Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia in Swine Associated with Porcine Circovirus Type 2 Infection

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a chronic respiratory disease. Although the pathogenesis of BOOP is still incompletely understood, BOOP is responsive to steroids and has a good prognosis. In our five pigs with chronic postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), typical BOOP lesions were revealed. All five porcine lungs showed typical intraluminal plugs, and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) was identified. They also exhibited similar pathologic findings such as proliferation of type II pneumocytes and myofibroblasts (MFBs), extracellular collagen matrix (ECM) deposition, and fragmentation of elastic fibers. MFBs migration correlative molecules, for instance, gelatinase A, B and osteopontin, appeared strongly in the progressing marginal area of polypoid intraluminal plugs of fibrotic lesion. These molecules colocalized with the active MFBs. Both gelatinase activity and intercellular level of active MFBs were significantly increased (P < .05). Porcine chronic bronchopneumonia leads to BOOP and it is associated with PCV2 persistent infection. Swine BOOP demonstrates similar cellular constituents with human BOOP. Perhaps their molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis operate in a similar way. Thus we infer that the swine BOOP can be considered as a potential animal model for human BOOP associated with natural viral infection. Moreover, it is more convenient to obtain samples

Effects of mycophenolate mofetil on cutaneous lupus erythematosus in (NZB × NZW) F1 mice

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have evaluated the effects and precise molecular mechanism of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the treatment of human cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). Our findings shed light on the therapeutic effects of MMF in a UVB-induced NZB × NZW (NZBW) F1 CLE mouse model.MethodsContinuous MMF treatment (60 mg/kg/day) was administered up to Day 50 from the beginning of UVB induction (Day 0; 20 weeks old), as the pathologic features of CLE are present after 50 days. The therapeutic effects of MMF treatment in NZBW lupus mice were examined by comparing histopathological changes, lupus band test (deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction) and colocalization of autoantibodies with a dermal autoantigen Dsg3, and by evaluating the associations of local matrix metalloprotease activities.ResultsMMF improved survival in the NZBW lupus mice from 35.7% to 81.8%. The proteinuria, blood urea nitrogen, and interleukin 6 levels were significantly reduced after MMF treatment. The dermal lymphocytic infiltration, deposition of immune complexes at the dermal–epidermal junction, colocalized autoantibodies with Dsg3, and epidermal matrix metalloprotease activity were also attenuated in MMF-treated NZBW F1 mice.ConclusionThe results confirmed that MMF could substantially attenuate skin damage due to CLE in the NZBW F1 mouse model

Functional Effects of let-7g Expression in Colon Cancer Metastasis.

MicroRNA regulation is crucial for gene expression and cell functions. It has been linked to tumorigenesis, development and metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC). Recently, the let-7 family has been identified as a tumor suppressor in different types of cancers. However, the function of the let-7 family in CRC metastasis has not been fully investigated. Here, we focused on analyzing the role of let-7g in CRC. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) genomic datasets of CRC and detailed data from a Taiwanese CRC cohort were applied to study the expression pattern of let-7g. In addition, in vitro as well as in vivo studies have been performed to uncover the effects of let-7g on CRC. We found that the expression of let-7g was significantly lower in CRC specimens. Our results further supported the inhibitory effects of let-7g on CRC cell migration, invasion and extracellular calcium influx through store-operated calcium channels. We report a critical role for let-7g in the pathogenesis of CRC and suggest let-7g as a potential therapeutic target for CRC treatment

Quantifying sample completeness and comparing diversities among assemblages.

