Identification of the oosporein biosynthesis gene cluster in an entomopathogenic fungus Blackwellomyces cardinalis.

Blackwellomyces cardinalis (≡ Cordyceps cardinalis) is an entomopathogenic fungus that hosts lepidopteran insect larvae. Oosporein, produced by Bl. cardinalis, is a red secondary metabolite that is also produced by other entomopathogens and is known to contribute to entomopathogenic activity. In this study, a homologous region of the oosporein biosynthesis gene cluster (BcOpS cluster) was found from the genome sequence of Bl. cardinalis strain NBRC 103832. Within the cluster, a putative transcription factor gene BcOpS3 was deleted by homologous recombination. The deletion strain (ΔBcOpS3) did not produce oosporein. Real-time qPCR analysis showed that the expression of all genes was either lost or greatly reduced compared to the wild type strain (WT). Infection assay using silkworms showed that the virulence of the ΔBcOpS3 strain was not different from that of the WT strain. We compared the expression levels of antimicrobial peptide genes in silkworm infected with these strains, and found that the increased expression of the cecA gene in WT was not observed in the ΔBcOpS3 strain, suggesting that the immune response of the silkworm was altered.

Feature-based molecular networking in the GNPS analysis environment.

Molecular networking has become a key method to visualize and annotate the chemical space in non-targeted mass spectrometry data. We present feature-based molecular networking (FBMN) as an analysis method in the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) infrastructure that builds on chromatographic feature detection and alignment tools. FBMN enables quantitative analysis and resolution of isomers, including from ion mobility spectrometry.

ReDU: a framework to find and reanalyze public mass spectrometry data.

We present ReDU ( https://redu.ucsd.edu/ ), a system for metadata capture of public mass spectrometry-based metabolomics data, with validated controlled vocabularies. Systematic capture of knowledge enables the reanalysis of public data and/or co-analysis of one's own data. ReDU enables multiple types of analyses, including finding chemicals and associated metadata, comparing the shared and different chemicals between groups of samples, and metadata-filtered, repository-scale molecular networking.

Bach Mai Procedure for complete mesocolic excision, central vascular ligation, and D3 lymphadenectomy in total laparoscopic right hemicolectomy: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: Total laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with complete mesocolic excision (CME), central vascular ligation (CVL), and D3 lymphadenectomy is still the most challenging colon procedures for gastrointestinal surgeons. We herein report the technical details and our preliminary experience of Bach Mai Procedure - a novel-combining (cranial, medial to lateral, and caudal) approach with early resection of the terminal ileum. METHODS: The dissection stage was central vascular isolation and ligation by a combined multiple approaches in the following four steps: cranial approach, dissecting along the inferior aspect of pancreatic isthmus to reveal the middle colic vessels and the anterior aspect of the superior mesentery vein and then exposed the right gastroepiploic vein and the trunk of Henle; medial-to-lateral approach, exposing the surgical axis - the superior mesenteric vascular axis and then early resection of the terminal ileum to open the dissection from the bottom up; and caudal approach, radical ligation of the ileocecal artery and right colic artery (central vascular ligation), lymph node dissection (D3 lymphadenectomy), and resecting the Toldt fascia of the colon to release the entire right colon from the abdominal wall. RESULTS: In 12 months, there were 32 cases of primary right-sided colon malignancies that have undergone tLRHD3, CME/CVL based on the Bach Mai Procedure. In 3 cases (9.4%), the tumor site was hepatic flexure. The median of lymph node number (LNN) was 38, with the maximum number which was 101. No serious postoperative complications (grade 3 or higher) neither inhospital mortality was detected. CONCLUSION: This Bach Mai procedure, a novel-combining approach with early resection of the terminal ileum, is technically feasible and safe for tLRHD3, CME/CVL. Further investigations and follow-up must be proceeded to evaluate the long-term outcomes of our technique.

