Various methods, including autoclaving, bead-beating, microwaves, sonication, and a 10% NaCl solution, were tested to identify the most effective cell disruption method. The total lipids from
...Botryococcus sp.,
Chlorella vulgaris, and
Scenedesmus sp. were extracted using a mixture of chloroform and methanol (1:1). The lipid contents from the three species were 5.4–11.9, 7.9–8.1, 10.0–28.6, 6.1–8.8, and 6.8–10.9
g
L
−1 when using autoclaving, bead-beating, microwaves, sonication, and a 10% NaCl solution, respectively.
Botryococcus sp. showed the highest oleic acid productivity at 5.7
mg
L
−1
d
−1 when the cells were disrupted using the microwave oven method. Thus, among the tested methods, the microwave oven method was identified as the most simple, easy, and effective for lipid extraction from microalgae.
To select microalgae with a high biomass and lipid productivity,
Botryococcus braunii, Chlorella vulgaris, and
Scenedesmus sp. were cultivated with ambient air containing 10% CO
2 and flue gas. The ...biomass and lipid productivity for
Scenedesmus sp. with 10% CO
2 were 217.50 and 20.65
mg
L
−1
d
−1 (9% of biomass), while those for
B. braunii were 26.55 and 5.51
mg
L
−1
d
−1 (21% of biomass). With flue gas, the lipid productivity for
Scenedesmus sp. and
B. braunii was increased 1.9-fold (39.44
mg
L
−1
d
−1) and 3.7-fold (20.65
mg
L
−1
d
−1), respectively. Oleic acid, a main component of biodiesel, occupied 55% among the fatty acids in
B. braunii. Therefore, the present results suggested that
Scenedesmus sp. is appropriate for mitigating CO
2, due to its high biomass productivity and C-fixation ability, whereas
B. braunii is appropriate for producing biodiesel, due to its high lipid content and oleic acid proportion.
The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), situated upon Bruch's membrane, plays multiple roles in the ocular system by interacting with photoreceptors and. Therefore, dysfunction of the RPE causes ...diseases related to vision loss, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite AMD being a global cause of blindness, the pathogenesis remains unclear. Understanding the pathogenesis of AMD is the first step for its prevention and treatment. This review summarizes the common pathways of RPE dysfunction and their effect in AMD. Potential treatment strategies for AMD based on targeting the RPE have also been discussed.
The lateral cephalogram in orthodontics is a valuable screening tool on undetected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which can lead to consequences of severe systematic disease. We hypothesized that a ...deep learning-based classifier might be able to differentiate OSA as anatomical features in lateral cephalogram. Moreover, since the imaging devices used by each hospital could be different, there is a need to overcome modality difference of radiography. Therefore, we proposed a deep learning model with knowledge distillation to classify patients into OSA and non-OSA groups using the lateral cephalogram and to overcome modality differences simultaneously. Lateral cephalograms of 500 OSA patients and 498 non-OSA patients from two different devices were included. ResNet-50 and ResNet-50 with a feature-based knowledge distillation models were trained and their performances of classification were compared. Through the knowledge distillation, area under receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and gradient-weighted class activation mapping of knowledge distillation model exhibits high performance without being deceived by features caused by modality differences. By checking the probability values predicting OSA, an improvement in overcoming the modality differences was observed, which could be applied in the actual clinical situation.
Anthrax and smallpox are high-risk infectious diseases, and considered as potential agents for bioterrorism. To develop an effective countermeasure for these diseases, we constructed a bivalent ...vaccine against both anthrax and smallpox by integrating a gene encoding protective antigen (PA) of Bacillus anthracis to the genome of the attenuated vaccinia virus strain, KVAC103.
Immunization with this bivalent vaccine induced antibodies against both PA and vaccinia virus in a mouse model. We also observed that the efficacy of this vaccine can be enhanced by combined immunization with immunoadjuvant-expressing KVAC103. Mouse groups co-immunized with PA-expressing KVAC103 and either interleukin-15 (IL-15) or cholera toxin subunit A (CTA1)-expressing KVAC103 showed increased anti-PA IgG titer and survival rate against B. anthracis spore challenge compared to the group immunized with PA-expressing KVAC103 alone.
We demonstrated that the attenuated smallpox vaccine KVAC103 is an available platform for a multivalent vaccine and co-immunization of immunoadjuvants can improve vaccine performance.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a monolayer of the pigmented cells that lies on the thin extracellular matrix called Bruch's membrane. This monolayer is the main component of the outer ...blood-retinal barrier (BRB), which plays a multifunctional role. Due to their crucial roles, the damage of this epithelium causes a wide range of diseases related to retinal degeneration including age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and Stargardt disease. Unfortunately, there is presently no cure for these diseases. Clinically implantable RPE for humans is under development, and there is no practical examination platform for drug development. Here, we developed porcine Bruch's membrane-derived bioink (BM-ECM). Compared to conventional laminin, the RPE cells on BM-ECM showed enhanced functionality of RPE. Furthermore, we developed the Bruch's membrane-mimetic substrate (BMS) via the integration of BM-ECM and 3D printing technology, which revealed structure and extracellular matrix components similar to those of natural Bruch's membrane. The developed BMS facilitated the appropriate functions of RPE, including barrier and clearance functions, the secretion of anti-angiogenic growth factors, and enzyme formation for phototransduction. Moreover, it could be used as a basement frame for RPE transplantation. We established BMS using 3D printing technology to grow RPE cells with functions that could be used for an in vitro model and RPE transplantation.
