Adventitious shoot regeneration from leaf explants of miniature paprika (Capsicum annuum) ‘Hivita Red’ and ‘Hivita Yellow’

A simple and efficient protocol was developed for in vitro propagation of two miniature paprika cultivars. Seeds of miniature paprika (Capsicum annuum) ‘Hivita Red’ and ‘Hivita Yellow’ were decontaminated and placed in a petri dish containing a half-strength MS medium and then wereincubated in the dark for 7 10 days for germination. Leaf explants excised from one month-old aseptic seedlings were cultured on a MS medium supplemented with TDZ (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 mgL-1) alone or in a combination with NAA (0.1 or 0.01 mgL-1) for four weeks. The highest number of regenerated shoot buds was obtained when leaf explants were cultured on a MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mgL-1 TDZ and 0.1 mgL-1 NAA with an average shoots per explant of 8.0 in ‘Hivita Red’ and 5.6 in ‘Hivita Yellow’. Regenerated shoot buds were separated and transferred onto a MS medium without growth regulators for shoot growth and rooting. Plantlets were successfully acclimatized in a greenhouse andcultivated for three months. After about two months, they started to produce flowers and continuously produced fruits. Morphology and fruit shape of regenerated plants were normal and plants set seeds asthe same as to the seed-raised plants

Association Between Proton Pump Inhibitor Use During Early Pregnancy and Risk of Congenital Malformations

Importance: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are increasingly used during pregnancy; however, several observational studies have raised concerns about an increased risk of specific types of congenital malformations. Objective: To examine the association between PPI exposure during early pregnancy and the risk of congenital malformations. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort study used data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Health Information Database of South Korea (2010-2020); sibling-controlled analyses were conducted to account for familial factors. A total of 2 696 216 pregnancies in women aged 19 to 44 years between June 1, 2011, and December 31, 2019, and their live-born infants were identified. Pregnant women who were exposed to known teratogens or who delivered infants with chromosomal abnormalities or genetic syndromes were excluded. Data on participant race and ethnicity were not collected because the National Health Information Database does not report this information. Exposures: Proton pump inhibitor use during the first trimester. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were major congenital malformations, congenital heart defects, cleft palate, hydrocephalus, and hypospadias. The subtypes of major congenital malformations and congenital heart defects were evaluated as exploratory outcomes. Propensity score fine stratification was used to control for potential confounders, and a weighted generalized linear model was used to estimate relative risks with 95% CIs. Results: Of 2 696 216 pregnancies (mean [SD] maternal age, 32.1 [4.2] years), 40 540 (1.5%; mean [SD] age, 32.4 [4.6] years) were exposed to PPIs during the first trimester. The absolute risk of major congenital malformations was 396.7 per 10 000 infants in PPI-exposed pregnancies and 323.4 per 10 000 infants in unexposed pregnancies. The propensity score-adjusted relative risks were 1.07 (95% CI, 1.02-1.13) for major congenital malformations, 1.09 (95% CI, 1.01-1.17) for congenital heart defects, 1.02 (95% CI, 0.72-1.43) for cleft palate, 0.94 (95% CI, 0.54-1.63) for hydrocephalus, and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.51-1.17) for hypospadias. In the sibling-controlled analyses, no associations were observed between PPI use and primary outcomes, including major congenital malformations (odds ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.91-1.22) and congenital heart defects (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.88-1.30). A range of sensitivity analyses revealed results that were similar to the main findings. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, the use of PPIs during early pregnancy was not associated with a substantial increase in the risk of congenital malformations, although small increased risks were observed for major congenital malformations and congenital heart defects; findings from sibling-controlled analyses revealed that PPIs were unlikely to be major teratogens. These findings may help guide clinicians and patients in decision-making about PPI use in the first trimester

Functional features of an ssi signal of plasmid pGKV21 in Escherichia coli

A single-strand initiation (ssi) signal was detected on the Lactococcus lactis plasmid pGKV21 containing the replicon of pWV01 by its ability to complement the poor growth of an M13 phage derivative (M13??lac182) lacking the complementary-strand origin in Escherichia coli. This ssi signal was situated at the 229-nucleotide (nt) DdeI-DraI fragment and located within the 109 nt upstream of the nick site of the putative plus origin. SSI activity is orientation specific with respect to the direction of replication. We constructed an ssi signal-deleted plasmid and then examined the effects of the ssi signal on the conversion of the single-stranded replication intermediate to double-stranded plasmid DNA in E. coli. The plasmid lacking an ssi signal accumulated much more plasmid single-stranded DNA than the wild-type plasmid did. Moreover, deletion of this region caused a great reduction in plasmid copy number or plasmid maintenance. These results suggest that in E. coli, this ssi signal directs its lagging-strand synthesis as a minus origin of plasmid pGKV21. Primer RNA synthesis in vitro suggests that E. coli RNA polymerase directly recognizes the 229-nt ssi signal and synthesizes primer RNA dependent on the presence of E. coli single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) protein. This region contains two stem-loop structures, stem-loop I and stem-loop II. Deletion of stem-loop I portion results in loss of priming activity by E. coli RNA polymerase, suggesting that stem-loop I portion is essential for priming by E. coli RNA polymerase on the SSB-coated single-stranded DNA template.open5

Direct Observation of Localized Spin Antiferromagnetic Transition in PdCrO2 by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

