First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum spaethianum on Hosta longipes in Korea.

Hosta longipes (Franch. & Sav.) Matsum. (Asparagaceae) is a perennial, herbaceous plant, native to Japan and Korea (Lee et al. 2021). In Korea, the plant is used as an edible vegetable and ornamental (Kang and Ju 2015). During 2021-2022, anthracnose symptoms were observed on leaves of H. longipes with over 70% disease incidence in Wanju-gun (35°38'47''N; 127°31'16''E) and Jangsu-gun (35°35'31''N; 127°30'03''E) in Jeollabuk-do, Korea. The disease initially appeared on old leaves, gradually spreading to young ones. The symptoms were characterized as yellow to white discoloration on the upper leaf surface with black necrotic tissue in the center of the lesion. Three H. longipes samples with anthracnose symptoms were collected. From each, a monoconidial isolate was obtained and then deposited in the Korea Agricultural Culture Collection (accession Nos. KACC 410038, 410391, and 410443). The dried specimens were housed at the herbarium of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU0129, 0137) and Korea University (KUS-F33379). Conidiomata was acervular, 65 to 80 × 56 to 70 µm in diam. Setae were dark brown, 2 to 4-septate, 63 to 161 µm long, being formed on a pale brown cushion. Conidia were hyaline, smooth-walled, aseptate, slightly curved, base truncate, 3.9 to 5.1 × 17 to 23 µm. The appressoria were solitary, olivaceous-brown, ovoid or irregularly shaped. Two-week-old colonies grown on PDA at 25 ℃ were 20-25 mm in diameter, initially white, then turned gray with age, with cottony aerial mycelium. The morphological and cultural characteristics of the fungus were consistent with those of Colletotrichum spaethianum (Allesch.) Damm, P.F. Cannon & Crous (Damm et al. 2012). To confirm morphology-based identification, the nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin (actA), chitin synthase (CHS1), histone (HIS3) and tubulin (TUB2) genes were determined for KACC410443, as outlined by Cannon et al. (2012) and Damm et al. (2009). The resulting sequences were submitted into GenBank (PP000829 for ITS, PP133094 for GAPDH, PP083418 for actA, PP133091 for CHS1, PP133097 for HIS3, and PP133099 for TUB2) and compared with reference sequences in GenBank using BLASTn search tool. The results showed a 100% match with C. spaethianum (MT611068), C. incanum (MN880260) and C. truncatum (EF016303) for ITS, and 100% with C. spaethianum for GAPDH (MH370513), actA (MH045677), CHS1 (MH370520), HIS3 (MH985161), and TUB (MH456884). Pathogenicity was tested by inoculating conidial suspension (1 ×104 cfu/ml) of three-week-old fungal colonies of the isolate KACC410443 onto leaves of three healthy potted plants. Prior to inoculation, leaves were deliberately wounded by pinpricking with a sterilized needle. Two wounded but non-inoculated plants served as controls. Plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 to 30 °C. Inoculated plants developed anthracnose symptoms after eight days, while the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus isolated from the inoculated plants was morphologically identical to that observed initially, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, there is no previous record of C. spaethianum on H. longipes, although C. spaethianum has been reported to infect another species, H. plantaginea (Cheon and Jeon 2016). This is the first report of this fungus on H. longipes in Korea (KSPP 2024) and globally (Farr and Rossman 2024). The anthracnose on this ornamental plant can be considered a new severe threat to planting strategies in gardens.

Synapses from the Motor Cortex and a High-Order Thalamic Nucleus are Spatially Clustered in Proximity to Each Other in the Distal Tuft Dendrites of Mouse Somatosensory Cortex.

The posterior medial nucleus of the thalamus (POm) and vibrissal primary motor cortex (vM1) convey essential information to the barrel cortex (S1BF) regarding whisker position and movement. Therefore, understanding the relative spatial relationship of these two inputs is a critical prerequisite for acquiring insights into how S1BF synthesizes information to interpret the location of an object. Using array tomography, we identified the locations of synapses from vM1 and POm on distal tuft dendrites of L5 pyramidal neurons where the two inputs are combined. Synapses from vM1 and POm did not show a significant branchlet preference and impinged on the same set of dendritic branchlets. Within dendritic branches, on the other hand, the two inputs formed robust spatial clusters of their own type. Furthermore, we also observed POm clusters in proximity to vM1 clusters. This work constitutes the first detailed description of the relative distribution of synapses from POm and vM1, which is crucial to elucidate the synaptic integration of whisker-based sensory information.

Occurrence of leaf spot caused by Stemphylium vesicarium on Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) in China.

