Impact of Phenolic Constituents and Antioxidant Activities of Acer truncatum Leaves and Flowers upon Different Thermal Treatments

In order to promote the development and application of Acer truncatum leaves and flowers in the food area, in this study, the dynamic changes of their phenolic composition and antioxidant activity were investigated under steam, microwave, and baking treatments, meanwhile, three time periods were further selected to determine the contents of total phenols and major phenolic compounds, together with the variations of antioxidant abilities of samples before and after the three treatments, and those data were finally analyzed through principal components and correlation analyses. The results showed that baking significantly increased the total phenol content from 75.80±3.54 mg GAE/g to 82.55±2.54~87.78±1.53 mg GAE/g in Acer truncatum leaves (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference of the total phenol content among untreated leaves and flowers and those samples under other treatments. Among phenolic compounds in leaves, gallates including gallic acid, ethyl gallate, and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose increased in varying degrees under all three treatments, and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose increased 1.88-fold under 15 min baking. Nevertheless, prolong microwave or baking treatment led to the reduction of increasing rate of gallates content. The above change pattern of gallates also existed in flowers, but in a relatively gentle mode. The result of antioxidant assays demonstrated that the oxygen radical absorbance capacity values significantly increased in Acer truncatum leaves and flowers after most treatments, and the highest increase in leaves and flowers were 1.49 and 1.21 times, respectively. Principal components and correlation analysis revealed that the variation of the gallates was significantly correlated with the change of the total phenol content, and different phenolic compounds in leaves and flowers had different degrees of contribution to the overall antioxidant activity. The above results indicated that thermal treatment method and time period all significantly affected the phenolic composition and antioxidant activities of Acer truncatum leaves and flowers (P<0.05). Therefore, a proper selection of treatment condition was vital for the improvement of their biological activity and commodity value. Among which, FM10 (microwave treatment for 10 min) led to the enhancement of antioxidant activity of both leaves and flowers. Above all, the present research provided a theoretical basis for the processing and further study of Acer truncatum leaves and flowers as food resources

Mlsp : A bioinformatics tool for predicting molecular subtypes and prognosis in patients with breast cancer

The molecular landscape in breast cancer is characterized by large biological heterogeneity and variable clinical outcomes. Here, we performed an integrative multi-omics analysis of patients diagnosed with breast cancer. Using transcriptomic analysis, we identified three subtypes (cluster A, cluster B and cluster C) of breast cancer with distinct prognosis, clinical features, and genomic alterations: Cluster A was asso-ciated with higher genomic instability, immune suppression and worst prognosis outcome; cluster B was associated with high activation of immune-pathway, increased mutations and middle prognosis out-come; cluster C was linked to Luminal A subtype patients, moderate immune cell infiltration and best prognosis outcome. Combination of the three newly identified clusters with PAM50 subtypes, we pro-posed potential new precision strategies for 15 subtypes using L1000 database. Then, we developed a robust gene pair (RGP) score for prognosis outcome prediction of patients with breast cancer. The RGP score is based on a novel gene-pairing approach to eliminate batch effects caused by differences in heterogeneous patient cohorts and transcriptomic data distributions, and it was validated in ten cohorts of patients with breast cancer. Finally, we developed a user-friendly web-tool (https://sujiezhulab.shi-nyapps.io/BRCA/) to predict subtype, treatment strategies and prognosis states for patients with breast cancer.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creative-commons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Transcriptomes Divergence of Ricotia lunaria Between the Two Micro-Climatic Divergent Slopes at “Evolution Canyon” I, Israel

As one of the hotspot regions for sympatric speciation studies, Evolution Canyon (EC) became an ideal place for its high level of microclimatic divergence interslopes. In this study, to highlight the genetic mechanisms of sympatric speciation, phenotypic variation on flowering time and transcriptomic divergence were investigated between two ecotypes of Ricotia lunaria, which inhabit the opposite temperate and tropical slopes of EC I (Lower Nahal Oren, Mount Carmel, Israel) separated by 100 m at the bottom of the slopes. Growth chamber results showed that flowering time of the ecotype from south-facing slope population # 3 (SFS 3) was significantly 3 months ahead of the north-facing slope population # 5 (NFS 5). At the same floral development stage, transcriptome analysis showed that 1,064 unigenes were differentially expressed between the two ecotypes, which enriched in the four main pathways involved in abiotic and/or biotic stresses responses, including flavonoid biosynthesis, α-linolenic acid metabolism, plant–pathogen interaction and linoleic acid metabolism. Furthermore, based on Ka/Ks analysis, nine genes were suggested to be involved in the ecological divergence between the two ecotypes, whose homologs functioned in RNA editing, ABA signaling, photoprotective response, chloroplasts protein-conducting channel, and carbohydrate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Among them, four genes, namely, SPDS1, FCLY, Tic21 and BGLU25, also showed adaptive divergence between R. lunaria and A. thaliana, suggesting that these genes could play an important role in plant speciation, at least in Brassicaceae. Based on results of both the phenotype of flowering time and comparative transcriptome, we hypothesize that, after long-time local adaptations to their interslope microclimatic environments, the molecular functions of these nine genes could have been diverged between the two ecotypes. They might differentially regulate the expression of the downstream genes and pathways that are involved in the interslope abiotic stresses, which could further diverge the flowering time between the two ecotypes, and finally induce the reproductive isolation establishment by natural selection overruling interslope gene flow, promoting sympatric speciation

