A Bayesian Generalized Linear Model for Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Incidents

Global spread of the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a fatal viral infection disease found in parts of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Middle East, with a fatality rate of up to 30%. A timely prediction of the prevalence of CCHF incidents is highly desirable, while CCHF incidents often exhibit nonlinearity in both temporal and spatial features. However, the modeling of discrete incidents is not trivial. Moreover, the CCHF incidents are monthly observed in a long period and take a nonlinear pattern over a region at each time point. Hence, the estimation and the data assimilation for incidents require extensive computations. In this paper, using the data augmentation with latent variables, we propose to utilize a dynamically weighted particle filter to take advantage of its population controlling feature in data assimilation. We apply our approach in an analysis of monthly CCHF incidents data collected in Turkey between 2004 and 2012. The results indicate that CCHF incidents are higher at Northern Central Turkey during summer and that some beforehand interventions to stop the propagation are recommendable. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear on-line.     

A simple method for squeezing juice from rice stems and its use in the high-throughput analysis of sugar content in rice stems

Sugar content in rice (Oryza sativa L.) stem is an agronomically important trait for rice used in straw silage or whole-crop silage. However, the mechanisms underlying sugar accumulation in rice stems remain unclear, mainly due to the time-consuming method for measuring sugar content. Here, we established a simple method for squeezing stem juice from rice plants, similar to that used during breeding selection in sugarcane or sorghum. The Brix value of the stem juice, which can easily be measured using a portable refractometer, significantly correlated with the soluble sugar contents in the stem juice and tended to correlate with those in stem tissues. This indicates that the Brix value of the stem juice can be used for estimating the sugar content in rice stems. This simple estimation method will be a useful tool for high-throughput analysis of sugar content in rice stems during mutant screening, QTL analysis, and breeding selection.     

Modification of SWAT auto-calibration for accurate flow estimation at all flow regimes

To secure accuracy in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) simulation for various hydrology and water quality studies, calibration and validation should be performed. When calibrating and validating the SWAT model with measured data, the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) is widely used, and is also used as a goal function of auto-calibration in the current SWAT model (SWAT ver. 2009). However, the NSE value has been known to be influenced by high values within a given dataset, at the cost of the accuracy in estimated lower flow values. Furthermore, the NSE is unable to consider direct runoff and baseflow separately. In this study, the existing SWAT auto-calibration was modified with direct runoff separation and flow clustering calibration, and current and modified SWAT auto-calibration were applied to the Soyanggang-dam watershed in South Korea. As a result, the NSE values for total streamflow, high flow, and low flow groups in direct runoff, and baseflow estimated through modified SWAT auto-calibration were 0.84, 0.34, 0.09, and 0.90, respectively. The NSE values of current SWAT auto-calibration were 0.83, 0.47, ?0.14, and 0.90, respectively. As shown in this study, the modified SWAT auto-calibration shows better calibration results than current SWAT auto-calibration. With these capabilities, the SWAT-estimated flow matched the measured flow data well for the entire flow regime. The modified SWAT auto-calibration module developed in this study will provide a very efficient tool for the accurate simulation of hydrology, sediment transport, and water quality with no additional input datasets.     

Topical tacrolimus (FK506) for the treatment of feline idiopathic facial dermatitis

A 3-year-old, neutered male Persian cat with chronic ulcerative facial dermatitis was diagnosed with feline idiopathic facial dermatitis based on signalment, clinical history and diagnostic test results, including dermatohistopathological evaluation. Initial treatment started with 4 weeks of oral antifungal/antibiotic medication for severe secondary infectious dermatitis of Malassezia and bacteria. As the lesions gradually improved, the oral medication was withdrawn, leaving only 0.1% topical FK506 (tacrolimus) ointment for the remaining lesions. Topical treatment was administered just in case any new lesions developed. The patient has been managed effectively with topical tacrolimus and no side-effects were observed during treatment. Feline idiopathic facial dermatitis is known as a difficult dermatosis to manage successfully, but our experience suggests that it may respond to topical tacrolimus.     

Integrating remote sensing and GIS for prediction of rice protein contents

In this study, protein content (PC) of brown rice before harvest was established by remote sensing (RS) and analyzed to select the key management factors that cause variation of PC using a GIS database. The possibility of finding out the key management factors using GreenNDVI was tested by combining RS and a GIS database. The study site was located at Yagi basin (Japan) and PC for seven districts (85 fields) in 2006 and nine districts (73 fields) in 2007 was investigated by a rice grain taste analyzer. There was spatial variability between districts and temporal variability within the same fields. PC was predicted by the average of GreenNDVI at sampling points (Point GreenNDVI) and in the field (Field GreenNDVI). The accuracy of the Point GreenNDVI model (r ² > 0.424, RMSE < 0.256%) was better than for the Field GreenNDVI model (r ² > 0.250, RMSE < 0.298%). A general-purpose model (r ² = 0.392, RMSE = 0.255%) was established using 2 years data. In the GIS database, PC was separated into two parts to compare the difference in PC between the upper (mean + 0.5SD) and lower (mean − 0.5SD) parts. Differences in PC were significant depending on the effective cumulative temperature (ECT) from transplanting to harvest (Factor 4) in 2007 but not in 2006. Because of the difference in ECT depending on vegetation term (from transplanting to sampling), PC was separated into two groups based on the mean value of ECT as the upper (UMECT) and lower (LMECT) groups. In 2007, there were significant differences in PC at LMECT group between upper and lower parts depending on the ECT from transplanting to last top-dressing (Factor 2), the amount of nitrogen fertilizer at top-dressing (Factor 3) and Factor 4. When the farmers would have changed their field management, it would have been possible to decrease protein contents. Using the combination of RS and GIS in 2006, it was possible to select the key management factor by the difference in the Field GreenNDVI.     

