Previously unpublished Odonata records from Sarawak, Borneo, part VI: Miri Division including checklists for Niah, Lambir Hills, Loagan Bunut and Pulong Tau National Parks

Recods of Odonata made from 2005 to 2020 in Miri Division in Sarawak are presented, including records from Lambir Hills, Loagan Bunut, Niah and Pulong Tau National Parks. Primary types of Odonata originating from Miri Division are listed. Surveys of more than one day duration in Miri Division and covered here are tabulated with the funding source where appropriate; four of the surveys covered here were funded by the International Dragonfly Fund. One hundred and eighty-eight species are listed based on surveys made by the authors, of which Macromia jucunda Lieftinck, 1955, had not been recorded from Borneo before, Burmagomphus arthuri Lieftinck, 1953 is a new record for Miri Division and Camacinia gigantea (Brauer, 1867) has only been recorded from the Division re-cently with the only published record in a difficult to access publication (Choong (2020)). At least 48 more of the species listed were recorded from Miri Division for the first time in surveys covered in this report, although the records have been published (in most cases with no details beyond division and district in Dow (2021)) before. Two forms of Xiphi-agrion cyanomelas Selys, 1876 are recorded and the likelihood that they represent different species is discussed. A possibly new, large sized, species of Macromia allied to M. westwoodii Selys, 1874 is recorded and discussed. Other notable records not published with details before include Rhinocypha stygia Förster, 1897, Rhinoneura caerulea Kimmins, 1936, Dysphaea lugens (Selys, 1873), Euphaea ameeka van Tol & Norma-Rashid, 1995, Euphaea basalis (Laidlaw, 1915), Amphicnemis new sp. cf mariae Lieftinck, 1940 (previously recorded from Usun Apau National Park), Anaciaeschna jaspidea (Burmeister, 1839), Heliaeschna uninervulata Martin, 1909, Borneogomphus sp., Heliogomphus borneensis Lieftinck, 1964, Ictinogomphus acutus (Laidlaw, 1914), Chlorogomphus sp., Macromia corycia Laidlaw, 1922, Idionyx montana Karsch, 1891, Hylaeothemis clementia Ris, 1909, Orchithemis xanthosoma Laidlaw, 1911, Rhyothemis fulgens Kirby, 1889, Rhyothemis regia (Brauer, 1867), Tetrathemis sp. cf platyptera Selys, 1878, Tramea phaeoneura Lieftinck, 1953 and Tramea sp. cf virginia (Rambur, 1842). The habitat preferences of Dysphaea lugens are discussed. A male-male tandem of Coeliccia nigrohamata Laidlaw, 1918 is reported. The somewhat peculiar distribution of Argiocnemis rubescens rubeola Selys, 1877 and Pseudothemis jorina Förster, 1904 in Sarawak is discussed. Activity of the apparently normally crepuscular Heliaeschna uninervulata in the middle of the day is reported. An interesting morphological detail of some female Chlorogomphus from Sarawak is discussed. The likelihood that Macromia corycia is a junior synonym of M. gerstaeckeri Krüger, 1899 is discussed. The possibility that the range of Rhyothemis regia is expanding in Sarawak is remarked upon. The identity of Tramea sp. cf virginia is discussed. With the records presented here at least 222 species of Odonata are known from Miri Division and with the addition of Macromia jucunda to the known fauna, 309 species have now been recorded from Sarawak. More detailed specimen records are given in Appendix 1 and a revised checklist of Odonata from Lambir Hills National Park and the first checklis from Loagan Bunut, Niah and Pulong Tau National Parks are given in Appendix 2

Previously unpublished Odonata records from Sarawak, Borneo, part VI: Miri Division including checklists for Niah, Lambir Hills, Loagan Bunut and Pulong Tau National Parks.

