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Understanding colonization and proliferation potential of endophytes and pathogen in planta via plating, polymerase chain reaction, and ergosterol assay
No full textAbstractThis study aimed to establish the colonization behavior and proliferation potential of three endophytes and one pathogen Ganoderma boninense (Gb) introduced into oil palm ramets (host model). The endophytes selected were Diaporthe phaseolorum (WAA02), Trichoderma asperellum (T2), and Penicillium citrinum (BTF08). Ramets were first inoculated with 100mL of fungal cells (106cfumL−1) via soil drenching. For the next 7days, ramets were sampled and subjected to three different assays to detect and identify fungal colonization, and establish their proliferation potential in planta. Plate assay revealed the presence of endophytes in root, stem and leaf tissues within 7days after inoculation. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detected and identified the isolates from the plant tissues. The ergosterol assay (via high-performance liquid chromatography, HPLC) confirmed the presence of endophytes and Gb in planta. The increase in ergosterol levels throughout 49days was however insignificant, suggesting that proliferation may be absent or may occur very slowly in planta. This study strongly suggests that the selected endophytes could colonize the host upon inoculation, but proliferation occurs at a slower rate, which may subsequently influence the biocontrol expression of endophytes against the pathogen
Infective endocarditis and Sjögren’s syndrome diagnosed simultaneously
No full textAbstractPoor dentition and/or dental infection due to insufficient oral care are presumed to be risk factors for infective endocarditis (IE). We present a case of endocarditis caused by Granulicatella adiacens and Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) with oral complications diagnosed simultaneously.A 67-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with fever, general fatigue, arthralgia, and back pain. She was diagnosed with primary SS according to the criteria of the American-European Consensus Group. Transthoracic echocardiography carried out to examine her persistent fever revealed vegetation formation (14×5mm) on the aortic valve and her blood cultures were positive for G. adiacens. According to modified Duke’s criteria, she was also diagnosed with IE. She underwent aortic valve replacement and was administered ampicillin with gentamicin for 6 weeks following surgery.G. adiacens, which is formerly known as one of the nutritionally variant streptococci, is found as part of the normal microbiota of the oral cavity. The patient had chronic periodontitis associated with SS that likely predisposed to G. adiacens bacteremia and subsequent seeding of the aortic valve. Patients with SS may be at risk of IE because of the increased risk of bacteremia from oral complications such as dental caries or periodontal disease.An association between SS and IE has not yet been reported. Our case indicates that SS may be the underlying pathology in patients with IE due to an oral bacterium
Antihistaminic and other biological activities of 2-methylpropanamide and benzamide derivatives of carboxyterfenadine
No full textAbstractIn the present study the 2-methylpropanamide and benzamide derivatives of carboxyterfenadine, have been synthesized by nucleophilic substitution at carboxylic acid moiety (C-33) of tertiary carbon C-19 substituted with benzene ring. The proficient and high yielding series was carried out in two steps by continuous monitoring with TLC. The carboxylic group was utilized in the formation of 2-methylpropanamide and benzamide derivatives of carboxyterfenadine. The derivatives were characterized by spectroscopic techniques including mass. The starting material (2-[4-[1-hydroxy-4-[4-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)piperidino]butyl]phenyl]-2-methylpropanoic acid) itself is H1 receptor antagonist. Hence, all these compounds A–E were biologically evaluated for antihistaminic and anticholinergic activity, using isolated guinea pig ileum tissues
Rain attenuation statistics over millimeter wave bands in South Korea
