This paper describes and illustrates a new species of Primulaceae, Primula wolongensis sp. nov. from Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, China. It is very rare and currently only ...known from its type locality. The new species belongs to subsection Chartacea of the section Petiolares on account of lacking bud scales at flowering, being efarinose and having distinct petiolate leaves with more or less rounded lamina. The new species can be differentiated from other members of the subsection by leaf blade margin dentate, and leaf veins which are not raised, scape shorter than or equal to pedicels, yellow flowers and location of stamens of the corolla tube at thrum flower. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ribosome internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) demonstrated that P. wolongensis was sister to subgen. Auriculastrum. Primula wolongensis is currently known from a single location in Wolong Town, and its conservation status is assessed as Data Deficient (DD).
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
BACKGROUND
Clinical trials utilizing proton density fat fraction (PDFF) as an imaging biomarker for hepatic steatosis have used a laborious region‐of‐interest (ROI) sampling strategy of placing an ...ROI in each hepatic segment.
PURPOSE
To identify a strategy with the fewest ROIs that consistently achieves close agreement with the nine‐ROI strategy.
STUDY TYPE
Retrospective secondary analysis of prospectively acquired clinical research data.
POPULATION
A total of 391 adults (173 men, 218 women) with known or suspected NAFLD.
FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE
Confounder‐corrected chemical‐shift‐encoded 3T MRI using a 2D multiecho gradient‐recalled echo technique.
ASSESSMENT
An ROI was placed in each hepatic segment. Mean nine‐ROI PDFF and segmental PDFF standard deviation were computed. Segmental and lobar PDFF were compared. PDFF was estimated using every combinatorial subset of ROIs and compared to the nine‐ROI average.
STATISTICAL TESTING
Mean nine‐ROI PDFF and segmental PDFF standard deviation were summarized descriptively. Segmental PDFF was compared using a one‐way analysis of variance, and lobar PDFF was compared using a paired t‐test and a Bland–Altman analysis. The PDFF estimated by every subset of ROIs was informally compared to the nine‐ROI average using median intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland–Altman analyses.
RESULTS
The study population's mean whole‐liver PDFF was 10.1 ± 8.9% (range: 1.1–44.1%). Although there was no significant difference in average segmental (P = 0.452) or lobar (P = 0.154) PDFF, left and right lobe PDFF differed by at least 1.5 percentage points in 25.1% (98/391) of patients. Any strategy with ≥4 ROIs had ICC >0.995. 115 of 126 four‐ROI strategies (91%) had limits of agreement (LOA) <1.5%, including four‐ROI strategies with two ROIs from each lobe, which all had LOA <1.5%. 14/36 (39%) of two‐ROI strategies and 74/84 (88%) of three‐ROI strategies had ICC >0.995, and 2/36 (6%) of two‐ROI strategies and 46/84 (55%) of three‐ROI strategies had LOA <1.5%.
DATA CONCLUSION
Four‐ROI sampling strategies with two ROIs in the left and right lobes achieve close agreement with nine‐ROI PDFF.
