Complete mitochondrial genome of Echinophyllia aspera (Scleractinia, Lobophylliidae): Mitogenome characterization and phylogenetic positioning

Lack of mitochondrial genome data of Scleractinia is hampering progress across genetic, systematic, phylogenetic, and evolutionary studies concerning this taxon. Therefore, in this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of the stony coral Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis & Solander, 1786), has been decoded for the first time by next generation sequencing and genome assembly. The assembled mitogenome is 17,697 bp in length, containing 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), two transfer RNAs and two ribosomal RNAs. It has the same gene content and gene arrangement as in other Scleractinia. All genes are encoded on the same strand. Most of the PCGs use ATG as the start codon except for ND2, which uses ATT as the start codon. The A+T content of the mitochondrial genome is 65.92% (25.35% A, 40.57% T, 20.65% G, and 13.43% for C). Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis have been performed using PCGs, and the result shows that E. aspera clustered closely with Sclerophyllia maxima (Sheppard & Salm, 1988), both of which belong to Lobophylliidae, when compared with species belonging to Merulinidae and other scleractinian taxa used as outgroups. The complete mitogenome of E. aspera provides essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of corals

Diversity of Colletotrichum species associated with anthracnose on Euonymus japonicus and their sensitivity to fungicides

As an evergreen shrub, Euonymus japonicus plays a crucial role in urban landscape construction, and its growth is affected by severe foliar anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. However, the biodiversity of Colletotrichum species associated with anthracnose on E. japonicus remains undetermined. This study involved a two-year collection of E. japonicus leaf samples with typical anthracnose symptoms from 9 districts in Beijing, China. A total of 194 Colletotrichum isolates were obtained, and eight Colletotrichum species were subsequently identified using morphological characteristics and molecular identification with the ACT, GADPH, CHS, TUB2, and CAL genes, as well as the rDNA-ITS region. These species included Colletotrichum aenigma, C. fructicola, C. gloeosporioides, C. grossum, C. hebeiense, C. karstii, C. siamense, and C. theobromicola with C. siamense being the most prevalent (57%), followed by C. aenigma and C. theobromicola. Furthermore, C. fructicola, C. grossum and C. hebeiense are reported for the first time as causal agents of anthracnose on E. japonicus worldwide, and C. karstii is newly reported to be associated with E. japonicus anthracnose in China. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all tested isolates exhibited pathogenicity in the presence of wounds, emphasizing the need to avoid artificial or mechanical wounds to prevent infection in E. japonicus management. The EC50 values of five fungicides, namely difenoconazole, flusilazole, tebuconazole, hexaconazole, and prochloraz, were found to be less than 10 mg/L, indicating their strong potential for application. Notably, the EC50 of prochloraz was less than 0.05 mg/L for C. theobromicola. These findings offer valuable insights for the management of anthracnose on E. japonicus

Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of Physogyra lichtensteini (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851) and Plerogyra sinuosa (Dana, 1846) (Scleractinia, Plerogyridae): characterisation and phylogenetic analysis

In this study, the whole mitochondrial genomes of Physogyra lichtensteini and Plerogyra sinuosa have been sequenced for the first time. The length of their assembled mitogenome sequences were 17,286 bp and 17,586 bp, respectively, both including 13 protein-coding genes, two tRNAs, and two rRNAs. Their mitogenomes offered no distinct structure and their gene order were the same as other typical scleractinians. Based on 13 protein-coding genes, a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis showed that Physogyra lichtensteini and Plerogyra sinuosa are clustered in the family Plerogyridae, which belongs to the “Robust” clade. The 13 tandem mitogenome PCG sequences used in this research can provide important molecular information to clarify the evolutionary relationships amongst stony corals, especially at the family level. On the other hand, more advanced markers and more species need to be used in the future to confirm the evolutionary relationships of all the scleractinians

Cost-effectiveness of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy with adjuvant pembrolizumab for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in the United States

IntroductionPerioperative (neoadjuvant and adjuvant) pembrolizumab has shown favorable efficacy in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this treatment from the perspective of the United States healthcare payers.MethodsWe established a Markov model to compare the cost-effectiveness of perioperative pembrolizumab with that of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 21-day cycles, utilizing data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-671 trial. Additional data were extracted from other publications or online sources. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the findings. A willingness-to-pay threshold of $150,000 per quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained was established. The main outcomes of this study were the measurement of QALYs, overall costs, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and net monetary benefit (NMB).ResultsDuring a 10-year time horizon, the total costs of perioperative pembrolizumab and the control treatment were$224,779.1 and $110,026.3, respectively. The QALYs were 4.19 and 2.97 for the two treatments, respectively, which led to an ICER of$94,222.29 per QALY gained. The NMB at the WTP threshold at $150,000 per QALY gained was$67,931.3. One-way sensitivity analysis identified the cost of pembrolizumab as the primary factor influencing cost-effectiveness. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated a 97.7% probability of perioperative pembrolizumab being cost-effective at the WTP threshold.ConclusionsFrom the perspective of the United States healthcare payers, perioperative pembrolizumab is a cost-effective treatment for patients with early-stage NSCLC

Next-generation sequencing yields the complete mitogenome of stony coral (Favites abdita)

In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of stony coral, Favites abdita (Scleractinia), has been decoded for the first time by next-generation sequencing and genome assembly. The assembled mitogenome, consisting of 17,825 bp, has unique 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 transfer RNAs and 3 ribosomal RNAs genes. The complete mitogenome provides essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis for stony coral phylogeny

Waveform design and signal processing method for integrated underwater detection and communication system

Abstract For the integrated system of underwater detection and communication, an emitted waveform should satisfy both detection and communication requirements. The signal processing method at the receiving end must also accomplish target detection and communication accordingly. This study uses a generalised sinusoidal frequency modulated (GSFM) waveform with a carrier to ensure detection performance. At the same time, the communication information encoding with Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying is modulated to the GSFM signal for communication purposes. Unlike previous work, an improved Blind Source Separation algorithm is utilised at the receiving end, which is better adapted to waveform separation and processing in the underwater time‐varying unknown environment. The analysis of detection probability, peak‐to‐average ratio, and signal processing results show that the proposed waveform and corresponding signal processing scheme can effectively meet the need for integrated underwater detection and communication system