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A novel species of the genus Emticicia, designated BHSR1T, was isolated from a water sample that was collected from the Nakdong River, Republic of Korea, and its taxonomic affiliation was studied using a polyphasic approach. This bacterium was Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, aerobic, curved, rod-shaped, and oxidase- and catalase-negative. The bacterium grew optimally at 37 °C, pH 7.5 and 0% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain BHSR1T should be affiliated with the genus Emticicia, with a high similarity to Emticicia fontis KCTC 52248T (98.10%). Phylogenomic analysis also suggested that the strain represents a novel species in the genus Emticicia. The genomic G + C content was 41.9%. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization between strain BHSR1T and its closely related relatives in the genus Emticicia were in ranges of 71.1–75.8%, 69.4–77.5% and 18.6–19.9%, respectively. The gene cluster within BHSR1T contained genes encoding enzymes that could be involved in hormone degradation. The major cellular fatty acids (> 10%) were summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1ω6c and/or C16:1ω7c) and iso-C15:0. With regards to the polar lipid profile, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), two unidentified aminolipids and three unidentified lipids were identified as the major compounds. The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone (MK)-7. Based on its phylogenetic, phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and genomic features, strain BHSR1T should be considered a novel species in the genus Emticicia of the family Spirosomaceae, for which the name Emticicia fluvialis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain was considered BHSR1T (= KCTC 92622T = GDMCC 1.3740T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a highly effective technique for fabricating cell-loaded constructs in tissue engineering. However, the versatility of fabricating precise and complex cell-loaded hydrogels is limited owing to the poor crosslinking ability of cell-containing hydrogels. Herein, we propose an optic-fiber-assisted bioprinting (OAB) process to efficiently crosslink methacrylated hydrogels. By selecting appropriate processing conditions for the photo-crosslinking technique, we fabricated biofunctional cell-laden structures including methacrylated gelatin (Gelma), collagen, and decellularized extracellular matrix. To apply the method to skeletal muscle regeneration, cell-laden Gelma constructs were processed with a functional nozzle having a topographical cue and an OAB process that could induce a uniaxial alignment of C2C12 and human adipose stem cells (hASCs). Significantly higher degrees of cell alignment and myogenic activities in the cell-laden Gelma structure were observed compared with those in the cell construct that was printed using a conventional crosslinking method. Moreover, an in vivo regenerative potential was observed in volumetric muscle defects in a mouse model. The hASC-laden construct significantly induced greater muscle regeneration than the cell construct without topographical cues. Based on the results, the newly designed bioprinting process can prove to be highly effective in fabricating biofunctional cell-laden constructs for various tissue engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It remains unclear whether the use of adjunctive diagnostic screening methods improves the diagnostic efficacies of oral premalignant and cancerous lesions. Objective of review: We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of narrow‐band imaging used to detect oral cancer and precancerous lesions defined employing different narrow‐band imaging criteria. Type of review: Systematic review and meta‐analyses. Search strategy: We searched PubMed, Scopus, the Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to May 2020. Evaluation methods: Three different criteria for oral mucosal vascular changes using narrow‐band imaging were compared: class I: well‐demarcated brownish areas with thick dark spots and/or winding vessels; class II: intraepithelial papillary capillary looping of grades 2, 3 and 4; and class III: intraepithelial papillary capillary looping of grades 3 and 4. Methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (ver. 2) tool. We compared narrow‐band imaging to conventional white‐light imaging. Results: We included 10 prospective or retrospective studies (1374 patients). To detect all dysplastic and cancerous lesions, the class I criteria afforded the optimal specificity and sensitivity; the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.918. To detect highly dysplastic and advanced cancerous lesions, the class III criteria afforded appropriate specificity and sensitivity. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.905. When using the class III criteria, narrow‐band imaging afforded better specificity (0.941 [range 0.920, 0.9572], P <.0001) compared to white‐light imaging (0.520 [range 0.409, 0.629]). However, the white‐light imaging data were inconsistent and the ranges were broad; narrow‐band imaging may be considerably more accurate than white‐light imaging when using the class III criteria. Conclusion: Narrow‐band imaging diagnosed oral premalignant or cancerous lesions much more reliably than white‐light imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in patients with atrophic rhinitis. Methods: Prepared PRP was injected into the inferior turbinate bilaterally, and nasal bacterial cultures were conducted. Improvement of symptoms was assessed with the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) and the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22). Nasal mucociliary clearance was assessed using the saccharin transit time (STT). Results: In the PRP-injected group (group A), NOSE (throughout the study) and SNOT-22 (1 month after injection) scores were significantly decreased during the study. However, the saline spray group (group B) showed no significant nasal symptom improvement during the study period. In group A, the STT was improved until 3 months after the injection. In contrast, group B showed STT improvement after 2 months that was maintained throughout the study. Conclusion: PRP injections can improve nasal symptoms and nasal mucociliary function in patients with atrophic rhinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human and animal feces are important sources of various types of microbial contamination in water. Especially, enteric viruses, the major agents of waterborne infection, can attain long-term survival in water environments due to their strong resistance to various environmental factors including pH, salinity, and temperature. Coliphages are