The dark septate endophyte Phialocephala sphaeroides suppresses conifer pathogen transcripts and promotes root growth of Norway spruce

Plant-associated microbes including dark septate endophytes (DSEs) of forest trees play diverse functional roles in host fitness including growth promotion and increased defence. However, little is known about the impact on the fungal transcriptome and metabolites during tripartite interaction involving plant host, endophyte and pathogen. To understand the transcriptional regulation of endophyte and pathogen during co-infection, Norway spruce (Picea abies) seedlings were infected with DSE Phialocephala sphaeroides, or conifer root-rot pathogen Heterobasidion parviporum, or both. Phialocephala sphaeroides showed low but stable transcripts abundance (a decrease of 40%) during interaction with Norway spruce and conifer pathogen. By contrast, H. parviporum transcripts were significantly reduced (92%) during co-infection. With RNA sequencing analysis, P. sphaeroides experienced a shift from cell growth to anti-stress and antagonistic responses, while it repressed the ability of H. parviporum to access carbohydrate nutrients by suppressing its carbohydrate/polysaccharide-degrading enzyme machinery. The pathogen on the other hand secreted cysteine peptidase to restrict free growth of P. sphaeroides. The expression of both DSE P. sphaeroides and pathogen H. parviporum genes encoding plant growth promotion products were equally detected in both dual and tripartite interaction systems. This was further supported by the presence of tryptophan-dependent indolic compound in liquid culture of P. sphaeroides. Norway spruce and Arabidopsis seedlings treated with P. sphaeroides culture filtrate exhibited auxin-like phenotypes, such as enhanced root hairs, and primary root elongation at low concentration but shortened primary root at high concentration. The results suggested that the presence of the endophyte had strong repressive or suppressive effect on H. parviporum transcripts encoding genes involved in nutrient acquisition.Peer reviewe

Linking posttraumatic stress disorder with eating disorders among Emirati university female students: The role of self-concealment

The link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from past trauma, eating disorders, and psychiatric co-morbidity has been established. Whether self-concealment could influence these distress outcomes among traumatised Emirati university female students remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether the co-existing profiles of PTSD and self-concealment could impact eating disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity among female Emirati students. Using a convenience sampling method, the research was made known to students studying at a university in the United Arab Emirates. Four hundred and twenty-one female students completed questionnaires measuring PTSD, self-concealment, eating attitudes, and psychiatric co-morbidity in class. Latent profile analysis and multivariate analysis of variance were used respectively to identify the profiles for students and examine the differences between profile groups in distress outcomes. 38% met the criteria for PTSD. Using Latent Profile Analysis, profile 1 (moderate PTSD and self-concealment with high avoidance) had moderate PTSD symptoms with a high level of avoidance, and a moderate level of self-concealment. Profile 2 (moderate PTSD and self-concealment with low avoidance) had moderate PTSD symptoms with a low level of avoidance, and a similar level of self-concealment to profile 1. Profiles 3 (low PTSD group) and 4 (high PTSD group) had the lowest and highest levels of PTSD symptoms and self-concealment, respectively. Profile 4 showed significantly higher eating disorder symptoms compared to profile 3, and higher levels of psychiatric co-morbidity than the other three profiles. Having PTSD with a tendency to hide self-related secret could increase eating disorder symptoms along with other psychological difficulties

Comparison between emerging adults and adults in terms of contamination fear, post-COVID-19 PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity

The present study compared Chinese emerging adults and adults regarding the association between contamination fear, posttraumatic stress disorder post-COVID-19 and psychiatric comorbidity after controlling for demographic and trauma exposure variables. 1089 Chinese civilians (M = 382; F = 707) with a mean age of 26 years (M = 26.36, SD = 8.58) were recruited from different provinces in China via an online survey posted on mainstream Chinese social networking platforms. They completed a demographic page with questions on trauma exposure, the Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Results showed that 12.7%, 68.7% and 18.6% met criteria for full, partial and no PTSD, respectively. Emerging adults reported significantly lower levels of symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance, somatic problems, anxiety and fear of contamination than adults. In both emerging adults and adults, contamination fear was correlated with PTSD and psychiatric comorbidity. High educational attainment was significantly correlated with psychiatric comorbidity in emerging adults, but with PTSD in adults. Length of quarantine was correlated with psychiatric comorbidity only in adults. In conclusion, both emerging adults and adults developed varying levels of contamination fear, posttraumatic stress and general psychological symptoms following the outbreak of COVID-19. Emerging adults were more resilient than adults in coping with distress