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is becoming increasingly important in grassland systems (sheep and beef) due to its high productivity, protein content and nitrogen-fixing ability which allows lower N fertilizer use (Murray et al. 2007). In June 2021, an unidentified foliar disease occurred seriously in experimental fields of red clover (25.61°N, 102.48°E) in Kunming city, Yunnan Province, China. Disease incidence was approximately 55% with an average disease severity of 41.1% in the fields (about 1.5 ha). Initially, the symptoms consisted of cicular to oval leaf spots with dark brown edges. In severely diseased plots, the diseased spots continued to expand and fuse along the leaf veins, forming long and narrow leaf spots, and the middle of the leaves were decayed and hollow. To isolate the pathogen, small pieces (3×3 mm) from the margin of infected lesions were surface-sterilized in 75% ethanol solution for 30 s, 1% NaClO solution for 90 s, rinsed three times with sterilized distilled water, air dried, and plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). The same fungus was isolated in 90% of the samples and purified by transferring the hyphal tip from the edge of colonies to fresh PDA plates. The colonies produced relatively dense light-grayish aerial mycelium in the early stage, which turned grayish upon mature, and then dark brown on the back of the colonies with dense small black patches. Conidiophores were unbranched, straight or flexuous, accompanied by slight or obvious swelling of its apical cells. Conidia were olive brown, irregularly round, 1 to 3 transverse septa, 0 to 2 longitudinal or oblique septa, and measured 16.0 - (24.8)- 30.1 × 13.9 - (21.4) - 28.6 µm (n = 50). Morphological characteristics were consistent with those described for Stemphylium vesicarium (Simmons, 1967). For molecular identification, total genomic DNA was isolated from mycelia collected from 6 day-old colonies of three representative isolates LZQF-1-LZQF-3 using the Omega D3195 fungal genomic DNA extraction kit. Fragments of three genes, including those encoding the ITS region of rDNA, calmodulin gene (cmdA), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) regions of isolates LZQF-1-LZQF-3 were amplified by the primers described previously (Woudenberg et al. 2017) and sequenced. Resulting sequences of representative strain LZQF-1 were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers of OL615093 (ITS), OL624541 (cmdA) and OL624538 (gpd), respectively. A nucleotide BLAST search revealed ITS, cmdA and gpd sequences to be 100%, 100% and 99.0% similar to the corresponding sequences (accessions numbers KU850563.1, KU850853.1 and KU850710.1) of ex-type strain CBS 370.51 of S. vesicarium. The three locus datasets were combined by SequenceMatrix 1.8 (Vaidya et al. 2011), and the strain LZQF-1-LZQF-3 and S. vesicarium (CBS 192.86, CBS 370.51 and CBS 205.82) formed a subclade with 99% bootstrap support. Pathogenicity tests were performed on LZQF-1 in a greenhouse at 18 °C-26 °C with 75% relative humidity. Three pots each containing three 50-day-old red clover were sprayed with the conidial suspension (3 × 105 conidia/ml) while another three pots were sprayed with sterile water as a control. Two weeks later, the inoculated leaves showed oval leaf spots with dark brown edges, distinctive symptoms of S. vesicarium infection. S. vesicarium was reisolated and confirmed by morphological and molecular features. There were no symptoms on the control leaves. S. vesicarium as a pathogen causing leaf spot disease has been reported on red clover in Canada (Jasalavich et al. 1995) and in Russia (Babuschkina et al. 1995). To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot of red clover caused by S. vesicarium in China. The identification of Stemphylium leaf spot lays the groundwork for future investigations into epidemiology and management of S. vesicarium on red clover.

First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Podosphaera xanthii on Verbena bonariensis in Korea.