Level of Evidence: 3
Technical Efficacy: Stage 2
J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:988–994.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Recent evidence suggests that chemokine CXCL12, the cognate agonist of chemokine receptors CXCR4 and ACKR3, reduces thrombin-mediated impairment of endothelial barrier function. A detailed ...characterization of the effects of CXCL12 on thrombin-mediated human lung endothelial hyperpermeability is lacking and structure-function correlations are not available. Furthermore, effects of other CXCR4/ACKR3 ligands on lung endothelial barrier function are unknown. Thus, we tested the effects of a panel of CXCR4/ACKR3 ligands (CXCL12, CXCL11, ubiquitin, AMD3100, TC14012) and compared the CXCR4/ACKR3 activities of CXCL12 variants (CXCL12α/β, CXCL12(3-68), CXCL121, CXCL122, CXCL12-S-S4V, CXCL12-R47E, CXCL12-K27A/R41A/R47A) with their effects on human lung endothelial barrier function in permeability assays. CXCL12α enhanced human primary pulmonary artery endothelial cell (hPPAEC) barrier function, whereas CXCL11, ubiquitin, AMD3100 and TC14012 were ineffective. Pre-treatment of hPPAEC with CXCL12α and ubiquitin reduced thrombin-mediated hyperpermeability. CXCL12α-treatment of hPPAEC after thrombin exposure reduced barrier function impairment by 70% (EC50 0.05-0.5nM), which could be antagonized with AMD3100; ubiquitin (0.03-3μM) was ineffective. In a human lung microvascular endothelial cell line (HULEC5a), CXCL12α and ubiquitin post-treatment attenuated thrombin-induced hyperpermeability to a similar degree. CXCL12(3-68) was inefficient to activate CXCR4 in Presto-Tango β-arrestin2 recruitment assays; CXCL12-S-S4V, CXCL12-R47E and CXCL12-K27A/R41A/R47A showed significantly reduced potencies to activate CXCR4. While the potencies of all proteins in ACKR3 Presto-Tango assays were comparable, the efficacy of CXCL12(3-68) to activate ACKR3 was significantly reduced. The potencies to attenuate thrombin-mediated hPPAEC barrier function impairment were: CXCL12α/β, CXCL121, CXCL12-K27A/R41A/R47A > CXCL12-S-S4V, CXCL12-R47E > CXCL122 > CXCL12(3-68). Our findings indicate that CXCR4 activation attenuates thrombin-induced lung endothelial barrier function impairment and suggest that protective effects of CXCL12 are dictated by its CXCR4 agonist activity and interactions of distinct protein moieties with heparan sulfate on the endothelial surface. These data may facilitate development of compounds with improved pharmacological properties to attenuate thrombin-induced vascular leakage in the pulmonary circulation.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A visible light photocatalytic arylation–lactonization sequence has been developed for the synthesis of γ,γ‐disubstituted butyrolactones. This unprecedented transformation features simple ...experimental procedures under very mild conditions. A one‐step synthesis of isobenzofuran‐1(3H)‐one has been carried out to demonstrate the synthetic application of this reaction.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of clinically and genetically diverse diseases that impose patients with an increased risk of leukemic transformation. While MDS is a disease of the ...elderly, the interplay between aging and molecular profiles is not fully understood, especially in the Asian population. Thus, we compared the genetic landscape between younger and older patients in a cohort of 698 patients with primary MDS to advance our understanding of the distinct pathogenesis and different survival impacts of gene mutations in MDS according to age. We found that the average mutation number was higher in the older patients than younger ones. The younger patients had more WT1 and CBL mutations, but less mutated ASXL1, DNMT3A, TET2, SF3B1, SRSF2, STAG2, and TP53 than the older patients. In multivariable survival analysis, RUNX1 mutations with higher variant allele frequency (VAF) and U2AF1 and TP53 mutations were independent poor prognostic indicators in the younger patients, whereas DNMT3A and IDH2 mutations with higher VAF and TP53 mutations conferred inferior outcomes in the older patients. In conclusion, we demonstrated the distinct genetic landscape between younger and older patients with MDS and suggested that mutations impact survival in an age‐depended manner.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
A highly regioselective synthesis of pyrido2,1‐aisoindolium salts from 2‐arylpyridines and two equivalents of electron‐deficient alkenes catalyzed by rhodium is demonstrated. The reaction was carried ...out in aqueous medium at 110 °C using inexpensive oxygen as oxidant. Reverse aza‐Michael addition of the isoindolium salt occurs when the salt was treated with base to give a β‐disubstituted alkene product. A reaction mechanism involving an ortho C–H olefination of 2‐arylpyridine by alkene, intramolecular aza‐Michael addition, deprotonation at the β‐carbon of the alkene fragment followed by another Michael addition to give the final product is proposed.