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Hang-up involving Rhopalosiphum maidis (Corn Foliage Aphid) Growth upon Maize through Virus-Induced Gene Silencing using Sugarcane Variety Virus.
Quantifying how the heart rate of ectothermic organisms responds to environmental conditions (e.g. water temperature) is important information to quantify their sensitivity to environmental change. Heart rate studies have typically been conducted in lab environments where fish are confined. However, commercially available implantable heart rate biologgers provide the opportunity to study free-swimming fish. Our study aimed to determine the applicability of an implantable device, typically used on fusiform-shaped fish (e.g. salmonids), for a perciform fish where morphology and anatomy prevent ventral incisions normally used on fusiform-shaped fish. We found that ventrolateral incisions allowed placement near the heart, but efficacy of the loggers was sensitive to their orientation and the positioning of the electrodes. find more Electrocardiogram detection, signal strength and subsequent heart rate readings were strongly influenced by logger orientation with a significant effect on the quality and quantity of heart rate recordings. We provide details on the surgical procedures and orientation to guide future heart rate biologger studies on perciform-shaped fish. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.Objectives Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that re-emerged in 2015. The association between ZIKV and neurological complications initiated the development of relevant animal models to understand the mechanisms underlying ZIKV-induced pathologies. Transient inhibition of the type I interferon (IFN) pathway through the use of an IFNAR1-blocking antibody, MAR1-5A3, could efficiently permit active virus replication in immunocompetent animals. Type I IFN signalling is involved in the regulation of humoral responses, and thus, it is crucial to investigate the potential effects of type I IFN blockade towards B-cell responses. Methods In this study, comparative analysis was conducted using serum samples collected from ZIKV-infected wild-type (WT) animals either administered with or without MAR1-5A3. Results Serological assays revealed a more robust ZIKV-specific IgG response and subtype switching upon inhibition of type I IFN due to the abundance of antigen availability. This observation was corroborated by an increase in germinal centres, plasma cells and germinal centre B cells. Interestingly, although both groups of animals recognised different B-cell linear epitopes in the E and NS1 regions, there was no difference in neutralising capacity. Further characterisation of these epitopes in the E protein revealed a detrimental role of antibodies that were generated in the absence of type I IFN. Conclusion This study highlights the role of type I IFN in shaping the anti-ZIKV antibody response to generate beneficial antibodies and will help guide development of better vaccine candidates triggering efficient neutralising antibodies and avoiding detrimental ones. © 2020 The Authors. Clinical & Translational Immunology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology Inc.Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been reported to be associated with various diseases, including cancer. The present study investigated the mtDNA non-coding region mutations and mitochondrial haplogroups as potential biomarkers of sporadic breast cancer in Sri Lankan Sinhalese women. Mitochondrial macro-haplogroups were determined using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, whereas non-coding region sequences were determined using Sanger sequencing. The sequence of the non-coding region was also used to confirm haplogroup status. Neither the mutations in the non-coding region nor the mitochondrial haplogroups that were reported as risk factors in other populations, were determined to be potential risk factors for sporadic breast cancer in the present study. Furthermore, several novel mutations were identified in the present matched pairs case-controlled study. The M65a haplogroup with an additional mutation at position 16311 (P=0.0771) and mutations at the ori-b site (P=0.05) were considered a weak risk factor and protective factor, respectively, for sporadic breast cancer in Sinhalese women. Previous studies have indicated the use of mtDNA mutations as a biomarker; however, the present study showed that such biomarkers need to be validated for individual ethnic groups before they can be recommended for use in the prediction of disease. Copyright © 2019, Spandidos Publications.Defects in the Canal of Nuck are rare abnormalities of the female genitalia, which are typically detected and repaired in young age. In the present report, a case of a Nuck cyst in a 40-year old female patient is described. Additionally, the current literature concerning cases of women with hydrocele of Nuck canal was systematically reviewed. A total of 16 case reports of 16 patients with Nuck hydrocele (mean age of 35.18 years), have been reported to date. A right inguinal mass was noted in 13 patients (81.3%) whereas in 3 patients a left-sided mass was noted. The surgical approach was open in 13 cases and laparoscopic in 3 cases. Two cases underwent hydrocelectomy and inguinal ring ligation, whereas in 7 cases a simple cystectomy was performed. In 2 cases the round ligament was excised along with the hydrocele. In one of these 2, ligamentum rotundum necrosis and presence of a haemorrhagic cyst of the canal of Nuck were identified. Hernia repair and hydrocelectomy was performed in 5 cases. A cyst of the Canal of Nuck is relatively rare, but should be considered during the diagnosis of inguinal masses in female patients. Copyright © 2020, Spandidos Publications.Parietaria judaica and P. officinalis are the two most common subspecies of the Parietaria genus. P. judaica and P. officinalis have exhibited cross-reactivity in previous studies. P. judaica pollen is the main cause of allergy in the Mediterranean area. It has been shown that a high percentage of patients sensitized to P. judaica with allergic rhinitis (AR) have an increased risk of developing