Analisis Pajak Penghasilan Pasal 23 Atas Jasa Freight Forwarding Pada PT Armarda Samudera Samarinda

Penelitian ini akan dibahas mengingat kegiatan Jasa Freight Forwarding yang dilakukan oleh PT. Armada Samudera Raya merupakan objek PPh Pasal 23 yang harus dilakukan perhitungan, pemotongan, penyetoran dan pelaporan di kantor pajak yang terdekat. Dalam menjalankan USAha jasa Freight Forwarding pada PT. Armada Samudera menggunakan pihak ketiga atau sistem Reimbursement. Mengetahui perhitungan dan pemotongan PPh pasal 23 atas jasa Freight Forwarding yang termasuk jenis jasa lain, dasar pengenaan objek pemotongan PPh 23 sebesar 2 % dari jumlah bruto (Penghasilan).Rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah “Apakah pemotongan Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) Pasal 23 atas jasa freight forwarding pada PT. Armada Samudera Raya telah sesuai dengan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan 141/PMK.03/2015 dan Undang-Undang Nomor 36 Tahun 2008?”. Alat analisis yang digunakan adalah perhitungan PPh berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan Nomor 141/pmk.03/2015 dan Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 1983 tentang Pajak Penghasilan yang telah diubah terakhir dengan Undang-Undang Nomor 36 Tahun 2008 mewajibkan setiap Perusahaan sebagai wajib pajak untuk melakukan pemotongan PPh 23 sebesar 2 % dari jumlah bruto (Penghasilan) dan membadingkannya dengan perhitungan Perusahaan. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah Hipotesis diterima apabila pemotongan Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) Pasal 23 atas jasa freight forwarding pada PT. Armada Samudera Raya belum sesuai dengan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan 141/PMK.03/2015 dan Undang-Undang Nomor 36 Tahun 2008 dan sebaliknya Hipotesis ditolak apabila pemotongan Pajak Penghasilan (PPh) Pasal 23 atas jasa freight forwarding pada PT. Armada Samudera Raya sudah sesuai dengan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan 141/PMK.03/2015 dan Undang-Undang Nomor 36 Tahun 2008

Prevalence, drug resistance, molecular typing and comparative genomics analysis of MRSA strains from a tertiary A hospital in Shanxi Province, China

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes a high incidence rate and mortality worldwide. This study investigated the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in a tertiary A hospital in Shanxi Province, China, in order to determine the major epidemic clones as well as their antibiotic resistance and virulence characteristics. A total of 212 S. aureus strains were collected in this hospital, and were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, detection of virulence genes, resistance genes, and efflux pump genes. Among them, 38 MRSA strains were further subjected to detection of biofilm genes, assessment of biofilm formation ability, MLST, spa typing, SCCmec typing, and phylogenetic analysis. The majority of S. aureus strains came from the neonatology department, with secretions and purulent fluid being the main source of samples. The strains showed high resistance to penicillin (98.11%), erythromycin (64.62%) and clindamycin (59.91%), while being sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. The detection rates of efflux pump genes and resistance genes were high, and there was a significant correlation between resistance gene types and phenotypes, with mecA showing a close correlation with oxacillin. The detection rates of virulence genes and the toxin gene profiles of MSSA and MRSA strains showed significant differences. And the detection rate of biofilm genes in MRSA strains was relatively high, with 13.16% of MRSA strains showing strong biofilm formation ability. The most common epidemic clone of MRSA was ST59-SCCmecIV-t437, followed by ST59-SCCmecV-t437. The former had a higher detection rate of resistance genes and a stronger biofilm formation ability, while the latter had a higher positive rate for pvl gene and stronger pathogenicity, making it more likely to cause systemic infections. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all MRSA strains in this study clustered into three major branches, with distinct differences in antibiotic resistance and virulence characteristics among the branches. ST59-MRSA strains from different species showed consistency and inter-species transmission, but there were differences among ST59-MRSA strains from different geographical locations. In general, most MSSA and MRSA strains exhibited multidrug resistance and carried multiple resistance genes, virulence genes, and biofilm formation genes, warranting further research to elucidate the mechanisms of drug resistance and pathogenesis

