Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymptomatic pathogen infection alters interactions at higher trophic levels

Plants and insects have intimate and complex relationships. However, other species, such as plant pathogens, may change the way plants and their herbivores interact. Plant diseases can change the host plant quality, alter physical and physiological traits and defensive capability. These changes can have a consequential effect on insects associated with the infected plant, thus altering interactions between species. However, the effects of these interactions can quantitatively vary amongst individuals and may influenced by many factors including the severity of plant disease (e.g. if the infection is symptomatic or asymptomatic). To date, little is known on the effect of asymptomatic pathogen infection on insects at higher trophic levels. My research aims to examine how patterns of interactions between plants, microbes and insects change when plant pathogen infection is asymptomatic. I examined the effect of asymptomatic plant pathogen infection on the life history and behaviour of herbivorous insects, and its consequent effects on an insect community at higher trophic levels. In the laboratory, I found that asymptomatic pathogen infection altered plant traits and changed the life history and behaviour of an herbivorous insect and its parasitoid. In the field, the effect of asymptomatic pathogen infection differed between plant varieties and species of insect involved. Asymptomatic pathogen infection greatly affects the assemblage and population dynamics of aphids on one variety of lettuce (Tom Thumb), but no significant effects were found on Little Gem. However, both lettuce varieties were less attractive to natural enemies when asymptomatically infected. The asymptomatic pathogen infection also modulated the interaction of plants and insects on neighbouring plant. More aphids were found on the uninfected plant neighbouring an asymptomatic infected plant, and thus influencing the number of natural enemies observed. These findings show the importance of asymptomatic pathogen infection to the ecological interactions at higher trophic levels in the laboratory and field. Pathogen infection, even if asymptomatic, can influence interactions between organisms. This is of considerable interest to both pure and applied ecologists, and can affect the success of biological control programme in agriculture systems.
Autopsy Findings on Patients with AIDS in Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital

Objective: From 1996 through 2004, Autopsy was performed on five patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Hualien Tzu Chi General Hospital. The aim of this study was to review the clinical manifestations and autopies findings of this 5 AIDS patients in Eastern Taiwan (Hualien). Patients and Methods: All patients were men. Two were homosexual men who were Taiwanese aborigines. One was an intravenous drug user. One has been traveled to Thailand 4 years ago. The last one came from Thailand. All organ specimens were obtained by autopsy procedures. Histopathological examinations was performed using hematoxylin and eosin stain. Specific studies including PAS, GMS, acid fast stain and immunohistochemistry stains including JC polyomavirus protein for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), UCHL-1 & L-26 for lymphoma, Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) for Kaposi sarcoma were also performed. Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) & JC polyomavirus in situ hybridization were also performed in lymphoma & PML. Results: At autopsy, lymphoid depletion and thymus atrophy were found in all 5 patients. The initial opportunistic infection was usually oral candidiasis, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was the most common opportunistic infection which developed during the early stage. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was found in two patients. Mycobacterium infection had developed in two patients. Two patients had JC virus associated PML. One demonstrated disseminated malignant lymphoma with ”burnt out” PML. The other one proved by JC virus in situ hybridization. One case proved to have vacuolar myelopathy and the other one proved AIDS associated cardiomyopathy. Two patients had disseminated HHV-8 associated Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and all were Taiwanese aborigines and homosexual. Malignant lymphoma was found in one case, which was high grade B cell type. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoding small RNA (EBER-l) was not demonstrated in the lymphoma. Conclusion: The most common opportunistic infections in this series are candida, PCP, tuberculosis, and CMV infections. PML due to JC virus was also commonly found. The most common malignancy was malignant lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma.
Inflammatory activity of endothelial cells activated by intestinal lymph in severe heat stroke

Objective To explore the effect of mesenteric lymph from rats suffering from heat stroke (SHS) on the inflammatory activity of vascular endothelial cells. Methods Rats were placed in a prewarmed incubator to reproduce heat stroke. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs ECV-340) were incubated in 5% mesenteric lymph collected pre-, during-, and post-HS for 3 and 6 h respectively in vitro. The levels of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), and IL-6 of ECV-340 cells were determined. The expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) mRNA and NF-κB activity of ECV-340 were also assayed. Results The levels of HMGB1, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 induced by SHS mesenteric lymph of rats significantly increased after heat treatment (P<0.05), and this effect was enhanced with prolongation of exposure time (P<0.05). The expression of ICAM-1 mRNA and NF-κB activity were significantly elevated after being activated by SHS mesenteric lymph (P<0.05). Conclusion HS mesenteric lymph probably activates the inflammatory responses of vascular endothelium, which is closely associated with the pathogenesis of SHS. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn. 0577-7402.2014. 10.06
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory dietary supplements in the treatment of
osteoarthritis: a scoping review

