely to have SIE (odds ratio = 0.897, 95% confidence interval 0.818-0.983, P = 0.020). In summary, early assessment of HRV by MSE can be a potential predictor of SIE in ICU-admitted non-AF ischemic stroke patients.


Musculoskeletal MR Imaging Applications at Ultra-High (7T) Field Strength.
Regulatory approval of ultrahigh field (UHF) MR imaging scanners for clinical use has opened new opportunities for musculoskeletal imaging applications. UHF MR imaging has unique advantages in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, spectral resolution, and multinuclear applications, thus providing unique information not available at lower field strengths. But UHF also comes with a set of technical challenges that are yet to be resolved and may not be suitable for all imaging applications. This review focuses on the latest research in musculoskeletal MR imaging applications at UHF including morphologic imaging, T2, T2∗, and T1ρ mapping, chemical exchange saturation transfer, sodium imaging, and phosphorus spectroscopy imaging applications.


Thermal infrared imaging: toward diagnostic medical capability.
Thermal infrared imaging (TIRI) employs a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared detectors, with associated optics and optoelectronics to remotely detect and topographically map thermal emittance. Thermal and optical properties of human physioanatomy are not fully understood yet confounding diagnostic interpretation of human TIRI's. Elucidation of the specific physical mechanism via which thermal emission arises from human anatomy in-vivo requires empirical investigation under objective clinical protocols. This paper characterizes the fundamental architecture of the clinical TIRI system with a view to facilitation of objective protocol development, elucidation of the mechanism/s of human thermal infrared emittance, and eventual validation of TIRI as a diagnostic medical tool. Relevant recent and ongoing empirical studies by the authors are also summarized.


Striatal oligodendrogliogenesis and neuroblast recruitment are increased in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease.
The subventricular zone (SVZ) is one of the two major neurogenic regions in the adult mammalian brain. Its close proximity to the striatum suggests that a cell-based therapeutic strategy for the treatment of Huntington's disease (HD) is possible. To achieve this, it is important to understand how adult cell production, migration and differentiation may be altered in the HD brain. In this study, we quantified the number of adult-born striatal cells and characterized their fate in the R6/2 transgenic mouse model of HD. We found that the number of new striatal cells was approximately two-fold greater in R6/2 vs. wild type mice, while SVZ cell proliferation was not affected. Using cell-type specific markers, we demonstrated that the majority of new striatal cells were mature oligodendrocytes or oligodendroglial precursors that were intrinsic to the striatum. We also detected a significant increase in the number of migrating neuroblasts that appeared to be recruited from the SVZ to the striatum. However, these neuroblasts did not mature into neurons and most were lost between 1 and 2 weeks of cell age. Crossing the R6/2 mice with mice the over-expressing brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the striatum increased the numbers of neuroblasts that survived to 2 weeks, but did not promote their differentiation. Together, our data indicate that the potential treatment of HD based on manipulating endogenous progenitor cells should take into consideration the apparent enhancement in striatal oligodendrogliogenesis and the limited ability of recruited SVZ neuroblasts to survive long-term and differentiate in the diseased striatum.


Identification of tomato AHL gene families and functional analysis their roles in fruit development and abiotic stress response.
The AT-HOOK MOTIF CONTAINING NUCLEAR LOCALIZED (AHL) transcription factors play important roles in regulating plant development and stress response. However, the AHL family genes have not been identified in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and their biological functions have not been elucidated. In this work, the gene families encoding AHLs were identified in tomato genome, and their physical and chemical characteristics, subcellular localization, gene expression profiles during fruit development and upon abiotic stimulus were investigated. Overall, a total of 18 AHL members were identified in tomato genome, phylogenetic analysis classified these SlAHL members into two clades, clade A (SlAHL1-8) and clade B (SlAHL9-18). Six clade A SlAHLs were detected to be subcellular localized in the nucleus. The transcripts of the representative clade A SlAHLs predominantly accumulated 10 days post anthesis (dpa) in tomato fruits, revealing an involvement of these SlAHLs in early fruit development. Furthermore, compared with clade B members, the transcripts of the clade A SlAHLs were more responsive to heat, drought, cold and salt stresses, suggesting that these SlAHLs may play major roles in response to abiotic stresses. Moreover, overexpression of SlAHL1 and SlAHL7 in Arabidopsis increased the sensitivity to ABA during seed germination and seedling stages. Overexpression of SlAHL1 inhibited seed germination while increased primary root elongation upon salt and drought stresses. Together, our work suggested that the clade A SlAHL genes may play an important role in response to abiotic stresses, which paving the way for future functional analysis of AHL genes in tomato and other Solanaceae species.


Unilateral spinal anesthesia in two centenarian patients.
The use of unilateral spinal block with a specific hyperbaric mixture of bupivacaine and fentanyl in two centenarian women is presented. This technique was very effective in restricting sympathetic block, and it provided satisfactory analgesia and hemodynamic stability.


Comparative study on the different responses of maize photosynthesis to systemic regulation under light heterogeneity.
Photosynthetic performance of a leaf is widely recognized to be systemically regulated by distal parts within the same plant. However, the effects of systemic regulation on different plant materials cannot be generalized. In this work, two cultivars of maize (Zea mays L.), 'Rongyu 1210' (RY) and 'Zhongdan 808' (ZD), were selected for a comparative study on the different responses of photosynthesis to light-dependent systemic regulation. After the growth of plants in heterogeneous light, the net photosynthetic rate of newly developed leaves increased in RY but decreased in ZD. A distinct capacity of CO2 fixation and assimilation between these two cultivars is also suggested. In ZD, the area of vascular bundles declined obviously, suggesting a restriction on carbohydrate export, which is also indicated by an increase in starch content. Resulting excessive accumulation of carbohydrates is proposed to inhibit the carbon assimilation, and eventually the photosynthesis. A decline in the area of bundle sheath cells also suggests a restriction on carbon assimilation. In contrast, these restrictions were unlikely to present in RY. This study reveals that the response of leaf photosynthetic performance to light heterogeneity is largely dependent on the systemic regulation of carbon assimilation, as well as carbohydrate export in maize.


Effect of regular training on the myocardial and plasma concentrations of taurine and alpha-amino acids in thoroughbred horses.
Exercise induces significant changes in the free intracellular amino acid pool in skeletal muscle but little is known of whether such changes also occur in cardiac muscle. In this study the effect of regular exercise on the size and the constituents of the free amino acid pool in the hearts and in the plasma of thoroughbred horses was investigated. The total free intracellular amino acid pool in the hearts of control horses was 30.9 +/- 1.2 mumol/g wet weight (n = 6). Glutamine but not taurine was present at the highest concentration (13.5 +/- 0.9 and 7.7 +/- 0.69 mumol/g wet weight for glutamine and taurine respectively). As for the rest of the amino acids in the pool, only glutamate and alanine were present at levels greater than 1 mumol/g wet weight (4.6 +/- 0.25 and 1.7 +/- 0.14 for glutamate and alanine respectively). The tissue to plasma ratio was highest for taurine at 155, followed by glutamate at 111, aspartate and glutamine at 37, alanine at 5.8 and ratios of less than 3 for the rest of the amino acids. The total free intracellular amino acid pool in the hearts of exercised horses was slightly but not significantly lower than control (28.1 +/- 1.1 mumol/g wet weight, n = 6). Regular exercise increased the intracellular concentration of threonine, valine, isoleucine, leucine and phenylalanine but was only significant (p < 0.05) for threonine. This work has documented the profile of taurine and protein amino acids in the heart and in the plasma of thoroughbred horses and showed that in contrast to skeletal muscle, heart muscle does not show major changes in amino acids during regular exercise.


