Title: Trichodysplasia Spinulosa Post Renal TransplantKey Clinical Message: Trichodysplasia spinulosa is a rare dermatological condition caused by a virus that predominantly affects immunosuppressed individuals. In this patient population, including organ transplant recipients, it is essential to maintain a high index of suspicion for possible infectious causes of persistent dermatologic conditions. Early diagnosis can facilitate treatment and help avoid disease progression and complications.

The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell is a fibroblast-like cell that produces proteins with post-translational modifications similar to human glycosylation. It is widely used in the production of recombinant therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Culturing CHO cells typically requires the addition of a certain proportion of fetal bovine serum (FBS) to maintain cell proliferation and passaging. However, serum is characterized by its complex composition, batch-to-batch variability, high cost, and potential risk of exogenous contaminants such as mycoplasma and viruses, which impact the purity and safety of the synthesized proteins. Therefore, search for serum alternatives and development of serum-free media for CHO-based protein biomanufacturing are of great significance. This review systematically summarizes the application advantages of CHO cells and strategies for high-density expression. It highlights the developmental trends of serum substitutes from human platelet lysates to animal-free extracts and microbial-derived substances and elucidates the mechanisms by which these substitutes enhance CHO cell culture performance and recombinant protein production, aiming to provide theoretical guidance for exploring novel serum alternatives and developing serum-free media for CHO cells.

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) triggers viral myocarditis, with no effective vaccine yet. This fecal-orally transmitted pathogen has prompted interest in mucosal immunization to impede CVB3 spread. Our lab identified an attenuated strain, CVB3(mu), offering myocarditis and pancreatitis protection against CVB3(WT) in susceptible Balb/c mice. CVB3(mu)’s potential to stimulate mucosal immune defense remains to be elucidated. This study evaluates CVB3(mu)’s genetic stability via a rapid evolution cellular model and RNA sequencing. Its temperature sensitivity and safety were evaluated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. CVB3(mu)’s mucosal immunity protection was assessed via intranasal immunization in Balb/c mice. Results show CVB3(mu) maintains genetic stability and temperature sensitivity, retaining attenuated traits up to the 25th passage. Intranasal immunization elicited a significant Th1 response, potent serum neutralizing antibodies, and a substantial sIgA response in nasal washes. In vivo trials revealed CVB3(mu) protection in adult mice and passive protection in suckling mice against lethal CVB3(WT) challenges. In conclusion, CVB3(mu), a live attenuated intranasal vaccine, provides tripartite protection involving humoral, mucosal, and cellular immunity, making it a potential candidate to control CVB3 spread and infection.

Analyzing the temporal dynamics of ecological communities can shed light on coexistence mechanisms and help understand how populations and communities will behave in the face of climate change. However, little is known about how frog communities respond to climate in urban ecosystems, especially in the Global South. Here, we analyzed how frog species richness and abundance are influenced by microclimate both intra- and inter-annually. We surveyed a peri-urban area in central Brazil, monthly for three years. To test the effect of microclimate on species richness and abundance, we used Generalized Additive Mixed-effects Models. We assessed seasonality using circular statistics. We also tested for differences in temporal beta diversity within and among years by estimating species disappearance and temporal rank shift, in addition to a multivariate model-based method to test the effect of year on species composition. Finally, we tested how taxonomic and phylogenetic alpha diversity changed through time using a novel approach based on Hill numbers. We found that species richness varied little among years and was affected only by photoperiod, while species abundance was more variable both between and within years, being mostly affected by humidity, temperature, and photoperiod. Species composition varied little between years, mostly between the first and subsequent years. Conversely, beta diversity was highest within years. Only the effective taxonomic richness changed significantly through time. Our results help not only understand temporal mechanisms that allow species coexistence, but also allow to make inferences about the impact of urbanization on biodiversity in recently urbanized landscapes, showing that species composition in peri-urban sites remains unaltered in a mid-timescale, especially when climate conditions changes little across years.

A document by Lingyu Fu. Click on the document to view its contents.