Nutritional Properties of Various Tissues from New Kenaf Cultivars

Kenaf is an economically important crop that contains various functional compounds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional properties of leaves, stem bark, flowers, and seeds collected from three mutant kenaf cultivars (Jangdae, Baekma, and Jeokbong) and two original cultivars (Jinju and C14). For all analyzed tissues, there were no significant differences in the proximate compositions (moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, ash, and nitrogen-free extract) among the tested genotypes, except for the leaf crude protein content, which was highest in Jinju plants. Of the tested minerals, potassium and calcium were the most abundant in all tissues. Additionally, we detected significant differences in the mineral contents (e.g., calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron) of various tissues in all cultivars. Proline and phenylalanine were the major amino acids detected in leaves, and the highest total amino acid (TAA) and essential amino acid (EAA) contents were observed in Jinju plants. The TAA and EAA contents were lower in stem bark than in the other tissues, except in Baekma plants, in which the lowest levels were observed in flowers. Moreover, the TAA and EAA contents were approximately 20 times lower in white flowers (Baekma) than in ivory flowers. Furthermore, the highest TAA and EAA concentrations were observed in Jangdae seeds. These results may be useful for identifying the optimal cultivar and tissues for use in food products.     

64-Channel multi-detector row CT angiographic evaluation of the micropigs for potential living donor lung transplantation

Micropigs are the most likely source animals for xenotransplantation. However, an appropriate method for evaluating the lung of micropigs had not been established. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of 64-channel multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) to measure the diameter of the pulmonary arteries and the lung volume in micropigs. The mean diameters of the trachea, and left and right bronchi were 1.6 ± 0.17, 1.18 ± 0.14, and 1.1 ± 0.11 cm, respectively. The mean diameters of the main, right, and left pulmonary arteries were 1.38 ± 0.09, 1.07 ± 0.26, and 0.98 ± 0.13 cm and the diameters of right, left, and common inferior pulmonary veins were 0.97 ± 0.20, 0.76 ± 0.20, and 1.99 ± 0.26 cm, respectively. The mean lung volume was 820.3 ± 77.11 mL. The data presented in this study suggest that the MDCT may be a noninvasive, rapid, and accurate investigational method for pulmonary anatomy in living lung donors.     

Mass production of rubusoside using a novel stevioside-specific β-glucosidase from Aspergillus aculeatus

Rubusoside (R) is a natural sweetener and a solubilizing agent with antiangiogenic and antiallergic properties. However, currently, its production is quite expensive, and therefore, we have investigated nine commercially available glycosidases to optimize an economically viable R-production method. A stevioside (ST)-specific β-glucosidase (SSGase) was selected and purified 7-fold from Aspergillus aculeatus Viscozyme L by a two-step column chromatography procedure. The 79 kDa protein was stable from pH 3.0 to pH 7.0 at 50-60 °C. Hydrolysis of ST by SSGase produced R and steviol monoglucosyl ester as determined by (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Importantly, SSGase showed higher activity toward ST than other β-linked glucobioses. The optimal conditions for R production were 280 mM ST and 16.6 μL of SSGase at pH 5.1 and 63 °C. This is the first discussion detailing the production of R by enzymatic hydrolysis of ST and is useful for the food additive and pharmaceutical industries.     

Influenza virus neuraminidase inhibitory activity of phlorotannins from the edible brown alga Ecklonia cava

Influenza A virus infections continue to pose a major threat to humans and several animal species. Neuraminidase (NA) is one of the most promising targets for the development of drugs against influenza viruses because of its critical role in the viral life cycle. During the course of a search for NA inhibitors from edible natural sources, we found that the ethyl acetate layer of ethanol extracts of Ecklonia cava showed extremely high NA-inhibitory activity (72.1% inhibition at 30 μg/mL). Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate layer yielded five phlorotannins, identified as phloroglucinol (1), eckol (2), 7-phloroeckol (3), phlorofucofuroeckol (4), and dieckol (5). The inhibitory activities of these compounds (1-5) against NAs from group-1 (A/Bervig_Mission/1/18 [H1N1], A/PR/8/34 [H1N1]) and group-2 (A/Hong Kong/8/68 [H3N2], A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/96 [H9N2]) influenza A were evaluated to determine potencies and kinetic behavior. Analyses using various in vitro influenza A virus NA assays showed that all five phlorotannin derivatives were selective NA inhibitors. Of the phlorotannins, phlorofucofuroeckol (4) exhibited the most potent inhibitory activities toward group-1 NAs (IC?? values, 4.5 and 14.7 μM), whereas dieckol (5) potently inhibited group-2 NAs. Kinetic analyses indicated that compounds 1-5 were all noncompetitive. Notably, these noncompetitive inhibitors synergized with oseltamivir to enhance the NA-inhibitory effects of oseltamivir.