The increasing number of evidence has reported inflammation and oxidative stress as key mediators of osteoarthritis (OA) joint pathology. Therefore, the usage of dietary supplements targeting inflammation and oxidative stress in OA may emerge as a rewarding therapeutic strategy. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory dietary supplements used to manage OA. A methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley was used to conduct this scoping review. An electronic database search of English academic articles was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE and ScienceDirect from 2000 to 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of OA with parallel groups by comparing dietary supplements with placebo consumption were eligible for inclusion. Out of 69,150 studies identified, a total of 41 studies were included, with 25 antioxidant or anti-inflammatory dietary supplements identified. There were 3325 respondents (1740 in the treatment group and 1585 in the placebo group), all aged ≥ 25 years old and comprised of 69.6% and 30.4% female and male respondents, respectively. The majority of the studies recruited participants with knee OA (n = 33) with a follow-up duration of 3 to 32 weeks. Overall, most of the dietary supplements (n =17) demonstrated a beneficial effect on the clinical signs and symptoms, such as Boswellia serrata extract (BSE), Pycnogenol and L-carnitine. In contrast, Aquamin supplementation did not exert positive impacts on OA management, while inconsistent findings were observed in greenlipped mussel (GLM) extract, vitamin E, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), licorice flavonoid oil (LFO), ginger, willow bark extract and rose hip supplementation. In summary, the role of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant dietary supplements cannot be ignored as they can offer alleviated pain and symptom relief.
Estudio piloto de cirugía combinada de facoemulsificación y vitrectomía calibre 25 asistida con triamcinolona y bevacizumab en pacientes con catarata y edema macular diabético difuso

La retinopatía diabética es una complicación tardía de la diabetes mellitus, así como la formación o desarrollo temprano de catarata a la que se le ha denominado metabólica, entre otras complicaciones. La duración de la enfermedad y el inadecuado control de la glicemia, entre otros, son factores que condicionan o aceleran la formación de estas condiciones (1-3). Específicamente hablando del tratamiento de la retinopatía diabética, el pilar del tratamiento ha sido la aplicación de fotocoagulación panretiniana para retrasar la pérdida visual, sobre toda en la etapa proliferativa de esta enEstudio piloto de cirugía combinada de facoemulsificación y vitrectomía calibre 25 asistida con triamcinolona y bevacizumab en pacientes con catarata y edema macular diabético difuso
Tensor Factorization-based Prediction with an Application to Estimating the Risk of Chronic Diseases

Tensor factorization has emerged as a powerful method to address the challenges of high dimensionality regarding disease development and comorbidity. Chronic diseases have a high likelihood to co-occur, making patients suffering from one chronic disease to have an elevated risk for the other diseases in the course of aging. Individualized prediction of chronic diseases can help patients prevent new diseases and reduce the healthcare costs. Despite rich results of risk assessment models for chronic diseases, individualized risk prediction considering the complex mechanisms of disease development and comorbidity remains to be under-researched. This research aims to develop tensor factorization-based machine learning models to predict the onset of new chronic diseases for individual patients through incorporating the comorbidity patterns with the clinical and sequential factors revealed in the electronic health records (EHR) data. We propose two tensor factorization-based methods to incorporate the clinical and sequential factors to reveal the latent patterns of co-occurring chronic diseases. The efficacy of the proposed methods was validated through predicting the onset of new chronic diseases for individual patients using the EHR data for 23 years from a major hospital in Hong Kong. The proposed methods consistently outperform benchmark predictive models. The top 10 predictions of new chronic diseases have approximately 60% recall. Tensor factorization is an appropriate method for predicting the onset of chronic diseases at the individual level. The proposed predictive models could inform proactive health management programs for at-risk patients with different chronic conditions at discharge. Author summary The existing risk assessment models mainly focused on the prediction of single diseases in the population base. Chronic disease risk prediction considering the complex mechanisms of disease development and comorbidity is under-researched. To support and inform clinical decision making for healthcare professionals in the aging society, this study provides an innovative approach to mapping an interconnected web of chronic illnesses and investigated the performance of chronic disease prediction using 2 years’ worth of patient assessment records and 23 years’ admission history data from a major hospital in Hong Kong. We proposed matrix and tensor-based methods to represent the high-order interrelations of patients, chronic diseases and additional features, which can reveal the latent patterns of co-occurring chronic diseases to enable more effective prediction. The proposed methods exhibit state-of-the-art performance in predicting the onset of new chronic diseases for individual patients.
Molecular phylogeny and species delimitation of the genus Dicerapanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae)