Vaginal pessaries in managing women with pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence: patient characteristics and factors contributing to success.
An aging population has resulted in higher prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). This study examines a nurse-run clinic and analyzes the factors contributing to successful pessary use. A retrospective chart review of 1,216 patients was completed. History, pelvic examination and pessary fitting was done. Data was analyzed utilizing a categorical model of maximum-likelihood estimation to investigate relationships. Median patient age was 63 years. Median number of pessaries tried was two. Eighty-five percent of post-menopausal women were on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prior to fitting. Highest success rate of 78% was in the group on both systemic and local HRT. Success rates ranged from 58% for urge incontinence to 83% for uterine prolapse. Prior vaginal surgery was a factor impacting success. In our series highest success rates for fitting were obtained with ring pessaries, ring with support, and gellhorns. This model is a viable, option for the conservative management of UI and POP. Local HRT plays an important role in successful pessary fitting. Complications are rare.


Dataset on physicochemical and microbial properties of raw water in four drinking water treatment plants based in South Africa.
The present paper aims at determining the status of surface water quality by applying the treatability index for the raw water in four water treatment plants (WTPs), namely Vaalkop, Klipdrift, Wallmansthal, and Cullinan. These plants are based in South Africa. Sampling was conducted from July 2011 to June 2018 (7 years). The collected water samples were analysed on monthly basis over the specified period. Three Hundred and thirty six (336) water samples were collected and analysed. The Treatability Index (TI) was calculated for twenty-one physicochemical and microbial parameters, which include pH, conductivity, chloride, sodium, potassium, hardness, alkalinity, precipitation potential, turbidity, colour, E. coli, organic carbon, chlorophyll, nitrite, ammonia, nitrates, phosphate, iron, manganese, and sulphate. The computed TI values range from 0.1 to 1755.5 and the water quality was unsuitable for a number of defined uses. The data demonstrated high treatment demand for raw water. On that note, the surface water from the monitored places is not suitable for drinking purposes. The data and treatability index denoted the need for treatment prior consumption. The collected water quality data can be reused for future references, modelling, and trending of historic data to understand current and prospect future changes in the properties of our raw water qualities.


Operation for delayed symptomatic brain oedema after treatment of an arteriovenous malformation by embolization and radiosurgery.
A patient with a Spetzler-Martin-grade-III AVM, initially embolized and then stereotactically irradiated, who - with a latency of several months - showed progressive neurological deterioration, is reported. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed enormous ipsilateral brain oedema, which did not respond to dexamethasone. Upon further neurological deterioration the former AVM nidus plus an adjacent rim of brain tissue were removed and the patient recovered considerably. It is concluded that embolization in conjunction with irradiation may impair the blood-brain-barrier with resulting long-term oedema in the surrounding brain, and that surgical treatment should be considered in selected cases.


Endoplasmic reticulum stress activation mediates Ginseng Rg3-induced anti-gallbladder cancer cell activity.
In the current study, we examined the potential effect of Ginsenoside Rg3 against gallbladder cancer cells, the underlying signaling mechanisms were also studied. We demonstrated that Rg3 exerted potent cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic activity against established and primary human gallbladder cancer cells. Yet it was safe to non-cancerous gallbladder epithelial cells. At the molecular level, we showed that Rg3 induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress activation, the latter was evidenced by C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) upregulation, inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)/PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) phosphorylations, and caspase-12 activation in gallbladder cancer cells. Reversely, the ER stress inhibitor salubrinal, the caspase-12 inhibitor z-ATAD-fmk as well as CHOP shRNA knockdown significantly attenuated Rg3-induced cytotoxicity against gallbladder cancer cells. In vivo, we showed that Rg3 oral administration significantly inhibited GBC-SD gallbladder cancer xenograft growth in nude mice, its activity was, however, compromised with co-administration of the ER stress inhibitor salubrinal. Thus, we suggest that ER stress activation mediates Ginseng Rg3-induced anti-gallbladder cancer cell activity in vitro and in vivo.


A Retrospective Study on Clinical Features of Childhood Moyamoya Disease.
Childhood moyamoya disease (MMD) can lead to progressive and irreversible neurological impairment. Early age at onset is likely associated with a worst prognosis of the disease. The study aims to summarize the clinical characteristics of childhood MMD for supporting the diagnosis and treatment of early MMD. A retrospective study was conducted on children aged zero to 16 years who were diagnosed with MMD in the Department of Neurology and neurosurgery of our hospital from October 2016 to April 2020. The clinical characteristics of children with MMD were summarized for analysis, and the distribution of sex and initial attack type among different age groups was determined by data comparison. The study surveyed 114 children (male to female sex ratio of 1:1.07) with MMD, and 6.1% of them had family history. The mean age of onset was 7.15 ± 3.30 years, and the peak age of onset was five to eight years. The most common initial attack type was transient ischemic attack (TIA) (62 cases, 54.4%) with limb weakness. The incidence of the initial attack type in the three age groups was varied (P < 0.05). The result of overall prognosis was good in 86 cases (89.6%). In this study, MMD cases were mainly ischemic type and TIA was the most common initial attack type. Infant group was more prone to have cerebral infarction, whereas preschool and school-age groups tended to have TIA. The treatments and prognosis of the studied MMD cases were achieved with good outcomes.


All-Arthroscopic Nanofractured Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis (A-NAMIC) Technique for the Treatment of Focal Chondral Lesions of the Knee.
Nanofractured autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (NAMIC©) is a 1-step technique that combines nanofracture needling to induce bone marrow stimulation (BMS) and the use of cell-free collagen matrix to optimize cartilage regeneration. In this Technical Note, we describe a modification of the NAMIC procedure using mosaicplasty trephines to prepare the lesion surface and to shape collagen implants in an all-arthroscopic approach (A-NAMIC). This technique is indicated for the treatment of International Cartilage Repair Society grade III to IV knee chondral lesions of ≤4 cm2. After damaged cartilage is debrided, trephines are used to create a flat, circular lesion surfaces. Subsequently, BMS is performed with nanofracture, eliciting reproducible and stop-controlled subchondral bone perforations of 9-mm depth and 1-mm width. The collagen membrane is then cut to size with the trephine, placed over the prepared defect, and secured with fibrin glue, preventing loss of regenerating cells and growth factors to the joint space. Using trephines allows the rapid and precise creation of smooth defect surfaces with known dimensions, ensuring optimal lesion coverage. Additionally, nanofracture reduces trabecular compaction and allows for a deeper access to subchondral bone in comparison with conventional microfracture, improving lesion filling and production of cartilage with higher hyaline content.


Corrigendum: Supplementation of nitric oxide and spermidine alleviates the nickel stress induced damage to growth, chlorophyll metabolism and photosynthesis by up-regulating ascorbate-glutathione and glyoxalase cycle functioning in tomato.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1039480.].


A patient with extramedullary acute myeloid leukaemia involving the brachial plexus: Case report and review of the literature.
Extramedullary leukaemic involvement is not uncommon as part of the presentation in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). However, infiltrative peripheral neuropathy due to AML was rarely reported. We report a case of extramedullary leukaemic infiltration of the brachial plexus in a patient with relapsed AML.


A longitudinal study of idiopathic osteosclerosis and condensing osteitis.
To document the prevalence of idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO) and condensing osteitis (CO) in a middle-age-to-older adult population and determine their long term behavior. Full-mouth radiographs of 1585 adults, with a mean age 44.0 years, were evaluated for the presence of radiopaque masses diagnosed as IO or CO. All lesions were followed for 2 to 28 years, mean 10.4, to determine changes in size and shape. There were 187 lesions detected, 100 IO in 90 subjects (5.7%) and 87 CO in 71 subjects (4.5%). At follow-up, 180 lesions (96%) were still present, of which 155 were unchanged in size, 18 were smaller, and 7 were larger. Idiopathic osteosclerosis in middle age to older adults is stable and requires no further action after documentation in the patient's clinical records.


