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Bacterial leaf blight of carrots caused by Xanthomonas hortorum pv. carotae (Xhc) is an important worldwide seed-borne disease. In 2012 and 2013, symptoms similar to bacterial leaf blight were found in carrot farms in Jeju Island, Korea. The phenotypic characteristics of the Korean isolation strains were similar to the type strain of Xhc. Pathogenicity showed symptoms on the 14th day after inoculation on carrot plants. Identification by genetic method was multi-position sequencing of the isolated strain JJ2001 was performed using four genes (danK, gyrB, fyuA, and rpoD). The isolated strain was confirmed to be most similar to Xhc M081. Furthermore, in order to analyze the genetic characteristics of the isolated strain, whole genome analysis was performed through the next-generation sequencing method. The draft genome size of JJ2001 is 5,443,372 bp, which contains 63.57% of G + C and has 4,547 open reading frames. Specifically, the classification of pathovar can be confirmed to be similar to that of the host lineage. Plant pathogenic factors and determinants of the majority of the secretion system are conserved in strain JJ2001. This genetic information enables detailed comparative analysis in the pathovar stage of pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, these findings provide basic data for the distribution and diagnosis of Xanthomonas hortorum pv. carotae, a major plant pathogen that infects carrots in Korea.

Quorum sensing (QS) enables bacteria to organize gene expression programs, thereby coordinating collective behaviors. It involves the production, release, and population-wide detection of extracellular signaling molecules. The cellular processes regulated by QS in bacteria are diverse and may be used in mutualistic coordination or in response to changing environmental conditions. Here, we focused on the influence of the QS-dependent genes of our model bacterial strain Serratia fonticola GS2 on potential plant growth promoting (PGP) activities including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity, and biofilm formation. Based on genomic and phenotypic experimental data we identified and investigated the function of QS genes in the genome of the model strain. Our gene deletion study confirmed the biological functionality of the QS auto-inducer (gloI) and receptor (gloR) on potential PGP activities of GS2. A transcriptomic approach was also undertaken to understand the role of QS genes in regulation of genes primarily involved in PGP activities (IAA, ACC deaminase activity, and biofilm formation). Both transcriptomic and phenotypic data revealed that the QS-deletion mutants had considerably less PGP activities, as compared to the wild type. In addition, in vivo plant experiments showed that plants treated with GS2 had significantly higher growth rates than plants treated with the QS-deletion mutants. Overall, our results showed how QS-dependent genes regulate the potential PGP activities of GS2. This information may be helpful in understanding the relationship between QS-dependent genes and the PGP activity of bacteria, which aid in the production of practical bio-fertilizers for plant growth promotion.

Abstract Rice planthoppers and related viral diseases have become one of the most important factors affecting rice production in Asian countries, and the resulting abuse of pesticides is laying a hidden danger for future food security. As the most economically devastating species, the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), moves from the tropical Indochina Peninsula to temperate regions where it cannot overwinter annually with the feature of long‐range migration, and eventually appears in paddy fields of most East Asian countries. Compared with the overland migration that has been studied in more detail, there is relatively less understanding of N. lugens’ performance in transnational movement, especially in the representative overseas migration between China and Northeast Asia. Based on the light‐trap data from China and Korea and the matched meteorological data of East Asia in 2016, a typical overseas migration event was basically analyzed. The results are as follows. First, the source area of the N. lugens population in this migration was in southeastern Jiangsu and eastern Shanghai. They took off at dusk on 1 August, flying at the altitude of 1700–2200 m, and landed in southwestern Korea at 02:00–11:00 UTC on 3 August. Second, a southerly airflow belt was the main weather factor for population's overseas migration, and the confrontation between the western Pacific subtropical high and a northern high pressure in southern Korea was the main reason for population to land. Besides, we discussed the one‐off feature of overseas migration compared to overland migration. These results show the close relation between weather systems and the migration dynamics of N. lugens and may extend the perception for N. lugens’ behavioral chain in the long‐range migration between China and Northeast Asia, thus allowing a sufficient time for reasonable and effective control measures.

