Hybrid star HD 81817 accompanied by brown dwarf or substellar companion

HD 81817 is known as a hybrid star. Hybrid stars have both cool stellar wind properties and Ultraviolet (UV) or even X-ray emission features of highly ionized atoms in their spectra. A white dwarf companion has been suggested as the source of UV or X-ray features. HD 81817 has been observed since 2004 as a part of a radial velocity (RV) survey program to search for exoplanets around K giant stars using the Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph at the 1.8 m telescope of Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory in Korea. We obtained 85 RV measurements between 2004 and 2019 for HD 81817 and found two periodic RV variations. The amplitudes of RV variations are around 200 m s^-1, which are significantly lower than that expected from a closely orbiting white dwarf companion. Photometric data and relevant spectral lines were also analyzed to help determine the origin of the periodic RV variations. We conclude that 627.4-day RV variations are caused by intrinsic stellar activities such as long-term pulsations or rotational modulations of surface activities based on H{\alpha} equivalent width (EW) variations of a similar period. On the other hand, 1047.1-day periodic RV variations are likely to be caused by a brown dwarf or substellar companion, which is corroborated by a recent GAIA proper motion anomaly for HD 81817. The Keplerian fit yields a minimum mass of 27.1 M_Jup, a semimajor axis of 3.3 AU, and an eccentricity of 0.17 for the stellar mass of 4.3 M_sun for HD 81817. The inferred mass puts HD 81817 b in the brown dwarf desert

Development of an Improved Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for On-Site Diagnosis of Fire Blight in Apple and Pear

Fast and accurate diagnosis is needed to eradicate and manage economically important and invasive diseases like fire blight. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is known as the best on-site diagnostic, because it is fast, highly specific to a target, and less sensitive to inhibitors in samples. In this study, LAMP assay that gives more consistent results for on-site diagnosis of fire blight than the previous developed LAMP assays was developed. Primers for new LAMP assay (named as DS-LAMP) were designed from a histidine-tRNA ligase gene (EAMY_RS32025) of E. amylovora CFBP1430 genome. The DS-LAMP amplified DNA (positive detection) only from genomic DNA of E. amylovora strains, not from either E. pyrifoliae (causing black shoot blight) or from Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (causing shoot blight on apple trees). The detection limit of DS-LAMP was 10 cells per LAMP reaction, equivalent to 104 cells per ml of the sample extract. DS-LAMP successfully diagnosed the pathogens on four fire-blight infected apple and pear orchards. In addition, it could distinguish black shoot blight from fire blight. The Bühlmann-LAMP, developed previously for on-site diagnosis of fire blight, did not give consistent results for specificity to E. amylovora and on-site diagnosis; it gave positive reactions to three strains of E. pyrifoliae and two strains of P. syringae pv. syringae. It also, gave positive reactions to some healthy sample extracts. DS-LAMP, developed in this study, would give more accurate on-site diagnosis of fire blight, especially in the Republic of Korea, where fire blight and black shoot blight coexist

On-Site Diagnosis of Fire Blight with Antibody-Based Diagnostic Strips

Recently fire blight occurred in the Republic of Korea and eradication program for the disease has been executed since then. Specificity and detection sensitivity of the 2 antibody-based diagnostic strips to Korean isolates of Erwiniaamylovora (Ea) and their application for on-site diagnosis were evaluated in this study. EaAgriStrip, a commercial diagnostic kit, and EB strip, developed in this study, reacted positively to the all tested Korean Ea strains and also to most of Erwiniapyrifoliae (Ep) strains causing black shoot blight. They reacted negatively to all Pusedomonassyringae pv. syringae (Pss) strains that cause shoot blight on apple. Detection sensitivity was similar between the 2 strips. For on-site diagnosis, the two strips reacted positively only to the extractions of the fire-blighted samples on all fire blight occurred orchards except one orchard at which on-site diagnosis was carried out at winter time. In addition, they reacted positively to the black-shoot blighted extractions from the black shoot blight occurred apple orchard. These results suggest that both EB strip and EaAgriStrip would be useful for on-site diagnosis of fire blight in Korea

Human papillomavirus E5 protein induces expression of the EP4 subtype of prostaglandin E2 receptor in cyclic AMP response element-dependent pathways in cervical cancer cells

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the major cause of uterine cervical cancer, but the role of the HPV E5 in carcinogenesis is not clearly understood. Prostaglandins are known to contribute to carcinogenesis of cervical cancer, and we therefore investigated the effect of HPV16 E5 on the expression of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) receptors and underlying mechanisms. Stable expression of the E5 induced expression of the EP4 subtype of PGE2 receptors in C33A cervical cancer cells, and transfection of E5 small interfering RNA (siRNA) decreased it. EP4 protein expression was increased in human cervical cancer tissues, and EP4 mediated E5-induced increase in anchorage-independent colony formation and vascular endothelial growth factor expression. E5 induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, and COX-2 increased PGE2 secretion and EP4 expression. The induction of EP4 by PGE2 and E5 was inhibited by an EP4 antagonist, inhibitors of cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and a cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element (CRE) decoy. E5 increased the luciferase expression controlled by a variant CRE of the EP4 promoter, and it also increased the binding of cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB) to oligonucleotides containing this CRE. We conclude that the HPV16 E5 protein induces EP4 receptor protein in cervical cancer cells and that this induction involves epidermal growth factor receptor, COX-2, PGE2, EP2 and EP4, protein kinase A, CREB and CRE