We report the first case of the successful measurements of a localized spin antiferromagnetic transition in delafossite-type PdCrO2 by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). This demonstrates how to circumvent the shortcomings of ARPES for investigation of magnetism involved with localized spins in limited size of two-dimensional crystals or multi-layer thin films that neutron scattering can hardly study due to lack of bulk compared to surface. Also, our observations give direct evidence for the spin ordering pattern of Cr3+ ions in PdCrO2 suggested by neutron diffraction and quantum oscillation measurements, and provide a strong constraint that has to be satisfied by a microscopic mechanism for the unconventional anomalous Hall effect recently reported in this system.X1118sciescopu

Dynamic magnetoelectric coupling in "electronic ferroelectric" LuFe2O4

Magnetoelectric (ME) coupling characteristics of LuFe2O4 were examined by monitoring the electrical voltage induced by an oscillating magnetic field under a static bias field (H-0). Interestingly, the room-temperature dynamic ME output exhibited a constant plateau behavior up to a certain static-field strength but showed a sudden drop above this critical value. In addition, two evidences of the intrinsic ME coupling were obtained by monitoring the pyroelectric response near the ferrimagnetic ordering temperature (similar to 250 K) and by examining the temperature-dependent magnetization near the ferroelectric transition point (similar to 345 K) between the two-dimensional charge-density-wave (CDW) state and the three-dimensional CDW state. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.open114951sciescopu

Noninvasive imaging of radiolabeled exosome-mimetic nanovesicle using Tc-99m-HMPAO

Exosomes known as nano-sized extracellular vesicles attracted recent interests due to their potential usefulness in drug delivery. Amid remarkable advances in biomedical applications of exosomes, it is crucial to understand in vivo distribution and behavior of exosomes. Here, we developed a simple method for radiolabeling of macrophage-derived exosome-mimetic nanovesicles (ENVs) with Tc-99m-HMPAO under physiologic conditions and monitored in vivo distribution of Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs using SPECT/CT in living mice. ENVs were produced from the mouse RAW264.7 macrophage cell line and labeled with Tc-99m-HMPAO for 1 hr incubation, followed by removal of free Tc-99m-HMPAO. SPECT/CT images were serially acquired after intravenous injection to BALB/c mouse. When ENVs were labeled with Tc-99m-HMPAO, the radiochemical purity of Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs was higher than 90% and the expression of exosome specific protein (CD63) did not change in Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs. Tc-99m-HMPAOENVs showed high serum stability (90%) which was similar to that in phosphate buffered saline until 5 hr. SPECT/CT images of the mice injected with Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs exhibited higher uptake in liver and no uptake in brain, whereas mice injected with Tc-99m-HMPAO showed high brain uptake until 5 hr. Our noninvasive imaging of radiolabeled-ENVs promises better understanding of the in vivo behavior of exosomes for upcoming biomedical application.114327Ysciescopu

Concepts, protocol, variations and current trends in surgery first orthognathic approach: A literature review

In the current era of expedited orthodontics, among many clinicians, tertiary care hospitals and patients, surgery first orthognathic approach (SFOA) has gained popularity. The advantages of SFOA (face first approach) are the reduced overall treatment duration and the early improvement in facial esthetics. In SFOA, the absence of a presurgical phase allows surgery to be performed first, followed by comprehensive orthodontic treatment to achieve the desired occlusion. The basic concepts of surgery early, surgery last, SFOA and Sendai SFOA technique along with its variations are reviewed in the present article. The recent advancement in SFOA in the context of preoperative preparation, surgical procedures and post-surgical orthodontics with pertinent literature survey are also discussed

Development of an in vitro periodontal biofilm model for assessing antimicrobial and host modulatory effects of bioactive molecules

Background: Inflammation within the oral cavity occurs due to dysregulation between microbial biofilms and the host response. Understanding how different oral hygiene products influence inflammatory properties is important for the development of new products. Therefore, creation of a robust host-pathogen biofilm platform capable of evaluating novel oral healthcare compounds is an attractive option. We therefore devised a multi-species biofilm co-culture model to evaluate the naturally derived polyphenol resveratrol (RSV) and gold standard chlorhexidine (CHX) with respect to anti-biofilm and anti-inflammatory properties.<p></p> Methods: An in vitro multi-species biofilm containing <i>S. mitis, F. nucleatum, P. Gingivalis</i> and <i>A. Actinomycetemcomitans</i> was created to represent a disease-associated biofilm and the oral epithelial cell in OKF6-TERT2. Cytotoxicity studies were performed using RSV and CHX. Multi-species biofilms were either treated with either molecule, or alternatively epithelial cells were treated with these prior to biofilm co-culture. Biofilm composition was evaluated and inflammatory responses quantified at a transcriptional and protein level.<p></p> Results: CHX was toxic to epithelial cells and multi-species biofilms at concentrations ranging from 0.01-0.2%. RSV did not effect multi-species biofilm composition, but was toxic to epithelial cells at concentrations greater than 0.01%. In co-culture, CHX-treated biofilms resulted in down regulation of the inflammatory chemokine IL-8 at both mRNA and protein level. RSV-treated epithelial cells in co-culture were down-regulated in the release of IL-8 protein, but not mRNA.<p></p> Conclusions: CHX possesses potent bactericidal properties, which may impact downstream inflammatory mediators. RSV does not appear to have bactericidal properties against multi-species biofilms, however it did appear to supress epithelial cells from releasing inflammatory mediators. This study demonstrates the potential to understand the mechanisms by which different oral hygiene products may influence gingival inflammation, thereby validating the use of a biofilm co-culture model.<p></p&gt