Identification and characterization of a sulfite reductase gene and new insights regarding the sulfur-containing amino acid metabolism in the basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

The amino acid biosynthetic pathway of invasive pathogenic fungi has been studied as a potential antifungal drug target. Studies of the disruption of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis have demonstrated the importance of this pathway in the virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans. Here, we identified the MET5 (CNL05500) and MET10 (CNG03990) genes in this pathway, both encoding sulfite reductase, which catalyzes the reduction of sulfite to sulfide. The MET14 (CNE03880) gene was also identified, which is responsible for the conversion of sulfate to sulfite. The use of cysteine as a sulfur source led to the production of methionine via hydrogen sulfide synthesis mediated by CYS4 (CNA06170), CYS3 (CNN01730), and MST1 (CND03690). MST1 exhibited high homology with the TUM1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has functional similarity with the 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST) gene in humans. Although the hypothesis that hydrogen sulfide is produced from cysteine via CYS4, CYS3, and MST1 warrants further study, the new insight into the metabolic pathway of sulfur-containing amino acids in C. neoformans provided here indicates the usefulness of this system in the development of screening tools for antifungal drug agents.

Compressive Sensing-Based Bandwidth Stitching for Multichannel Microwave Radars.

The problem of obtaining high range resolution (HRR) profiles for non-cooperative target recognition by coherently combining data from narrowband radars was investigated using sparse reconstruction techniques. If the radars concerned operate within different frequency bands, then this process increases the overall effective bandwidth and consequently enhances resolution. The case of unknown range offsets occurring between the radars' range profiles due to incorrect temporal and spatial synchronisation between the radars was considered, and the use of both pruned orthogonal matching pursuit and refined l 1 -norm regularisation solvers was explored to estimate the offsets between the radars' channels so as to attain the necessary coherence for combining their data. The proposed techniques were demonstrated and compared using simulated radar data.

Compressive Sensing for Tomographic Imaging of a Target with a Narrowband Bistatic Radar.

This paper introduces a new approach to bistatic radar tomographic imaging based on the concept of compressive sensing and sparse reconstruction. The field of compressive sensing has established a mathematical framework which guarantees sparse solutions for under-determined linear inverse problems. In this paper, we present a new formulation for the bistatic radar tomography problem based on sparse inversion, moving away from the conventional k-space tomography approach. The proposed sparse inversion approach allows high-quality images of the target to be obtained from limited narrowband radar data. In particular, we exploit the use of the parameter-refined orthogonal matching pursuit (PROMP) algorithm to obtain a sparse solution for the sparse-based tomography formulation. A key important feature of the PROMP algorithm is that it is capable of tackling the dictionary mismatch problem arising from off-grid scatterers by perturbing the dictionary atoms and allowing them to go off the grid. Performance evaluation studies involving both simulated and real data are presented to demonstrate the performance advantage of the proposed sparsity-based tomography method over the conventional k-space tomography method.

An Image Focusing Method for Sparsity-Driven Radar Imaging of Rotating Targets.

This paper presents a new image focusing algorithm for sparsity-driven radar imaging of rotating targets. In the general formulation of off-grid scatterers, the sparse reconstruction algorithms may result in blurred and low-contrast images due to dictionary mismatch. Motivated by the natural clustering of atoms in the sparsity-based reconstructed images, the proposed algorithm first partitions the atoms into separate clusters, and then the true off-grid scatterers associated with each cluster are estimated. Being a post-processing technique, the proposed algorithm is computationally simple, while at the same time being capable of producing a sharp and correct-contrast image, and attaining a scatterer parameter estimation performance close to the Cramér⁻Rao lower bound. Numerical simulations are presented to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Integrated metaheuristic algorithms with extreme learning machine models for river streamflow prediction.

Accurate river streamflow prediction is pivotal for effective resource planning and flood risk management. Traditional river streamflow forecasting models encounter challenges such as nonlinearity, stochastic behavior, and convergence reliability. To overcome these, we introduce novel hybrid models that combine extreme learning machines (ELM) with cutting-edge mathematical inspired metaheuristic optimization algorithms, including Pareto-like sequential sampling (PSS), weighted mean of vectors (INFO), and the Runge-Kutta optimizer (RUN). Our comparative assessment includes 20 hybrid models across eight metaheuristic categories, using streamflow data from the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Our findings highlight the superior performance of mathematically based models, which demonstrate enhanced predictive accuracy, robust convergence, and sustained stability. Specifically, the PSS-ELM model achieves superior performance with a root mean square error of 2.0667, a Pearson's correlation index (R) of 0.9374, and a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.8642. Additionally, INFO-ELM and RUN-ELM models exhibit robust convergence with mean absolute percentage errors of 15.21% and 15.28% respectively, a mean absolute errors of 1.2145 and 1.2105, and high Kling-Gupta efficiencies values of 0.9113 and 0.9124, respectively. These findings suggest that the adoption of our proposed models significantly enhances water management strategies and reduces any risks.