Recods of Odonata made from 2005 to 2020 in Miri Division in Sarawak are presented, including records from Lambir Hills, Loagan Bunut, Niah and Pulong Tau National Parks. Primary types of Odonata originating from Miri Division are listed. Surveys of more than one day duration in Miri Division and covered here are tabulated with the funding source where appropriate; four of the surveys covered here were funded by the International Dragonfly Fund. One hundred and eighty-eight species are listed based on surveys made by the authors, of which Macromia jucunda Lieftinck, 1955, had not been recorded from Borneo before, Burmagomphus arthuri Lieftinck, 1953 is a new record for Miri Division and Camacinia gigantea (Brauer, 1867) has only been recorded from the Division re-cently with the only published record in a difficult to access publication (Choong (2020)). At least 48 more of the species listed were recorded from Miri Division for the first time in surveys covered in this report, although the records have been published (in most cases with no details beyond division and district in Dow (2021)) before. Two forms of Xiphi-agrion cyanomelas Selys, 1876 are recorded and the likelihood that they represent different species is discussed. A possibly new, large sized, species of Macromia allied to M. westwoodii Selys, 1874 is recorded and discussed. Other notable records not published with details before include Rhinocypha stygia Förster, 1897, Rhinoneura caerulea Kimmins, 1936, Dysphaea lugens (Selys, 1873), Euphaea ameeka van Tol & Norma-Rashid, 1995, Euphaea basalis (Laidlaw, 1915), Amphicnemis new sp. cf mariae Lieftinck, 1940 (previously recorded from Usun Apau National Park), Anaciaeschna jaspidea (Burmeister, 1839), Heliaeschna uninervulata Martin, 1909, Borneogomphus sp., Heliogomphus borneensis Lieftinck, 1964, Ictinogomphus acutus (Laidlaw, 1914), Chlorogomphus sp., Macromia corycia Laidlaw, 1922, Idionyx montana Karsch, 1891, Hylaeothemis clementia Ris, 1909, Orchithemis xanthosoma Laidlaw, 1911, Rhyothemis fulgens Kirby, 1889, Rhyothemis regia (Brauer, 1867), Tetrathemis sp. cf platyptera Selys, 1878, Tramea phaeoneura Lieftinck, 1953 and Tramea sp. cf virginia (Rambur, 1842). The habitat preferences of Dysphaea lugens are discussed. A male-male tandem of Coeliccia nigrohamata Laidlaw, 1918 is reported. The somewhat peculiar distribution of Argiocnemis rubescens rubeola Selys, 1877 and Pseudothemis jorina Förster, 1904 in Sarawak is discussed. Activity of the apparently normally crepuscular Heliaeschna uninervulata in the middle of the day is reported. An interesting morphological detail of some female Chlorogomphus from Sarawak is discussed. The likelihood that Macromia corycia is a junior synonym of M. gerstaeckeri Krüger, 1899 is discussed. The possibility that the range of Rhyothemis regia is expanding in Sarawak is remarked upon. The identity of Tramea sp. cf virginia is discussed. With the records presented here at least 222 species of Odonata are known from Miri Division and with the addition of Macromia jucunda to the known fauna, 309 species have now been recorded from Sarawak. More detailed specimen records are given in Appendix 1 and a revised checklist of Odonata from Lambir Hills National Park and the first checklis from Loagan Bunut, Niah and Pulong Tau National Parks are given in Appendix 2

Toxicogenomic Analysis Suggests Chemical-Induced Sexual Dimorphism in the Expression of Metabolic Genes in Zebrafish Liver

10.1371/journal.pone.0051971PLoS ONE712

Cinnamon extract induces tumor cell death through inhibition of NFκB and AP1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Cinnamomum cassia </it>bark is the outer skin of an evergreen tall tree belonging to the family Lauraceae containing several active components such as essential oils (cinnamic aldehyde and cinnamyl aldehyde), tannin, mucus and carbohydrate. They have various biological functions including anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammation, anti-diabetic and anti-tumor activity. Previously, we have reported that anti-cancer effect of cinnamon extracts is associated with modulation of angiogenesis and effector function of CD8⁺T cells. In this study, we further identified that anti-tumor effect of cinnamon extracts is also link with enhanced pro-apoptotic activity by inhibiting the activities NFκB and AP1 in mouse melanoma model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Water soluble cinnamon extract was obtained and quality of cinnamon extract was evaluated by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis. In this study, we tested anti-tumor activity and elucidated action mechanism of cinnamon extract using various types of tumor cell lines including lymphoma, melanoma, cervix cancer and colorectal cancer <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>mouse melanoma model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cinnamon extract strongly inhibited tumor cell proliferation <it>in vitro </it>and induced active cell death of tumor cells by up-regulating pro-apoptotic molecules while inhibiting NFκB and AP1 activity and their target genes such as <it>Bcl-2</it>, <it>BcL-xL </it>and <it>survivin</it>. Oral administration of cinnamon extract in melanoma transplantation model significantly inhibited tumor growth with the same mechanism of action observed <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study suggests that anti-tumor effect of cinnamon extracts is directly linked with enhanced pro-apoptotic activity and inhibition of NFκB and AP1 activities and their target genes <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>mouse melanoma model. Hence, further elucidation of active components of cinnamon extract could lead to development of potent anti-tumor agent or complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of diverse cancers.</p