Spoken word recognition in context: evidence from Chinese ERP analyses.
Two event-related potential (ERP) experiments were conducted to investigate spoken word recognition in Chinese and the effect of contextual constraints on this process. In Experiment 1, three kinds of incongruous words were formed by altering the first, second or both syllables of the congruous disyllabic terminal words in high constraint spoken sentences. Results showed an increase of N400 amplitude in all three incongruous word conditions and a delayed N400 effect in the cohort incongruous condition as compared with the rhyme incongruous and plain incongruous condition. In addition, unlike results in English, we found that the N400 effect in the rhyme incongruous condition disappeared earlier than in the plain incongruous condition. In Experiment 2, three kinds of nonwords derived from sentence congruous words were constructed by altering few or many phonetic features of the onset or the whole of the first syllable, and the resulting nonwords appeared as disyllabic terminal forms in either high or low constraint sentences. All three nonword conditions elicited the N400 component. In addition, in high constraint sentences but not in low, the amplitude and duration of the N400 varied as a function of the degree of phonetic mismatch between the terminal nonword and the expected congruous word.


Deficiency of Adenosine Deaminase 2 (DADA2), an Inherited Cause of Polyarteritis Nodosa and a Mimic of Other Systemic Rheumatologic Disorders.
A new autoinflammatory disease, deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2), caused by mutations in the CECR1 gene, was first reported in 2014. This review aims to update progress in defining, treating, and understanding this multi-faceted disorder. DADA2 was first described in patients with systemic inflammation, mild immune deficiency, and vasculopathy manifested as recurrent stroke or polyarteritis nodosa (PAN). More than 125 patients have now been reported, and the phenotype has expanded to include children and adults presenting primarily with pure red cell aplasia (PRCA), or with antibody deficiency. Age of onset and clinical severity vary widely, even among related patients, and are not clearly related to CECR1 genotype. Inflammatory features often respond to anti-TNF agents, but marrow failure and severe immune deficiency may require hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. ADA2 is expressed and secreted by monocytes and macrophages, but its biological function and the pathogenesis of DADA2 are uncertain and will remain an important area of research. Pre-clinical investigation of ADA2 replacement therapy and CECR1-directed gene therapy are warranted, but complicated by the absence of a suitable animal model.


The influences of maternal albumin concentrations on the placental transfer of propofol in human dually perfused cotyledon in vitro.
These results indicate that fetal exposure to propofol can vary considerably depending on maternal plasma albumin concentration. A fractional change in the maternal protein binding of propofol can result in a relatively large difference in fetal exposure.


CHD1 associates with NCoR and histone deacetylase as well as with RNA splicing proteins.
CHD1 is one of a family of nuclear proteins containing two chromodomains, a SWI/SNF-like helicase/ATPase domain and a DNA binding domain. We found that CHD1 co-immunoprecipitates with histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity and that CHD1 also associates with NCoR, a transcriptional corepressor, in yeast two-hybrid and in vitro pull-down assays. NCoR is known to associate with HDACs to effect its repressive activity, suggesting that the predicted chromatin remodeling activity of CHD1 plays a role in this repression. Yeast two-hybrid assays also showed that CHD1 interacts with splicing proteins mKIAA0164, Srp20, and SAF-B. Splicing assays show that CHD1 overexpression can affect alternative splicing. These results suggest that CHD1 may function in both chromatin mediated transcriptional repression and RNA splicing.


Exercise preconditioning attenuates cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal apoptosis, Th17/Treg imbalance, and inflammation in rats by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.
Exercise preconditioning (EP) is essential for preventing ischemic stroke. Recent studies have shown that EP exerts neuroprotective effects in the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury model. Nonetheless, there have been few reports on the relationship between EP and the Th17/Treg balance. Moreover, it is unclear whether the JAK2/STAT3 pathway is responsible for the neuroprotective effect of EP. Therefore, we aimed to explore the impact of EP, other than the anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic functions, on the Th17/Treg balance via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)-induced model. Fifty rats were randomly allocated into five groups, including the sham group (n = 10), EP+sham group (n = 10), MCAO group (n = 10), EP+MCAO group (n = 10), and EP+MCAO+JAK2/STAT3 pathway agonist (coumermycin A1, CA1) group (n = 10). The results indicated that EP alleviated neurological deficits, reduced infarct volume, and ameliorated neuronal apoptosis induced by MCAO. Additionally, the MCAO-induced Th17/Treg imbalance could be rectified by EP. The decreased levels of IL-10 and Foxp3 and increased IL-17 and RORα in the MCAO group were reversed by EP treatment. Regarding inflammation, EP reduced the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17 and elevated those of IL-10 and TGF-β. The neuroprotective effects of EP were accompanied by decreased phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3. Furthermore, CA1 pretreatment diminished all the beneficial effects of EP partially. Our findings suggest that EP contributes to attenuating neuronal apoptosis, Th17/Treg imbalance, and inflammation induced by MCAO via inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway, indicating its therapeutic potential in ischemic stroke.


Quality of life in epilepsy in Bhutan.
To assess the quality of life in epilepsy (QOLIE) among adults in the lower middle-income country of Bhutan and assess the potential demographic and clinical associations with better QOLIE. People with clinically diagnosed epilepsy were prospectively enrolled at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu (2014-2015). Regression models were constructed to assess the potential impact of age, sex, residence in the capital city, wealth quintile, educational attainment, seizure in the prior year, seizures with loss of consciousness, self-reported stigma score, and need for multiple antiepileptic drugs. The mean Bhutanese 48.4/100 ± 17.3 [corrected] score among 172 adults (mean age 31.1 years, 93 female) was 48.9/100±17.7. Younger age, lower educational attainment level, and increased self-perceived stigma were each observed to have an independent, negative association with QOLIE (p<0.05), while a patient's wealth quintile, sex, seizure frequency, seizure type and number of antiepileptic drugs were not. Education appeared to be most strongly associated with QOL at the high school and college levels. There are potentially modifiable associations with low QOLIE. Addressing the educational level and self-perceived stigma of PWE may have an especial impact. The low QOLIE in Bhutan may reflect cultural approaches to epilepsy, health services, or other factors including those outside of the health sector.


Cell wall channels of Rhodococcus species: identification and characterization of the cell wall channels of Rhodococcus corynebacteroides and Rhodococcus ruber.
The cell wall of Rhodococcus corynebacteroides formerly known as Nocardia corynebacteroides contains cell wall channels that are responsible for the cell wall permeability of this bacterium. Based on partial sequencing of the polypeptide subunits and a BLAST search, we identified one polypeptide of R. corynebacteroides (PorARc) and two polypeptides (PorARr and PorBRr) from the closely related bacterium Rhodococcus ruber. The corresponding genes, porARc (606 bp), porARr (702 bp), and porBRr (540 bp) are constituents of the known genome of R. corynebacteroides DSM-20151 and R. ruber DSM-43338, respectively. porARr and porBRr of R. ruber are possibly forming a common operon coding for the polypeptide subunits of the cell wall channel. The genes coding for PorARc and for PorARr and PorBRr without signal peptide were separately expressed in the porin-deficient Escherichia coli BL21DE3Omp8 strain and the proteins were purified to homogeneity. All proteins were checked for channel formation in lipid bilayers. PorARc formed channels with characteristics that were very similar to those of a previous study. The proteins PorARr and PorBRr expressed in E. coli could alone create channels in lipid bilayer membranes, despite the possibility that the two corresponding genes form a porin operon and that both subunits possibly form the cell wall channels in vivo. Based on amino acid sequence comparison of a variety of proteins forming cell wall channels in bacteria of the suborder Corynebacterineae, it seems very likely that PorARc, PorARr, and PorBRr are members of a huge family of proteins (PF09203) that form MspA-like cell wall channels.