There is an urgent need for woodland expansion to help mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. However, the process of natural regeneration of forest ecosystems is often slow, requiring active reforestation approaches. Factors limiting regeneration are complex, but there is increasing evidence that natural expansion of woodlands onto sites that have been treeless for a long period of time may be limited by the loss of microbial woodland-soil properties. This study explored the potential role of mycorrhizal associations in facilitating obligate ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree establishment. We determined the spatial distribution patterns of ECM tree seedlings – Pinus sylvestris and Betula spp. - outwith the existing woodlands, in relation to established dual-mycorrhizal Salix. There was very strong evidence that ECM tree seedlings were more likely to be found growing within groups around dual-mycorrhizal Salix than as isolated individuals, supporting the view that Salix drives the current spatial distribution patterns by supporting tree establishment. We suggest that the ability of Salix to form dual-mycorrhizal associations with both arbuscular (AM) and ECM fungi allows these plants to become established across the open AM dominated vegetation. Over time these plants can become colonised by ECM fungi via aerial spores and then act as a source of inoculum for obligate ECM tree seedlings, which land as seeds in the vicinity of Salix. This study highlights the potential role of dual-mycorrhizal Salix as a nurse plant in supporting secondary forest succession of obligate ECM boreal/temperate woodland species onto adjacent open areas through nucleation. Overall, we concluded that there is potential for existing ECM networks to aid tree establishment and propose a nature-based approach to maximize reforestation efforts by targeting existing symbiotic fungal networks as nucleation points for tree planting. Our findings contribute to understanding the ecological dynamics involved in woodland expansion and restoration.

The regular inspection of the power transmission lines is essential for the uninterrupted transmission of electrical energy to demand points. This quickly requires actions with economically, efficiently, and safely. Therefore, the transmission line inspection robots are inevitable solution as an alternative to existing line inspection methods. This study present design and control of a transmission line inspection robot (I-Robot). Since the I-Robot exhibits nonlinear behaviour and has multiple inputs and multiple outputs, a model reference-based neural controller is determined to achieve nonlinear control. The robot design process consists of 4 stages which are kinematic modelling, dynamic modelling, actuator modelling and controller design. To meet inspection requirements, the conceptual design of the I-Robot is performed, and the kinematic model are calculated in terms of the transformation matrices. According to the design requirements and system constraints, the dynamic model of the I-Robot is created. To provide desired motions and trajectory tracking, the actuator models are determined. Then, the I-Robot is prototyped. According to the dynamics of joint, robot and constraints, the system identification is performed to create reference model. During the system identification, the logged data are used the train the reference model. Finally, the desired trajectory for the driving cycles is created by manual excitation of the I-Robot. During the manual excitation, the logged data are used to train the neural network-based controller. Eventually, the I-Robot is assessed under the test scenarios in term of the trajectory tracking performance as regression value and mean squared errors.

Wound healing in movable parts poses challenges due to frequent activities, leading to delayed recovery and heightened susceptibility to bacterial infections and inflammation. Although hydrogel-based dressings have been explored, their therapeutic effectiveness is limited by their poor resistance to stimuli and low mechanical strength. Here, to address this issue, we present a novel self-activated multifunctional PHC bandage that not only prevents bacterial infection but also capitalizes on the inherent mobility of the affected area to expedite the wound healing process. The PHC bandage was fabricated by incorporating photothermal copper bismuth sulfide (Cu3BiS3) nanoparticles (NPs) into piezoelectric and pyroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Upon exposure to near-infrared light, the embedded Cu3BiS3 nanoparticles generate localized heat, activating the PVDF and inducing the production of abundant reactive oxygen species for bacterial inactivation. Furthermore, the continuous movement of the wounded area triggers the PVDF to generate a sustained electrical field, promoting cell migration and proliferation to facilitate wound healing. Importantly, the robust encapsulation of PVDF ensures secure containment of the loaded Cu3BiS3 nanoparticles, improving the biocompatibility and sustainable utilization of this innovative wound dressing. This innovative design offers a promising and effective solution to improve wound healing in movable parts, potentially revolutionizing wound care technology.

Adjuvant therapy for rare rectal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: a case reportTing-Yi Chu, MD1, Ta-Wei Pu MD2, Chao-Yang Chen MD31. Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, No.325, Sec. 2, Chenggong Rd., Neihu District, Taipei City 11490, Taiwan, Republic of China.2. Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Songshan Branch, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, No. 131, Jiankang Rd., Songshan District, Taipei City 10581, Taiwan, Republic of China. Electronic address: [email protected]. Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, [NO.325, Sec. 2, Chenggong Rd., Neihu District], Taipei City 11490, Taiwan, Republic of China.*Reprint requests and correspondence to:Chao-Yang Chen , MD, assistant professor, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, [NO.325, Sec. 2, Chenggong Rd., Neihu District], Taipei City 11490, Taiwan, Republic of China.Tel: +886-2-87923311Fax: +886-2-87927411E-mail address: [email protected]

In tropical forests, trees strategically balance growth patterns to optimize fitness amid multiple environmental stressors. Wind poses the primary risk to a tree’s mechanical stability, prompting developments such as thicker trunks to withstand the bending forces. Therefore, a trade-off in resource allocation exists between diameter growth and vertical growth to compete for light. We explore this trade-off by measuring the relative wind mortality risk for 96 trees in a tropical forest in Panama and testing how it varies with tree size, species and wind exposure. Surprisingly, local wind exposure and tree size had minimal impact on wind mortality risk; instead, species wood density emerged as the crucial factor. Low wood density species exhibited a significantly greater wind mortality risk, suggesting a prioritization of competition for light over biomechanical stability. Our study highlights the pivotal role of wind safety in shaping the life-history strategy of trees and structuring diverse tropical forests.

