Search Results (6,729)

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) coexists with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), particularly papillary thyroid carcinoma, in approximately 25% of cases. However, the impact of this association on DTC outcomes remains controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of Hashimoto thyroiditis on disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in DTC patients. Methods: A retrospective study conducted at our institution between 2007 and 2020 analyzed 707 DTC patients treated with surgery and/or I-131 therapy. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify independent predictors, including sex, age, tumor histology, HT status, and initial TNM stage. Results: Among 707 DTC patients, 628 (88.8%) had papillary cancer, 582 (82.3%) were female, 395 (55.9%) were <55 years old; HT coexisted in 137 (19.4%) patients. During follow-up, 23 (3.25%) developed recurrent disease; at last follow-up, 638 (90.2%) were alive. Initial distant metastases (p < 0.001) and higher T stage (p = 0.002) independently predicted worse DSS. For RFS, male sex (p = 0.015), higher T stage (p = 0.018), and lymph node involvement (p = 0.023) independently predicted an increased risk of recurrence. HT was not an independent predictor of DSS (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.21–4.52; p = 0.964) or recurrence (HR 0.36, 95% CI 0.05–2.73; p = 0.322). Conclusions: Although Hashimoto thyroiditis was associated with favorable clinicopathological features, it was not independently associated with disease-specific or recurrence-free survival. Conventional staging parameters, particularly tumor stage, remain the principal determinants of prognosis in differentiated thyroid cancer. Full article

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Detailed characterization of cell surface proteins (CSPs) is essential for the identification of prognostic biomarkers and the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Cancer progression and epithelial cell polarity influence the expression levels and subcellular localization of these proteins. However, quantitative information on the distribution of CSPs between the apical and basolateral membranes remains limited, particularly in CRC cells. Here, we developed a rapid, high-throughput method based on the enrichment of biotinylated peptides and proteins from the apical and basolateral surfaces of polarized CRC epithelial cells (HT29 and HCT116), followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. This approach enables the simultaneous identification of the side-specific distribution of ~1200 CSPs. In addition, almost 500 potential N-glycosylation sites with the canonical consensus sequence of these proteins were identified, which may serve as targets for future site-specific glycosylation analyses. To evaluate the sensitivity of the method, we altered the surface proteome by generating TKS4-knockout cells and identified several surface markers whose expression levels differed significantly from those of wild-type cells. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the role of CSPs in CRC cells and gene-edited models, particularly in the context of TKS4-dependent epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like phenotypes that model cancer metastasis. Full article

Anxiety disorders are characterized by dysregulation of monoaminergic signaling and remain a significant therapeutic challenge due to limitations associated with current pharmacological treatments. In this context, the essential oil of Morisonia flexuosa (Capparaceae) seeds was chemically characterized and evaluated for anxiolytic-like activity in adult zebrafish. Chemical profiling by GC–MS and GC–FID revealed a predominance of isothiocyanates, particularly butyl isothiocyanate (42.60%) and isobutyl isothiocyanate (42.28%). Acute toxicity assessment demonstrated no lethality at the tested doses. Behavioral analyses showed a significant increase in light preference in the light/dark paradigm, with moderate locomotor reduction insufficient to account for the behavioral shift solely by sedation. Pharmacological antagonism assays indicated that the anxiolytic-like effect was predominantly mediated by 5-HT1 and 5-HT2A/2C receptors. Chemometric analyses (PCA, HCA, and heatmap) revealed statistical association between compound abundance and behavioral endpoints, supporting the contribution of major isothiocyanates within the tested model. Notably, the strongest behavioral response was observed at the lowest concentration, suggesting an ideal effective concentration range. Collectively, these findings provide the first evidence that an isothiocyanate-rich essential oil from M. flexuosa exerts serotonergic-involved anxiolytic-like effects in zebrafish and supports further mechanistic investigation of its neuropharmacological potential. Full article

Nineteen monoterpene indole alkaloids, including twelve new ones, were successfully isolated and identified from the stems and leaves of Uncaria hirsuta (Havil.). The planar structures were elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high-resolution mass (HRMS), and ultraviolet (UV) analyses. The absolute configurations of new compounds were determined using electron circular dichroism calculations in conjunction with NMR calculations. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of the isolated compounds was evaluated in vitro. In further biological evaluation, the isolated compounds were evaluated for their neuroprotective effects on HT22 neuronal cells. Six compounds demonstrated significant protective activity. Their intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using the DCFH-DA fluorescent probe, which markedly attenuated glutamate-induced ROS accumulation. The results not only enrich the knowledge on the structural diversity of monoterpene indole alkaloids but also offer substantial evidence for further pharmacological exploration. Full article