Effect of immunosuppression on patients undergoing bariatric surgery.
Immunocompromised patients are at high risk of medical complications. Immunosuppression might be a relative contraindication to bariatric surgery. We describe our experience with immunosuppressed patients undergoing bariatric surgery and review the safety, efficacy, results, and outcomes. We performed a retrospective review of prospectively collected data. All patients taking long-term immunosuppressive medications or with a diagnosis of an immunosuppressive condition were included in this study. Data on weight loss, co-morbidities, complications, and postoperative immunosuppression were collected. From July 1999 to February 2008, 1566 patients underwent bariatric surgery. Of these 1566 patients, 61 (3.9%) were taking immunosuppressive medications or had an immunosuppressive condition. Of these 61 patients, 49 were taking immunosuppressive medications for asthma, autoimmune disorders, endocrine deficiency, or chronic inflammatory disorders. The medications included oral, inhaled, and topical glucocorticoids for 39 patients and other immunosuppressive or disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for 24 patients. The bariatric procedures included laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in 55, laparoscopic revisional procedures in 5, and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 1. No patient died perioperatively. A total of 26 complications occurred in 20 patients. The average percentage of excess weight loss was 72% (range 20-109%) at 1 year postoperatively. At a median postoperative follow-up of 18 months (range 2-68.6), 25 (51%) of 49 patients no longer required immunosuppressive medications owing to improvement of their underlying disease. Obesity-related health problems (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease, asthma) had resolved or improved in 80-100% of patients. The results of our study have shown that immunocompromised patients can safely undergo bariatric surgery with good weight loss results and improvement in co-morbidities. A large percentage of patients were able to discontinue immunosuppressive medications postoperatively.


Visible-spectroscopy study of the adsorption of alizarinate by Al-montmorillonite in aqueous suspensions and in solid state.
The adsorption of the monovalent anionic dye alizarinate onto Na- and Al-montmorillonite was carried out by adding the dye into aqueous clay suspensions. Electronic spectra of aqueous suspensions and of air-dried dye-clay complexes were studied. Na-montmorillonite adsorbed only part of the added dye. With total amount of alizarinate up to 5 mmol dye per 100 g clay the adsorption of the dye takes place on the broken bonds, leading to peptization of the clay. Al-montmorillonite adsorbed alizarinate completely up to 10 mmol per 100 g clay. Above this loading there was a partition of the dye between the clay and the supernatant. The maximum adsorption for Na- and Al-clay was 4 and 25 mmol dye per 100 g clay, respectively. Absorption bands in the spectrum of Al-montmorillonite suspensions (488-504 nm) appear at longer wavelengths than in the spectrum of air-dried Al-montmorillonite (415-455 nm). Thermo-X-ray study of these clay-alizarinate complexes suggests that the organic compound was located in the interlayer space in Al-montmorillonite but was not located there in Na-montmorillonite. In Al-montmorillonite alizarinate formed a coordination complex with exchangeable Al(3+). In Na-montmorillonite it formed bonds with Al exposed on the broken-bonds sites.


Quality of life after revision mastoidectomy with mastoid obliteration.
To evaluate the postoperative quality of life (QoL) after revision canal wall down mastoidectomy with mastoid obliteration (rCWD). A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients treated by rCWD for cholesteatoma between 2016 and 2019. A control group including all patients treated by primary canal wall down with mastoid obliteration (pCWD) for cholesteatoma between 2009 and 2014 was used for the comparison of the postoperative QoL, assessed by the COMQ-12. The rCWD and pCWD groups respectively counted 38 and 78 patients with an average follow-up of 30 and 62 months respectively. No significant difference was found in terms of QoL between the two groups. An intra-group analysis among rCWD patients, showed that patients treated by canal wall down (CWD) at the primary surgery had a significantly worse post-revision QoL compared to those initially treated by canal wall up (CWU), specifically in the hearing and balance domains of the questionnaire. Revision mastoid obliteration leads to similar QoL results to those obtained after primary CWD with obliteration. Patients who had undergone a CWD as primary surgery complain worse hearing and balance problems compared to those primarily submitted to CWU, even after revision surgery.


Transcription repressor HANABA TARANU controls flower development by integrating the actions of multiple hormones, floral organ specification genes, and GATA3 family genes in Arabidopsis.
Plant inflorescence meristems and floral meristems possess specific boundary domains that result in proper floral organ separation and specification. HANABA TARANU (HAN) encodes a boundary-expressed GATA3-type transcription factor that regulates shoot meristem organization and flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Through time-course microarray analyses following transient overexpression of HAN, we found that HAN represses hundreds of genes, especially genes involved in hormone responses and floral organ specification. Transient overexpression of HAN also represses the expression of HAN and three other GATA3 family genes, HANL2 (HAN-LIKE 2), GNC (GATA, NITRATE-INDUCIBLE, CARBON-METABOLISM-INVOLVED), and GNL (GNC-LIKE), forming a negative regulatory feedback loop. Genetic analysis indicates that HAN and the three GATA3 family genes coordinately regulate floral development, and their expression patterns are partially overlapping. HAN can homodimerize and heterodimerize with the three proteins encoded by these genes, and HAN directly binds to its own promoter and the GNC promoter in vivo. These findings, along with the fact that constitutive overexpression of HAN produces an even stronger phenotype than the loss-of-function mutation, support the hypothesis that HAN functions as a key repressor that regulates floral development via regulatory networks involving genes in the GATA3 family, along with genes involved in hormone action and floral organ specification.


Neutron activation analysis of trace elements in human hair: effect of dietary and environmental factors.
Effect of environment and dietary habits on trace element contents in human scalp hair has been investigated in the present work. Trace elements were detected with neutron activation technique. It was found that diet and environment contribute largely towards the trace elements in human body. Further trace elements Te, Lu, Ba, Cs, Yb, Re, Hf, In and Ir were detected for the first time in human scalp hair.


Endoscopic treatment of paediatric subglottic stenosis and cyst (with video).
The aim of this article is to describe step by step the endoscopic treatment of acquired subglottic stenosis (SGS) in an infant and to show the endoscopic results one month after surgery. Case presentation with instructional video. University Hospital of Verona, Italy. We present the case of a 6-month-old ex-26-week preterm female infant who required prolonged intubation in the neonatal period. She referred to our hospital for persistent inspiratory and expiratory stridor, and laboured breathing. The endoscopic dynamic examination of upper airway revealed the presence of type 3 laryngomalacia and subglottic stenosis grade III according to Myers-Cotton classification. An endoscopic balloon laryngoplasty was planned. Two laryngeal dilatations were performed. The endoscopic exploration after the first dilatation showed the presence of a subglottic cyst on the anterior surface of the subglottis. The treatment of subglottic cyst consisted of marsupialization of the cyst with cold microinstruments, and subsequent suction of its content. An endoscopic check-up was carried out one month after surgery. The examination of the upper airway under spontaneous respiration didn't show significant subglottic stenosis. A very small subglottic cyst under the anterior commissure was observed. However, no more balloon dilatations or marsupialization of the cyst were performed in order to avoid the formation of synechiae. Treatment of SGS must be planned according to the extent of the stenosis and the history of the patient. Endoscopic procedures, such as balloon dilatation and cyst marsupialization, are best chosen for patients with isolated SGS without prior treatment failure.


