Monitoring nitrogen leaching under different fertiliser applications during the early growth stage of sugarcane using GS3 sensors: a case study on Negros Island, Philippines.

Nitrogen (N) is normally applied twice during sugarcane cultivation on Negros Island in the Philippines. As the first application is carried out during the early growth stage, there is a high possibility that N is not absorbed sufficiently by the sugarcane and a large amount of N may be leached with percolating water. To investigate this leaching, we monitored the vertical movement of soil water and soil solutes using GS3 dielectric moisture and electrical conductivity (EC) sensors in a sugarcane field on Negros Island.

Antitumor effects of duvelisib on Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoma cells.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous oncogenic virus that is associated with B cell lymphomas, including Burkitt lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma. Previous studies have shown that the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is activated in EBV-associated lymphomas and can be a novel therapeutic target. An oral dual inhibitor of PI3Kγ and PI3Kδ, duvelisib, is in clinical trials for the treatment of lymphoid malignancies.

Comprehensive detection of pathogens in immunocompromised children with bloodstream infections by next-generation sequencing.

Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a severe complication in immunocompromised patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows us to analyze comprehensively and quantitatively all microorganisms present in a clinical sample. Thirty-five pediatric patients (12 with BSI and 23 with suspected BSI/negative blood culture) were enrolled.

Tofacitinib induces G1 cell-cycle arrest and inhibits tumor growth in Epstein-Barr virus-associated T and natural killer cell lymphoma cells.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects not only B cells, but also T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, and is associated with T or NK cell lymphoma. These lymphoid malignancies are refractory to conventional chemotherapy. We examined the activation of the JAK3/STAT5 pathway in EBV-positive and -negative B, T and NK cell lines and in cell samples from patients with EBV-associated T cell lymphoma.

Primary psoas abscess caused by group A streptococcus in a child: Case report with microbiologic findings.

Primary abscess of the iliopsoas muscle in children is uncommon, especially due to Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus: GAS), which causes a variety of diseases ranging from pharyngitis to invasive life-threatening infection. We present primary iliopsoas abscess in a nine-year-old boy presenting with fever, mild disturbance of consciousness, limp, and pain in the right loin. Magnetic resonance imaging and isolation of GAS from both blood and abscess samples led us to the confirmative diagnosis.

Identification of Viruses in Cases of Pediatric Acute Encephalitis and Encephalopathy Using Next-Generation Sequencing.

Acute encephalitis/encephalopathy is a severe neurological syndrome that is occasionally associated with viral infection. Comprehensive virus detection assays are desirable because viral pathogens have not been identified in many cases. We evaluated the utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for detecting viruses in clinical samples of encephalitis/encephalopathy patients.

Effect of the computational domain size and shape on the self-diffusion coefficient in a Lennard-Jones liquid.

In the present study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on the monatomic Lennard-Jones liquid in a periodic boundary system were performed in order to elucidate the effect of the computational domain size and shape on the self-diffusion coefficient measured by the system. So far, the system size dependence in cubic computational domains has been intensively investigated and these studies showed that the diffusion coefficient depends linearly on the inverse of the system size, which is theoretically predicted based on the hydrodynamic interaction. We examined the system size effect not only in the cubic cell systems but also in rectangular cell systems which were created by changing one side length of the cubic cell with the system density kept constant.

Genetics of symbiosis in Lotus japonicus: recombinant inbred lines, comparative genetic maps, and map position of 35 symbiotic loci.

Development of molecular tools for the analysis of the plant genetic contribution to rhizobial and mycorrhizal symbiosis has provided major advances in our understanding of plant-microbe interactions, and several key symbiotic genes have been identified and characterized. In order to increase the efficiency of genetic analysis in the model legume Lotus japonicus, we present here a selection of improved genetic tools. The two genetic linkage maps previously developed from an interspecific cross between L.

Contamination of diverse nifH and nifH-like DNA into commercial PCR primers.

False-positive results due to DNA contamination in PCR reagents have become a big problem in the amplification of small amounts of DNA. Recently, it was revealed that PCR reagents were contaminated with the nifH (dinitrogenase reductase) gene. We found that the PCR primers supplied by some manufacturers contained nifH gene and nifH-like DNA.