Search Results (18)

Trichosporon austroamericanum is a recently described yeast species related to Trichosporon inkin and exclusively isolated from clinical specimens. However, its genomic features and pathogenic potential remain poorly understood. In this study, we performed whole-genome sequencing on three blood-derived isolates from patients with invasive fungal infections and comparative analyses with 13 related Trichosporon species. The three isolates yielded high-quality assemblies of 9–10 scaffolds (~21 Mb), facilitating reliable comparisons. While most species had comparable genome sizes, Trichosporon ovoides, Trichosporon coremiiforme, and Cutaneotrichosporon mucoides displayed large, fragmented genomes, suggestive of polyploidy. ANI analysis and phylogenetic trees based on ANI and single-copy orthologs supported the classification of T. austroamericanum as a distinct clade with moderate intraspecific divergence. Using the Galleria mellonella, a model for fungal pathogenicity, all T. austroamericanum strains reduced larval survival, and NIIDF 0077300 exhibited virulence comparable to T. asahii and greater than T. inkin. To explore the gene-level differences associated with pathogenicity, we performed ortholog analysis based on single-copy genes. This revealed a unique Zn(II)₂Cys₆-type transcription factor gene (OG0010545) present only in NIIDF 0077300 and T. asahii. These findings highlight the genomic diversity and infection-associated traits of T. austroamericanum, providing a framework for future functional studies. Full article

This study reports on the magnetic hardening phenomenon of heavily helium ion-irradiated iron–chromium alloys. The alloys are important structural materials in next-generation nuclear reactors. In some cases, problems may arise when the magnetic properties of the materials change due to neutron irradiation. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the effects of irradiation on magnetism. Helium irradiation was conducted as a simulated irradiation, and the effect of cavity formation on magnetic properties was thoroughly investigated. High-quality single-crystal Fe-x%Cr (x = 0, 10, 20) films, with a thickness of 180–200 nm, were fabricated through ultra-high vacuum evaporation. Subsequently, irradiation of 19 dpa with 30 keV He⁺ ions was conducted at room temperature. X-ray diffraction measurements and electron microscopy observations confirmed significant lattice expansion and the formation of high-density cavities after irradiation. The magnetization curve of pure iron remained unchanged, while magnetic hardening was noticed in iron–chromium alloys. This phenomenon is believed to be due to the combined effect of cavity formation and changes in the atomic arrangement of chromium. Full article

Although lineage reprogramming from one cell type to another is becoming a breakthrough technology for cell-based therapy, several limitations remain to be overcome, including the low conversion efficiency and subtype specificity. To address these, many studies have been conducted using genetics, chemistry, physics, and cell biology to control transcriptional networks, signaling cascades, and epigenetic modifications during reprogramming. Here, we summarize recent advances in cellular reprogramming and discuss future directions. Full article

This study reports on the microstructure and magnetism of pure iron irradiated with high doses of helium ions. Iron alloys are important structural materials used as components in fusion reactors, and a comprehensive database of their various properties has been developed. But little has been investigated on magnetic properties, in particular, the effects of high doses and helium cavities are lacking. Single-crystal iron films, with a thickness of 200 nm, were prepared using the ultra-high vacuum evaporation method. These films were then irradiated with 30 keV He⁺ ions at room temperature up to a dose of 18 dpa. X-ray diffraction measurements and cross-sectional transmission electron microscope observations revealed significant microstructural changes, including a large lattice expansion perpendicular to the film plane and the formation of high-density cavities after irradiation. However, the saturation magnetization and the shape of the magnetization curve showed almost no change, indicating the robustness of the magnetic properties of iron. Full article

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) dulaglutide has been shown to improve body weight and glycemic control and reduce major cardiovascular (CV) events. In Japan, dulaglutide is used at a fixed dose of 0.75 mg, which is lower than that in Europe and North America. However, the reports of real-world efficacy on metabolic parameters in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are limited. This study aimed to examine the real-world efficacy of GLP-1RA dulaglutide on metabolic parameters in Japanese patients with T2DM. We retrospectively selected patients with T2DM who had been prescribed dulaglutide continuously for 12 months or longer between September 2015 and December 2020 and compared metabolic parameters at baseline with the data at 12 months after the start of dulaglutide. One hundred twenty-one patients were enrolled in this study. The 12-month dulaglutide treatment reduced body weight by 1.7 kg and hemoglobin A1c by 1.1%. Significant improvements were also observed in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG) and non-HDL-C. The change in HbA1c during dulaglutide treatment was significantly correlated with the changes in HDL-C (R = −0.236, p = 0.013), LDL-C (R = 0.377, p = 0.005) and non-HDL-C (R = 0.415, p < 0.001). The improvements in HbA1c, HDL-C, TG and non-HDL-C were greater in patients concurrently treated with SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) at baseline. In conclusion, the treatment with dulaglutide has beneficial effects on multiple CV risk factors in Japanese patients with T2DM. Full article