Polyphosphide Precursor for Low-Temperature Solution-Processed Fibrous Phosphorus Thin Films

Crystalline red phosphorus has very recently emerged as a stable and cost-effective semiconductor material. However, despite its potentiality in electronics and optoelectronics, the widespread application of this material is still hampered by the limited synthetic route of the ampoule-based chemical vapor deposition that critically requires mineralizing agents. To address this issue, we report the chemical synthesis of soluble polyphosphide precursors that serve as inks for the solution-processed fabrication of crystalline fibrous phosphorus thin films. The purified polyphosphide precursor formed crystalline fibrous phosphorus via thermal annealing at a temperature as low as 250 ??C without any mineralizing agents. This anionic polyphosphide functioned as a surface-capping ligand for nanoparticles including metals, semiconductors, and magnets. Therefore, the study investigates the possibility of solution-processed fibrous phosphorus thin films as active channel layers in field-effect transistors as well as photodetectors and demonstrates their initial performances on the charge-transport and photoresponsive characteristics of these devices. The effect of semiconducting PbS nanoparticles embedded in the fibrous phosphorus thin films on device performance was also studied. The synthesized polyphosphide precursor offers a vast opportunity for the facile preparation of crystalline red phosphorus and chemical design of nanoparticles

Exomic Sequencing of Immune-Related Genes Reveals Novel Candidate Variants Associated with Alopecia Universalis

<div><p>Alopecia areata (AA) is a common autoimmune disorder mostly presented as round patches of hair loss and subclassified into alopecia totalis/alopecia universalis (AT/AU) based on the area of alopecia. Although AA is relatively common, only 5% of AA patients progress to AT/AU, which affect the whole scalp and whole body respectively. To determine genetic determinants of this orphan disease, we undertook whole-exome sequencing of 6 samples from AU patients, and 26 variants in immune-related genes were selected as candidates. When an additional 14 AU samples were genotyped for these candidates, 6 of them remained at the level of significance in comparison with 155 Asian controls (p<1.92×10⁻³). Linkage disequilibrium was observed between some of the most significant SNPs, including rs41559420 of <em>HLA-DRB5</em> (p<0.001, OR 44.57) and rs28362679 of <em>BTNL2</em> (p<0.001, OR 30.21). While <em>BTNL2</em> was reported as a general susceptibility gene of AA previously, <em>HLA-DRB5</em> has not been implicated in AA. In addition, we found several genetic variants in novel genes (<em>HLA-DMB</em>, <em>TLR1</em>, and <em>PMS2</em>) and discovered an additional locus on <em>HLA-A</em>, a known susceptibility gene of AA. This study provides further evidence for the association of previously reported genes with AA and novel findings such as <em>HLA-DRB5</em>, which might represent a hidden culprit gene for AU.</p> </div

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) immune monitoring with ELISPOT and QuantiFERON-CMV assay in seropositive kidney transplant recipients.

Although cytomegalovirus (CMV) specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) has been suggested as a predictive marker for CMV infection, proper CMI monitoring strategy in CMV-seropositive recipients and optimal method are not defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate two interferon gamma release assays during early post-transplant period as a predictor of the development of CMV infection in CMV-seropositive patients. A total of 124 CMV-seropositive recipients who received kidney transplantation from CMV-seropositive donor were prospectively examined. At pre-transplant and post-transplant 1 and 3 months, CMV-CMIs were tested using QuantiFERON-CMV assay (QF-CMV) and CMV specific T cell ELISPOT against CMV pp65 and IE-1 antigens (pp65-ELISPOT, IE-1-ELISPOT). CMV DNAemia occurred in 16 (12.9%) patients within 3 months after transplant. Post-transplant pp65 or IE-1 ELISPOT response, but not QF-CMV, was significantly associated with CMV DNAemia. The pp65 ELISPOT (cut-off; 30 spots/200,000 cells) and IE-1 ELISPOT (10 spots/200,000 cells) at post-transplant 1 month predicted the risk of post-transplant CMV DNAemia (P = 0.019). Negative predictive values (NPV) for protection from CMV DNAemia in case of positive ELISPOT results were 94.5% (95% CI: 86.9-97.8%) and 97.6% (95% CI: 86.3-99.6%) in pp65-ELISPOT and IE-1-ELISPOT assays, respectively. These results suggest that the variability may exist between CMV ELISPOT assays and QF-CMV, and CMV ELISPOT at post-transplant 1 month can identify the risk of CMV DNAemia in seropositive kidney transplant recipients