DNA metabarcoding of orchid-derived products reveals widespread illegal orchid trade.

In eastern Mediterranean countries orchids continue to be collected from the wild for the production of salep, a beverage made of dried orchid tubers. In this study we used nrITS1 and nrITS2 DNA metabarcoding to identify orchid and other plant species present in 55 commercial salep products purchased in Iran, Turkey, Greece and Germany. Thirty samples yielded a total of 161 plant taxa, and 13 products (43%) contained orchid species and these belonged to 10 terrestrial species with tuberous roots.

Acute and chronic effects of treatment with mesenchymal stromal cells on LPS-induced pulmonary inflammation, emphysema and atherosclerosis development.

Background: COPD is a pulmonary disorder often accompanied by cardiovascular disease (CVD), and current treatment of this comorbidity is suboptimal. Systemic inflammation in COPD triggered by smoke and microbial exposure is suggested to link COPD and CVD. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) possess anti-inflammatory capacities and MSC treatment is considered an attractive treatment option for various chronic inflammatory diseases.

Benefits and Limitations of DNA Barcoding and Metabarcoding in Herbal Product Authentication.

Introduction: Herbal medicines play an important role globally in the health care sector and in industrialised countries they are often considered as an alternative to mono-substance medicines. Current quality and authentication assessment methods rely mainly on morphology and analytical phytochemistry-based methods detailed in pharmacopoeias. Herbal products however are often highly processed with numerous ingredients, and even if these analytical methods are accurate for quality control of specific lead or marker compounds, they are of limited suitability for the authentication of biological ingredients.

Treatment of Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies After Biliopancreatic Diversion With or Without Duodenal Switch: a Major Challenge.

Background: Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are a major concern after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) and BPD with duodenal switch (BPD/DS). Evidence-based guidelines how to prevent or how to treat deficiencies in these patients are currently lacking. The aim of the current study is to give an overview of postsurgical deficiencies and how to prevent and treat these deficiencies.

Systemic Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 Inhibition Modifies Renal Macrophages and Restores Glomerular Endothelial Glycocalyx and Barrier Function in Diabetic Nephropathy.

Inhibition of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) with the Spiegelmer emapticap pegol (NOX-E36) shows long-lasting albuminuria-reducing effects in diabetic nephropathy. MCP-1 regulates inflammatory cell recruitment and differentiation of macrophages. Because the endothelial glycocalyx is also reduced in diabetic nephropathy, we hypothesized that MCP-1 inhibition restores glomerular barrier function through influencing macrophage cathepsin L secretion, thus reducing activation of the glycocalyx-degrading enzyme heparanase.

Recommended standards for conducting and reporting ethnopharmacological field studies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: What are the minimum methodological and conceptual requirements for an ethnopharmacological field study? How can the results of ethnopharmacological field studies be reported so that researchers with different backgrounds can draw on the results and develop new research questions and projects? And how should these field data be presented to get accepted in a scientific journal such as the Journal of Ethnopharmacology? The objective of this commentary is to create a reference that covers the basic standards necessary during planning, conducting and reporting of field research.

Materials And Methods: We focus on conducting and reporting ethnopharmacological field studies on medicinal plants or materia medica and associated knowledge of a specific people or region. The article highlights the most frequent problems and pitfalls, and draws on published literature, fieldwork experience, and extensive insights from peer-review of field studies.

Evaluation of an automatic MR-based gold fiducial marker localisation method for MR-only prostate radiotherapy.

An MR-only radiotherapy planning (RTP) workflow would reduce the cost, radiation exposure and uncertainties introduced by CT-MRI registrations. In the case of prostate treatment, one of the remaining challenges currently holding back the implementation of an RTP workflow is the MR-based localisation of intraprostatic gold fiducial markers (FMs), which is crucial for accurate patient positioning. Currently, MR-based FM localisation is clinically performed manually.

A Novel Colletotrichum graminicola Raffinose Oxidase in the AA5 Family.

We describe here the identification and characterization of a copper radical oxidase from auxiliary activities family 5 (AA5_2) that was distinguished by showing preferential activity toward raffinose. Despite the biotechnological potential of carbohydrate oxidases from family AA5, very few members have been characterized. The gene encoding raffinose oxidase from (RaOx; EC 1.

Product Authentication Using DNA Metabarcoding and HPLC-MS Reveals Widespread Adulteration with .

Studying herbal products derived from local and traditional knowledge and their value chains is one of the main challenges in ethnopharmacology. The majority of these products have a long history of use, but non-harmonized trade and differences in regulatory policies between countries impact their value chains and lead to concerns over product efficacy, safety and quality. L.

Harnessing Integrative Omics to Facilitate Molecular Imaging of the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Family for Precision Medicine.