Amatoxin poisoning caused by Galerina sulciceps, a species with no prior record of identification in Japan: a case report.

A 60-year-old man presented with acute gastroenteritis, hypovolemic shock, acute renal failure (BUN/Cr, 56.7/4.24 mg/dl), and aspiration pneumonia. The previous day, he ingested 30 caps of mushrooms of an unknown species. The patient was treated with a massive intravenous infusion, renal replacement therapy, and antimicrobial agents. Late-onset mild liver injury peaked on day 11 (AST/ALT, 62/67 IU/l). Acute renal failure improved once before worsening, with the worst symptoms on day 19 (BUN/Cr, 99/6.61 mg/dl). Thereafter, the patient showed gradual improvement, and renal replacement therapy was discontinued on day 23. His general condition improved fully and he was transferred to another hospital for rehabilitation on day 47. The mushrooms were later identified as Galerina sulciceps by the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, and toxicologic analysis using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed an average of 85 ppm α-amanitin and 330 ppm ß-amanitin in the tissue of the mushrooms brought in by the patient's family. Galerina sulciceps is distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia and had never been identified before in Japan. The heat of fermentation generated by the thick layer of wood chips on the ground or global warming may have contributed to its growth in Japan. Interestingly, our patient did not have liver dysfunction, which is one main and typical amatoxin poisoning symptom. Variation in clinical presentation may be attributed to the different ratios of α-amanitin to ß-amanitin in different mushroom species.

Uptake of Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling Scheme after 5 Years of Adoption in Thailand: An Analysis of New Launched Pre-Packaged Food and Beverages Products.

In 2016, Thailand introduced voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labeling, the 'Thailand Healthier Choice' logo (THCL), in order to help consumers make informed, healthier food choices in each food category. This study aimed to assess the uptake of the THCL scheme in Thailand after five years of implementation by analyzing a newly launched product database. Data on the nutritional composition and labeling were obtained from the Mintel Global New Products Database between 2017 and 2021. The product's healthfulness was determined using the Health Star Rating (HSR) algorithm. The numbers and proportions of total, eligible, and labeled products bearing the THCL logo were analyzed and classified by food category, by HSR value, and by manufacturer. After 5 years of implementation, THCL uptake as a proportion of total products and eligible products continues to increase by 3.0% and 10.2% per annum, respectively. The logo has correspondingly appeared on 10.7% and 39.5% of total and eligible products. As a voluntary implementation, 76.1% of products displaying the THCL logo belonged to the 'non-core' group, i.e., non-alcoholic beverages and instant foods. This food category (HSR < 3.0) was more likely to register to bear THCL rather than those 'core' food scoring an HSR ≥ 3.5, which might reflect economic considerations and benefits. The present analysis also found that only 10% of manufacturers in Thailand launched 'healthier' products that display the THCL logo with varied product numbers. To summarize, the initial five-year implementation of the THCL program shows promise, but its adoption remains limited and inconsistent, thereby restricting its influence on public health. Our discoveries highlight the limitations of commercial goodwill in applying THCL voluntarily in Thailand and offer potential suggestions to enhance its adoption in the coming years.

Biodiversity of Basidiomycetous Yeasts Associated with Cladonia rei Lichen in Japan, with a Description of Microsporomyces cladoniophilus sp. nov.

For more than a century, lichens have been used as an example of dual-partner symbiosis. Recently, this has been challenged by the discovery of various basidiomycetous yeasts that coexist in multiple lichen species, among which Cladonia lichens from Europe and the United States were discovered to be highly specifically associated with the basidiomycetous yeast of the family Microsporomycetaceae. To verify this highly specific relationship, we investigated the diversity of basidiomycetous yeasts associated with Cladonia rei, a widely distributed lichen in Japan, by applying two approaches: yeast isolation from the lichen thalli and meta-barcoding analysis. We obtained 42 cultures of Cystobasidiomycetous yeast which were grouped into six lineages within the family Microsporomycetaceae. Unexpectedly, although the cystobasidiomycetes-specific primer was used, not only the cystobasidiomycetous yeasts but species from other classes were also detected via the meta-barcoding dataset; in particular, pucciniomycetous yeasts were found at a high frequency in some samples. Further, Halobasidium xiangyangense, which was detected in every sample with high abundance, is highly likely a generalist epiphytic fungus that has the ability to associate with C. rei. In the pucciniomycetous group, most of the detected species belong to the scale insect-associated yeast Septobasidium genus. In conclusion, even though Microsporomyces species are not the only yeast group associated with Cladonia lichen, our study demonstrated that the thalli of Cladonia rei lichen could be a suitable habit for them.

