Notch-dependent epithelial fold determines boundary formation between developmental fields in the Drosophila antenna.

Compartment boundary formation plays an important role in development by separating adjacent developmental fields. Drosophila imaginal discs have proven valuable for studying the mechanisms of boundary formation. We studied the boundary separating the proximal A1 segment and the distal segments, defined respectively by Lim1 and Dll expression in the eye-antenna disc.

Differentiating the Cochran-Armitage Trend Test and Pearson's χ Test: Location and Dispersion.

In genetic case-control association studies, a standard practice is to perform the Cochran-Armitage (CA) trend test with 1 degree-of-freedom (d.f.) under the assumption of an additive model.

The liver-gut microbiota axis modulates hepatotoxicity of tacrine in the rat.

Unlabelled: The gut microbiota possesses diverse metabolic activities, but its contribution toward heterogeneous toxicological responses is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the role of the liver-gut microbiota axis in underpinning the hepatotoxicity of tacrine. We employed an integrated strategy combining pharmacokinetics, toxicology, metabonomics, genomics, and metagenomics to elucidate and validate the mechanism of tacrine-induced hepatotoxicity in Lister hooded rats.

Evaluation of fertilizer and water management effect on rice performance and greenhouse gas intensity in different seasonal weather of tropical climate.

Intensively double cropping rice increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in tropical countries, and hence, finding better management practices is imperative for reducing global warming potential (GWP), while sustaining rice yield. This study demonstrated an efficient fertilizer and water management practice targeting seasonal weather conditions effects on rice productivity, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), GWP, and GHG intensity (GHGI). Two-season experiments were conducted with two pot-scale experiments using urea and urea+cattle manure (CM) under continuous flooding (CF) during the wet season (2013WS), and urea with/without CaSiO application under alternate wetting and drying (AWD) during the dry season (2014DS).

4S-Hydroxylation of Insulin at ProB28 Accelerates Hexamer Dissociation and Delays Fibrillation.

Daily injections of insulin provide lifesaving benefits to millions of diabetics. But currently available prandial insulins are suboptimal: The onset of action is delayed by slow dissociation of the insulin hexamer in the subcutaneous space, and insulin forms amyloid fibrils upon storage in solution. Here we show, through the use of noncanonical amino acid mutagenesis, that replacement of the proline residue at position 28 of the insulin B-chain (ProB28) by (4S)-hydroxyproline (Hzp) yields an active form of insulin that dissociates more rapidly, and fibrillates more slowly, than the wild-type protein.

RESIDUAL VITREOUS CORTEX AT THE FOVEA DURING VITRECTOMY FOR PRIMARY RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT REPAIR.

Purpose: To investigate the frequency of residual cortex and the effectiveness of removal of residual cortex in the fovea during vitrectomy for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts and the operative videos of the 80 patients (80 eyes) who underwent vitrectomy for repair and who were observed for more than 6 months. After triamcinolone acetonide injection, we observed residual cortex on the surface of the retina.

Chitosan/γ-poly(glutamic acid) scaffolds with surface-modified albumin, elastin and poly-l-lysine for cartilage tissue engineering.

Cartilage has limited ability to self-repair due to the absence of blood vessels and nerves. The application of biomaterial scaffolds using biomimetic extracellular matrix (ECM)-related polymers has become an effective approach to production of engineered cartilage. Chitosan/γ-poly(glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) scaffolds with different mass ratios were prepared using genipin as a cross-linker and a freeze-drying method, and their surfaces were modified with elastin, human serum albumin (HSA) and poly-l-lysine (PLL).

Long-term Live Imaging of Drosophila Eye Disc.

Live imaging provides the ability to continuously track dynamic cellular and developmental processes in real time. Drosophila larval imaginal discs have been used to study many biological processes, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, growth, migration, apoptosis, competition, cell-cell signaling, and compartmental boundary formation. However, methods for the long-term ex vivo culture and live imaging of the imaginal discs have not been satisfactory, despite many efforts.

Suppressive effect of microRNA319 expression on rice plant height.

KEY MESSAGE: miR319 was identified as a dwarf-inducing gene from Shiokari and its dwarf near isogenic line, and its transgenic rice showed a reduced plant height. This finding reveals the potential application of miR319 in future molecular breeding. It is well known that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in plant physiology, especially in development and stress responses.

Hepatic population derived from human pluripotent stem cells is effectively increased by selective removal of undifferentiated stem cells using YM155.

Background: Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are promising target cells for cell regenerative medicine together with recently advanced technology of in-vitro differentiation. However, residual undifferentiated stem cells (USCs) during in-vitro differentiation are considered a potential risk for development of cancer cells and nonspecific lineage cell types. In this study we observed that USCs still exist during hepatic differentiation, consequently resulting in poor quality of the hepatic population and forming teratoma in vivo.

Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation Assessment Using Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Doppler Ultrasonography.

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) is frequently used to assess dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA); however, this is difficult in patients with poor temporal bone windows. In the study described here, we investigated the agreement and sensitivity of dCA indices determined from the extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) and those determined from the MCA. Measurements for 32 stroke patients and 59 controls were analyzed.

Anti-inflammatory Flavan-3-ol-dihydroretrochalcones from Daemonorops draco.