promising viral indicators for fecal contamination in water environments. Here, we investigated the seasonal and spatial distribution of male-specific and somatic coliphages in surface water and seawater at three major aquaculture areas, including Goseong Bay, Aphae Island, and Gomso Bay, in Republic of Korea over a period of 1 year. We selected 6 surface water and 14 seawater sampling sites for each study area and collected a total of 480 water samples from March 2014 to February 2015. Overall, surface water samples contained higher occurrences of coliphages than seawater samples. The high coliphage concentrations were detected in spring (March to May 2014). The differences in geographical features and patterns in land usage of the three aquaculture areas may have affected the coliphage concentration and occurrence. Moreover, environmental factors such as cumulative precipitation were strongly correlated with coliphage concentrations. Therefore, we suggest that further longitudinal studies on coliphage concentrations and distributions should be performed to support the application of coliphages in tracking fecal contamination in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As the number of endoscopic skull base surgeries has increased, postoperative changes in quality of life require attention, including evaluation of whether snoring symptoms change. Objective: To investigate the effect of endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery on snoring and nasal symptom scores. Methods: Between February 2009 and September 2018, 510 patients underwent skull base tumor resection via an endoscopic endonasal approach and were included in this study. Nasal symptoms were scored using the Nasal Obstruction Symptoms Evaluation (NOSE) scale and snoring symptoms were subjectively scored from 0 to 10 by partners using a visual analog scale (VAS). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed for pilot patient analysis. Results: A pituitary adenoma was the most common surgical pathology encountered over the past 10 years (81.6% of all tumors). The NOSE scores increased significantly after surgery (pre‐surgery, 3.28 ± 3.18; post‐surgery, 4.09 ± 3.61; P <.001). The snoring VAS score decreased significantly postoperatively (pre‐surgery, 2.91 ± 2.74; post‐surgery, 2.43 ± 2.45; P <.001). A positive correlation was apparent between the NOSE and snoring score changes (r = 0.374; P <.001). Conclusions: Snoring improved after endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery, associated with changes in nasal symptoms. Level of Evidence: 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as a promising cancer treatment. However, the presence of immune-refractory tumor cells limits its clinical success by blocking amplification of anti-tumor immunity. Previously, we found that immune selection by immunotherapy drives the evolution of tumors toward multi-modal resistant and stem-like phenotypes via transcription induction of AKT co-activator TCL1A by NANOG. Here, we report a crucial role of HSP90A at the crossroads between NANOG-TCL1A axis and multi-aggressive properties of immune-edited tumor cells by identifying HSP90AA1 as a NANOG transcriptional target. Furthermore, we demonstrate that HSP90A potentiates AKT activation through TCL1A-stabilization, thereby contributing to the multi-aggressive properties in NANOGhigh tumor cells. Importantly, HSP90 inhibition sensitized immune-refractory tumor to adoptive T cell transfer as well as PD-1 blockade, and re-invigorated the immune cycle of tumor-reactive T cells. Our findings implicate that the HSP90A-TCL1A-AKT pathway ignited by NANOG is a central molecular axis and a potential target for immune-refractory tumor. Nanog can confer resistance to cancer immunotherapy by promoting AKT activity. Here, the authors demonstrate that HSP90A is a Nanog target that stabilizes the AKT coactivator TCL1, thereby activating AKT, and that HSP90A inhibition can enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of adoptive T cell transfer and checkpoint blockade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

M‐ary stepped θ‐QAM (θ‐QAM) for M = 22l, l ≥ 3 based on square QAM is proposed. The signal constellation of stepped θ‐QAM and the coordinates of the symbols generalised for modulation order M are presented. Then analyse the symbol error rate (SER) performance, and the optimum value of θ in terms of minimum SER for stepped θ‐QAM in additive white Gaussian noise and fading channels. Through computer simulations, the theoretical results are validated and show that stepped θ‐QAM offers better error performance than θ‐QAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper proposes a soft-decision demapping algorithm with low computational complexity for coded 4 + 12 amplitude phase shift keying in an additive white Gaussian noise channel. The proposed algorithm requires only a few summation, subtraction, and multiplication operations to calculate the log likelihood ratio value of each bit, and shows the same error performance as a conventional max-log algorithm. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we derive new exact and general expressions for the symbol error rate (SER) and bit error rate (BER) of M-ary \theta-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) for M = \2^l, l \geq \4, based on not only square-QAM (SQAM) for M = \2^2l, l \geq \2 but cross-QAM (CQAM) as well, for M = \2^2l + 1, l \geq \2 in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and various fading channels; we also present the optimum angle and constellation of M-ary \theta-QAM. Through computer simulations, we confirm the results of the theoretical analysis. Because the SER and BER expressions are provided in terms of 2-D Gaussian Q -function in AWGN and various fading channels, they will be very useful for numerical evaluations in various cases of practical interest in QAM systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thermal annealing of a polymer light-emitting diode (PLED) is shown to result in a remarkable improvement in the long-term stability of the device. The annealing for such a PLED has to be layer-specific in that the annealing should be carried out for the layer with the lowest glass transition temperature (T[SUBg]) to harvest the benefits of annealing. Annealing of this key layer, which is usually) the emitting layer, can enhance the thermal stability of the device. The best half-life is obtained at an annealing temperature above the T[SUBg] of emitting polymer. It is shown that the annealing of the emitting polymer layer results in a more than an order of magnitude increase in the half-life, in spite of a decrease in the efficiency of the device as the annealing temperature increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]