Draft Genome Sequence of Purpureocillium takamizusanense, a Potential Bioinsecticide.

To investigate the biocontrol capability of the entomopathogenic fungus Purpureocillium takamizusanense, the genome of the wild-type strain isolated from synnemata on Meimuna opalifera, was sequenced using a combination of HiSeq and Nanopore technologies, and annotated using evidence from RNA sequences and protein sequences from its sister species Purpureocillium lilacinum.

Cryptococcus neoformans MET5 Gene is not Essential for Virulence in the Silkworm Infection Model.

The involvement of the MET5 gene in virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans was examined using the silkworm Bombyx mori infection model. In the virulence assay, the met5Δ mutant showed virulence not significantly different from the wild-type strain, suggesting that the MET5 gene is not essential for full virulence of C. neoformans. The effect of silkworm hemolymph on the survival of the met5Δ mutant was also tested. The C. neoformans met5Δ strain incubated in the silkworm hemolymph for five days remained viable, suggesting that silkworm hemolymph supports survival of the met5Δ strain.

Autologous blood for preoperative colorectal TUMOR'S localization: A Vietnamese preliminary experience.

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic colorectal surgery (LCRS) is the optimal choice for cases of early cancer. However, due to their early stage, one of this procedure's challenges is tumoral localization. So that, there are many methods of locating tumors preoperatively that have been studied by authors. Recently, Korean authors have reported a method of injecting autologous blood to mark the tumor before surgery with high efficiency and safety. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness by analyzing the section biopsy's results, as well as the safety of this procedure. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This study is descriptive cross-section study with analysis of retrospective occurrences of case series of colonoscopy with autologous blood before surgery from October 2020 to December 2021. RESULTS: 16 patients were recruited to the study. The average age was 62.9 ± 13.1 with male/female ratio was 8/8. 50% (8/16 patients) of all cases was early carcinomas, and by location, 62.5% of all cases was sigmoid colon tumors. All 16 patients (100%) found the tumor marking position. None of the patients had complications of marked endoscopy such as intestinal perforation, peritonitis, abdominal abscess, intestinal adhesions, etc. CONCLUSION: The method of autologous blood injection to locate the tumor before laparoscopic colorectal surgery is a technique that can be performed effectively and safely.

Two new phenolic compounds from the lichen Parmotrema cristiferum growing in Vietnam.

Two new phenolic compounds, cristiferides A-B (1-2) together with six known compounds, 2,4-dihydroxyphthalide (3), lecanoric acid (4), orsellinic acid (5), 5-chloroorsellinic acid (6), methyl haematommate (7), and methyl ß-orsellinate (8) were isolated from the lichen Parmotrema cristiferum (Taylor) Hale (Parmeliaceae). The structures of isolated compounds were identified from its spectroscopic data and by comparison with the literatures. Compounds 1-3 and 6-8 were evaluated for alpha-glucosidase inhibition. Compounds 2 and 7 revealed potent activity with IC50 values of 72.66 µM and 48.73 µM, respectively.

Successful minimal invasive treatment of chylous ascites following pancreaticoduodenectomy: A case report and review of literature.