Mechanical thrombectomy with intra-arterial alteplase provided better functional outcomes for AIS-LVO: a meta-analysis

BackgroundSeveral clinical trials have shown that intra-arterial thrombolysis using alteplase during mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has a better outcome than MT alone in ischemic stroke management. We performed the current meta-analysis to estimate the efficacy and safety of MT with intra-arterial alteplase therapy.MethodsThe MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched up to Mar. 2022 to identify the clinical trials that compared MT alone versus MT with intra-arterial alteplase therapy. STATA 16.0 was used for statistical analysis. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated with a random effect model.ResultsSeven studies involving 1,083 participants were included. The primary outcomes were better functional outcomes, defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score between 0 and 2 at 90  days, and successful recanalization, defined as a modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score  ≥  2b. Compared to MT alone, MT with intra-arterial alteplase did not lead to higher mTICI scores (OR 1.58, 95%CI 0.94 to 2.67, p = 0.085, I2 = 16.8%) but did lead to better mRS (OR 1.37, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.86, p = 0.044). There was no increase in mortality or bleeding events in the overall or subgroup analyses.ConclusionMT with intra-arterial alteplase did not improve the recanalization rate but provided better functional outcomes. The intervention did not increase adverse effects in any subgroup at the same time.Clinical trial registrationhttp://inplasy.com, identifier INPLASY202240027

Correlation study of male semen parameters and embryo aneuploidy in preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of abnormal semen parameters on embryo aneuploidy based on single nucleotide polymorphism microarray (SNP array).MethodsA total of 464 blastocysts from 103 PGT-A cycles were analyzed. The embryo quality and embryo aneuploidy rates were compared between different groups which divided by male semen parameters (sperm concentration, motility, morphology, and DFI) according the WHO criteria (2021).ResultsThe total blastocysts chromosome aneuploidy rate was 42.3% (191/452). In the teratozoospermia group, the good-quality embryo and blastocyst formation rate were lower than the normal group(44.4% vs 60.7%, P <0.01; 33.3% vs 43.5%, P <0.05), The good-quality embryo rate in normal DFI group was significantly higher than high-DFI group (59.0% vs 48.4%, P < 0.05). The blastocyst aneuploidy rate in low sperm concentration group, and high DFI group was no differences between with that in normal sperm concentration and DFI group (47.7% vs 37.8% and 44.7% vs 37.8%, P>0.05). The aneuploid rate of blastocyst in teratozoospermic and asthenozoospermia group was significantly higher than that of normal morphology and motility group (50.0% vs 34.0% and 46.7% vs 33.7%, P<0.05).ConclusionOur study revealed that sperm DFI were positively correlated with blastocyst aneuploidy rate, while sperm motility and sperm morphology rate were negatively correlated with blastocyst aneuploidy rate. Abnormal semen parameters may affect embryo quality and increase the aneuploidy rate of blastocyst chromosomes, suggesting that in clinical practice of assisted reproduction patients with abnormal semen parameters can be treated in advance to improve sperm quality, so as to reduce the impact on embryo quality and achieve a better pregnancy outcome

On the photoluminescence changes induced by ageing processes on zinc white paints