We develop a novel class of measures to quantify sample completeness of a biological survey. The class of measures is parameterized by an order q ≥ 0 to control for sensitivity to species relative abundances. When q = 0, species abundances are disregarded and our measure reduces to the conventional measure of completeness, that is, the ratio of the observed species richness to the true richness (observed plus undetected). When q = 1, our measure reduces to the sample coverage (the proportion of the total number of individuals in the entire assemblage that belongs to detected species), a concept developed by Alan Turing in his cryptographic analysis. The sample completeness of a general order q ≥ 0 extends Turing's sample coverage and quantifies the proportion of the assemblage's individuals belonging to detected species, with each individual being proportionally weighted by the (q − 1)th power of its abundance. We propose the use of a continuous profile depicting our proposed measures with respect to q ≥ 0 to characterize the sample completeness of a survey. An analytic estimator of the diversity profile and its sampling uncertainty based on a bootstrap method are derived and tested by simulations. To compare diversity across multiple assemblages, we propose an integrated approach based on the framework of Hill numbers to assess (a) the sample completeness profile, (b) asymptotic diversity estimates to infer true diversities of entire assemblages, (c) non‐asymptotic standardization via rarefaction and extrapolation, and (d) an evenness profile. Our framework can be extended to incidence data. Empirical data sets from several research fields are used for illustration.publishedVersionPaid Open Acces

High-Frequency Sea Level Variations Observed by GPS Buoys Using Precise Point Positioning Technique

In this study, sea level variation observed by a 1-Hz Global Positioning System (GPS) buoy system is verified by comparing with tide gauge records and is decomposed to reveal high-frequency signals that cannot be detected from 6-minute tide gauge records. Compared to tide gauges traditionally used to monitor sea level changes and affected by land motion, GPS buoys provide high-frequency geocentric measurements of sea level variations. Data from five GPS buoy campaigns near a tide gauge at Anping, Tainan, Taiwan, were processed using the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique with four different satellite orbit products from the International GNSS Service (IGS). The GPS buoy data were also processed by a differential GPS (DGPS) method that needs an additional GPS receiver as a reference station and the accuracy of the solution depends on the baseline length. The computation shows the average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) difference of the GPS buoy using DGPS and tide gauge records is around 3 - 5 cm. When using the aforementioned IGS orbit products for the buoy derived by PPP, its average RMSE differences are 5 - 8 cm, 8 - 13 cm, decimeter level, and decimeter-meter level, respectively, so the accuracy of the solution derived by PPP highly depends on the accuracy of IGS orbit products. Therefore, the result indicates that the accuracy of a GPS buoy using PPP has the potential to measure the sea surface variations to several cm. Finally, high-frequency sea level signals with periods of a few seconds to a day can be successfully detected in GPS buoy observations using the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method and are identified as waves, meteotsunamis, and tides

Direct scaffolding of biomimetic hydroxyapatite-gelatin nanocomposites using aminosilane cross-linker for bone regeneration

Hydroxyapatite-gelatin modified siloxane (GEMOSIL) nanocomposite was developed by coating, kneading and hardening processes to provide formable scaffolding for alloplastic graft applications. The present study aims to characterize scaffolding formability and mechanical properties of GEMOSIL, and to test the in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility of GEMOSIL. Buffer Solution initiated formable paste followed by the sol-gel reaction led to a final hardened composite. Results showed the adequate coating of aminosilane, 11–19 wt%, affected the cohesiveness of the powders and the final compressive strength (69 MPa) of the composite. TGA and TEM results showed the effective aminosilane coating that preserves hydroxyapatite-gelatin nanocrystals from damage. Both GEMOSIL with and without titania increased the mineralization of preosteoblasts in vitro. Only did titania additives revealed good in vivo bone formation in rat calvarium defects. The scaffolding formability, due to cohesive bonding among GEMOSIL particles, could be further refined to fulfill the complicated scaffold processes

Genetic diversity and C2-like subgenogroup strains of enterovirus 71, Taiwan, 2008

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human enterovirus 71 (EV-71) is known of having caused numerous outbreaks of hand-foot-mouth disease, and other clinical manifestations globally. In 2008, 989 EV-71 strains were isolated in Taiwan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, the genetic and antigenic properties of these strains were analyzed and the genetic diversity of EV-71 subgenogroups surfacing in Taiwan was depicted, which includes 3 previously reported subgenogroups of C5, B5, and C4, and one C2-like subgenogroup. Based on the phylogenetic analyses using their complete genome nucleotide sequences and neutralization tests, the C2-like subgenogroup forms a genetically distinct cluster from other subgenogroups, and the antisera show a maximum of 128-fold decrease of neutralization titer against this subgenogroup. In addition, the subgenogroup C4 isolates of 2008 were found quite similar genetically to the Chinese strains that caused outbreaks in recent years and thus they should be carefully watched.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Other than to be the first report describing the existence of C2-like subgenogroup of EV-71 in Taiwan, this article also foresees a potential of subgenogroup C4 outbreaks in Taiwan in the near future.</p