Controls on the discharge of Chalk streams of the Berkshire Downs, UK.
The water quality and biological functioning of major UK rivers draining permeable basins cannot be fully understood without knowledge of the spatial and temporal controls on the aquifer-river system. In this paper, hydrogeological features of Chalk streams feeding the Thames, the focus of this special issue, are described. Large-scale features, such as line sinks along the Thames and major tributaries such as the Kennet, tend to determine the regional groundwater flow patterns in the Chalk aquifer, whereas the complex characteristics of the Chalk dominate the local spatial and temporal patterns of groundwater discharge to the tributaries draining the dip slopes. These different controls are described and illustrated by particular reference to the Lambourn (a sub-catchment of the Kennet) and Pang catchments. Various issues requiring further investigation are also highlighted.


Short-term inhibition of fibrinolytic system restores locomotor function after spinal cord injury in mice.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by an initial mechanical insult followed by a series of deleterious events that promote the progressive damage of affected tissues. Fibrinolysis, the process by which plasmin degrades cross-linked fibrin clots, has numerous functions in the central nervous system. However, the roles of the fibrinolytic system in SCI pathophysiology remain unknown. We investigated the roles of fibrinolysis in SCI, and explored therapeutic applications targeting fibrinolysis. Plasminogen-deficient (Plg-/-) mice exhibited significantly improved locomotor function in the early phase of SCI (the first 7 days post injury), with significant inhibition of bleeding and vascular permeability, but failed to demonstrate conclusive functional recovery. Consistent with these findings, the short-term administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) in wild-type mice over the first 3 days post injury significantly improved locomotor function after SCI, whereas prolonged TXA administration did not. Prolonged TXA administration resulted in significantly lower levels of matrix metalloproteinase activities in the spinal cord, suggesting that inhibition of the fibrinolytic system impaired tissue remodeling. Our results indicate that the fibrinolytic system has time-dependent biphasic actions following SCI. The temporally optimised modulation of fibrinolytic activity may thus be a novel therapeutic strategy to improve functional outcomes after SCI.


Empirical analysis on the impact of trust in government, purposes of GM crops, and farmers' expectations on the delayed commercialization of GM crops in China---Based on Xinjiang and Guangdong survey samples.
GM crops, as a widely researched and applied biotechnology, hold significant strategic and practical implications for promoting the commercialization of GM crops in China, driving agricultural industry upgrading, and fostering economic and social development. However, despite their potential benefits, the commercialization of GM crops in China has been consistently delayed. Therefore, this study aims to explore the trust relationship between the government and the public in the field of genetically modified organisms and the heterogeneous impacts generated at the production and consumption ends. We primarily focus on insect-resistant cotton and genetically modified papaya as representatives and base our research on survey data from Xinjiang and Guangdong. By employing factor analysis and establishing multiple Probit models with government trust, crop purposes, and farmer expectations as independent variables, and the commercialization of GM crops as the dependent variable, we conduct two sets of empirical analyses. The study finds that government trust has a more significant impact on consumer concerns about whether to consume GM products than on producers, who prioritize farmers' desire for agricultural product profitability. Age and education levels also influence the public's acceptance of planting GM crops, but the effects are not as significant as the core variables mentioned earlier. Based on this, we conclude that consumers and farmers have different positions and contradictions in the specific scenario of delayed GM commercialization in China. In this context, this paper argues that diversified strategies should be adopted to address the issue of commercialization of GM crops in China.


Gene structure and expression of rice seed allergenic proteins belonging to the alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family.
Genomic and two novel cDNA clones for rice seed allergenic protein (RA) belonging to the alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family were isolated and their nucleotide sequences determined. Ten cysteine residues deduced from nucleotide sequences were completely conserved among three cDNA clones including a clone, RA17, reported previously. One genomic clone, lambda 4, contained two RA genes, RAG1 and RAG2. Although RAG1 was cloned at the 5' portion only, two RA genes were arranged divergently. Nucleotide sequencing and DNA blotting analyses showed that RA are encoded by a multigene family consisting of at least four members. The transcriptional initiation site of RAG1 was localized at A, 26 bp upstream of the putative translational initiation codon, ATG, by the primer extension assay. The putative TATA box and CAAT box existed about 45 bp and 147 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site, respectively. A conserved sequence (ATGCAAAA) which was similar to the sequence (TGCAAAA) identified in rice glutelin promoters was observed in the 5' region of the two genes. In addition, RNA blotting analyses provided that RA genes specifically expressed in ripening seed and their transcripts accumulated maximally between 15 and 20 days after flowering.


Phase reduction and phase-based optimal control for biological systems: a tutorial.
A powerful technique for the analysis of nonlinear oscillators is the rigorous reduction to phase models, with a single variable describing the phase of the oscillation with respect to some reference state. An analog to phase reduction has recently been proposed for systems with a stable fixed point, and phase reduction for periodic orbits has recently been extended to take into account transverse directions and higher-order terms. This tutorial gives a unified treatment of such phase reduction techniques and illustrates their use through mathematical and biological examples. It also covers the use of phase reduction for designing control algorithms which optimally change properties of the system, such as the phase of the oscillation. The control techniques are illustrated for example neural and cardiac systems.


Comparative glycoproteomics of stem cells identifies new players in ricin toxicity.
Glycosylation, the covalent attachment of carbohydrate structures onto proteins, is the most abundant post-translational modification. Over 50% of human proteins are glycosylated, which alters their activities in diverse fundamental biological processes. Despite the importance of glycosylation in biology, the identification and functional validation of complex glycoproteins has remained largely unexplored. Here we develop a novel quantitative approach to identify intact glycopeptides from comparative proteomic data sets, allowing us not only to infer complex glycan structures but also to directly map them to sites within the associated proteins at the proteome scale. We apply this method to human and mouse embryonic stem cells to illuminate the stem cell glycoproteome. This analysis nearly doubles the number of experimentally confirmed glycoproteins, identifies previously unknown glycosylation sites and multiple glycosylated stemness factors, and uncovers evolutionarily conserved as well as species-specific glycoproteins in embryonic stem cells. The specificity of our method is confirmed using sister stem cells carrying repairable mutations in enzymes required for fucosylation, Fut9 and Slc35c1. Ablation of fucosylation confers resistance to the bioweapon ricin, and we discover proteins that carry a fucosylation-dependent sugar code for ricin toxicity. Mutations disrupting a subset of these proteins render cells ricin resistant, revealing new players that orchestrate ricin toxicity. Our comparative glycoproteomics platform, SugarQb, enables genome-wide insights into protein glycosylation and glycan modifications in complex biological systems.


Evolution of marsupials traced by their neurohypophyseal hormones: microidentification of mesotocin and arginine vasopressin in two Australian families, Dasyuridae and Phascolarctidae.
Neurohypophyseal hormones of two species belonging to the family Dasyuridae, namely Dasyurus viverrinus (Eastern native cat) and Dasyuroides byrnei (Kowari), and of the single living member of the family Phascolarctidae, Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala) have been isolated and characterized by their retention times in high-pressure reverse-phase partition chromatography and either amino acid composition or amino acid sequence through a gas-phase microsequencer. Mesotocin and arginine vasopressin have been identified in the three species. The same hormones have previously been found in a species belonging to the family Phalangeridae, Trichosurus vulpecula (brush-tailed possum), whereas in five species of Macropodidae, mesotocin, lysipressin, and phenypressin have been characterized. Because the four Australian marsupial families examined up to now possess mesotocin and at least a vasopressin-like peptide, it is assumed that the primitive marsupial settler in Australia was endowed with mesotocin and arginine vasopressin.


