Application of green tea catechins, polysaccharides, and flavonol prevent fine dust induced bronchial damage by modulating inflammation and airway cilia.

Airborne fine dust particles (FDPs) have been identified as major toxins in air pollution that threaten human respiratory health. While searching for an anti-FDP reagent, we found that green tea extract (GTE) and fractions rich in flavonol glycosides (FLGs) and crude tea polysaccharides (CTPs) had protective effects against FDP-stimulated cellular damage in the BEAS-2B airway epithelial cell line. The GTE, FLGs, and CTPs significantly increased viability and lowered oxidative stress levels in FDP-treated cells. Combined treatment with GTE, FLGs, and CTPs also exerted synergistic protective effects on cells and attenuated FDP-induced elevations in inflammatory gene expression. Moreover, the green tea components increased the proportion of ciliated cells and upregulated ciliogenesis in the airway in FDP-stimulated BEAS-2B cells. Our findings provide insights into how natural phytochemicals protect the airway and suggest that green tea could be used to reduce FDP-induced airway damage as an ingredient in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and also cosmeceutical products.

Two New Species of the Genus Haliclona from Korea.

Two new marine sponges, Haliclona (Reniera) oceanus sp. nov. and Haliclona (Reniera) juckdoensis sp. nov. of the family Chalinidae were collected from Ieodo Ocean Research Station, Ulleung-do Island, Korea by SCUBA in 2016-2017. Morphologically distinct from each other, both species are assigned to the genus Haliclona subgenus Reniera. Haliclona (Reniera) oceanus sp. nov. is similar to H. (H.) ieoensis Kim et al. 2017 in shape, habitat, growth form, but it differs in color, ectosomal, choanosomal skeleton and spicule size. Haliclona (Reniera) juckdoensis sp. nov. is similar to H. (R.) hongdoensis Kang and Sim 2007 in habitat, ectosomal, choansomal skeleton but it differs in spicule size.

Distributed Target Tracking in Challenging Environments Using Multiple Asynchronous Bearing-Only Sensors.

In the multiple asynchronous bearing-only (BO) sensors tracking system, there usually exist two main challenges: (1) the presence of clutter measurements and the target misdetection due to imperfect sensing; (2) the out-of-sequence (OOS) arrival of locally transmitted information due to diverse sensor sampling interval or internal processing time or uncertain communication delay. This paper simultaneously addresses the two problems by proposing a novel distributed tracking architecture consisting of the local tracking and central fusion. To get rid of the kinematic state unobservability problem in local tracking for a single BO sensor scenario, we propose a novel local integrated probabilistic data association (LIPDA) method for target measurement state tracking. The proposed approach enables eliminating most of the clutter measurement disturbance with increased target measurement accuracy. In the central tracking, the fusion center uses the proposed distributed IPDA-forward prediction fusion and decorrelation (DIPDA-FPFD) approach to sequentially fuse the OOS information transmitted by each BO sensor. The track management is carried out at local sensor level and also at the fusion center by using the recursively calculated probability of target existence as a track quality measure. The efficiency of the proposed methodology was validated by intensive numerical experiments.

Adaptive Estimation of Spatial Clutter Measurement Density Using Clutter Measurement Probability for Enhanced Multi-Target Tracking.

The point detections obtained from radars or sonars in surveillance environments include clutter measurements, as well as target measurements. Target tracking with these data requires data association, which distinguishes the detections from targets and clutter. Various algorithms have been proposed for clutter measurement density estimation to achieve accurate and robust target tracking with the point detections. Among them, the spatial clutter measurement density estimator (SCMDE) computes the sparsity of clutter measurement, which is the reciprocal of the clutter measurement density. The SCMDE considers all adjacent measurements only as clutter, so the estimated clutter measurement density is biased for multi-target tracking applications, which may result in degraded target tracking performance. Through the study in this paper, a major source of tracking performance degradation with the existing SCMDE for multi-target tracking is analyzed, and the use of the clutter measurement probability is proposed as a remedy. It is also found that the expansion of the volume of the hyper-sphere for each sparsity order reduces the bias of clutter measurement density estimates. Based on the analysis, we propose a new adaptive clutter measurement density estimation method called SCMDE for multi-target tracking (MTT-SCMDE). The proposed method is applied to multi-target tracking, and the improvement of multi-target tracking performance is shown by a series of Monte Carlo simulation runs and a real radar data test. The clutter measurement density estimation performance and target tracking performance are also analyzed for various sparsity orders.

The complete mitochondrial genome of a marine gastropod: Umbonium thomasi (Trochida, Trochidae).