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can cure malignant and nonmalignant hematological disorders. From 1983 to 2022, Taiwan performed more than 10,000 HSCT transplants. The Taiwan Blood and ...Marrow Transplantation Registry collects clinical information to gather everyone's experience and promote the advances of HSCT in Taiwan to gather everyone's experience and promote advances of HSCT in Taiwan. Compared with matched sibling donors, transplants from matched unrelated donors exhibited a trend of superior survival. In Taiwan, transplant donors showed remarkable growth from unrelated (24.8%) and haploidentical (10.5%) donors. The number of older patients (17.4%; aged ≥61 years) who underwent transplantation has increased markedly. This review summarizes several significant developments in HSCT treatment in Taiwan. First, the use of Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and intravenous busulfan regimens were important risk factors for predicting hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome. Second, a new, machine learning-based risk prediction scoring system for posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder has identified five risk factors: aplastic anemia, partially mismatched related donors, fludarabine use, ATG use, and acute skin graft-versus-host disease. Third, although the incidence of idiopathic pneumonia syndrome was low (1.1%), its mortality rate was high (58.1%). Fourth, difficult-to-treat mantle cell and T-cell lymphomas treated with autologous HSCT during earlier remission had higher survival rates. Fifth, treatment of incurable multiple myeloma with autologous HSCT showed a median progression-free survival and overall survival of 46.5 and 70.4 months, respectively. Sixth, different haploidentical transplantation strategies were compared. Seventh, caution should be taken in administering allogeneic HSCT treatment in older patients with myeloid leukemia with a Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥3 because of a higher risk of nonrelapse mortality.
A magnetic chain consisted of micro-sized beads in a rotating magnetic field is experimented to observe its motion synchronicity with the external field. If the field frequency is sufficiently high, ...reverse motion occurs to slow down the average angular speed, so that the chain rotates much slower than the external field. A square field configuration, in which the instantaneous strength and angular speed vary with time within every rotating period, is proposed to improve the chaining stability and the motion synchronicity while a same overall frequency with the conventionally used circular field configuration is preserved.
Personalized advertising is widely believed to be an effective persuasion strategy. A typical personalized advertising process consists of two phases: The message sender first “learns” the message ...receiver’s preferences, and then “matches” the message to that person according to his or her preferences. The present study argues that this process may be problematic because it assumes that an individual’s preferences are always stable (i.e., preferences remain the same over time) and extreme (i.e., preferences are highly polarized). Through a 2 (message type: personalized vs. nonpersonalized) × 2 (preference stability: high vs. low) × 2 (preference extremity: high vs. low) between-participants experiment (N = 227), it is shown that the effectiveness of personalized advertising is moderated by preference stability and extremity. A new conceptualization of personalization is proposed based on the study results, and how the two phases of personalized advertising may be refined is highlighted.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Dissolved sulfides removal is primarily attributed to adsorption under low DO condition in activated sludge recycling process.•SEM/EDS, XPS, and FTIR results show that sulfides could be bonded with ...the primary amine group in the activated sludge.•Sulfides adsorption isotherm fit the Langmuir model well, and kinetic fit the pseudo-second-order model well.
Activated sludge recycling has been developed as a novel technique to directly prevent volatile sulfides emission from wastewater influents. In this study, mechanisms and characteristics of dissolved sulfides removal in aqueous solution by activated sludge were investigated. When DO content in water was 0.49mg/L, 70% of removed dissolved sulfides were released back from the activated sludge by lowering pH to 1. The SEM/EDS result revealed that removed sulfur was fixed in activated sludge and the XPS result showed that fixed sulfur had an oxidation state of −2. FTIR results showed that primary amine group (R-NH2) could be one of the radical groups bonding sulfides. All these results verified that sulfides removal by activated sludge is primarily attributed to adsorption, rather than biodegradation, under low DO conditions in 40min. The equilibrium isotherm data fit the Langmuir isotherm model well. The maximum adsorption capacity (q0) ranged in 25–38mg/g at temperatures of 10–40°C. The adsorption kinetic data fit the pseudo-second-order model well. The amounts of adsorbed sulfides at equilibrium (qe) were positively proportional to temperature, initial sulfides concentration and agitation speed. These results indicate that sulfides adsorption could be a chemical sorption or ion exchange process.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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