Toxicogenomic and Phenotypic Analyses of Bisphenol-A Early-Life Exposure Toxicity in Zebrafish

Bisphenol-A is an important environmental contaminant due to the increased early-life exposure that may pose significant health-risks to various organisms including humans. This study aimed to use zebrafish as a toxicogenomic model to capture transcriptomic and phenotypic changes for inference of signaling pathways, biological processes, physiological systems and identify potential biomarker genes that are affected by early-life exposure to bisphenol-A. Phenotypic analysis using wild-type zebrafish larvae revealed BPA early-life exposure toxicity caused cardiac edema, cranio-facial abnormality, failure of swimbladder inflation and poor tactile response. Fluorescent imaging analysis using three transgenic lines revealed suppressed neuron branching from the spinal cord, abnormal development of neuromast cells, and suppressed vascularization in the abdominal region. Using knowledge-based data mining algorithms, transcriptome analysis suggests that several signaling pathways involving ephrin receptor, clathrin-mediated endocytosis, synaptic long-term potentiation, axonal guidance, vascular endothelial growth factor, integrin and tight junction were deregulated. Physiological systems with related disorders associated with the nervous, cardiovascular, skeletal-muscular, blood and reproductive systems were implicated, hence corroborated with the phenotypic analysis. Further analysis identified a common set of BPA-targeted genes and revealed a plausible mechanism involving disruption of endocrine-regulated genes and processes in known susceptible tissue-organs. The expression of 28 genes were validated in a separate experiment using quantitative real-time PCR and 6 genes, ncl1, apoeb, mdm1, mycl1b, sp4, U1SNRNPBP homolog, were found to be sensitive and robust biomarkers for BPA early-life exposure toxicity. The susceptibility of sp4 to BPA perturbation suggests its role in altering brain development, function and subsequently behavior observed in laboratory animals exposed to BPA during early life, which is a health-risk concern of early life exposure in humans. The present study further established zebrafish as a model for toxicogenomic inference of early-life chemical exposure toxicity

Inverted Expression Profiles of Sex-Biased Genes in Response to Toxicant Perturbations and Diseases

10.1371/journal.pone.0056668PLoS ONE82

The Australasian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) to assess clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) treated with lopinavir/ritonavir and/or hydroxychloroquine compared to standard of care: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: To determine if lopinavir/ritonavir +/- hydroxychloroquine will reduce the proportion of participants who survive without requiring ventilatory support, 15 days after enrolment, in adult participants with non-critically ill SARS-CoV-2 infection. Trial design: ASCOT is an investigator-initiated, multi-centre, open-label, randomised controlled trial. Participants will have been hospitalised with confirmed COVID-19, and will be randomised 1:1:1:1 to receive lopinavir /ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, both or neither drug in addition to standard of care management. Participants: Participants will be recruited from >80 hospitals across Australia and New Zealand, representing metropolitan and regional centres in both public and private sectors. Admitted patients will be eligible if aged ≥ 18 years, have confirmed SARS-CoV-2 by nucleic acid testing in the past 12 days and are expected to remain an inpatient for at least 48 hours from the time of randomisation. Potentially eligible participants will be excluded if admitted to intensive care or requiring high level respiratory support, are currently receiving study drugs or their use is contraindicated due to allergy, drug interaction or comorbidities (including baseline QTc prolongation of 470ms for women or 480ms for men), or death is anticipated imminently