Tree Ring Characteristics of 30-Year-Old Swietenia Macrophylla Plantation Trees

Ring characteristics of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla K.) plantation trees grown in Taiwan were explored. Significant differences in average ring width (RW) and ring density (RD) occurred among three tree-diameter classes and three radial stages of ring numbers. RW in the radial direction decreased from the pith outward to the bark and followed a distinctive three-stage variation pattern (juvenile, transition, and mature zones). RD in the radial direction increased slowly from the pith outward to the bark. Wider tree rings and lower density are associated with juvenile wood close to the pith, whereas narrower tree rings and higher density are typical for mature wood outward toward the bark. RD in overtopped trees was higher than that in dominant trees. However, RW in dominant trees was wider than that in intermediate and overtopped trees. Earlywood density, latewood density, maximum density, and minimum density were the most important factors determining overall RD. There was a weak relationship between RW and RD, indicating that it is unlikely for growth rates of mahogany plantation trees to have a significant impact on wood density

Short telomeres in patients with chronic schizophrenia who show a poor response to treatment

Objective: Telomere shortening has been observed in many human diseases, including atherosclerosis, cancer, aging syndromes, Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia. The present study aimed to investigate the mean telomere lengths of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: We analyzed the lengths of telomeric DNA, comparing 2 groups of patients with schizophrenia (34 good responders and 34 poor responders). A control group of 76 healthy volunteers was also included. Blood samples were obtained, and telomere length was measured by Southern blot analysis on the mean length of terminal restriction fragment (TRF). Results: Compared with the control group, a significant amount of telomere shortening was found in peripheral blood leukocytes from patients with schizophrenia who experienced poor response to antipsychotics (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Shortened telomere length in chronic schizophrenia may be a trait marker caused by oxidative stress, and the ensuing cellular dysfunction may be a factor contributing to the progressive deterioration in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Objectif : On a observé un raccourcissement des télomères dans beaucoup de maladies humaines, y compris l'athérosclérose, le cancer, les syndromes du vieillissement, la maladie d'Alzheimer et la démence vasculaire. L'étude visait à analyser la longueur moyenne des télomères chez les patients atteints de schizophrénie. Méthodes : Nous avons analysé la longueur de l'ADN télomérique en comparant deux groupes de patients atteints de schizophrénie (34 qui réagissaient bien et 34 qui réagissaient mal). L'étude comportait aussi un groupe témoin de 76 volontaires en bonne santé. On a prélevé des échantillons de sang et mesuré la longueur des télomères par transfert de Southern portant sur la longueur moyenne du fragment de restriction terminal (FRT). Résultats : Comparativement au groupe témoin, on a constaté un raccourcissement important des télomères dans les leucocytes du sang périphérique des patients atteints de schizophrénie qui réagissaient mal aux antipsychotiques (p < 0,001). Conclusion : Le raccourcissement des télomères dans les cas de schizophrénie chronique peut constituer un marqueur caractéristique causé par le stress oxydatif , et le dysfonctionnement cellulaire qui en découle peut contribuer à la détérioration progressive dans les cas de schizophrénie résistant au traitement

Optimization plan for excess warehouse storage in e-commerce–based plant shops: a case study for Chinese plant industrial

The rapid development of e-commerce in China has played a critical role in the development of the national economy and ongoing modernization. The plant industry is unique among industries that employ e-commerce sales models because its products exhibit special characteristics such as high death and damage rates. Therefore, its e-commerce and logistical requirements are stricter than in other industries and, as a result, excess warehouse storage can be extremely difficult for e-commerce–based plant shops to manage. Numerous studies have indicated the need to identify a product’s most up-to-date market conditions, as well as the type, function, and size of warehouses. Therefore, based on a case study, this study proposes an optimization plan for solving excess warehouse storage in e-commerce–based plant shops. First, sales volume data of the case company, Enterprise A, were analyzed to predict future sales. Then, entropy and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution were used to construct the decision-making model. Finally, a cloud warehouse–based optimization plan was proposed to solve excess warehouse storage in e-commerce–based plant shops. This plan can serve as a reference for decision-makers or executives in e-commerce–based plant shops when handling excess warehouse storage

Cell Docking, Movement and Cell-Cell Interactions of Heterogeneous Cell Suspensions in a Cell Manipulation Microdevice