We selected eight resistant cultivars including 'Heukryongsamcheok', 'Heukgeumsolsamcheok' and 'Gangryeoksamcheok' showing high suppressive effect against cucumber downy mildew (CDM) through plastic film house and field trials in spring and autumn season in 2015. Of them, these three varieties, 'Heukryongsamcheok', 'Heukgeumsolsamcheok' and 'Gangryeoksamcheok' were used to evaluated suppressive effect against CDM by comparing disease severity (area under disease development progress curve, AUDPC) with those of three susceptible varieties under plastic film house condition. AUDPC of three resistant cultivars was in the range of 10.9 to 23.6, meanwhile those of three susceptible cultivars was in the range of 286.7 to 290.3. Consequently, we confirmed that cultivation of the selected resistant cultivars can reduce CDM in vivo. When disease severity (diseased leaf area) was investigated on a resistant cultivar ('Heukryongsamcheok') sprayed without any organic materials and susceptible cultivars sprayed single-, two times- and three times with Bordeaux mixture, sulfur-loess mixture and KocideR (copper hydroxide), respectively, it was the lowest in the resistant cultivar plot compared to susceptible cultivar plots sprayed with any organic materials. In addition, we evaluated control effect of the selected resistant cultivar by comparing that of organic materials including lime sulfur mixture, Bordeaux mixture and garlic extract. As a result, Bordeaux mixture showed the highest control effect against CDM. AUDPC of Bordeaux mixture, resistant cultivar, lime sulfur, garlic extract and untreated control was 3.9, 10.6, 95.6, 24.9, and 258.7, respectively. Based on the above-mentioned results, we think that the resistant cultivars and Bordeaux mixture can be effectively used to control CDM as one of control measures under the farmhouse condition

Melanose caused by Diaporthe citri is a serious disease on yuzu fruits. Moisture is the most important to infect after the pycnidiospores are released. In order to understand how dryness and moisture interruption affect on germination, the conidial suspensions on slide glass were dried for 0-48 h. For the moisture interruption experiment, moisture was supplied for 10 h then interrupted for 0-6 h depending on the treatments. Germinations on the treatments with longer than 15 h of dryness were less than 10%. And those with longer than 3 h of moisture interruption were less than 30%. Compared with other fungal phytopathogens, D. citri was xero-sensitive. Germination on yuzu feel medium was measured under 15, 20, 25, 30, 35°C with 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 h of wetness. The minimum wetness periods achieving 10% and 50% germinations were 4.5 and 13 h, and the optimum temperatures were 29.1°C and 29.2°C, respectively. From the yuzu medium study, the regression equations to be required wetness period achieving 10% and 50% germinations on various temperatures were Wh₅₀% = 0.1093 × T² - 6.3762 × T + 106.08 and Wh₁₀%=0.082 × T² - 4.8025 × T + 74.861.

This study was conducted to evaluate the control efficacy of the organic farming materials on cucumber scab caused by Cladosporium cucumerinum PT1 (KACC 48094). The antifungal activities in vitro as well as the suppressive effect of 43 organic farming materials on the spore germination and germ tube growth by inoculating spore suspension on cucumber seedlings in vivo were investigated. Thirteen organic farming materials inhibited the mycelial growth of C. cucumerinum and nine of these were microbial agents. In the screening using cucumber seedlings, six organic farming materials were very effective with control efficacy value of 90%. Among them, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens M27 provided suppressive effect on both mycelial growth and spore germination against cucumber scab. Finally, nine organic farming materials were selected to test the protective and curative effects, and all chosen organic farming materials significantly suppressed disease incidence when applied in the preventive action, in comparison with the curative action. Especially, Bordeaux mixture I and III gave excellent protective control efficacy with control values of 96.7% and 73.3%, respectively, whereas its curative control effect was significant low. Among these, only Thymus quinquecostatus+Sophora extract showed curative activity, although the control value was as low as 50%. This study suggests that cucumber scab can be controlled by some organic farming materials in the farmhouses under comparatively cold and wet condition and protective treatment is more important and efficient.