Determination of aflatoxin B1 level in rice (Oryza sativa L.) through near-infrared spectroscopy and an improved simulated annealing variable selection method

Direct quantification analysis of near-infrared (NIR) spectra is challenging because the number of spectral variables is usually considerably higher than the number of samples. To mitigate the so-called curse of dimensionality, var�iable selection is often performed before multivariate calibration. There has been much work in this regard, where the developed variable selection method can be categorized as individual variable selection, such as uninformative variable elimination or variable importance in projection, and continuous interval variable selection method such as interval partial least squares or moving window partial least squares. In this study, a new individual variable se�lection method, modified simulated annealing (MSA), was proposed and used in conjunction with the partial least squares regression (PLSR) model. The interpretability of the selected variables in the determination of aflatoxin B1 levels in white rice was assessed. The results revealed that the PLSR model combined with MSA not only yielded higher accuracy than the full-spectrum PLSR but also successfully shrank the variable space. The developed simplified PLSR model using MSA produced satisfactory performances, with root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) of 0.11 μg/kg and 0.56 μg/kg, and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 7.16 μg/kg and 14.42 μg/kg, were obtained for the low-aflatoxin B1-level- and high-aflatoxin-B1-level samples, respectively. Specifically, the MSA-based models yielded improvements of 97.80% (calibration set) and 44.62% (prediction set) as well as 95.85% (calibration set) and 62.57% (prediction set) for both datasets when compared with the full-spectrum PLSR (low aflatoxin: RMSEC = 5.02 μg/kg, RMSEP = 12.93 μg/kg; high aflatoxin: RMSEC = 13.50 μg/kg, RMSEP = 38.53 μg/kg). Compared with the baseline method of simulated annealing (SA) (low aflatoxin: RMSEC = 0.21 μg/kg, RMSEP = 9.78 μg/kg; high aflatoxin: RMSEC = 12.27 μg/kg, RMSEP = 38.53 μg/kg), the MSA significantly improved the predictive performance of the regression models, with the number of selected variables being almost half of that in the SA. A comparison with other commonly used variable selection methods of selectivity ratio (low aflatoxin: RMSEC = 6.09 μg/kg, RMSEP = 13.75 μg/kg; high aflatoxin: RMSEC = 13.74 μg/kg, RMSEP = 41.13 μg/kg), unin�formative variable elimination (low aflatoxin: RMSEC = 0.32 μg/kg, RMSEP = 5.11 μg/kg; high aflatoxin: RMSEC = 3.80 μg/kg, RMSEP = 17.76 μg/kg), and variable importance in projection (low aflatoxin: RMSEC = 2.67 μg/kg, RMSEP = 10.71 μg/kg; high aflatoxin: RMSEC = 13.51 μg/kg, RMSEP = 32.53 μg/kg) also indicated the promising efficacy of the proposed MSA

Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? De novo assembly strategies for bacterial genomes based on paired-end sequencing

Number of misassemblies for different assembly strategies. Number of misassemblies for the de novo assembly results for E. coli DH1 and S. Parasanguinis FW213 are shown together with their standard errors of the mean. Group A [PE] and Group A [SE] represent all reads assembled as paired-end reads and single end reads, respectively. Group A [PE + SE] represents all the non-overlapped paired-end reads assembled together with merged reads. Group M [PE] and Group M [SE] represent Group M reads assembled as paired-end reads and single end reads, respectively. The numbers of misassemblies fluctuate a lot when depths of read number are low and gradually decreases until they reach a steady number. The paired-end reads (Group A [PE] and Group M [PE]) in S. Parasanguinis FW213 gave the lowest number of misassemblies when depths of read number are high. (TIFF 669 kb