Four A-type flavan-3-ol-dihydroretrochalcone dimers, dragonins A-D (1-4), were characterized from the traditional Chinese medicine Sanguis Draconis. The structures of 1-4 were elucidated by spectroscopic and spectrometric analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited significant inhibition of fMLP/CB-induced superoxide anion and elastase.

5D imaging via light sheet microscopy reveals cell dynamics during the eye-antenna disc primordium formation in Drosophila.

5D images of engrailed (en) and eye gone (eyg) gene expressions during the course of the eye-antenna disc primordium (EADP) formation of Drosophila embryos from embryonic stages 13 through 16 were recorded via light sheet microscopy and analyzed to reveal the cell dynamics involved in the development of the EADP. Detailed analysis of the time-lapsed images revealed the process of EADP formation and its invagination trajectory, which involved an inversion of the EADP anterior-posterior axis relative to the body. Furthermore, analysis of the en-expression pattern in the EADP provided strong evidence that the EADP is derived from one of the en-expressing head segments.

Cerebral blood flow autoregulation is impaired in schizophrenia: A pilot study.

Patients with schizophrenia have a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases and higher mortality from them than does the general population; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Impaired cerebral autoregulation is associated with cerebrovascular diseases and their mortality. Increased or decreased cerebral blood flow in different brain regions has been reported in patients with schizophrenia, which implies impaired cerebral autoregulation.

Adult Murine Pancreatic Progenitors Require Epidermal Growth Factor and Nicotinamide for Self-Renewal and Differentiation in a Serum- and Conditioned Medium-Free Culture.

Adult pancreatic stem and progenitor cells may serve as an alternative source of insulin-secreting endocrine cells in cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes, but much remained unknown about these cells. We previously identified adult murine pancreatic progenitor-like cells that displayed in vitro self-renewal and tri-lineage differentiation activities in a three-dimensional colony/organoid assay containing 1% methylcellulose and 5% Matrigel. However, the presence of other undefined culture components, such as serum and conditioned medium, has prevented a complete understanding of the signals required for progenitor cell growth.

A Model of Cardiac Remodeling Through Constriction of the Abdominal Aorta in Rats.

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. It is a complex clinical syndromethat includes fatigue, dyspnea, exercise intolerance, and fluid retention. Changes in myocardial structure, electrical conduction, and energy metabolism develop with heart failure, leading to contractile dysfunction, increased risk of arrhythmias, and sudden death.

Characterization and Genomic Study of the Novel Bacteriophage HY01 Infecting Both Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella flexneri: Potential as a Biocontrol Agent in Food.

Background: Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella flexneri are well-known food-borne pathogens causing severe food poisoning at low infectious doses. Bacteriophages have been approved for food applications by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have been suggested as natural food preservatives to control specific food-borne pathogens. To develop a novel natural food preservative against E.

Bacterial communities associated with anaerobic debromination of decabromodiphenyl ether from mangrove sediment.

This study evaluated decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) anaerobic debromination and bacterial community changes in mangrove sediment. BDE-209 debromination rates were enhanced with zerovalent iron compared to without zerovalent iron in the sediment. BDE-209 debromination rates in microcosms constructed with sediments collected in autumn were higher than in microcosms constructed with sediments collected in spring and were higher at the Bali sampling site than the Guandu sampling site.

The survival impact of delayed surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy on stage II/III rectal cancer with pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) is standard treatment for clinical stage II/III rectal cancers. However, whether patients with pathological complete response (pT0N0, pCR) should receive adjuvant chemotherapy and whether delayed surgery will influence the pCR rate remains controversial. A nationwide population study was conducted using the Taiwan Cancer Registry Database from January 2007 to December 2013.

Anti- effect of CaG-NANA, a new sialic acid derivative.

Aim: To investigate the bactericidal effects of calcium chelated N-acetylneuraminic acid-glycomacropeptide (CaG-NANA) against ().

Methods: For manufacture of CaG-NANA, calcium (Ca) was combined with glycomacropeptide (GMP) by chelating, and N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) was produced with Ca-GMP substrate by an enzymatic method. The final concentration of each component was 5% Ca, 7% NANA, 85% GMP, and 3% water.

Oxalomalate reduces expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor in the retinal pigment epithelium and inhibits angiogenesis: Implications for age-related macular degeneration.

Clinical and experimental observations indicate a critical role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), secreted by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), in pathological angiogenesis and the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). RPE-mediated VEGF expression, leading to angiogenesis, is a major signaling mechanism underlying ocular neovascular disease. Inhibiting this signaling pathway with a therapeutic molecule is a promising anti-angiogenic strategy to treat this disease with potentially fewer side effects.

IDH2 knockdown sensitizes tumor cells to emodin cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo.

Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) work as second messengers at sublethal concentrations, higher levels of ROS can kill cancer cells. Since cellular ROS levels are determined by a balance between ROS generation and removal, the combination of ROS generators, and the depletion of reducing substances greatly enhance ROS levels. Emodin (1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methyl anthraquinone), a natural anthraquinone derivative from the root and rhizome of numerous plants, is a ROS generator that induces apoptosis in cancer cells.

Differential Expression of Ccn4 and Other Genes Between Metastatic and Non-metastatic EL4 Mouse Lymphoma Cells.

Background: Previous work characterized variants of the EL4 murine lymphoma cell line. Some are non-metastatic, and others metastatic, in syngenic mice. In addition, metastatic EL4 cells were stably transfected with phospholipase D2 (PLD2), which further enhanced metastasis.