No full textAbstractRain induced degradations are significant for terrestrial microwave links operating at frequencies higher than 10GHz. Paper presents analyses done on rain attenuation and rainfall data for three years between 2013 till 2015, in 3.2km experimental link of 38GHz and 0.1km link at 75GHz. The less link distance is maintained for 75GHz operating frequency in order to have better recording of propagation effect as such attenuation induced by rain. OTT Parsivel is used for collection of rain rate database which show rain rate of about 50mm/h and attenuation values of 20.89 and 28.55dB are obtained at 0.01% of the time for vertical polarization under 38 and 75GHz respectively. Prediction models, namely, ITU-R P. 530-16, Da Silva Mello, Moupfouma, Abdulrahman, Lin and differential equation approach are analyzed. This studies help to identify most suitable rain attenuation model for higher microwave bands. While applying ITU-R P. 530-16, the relative error margin of about 3%, 38% and 42% along with 80, 70, 61% were obtained in 0.1%, 0.01% and 0.001% of the time for vertical polarization under 38 and 75GHz respectively. Interestingly, ITU-R P. 530-16 shows relatively closer estimation to measured rain attenuation at 75GHz with relatively less error probabilities and additionally, Abdulrahman and ITU-R P. 530-16 results in better estimation to the measured rain attenuation at 38GHz link. The performance of prominent rain attenuation models are judged with different error matrices as recommended by ITU-R P. 311-15. Furthermore, the efficacy of frequency scaling technique of rain attenuation between links distribution are also discussed. This study shall be useful for making good considerations in rain attenuation predictions for terrestrial link operating at higher frequencies
Oncoplastic reduction mammoplasty for breast cancer in women with macromastia: Oncological long-term outcomes
No full textSummaryObjectiveTo evaluate the long-term results of tumorectomy and concomitant bilateral oncoplastic reduction mammoplasty (ORM) for early stage breast cancer patients with macromastia in terms of local disease control and long-term oncological results.Patients and methodData of 82 patients with macromastia undergoing ORM for breast cancer between 1996 and 2011 were retrospectively examined and evaluated with regard to oncological results.ResultsThe median age was 50 years. The median follow-up was 121 months (range 28–212 months). The median breast volume was 1402 cm3 and the median weight of excised breast material was 679 g. The median surgical margin was 16 mm. Ten-year local recurrence rate was 8.7%. The 10-year overall survival rate was 82.2% and the disease-free survival rate was 73.2%. Early and late complication rates were 12.2% and 14.6%, respectively.ConclusionsFrom the standpoint of local disease control and long-term observation, ORM can be considered a very safe and acceptable treatment for early stage breast cancer in women with macromastia
Neuronal correlates of continuous manual tracking under varying visual movement feedback in a virtual reality environment
No full textAbstractTo accurately guide one's actions online, the brain predicts sensory action feedback ahead of time based on internal models, which can be updated by sensory prediction errors. The underlying operations can be experimentally investigated in sensorimotor adaptation tasks, in which moving under perturbed sensory action feedback requires internal model updates. Here we altered healthy participants’ visual hand movement feedback in a virtual reality setup, while assessing brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants tracked a continually moving virtual target object with a photorealistic, three-dimensional (3D) virtual hand controlled online via a data glove. During the continuous tracking task, the virtual hand's movements (i.e., visual movement feedback) were repeatedly periodically delayed, which participants had to compensate for to maintain accurate tracking. This realistic task design allowed us to simultaneously investigate processes likely operating at several levels of the brain's motor control hierarchy. FMRI revealed that the length of visual feedback delay was parametrically reflected by activity in the inferior parietal cortex and posterior temporal cortex. Unpredicted changes in visuomotor mapping (at transitions from synchronous to delayed visual feedback periods or vice versa) activated biological motion-sensitive regions in the lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC). Activity in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), focused on the contralateral anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), correlated with tracking error, whereby this correlation was stronger in participants with higher tracking performance. Our results are in line with recent proposals of a wide-spread cortical motor control hierarchy, where temporoparietal regions seem to evaluate visuomotor congruence and thus possibly ground a self-attribution of movements, the LOTC likely processes early visual prediction errors, and the aIPS computes action goal errors and possibly corresponding motor corrections
Correcting for contact area changes in nanoindentation using surface acoustic waves