This paper presents a concise modeling and simulation study of a turboelectric distributed propulsion (TeDP) system for a hybrid wing body (HWB) aircraft. A whole-system 0D model has been implemented in PROOSIS that includes the thermodynamic model of the turboshaft and fan array, as well as an electrical subsystem model addressing generators, motors, and cryogenic cooling for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) machines. Boundary layer ingestion (BLI) was explicitly modeled in the inlet–fan interaction. Parametric studies explored control strategies that minimized fuel consumption across the flight envelope. The design and off-design analyses demonstrated that coupling BLI with distributed fans can deliver significant aerodynamic benefits, while the integrated mission simulation highlighted the system-level implications of electrical conversion and control and quantified potential fuel savings. Full article

Trichothecenes are the most common Fusarium mycotoxin contaminants of grains and their related products. Searching for effective adsorbents remains a major challenge in mycotoxicology, due to the low polarity and bulky chemical structure of type A trichothecenes. This study aimed to investigate in silico chitosan binding to type A trichothecenes such as diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), neosolaniol (NEO), T-2 toxin (T2), and HT-2 toxin (HT2) and to study in vitro the devil fish chitosan biosorption capacity under two pH conditions (pHs 3 and 8). Molecular dynamic experiments showed that the chitosan monomers D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine mostly bound to trichothecenes through the O in hydroxyls and glycosidic bonds and through their functional groups containing nitrogen. DAS exhibited a 9.44-, 6.39-, and 4.54-fold increase in the number of intermolecular contacts with chitosan compared to NEO, HT2 and T2, respectively. Moreover, in vitro experiments showed that at pH 3, chitosan exhibited a significant DAS sorption efficiency of 31.60% (p < 0.005), corresponding to a mass-normalized sorption capacity of 126.4 ng/mg. In contrast, no significant differences in sorption were observed at pH 8 (p > 0.05). Regarding NEO, T2, and HT2, no significant adsorption was detected under either pH condition (p > 0.05). This study is the first attempt to elucidate chitosan’s capacity to bind DAS and propose a mechanism for that interaction. Full article

Thehitting time index $\mathrm{HT}\left(G\right)$ is a recently introduced topological descriptor based on expected hitting times of a random walk on a graph. In this paper, we derive a closed-form formula for $\mathrm{HT}\left(G\right)$ for broom graphs $B_{n,d}$ that holds for all parameters $2\le d\le n-1$, $\mathrm{HT}\left(B_{n,d}\right)=S_1+S_2+S_3+(n-d){\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^{d-1}}\max \{A\left(i\right),B\left(i\right)\},$ where $S_1,S_2,S_3,A\left(i\right),B\left(i\right)$ are explicitly defined. For $d\ge 2$ and $n\ge 4d-8$ we derive a simpler cubic polynomial formula in n, $\mathrm{HT}\left(B_{n,d}\right)=n^3+a_d{n}^2+b_{d}n+c_d,$ with explicitly given coefficients $a_d,b_d,c_d$ depending only on d. We also consider quartic polynomial formulas for special cases. Full article

High-throughput sequencing is becoming the method of choice for plant diagnostics. It allows the detection of known and novel viruses and viroids, even in co-infection, without preliminary knowledge of the target. However, this method has its own limitations when compared to real-time PCR or ELISA. Laboratories that implement this type of technologies in-house must ensure that the performance criteria meet the requirements associated with their diagnostic activity. In this study, we present a workflow for in-house plant viruses and viroid detection, based on total RNA extraction, ribodepletion, Illumina sequencing and bioinformatics analyses. Performance criteria such as analytical sensitivity, analytical specificity, selectivity, repeatability, reproducibility and robustness were evaluated on the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (RNA genome), the tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (DNA genome), and the pepper chat fruit viroid (RNA genome). The performance levels obtained meet the requirements for virus and viroid detection in symptomatic plant samples. Full article

Background/Objectives: Intraspecific aggression and cannibalism severely reduce survival in aquaculture of the Japanese swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus. Starvation can induce stress-related behavioral changes and alter aggressive behavior in animals, but its behavioral and neurochemical effects in crustaceans remain poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize starvation-associated behavioral changes in P. trituberculatus and to examine their associations with hemolymph serotonin (5-HT) levels, 5-HT1, 5-HT2, and DA1 expression, and aggressive behavior. Methods: Male P. trituberculatus (16 ± 1 g) were randomly assigned to starvation durations of 0–12 days. Starvation-associated behavioral responses were assessed with an underwater light–dark maze and open-field test, and video-recorded behavioral trajectories were analyzed. Hemolymph 5-HT was measured by ELISA. Aggressive behavior was recorded after pairing crabs showing different starvation-associated behavioral states. Expression of 5-HT1, 5-HT2, and DA1 genes in multiple tissues was detected by RT-qPCR. Results: Starvation for 3–6 days significantly reduced time spent in the light arm and center zone, together with decreased hemolymph 5-HT levels. At 7–8 days, time spent in these zones increased and 5-HT levels increased, whereas these behavioral indices decreased again after 9 days. Starvation-associated behavioral changes were associated with reduced attack frequency and attack duration. Moreover, crabs showing starvation-associated behavioral changes showed altered expression of 5-HT1, 5-HT2, and DA1 genes in muscle and eyestalk after aggressive encounters. Full article