Central obesity is one of the major risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and the most common complication of DM is diabetic retinopathy. However, the exact relationship between obesity and ...DR remains unknown. In this study, we evaluate the effect of obesity on DR by comparing the aqueous humor-derived adipokines. For the analysis, 37 DR patients and 29 non-DR-patients participated. To evaluate the obesity of the patients, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were used. By comparing the concentrations of adipokines obtained from the aqueous humor of the two groups, the relationship between DR and adipokines was analyzed. In addition, by analyzing the correlation between obesity and adipokines in patients, the relationship between central obesity and DR was finally confirmed. The WC was significantly higher in patients than in the non-patient group. The concentrations of all adipokines compared in this study were significantly higher in the DR group than in the non-DM group (
< 0.05). Among them, adiponectin, leptin, TNF-α, Factor D (adipsin), lipocalin-2 (NGAL), Serpin E1 (PAI-1), and CXCL8 (IL-8) were confirmed to have a positive correlation with central obesity (defined as WC). These findings suggest that central obesity is strongly associated with the risk of DR.
The biomass and carotenoid productivities of a freshwater microalga,
Ettlia
sp. YC001 (Chlorophyta, Chlamydomonadales), were investigated in continuous culture systems irradiated with various LEDs. ...Green light was effectively used by
Ettlia
sp. for its biomass growth compared to blue and red LED light. This effective use of green light was assumed to be beneficial for
Ettlia
sp., especially in competition with other microalgae. Thus, in a competition between
Ettlia
sp. and
Chlorella vulgaris
,
Ettlia
sp. out-competed
C. vulgaris
without losing any overall biomass productivity when green and white LEDs were used simultaneously. However, since
Ettlia
sp. also showed relatively low oxygen production under green light, further studies are needed on its photosynthesis and biomass production mechanisms. Notwithstanding, LEDs are potentially useful for identifying strain-specific photosynthetic characteristics of microalgae, thereby increasing their biomass productivity and controlling contamination from other microalgae in open culture systems.
We investigated changes in serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibilities among 386 isolates of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae collected from numerous hospitals in Korea from 1996 to 2008. Serotypes ...19F (9.8 %), 23F (8.3 %), 19A (7.8 %), 6A (7.5 %), 3 (7.3 %), 9V (6.5 %), 6B (6.2 %), 14 (4.9 %), 1 (3.9 %), 11A (3.9 %) and 4 (3.1 %) represented 69.2 % of all isolates. While the overall proportion of PCV7 serotypes was stable over time, we observed modest decreases in children <5 years old and in adults ≥65 years old between 1996-1999 and 2007-2008. An increased prevalence of non-PCV7 serotypes in these age groups was primarily attributable to an increase in serotypes 3, 6A and 19A. Most invasive S. pneumoniae isolates showed high resistance rates to erythromycin (74.9 %), tetracycline (71.1 %) and clindamycin (61.7 %). Between 1996-2003 and 2004-2008, non-susceptibility rates to cefotaxime and multi-drugs (three or more classes) in PCV7 serotypes showed a declining trend, while in non-PCV7 serotypes there was an increasing trend. Non-PCV7 serotypes 6A and 19A, which mostly exhibited multidrug-resistant phenotypes (69.0 % and 76.7 % respectively), increased between 1996-2003 and 2004-2008. Although PCV7 was introduced in Korea in November 2003, pneumococcal vaccination has not been included in the national child vaccination programme. Our results provide details of serotype occurrence that will be useful when adoption of universal pneumococcal vaccination in Korea is being considered.
A longitudinal analysis was carried out of the colonization by four potential respiratory pathogens - Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Staphylococcus aureus ...- in 165 healthy children (aged 3-7 years) attending three kindergartens and 417 healthy children (aged 7-10 years) attending an elementary school in Seoul, Korea, by four consecutive examinations over 1 year. The prevalence of nasal carriers of one or more of four bacteria was found to be higher in younger children (≤7 years) (mean 68.6%) than that in older children (mean 46.8%). The mean rates of nasal carriage of Strep. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis and Staph. aureus were 16.8, 18.9, 20.2 and 18.2%, respectively. Colonization by Strep. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis was higher in pre-school children (28.6, 32.4 and 35.0%, respectively) than in school children (12.2, 13.6 and 14.3%, respectively). Carriage trends differed with age, with Strep. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis colonization decreasing with age but Staph. aureus colonization increasing. Positive associations of co-occurrence between Strep. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis were evident, with a significant negative association evident between Staph. aureus and the other three bacteria. A better understanding of the colonization and interaction of potential respiratory pathogens may be important for predicting changes in bacterial ecology and for designing control strategies that target bacterial colonization in upper respiratory tract infections.
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