Natural products and chemical analogues are widely used in drug discovery, notably in cancer and infectious disease pharmacotherapy. Sarcophyton convolutum (Alcyoniidae) a Red Sea–derived soft coral has been shown to be a rich source of macrocyclic diterpenes and cyclized derivatives. Two previously undescribed polyoxygenated cembrane-type diterpenoids, sarcoconvolutums F (1) and G (2), as well as four identified analogues (3–6) together with a furan derivate (7) were isolated from a solvent extract. Compounds were identified by spectroscopic techniques, including NMR, HREIMS, and CD, together with close spectral comparisons of previously published data. Sarcoconvolutum F (1) contains a rare 1-peroxid-15-hydroxy-10-ene functionality. Isolated metabolites (1–7) were screened against lung adenocarcinoma (A549), cervical cancer (HeLa) and oral cavity carcinoma (HSC-2) lines. Compound 4 exhibited an IC₅₀ 56 µM and 55 µM against A549 and HSC-2 cells, respectively. Full article

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) has a high mortality rate in patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and it is often confirmed by postmortem dissection. When IFI is initially confirmed after an autopsy, the tissue culture and frozen section are challenging to secure, and in many cases, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples represent the only modality for identifying fungi. Histopathological diagnosis is a useful method in combination with molecular biological methods that can achieve more precise identification with reproducibility. Meanwhile, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using fungal-specific primers helps identify fungi from FFPE tissues. Autopsy FFPE specimens have a disadvantage regarding the quality of DNA extracted compared with that of specimens obtained via biopsy or surgery. In the case of mucormycosis diagnosed postmortem histologically, we examined currently available molecular biological methods such as PCR, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and in situ hybridization (ISH) to identify fungi. It is reasonable that PCR with some modification is valuable for identifying fungi in autopsy FFPE specimens. However, PCR does not always correctly identify fungi in autopsy FFPE tissues, and other approaches such as ISH or IHC are worth considering for clarifying the broad classification (such as the genus- or species-level classification). Full article

The organic extracts of the Red Sea soft coral Paralemnalia thyrsoides has led to the identification of two neolemnane-type sesquiterpenoids: paralemnolins X and Y (1, 2). In addition to these newly characterized compounds, ten known metabolites (3–12) were isolated. Previously reported compounds were elucidated by literature comparison of spectroscopic data (1D and 2D NMR as well as MS data). In vitro antimicrobial activity was investigated for compounds (1–12) against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. Compound 5 showed antimicrobial activity against all assayed microorganisms. Full article

Background: Single-agent amrubicin chemotherapy is a key regimen, especially for small cell lung cancer (SCLC); however, it can cause severe myelosuppression. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the real-world incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN) among patients treated with single-agent amrubicin chemotherapy for thoracic malignancies. Patients and methods: The medical records of consecutive patients with thoracic malignancies, including SCLC and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who were treated with single-agent amrubicin chemotherapy in cycle 1 between January 2010 and March 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: One hundred and fifty-six patients from four institutions were enrolled. Their characteristics were as follows: median age (range): 68 (32–86); male/female: 126/30; performance status (0/1/2): 9/108/39; SCLC/NSCLC/others: 111/30/15; and prior treatment (0/1/2/3-): 1/96/31/28. One hundred and thirty-four (86%) and 97 (62%) patients experienced grade 3/4 and grade 4 neutropenia, respectively. One hundred and twelve patients (72%) required therapeutic G-CSF treatment, and 47 (30%) developed FN. Prophylactic PEG-G-CSF was not used in cycle 1 in any case. The median overall survival of the patients with FN was significantly shorter than that of the patients without FN (7.2 vs. 10.0 months, p = 0.025). Conclusions: The real-world incidence rate of FN among patients with thoracic malignancies that were treated with single-agent amrubicin chemotherapy was 30%. It is suggested that prophylactic G-CSF should be administered during the practical use of single-agent amrubicin chemotherapy for patients who have already received chemotherapy. Full article

The monitoring of areas at risk is one of the topics of great interest in the scientific world in order to preserve natural areas of particular environmental value. The present work aims to develop a suitable survey and analysis methodology, in order to optimise multi-temporal processing. In particular, the phenomenon investigated the monitoring of cliffs in southern Apulia (Italy). To achieve this objective, different algorithms were tested and implemented in an in-house software called ICV. The implementation involved the use of different calculation procedures, combined and aimed at the analysis of the phenomenon in question. The validation of the experimentation was shown through the elaboration of a series of datasets of a particular area within the investigated coastline. Full article