Second-generation high-temperature superconducting tapes (2G HTS; SuperPower Inc., Glenville, NY, USA) based on GdBCO (GdBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ, where δ denotes oxygen deficiency) were aged at −26.4 °C, +2 °C, and room temperature (RT) to evaluate the degradation of their superconducting properties. HTS tapes stored at RT exhibited a significantly higher deterioration rate compared to those maintained at lower temperatures. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis demonstrated a gradual reduction in the effective chemical depth-profiling length over time, indicating a correlation between the degradation mechanism and the reduction in the effective volumetric density of the GdBCO superconducting layer. These findings imply that oxygen diffusion or redistribution processes substantially contribute to the long-term degradation of GdBCO-based HTS tapes. Full article

Optimizing the extraction of bioactive compounds from Solidago sp. is essential for the development of plant-derived products with therapeutic and nutraceutical potential. Microwave-assisted (MW) and thermal maceration (TM) extraction of S. canadensis aerial parts were comparatively investigated to maximize total flavonoid content (TFC). The obtained extracts were subsequently freeze-dried for storage prior to chemical and biological analyses. Extraction conditions were optimized using a Box–Behnken design. Chemical characterization was performed by FTIR, HPLC-PDA, LC-MS/MS, and GC-MS, enabling detailed profiling of phenolic compounds and terpenoids. Antioxidant capacity was assessed using the DPPH radical scavenging assay, while cytotoxic activity was evaluated against HepG2, HCT-8, and HT-29 tumor cell lines, with HEK-293 cells used as a non-tumorigenic control cell line. Multivariate analysis (PCA) was applied to establish relationships between phytochemical composition and biological responses. Higher TFC values were obtained using MW extraction, whereas TM extracts exhibited greater antioxidant activity. Both extract types induced selective cytotoxic effects against tumor cell lines, while maintaining negligible toxicity toward normal HEK-293 cells. PCA revealed distinct clustering patterns between MW and TM extracts and confirmed a strong association between phenolic composition and bioactivity. The combination of optimized extraction, freeze-drying, and integrated chemical–biological evaluation produced S. canadensis extracts with well-defined phytochemical profiles and biological activity, supporting their potential use in nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications. Full article

This study aimed to isolate, characterize, and evaluate bacterial consortia capable of degrading the diamide insecticide cyantraniliprole in aqueous systems and to assess their bioremediation potential under environmentally relevant conditions. Four bacterial consortia, each comprising six isolates, demonstrated significant growth in mineral media containing cyantraniliprole as the sole carbon source, and the isolates were identified using conventional microbiological techniques in combination with MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. The bacterial consortia were enriched from pesticide-contaminated environments and systematically evaluated using microbiological, physiological, and analytical approaches to determine their degradation potential and environmental adaptability. The degradation performance of the consortia was systematically assessed under varying environmental parameters, including temperature, pH, salinity, and incubation time, with optimal degradation observed at 30–35 °C, pH 7.0–8.0, 0.5–5.0% NaCl, and 11 days of incubation at 150 rpm using an initial cyantraniliprole concentration of 50 mg/L. Biodegradation efficiency was further evaluated using DCPIP reduction assays, alongside measurements of biofilm formation and biomass production, indicating enhanced metabolic activity and adaptive responses under pesticide-induced stress. The consortia also exhibited the capacity to degrade structurally related diamide pesticides, including flubendiamide, chlorantraniliprole, cyclaniliprole, and fluchlordiniliprole, suggesting broad-spectrum biodegradation potential. Their performance was further validated in a simulated water microcosm system designed to mimic environmentally relevant contamination scenarios. In simulated contaminated water (60 mg/L cyantraniliprole), bacterial inoculants standardized to 10⁷ CFU/mL achieved substantial degradation after 20 days of incubation at 30 °C, as confirmed by HPLC analysis, with the six-strain consortium (T4), comprising Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis AZFS3, Bacillus pumilus AZFS5, Bacillus mojavensis AZFS15, Bacillus paramycoides AZFS18, Pseudomonas aeruginosa KZFS4, and Alcaligenes aquatilis KZFS11, demonstrating the highest removal efficiency (98.27%) and reducing the pesticide concentration to 1.00 mg/L, followed by consortium T3 (96.72%), which consisted of Bacillus subtilis Ht1, Bacillus subtilis Ht2, Bacillus mojavensis Ht3, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Ht4, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Ht5, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Ht6. Residue analysis and predictive bioinformatic assessment further supported the biodegradation capacity of the selected bacterial communities and suggested the formation of simpler transformation products. Overall, the investigated bacterial consortia exhibited high degradation efficiency and environmental adaptability, highlighting their potential as effective and eco-friendly agents for the bioremediation of cyantraniliprole-contaminated water systems Full article