Verbena bonariensis L. (Verbenaceae), known as purple-top vervain or Argentinian vervain, is a perennial, herbaceous plant, native to tropical South America. It is widely grown as an ornamental worldwide. During summer and autumn of 2022, V. bonariensis of an unknown cultivar with purple-violet flowers was found infected by powdery mildew fungus with 100% disease incidence in a public garden in Jeonju, Korea. White, superficial mycelia developed on infected plants and subsequently covered whole surfaces of leaves and stems, resulting in leaf discoloration and early defoliation. High disease severity caused poor growth of the plants, resulting in premature senescence and reduced flowering. A representative voucher specimen was submitted in the Korea University herbarium (KUS-F33160). Morphological characterization and measurements of the fungus were carried out using a fresh sample. Appressoria on the mycelium were poorly developed, nipple-shaped or nearly absent. Conidiophores were 90 to 246 × 10 to 12 µm and produced 2 to 7 immature conidia in chains with a crenate outline. Foot-cells of conidiophores were straight, cylindrical, relatively short, 42 to 64 µm long, and constricted at the branching point from the hypha. Conidia were hyaline, ellipsoid to ovate, measured 28 to 40 × 18 to 22 µm (length/width ratio of 1.4 to 2.0), and contained conspicuous fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were produced from the lateral position of conidia. No chasmothecia were observed throughout the growingseason. These diagnostic structures were typical to the anamorph of the genus Podosphaera. The morphological characteristics and measurements were consistent with those of P. xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & Shishkoff (Braun & Cook 2012). To confirm morphology-based identification, the nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed specer region (ITS1 and ITS2) and large subunit gene (LSU) of the rDNA were determined in this study outlined by Bradshaw and Tobin (2020). The resulting sequences were submitted to GenBank (OQ061318 for ITS, OQ061319 for LSU) and were 100% identical with sequences of Podosphaera xanthii (MT242593, LC371331 etc.) for both ITS and LSU gene from the BLAST'n search results. Thus, based on morphology and results of molecular analysis, the isolate on V. bonariensis in Korea was identified as P. xanthii. The pathogenicity test was carried out by touching a diseased leaf onto healthy leaves of five pot-grown plants. Five non-inoculated plants were used as controls. After 7 days, typical powdery mildew colonies started to appear on the inoculated leaves. All control plants remained symptomless. The fungus isolated from the inoculated leaves was morphologically identical to that observed on the originally diseased leaves, which supports Koch's postulates. Hitherto, powdery mildew of Verbena spp. associated with Podosphaera sp. (including Sphaerotheca sp.) has been globally reported (Farr & Rossman 2022). Podosphaera xanthii on V. bonariensis was recorded from China and Japan (Hong et al. 2021, Farr & Rossman 2022), while in Korea, this fungus was recorded on Verbena brasiliensis (Cho et al. 2014), but not on V. bonariensis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew disease caused by P. xanthii on V. bonariensis in Korea. Our field observations suggest that this powdery mildew occurs on V. bonariensis planted in the shade. This finding could be useful for the breeding programme of Verbena spp. and for planting strategies in gardens.

Dopamine depletion can be predicted by the aperiodic component of subthalamic local field potentials.

Electrophysiological biomarkers reflecting the pathological activities in the basal ganglia are essential to gain an etiological understanding of Parkinson's disease (PD) and develop a method of diagnosing and treating the disease. Previous studies that explored electrophysiological biomarkers in PD have focused mainly on oscillatory or periodic activities such as beta and gamma oscillations. Emerging evidence has suggested that the nonoscillatory, aperiodic component reflects the firing rate and synaptic current changes corresponding to cognitive and pathological states. Nevertheless, it has never been thoroughly examined whether the aperiodic component can be used as a biomarker that reflects pathological activities in the basal ganglia in PD. In this study, we examined the parameters of the aperiodic component in hemiparkinsonian rats and tested its practicality as an electrophysiological biomarker of pathological activity. We found that a set of aperiodic parameters, aperiodic offset and exponent, were significantly decreased by the nigrostriatal lesion. To further prove the usefulness of the parameters as biomarkers, acute levodopa treatment reverted the aperiodic offset. We then compared the aperiodic parameters with a previously established periodic biomarker of PD, beta frequency oscillation. We found a significantly low negative correlation with beta power. We showed that the performance of the machine learning-based prediction of pathological activities in the basal ganglia can be improved by using both beta power and the aperiodic component, which showed a low correlation with each other. We suggest that the aperiodic component will provide a more sensitive measurement to early diagnosis PD and have the potential to use as the feedback parameter for the adaptive deep brain stimulation.

Comprehensive Analysis of Long-Range Connectivity from and to the Posterior Parietal Cortex of the Mouse.

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is a major multimodal association cortex implicated in a variety of higher order cognitive functions, such as visuospatial perception, spatial attention, categorization, and decision-making. The PPC is known to receive inputs from a collection of sensory cortices as well as various subcortical areas and integrate those inputs to facilitate the execution of functions that require diverse information. Although many recent works have been performed with the mouse as a model system, a comprehensive understanding of long-range connectivity of the mouse PPC is scarce, preventing integrative interpretation of the rapidly accumulating functional data. In this study, we conducted a detailed neuroanatomic and bioinformatic analysis of the Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas data to summarize afferent and efferent connections to/from the PPC. Then, we analyzed variability between subregions of the PPC, functional/anatomical modalities, and species, and summarized the organizational principle of the mouse PPC. Finally, we confirmed key results by using additional neurotracers. A comprehensive survey of the connectivity will provide an important future reference to comprehend the function of the PPC and allow effective paths forward to various studies using mice as a model system.