Translocations, a conservation tool used to conserve and restore dwindling species, are often associated with high failure rates. Inadequate long-term monitoring of both populations and their introduction sites beyond the initial years post-translocation creates a gap in our understanding of the factors that determine translocation success or failure, resulting in less informed projects in the future. This lack of long-term monitoring is partly caused by the absence of a well-defined framework by which the success of the translocation can be measured, leading to premature and sometimes inaccurate assessments of their outcome. We investigated the long-term outcome of a red squirrel translocation in the west of Ireland, specifically assessing the habitat changes in the translocation site since the introduction in 2005, and their impact on carrying capacity. Using digitised historical map data, we showed that the translocation site experienced a 53% reduction in suitable habitat. Additionally, there was a 41-81% reduction in the red squirrel carrying capacity of the forest, according to feeding survey data. Clear-felling, a forest fire and a shift in tree species composition collectively contributed to this decline in site suitability. This investigation underscores the complexity of translocation projects and emphasises the pivotal role of habitat quality in their outcomes. We advocate for detailed habitat assessments during the planning phase, avoidance of unstable habitats as translocation sites, and the implementation of long-term monitoring practices.

Yeasts in the subphylum Saccharomycotina are found across the globe in disparate ecosystems. A major aim of yeast research is to understand the diversity and evolution of ecological traits, such as carbon metabolic breadth, insect association, and cactophily. This includes studying aspects of ecological traits like genetic architecture or association with other phenotypic traits. Genomic resources in the Saccharomycotina have grown rapidly. Ecological data, however, are still limited for many species, especially those only known from species descriptions where usually only a limited number of strains are studied. Moreover, ecological information is recorded in natural language format limiting high throughput computational analysis. To address these limitations, we developed an ontological framework for the analysis of yeast ecology. A total of 1,088 yeast strains were added to the Ontology of Yeast Environments (OYE) and analyzed in a machine-learning framework to connect genotype to ecology. This framework is flexible and can be extended to additional isolates, species, or environmental sequencing data. Widespread adoption of OYE would greatly aid the study of macroecology in the Saccharomycotina subphylum.

SGLT-2 inhibitors and high-dose acarbose as potential high-risk combinations for ketosis and ketoacidosis in Asian patients with T2DM：A case seriesWei Qiang1MD, Fei Yang1, 2MM, Ling Liu1, 3BS, Ruiqing Dong1BS, Yushi Sun1MD, Ahona Mondal , Hui Guo1*MD1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, P. R. China.2Department of Endocrinology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Medical University, Xi’an 710077, P. R. China.3Department of Endocrinology, Chang Qing Oil Field Worker’s Hospital, Xi’an 710201 Xi’an 710061, P. R. China.

Accurate detection and analysis of bubble size and shape in bubbly flow are critical to understanding mass and heat transfer processes. Convolutional neural networks have limitations in different bubble images due to their dependence on large amounts of labeled data. A new foundational Segment Anything Model (SAM) recently attracts lots of attention for its zero-shot segmentation performance. Herein, we developed a novel image processing method named bubSAM, which achieves efficient and accurate bubble segmentation and shape reconstruction based on SAM. The segmentation performance of bubSAM is 30% higher than that of SAM, and its accuracy reaches 90% under different bubbly flow conditions. The accuracy of bubble shape reconstruction algorithm (BSR) in bubSAM is about 30% higher than that of typical ellipse fitting method, thus better restoring the geometric shape of bubbles. BubSAM can provide great support for understanding gas-liquid multiphase flow and design of industrial multiphase reactors.