The mitogenome sequence of a marine gastropod, Umbonium thomasi (Crosse, 1863) (Trochida, Trochidae), was determined first in the genus Umbonium. The assembled mitogenome, consisting of 15,998 bp in length, has 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. The order and structure of the genes are similar to those of other Trochid species. The overall base composition of mitogenome is 34.8% A, 22.1% C, 14.0% G, and 29.1% T with an A + T bias of 64%. The complete mitogenome of U. thomasi provides essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis of marine gastropods.

The complete mitochondrial genome of rockfish Sebastes oculatus Valenciennes, 1833 from southwest Atlantic ocean.

The mitogenome of rockfish, Sebastes oculatus, has been determined for the first time. Assembled mitogenome was 16,767 bp in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA and two ribosomal RNA genes as well as the non-coding region. The order and structure are the same as those of other Sebastes species. S. oculatus was sister to S. nigrocinctus and this clade is closely related with S. rubrivinctus, as well as support for previously published complete mitochondrial genome trees (Sandel et al. 2018). The mitogenome of S. oculatus provides significant DNA molecular data for further identification and phylogenetic analysis within Scorpaenid.

The complete mitochondrial genome of sponge Pseudosuberites sp. (Demospongiae, Suberitida, Suberitidae) from Dokdo, Republic of Korea (East Sea).

The mitogenome of Pseudosuberites sp. (Suberitida, Suberitidae) has been determined first in the genus Pseudosuberites. Assembled mitogenome was 23,502 bp in length, including 14 protein-coding genes, 25 transfer RNA, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. The order and structure are the same as those of other species belonging to the same family Suberitidae. Pseudosuberites sp. was clustered with Suberites domucula within the family Suberitidae. The mitogenome of Pseudosuberites sp. will be valuable for inferring phylogenetic relationships among members of suberitids.

Two new species of the Genus Clathria (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Microcionidae) from Jeju Island, Korea.

Two new species of sponge, Clathria (Clathria) ramus sp. nov. and Clathria (Clathria) ieoensis sp. nov. are described from Jeju Island of Korea. Clathria (Clathria) ramus sp. nov. is branching with a stalk, yellow in life, with small oscules. Clathria (C.) ieoensis sp. nov. is thickly encrusting, soft and compressible texture, and color is red and dark brown after fixation in ethanol. The new species are compared to other microcionids from the Korean region, and similar species from elsewhere.

The Expressional Pattern of Epididymal Protease Inhibitor (EPPIN) in the Male Syrian Hamsters.

The spermatogenesis is the process by which spermatozoa are generated in the testes. The spermatozoa travel male reproductive tract during which they meet many substances secreted from reproductive organs. One of the substances is epididymal protease inhibitor (EPPIN) that is involved in the post-testicular maturation including capability of fertilizing the eggs. The expression of EPPIN gene was investigated in various tissues of sexually mature and regressed male Syrian hamsters by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The EPPIN gene was identified in the testis and epididymis of the male Syrian hamsters and compared to the genes reported previously. There was no expression of EPPIN gene in reproductively and completely regressed testes of Syrian hamster. These results suggest that the expressions of the EPPIN gene are associated with the reproductive capability in the Syrian hamsters.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the oceanic squid: Chiroteuthis picteti (Oegopsida, Chiroteuthidae).

The mitogenome sequence of Chiroteuthis picteti Joubin, 1894 (Oegopsida, Chiroteuthidae), a species of Oceanic squid, was first determined in the genus Chiroteuthis as well as in the family Chiroteuthidae. The circular genome of C. picteti is 20,851bp in size, has six duplicated genes (cox1, cox2, cox3, atp6, atp8, and tRNAAsp). The mitogenome of C. picteti has high A + T content (71.6%) similar to other Oegopsid (A 38.2%; C 18.3%; G 10.1%; T 33.4%). The mitogenome of C. picteti, the first reported of its genus, will be useful for inferring the phylogenetic relationships among the members of Chiroteuthidae, within the Oegopsids.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Oriental sea slug: Chromodoris orientalis (Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae).

The mitogenome sequence of sea slug, Chromodoris orientalis (Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae), has been decoded for the first time by coverage genome sequencing method. The overall base composition of C. orientalis mitogenome is 30.5% for A, 14.7% for C, 18.0% for G and 36.9% for T, and has low GC content 32.6%. The assembled mitogenome, consisting of 14,266 bp, has unique 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and two ribosomal RNAs genes. The C. orientalis mitogenome has the common mitogenome gene order and feature of Nudipleura (a clade of sea slugs and sea snails). The complete mitogenome of C. orientalis provides essential and important DNA molecular data for further phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis for sea slugs and sea snails.

New species of the Genus Haliclona (Haplosclerida: Chalinidae) from Korea.