Given that species is the fundamental unit in systematic biology, rigorous species delimitation is crucial for taxonomic studies, yet routine species delimitation remains an ongoing challenge in the taxonomic practice of insects. The two-horned scorpionfly Dicerapanorpa is a small genus in Panorpidae (Mecoptera) endemic to the Qinling-Bashan and Hengduan mountains, a biodiversity hotspot. However, species of Dicerapanorpa are difficult to delineate owing to marked intraspecific variation and interspecific similarity. Here, we investigate the diversity and species boundaries of Dicerapanorpa using an integrative approach based on DNA barcoding, morphological, geometric morphometric and molecular phylogenetic analyses. This integrative analyses confirmed the 13 described species of Dicerapanorpa and revealed three new species: Dicerapanorpa lativalva sp. nov., Dicerapanorpa hualongshana sp. nov. and Dicerapanorpa minshana sp. nov. Most molecular operational taxonomic units are in congruence with morphological clusters. Possible reasons for several discordances in Dicerapanorpa are tentatively discussed.
Understanding Plant Responses to Drought and Salt Stresses: Advances and Challenges in “Omics” Approaches

Global climatic changes and the temperature-associated fluctuations in drought, soil and water salinization and flooding have resulted in huge pressure on crop plants for their optimum yield potential. These challenges have to be met through innovative scientific technologies. Recent advances in the “ Omics ” approaches such as transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics offer new dimensions for understanding plant responses to drought and salt stresses and identification of major genes/QTLs for generation of resistant germplasm. Most importantly, the proteomics coupled with bioinformatics tools have accelerated the proteins characterization at the organ, tissue, organelle and membrane levels. Here we present an update on the progress of “ Omics ” approaches to understand plant responses to drought and salt stress particularly in the last decade. Future chal- lenges and solution efforts are also discussed in the ways of omics approaches. The need for research involving integrated omics technologies with advanced tools and to meet the future challenges toward practical implementation of these technologies for crop improve-ment against drought and salinity stresses is also discussed. and salt-tolerant plants with comparatively improved growth and yield potential under realistic field conditions.
Generation and characterisation of functional astrocytes from embryonic stem cells

Astrocytes are considered a default developmental state in mammalian nervous system differentiation. Even though astrocytes are involved in the maturation of the nervous system, information regarding their own development is sparse. Evidence has shown that astrocyte development (astrocytogenesis) commences after neurogenesis, leading to a heterogeneous population of astrocytes within the CNS. However, generating astrocytes in vitro has proven to be more challenging than previously thought, where complex use of morphogens, long time culture incubation (>180 days), and reduced focus on subtype astrocyte generation prevents full understanding of astrocytes. By modifying previous methodologies, here we describe a quick and efficient method to generate functional and heterogeneous astrocytes from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) which contributes towards ever growing need towards standardising protocols for in vitro astrocytogenesis. Under the cell suspension protocol, mESCs formed embryoid bodies (EBs), which were then inducted into a neural lineage using retinoic acid (RA) (DIV 3). At DIV 6 EBs were seeded onto laminin coated glass coverslips, in astrocyte differentiation media, containing heparin and N2. Cells morphologically resembling astrocytes were observed migrating from attached EBs, two days post seeding. Migrating cells stained positive for astrocyte markers GFAP, ALDH1L1 and S100β. When astrocytes were stimulated with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), intracellular calcium concentration was elevated, as revealed by Fluo4. Analysis of P2X and P2Y purinoreceptor pathways, revealed significant contributions of each pathways and a functional diversity of the generated astrocytes. Furthermore, these generated astrocytes displayed potential to be used as a tool for future studies via successful removal from substrate, and rescuing damaged neuron rich network. In summary, we describe here the generation of functional astrocytes derived from mESCs, which display heterogeneity in form and function that is commonly observed in astrocytes in vivo.
Determination of rooting-inhibitor in cutting of Taxus cuspidata

Rooting-inhibitor in cutting of Taxus cuspidata was determined with biological and organic mode. The results indicate that the main rooting-inhibitor in cutting of Taxus cuspidata are phenol. The content of phenol in different parts is phloem>needle>xylem, the locality in different crown is lower. These results were verificated by cutting test. There will be higher root-rate with three years old shoot which is in shady and higher crown.
Influence of nutrition on parasitism in periparturient dairy ewes

