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Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an autoimmune-mediated idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disease with a typical clinical presentation of optic neuritis, acute myelitis, and area postrema syndrome. Most NMOSD patients are seropositive for disease-specific and pathogenic aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies, which are key markers for the NMOSD diagnosis. Herein, we report an atypical case of a 41-year-old man who complained of intractable hiccups and vomiting at disease onset, followed by fever, headache, back pain, progressive paresthesia, and weakness of extremities later on. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed progressive increases in the white blood cell count and the protein level, which were accompanied by the deterioration of clinical manifestations. The patient was initially suspected of infectious meningomyelitis but was finally diagnosed with NMOSD. This case with distinct cerebrospinal fluid findings broadens the phenotypic spectrum of NMOSD. Furthermore, it also highlights the clinical value of AQP4 antibody test for early definitive diagnosis and proper treatment.

BackgroundPhlebopus portentosus and mealy bugs form a fungus-insect gall on the roots of host plants. The fungus and mealy bugs benefit mutually through the gall, which is the key link in the nutritional mechanism of P. portentosus. The cavity of the fungus-insect gall provides an ideal shelter for mealy bugs survival and reproduction, but how does P. portentosus benefit from this symbiotic relationship?Methodology and resultsAnatomical examination of fungus-insect galls revealed that one or more mealy bugs of different generations were living inside the galls. The mealy bug's mouthpart could penetrate through the mycelium layer of the inside of the gall and suck plant juice from the host plant root. Mealy bugs excreted honeydew inside or outside the galls. The results of both honeydew agar medium and quartz tests showed that the honeydew can attract and promote the mycelial growth of P. portentosus. A test of the relationship between the honeydew and the formation of the fungus-insect gall showed that honeydew promoted gall formation.ConclusionsAll experimental results in this study show that the honeydew secreted by mealy bugs can attract and promote the mycelial growth of P. portentosus, forming a fungus-insect gall, because mealy bugs' honeydew is rich in amino acids and sugars.

In this study, typhoon eyes have been delineated using wavelet analysis from the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of ocean surface roughness and from the warm area at the cloud top in the infrared (IR) images, respectively. Envisat SAR imagery, and multi-functional transport satellite (MTSAT) and Feng Yun (FY)-2 Chinese meteorological satellite IR imagery were used to examine the typhoons in the western North Pacific from 2005 to 2011. Three cases of various typhoons in different years, locations, and conditions have been used to compare the typhoon eyes derived from SAR (on the ocean surface) with IR (at the cloud-top level) images. Furthermore, the best track data from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA), and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) are checked for the calibration. Because of the vertical wind shear, which acts as an upright tilt, the location of the typhoon eye on the ocean surface differs from that at the top of the clouds. Consequently, the large horizontal distance between typhoon eyes on the ocean surface and on the cloud top implies that the associated vertical wind shear profile is considerably more complex than generally expected. This result demonstrates that SAR can be a useful tool for typhoon monitoring study over the ocean surface.

Phlebopus portentosus is a popular edible wild mushroom found in the tropical Yunnan, China, and northern Thailand. In its natural habitats, a gall often has been found on some plant roots, around which fungal fruiting bodies are produced. The galls are different from common insect galls in that their cavity walls are not made from plant tissue but rather from the hyphae of P. portentosus. Therefore we have termed this phenomenon "fungus-insect gall". Thus far six root mealy bug species in the family Pseudococcidae that form fungus-insect galls with P. portentosus have been identified: Formicococcus polysperes, Geococcus satellitum, Planococcus minor, Pseudococcus cryptus, Paraputo banzigeri and Rastrococcus invadens. Fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of more than 21 plant species, including Delonix regia, Citrus maxima, Coffea arabica and Artocarpus heterophyllus. Greenhouse inoculation trials showed that fungus-insect galls were found on the roots of A. heterophyllus 1 mo after inoculation. The galls were subglobose to globose, fulvous when young and became dark brown at maturation. Each gall harbored one or more mealy bugs and had a chimneylike vent for ventilation and access to the gall. The cavity wall had three layers. Various shaped mealy bug wax deposits were found inside the wall. Fungal hyphae invaded the epidermis of plant roots and sometimes even the cortical cells during the late stage of gall development. The identity of the fungus inside the cavity was confirmed by molecular methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of the Mediterranean Sea outflow and meddies (O&M) were limited by the poor spatial and temporal resolution of conventional in situ observations as well as the confinement of satellite observations to the ocean’s surface. Accordingly, little is known about the formation and transport of meddies and the spatial and temporal variation of O&M trajectories, which are located, on average, at a depth of 1000 m. However, a new remote sensing method has been developed by the authors to observe and study the O&M through unique approaches in satellite multisensor data integration analyses. Satellite altimeter, scatterometer, infrared satellite imagery, and XBT data were used to detect and calculate the trajectories and the relative transport of the O&M (January 1993–December 2002). Two experiments [covering 1993–95: A Mediterranean Undercurrent Seeding Experiment (AMUSE) and Structures des Echanges Mer–Atmosphère, Propriétés des Hétérogénéités Océaniques: Recherche Expérimentale (SEMAPHORE)] and XBT temperature measurements were used to directly validate the method presented herein. The monthly mean features derived from floats and XBTs for multiple meddies and the results of the presented method were significantly correlated based on a statistical chi-square test. In addition, the complex singular value decomposition method was used to identify the propagating features and their phase speeds. It was found that saltier water from the Mediterranean Sea was transported into the North Atlantic Ocean over the Strait of Gibraltar in boreal spring and summer relative to boreal autumn and winter. Streamfunctions using altimetry, and time–frequency energy distributions using the Hilbert–Huang transform, were computed to evaluate the meddy interactions with the sea surface variation. Since the O&M play a significant role in carrying salty water from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic, such new knowledge about their trajectories, transport, and life histories is important to the understanding of their mixing and interaction with North Atlantic water. This may lead to a better understanding of the global ocean circulation and global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) plays an integral role in the metabolism of liver and development of the skeleton in humans. To date, the interactions between different-duration terahertz (THz) radiation and ALP activities, as well as the influence mechanism are still unclear. In this study, using the para-nitro-phenyl-phosphate (pNPP) method, we detect changes in ALP activities during 40-minute THz radiation (0.1 THz, 13 mW/cm2). It is found that the activity of ALP decreases in the first 25 min, and subsequently increases in the later 15 min. Compared with the activity of ALP being heated, the results suggest that short-term terahertz radiation induces a decrease in enzyme activity through the non-thermal mechanism. In order to explore the non-thermal effects of THz radiation on ALP, we focus on the impacts of 0.1 THz radiation for 20 min on the activity of ALP in different concentrations. The results reveal that the activity of ALP decreases significantly after exposure to THz radiation. In addition, it could be deduced from fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), and THz spectra results that THz radiation has induced changes in ALP structures. Our study unlocks non-thermal interactions between THz radiation and ALP, as well as suggests that THz spectroscopy is a promising technique to distinguish ALP structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the advances in terahertz applications have stimulated interest in the biological effects associated with this frequency range. We study the gene expression profile in three types of cells exposed to terahertz radiation, i.e., human ARPE-19 retinal pigment epithelial cells, simian virus 40-transformed human corneal epithelial cells, and human MIO-M1 Müller cells. We find that the gene expression in response to heat shock is unaffected, indicating that the minimum temperature increases under controlled environment. The transcriptome sequencing survey demonstrates that 6-hour irradiation with a broadband terahertz source results in specific change in gene expression and also the biological functions that are closely related to these genes. Our results imply that the effect of terahertz radiation on gene expression can last over 15 hours and depends on the type of cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]