Artificial propagation and wild release may influence the genetic integrity of wild populations. This practice has been prevalent in fisheries for millennia and is often termed “stocking”. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, walleye populations faced declines from the 1950s to the 1970s, prompting extensive stocking efforts for restoration. By the mid-2010s, walleye populations showed signs of recovery, but the genetic legacy of stocking on population structure at the genomic level remains unclear. Using a dataset of 45,600 genome-aligned SNP loci genotyped in 1,075 walleye individuals, we investigated the genetic impacts of over 50 years of stocking across the Great Lakes. Natural geographic barriers shaped walleye population structure, but pairwise comparisons revealed changes in genetic structure due to stocking from non-native sources also significantly contribute to population structure. Admixture between Lake Erie walleye and walleye from the re-populated Tittabawassee River indicate that stocking may have re-distributed putatively adaptive alleles around the Great Lakes. Genome scans identified FST outliers and evidence of selective sweeps, indicating local adaptation of spawning populations is likely. Notably, one genomic region showed strong differentiation between Muskegon River and walleye from the Tittabawassee River which was re-populated by Muskegon Strain walleye, suggesting admixture and selection both impact the observed genetic diversity. Overall, our study underscores how artificial propagation and translocations can significantly alter the evolutionary trajectory of populations. The findings highlight the complex interplay between stocking practices and genetic diversity, emphasizing the need for careful management strategies to preserve the genetic integrity of wild populations amidst conservation efforts.

OBESITY AS A MISLEADING FACTOR IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TYPE 1 DIABETES MELLITUS: A CASE REPORTOlgierd Dróżdż1, Wiktoria Bińczyk1, Bartosz Siudek2, Katarzyna Błaszczyszyn1, Filip Jan Grajnert3, Michalina Zofia Grzelka3, Maciej Rabczyński11Department and Clinic of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, Wrocław, Poland2T. Marciniak Specialist Hospital, Wrocław, Poland34th Military Clinical Hospital, Wrocław, PolandCorresponding author: Wiktoria Bińczyk, [email protected]:Olgierd Dróżdż, Medical [email protected] and Clinic of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, 50-556 Wrocław, PolandWiktoria Bińczyk, Medical [email protected] and Clinic of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, 50-556 Wrocław, PolandBartosz Siudek, Medical [email protected]. Marciniak Specialist Hospital, 54-049 Wrocław, PolandKatarzyna Błaszczyszyn, Medical [email protected] and Clinic of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, 50-556 Wrocław, PolandFilip Jan Grajnert, Medical [email protected] Military Clinical Hospital, 53-114 Wrocław, PolandMichalina Zofia Grzelka, Medical [email protected] Military Clinical Hospital, 53-114 Wrocław, PolandMaciej Rabczyński, Medical [email protected] and Clinic of Diabetology and Internal Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, 50-556 Wrocław, Poland

Objective: Vocal fold immobility (VFI) is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in the paediatric population. Laryngoscopy is the current first-line investigation for patients with suspected VFI. Laryngeal ultrasound (LUS) has recently emerged as an alternative method of identifying VFI. Compared to laryngoscopy, LUS is less invasive, does not require anaesthesia, and can be performed by non-otolaryngologists. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate LUS as a diagnostic method for the identification of unilateral VFI in a cohort of paediatric patients in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The secondary objective is to estimate the frequency of use of LUS in the paediatric population around the world. Methods: A retrospective, single-centre cohort study was performed on all paediatric patients who had undergone laryngoscopy and LUS at Starship Children’s Health between 2020 to 2023 in Auckland, NZ. An eight-question survey was also developed and distributed to better understand clinicians’ use of LUS to diagnose paediatric VFI globally. Results: Twenty-three paediatric patients met the inclusion criteria. LUS demonstrated high sensitivity (100%), specificity (63%), positive predictive value (83%), and negative predictive value (100%) for detecting unilateral VFI within our patient population. Out of the eighty-seven respondents to the survey, nearly half utilise LUS in their clinical practice in the paediatric population. The main barrier for those who do not is lack of expertise, equipment, and training. Conclusions: These findings support the use of LUS as a safe and accurate diagnostic tool for the detection of unilateral VFI. Further studies in non-surgical populations and standardised guidelines for LUS technique and reporting are required.

The aim was to investigate the effects of different volumes of strength training (ST) in association with photobiomodulation (PBMt) in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) on insulin resistance (IR). Male Swiss albino mice were fed HFD and performed high- or low-volume (one-third) ST (3 days/week), associated with PBMt (660 nm + 850 nm; ~42 J delivered) or not (lights off). ST improved IR, lowered visceral adiposity and circulating cytokines, and increased skeletal muscle hypertrophy and mitochondrial activity. The smaller volume of ST did not interfere with the improvement in IR, mitochondrial activity, or inflammatory profile, but exerted a smaller effect on visceral adiposity and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Association with PBMt further improved IR, regardless of ST volume, although it did not affect adiposity, mitochondrial activity, and the inflammatory profile. Interestingly, PBMt positively affected quadriceps, but attenuated gluteus maximus hypertrophy. The association with PBMt induced greater improvement than ST alone.