asthma. The present study aimed to confirm the cross-reactivity between P. judaica and P. officinalis and to evaluate the use of a single P. officinalis extract in patients allergic to both subspecies as a preferable option for the diagnosis and treatment of allergy in a highly pollinated area of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The present study was a single centre, observational cross-sectional study of adult patients diagnosed with AR and/or bronchial asthma who were sensitized to Parietaria pollen. A total of 24 patients were enrolled in the study and included in the analysis. Allergovit® immunotherapy extracts were selected for the study based on the protein content (P. officinalis pollen extract). The results of an in vitro ELISA revealed that 79.1% (n=19) of the patient sera were reactive to immunotherapy extracts. ELISA inhibition assay of the IgE binding to P. officinalis demonstrated inhibition values >70% in the sera of highly reactive patients, confirming the cross-reactivity between the two Parietaria subspecies. In addition, all patients enrolled in the study exhibited double skin positivity against P. judaica and P. officinalis extracts, as assessed by the skin prick test, further supporting the in vivo reactivity between the two subspecies. The present study demonstrated that P. judaica and P. officinalis pollen extracts were highly cross-reactive, and that a unique P. officinalis pollen extract may be used for the diagnosis and immunotherapy of patients allergic to Parietaria. Copyright © 2020, Spandidos Publications.Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is a rare condition characterized by recurrent brief episodes of dystonia, chorea, athetosis or any combination of these, without alterations of consciousness. The proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) gene has been widely investigated as a causative gene of PKD. To date, a cluster of pathogenic variants associated with PKD have been identified in the PRRT2 gene. In the present case report, two Chinese patients with sporadic PKD are discussed. Genetic analysis revealed a de novo heterozygous missense mutation, c.955G>T (p.Val319Leu) in exon 3 of the PRRT2 gene. Compared with the commonly reported clinical manifestation of PRRT2-associated PKD, the patients in this report showed several primary distinctive features. The mutations identified in the present analysis expand upon the mutation spectrum of the PRRT2 gene, and this newly found variant further reinforces the importance of the PRR2 gene in PKD. Copyright © Fang et al.A number of immunostimulant effects of herbal medicines have been reported; however, the underlying mechanisms of their immunostimulatory effects have not been elucidated in detail. Our previous study showed that sugar-based nanoparticles derived from cell walls acted as the immunostimulatory component of boiled Glycyrrhizae radix water extracts. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to clarify the molecular mechanisms by which these cell wall-based nanoparticles functioned as immunostimulants. Mouse macrophage RAW-blue cells were stimulated by these nanoparticles and several immunological effects were investigated. When phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB (NF)-κB p65 subunit was increased, the expression of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were induced via NF-κB. On the other hand, Toll-like receptor 4 recognizes cell wall components of bacteria and fungi. In the present study, it was also shown that these cell wall-based nanoparticles serve an immunostimulatory role as ligands of Toll-like receptor 4 by RNA interference experiments. The results of the present study suggested that the signaling pathway of nanoparticles obtained from boiled Glycyrrhizae radix water extracts, at least partially involved TLR4 and downstream signaling from this receptor, resulting in the immunostimulatory effects of these nanoparticles in RAW-blue cells. Copyright © Iitsuka et al.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular and rapid heart rate that can increase the risk of various heart-related complications, such as the stroke and the heart failure. Electrocardiography (ECG) is widely used to monitor the health of heart disease patients. It can dramatically improve the health and the survival rate of heart disease patients by accurately predicting the AFs in an ECG. Most of the existing researches focus on the AF detection, but few of them explore the AF prediction. In this paper, we develop a recurrent neural network (RNN) composed of stacked LSTMs for AF prediction, which called SLAP. This model can effectively avoid the gradient explosion and gradient explosion of ordinary RNN and learn the features better. We conduct comprehensive experiments based on two public datasets. Our experiment results show 92% accuracy and 92% f-score of the AF prediction, which are better than the state-of-the-art AF detection architectures like the RNN and the LSTM. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only treatment option available for allergic patients with disease-modifying intention. Both efficacy and safety has been demonstrated for multiple trials in children, adolescents and adults. Though regulatory requirements for marketing authorization have been clearly outlined and an increasing number of high quality trials has been initiated, multiple concepts and details in study design may be further elaborated, harmonized and improved. An international group of experts in the field of AIT has thoroughly reviewed and discussed current concepts and provided an outlook on further improvement especially in the age group of children and adolescents. Emphasis of the group's discussion as a basis for this article was put on (i) the regulatory background of marketing authorization of AIT products including the 'Pediatric Investigational Plan', (ii) patient reported outcomes and endpoints in AIT trials, (iii) considerations regarding the 'minimal clinically important difference', (iv) the role of placebo effects in AIT clinical trials and clinical routine and (v) the potential of mobile Health for future development of AIT.
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