Two new marine sponges, Haliclona ieoensis sp. nov. and Haliclona sumenyoensis sp. nov. from the south Korea are described. Morphologically distinct from each other, both species are assigned to the genus Haliclona subgenus Haliclona. Haliclona ieoensis sp. nov. individuals are thickly encrusting to massive, beige colour and have small oscules flush on surface. Haliclona sumenyoesis sp. nov. individuals have a cylindrical tube with flexible stalk morphology, ivory colour, and large oscules. The description of these two new species brings the species of Haliclona (Haliclona) in Korea to five.

The complete mitochondrial genome of epitokous Nereis species (Phyllodocida, Nereididae) from Dok-do, Korea.

The mitogenome sequence of the epitokous Nereis species (Phyllodocida, Nereididae) was determined first in the genus Nereis. The complete mitogenome is 15,667 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs and a control region, and their gene order and structure is identical to those of other nereidid species. The mitogenome consists of 33.5% A, 20.0% C, 13.3% G, 33.1% T, showing a high content of A + T similar to the other phyllodocid polychaetes. These results will be useful for inferring the phylogenetic relationships among the members of Nereididae within the phyllodocids.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Cirriformia cf. tentaculata (Polychaeta, Cirratulidae) from Dok-Do, Korea.

Mitogenome sequence of Cirriformia cf. tentaculata (Terebellida, Cirratulidae), a species of marine polychaete worm, was determined in this study. This is the first mitogenome reported for genus Cirriformia and family Cirratulidae. This complete mitogenome is 15,495 bp in length, containing 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), and 23 transfer RNAs (tRNAs). The mitogenome of Cirriformia cf. tentaculata has high A + T content of 59.5% (A, 29.5%; C, 26.9%; G, 13.6%; T, 30.0%). In neighbour-joining (NJ) analysis, Cirriformia cf. tentaculata is clustered with the components of order Terebellida.

The complete mitochondrial genome of sponge Halichondria okadai (Demospongiae, Suberitida, Halichondriidae) from Korea water.

The mitogenome sequence of Sponge Halichondria okadai (Kadota, 1922) (Suberitida, Halichondriidae) was determined for the first time in this study. The circular genome is 20,722 bp in length, containing 14 protein coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), and 25 transfer RNAs (tRNAs). The nucleotide composition of mitogenome consists of 29.5% A, 14.2% C, 21.5% G, 34.7% T, showing a high content of A + T similar to the other Suberitid sponges. These results will be useful for inferring the phylogenetic relationships among the members of family Halichondriidae within the Suberitids.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the marine polychaete: Hediste diadroma (Phyllodocida, Nereididae).

The mitogenome sequence of a polychaete Hediste diadroma (Phyllodocida, Nereididae) was determined first in the genus Hediste. The circular genome is 15,765bp in size including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA and 22 tRNA of which the order and structure is same as those of other Nereididae species. All PCGs use ATG as the start codon while for the stop codon, COI, ND5 and ND1 use an incomplete codon of T. The genome consists of 32.4% A, 18.2% C, 14.2% G, 35.2% T, showing a high content of A + T similar to the other Phyllodocid polychaetes.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Gymnogobius heptacanthus (Perciformes, gobiidae).

Gymnogobius heptacanthus is a small intertidal species belonging to the family Gobiidae. Herein, we report the first sequencing and assembly of the complete mitochondrial genome of G. heptacanthus. The complete mitochondrial genome is 16,529 bp long and has the typical vertebrate mitochondrial gene arrangement, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a control region. Phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial genomes of 12 species showed that G. heptacanthus is clustered with G. urotaenia and G. petschiliensis and rooted with other Gobiidae species. This mitochondrial genome provides potentially important resources for addressing taxonomic issues and studying molecular evolution.

12(S)-HPETE induces itch-associated scratchings in mice.

The itch-associated responses evoked by intradermal injection of 12(S)-HPETE and leukotriene B4 were compared in ICR-mice. 12(S)-HPETE and leukotriene B4 (0.01-0.2 nmol/site) induced scratching of the injected site, respectively; the dose-responses were a peak at 0.05 nmol/site (12(S)-HPETE) or 0.03 nmol/site (leukotriene B4). The scratching response by 12(S)-HPETE (0.05 nmol/site) started within 1 min, peaked in the first 10 min period, had almost subsided by 25 min whereas the effect of leukotriene B4 peaked in the second 10 min. The effect of leukotriene B4 is slightly stronger than that of 12(S)-HPETE in 40 min of count. The scratching induced by 12(S)-HPETE was inhibited by capsaicin, naltrexon, and LY255283. These results suggest the possibility that 12-lipoxygenase product can be added to a new member of an endogenous itch mediator in the skin.