First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Golovinomyces ambrosiae on Solanum carolinense in Korea.

Solanum carolinense L. (Solanaceae) is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the southeastern United States. The plant has been invasive in Europe, Australia, and Asia. It was accidentally introduced to Korea in the 1960s (Oh et al. 2002) and is now widely naturalized mostly in the southern area of the Korean peninsula. Since 2002, it has been designated as one of 'harmful non-indigenous plants' by the Korean Ministry of Environment due to its adverse effects on native plants. In September 2014, several S. carolinense plants were found infested with a powdery mildew disease in Busan, which was the first for Korea. Later in 2020-2022, hundreds of plants were continuously observed with an approximately 50% disease incidence in Jeonju, Korea. Symptoms first appeared as circular to irregular white patches, which subsequently coalesced to develop into abundant hyphal growth on both sides of the leaves. Representative voucher specimens were deposited in the Korea University herbarium (KUS-F28240 and F32541). Hyphal appressoria were nipple-shaped. Conidiophores were cylindrical, 110 to 190 × 10 to 12 µm, and produced 2 to 5 immature conidia in chains with a sinuate outline. Foot-cells of conidiophores were straight, cylindrical, and 58 to 90 µm long, followed by 2 to 3 cells. Conidia were ellipsoid to barrel-shaped, 29 to 36 × 15 to 20 µm (l/w 1.6 to 2.0), and devoid of distinct fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were at the perihilar position of the conidia. Sexual stage was not developed. These morphological characteristics are consistent with those of Golovinomyces ambrosiae (Schwein.) U. Braun & R.T.A. (Braun and Cook 2012). Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and large subunit (LSU) gene of rDNA were determined using primer pairs ITS1/PM6 and PM3/TW14, respectively (Bradshaw and Tobin 2020). A comparison of the resulting sequences using the BLASTn algorithm showed 100% identity with reference sequences of G. ambrosiae (MT355556, AB769425) and G. spadiceus (MN365027) for ITS and LSU in NCBI. Obtained sequences were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos: OP585651-OP585654). A Maximum parsimony tree was constructed based on ITS+LSU dataset consisting of 23 sequences. Our sequences were clustered with sequences of G. ambrosiae, G. latisporus and G. cichoracearum, and supported with 100% BS value. A pathogenicity test was performed by gently dusting conidia onto leaves of five healthy potted plants. Five non-inoculated plants served as controls. Powdery mildew colonies developed on all inoculated plants after 5 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The fungus present on the inoculated leaves was morphologically identical to that observed on the originally diseased leaves, which supports Koch's postulate. Previously, Erysiphe cichoracearum (syn. of G. cichoracearum) was recorded on this plant in theUSA (Farr and Rossman 2022). Since G. cichoracearum has been divided into several distinct species (Takamatsu et al. 2013, Qiu et al. 2020), the current taxonomic position of the North American isolate is unknown. In Korea, G. ambrosiae was reported on several asteraceous hosts such as Bellis perennis, Brachyscome multifida, Helianthus annuus, H. salicifolius, and Verbena bonariensis (Farr and Rossman 2022). To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew on this plant outside the USA. According to our field observations, powdery mildew infestation had little effect on plant growth and vigor.   References: Braun, U., and Cook, R. T. A. 2012. Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews), CBS Biodiversity Series No. 11. CBS, Utrecht, Netherlands. Bradshaw, M., and Tobin, P.C. 2020. Phytopathology 110:1248. Farr, D. F., and Rossman, A. Y. Fungal Databases, Syst. Mycol. Microbiol. Lab., Online publication. ARS, USDA. Retrieved October 5, 2022. Oh, S. M., et al. 2002. Kor. J. Weed Sci. 22:280. Qiu, P-L., et al. 2020. BMC Microbiology 20:51. Takamatsu S., et al. 2013. Mycologia 105:1135.

Occurrence of Leaf Spot of Avena sativa Caused by Canariomyces microsporus in China.