This study demonstrates a novel cell manipulation microdevice for cell docking, culturing, cell-cell contact and interaction by microfluidic manipulation of heterogeneous cell suspensions. Heterogeneous cell suspensions include disparate blood cells of natural killer cells and leukemia cancer cells for immune cell transplantation therapy. However, NK cell alloreactivity from different healthy donors present various recovery response levels. Little is still known about the interactions and cytotoxicity effects between donor NK cells and recipient cancer cells. The cell-based micro device first showed the capability of cell docking, movement, contact and cell-cell interaction with respect to cell cytotoxicity of NK cells against cancer cells. With various flow tests for live cell loading, flow rates of 10 μL/h were chosen for injection in the central and side flows such that both types of suspension cells could be gently docked at the gap structure in a reaction zone. The trapping number of particles and cells was linearly proportional to the gap length. Finally, the cytotoxicity of around 40% was found to be similar in the case of dilute cells and a large cell population. As a result, the cell manipulation microdevice has been validated for live suspensions of natural killer and cancer cells, and exhibited the capability to measure the cytotoxicity of dilute cell suspensions

Risk of thyroid dysfunction associated with mRNA and inactivated COVID-19 vaccines: a population-based study of 2.3 million vaccine recipients

Background: In view of accumulating case reports of thyroid dysfunction following COVID-19 vaccination, we evaluated the risks of incident thyroid dysfunction following inactivated (CoronaVac) and mRNA (BNT162b2) COVID-19 vaccines using a population-based dataset. / Methods: We identified people who received COVID-19 vaccination between 23 February and 30 September 2021 from a population-based electronic health database in Hong Kong, linked to vaccination records. Thyroid dysfunction encompassed anti-thyroid drug (ATD)/levothyroxine (LT4) initiation, biochemical picture of hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism, incident Graves’ disease (GD), and thyroiditis. A self-controlled case series design was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of thyroid dysfunction in a 56-day post-vaccination period compared to the baseline period (non-exposure period) using conditional Poisson regression. / Results: A total of 2,288,239 people received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccination (57.8% BNT162b2 recipients and 42.2% CoronaVac recipients). 94.3% of BNT162b2 recipients and 92.2% of CoronaVac recipients received the second dose. Following the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, there was no increase in the risks of ATD initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.864, 95% CI 0.670–1.114; CoronaVac: IRR 0.707, 95% CI 0.549–0.912), LT4 initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.911, 95% CI 0.716–1.159; CoronaVac: IRR 0.778, 95% CI 0.618–0.981), biochemical picture of hyperthyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 0.872, 95% CI 0.744–1.023; CoronaVac: IRR 0.830, 95% CI 0.713–0.967) or hypothyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 1.002, 95% CI 0.838–1.199; CoronaVac: IRR 0.963, 95% CI 0.807–1.149), GD, and thyroiditis. Similarly, following the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination, there was no increase in the risks of ATD initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 0.972, 95% CI 0.770–1.227; CoronaVac: IRR 0.879, 95%CI 0.693–1.116), LT4 initiation (BNT162b2: IRR 1.019, 95% CI 0.833–1.246; CoronaVac: IRR 0.768, 95% CI 0.613–0.962), hyperthyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 1.039, 95% CI 0.899–1.201; CoronaVac: IRR 0.911, 95% CI 0.786–1.055), hypothyroidism (BNT162b2: IRR 0.935, 95% CI 0.794–1.102; CoronaVac: IRR 0.945, 95% CI 0.799–1.119), GD, and thyroiditis. Age- and sex-specific subgroup and sensitivity analyses showed consistent neutral associations between thyroid dysfunction and both types of COVID-19 vaccines. / Conclusions: Our population-based study showed no evidence of vaccine-related increase in incident hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism with both BNT162b2 and CoronaVac

Diagnostic Efficacy of PET/CT Plus Brain MR Imaging for Detection of Extrathoracic Metastases in Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma

We aimed to evaluate prospectively the efficacy of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) plus brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting extrathoracic metastases in lung adenocarcinoma. Metastatic evaluations were feasible for 442 consecutive patients (M:F=238:204; mean age, 54 yr) with a lung adenocarcinoma who underwent PET/CT (CT, without IV contrast medium injection) plus contrast-enhanced brain MRI. The presence of metastases in the brain was evaluated by assessing brain MRI or PET/CT, and in other organs by PET/CT. Diagnostic efficacies for metastasis detection with PET/CT plus brain MRI and with PET/CT only were calculated on a per-patient basis and compared from each other. Of 442 patients, 88 (20%, including 50 [11.3%] with brain metastasis) had metastasis. Regarding sensitivity of overall extrathoracic metastasis detection, a significant difference was found between PET/CT and PET/CT plus brain MRI (68% vs. 84%; P=0.03). As for brain metastasis detection sensitivity, brain MRI was significantly higher than PET/CT (88% vs. 24%; P<0.001). By adding MRI to PET/CT, brain metastases were detected in additional 32 (7% of 442 patients) patients. In lung adenocarcinoma patients, significant increase in sensitivity can be achieved for detecting extrathoracic metastases by adding dedicated brain MRI to PET/CT and thus enhancing brain metastasis detection

Comprehensive Genotyping in Two Homogeneous Graves' Disease Samples Reveals Major and Novel HLA Association Alleles

BACKGROUND: Graves' disease (GD) is the leading cause of hyperthyroidism and thyroid eye disease inherited as a complex trait. Although geoepidemiology studies showed relatively higher prevalence of GD in Asians than in Caucasians, previous genetic studies were contradictory concerning whether and/or which human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are associated with GD in Asians. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a case-control association study (499 unrelated GD cases and 504 controls) and a replication in an independent family sample (419 GD individuals and their 282 relatives in 165 families). To minimize genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, we included only ethnic Chinese Han population in Taiwan and excluded subjects with hypothyroidism. We performed direct and comprehensive genotyping of six classical HLA loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DPB1, -DQB1 and -DRB1) to 4-digit resolution. Combining the data of two sample populations, we found that B*46:01 (odds ratio under dominant model [OR]  = 1.33, Bonferroni corrected combined P [P(Bc)]  = 1.17 x 10⁻²), DPB1*05:01 (OR  = 2.34, P(Bc) = 2.58 x 10⁻¹⁰), DQB1*03:02 (OR  = 0.62, P(Bc)  = 1.97 x 10⁻²), DRB1*15:01 (OR  = 1.68, P(Bc) = 1.22 x 10⁻²) and DRB1*16:02 (OR  = 2.63, P(Bc)  = 1.46 x 10⁻⁵) were associated with GD. HLA-DPB1*05:01 is the major gene of GD in our population and singly accounts for 48.4% of population-attributable risk. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These GD-associated alleles we identified in ethnic Chinese Hans, and those identified in other Asian studies, are totally distinct from the known associated alleles in Caucasians. Identification of population-specific association alleles is the critical first step for individualized medicine. Furthermore, comparison between different susceptibility/protective alleles across populations could facilitate generation of novel hypothesis about GD pathophysiology and indicate a new direction for future investigation

The role of glucocorticoids in ovarian development of sleep deprived rats

Objective: Sleep deprivation (SD) adversely affects female reproductive function. In this study, we investigated the role of glucocorticoids in ovarian development in sleep deprived rats. Materials and methods: Female rats were subjected to SD for 1–4 days. Concentrations of serum estradiol and corticosterone were assessed. Betamethasone (BET) and/or recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were administered to 21-day-old female rats for 2 days to evaluate ovarian status for follicular development. Intact preantral follicles were mechanically dissected from the rat's ovaries and cultured for 72 h with or without FSH in the presence or absence of BET to evaluate follicular development. Results: SD led to a significant difference in serum estradiol concentrations between the sham and SD groups, and corticosterone concentrations were significantly elevated in groups with more than 2 days of SD (P < 0.05). FSH stimulated ovarian growth in immature rats, whereas BET inhibited ovarian development caused by the FSH treatment. Treatment of the preantral follicles with FSH induced an increase in both follicle size and follicular cell number, while follicular cell differentiation was accompanied by enhanced inhibin-α and connexin 43 expression. Inhibition of FSH-stimulated follicular growth through BET treatment exhibited a dose-dependent reciprocal trend; as the BET dose increased (0.001–1 μg/mL), preantral follicular growth decreased. This decrease was associated with a decrease in follicular cell numbers and suppression of a proliferating cell nuclear antigen, inhibin-α, and connexin 43 expression. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the adverse effects of SD may inhibit follicular development during ovarian hyperstimulation by corticosterone elevation in rat. Keywords: Betamethasone, Connexin 43, Inhibin-α, Ovarian follicle, Sleep deprivatio