Seed dehiscence of ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Mayer) is affected by moisture, temperature, storage conditions and microbes. Several microbes were isolated from completely dehisced seed coat of ginseng cultivars, Chunpoong and Younpoong at Gumsan, Korea. We investigated the potential of five Talaromyces flavus isolates from the dehiscence of ginseng seed in four traditional stratification facilities. The isolates showed antagonistic activities against fungal plant pathogens, such as Cylindrocarpon destructans, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia nivalis, Botrytis cinerea, and Phytophthora capsici. The dehiscence ratios of ginseng seed increased more than 33% by treatment of T. flavus GG01, GG02, GG04, GG12, and GG23 in comparison to control (28%). Among the treatments, the reformulating treatment of T. flavus isolates GG01 and GG04 showed the highest of stratification ratio of ginseng seed. After 16 weeks, the reformulating treatment of T. flavus isolates GG01 and GG04 significantly enhanced dehiscence of ginseng seed by about 81% compared to the untreated control. The candidate’s treatment of T. flavus GG01 and GG04 showed the highest decreasing rate of 93% in seed coat hardness for 112 days in dehiscence period. The results suggested that the pre-inoculation of T. flavus GG01 and GG04 found to be very effective applications in improving dehiscence and germination of ginseng seed.

We observed the changes in aggressiveness and fecundity of the anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum acutatum on hot pepper, under the ambient and the twice-ambient treatments. Artificial infection was repeated over 100 cycles for ambient (25°C/400 ppm CO₂) and twice-ambient (30°C/700 ppm CO₂) growth chamber conditions, over 3 years. During repeated infection cycles (ICs) on green-pepper fruits, the aggressiveness (incidence [% of diseased fruits among 20 inoculated fruits] and severity [lesion length in mm] of infection) and fecundity (the average number of spores per five lesions) of the pathogen were measured in each cycle and compared between the ambient and twice-ambient treatments, and also between the early (ICs 31–50) and late (ICs 81–100) generations. In summary, the pathogen’s aggressiveness and fecundity were significantly lower in the late generation. It is likely that aggressiveness and fecundity of C. acutatum may be reduced as global CO₂ and temperatures increase.

X-ray irradiation with convergent chemicals such as nano-silver particles or sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) has been used to control leaf blight on cut lilies. The oriental hybrid lily cultivars Siberia, Le Reve, and Sorbonne were irradiated five times by 200 Gy of X-rays in 2014. In 2015, Siberia and Sorbonne were irradiated three times by 150 Gy of X-rays. After artificial infection with Botrytis elliptica on the leaves and petals of cut lilies, this study used convergent chemical X-ray irradiation of 200 Gy or 150 Gy. Leaf and petal blight was measured in terms of incidence and severity at 8 days after infection using total 552 cuttings. Results indicate that the treatments of X-ray irradiation and NaDCC in 2014 and 2015 slightly decreased the severity of petal blight on Siberia and Sorbonne. However, the results were not significant and severity did not decrease as NaDCC concentration increased. Vase-life was observed separately after X-ray irradiation of 270 cut lilies in 2014 and 108 cut lilies in 2015. Chlorophyll content was not affected by either 200 Gy or 150 Gy of X-rays. The number of days of fully opened flowers at Siberia of 150 Gy and Le Revu of 200 Gy increased by 1–2 days. In addition, the relative fresh weights of the X-rayed flowers were 10% drier than the non-irradiated controls. Overall, leaf blight control by X-ray was inferior to the control by gamma rays, and petal color was bleached in Sorbonne and Le Reve cvs. by 150 Gy of X-rays.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a point of convergence for numerous oncogenic signals that are often constitutively activated in many cancerous or transformed cells and some stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment. Persistent STAT3 activation in malignant cells stimulates proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, invasion, and tumor-promoting inflammation. STAT3 undergoes activation through phosphorylation on tyrosine 705, which facilitates its dimerization. Dimeric STAT3 translocates to the nucleus, where it regulates the transcription of genes involved in cell proliferation, survival, etc. In the present study, a synthetic deguelin analogue SH48, discovered by virtual screening, inhibited the phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, and transcriptional activity of STAT3 in H-ras transformed human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells (MCF10A-ras). We speculated that SH48 bearing an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl group could interact with a thiol residue of STAT3, thereby inactivating this transcription factor. Non-electrophilic analogues of SH48 failed to inhibit STAT3 activation, lending support to the above supposition. By utilizing a biotinylated SH48, we were able to demonstrate the complex formation between SH48 and STAT3. SH48 treatment to MCF10A-ras cells induced autophagy, which was verified by staining with a fluorescent acidotropic probe, LysoTracker Red, as well as upregulating the expression of LC3II and p62. In conclusion, the electrophilic analogue of deguelin interacts with STAT3 and inhibits its activation in MCF10A-ras cells, which may account for its induction of autophagic death.