Oats (Avena sativa) are an important fodder crop in the vast ranges of northern and northwestern China, given the growing demand from livestock. (Yang et al. 2010). In July 2020, diseased leaf samples of cultivar Dingyan-2 were collected from fields near Gonghui Town, Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou City (41.35° N, 114.55° E). These leaves showed oval to irregular yellowish-brown spots (0.5 to 6 mm in diameter) surrounded by a yellowish halo progressing to form narrowly striped spots fusing into lesions in severe cases. In a disease survey of six fields (about 1.5 ha in total), 35% of the plants were infected with a disease severity ranging from 0 to 20%. To isolate the pathogen, 12 symptomatic leaves (two leaves for each plant) were arbitrarily sampled from different locations across the fields and small pieces (5 mm2) of diseased leaves were excised from the border between diseased and healthy tissue. Excised tissue pieces were surface sterilized by immersion in 75 % ethanol for 30 s, then 1% NaClO solution for 1 min, rinsed in sterilized distilled water three times, and transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA). Colonies on PDA were 41-46 mm diam in 10 d at 25 °C with surface texture floccose, obverse pale mouse grey to black due to ascomata and aerial mycelium, and reverse pale olivaceous. Asci were ellipsoidal to ovoid, 12-18 × 11-15 µm (av.= 15 ×12 µm; n=30) in spore-bearing part, containing eight irregularly arranged ascospores. Ascospores were 1-celled, dark brown when mature, smooth, ellipsoidal, with attenuated ends, 7.5-8.4 × 4.3-5.5 µm (av.= 8.1 × 5.0 µm; n=50), with an apical or slightly subapical germ pore. These morphological characteristics were consistent with previous descriptions of Canariomyces microsporus (syn. Thielavia microspora, Wang et al. 2019). For molecular identification, genomic DNA (isolate MNK-Y1) was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and ß-tubulin (tub2) were amplified and sequenced by using the primers ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and Btub2Fd and Btub4Rd (Woudenberg et al. 2009). Sequences were deposited in GenBank under accessions MW080329 (ITS) and MW557539 (tub2). Blast search revealed that the ITS and tub2 sequences matched 99.4%, 100% (471 bp out of 474 bp; 648 bp out of 648 bp) with the sequences of the ex-type isolate CBS 276.74 of C. microsporus accession number MH860852.1 and MK926899. Koch's postulates were proven to confirm the pathogenicity of isolate MNK-Y1. Eight-week-old healthy oat seedlings of cv. Dingyan 2 were grown in the greenhouse, at 15-20 ℃ under 30-40% of relative humidity. Ten oat plants were spray inoculated with a spore suspension (5×105spores/ml; isolate MNK-Y1). Another ten oat plants were sprayed with sterile water as controls. All plants were covered with a transparent glass cover and a black polyethylene bag to maintain relative humidity and dark for two days. After 15 days, all the inoculated plants had developed yellowish-brown spots similar to those observed in the field whereas the control plants sprayed with sterile water remained healthy. The pathogen was reisolated from inoculated plants and identified as C. microsporus based on morphological characteristics and the molecular methods described above. This species has previously been isolated from saline and desert soils as well as from leaves of Thymus (Wang et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot of oat caused by C. microsporus in China.

Emergence of functional subnetworks in layer 2/3 cortex induced by sequential spikes in vivo.

During cortical circuit development in the mammalian brain, groups of excitatory neurons that receive similar sensory information form microcircuits. However, cellular mechanisms underlying cortical microcircuit development remain poorly understood. Here we implemented combined two-photon imaging and photolysis in vivo to monitor and manipulate neuronal activities to study the processes underlying activity-dependent circuit changes. We found that repeated triggering of spike trains in a randomly chosen group of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the somatosensory cortex triggered long-term plasticity of circuits (LTPc), resulting in the increased probability that the selected neurons would fire when action potentials of individual neurons in the group were evoked. Significant firing pattern changes were observed more frequently in the selected group of neurons than in neighboring control neurons, and the induction was dependent on the time interval between spikes, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation, and Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) activation. In addition, LTPc was associated with an increase of activity from a portion of neighboring neurons with different probabilities. Thus, our results demonstrate that the formation of functional microcircuits requires broad network changes and that its directionality is nonrandom, which may be a general feature of cortical circuit assembly in the mammalian cortex.

Estimated radiation dose according to the craniocaudal angle in cerebral digital subtraction angiography: Patient and phantom study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Routine use of cranial angulation with 15-20 degrees, craniocaudal angled (CC) view, for cerebral digital subtraction angiography (DSA) helps minimize bone subtraction artifacts with less overlapping of the vessels, however, it may increase the radiation dose. We designed the phantom and patient studies to determine the effect of the angulation to the radiation dose and the feasibility of true posteroanterior angled (PA) view, in cerebral DSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the phantom study, frontal DSA was simulated with variable angulations. In the patient study with thirty-one subjects, one internal carotid arteriogram was obtained with the CC view and the other, PA view in every patient. The dose-area product (DAP) and reference air-kerma (AK) were measured and compared between the angles. A qualitative analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of the DSA over the angles. RESULTS: The phantom study confirmed that the greater craniocaudal angles caused higher radiation exposure. Especially, the radiation dose (AK) of the CC view was 5.4% higher than that of the PA view. In the patient study, the radiation dose of the PA view was significantly lower compared to the CC view (1.44 vs. 1.63 mGy, AK). In 4 patients, the dose particularly jumped when applying the CC view as the copper filter was automatically removed. The diagnostic ability of the DSA with the PA view tended to be higher without significance. CONCLUSIONS: In a daily routine cerebral angiography, a simple modification of the angle may help to minimize the radiation dose.