The synergized diagnostic value of VTQ with chemokine CXCL13 in lung tumors

Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification (VTQ) offers several advantages in the diagnosis of various lung diseases. Chemokine expression levels, such as CXCL13, play a vital role in the occurrence and development of tumors and aid in the diagnosis process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined value of VTQ and changes in CXCL13 expression levels for the diagnosis of lung tumors. A total of 60 patients with thoracic nodules and pleural effusion were included, with 30 of them having malignant pleural effusion (based on pathology) and the remaining 30 having benign thoracic nodules and pleural effusion. The relative expression level of CXCL13 was measured in the collected pleural effusions using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The relationship between CXCL13 expression levels and various clinical features was analyzed. A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted on the VTQ results and relative expression levels of CXCL13, and the areas under the curve, critical values, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated. Multivariate analysis incorporating multiple indicators was performed to determine the accuracy of lung tumor diagnosis. The results showed that the expression levels of CXCL13 and VTQ were significantly higher in the lung cancer group compared to the control group (P &lt; 0.05). In the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) group, CXCL13 expression levels increased with later TNM staging and poorer tumor differentiation. The expression level of CXCL13 in adenocarcinoma was higher than that in squamous cell carcinoma. The ROC curve analysis revealed that CXCL13 had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.74 (0.61, 0.86) with an optimal cut-off value of 777.82 pg/ml for diagnosing lung tumors. The ROC curve analysis of VTQ showed an AUC of 0.67 (0.53, 0.82) with a sensitivity of 60.0% and a specificity of 83.3%, and an optimal diagnostic cut-off of 3.33 m/s. The combination of CXCL13 and VTQ for diagnosing thoracic tumors had an AUC of 0.842 (0.74, 0.94), which was significantly higher than either factor alone. The results of the study demonstrate the strong potential of combining VTQ results with chemokine CXCL13 expression levels for lung tumor diagnosis. Additionally, the findings suggest that elevated relative expression of CXCL13 in cases of malignant pleural effusion caused by non-small cell lung cancer may indicate a poor prognosis. This provides promising potential for using CXCL13 as a screening tool and prognostic indicator for patients with advanced lung cancer complicated by malignant pleural effusion

Magnetic resonance imaging based deep-learning model: a rapid, high-performance, automated tool for testicular volume measurements

BackgroundTesticular volume (TV) is an essential parameter for monitoring testicular functions and pathologies. Nevertheless, current measurement tools, including orchidometers and ultrasonography, encounter challenges in obtaining accurate and personalized TV measurements.PurposeBased on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this study aimed to establish a deep learning model and evaluate its efficacy in segmenting the testes and measuring TV.Materials and methodsThe study cohort consisted of retrospectively collected patient data (N = 200) and a prospectively collected dataset comprising 10 healthy volunteers. The retrospective dataset was divided into training and independent validation sets, with an 8:2 random distribution. Each of the 10 healthy volunteers underwent 5 scans (forming the testing dataset) to evaluate the measurement reproducibility. A ResUNet algorithm was applied to segment the testes. Volume of each testis was calculated by multiplying the voxel volume by the number of voxels. Manually determined masks by experts were used as ground truth to assess the performance of the deep learning model.ResultsThe deep learning model achieved a mean Dice score of 0.926 ± 0.034 (0.921 ± 0.026 for the left testis and 0.926 ± 0.034 for the right testis) in the validation cohort and a mean Dice score of 0.922 ± 0.02 (0.931 ± 0.019 for the left testis and 0.932 ± 0.022 for the right testis) in the testing cohort. There was strong correlation between the manual and automated TV (R2 ranging from 0.974 to 0.987 in the validation cohort; R2 ranging from 0.936 to 0.973 in the testing cohort). The volume differences between the manual and automated measurements were 0.838 ± 0.991 (0.209 ± 0.665 for LTV and 0.630 ± 0.728 for RTV) in the validation cohort and 0.815 ± 0.824 (0.303 ± 0.664 for LTV and 0.511 ± 0.444 for RTV) in the testing cohort. Additionally, the deep-learning model exhibited excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation &gt;0.9) in determining TV.ConclusionThe MRI-based deep learning model is an accurate and reliable tool for measuring TV