High temperature during flowering and grain filling severely reduces rice yield and grain quality. Split potassium (K) fertilization can mitigate such heat-induced damage, yet its mechanisms linking grain filling, endogenous hormones and grain performance remain unclear. Here, a two-year pot experiment was conducted to explore the effects of split K application on rice yield, quality and hormonal metabolism under high temperature. Four treatments included ambient temperature with full basal K (AT-K₁₀₀), high temperature with full basal K (HT-K₁₀₀), and two split K regimes under high temperature (HT-K₇₀₊₃₀, HT-K₃₀₊₇₀). Split K application decreased abscisic acid (ABA) levels at 5 days after anthesis (DAA), increased indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), zeatin riboside (ZR) and gibberellin A3 (GA₃) at 5 DAA, and maintained higher IAA and GA₃ levels until 20 DAA. The ratios of ABA/IAA and ABA/GA₃ were also reduced at both 5 and 20 DAA. These hormonal alterations optimized grain-filling dynamics, prolonged active filling duration and improved middle- and late-stage filling rates, thereby promoting grain weight accumulation and suppressing chalkiness formation. Compared with HT-K₁₀₀, HT-K₇₀₊₃₀ increased yield by 8.75%, which was attributed to improved seed-setting rate and 1000-grain weight. HT-K₃₀₊₇₀ enhanced spikelet number per panicle, seed-setting rate and 1000-grain weight, but significantly decreased effective panicles, resulting in no obvious yield advantage. Furthermore, split K application effectively reduced grain chalkiness, with a more pronounced effect at a higher panicle-stage K proportion. Under ongoing global warming, K management can be tailored to production goals: higher basal K is preferable for yield pursuit, while increasing panicle K topdressing effectively improves grain quality. Full article

The yerba mate psyllid, Gyropsylla spegazziniana, represents a major pest affecting yerba mate production, leading to considerable economic losses. Although several aspects of its ecology and management have been investigated, little is known about the viruses associated with this insect pest. In this study, we conducted the first RNA high-throughput sequencing (HTS) analysis of G. spegazziniana to examine its virome, uncovering a diverse array of previously undescribed RNA viruses. Our analysis led to the identification of five novel viruses spanning different viral lineages. These include representatives with evolutionary affinities to beny-like, picorna-like, and sobemo-like viruses, provisionally designated as Gyropsylla spegazziniana beny-like virus 1 (GSBlV1), Gyropsylla spegazziniana picorna-like virus 1 (GSPlV1), and Gyropsylla spegazziniana sobemo-like virus 1-3 (GSSlV1-3), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the bi-segmented, highly divergent sobemo-like viruses revealed that these viruses are grouped with other insect-associated sobemo-like viruses. The beny-like virus clustered together with other insect-associated beny-like viruses, whereas the picorna-like virus clustered together with psyllid-associated picorna-like viruses. Overall, these findings demonstrate that G. spegazziniana harbors a complex and previously uncharacterized virome. This work provides a foundation for further research into the ecological significance, evolutionary patterns, and possible use of these viruses in biological control strategies of this major pest within yerba mate agroecosystems. Full article

Sleep deprivation (DS) is a reduction in sleep duration due to voluntary or external factors. The mechanisms underlying the psychological and cognitive consequences of DS are complex and incompletely understood; one proposed pathway involves alterations in the serotonin (5-HT) and melatonin (MLT) systems. This study aimed to assess the effects of a single night of DS on the tryptophan (TP)-5-HT-MLT system and to examine their associations with mood and cognitive performance. Eighty healthy adults underwent polysomnography (PSG) and actigraphy-monitored DS. Blood samples, mood assessments, and cognitive tests (BEHCT, TMT, Stroop) were performed before and after PSG and DS. Levels of serotonin transporter (SERT) mRNA, TP, 5-HT, and MLT were measured. Participants were classified as Responders (RE) or Non-Responders (NR) based on post-DS mood change. DS significantly decreased TP and MLT overall. In NR, 5-HT increased and MLT decreased, unlike in RE. ΔBEHCT correlated positively with ΔTP (RE), Δ5-HT (overall), and ΔMLT (overall and RE), and negatively with ΔSERT mRNA (NR). In RE, ΔSERT mRNA negatively correlated with ΔStroop performance and positively with ΔTMT. Acute DS disrupts the TP–5-HT–MLT axis, with effects differing by mood response. These changes may influence cognitive outcomes after sleep loss. Full article