Head-to-head comparison of 18 F-FP-CIT and 123 I-FP-CIT for dopamine transporter imaging in patients with Parkinson's disease: A preliminary study.

123 I-FP-CIT and 18 F-FP-CIT are radiotracers which are widely used to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD). However, to our knowledge, no studies to date have made head-to-head comparisons between 123 I-FP-CIT and 18 F-FP-CIT. Therefore, in this study, 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT was compared with 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT in the same cohort of subjects. Patients with PD and essential tremor (ET) underwent 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT and 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT. Visual and semiquantitative analyses were conducted. The specific binding ratio (SBR) and putamen to caudate ratio (PCR) were compared between subjects who underwent 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT and 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT. Visual analysis showed that the striatal uptake of both radiotracers was decreased in the PD group, whereas striatal uptake was intact in the ET group. The SBR between 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT and 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT showed a positive correlation (r = .78, p < .01). However, the mean SBRs on 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT were higher than those on 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT (2.19 ± .87 and 1.22 ± .49, respectively; p < .01). The PCRs in these two modalities were correlated with each other (r = .71, p < .01). The mean PCRs on 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT were not significantly higher than those on 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT (1.31 ± .19 and 0.98 ± .06, respectively; p = .06). These preliminary results indicate that the uptake of both 123 I-FP-CIT and 18 F-FP-CIT was decreased in the PD group when compared with the ET controls. Visual analyses using both methods did not affect the diagnostic accuracy in this study. However, semiquantitative analysis indicated a better contrast of 18 F-FP-CIT PET/CT relative to 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT/CT.

Saccharification of sunflower stalks using lignocellulases from a fungal consortium comprising Pholiota adiposa and Armillaria gemina.

Lignocellulases from Armillaria gemina and Pholiota adiposa are efficient in hydrolyzing aspen and poplar biomass, respectively. In the present study, lignocellulosic enzymes obtained from a fungal consortium comprising P. adiposa and A. gemina were used for the saccharification of sunflower stalks. Sunflower stalks were thermochemically pretreated using 2 % NaOH at 50 °C for 24 h. The saccharification process parameters including substrate concentration, enzyme loading, pH, and temperature were optimized using response surface methodology to improve the saccharification yield. The highest enzymatic hydrolysis (84.3 %) was obtained using the following conditions: enzyme loading 10 FPU/g-substrate, substrate 5.5 %, temperature 50 °C, and pH 4.5. The hydrolysis yield obtained using the enzymes from the fungal consortium was equivalent to that obtained using a mixture of commercial enzymes Celluclast and Novozyme ß-glucosidase. Addition of up to 500 ppm of heavy metal ions (As, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) during saccharification did not significantly affect the saccharification yield. Thus, the biomass grown for phytoremediation of heavy metals can be used for the production of reducing sugars followed by ethanol fermentation.

Characterization of a ß-1,4-mannanase from a newly isolated strain of Pholiota adiposa and its application for biomass pretreatment.

A highly efficient ß-1,4-mannanase-secreting strain, Pholiota adiposa SKU0714, was isolated and identified on the basis of its morphological features and sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer rDNA. P. adiposa ß-1,4-mannanase was purified to homogeneity from P. adiposa culture supernatants by one-step chromatography on a Sephacryl gel filtration column. P. adiposa ß-1,4-mannanase showed the highest activity toward locust bean gum (V max = 1,990 U/mg protein, K m = 0.12 mg/mL) ever reported. Its internal amino acid sequence showed homology with hydrolases from the glycoside hydrolase family 5 (GH5), indicating that the enzyme is a member of the GH5 family. The saccharification of commercial mannanase and P. adiposa ß-1,4-mannanase-pretreated rice straw by Celluclast 1.5L (Novozymes) was compared. In comparison with the commercial Novo Mannaway(®) (113 mg/g-substrate), P. adiposa ß-1,4-mannanase-pretreated rice straw released more reducing sugars (141 mg/g-substrate). These properties make P. adiposa ß-1,4-mannanase a good candidate as a new commercial ß-1,4-mannanase to improve biomass pretreatment.