The use of ultrasonography and digital mammography in women under 40 years with symptomatic breast cancer: a 7-year Irish experience.
Breast cancer in women under 40 years of age is rare and typically presents symptomatically. The optimal imaging modality for this patient group is controversial. Most women undergo ultrasonography with/without mammography. Young women typically have dense breasts, which can obscure the features of malignancy on film mammography, however, initial studies have suggested that digital mammography may have a more accurate diagnostic performance in younger women. Ultrasound generally performs well in this age group, although it is poor at detecting carcinoma in situ (DCIS). To evaluate the comparative diagnostic performance of ultrasonography and digital mammography in the initial diagnostic evaluation of women under 40 years of age with symptomatic breast cancer. Retrospective review of all women under the age of 40 years managed at our symptomatic breast cancer unit from January 2009 to December 2015. There were 120 patients that met the inclusion criteria for this study. The sensitivity of ultrasonography and digital mammography for breast cancer in this patient group was 95.8 and 87.5 %, respectively. The patients with a false negative mammographic examination were more likely to have dense breasts (p < 0.01). Five patients had a false negative ultrasonographic examination, withal of whom were diagnosed with DCIS detected by mammography. This study demonstrates the superior sensitivity of ultrasound for breast cancer in women under the age of 40 years, however, the results show that digital mammography has an important complimentary role in the comprehensive assessment of these patients, particularly in the diagnosis of DCIS.


Adverse reactions to ultrasound contrast agents: is the risk worth the benefit?
The introduction of ultrasound contrast agents has led to a marked improvement in diagnostic capabilities in echocardiography. As no serious adverse events were seen during the preclinical development phase, ultrasound contrast agents were thought to be safe. Recently, three fatal and 19 severe, non-fatal adverse reactions were reported in a post marketing analysis of more than 150,000 studies of Sonovue, which has led to the addition of several contra-indications for the use of this ultrasound contrast agent. Although a strong relationship was established between the non-fatal cases and administration of Sonovue, a causal relationship between the fatal cases and the use of Sonovue is debatable. Therefore, the risk associated with the use of this ultrasound contrast agent should be judged carefully, taking into consideration the prevalence of adverse effects of other contrast media and diagnostic procedures used in cardiology.


Activity-dependent survival and enhanced turnover of calcium in cultured rat cerebellar granule neurons.
Neurons survive when their activity is maintained. An influential hypothesis on the cellular mechanism underlying this phenomenon is that there is an appropriate range of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) for survival. The rat cerebellar granule neuron in culture serves as the most often used model system for the analysis of activity-dependent survival, since it does not survive unless an excitant (KCl or glutamate) is added to the culture medium. Against the above-mentioned hypothesis, we found in our previous examination no difference between steady-state [Ca2+]i in granule neurons cultured under high KCl (i.e., survival) and low KCl (i.e., death) conditions. In this report, we present the quantitative background of unchanged [Ca2+]i between the two culture conditions. Influx of Ca2+ due predominantly to L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels was higher in high KCl cultures than in low KCl cultures. At the same time, efflux of Ca2+ due to the activity of Ca2+/Na+ antiport was also higher in high KCl cultures. Additionally, we found that the endocytotic activity was greater in high KCl cultures than in low KCl cultures, as monitored by the rate of uptake of horseradish peroxidase added to medium. Since the uptake was blocked by an internal Ca2+ chelator, the increased endocytotic activity in high KCl cultures might be a consequence of the enhanced Ca2+ turnover.


Automated Breast Ultrasound: Dual-Sided Compared with Single-Sided Imaging.
The design and performance of a mammographically configured, dual-sided, automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) 3-D imaging system are described. Dual-sided imaging (superior and inferior) is compared with single-sided imaging to aid decisions on clinical implementation of the more complex, but potentially higher-quality dual-sided imaging. Marked improvement in image quality and coverage of the breast is obtained in dual-sided ultrasound over single-sided ultrasound. Among hypo-echoic masses imaged, there are increases in the mean contrast-to-noise ratio of 57% and 79%, respectively, for spliced dual-sided versus superior or inferior single-sided imaging. The fractional breast volume coverage, defined as the percentage volume in the transducer field of view that is imaged with clinically acceptable quality, is improved from 59% in both superior and inferior single-sided imaging to 89% in dual-sided imaging. Applying acoustic coupling to the breast requires more effort or sophisticated methods in dual-sided imaging than in single-sided imaging.


The treatment of pilonidal disease: guidelines of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR).
The Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR.) has prepared clinical practice guidelines to help its members to optimize the treatment of pilonidal disease, a very common condition, especially among young people, and therefore of great importance on a socioeconomic level. The SICCR committee of experts on pilonidal disease analyzed the international literature and evaluated current evidence. Nonoperative management includes gluteal cleft shaving, laser epilation as well as fibrin glue and phenol injection: reported healing rates and recurrence incidence are satisfactory but the majority of studies are small series with low-quality evidence. Surgical therapy which can be divided into two categories: excision of diseased tissue with primary closure using different techniques or excision with healing by secondary intention. On the whole, no clear benefit is demonstrated for one technique over the other.


The LysR-type transcriptional regulator, CidR, regulates stationary phase cell death in Staphylococcus aureus.
The Staphylococcus aureus LysR-type transcriptional regulator, CidR, activates the expression of two operons including cidABC and alsSD that display pro- and anti-death functions, respectively. Although several investigations have focused on the functions of different genes associated with these operons, the collective role of the CidR regulon in staphylococcal physiology is not clearly understood. Here we reveal that the primary role of this regulon is to limit acetate-dependent potentiation of cell death in staphylococcal populations. Although both CidB and CidC promote acetate generation and cell death, the CidR-dependent co-activation of CidA and AlsSD counters the effects of CidBC by redirecting intracellular carbon flux towards acetoin formation. From a mechanistic standpoint, we demonstrate that CidB is necessary for full activation of CidC, whereas CidA limits the abundance of CidC in the cell.


ABO-blood type incompatible living donor liver transplantation in a patient with Budd-Chiari Syndrome secondary to essential thrombocythemia.
Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) results from diverse causative factors. Myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) including essential thrombocythemia (ET) account for a minority of BCS cases in Japan. ABO-blood-type incompatible living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in adults has become an acceptable procedure owing to the development of new strategies for preventing antibody-mediated rejection. This report presents a rare case of BCS secondary to ET, which was cured by an ABO-incompatible (AB to A) LDLT. In this case, prostaglandin E(1) and gabexate mesilate were administered into portal vein and rituximab prophylaxis was applied. No splenectomy was performed as it is in most ABO-incompatible cases, since a flow cytometry showed no anti-B antibodies in the splenocytes collected by a wedge biopsy during the LDLT. The postoperative course was uneventful. Anti-coagulation therapy was initiated with aspirin and warfarin instead of hydroxyurea. This report describes an ABO-incompatible LDLT without a splenectomy for BCS secondary to ET.