INTRODUCTION: Chylous ascites is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening type of postoperative lymphatic leakage, especially following pancreaticoduodenectomy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old man underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) with extended lymphadenectomy and segmental Superior Mesenteric Vein (SMV) resection for SMV-involved pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). After 20th postoperative day, patient had a drain output with a milky appearance, and with a triglyceride level was 1.6 mmol/L, and the daily output volume was up to 1500 mL per day. She has been performed Conventional Lymphangiography (CLAG) to identify the broken lymphatic vessels as well as close the leakage. Following two consecutive lymphangiography, the source of chylous leakage was identified from hilar lymphatic system, and injection of Aetoxisclerol 2% into lymphatic vessels to close the leakage was performed. Partial parenteral nutrition with limited fat components or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) was administered, and the amount of ascites decreased particularly. The drain was removed in 20th day after the second CLAG. He had no symptoms of abdominal distention after drain removal and had been discharged after 37 postoperative days (PODs). DISCUSSION: Chylous ascites is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening complication following pancreaticoduodenectomy. Portal lymphatic plexus, which was often isolated and dissected especially with extended lymphadenectomy, is potentially damaged and caused resistant chylous leakage. Newly techniques are updated and applied in diagnosis and treatment for this difficult-to-treat complication, one of them is percutaneous transhepatic Conventional Lymphangiography (CLAG). CONCLUSION: CLAG with percutaneous transhepatic access could be effective to identify and terminate the chylous fistula from portal lymphatic plexus after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Hepatic lymphorrhea following pancreaticoduodenectomy: Preliminary diagnosis and treatment experience from case series of four patients.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatic lymphorrhea (HL) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening type of postoperative lymphatic leakage, especially following pancreaticoduodenectomy. CASE PRESENTATION: We herein report a case series of four patients with HL following pancreaticoduodenectomy that presented to the department with a severe clinical picture with the discovery in imaging and intraperitoneal fluid's tests. All our patients presented with a condition of Hepatic lymphorrhea secondary to pancreaticoduodenectomy, which were treated successfully with percutaneous hepatic lymphangiography (HLG). DISCUSSION: Hepatic lymphorrhea is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening complication following pancreaticoduodenectomy. Periportal lymphatic vessels, which was often isolated and dissected especially with extended lymphadenectomy, is potentially damaged and caused resistant chylous leakage. Newly techniques are updated and applied in diagnosis and treatment for this difficult-to-treat complication, one of them is percutaneous Hepatic Lymphangiography (HLG). CONCLUSION: HLG with percutaneous access could be effective to identify and terminate the chylous fistula from periportal lymphatic vessels after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Association of Adiposity Indices with Hypertension in Middle-Aged and Elderly Thai Population: National Health Examination Survey 2009 (NHES-IV).

Obesity in terms of excess fat mass is associated with increased morbidity, disability and mortality due to obesity-related disorders, including hypertension. Many hypertensive individuals are overweight and often receive their advice to lose weight related to body-fat, in order to lower their blood pressure. However, it is still unclear whether there is a strong association of adipose tissue measured by adiposity indicators with hypertension in the Thai population. Various adiposity indices have been published to distinguish the distribution of body fat with disparate properties. This study examined nine adiposity markers and their association with hypertension in 15,842 Thai adults ≥35 years old. Data were obtained from the nationwide Thai National Health Examination Survey 2009. Accuracy performance and associations of indexes with hypertension were analyzed by Area Under Curve (AUC) and logistic regression analyses. Regardless of gender, the best methods to distinguish performance were waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) [AUC: 0.640 (0.631⁻0.649)], followed by lipid accumulation product (LAP) [AUC: 0.636 (0.627⁻0.645)], waist circumference (WC) [AUC: 0.633 (0.624⁻0.641)], and Conicity index (C-Index) [AUC: 0.630 (0.621⁻0.639)]. Linear regression analysis exhibited the independent association of the top four indices, WC, WHtR, C-Index, and LAP with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Those indices' quartiles were graded in a dose-response manner which significantly increased at the higher quartiles. The indicator's cutoff point carried the odds ratio of presence hypertension in the range of 1.7 to 2.5 (p < 0.001). Among the nine obesity indices, WHtR (cutoff >0.52) in both genders was the simplest and most practical measurement for adiposity in association with hypertension in middle-aged and elderly Thais.

Computational Removal of Undesired Mass Spectral Features Possessing Repeat Units via a Kendrick Mass Filter.

Polymers are a common component of chemical background which complicates data analysis and can impair interpretation. Undesired chemical background cannot always be addressed via pre-analytical methods, chromatography, or existing data processing methods. The Kendrick mass filter (KMF) is presented for the computational removal of undesired signals present in MS1 spectra. The KMF is analogous to mass defect filtering but utilizes homology information via Kendrick mass scaling in combination with chromatographic retention time and the number of observed signals. The KMF is intended to assist in situations in which current data processing methods to remove background, e.g., blank subtraction, are either not possible or effective. The major parameters affecting KMF were investigated using PEG 400 and NIST standard reference material 1950 (metabolites in human plasma). Further exploration of the KMF performance was tested using an extract of a swab known to contain polymers. An illustrative real-world example of skin analysis with polymeric signal is discussed. The KMF is also able to provide a high-level view of the compositionality of data regarding the presence of signals with repeat units and indicate the presence of different polymers. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.