Recent research is focusing on the study of interaction mechanisms between pigments and binders, as they are crucial for understanding paint ageing and conservation issues. In this work, we investigate these mechanisms and follow the changes induced by ageing on zinc white paint by employing Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Time-Resolved Photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopies. The two techniques, applied on thermally aged mock-up samples and on a 19th oil painting, provide complementary information on the effect of the binder on the ZnO pigment particles. The characterization of the infrared absorption spectra confirms the well-known tendency of amorphous metal carboxylate formation in zinc white paint following ageing. At the same time, the ageing of paint film produces significant changes in the photoluminescence emission from defect centres of ZnO. The emission that is mostly affected by the changes of the micro-environment is the blue band (430 nm) – associated with surface defects – whereas the green emission (530 nm) is stable. The results demonstrate that the evolution of the pigment-binder system has detectable consequences on the crystalline structure of the pigment particles and we speculate that the main cause of these modifications is the functionalization of the pigment particle surfaces. The possibility to follow crystal structure changes with time-resolved photoluminescence can thus support chemical studies on metal carboxylate formation and paint deterioration by providing information about pigment-binder interactions

Defect emission of ZnO and its related origins

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising material for ultra-violet optoelectronics applications due to its direct band gap and large exciton binding energy. Defect in semiconductor plays an important role in determining the optical and electrical properties. It is thus crucial to understand the defects‟ performance for realizing the device fabrication. Green luminescence (GL) having the peak at 2.4-2.5 eV is a defect related emission band commonly found in the luminescence spectra of many of the ZnO materials. Despite of the effort devoted for several decades, its origin and emission mechanism remain controversial. In this thesis, the origin of the GL emitted from the ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is studied using a comprehensive spectroscopic approach, including the Hall effect measurement, photoluminescence (PL), Raman spectroscopy, positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). ZnO thin films are grown by PLD method with the growth parameters (namely the substrate temperature and oxygen pressure during the growth) systemically varied. Annealing studies in argon atmosphere reveal the correlation between the free electron concentration and the hydrogen concentration in the samples. Two oxygen deficient defect related Raman modes are also identified and they anneal out after annealing at high temperature. We have investigated the introduction the GL systematically grown by different growth parameters, undergone different post-growth annealing treatment, and different methods of growth. Two kinds of GL’s are identified. The first kind of GLs has peak at 2.47 eV without the fine structure, and the other has the peak at 2.45 eV having the fine structure of separation of 0.07 eV. The GL with the fine structure is originated from the surficial region of the ZnO film. The GL without the fine structure is introduced after the annealing 900℃ irrespective of the initial growth conditions. PAS results show a strong correlation between the thermal introductions of a kind of Zn-vacancy and the GL without the fine structure. Moreover, a donor-acceptor-pair (DAP) emission is induced in the low temperature PL spectrum after the same annealing temperature of 900℃. The GL and the DAP emissions are thus associated with the involvement of the VZn. Furthermore by comparing the photon energies of the GL and DAP with the previous first principle calculated results, the GL is ascribed to the conduction band to the (-/2-) acceptor level of VZn, and the DAP involves the (0/-) acceptor level of VZn The presence of the conduction band to the (0/-) level transition is compatible with the results of the photoluminescence excitation (PLE) study.published_or_final_versionPhysicsDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Alectinib: a novel second generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor for overcoming clinically-acquired resistance

The development of inhibitors for the tyrosine anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) has advanced rapidly, driven by biology and medicinal chemistry. The first generation ALK inhibitor crizotinib was granted US FDA approval with only four years of preclinical and clinical testing. Although this drug offers significant clinical benefit to the ALK-positive patients, resistance has been developed through a variety of mechanisms. In addition to ceritinib, alectinib is another second-generation ALK inhibitor launched in 2014 in Japan. This drug has a unique chemical structure bearing a 5H-benzo[b]carbazol-11(6H)-one structural scaffold with an IC50 value of 1.9 nmol/L, and is highly potent against ALK bearing the gatekeeper mutation L1196M with an IC50 of 1.56 nmol/L. In the clinic, alectinib is highly efficacious in treatment of ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and retains potency to combat crizotinib-resistant ALK mutations L1196M, F1174L, R1275Q and C1156Y