Luteolin inhibits herpes simplex virus 1 infection by activating cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase-mediated antiviral innate immunity.
The successive outbreaks of large-scale infectious diseases due to virus infection have been a major threat to human health in recent decades. Herpes simplex virus I (HSV-1) is a widely-disseminated DNA virus that infects the central nervous system to cause herpes labialis, keratitis and herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSE), resulting in recurrent lifelong clinical or subclinical episodes. Luteolin is a plant flavone that has been extensively used in the treatment of various human diseases, including carcinogenesis, inflammation and chronic degenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the antiviral molecular mechanism of luteolin against HSV-1 infection in vitro and in vivo. The antiviral effect of luteolin in cell lines was examined by viral plaque assay, RT-qPCR, Western blot and time-of-addition assay. The interaction between luteolin and cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase (cGAS) was evaluated by molecular modeling and semi-denaturing detergent agarose gel electrophoresis. The efficacy of luteolin on HSE was evaluated in the HSE mouse model by analyzing weight loss, neurodegenerative symptoms and histopathological scores. Cytokine expression and protein levels were examined by RT-qPCR, Western blot and ELISA. Luteolin inhibited the early process of HSV-1 infection, without affecting the infection of acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 strains. In addition, luteolin enhanced antiviral type I interferon production and activated the cytoplasmic DNA-sensing cGAS-stimulator of interferon gene (STING) pathway. Luteolin directly bound the active substrate binding site and promoted the oligomerization of cGAS. Luteolin also inhibited HSE-related weight loss, neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in mice caused by HSV-1 infection. Furthermore, luteolin enhanced type I interferon expression and stimulated the cGAS-STING signaling pathway in vivo. Luteolin inhibited the post-entry process of HSV-1 by activating the cGAS-STING pathway to promote antiviral interferon production. These results provided the rationale for luteolin as a potent cGAS activator and antiviral agent.


Immobilization pathways of heavy metals in composting: Interactions of microbial community and functional gene under varying C/N ratios and bulking agents.
Excessive heavy metals (HMs) in livestock manure due to additives over-use limits its recycling through composting. However, few studies have investigated the interactive influence of microbial communities, functional genes, and environmental factors in HM immobilization during composting. Therefore, treatments with different C/N ratios (15:1, 20:1, 25:1) and bulking agents (maize straw, green waste, vinasse) were conducted to explore the HMs immobilization pathways using structural equation model (SEM). Results confirmed the promoting effect of C/N ratio of 20:1 and vinasse on microbial diversity, thus leading to greater HMs immobilization rate. Meanwhile, the dominant microbial phyla of Cu/Zn, Cd, As, and Cr were identified as Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Chytridiomycota, and Bacteroidota, respectively. Moreover, the significant correlation between functional genes (copC, mt, cbh1, aoxB, yieF) and HMs illustrated potential immobilization effects of metal-binding proteins on Cu and Zn, humus complexation on Zn, and oxidase/reductase on As/Cr. Finally, SEM indicated that the redistribution of Cu, Zn, As, and Cr fractions was interactively influenced by environmental factors (organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, and total phosphorus), microbial communities, and functional genes, while Cd was directly regulated by organic matter and total phosphorus. These results may provide a deeper understanding of HM immobilization pathways during swine manure composting.


Compatibility of the entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium muscarium and insecticides for eradication of sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.
The compatibility of the entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium muscarium and chemical insecticides used to control the second instar stages of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, was investigated. The effect on spore germination of direct exposure for 24 h to the insecticides imidacloprid, buprofezin, teflubenzuron and nicotine was determined. Only exposure to buprofezin was followed by acceptable spore germination. However, all chemicals significantly reduced spore germination when compared to a water control. Infectivity of L. muscarium in the presence of dry residues of buprofezin, teflubenzuron and nicotine (imidacloprid is a systemic pesticide) on foliage were also investigated. No significant detrimental effects on the level of control of B. tabaci was recorded when compared with fungi applied to residue free foliage on either tomato or verbena plants. Fungi in combination with imidacloprid gave higher B. tabaci mortality on verbena foliage compared to either teflubenzuron or nicotine and fungi combinations. Use of these chemical insecticides with L. muscarium in integrated control programmes for B. tabaci is discussed.


Effects of polystyrene nanoplastics with different functional groups on rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings: Combined transcriptome, enzymology, and physiology.
Plastic particles originate from the daily use of plastics and have become a new form of pollutant. However, the effects of nanoplastics (NPs) on higher plants remain largely unclear, thus requiring further research. In this study, rice plants were exposed to polystyrene (PS) NPs with different functional groups to determine their toxicity. The presence of NPs reduced the biomass and photosynthetic capacity of rice. Compared with control (CK), the heights of rice plants exposed to no-modified PS, carboxyl-modified PS (PS-COOH) and amino-modified PS (PS-NH2) groups decreased by 13.59%, 26.61%, and 42.71%, while the dry shoot weight decreased by 47.46%, 50.09%, and 71.04%, respectively. All treatments activated the antioxidant levels of rice and reduced photosynthesis. Transcriptome analysis showed that NPs induced the expression of genes related to antioxidant enzyme activity in rice roots. Rice could partially reduce the xenobiotic toxicity caused by external sources by regulating phenylpropane biosynthesis and the processes involved in cell detoxification. PS mainly affected the process of RNA metabolism, while PS-COOH mainly affected ion transport, and PS-NH2 mainly affected the synthesis of macromolecular protein, which had different effects on rice growth.


Anaphylatoxins in organ transplantation.
C3a and C5a (also called anaphylatoxins) are inflammatory peptides generated during complement activation. They do not only play important roles in innate immunity through the initiation and regulation of inflammatory responses, but also significantly influence adaptive immune responses. Organ transplantation triggers an initial inflammatory response and subsequent to the specific immune response (also called the alloimmune response), both of which contribute to graft rejection. Emerging evidence suggests that anaphylatoxins, particularly C5a, are significantly involved in both inflammatory and alloimmune responses following organ transplantation, thus influencing graft outcome. This review will provide the information on our current understanding of the roles for anaphylatoxins in ischemia-reperfusion injury, graft rejection, and transplant tolerance, and the therapeutic potential of targeting anaphylatoxin receptors in organ transplantation.


Melectin: a novel antimicrobial peptide from the venom of the cleptoparasitic bee Melecta albifrons.
A novel antimicrobial peptide designated melectin was isolated from the venom of the cleptoparasitic bee Melecta albifrons. Its primary sequence was established as H-Gly-Phe-Leu-Ser-Ile-Leu-Lys-Lys-Val-Leu-Pro-Lys-Val-Met-Ala-His-Met-Lys-NH(2) by Edman degradation and ESI-QTOF mass spectrometry. Synthetic melectin exhibited antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and -negative bacteria and it degranulated rat peritoneal mast cells, but its hemolytic activity was low. The CD spectra of melectin measured in the presence of trifluoroethanol and sodium dodecyl sulfate showed a high content alpha-helices, which indicates that melectin can adopt an amphipathic alpha-helical secondary structure in an anisotropic environment such as the bacterial cell membrane. To envisage the role of the proline residue located in the middle of the peptide chain on biological activity and secondary structure, we prepared several melectin analogues in which the Pro11 residue was either replaced by other amino acid residues or was omitted. The results of biological testing suggest that a Pro kink in the alpha-helical structure of melectin plays an important role in selectivity for bacterial cells. In addition, a series of N- and C-terminal-shortened analogues was synthesized to examine which region of the peptide is related to antimicrobial activity.


Patterns of correlation of facial shape with physiological measurements are more integrated than patterns of correlation with ratings.
This article exploits a method recently incorporated in the geometric morphometric toolkit that complements previous approaches to quantifying the facial features associated with specific body characteristics and trait attribution during social perception. The new method differentiates more globally encoded from more locally encoded information by a summary scaling dimension that is estimated by fitting a line to the plot of log bending energy against log variance explained, partial warp by partial warp, for some sample of varying shapes. In the present context these variances come from the regressions of shape on some exogenous cause or effect of form. We work an example involving data from male faces. Here the regression slopes are steepest, and the sums of explained variances over the uniform component, partial warp 1 and partial warp 2 are greatest, for the conventional body mass index, followed by cortisol and, lastly, perceived health. This suggests that physiological characteristics may be represented at larger scale (global patterns), whereas cues in perception are of smaller scale (local patterns). Such a polarity within psychomorphospace, the global versus the focal, now has a metric by which patterns of morphology can be modeled in both biological and psychological studies.