In order to control seed-borne diseases, we obtained extracts from commercial fermented food products of Kimchi, Gochujang, Doenjang, Ganjang and Makgeolli and their suppressive effects against seed-borne diseases were studied. In addition, the suppressive effects of bacterial strains isolated from the fermented foods were screened in vitro and in vivo. Among fifty food extracts, twenty food-extracts suppressed more than 92% incidence of seedling rots in vitro and seven food extracts increased 58.3-66.8% of healthy seedling in the greenhouse. Among 218 isolates from the fermented foods, 29 isolates showing high antifungal activity against seven seed-borne fungal pathogens were selected. Among 29 isolates, 13 isolates significantly reduced seedling rot and increased healthy seedlings. Sixteen isolates with high antifungal activity and suppressive effect against sesame seedling rots were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Fourteen of sixteen isolates were identified as Bacillus spp. and the other two isolates from Makgeolli were identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was confirmed that B. amyloliquifaciens was majority in the effective bacterial population of Korean fermented foods. In addition, when the bioformulations of the two selected effective microorganisms, B. amyloliquifacien Gcj2-1 and B. amyloliquifacien Gcj3-1, were prepared in powder forms using bentonite, kaolin, talc and zeolite, talc- and kaolin-bioformulation showed high control efficacy against sesame seed-borne disease, followed by zeolite-bioformulation. Meanwhile control efficacy of each bentonite-bioformulation of B. amyloliquifacien Gcj2-1 and B. amyloliquifacien Gcj3-1 was lower than that of bacterial suspension of them. It was found that the selected effective microorganisms from Korean fermented foods were effective for controlling seed-borne diseases of sesame in vitro and in the greenhouse. We think that Korean fermented food extracts and useful microorganisms isolated from the extract can be used as bio-control agents for suppressing sesame seed-borne diseases based on above described results.

This study was conducted to control ginger rhizome rot treated with the combined treatment, the hairy vetch, carbonized rice husk and eggshell calcium in organic ginger farm. Early symptoms of leaf yellowing and plant wilt began in the chemical fertilizer treatment on July 1. Ginger rhizome rot was more progressed on October 2, and stem browning and dead plant showed a high disease incidence with from 36.7% to 43.0%. On the other hand, the combined treatment did not occur at all until July 1 and delayed the disease incidence to October 2. It showed a low disease incidence of 1.3% to 1.7%. In the combined treatment, the content of soil Na, Fe, Cu was decreased and organic matter was increased twice with 31.6% than previous. Population density of Pythium sp. is lower in the combined treatment (0.3-2.0×103 cfu/g than the chemical fertilizer treatments (12.0-12.3×103 cfu/g). The combined treatment, hairy vetch, carbonized rice husk and the eggshell calcium is able to control the ginger rhizome rot in organically cultivated ginger field.