Evaluation of stability after orthognathic surgery with minimal orthodontic preparation: comparison according to 3 types of fixation.

This study was performed to evaluate the patterns and amount of postsurgical relapse after mandibular setback surgery with minimal orthodontic preparation. We also compared the stability of plate according to types. From January 2009 to February 2012, 26 patients (13 males, 13 females) at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were identified. All patients underwent presurgical orthodontic treatment in less than 6 months and had mandibular setback surgery. Lateral cephalograms were taken presurgically (T0), immediately after surgery (T1), and 6 months after surgery (T2). To evaluate surgical change and surgical relapse, linear and angular measurements were performed, and results were analyzed. Comparison of the vertical and horizontal relapses between groups (group 1: sliding plate, group 2: conventional metal plate, group 3: resorbable plate) was also performed. The overall mandibular relapse was 2.80 (SD, 3.86) mm (pogonion) and 3.85 (SD, 4.44) mm (menton) anteriorly, and 1.2 (SD, 3.39) (pogonion) and 1.47 (SD, 3.48) mm (menton) superiorly. There was no significant difference among the 3 groups, however (P > 0.05). When mandibular setback surgery was performed, surgical relapse would occur anteriorly and superiorly. Significant difference can hardly be found among the 3 groups in terms of the amount of vertical and horizontal relapses.

In Vitro Head-to-Head Comparison of Flow Reduction between Fibered and Non-Fibered Pushable Coils.

PURPOSE: To compare the embolization effects of a non-fibered pushable coil with a conventional fibered pushable coil in an in vitro bench-top experiment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A simplified vascular phantom with 4 channels (1 for the non-fibered coil, 1 for the fibered coil, and 2 for continuous circuit flow) was used. A single coil of the longest length was inserted to evaluate the effect of single-coil embolization, and 3 consecutive coils were inserted to assess the effect of multiple-coil embolization. Post-embolization angiography was performed to obtain flow variables (time to peak [TTP], relative peak intensity [rPI], and angiographic flow reduction score [AFRS]) from time density curves. The packing densities of the two coil types were calculated, and the AFRS of each channel was determined by dividing the TTP by the rPI. RESULTS: When inserting a single coil, the conventional fibered coil demonstrated better flow reduction, as indicated by a higher AFRS (25.6 vs. 17.4, P=0.034). However, the non-fibered coil exhibited a significantly higher packing density (12.9 vs. 2.4, P=0.001). Similar trends were observed with multiple coils. CONCLUSION: The conventional fibered pushable coil showed better flow reduction efficiency, while the non-fibered pushable coil had a higher packing density, likely due to the flexibility of the coil loops. A better understanding of the distinct characteristics of different pushable coils can enhance the outcomes of various vascular embolization.

Prognostic Value of Radiomic Analysis Using Pre- and Post-Treatment 18F-FDG-PET/CT in Patients with Laryngeal Cancer and Hypopharyngeal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of conducting 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging has yielded different results in patients with laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer, but these results are controversial, and there is a lack of dedicated studies on each type of cancer. This study aimed to evaluate whether combining radiomic analysis of pre- and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging features and clinical parameters has additional prognostic value in patients with laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer. METHODS: From 2008 to 2016, data on patients diagnosed with cancer of the larynx and hypopharynx were retrospectively collected. The patients underwent pre- and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. The values of ΔPre-Post PET were measured from the texture features. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression was used to select the most predictive features to formulate a Rad-score for both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier curve analysis and Cox regression were employed to assess PFS and OS. Then, the concordance index (C-index) and calibration plot were used to evaluate the performance of the radiomics nomogram. RESULTS: Study data were collected for a total of 91 patients. The mean follow-up period was 71.5 mo. (8.4-147.3). The Rad-score was formulated based on the texture parameters and was significantly associated with both PFS (p = 0.024) and OS (p = 0.009). When predicting PFS, only the Rad-score demonstrated a significant association (HR 2.1509, 95% CI [1.100-4.207], p = 0.025). On the other hand, age (HR 1.116, 95% CI [1.041-1.197], p = 0.002) and Rad-score (HR 33.885, 95% CI [2.891-397.175], p = 0.005) exhibited associations with OS. The Rad-score value showed good discrimination when it was combined with clinical parameters in both PFS (C-index 0.802-0.889) and OS (C-index 0.860-0.958). The calibration plots also showed a good agreement between the observed and predicted survival probabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Combining clinical parameters with radiomics analysis of pre- and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters in patients with laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer might have additional prognostic value.

Effect of heterologous xylose transporter expression in Candida tropicalis on xylitol production rate.