Does telephone triage of emergency (999) calls using Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch (AMPDS) with Department of Health (DH) call prioritisation effectively identify patients with an acute coronary syndrome? An audit of 42,657 emergency calls to Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
The National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease requires identification of patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to enable prompt identification of those who may subsequently require pre-hospital thrombolysis. The Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) with Department of Health (DH) call prioritisation is now the common triage tool for emergency ('999') calls in the UK. We retrospectively examined patients with ACS to identify whether this triage tool had been able to allocate an appropriate emergency response. All emergency calls to Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (HAST) from the Southampton area over an 8 month period (January to August 2004) were analysed. The classification allocated to the patient by AMPDS (version 10.4) was specifically identified. Data from the Myocardial Infarct National Audit Project) were obtained from the receiving hospital in Southampton to identify the actual number of patients with a true ACS. In total, 42 657 emergency calls were made to HAST from the Southampton area. Of these, 263 patients were subsequently diagnosed in hospital as having an ACS. Of these 263 patients, 76 presented without chest pain. Sensitivity of AMPDS for detecting ACS in this sample was 71.1% and specificity 92.5%. Positive predictive value was 5.6% (95% confidence interval 4.8 to 6.4%), and 12.5% (33/263) of patients with confirmed ACS were classified as non-life threatening (category B) incidents. Only one of approximately every 18 patients with chest pain has an ACS. AMPDS with DH call prioritisation is not a tool designed for clinical diagnosis, and its extension into this field does not enable accurate identification of patients with ACS.


The effect of 5-hydroxytryptophan on food intake and on the anorexic action of amphetamine and fenfluramine.
5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), amphetamine and fenfluramine suppressed food intake in normal rats and in aminals with lesions of the lateral hypothalamus. The anorexic effect of amphetamine was reduced in lesioned animals compared with controls while the effect of 5-HTP like that of fenfluramine was increased. When administered in conjunction with anorexic drugs, 5-HTP markedly potentiated the anorexic effect of amphetamine in both control and lesioned animals. However, 5-HTP potentiated fenfluramine anorexia only in lesioned rats. These findings provide further evidence for the role of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT,in the anorexic effect of fenfluramine, and suggest that a 5-HT mechanism, inhibitory for feeding, produces particulary severe suppression of food intake in rats with lateral hypothalamic lesions.


Characterization of E3 ligases involved in lysosomal sorting of the HIV-1 restriction factor BST2.
The cellular protein BST2 (also known as tetherin) acts as a major intrinsic antiviral protein that prevents the release of enveloped viruses by trapping nascent viral particles at the surface of infected cells. Viruses have evolved specific strategies to displace BST2 from viral budding sites in order to promote virus egress. In HIV-1, the accessory protein Vpu counters BST2 antiviral activity and promotes sorting of BST2 for lysosomal degradation. Vpu increases polyubiquitylation of BST2, a post-translation modification required for Vpu-induced BST2 downregulation, through recruitment of the E3 ligase complex SCF adaptors β-TrCP1 and β-TrCP2 (two isoforms encoded by BTRC and FBXW11, respectively). Herein, we further investigate the role of the ubiquitylation machinery in the lysosomal sorting of BST2. Using a small siRNA screen, we highlighted two additional regulators of BST2 constitutive ubiquitylation and sorting to the lysosomes: the E3 ubiquitin ligases NEDD4 and MARCH8. Interestingly, Vpu does not hijack the cellular machinery that is constitutively involved in BST2 ubiquitylation to sort BST2 for degradation in the lysosomes but instead promotes the recognition of BST2 by β-TrCP proteins. Altogether, our results provide further understanding of the mechanisms underlying BST2 turnover in cells.


Multi-view clustering on unmapped data via constrained non-negative matrix factorization.
Existing multi-view clustering algorithms require that the data is completely or partially mapped between each pair of views. However, this requirement could not be satisfied in many practical settings. In this paper, we tackle the problem of multi-view clustering on unmapped data in the framework of NMF based clustering. With the help of inter-view constraints, we define the disagreement between each pair of views by the fact that the indicator vectors of two samples from two different views should be similar if they belong to the same cluster and dissimilar otherwise. The overall objective of our algorithm is to minimize the loss function of NMF in each view as well as the disagreement between each pair of views. Furthermore, we provide an active inter-view constraints selection strategy which tries to query the relationships between samples that are the most influential and samples that are the farthest from the existing constraint set. Experimental results show that, with a small number of (either randomly selected or actively selected) constraints, the proposed algorithm performs well on unmapped data, and outperforms the baseline algorithms on partially mapped data and completely mapped data.


Mechanism of visible light enhances microbial degradation of Bisphenol A.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a toxic endocrine disruptor detected in various environments. Microbial metabolic/enzymatic degradation has been thought to be the main pathway for BPA attenuation in natural environments. In this study, we found that under visible light conditions, superoxide produced by bacteria was the main reason for the rapid removal of BPA, accounting for 57 % of the total removal rate. With visible light, the bacteria degraded BPA at a rate of 0.22 mg/L/d, and the total removal within 8 days reached 85 %, which is 4.7 times compared with that of dark culture. The intermediate product 4-iso-propenylphenol, which was considered as an end-product of microbial degradation of BPA in previous reports, was detected in large quantities at 24 h in culture but gradually decreased in our experiment. Community analysis suggested bacteria with aromatic hydrocarbon degradation ability were more enriched under light incubation. Moreover, the bacteria showed well degradation ability to various pharmaceutically active but nonbiodegradable compounds including diclofenac and fluoxetine, with a removal rate of 88 % and 20 %, respectively. Our study revealed the organic pollutant transformation pathway under the combined action of light and microorganisms, providing new insights into the microbial treatment of aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants.


Spanish Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Rasch Analysis of the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS).
To culturally and linguistically adapt the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) to Spanish and assess the psychometric performance of the new version through Rasch analysis and classical test theory methods. The Spanish version of the CISS (CISSVE) was completed by 449 subjects (9-30 years old) from the general population. The validity and reliability of CISSVE were assessed through Rasch statistics (precision, targeting, item fit, unidimensionality, and differential item functioning). To test construct validity, we calculated the coefficients of correlation between the CISSVE and the Computer-Vision Symptom Scale (CVSS17) or Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). We determined test-retest reliability in a subset of 229 subjects. We used differential item functioning (DIF) to compare the CISSSVE and the CISS after administering the CISS to 216 English children. After applying exclusion criteria, the responses of 420 participants (mean age, 18.62 years; female, 54.95%) revealed good Rasch model fit, good precision (person separation = 2.33), and suboptimal targeting (-1.37). There was some evidence of multidimensionality, but disattenuated correlations between the Rasch dimension and a possible secondary dimension were high, suggesting they were measuring similar constructs. No item bias according to gender or age was detected. Spearman's correlation was 0.34 (P < 0.001) for CISSVE-CVSS17 and non-significant for CISSVE-WEMWBS. The limits of agreement for test-retest reliability were 9.67 and -8.71. Rasch analysis results indicated no difference between CISS and CISSVE. According to our results, CISSVE is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the symptoms assessed by CISS in Spanish people 9 to 30 years of age. CISSVE can measure convergence insufficiency symptoms in Spanish-speaking subjects.