This study was conducted to evaluate control efficacy of a fermented food ’Cheonggukjang’ against cucumber powdery mildew caused by Sphaerotheca fuliginea in greenhouse. Sterilized Daepung beans were inoculated with the rice straw as natural inoculum and then incubated for 72 hrs at 42"C in the household cheonggkjang maker. After 72 hrs of cheonggukjang fermentation, white zymogens were grown on the surface of a sterile Daepung beans. The pH of the 72 hrs fermented soybean was not significantly changed and electrical conductivity was found to increase by about 2 times than before fermentation. The population density of soybean zymogen showed a peak of growth at 60 hrs after fermentation and the concentration of zymogen was 8.2×107 cfu/ml. Soybean zymogen form of the colony was divided into three kinds of bacteria and a white and a large colony (WL) was predominant bacteria among those up to 60 hrs of fermentation. To control the cucumber powdery mildew, diluted solutions of cheonggukjang was applied from 6.0% to 30.0% on cucumber leaves and they showed injury symptoms on cucumber leaves in more than 15% of them. However, more than 6.0% diluted cheonggukjang solutions showed more than 77.8% control effect of cucumber powdery mildew at 15 days after treatment. The fermented bacteria of Chenggukjang were well established in the cucumber leaf area at 15 days after treatment. The antifungal activity of 10% diluted cheonggukjang solutions was excellent for four species of plant fungal pathogens, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Sclerotinia cepivorum, Rhizoctonia sloani and Phytophthora capsici in the dual culture test. Results indicated that foliar application of Cheonggukjang solution could be used for the control of powdery mildews occurring on organically cultivated cucumber.

Serratia marcescens RSC-14 is a Gram-negative bacterium that was previously isolated from the surface-sterilized roots of the Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum. The strain stimulates plant growth and alleviates Cd stress in host plants. To investigate the genetic basis for these traits, the complete genome of RSC-14 was obtained by single-molecule real-time sequencing. The genome of S. marcescens RSC-14 comprised a 5.12-Mbp-long circular chromosome containing 4,593 predicted protein-coding genes, 22 rRNA genes, 88 tRNA genes, and 41 pseudogenes. It contained genes with potential functions in plant growth promotion, including genes involved in indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis, acetoin synthesis, and phosphate solubilization. Moreover, annotation using NCBI and Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology identified several genes that encode antioxidant enzymes as well as genes involved in antioxidant production, supporting the observed resistance towards heavy metals, such as Cd. The presence of IAA pathway-related genes and oxidative stress-responsive enzyme genes may explain the plant growth-promoting potential and Cd tolerance, respectively. This is the first report of a complete genome sequence of Cd-tolerant S. marcescens and its plant growth promotion pathway. The whole-genome analysis of this strain clarified the genetic basis underlying its phenotypic and biochemical characteristics, underpinning the beneficial interactions between RSC-14 and plants.

Photorhabdus temperata is an entomopathogenic enterobacterium; it is a nematode symbiont that possesses pathogenicity islands involved in insect virulence. Herein, we constructed a P. temperata M1021 cosmid library in Escherichia coli XL1-Blue MRF` and obtained 7.14 × 105 clones. However, only 1020 physiologically active clones were screened for insect virulence factors by injection of each E. coli cosmid clone into Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor larvae. A single cosmid clone, PtC1015, was consequently selected due to its characteristic virulent properties, e.g., loss of body turgor followed by death of larvae when the clone was injected into the hemocoel. The sequence alignment against the available sequences in Swiss-Prot and NCBI databases, confirmed the presence of the mcf gene homolog in the genome of P. temperata M1021 showing 85% homology and 98% query coverage with the P. luminescens counterpart. Furthermore, a 2932 amino acid long Mcf protein revealed limited similarity with three protein domains. The N-terminus of the Mcf encompassed consensus sequence for a BH3 domain, the central region revealed similarity to toxin B, and the C-terminus of Mcf revealed similarity to the bacterial export domain of ApxIVA, an RTX-like toxin. In short, the Mcf toxin is likely to play a role in the elimination of insect pests, making it a promising model for use in the agricultural field.