Xylose utilization is inhibited by glucose uptake in xylose-assimilating yeasts, including Candida tropicalis, resulting in limitation of xylose uptake during the fermentation of glucose/xylose mixtures. In this study, a heterologous xylose transporter gene (At5g17010) from Arabidopsis thaliana was selected because of its high affinity for xylose and was codon-optimized for functional expression in C. tropicalis. The codon-optimized gene was placed under the control of the GAPDH promoter and was integrated into the genome of C. tropicalis strain LXU1 which is xyl2-disrupted and NXRG (codon-optimized Neurospora crassa xylose reductase) introduced. The xylose uptake rate was increased by 37-73 % in the transporter expression-enhanced strains depending on the glucose/xylose mixture ratio. The recombinant strain LXT2 in 500-mL flask culture using glucose/xylose mixtures showed a xylose uptake rate that was 29 % higher and a xylitol volumetric productivity (1.14 g/L/h) that was 25 % higher than the corresponding rates for control strain LXU1. Membrane protein extraction and Western blot analysis confirmed the successful heterologous expression and membrane localization of the xylose transporter in C. tropicalis.

Different resting membrane potentials in posterior parietal cortex and prefrontal cortex in the view of recurrent synaptic strengths and neural network dynamics.

In this study, we introduce the importance of elevated membrane potentials (MPs) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to that in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), based on new observations of different MP levels in these areas. Through experimental data and spiking neural network modeling, we investigated a possible mechanism of the elevated membrane potential in the PFC and how these physiological differences affect neural network dynamics and cognitive functions in the PPC and PFC. Our findings indicate that NMDA receptors may be a main contributor to the elevated MP in the PFC region and highlight the potential of using a modeling toolkit to investigate the means by which changes in synaptic properties can affect neural dynamics and potentiate desirable cognitive functions through population activities in the corresponding brain regions.

Erysiphe lonicerigena sp. nov., a Powdery Mildew Species Found on Lonicera harae.

A powdery mildew (Erysiphaceae) has been continuously collected on the leaves of Lonicera harae in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, where this shrub is indigenous. Microscopic examination of the asexual morphs revealed that the current collections are differentiated from the all known Erysiphe species on Lonicera spp. by its longer conidiophores and longer conidia. Although the morphology of the chasmothecia is reminiscent of Erysiphe ehrenbergii and E. lonicerae, the specimens on L. harae differ from them in having smaller ascospores. A phylogenetic tree generated from a combined dataset of the internal transcribed spacer region and 28S rDNA gene sequences demonstrates that sequences obtained from three powdery mildew collections on L. harae clustered together as an independent species clade with high bootstrap values distant from other Erysiphe species on Lonicera, representing a species of its own. Based on morphological differences and molecular-phylogenetic results, the powdery mildew on L. harae is proposed as a new species, Erysiphe lonicerigena, and the holomorph of the fungus is described and illustrated in this study.

Associations of cardiovascular and diabetes-related risk factors with myocardial perfusion reserve assessed by 201Tl/99mTc-tetrofosmin single-photon emission computed tomography in patients with diabetes mellitus and stable coronary artery disease.

We aimed to examine the associations of cardiovascular risk factors with myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) in patients with type 2 diabetes and stable coronary artery disease. The study patients were retrospectively identified from a database of patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease at Asan Medical Center (Seoul, Republic of Korea), covering the period from 2017 to 2019. The primary outcome variable was MPR assessed by dynamic stress 201Tl/rest 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT. Univariable and stepwise multivariable analyses were performed to assess the associations of cardiovascular risk factors with MPR. A total of 276 patients (236 men and 40 women) were included. The median global MPR was 2.4 (interquartile range 1.9-3.0). Seventy-five (27.2%) patients had an MPR < 2.0. Multivariable linear regression showed that smoking (ß = - 0.44, 95% confidence interval - 0.68 to - 0.21, P < 0.001), hypertension (ß = - 0.24, 95% confidence interval - 0.47 to - 0.02, P = 0.033), and summed difference score (ß = - 0.05, 95% confidence interval - 0.07 to - 0.03, P < 0.001) were independently associated with MPR. Abnormal MPR (< 2.0) was associated with a higher incidence of cardiac death or myocardial infarction (P = 0.034). MPR assessed by dynamic stress 201Tl/rest 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT was impaired in a large cohort of patients with diabetes. After adjusting for risk variables, including standard myocardial perfusion imaging characteristics, smoking, and hypertension were associated with MPR. Our results may aid in identifying patients with impaired MPR and stratifying patients with type 2 diabetes.