Cancer is a growing problem worldwide. The cause of death in cancer patients is often due to treatment-resistant metastatic disease. Many molecularly targeted anticancer drugs have been developed against 'oncogenic driver' pathways.

Exploiting biased reptation for continuous flow preparative DNA fractionation in a versatile microfluidic platform.

A new approach is presented for preparative, continuous flow fractionation of sub-10-kbp DNA fragments, which exploits the variation in the field-dependent mobility of the DNA molecules based on their length. Orthogonally pulsed electric fields of significantly different magnitudes are applied to a microchip filled with a sieving matrix of 1.2% agarose gel.

Comparative authentication of Hypericum perforatum herbal products using DNA metabarcoding, TLC and HPLC-MS.

Many herbal products have a long history of use, but there are increasing concerns over product efficacy, safety and quality in the wake of recent cases exposing discrepancies between labeling and constituents. When it comes to St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.

Unidentifiable by morphology: DNA barcoding of plant material in local markets in Iran.

Local markets provide a rapid insight into the medicinal plants growing in a region as well as local traditional health concerns. Identification of market plant material can be challenging as plants are often sold in dried or processed forms. In this study, three approaches of DNA barcoding-based molecular identification of market samples are evaluated, two objective sequence matching approaches and an integrative approach that coalesces sequence matching with a priori and a posteriori data from other markers, morphology, ethnoclassification and species distribution.

Evolution of wood anatomical characters in Nepenthes and close relatives of Caryophyllales.

Background And Aims: Nepenthes attracts wide attention with its spectacularly shaped carnivorous pitchers, cultural value and horticultural curiosity. Despite the plant's iconic fascination, surprisingly little anatomical detail is known about the genus beyond its modified leaf tip traps. Here, the wood anatomical diversity of Nepenthes is explored.

Impact of Endoscopic Ultrasonography on F-FDG-PET/CT Upfront Towards Patient Specific Esophageal Cancer Treatment.

Introduction: In patients with potentially resectable esophageal cancer (EC), the value of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) after fluorine-18 labeled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (F-FDG-PET/CT) is questionable. Retrospectively, we assessed the impact of EUS after PET/CT on the given treatment in EC patients.

Methods: During the period 2009-2015, 318 EC patients were staged as T1-4aN0-3M0 with hybrid F-FDG-PET/CT or F-FDG-PET with CT and EUS if applicable in a nonspecific order.

Sudden aortic death-proposal for a comprehensive diagnostic approach in forensic and in clinical pathology practice.

Backgrounds: Aortic rupture or dissection as immediate cause of sudden death is encountered in forensic and clinical autopsy practice. Despite a common denominator of 'sudden aortic death' (SAD), we expect that in both settings the diagnostic workup, being either primarily legal or primarily disease related, differs substantially, which may affect the eventual diagnoses.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed case records of deceased persons who fitted a diagnosis of SAD in the continuous autopsy cohorts in a forensic (Suisse) and a clinical setting (The Netherlands).

Long-term nutritional status in patients following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

Background & Aims: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is an effective treatment for obesity. However, it also leads to multiple nutritional deficiencies. Much is known about the short term prevalence, but hardly any long term data is available on deficiencies.

[Skin-to-skin caesarean section: a hype or better patient care?].

A caesarean section (CS) is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the world, for which there are minimal variations in the surgical approach. During the last few years the "skin-to-skin" CS, also coined "natural" or "gentle" CS, is on the rise; parental participation, slow delivery and direct skin-to-skin contact are important aspects. Most Dutch hospitals offer some form of "skin-to-skin" CS but there are local differences in availability and performance of the procedure.

Validation of a mathematical model of the bovine estrous cycle for cows with different estrous cycle characteristics.

A recently developed mechanistic mathematical model of the bovine estrous cycle was parameterized to fit empirical data sets collected during one estrous cycle of 31 individual cows, with the main objective to further validate the model. The a priori criteria for validation were (1) the resulting model can simulate the measured data correctly (i.e.

Clinical-Grade Isolated Human Kidney Perivascular Stromal Cells as an Organotypic Cell Source for Kidney Regenerative Medicine.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are immunomodulatory and tissue homeostatic cells that have shown beneficial effects in kidney diseases and transplantation. Perivascular stromal cells (PSCs) identified within several different organs share characteristics of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs). These PSCs may also possess tissue-specific properties and play a role in local tissue homeostasis.

The geometrical precision of virtual bone models derived from clinical computed tomography data for forensic anthropology.

Almost all European countries lack contemporary skeletal collections for the development and validation of forensic anthropological methods. Furthermore, legal, ethical and practical considerations hinder the development of skeletal collections. A virtual skeletal database derived from clinical computed tomography (CT) scans provides a potential solution.