In order to seek more eco-friend, economic and safer quarantine method than current methyl bromide fumigation, the convergent treatment with 200 Gy of gamma irradiation and several chemicals such as nano-siver particles (NSS), sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) was tried on the cuttings of lily in the packing of catonnage box for export. With 6 independent experiments of gamma irradiation on the three lily cultivars, cvs. Siberia, Le reve and Sorbonne, incidence and severity of lily leaf blight was investigated on leaves and petals at 8-d after infection. 200 Gy of gamma irradiation decreased at 13-25% of severity on the leaf of Sorbonne, but it increased at 2-5% of severity on the leaf of Siberia and Le reve. Chemical substitutes such as NSS and NaDCC were not effective to control of lily blight on cuttings. By 200 Gy of gamma irradiation treatment, chlorophyll contents were statistically significantly decreased at 12-d after irradiation and the longevities vaselife of fully open flower of Siberia and Sorbonne were increased at 0.4 to 1.2 days. In addition, the relative fresh weights of the gamma irradiated cuttings were severely dried compared to the non-irradiated control. On the other hands, the symptoms of phyto-toxicity of high dose gamma irradiation at 1 or 2 kGy on cv. Siberia were to be blight at the tip of bloom, bent necks of flower, and delayed the process of flowering.

This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of leaf rot and leaf ring spot, caused by Rhizoctonia solani in Chinese cabbage under seedling nursery and cultivation greenhouses. Symptoms of leaf rot and leaf ring spot were found in three Chinese cabbage cultivars, Brassica campestris subsp. pekinensis, ‘Ryeokgwang’, ‘Daetong’, and ‘CR mat’. In Hwacheon, the disease incidence was 73.8% in the seedling stage of the Chinese cabbage. In Icheon, the symptoms were observed on the upper leaves of the Chinese cabbage cultivar, ‘Norangmini’ with 20.5% of disease incidence. The symptoms appeared as primary lesions consisting of small, circular necrotic ring spots with gray color, 1.4−3.0 mm in diameter, accompanied by secondary rot lesions with large irregular borders of leaves. The color of mycelial mat of 20 isolates was dark brown and light brown. The average hyphal diameter of all the isolates was within 5.01−11.12 μm. Among the 20 strains isolated from Chinese cabbage, 16 isolates and four isolates anastomosed with the AG-1 (IB) and AG-1 (IC), respectively. Twenty isolates tested were only virulent on foliage parts of Chinese cabbage leaves but were avirulent on stem parts of the plants. Based on the mycological characteristics and pathogenicity test on host plants, the fungus was identified as Rhizoctonia solani.

This study was conducted to determine the Phytophthora rot resistance of 514 accessions of watermelon germplasm, Citrullus lanatus var lanatus. About 46% of the 514 accessions tested were collections from Uzbekistan, Turkey, China, U.S.A., and Ukraine. Phytophthora capsici was inoculated to 45-day-old watermelon seedlings by drenching with 5 ml of sporangial suspension (10⁶ sporangia/ml). At 7 days after inoculation, 21 accessions showed no disease symptoms while 291 accessions of susceptible watermelon germplasm showed more than 60.1% disease severity. A total of 510 accessions of watermelon germplasm showed significant disease symptoms and were rated as susceptible to highly susceptible 35 days after inoculation. The highly susceptible watermelon germplasm exhibited white fungal hyphae on the lesion or damping off with water-soaked and browning symptoms. One accession (IT032840) showed moderate resistance and two accessions (IT185446 and IT187904) were resistant to P. capsici. Results suggest that these two resistant germplasm can be used as a rootstock and as a source of resistance in breeding resistant watermelon varieties against Phytophthora.

A 54-year-old female was suffering from cold-induced Raynaud's attacks in her both hands with symptoms most severe in her left hand. As the patient did not respond to previous medical treatments and endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, we performed percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency thoracic sympathicotomy at the left T3 vertebral level. After the procedure, the patient obtained a long duration of symptom relief over 3 years. Percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency T3 sympathicotomy is minimally invasive and effective technique by creating large continuous strip lesion.