Data-independent acquisition (DIA)-mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic analysis overtop the existing data-dependent acquisition (DDA)-MS-based proteomic analysis to enable deep proteome coverage and precise relative quantitative analysis in single-shot liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS. However, DIA-MS-based proteomic analysis has not yet been optimized in terms of system robustness and throughput, particularly for its practical applications. We established a single-shot LC-MS/MS system with an MS measurement time of 90 min for a highly sensitive and deep proteomic analysis by optimizing the conditions of DIA and nanoLC. We identified 7020 and 4068 proteins from 200 ng and 10 ng, respectively, of tryptic floating human embryonic kidney cells 293 (HEK293F) cell digest by performing the constructed LC-MS method with a protein sequence database search. The numbers of identified proteins from 200 ng and 10 ng of tryptic HEK293F increased to 8509 and 5706, respectively, by searching the chromatogram library created by gas-phase fractionated DIA. Moreover, DIA protein quantification was highly reproducible, with median coefficients of variation of 4.3% in eight replicate analyses. We could demonstrate the power of this system by applying the proteomic analysis to detect subtle changes in protein profiles between cerebrums in germ-free and specific pathogen-free mice, which successfully showed that >40 proteins were differentially produced between the cerebrums in the presence or absence of bacteria. Full article

Background: Plants belonging to the genus Kaempferia (family: Zingiberaceae) are distributed in Asia, especially in the southeast region, and Thailand. They have been widely used in traditional medicines to cure metabolic disorders, inflammation, urinary tract infections, fevers, coughs, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, abdominal and gastrointestinal ailments, asthma, wounds, rheumatism, epilepsy, and skin diseases. Objective: Herein, we reported a comprehensive review, including the traditional applications, biological and pharmacological advances, and phytochemical constituents of Kaempheria species from 1972 up to early 2019. Materials and methods: All the information and reported studies concerning Kaempheria plants were summarized from library and digital databases (e.g., Google Scholar, Sci-finder, PubMed, Springer, Elsevier, MDPI, Web of Science, etc.). The correlation between the Kaempheria species was evaluated via principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC), based on the main chemical classes of compounds. Results: Approximately 141 chemical constituents have been isolated and reported from Kaempferia species, such as isopimarane, abietane, labdane and clerodane diterpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, phenyl-heptanoids, curcuminoids, tetrahydropyrano-phenolic, and steroids. A probable biosynthesis pathway for the isopimaradiene skeleton is illustrated. In addition, 15 main documented components of volatile oils of Kaempheria were summarized. Biological activities including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticholinesterase, antioxidant, anti-obesity-induced dermatopathy, wound healing, neuroprotective, anti-allergenic, and anti-nociceptive were demonstrated. Conclusions: Up to date, significant advances in phytochemical and pharmacological studies of different Kaempheria species have been witnessed. So, the traditional uses of these plants have been clarified via modern in vitro and in vivo biological studies. In addition, these traditional uses and reported biological results could be correlated via the chemical characterization of these plants. All these data will support the biologists in the elucidation of the biological mechanisms of these plants. Full article

An image fusion method has been proposed for plant images taken using a two-dimensional (2D) camera and three-dimensional (3D) portable lidar for obtaining a 3D distribution of physiological and biochemical plant properties. In this method, a 2D multispectral camera with five bands (475–840 nm) and a 3D high-resolution portable scanning lidar were applied to three sets of sample trees. After producing vegetation index (VI) images from multispectral images, 3D point cloud lidar data were projected onto the 2D plane based on perspective projection, keeping the depth information of each of the lidar points. The VI images were 2D registered to the lidar projected image based on the projective transformation and VI 3D point cloud images were reconstructed based on the depth information. Based on the relationship between the VI values and chlorophyll contents taken by a soil and plant analysis development (SPAD)-502 plus chlorophyll meter, 3D distribution images of the chlorophyll contents were produced. Similarly, a thermal 3D image for a sample was also produced. The resultant chlorophyll distribution images offered vertical and horizontal distributions, and those for each orientation for each sample, showing the spatial variability of the distribution and the difference between the samples. Full article

Seven novel norcycloartane glycosides, maryloside A–G (1–7), were isolated from the leaves of Cymbidium Great Flower ‘Marylaurencin’, along with a known norcycloartane glycoside, cymbidoside (8). These structures were determined on the basis of mainly NMR experiments as well as chemical degradation and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The isolated compounds (1–6 and 8) were evaluated for the inhibitory activity on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells. Consequently, 1 and 3 exhibited moderate activity. Full article

Recently, the construction of models for multicellular systems such as tissues has been attracting great interest. These model systems are expected to reproduce a cell communication network and provide insight into complicated functions in living systems./Such network structures have mainly been modelled using a droplet and a vesicle. However, in the droplet and vesicle network, there are difficulties attributed to structural instabilities due to external stimuli and perturbations. Thus, the fabrication of a network composed of a stable component such as hydrogel is desired. In this article, the construction of a stable network composed of honeycomb-shaped microhydrogels is described. We produced the microhydrogel network using a centrifugal microfluidic technique and a photosensitive polymer. In the network, densely packed honeycomb-shaped microhydrogels were observed. Additionally, we successfully controlled the degree of packing of microhydrogels in the network by changing the centrifugal force. We believe that our stable network will contribute to the study of cell communication in multicellular systems. Full article