Influence of Nutrition on Parasitism in Periparturient Dairy Ewes Increased anthelmintic resistance has lead many researchers to investigate alternative methods of parasite control. It is believed that most larval contamination of the pasture is derived mainly from the mature breeding ewe due to the periparturient rise (PPR) in faecal egg counts (FECs). The aim of this study was to determine if manipulating the dietary supply of metabolisable protein (MP) or fish oil to the periparturient ewe can moderate the PPR. The first experiment investigated the effects of increased MP supply and fish oil on the PPR of machine-milked ewes. The second experiment investigated the effects of nematode infection and increased MP supply on the PPR of machine-milked ewes and the third experiment investigated the effects of machine milking compared to suckling twin lambs and the effect of increasing dietary MP on the PPR. In all the experiments, FECs, peripheral eosinophil counts, blood haematology and metabolite analyses were carried out and milk yields and composition were recorded. Additionally, in Exp.l immunoglobulin titres were determined, in Exp.2 pepsinogen assays were carried out and in Exp.3 blood was collected for lymphocyte stimulation responses. In Exps.2 and 3, the ewes were slaughtered to investigate nematode burden, mucosal mast cell (MMC) and mucosal eosinophil counts. The dietary treatments had no significant effects on the immunological parameters throughout all three experiments, although in Exp.2 larval challenge increased MMCs, mucosal eosinophils and pepsinogen assays. There was no benefit of increased dietary MP or fish oil on FECs in Exp.l. and no beneficial effect of increased dietary MP on FECs during Exp.2. However, in Exp.3 increased MP reduced the FECs from the twin suckled ewes but had no effect on the machine-milked ewe FECs. The machine-milked ewes had significantly lower milk yields than the suckled ewes and it may be that the machine-milked dairy ewe may not suffer the PPR due to some unidentified mechanism.
Zinc and Iron Agronomic Biofortification of Brassicaceae Microgreens

Insufficient or suboptimal dietary intake of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) represent a latent health issue affecting a large proportion of the global population, particularly among young children and women living in poor regions at high risk of malnutrition. Agronomic crop biofortification, which consists of increasing the accumulation of target nutrients in edible plant tissues through fertilization or other eliciting factors, has been proposed as a short-term approach to develop functional staple crops and vegetables to address micronutrient deficiency. The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the potential for biofortification of Brassicaceae microgreens through Zn and Fe enrichment. The effect of nutrient solutions supplemented with zinc sulfate (Exp-1; 0, 5, 10, 20 mg L−1) and iron sulfate (Exp-2; 0, 10, 20, 40 mg L−1) was tested on the growth, yield, and mineral concentration of arugula, red cabbage, and red mustard microgreens. Zn and Fe accumulation in all three species increased according to a quadratic model. However, significant interactions were observed between Zn or Fe level and the species examined, suggesting that the response to Zn and Fe enrichment was genotype specific. The application of Zn at 5 and 10 mg L−1 resulted in an increase in Zn concentration compared to the untreated control ranging from 75% to 281%, while solutions enriched with Fe at 10 and 20 mg L−1 increased Fe shoot concentration from 64% in arugula up to 278% in red cabbage. In conclusion, the tested Brassicaceae species grown in soilless systems are good targets to produce high quality Zn and Fe biofortified microgreens through the simple manipulation of nutrient solution composition.
Primary CLL Xenograft: A Model System to Study the Role of T-Cells in CLL Biology and Therapeutic Response

The interaction between chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells and T-cells is an important aspect of CLL biology. CLL cells require T-cell support for their proliferation and in addition induce proliferation of regulatory and cytotoxic (CD8+) T-cells. T-cell number and repertoire are both markedly affected by CLL therapy and there is considerable interest in how current treatments modulate the interaction between T-cells and the tumour clone. In this study we investigated whether this relationship was maintained in a xenotransplantation model. CLL engraftment in NOG mice was facilitated by humanisation of the murine microenvironment by allogeneic CD34+ umbilical cord cells or CD14+ monocytes. Accelerated engraftment of both CLL and T-cell compartments was observed in xenografts derived from patients with progressive CLL, suggesting that the biological properties of both subsets are maintained in the murine model. Furthermore, the distribution of helper (CD4+), cytotoxic (CD8+) and regulatory (CD4+CD25+FoxP3+) T-cells was maintained within the xenografts, including retention of the CD4:CD8 ratio. Interestingly, the anergic PD-1+CD160+CD244+TIM3+ T-cell phenotype reported in CLL patients was also evident in T-cells expanded in xenograft models. Consistent with an anergic T-cell phenotype, T-cells from CLL xenografts lacked anti-tumour activity in vitro . Importantly, such anergic cells were observed when T-cells were reconstituted from allogeneic cord blood cells as well as autologous cells, suggesting that CLL cells have the ability to shape T-cell populations of different origin in diverse microenvironments. Finally, to investigate the interaction between specific T-cell subsets and engrafted CLL cells, CD4+, CD8+, and CD25+ T-cells were depleted prior to generation of xenografts. CD8+ T-cell depletion significantly prolonged CLL engraftment (p≤0.01) whereas neither depletion of CD4+ nor CD25+cells had a significant impact. In summary, our results demonstrate that the relationship between CLL tumour cells and reactive T-cells is accurately maintained in a murine xenograft model. Such models will be of great value for investigation of aspects of T-cell function in CLL biology. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.