A 51-year-old man with a 1-month history of lower back pain and radiating pain visited to our pain clinic. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan demonstrated a cyst like mass at the level of the L4-5 interspace and compression of the thecal sac and the nerve root on the right side. We performed percutaneous needle aspiration of the lumbar zygapophyseal joint synovial cyst under fluoroscopic guidance. The patient felt an immediate relief of symptoms after the aspiration, and had no signs or symptoms of recurrence at the follow-up 6 months later. No demonstrable lesion was found in the 6 months follow-up MRI.

The larva of Galleria mellonella is widely used as a model organism for in vivo toxicology and pathogenicity testing. Here, we report complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) from G. mellonella, which is comprised of 15,320 base pairs encoding 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and an A + T rich region. The overall base composition was G + C: 19.6%, A + T: 80.4%, with an apparent AT bias. Phylogenetic analysis using whole mitogenome revealed that G. mellonella was closely related to Corcyra cephalonica, which is in the same Pyralidae family.

Pyrhila pisum is known as leucosiid crab. So far, there is no study about whole mitochondrial genome in Leucosiidae family. Here, we report first the complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome from P. pisum, which is composed of 15,516 base pair encoding 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs, two ribosomal RNAs, and A + T-rich region. The nucleotide composition of P. pisum was G + C: 25.5%, A + T: 74.5%, with a strong AT bias. In phylogenetic analysis using whole mitogenome, it was figured out that P. pisum was closely related to Sesarma neglectum but their family is different.

A 68-year-old woman suffered from lower back and radiating pain on her right buttock and posterior calf. Axial magnetic resonance imaging showed a 7 × 7 mm nodular lesion (T1 and, T2 low signal intensity) at the epidural space between the L5-S1 level and computed tomography revealed it was an epidural gas cyst. The authors performed an epidural block and percutaneous needle aspiration of the epidural gas cyst. The patient showed almost complete resolution of symptoms one year later. The authors suggest that an epidural nerve block with needle aspiration of a gas cyst could be an alternative treatment option for patients with a symptomatic epidural gas cyst before surgery.

Background: The diminished executive control along with cue-reactivity has been suggested to play an important role in addiction. Hear rate variability (HRV), which is related to the autonomic nervous system, is a useful biomarker that can reflect cognitive-emotional responses to stimuli. In this study, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) subjects’ autonomic response to gaming-related cues was evaluated by measuring HRV changes in exposure to gaming situation. We investigated whether this HRV reactivity can significantly classify the categorical classification according to the severity of IGD. Methods: The present study included 70 subjects and classified them into 4 classes (normal, mild, moderate and severe) according to their IGD severity. We measured HRV for 5  min after the start of their preferred Internet game to reflect the autonomic response upon exposure to gaming. The neural parameters of deep learning model were trained using time-frequency parameters of HRV. Using the Class Activation Mapping (CAM) algorithm, we analyzed whether the deep learning model could predict the severity classification of IGD and which areas of the time-frequency series were mainly involved. Results: The trained deep learning model showed an accuracy of 95.10% and F-1 scores of 0.995 (normal), 0.994 (mild), 0.995 (moderate), and 0.999 (severe) for the four classes of IGD severity classification. As a result of checking the input of the deep learning model using the CAM algorithm, the high frequency (HF)-HRV was related to the severity classification of IGD. In the case of severe IGD, low frequency (LF)-HRV as well as HF-HRV were identified as regions of interest in the deep learning model. Conclusion: In a deep learning model using the time-frequency HRV data, a significant predictor of IGD severity classification was parasympathetic tone reactivity when exposed to gaming situations. The reactivity of the sympathetic tone for the gaming situation could predict only the severe group of IGD. This study suggests that the autonomic response to the game-related cues can reflect the addiction status to the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]