No full textAbstractNanoindentation is extensively used to quantify nano-scale mechanical behaviour. A widely-used assumption is that a well-defined, material-independent relationship exists between the indentation depth and indenter contact area. Here we demonstrate that this assumption is violated by ion-implanted tungsten, where pileup around the indenter tip leads to substantial changes in contact area. Using high accuracy surface acoustic wave measurements of elastic modulus, we are able to correct for this effect. Importantly we demonstrate that a priori knowledge of elastic properties can be readily used to compensate for pileup effects in nanoindentation without the need for any further measurements
Giant pedunclated lipoma of the esophagus: A case report
No full textAbstractIntroductionAlthough Esophageal lipoma is extremely rare and pathologically benign, surgical excision of the lipoma is recommended when symptomatic or uncertain biological behavior. In general, some of the esophageal lipoma has a stalk. The pedunclated non-invasive tumor can be removed by stalk ligation, which is either endoscopic or surgical approache. Therefore, the preoperative evaluation is essential. We herein present a case of a huge esophageal lipoma.Case reportA 82-year-old man, with a wet cough and dyspnea for 6 months, who had the huge mass that almost completely occupied the esophageal lumen, was referred to our institution for the treatment.We diagnosed the mass as non-invasive tumor that has a stalk at the close to the esophageal orifice, by the CT image using air injection into esophageal lumen. We performed excision of the pedunclated huge mobile mass by esophagotomy via right thoracic approach with use of endoloop. Pathological examination showed a lipoma.ConclusionIn conclusion, an adequate preoperative evaluation to identify the correct origin of the stalk is mandatory for a successful treatment. In order to do the adequate preoperative evaluation and successful surgery, our diagnostic method of CT image can be effective
Emulsion templating of poly (acrylic acid) by ammonium hydroxide/sodium hydroxide aqueous mixture for high-dispersed hollow silica nanoparticles
No full textAbstractA water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion, in which the water phase including poly (acrylic acid) (PAA), ammonium hydroxide (NH3 aq.), and sodium hydroxide aqueous solutions (NaOH aq.) dispersed in ethanol (EtOH), was proposed for producing hollow silica nanoparticles. The PAA molecules with the NH3-NaOH mixture are insoluble in EtOH and can be a template. When tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) is added as a silica source, a silica shell is formed on the PAA-NH3-NaOH template to form a core-shell particle and the addition of water removes the template to form hollow silica nanoparticles. The optimum volume ratio of 25% NH3:1.0M NaOH was 2:1 to obtain high-dispersed hollow silica nanoparticles. A thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the condensation force of the PAA molecules in the PAA-NH3-NaOH template is similar to that in the PAA-NH3 template. The small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis also showed that the electron densities in the PAA-NH3-NaOH and PAA-NH3 templates are similar. In the proposed PAA-NH3-NaOH system, NH3 aq. mainly contributes to form PAA condensation by an ionic interaction and NaOH aq. preferentially work as a sol-gel catalyst for the fast silica coating on the template surface
Recent advances in wearable sensors for animal health management
No full textAbstractBiosensors, as an application for animal health management, are an emerging market that is quickly gaining recognition in the global market. Globally, a number of sensors being produced for animal health management are at various stages of commercialization. Some technologies for producing an accurate health status and disease diagnosis are applicable only for humans, with few modifications or testing in animal models. Now, these innovative technologies are being considered for their future use in livestock development and welfare. Precision livestock farming techniques, which include a wide span of technologies, are being applied, along with advanced technologies like microfluidics, sound analyzers, image-detection techniques, sweat and salivary sensing, serodiagnosis, and others. However, there is a need to integrate all the available sensors and create an efficient online monitoring system so that animal health status can be monitored in real time, without delay. This review paper discusses the scope of different wearable technologies for animals, nano biosensors and advanced molecular biology diagnostic techniques for the detection of various infectious diseases of cattle, along with the efforts to enlist and compare these technologies with respect to their drawbacks and advantages in the domain of animal health management. The paper considers all recent developments in the field of biosensors and their applications for animal health to provide insight regarding the appropriate approach to be used in the future of enhanced animal welfare