Life-Basel最新文献

Phylogenetic metrics can separate two complementary biodiversity dimensions: the amount of evolutionary history retained in a community (Faith's phylogenetic diversity, PD) and community assembly signals expressed as departures from null expectations in phylogenetic relatedness (standardized effect size of mean pairwise phylogenetic distance, SES.MPD). However, at the individual-forest scale-where conservation and management decisions are implemented-the key drivers and linked pathways controlling these two dimensions often remain unclear. Here, PD and SES.MPD were quantified for 96 20 × 20 m forest plots spanning broadleaved, conifer, and subalpine forests on Mt. Gariwang, South Korea. Community phylogenies were generated and related to elevation, stand age class, soil fertility, species richness, and community-weighted mean (CWM) traits (specific leaf area, SLA; wood density, WD) using information-theoretic multimodel inference and piecewise structural equation modeling. PD and SES.MPD differed significantly among forest types, but were governed by distinct controls. PD was most strongly and negatively associated with CWM.WD, indicating that dominance by high-wood-density strategies coincided with reduced retained evolutionary history. In contrast, SES.MPD was primarily negatively associated with CWM.SLA and species richness, with soil fertility influencing SES.MPD indirectly via SLA; stand age class showed limited explanatory power. Overall, these results demonstrate decoupled drivers of evolutionary-history retention versus assembly-related coexistence structure and identify management-relevant levers at the individual-forest scale, highlighting the importance of trait dominance and soil-trait pathways in addition to forest type.

Despite the global increase in cat ownership, some cats exhibit owner-directed aggression, resulting in caregiver injury, infection, and anxiety. Severe cases are commonly treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine; however, adverse effects, particularly transient anorexia, often discourage treatment initiation. Cannabidiol (CBD), a natural compound with reported anxiolytic properties and minimal anorexic effects, may represent an alternative therapy. This study aimed to characterise owner-directed feline aggression in Thailand, identify associated factors, and compare the efficacy of CBD with fluoxetine. Most caregivers were females aged 20-40 years, and most cats were neutered mixed-breeds aged 1-6 years living indoors in multi-human and multi-cat households. For demographic variables, only human-cat interactions (e.g., petting) were significantly associated with aggression. Handling-induced aggression was universal, with grooming as the most common trigger (56%). In a single-blind, 4-8-week trial, 100 cats were randomly assigned to control, CBD 1 mg/kg/day, CBD 2 mg/kg/day, fluoxetine 0.5-1 mg/kg/day, or combined CBD and fluoxetine. Aggression scores decreased significantly in all treatment groups compared with control (p < 0.05), with no differences among active treatments. CBD at 1 mg/kg/day showed efficacy comparable to fluoxetine without anorexic effects.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of central vision loss in aging populations. Geographic atrophy (GA) is the advanced, non-neovascular form of AMD. Predicting the longitudinal progression of GA remains a critical challenge in ophthalmic clinical practice and clinical trial design. Forecasting the trajectory of GA is complicated by highly variable growth rates and the inherent scarcity of long-term, high-quality imaging data. To address these challenges, we introduce the Sliding Window Attention U-Net (SWAU-Net), a hybrid architecture that integrates Transformer-based temporal modeling of GA growth with precise spatial modeling of GA location with a U-Net convolutional neural network (CNN). To ensure generalization in the low-data regime, SWAU-Net embeds explicit temporal and geometric consistency priors via a weight-shared Sliding Window Attention core and feature-level regularization that preserves sparse, high-frequency lesion boundaries across frames. Experimental results demonstrate that these structural constraints prevent the model from overfitting to imaging noise, achieving a Growth Mask Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.66 (representing the spatial overlap between the predicted and ground truth lesion expansion regions), a significant improvement over unregularized Transformer and standard recurrent baseline models. Our framework provides a robust tool for predicting GA lesion trajectories, potentially supporting more efficient clinical trial designs and personalized patient monitoring.

Nanobiotechnology, defined as the application of nanotechnology in biology and medicine, refers to the use of nanometric structures to solve complex clinical problems through precise interaction at the molecular level. Nanostructures such as lipid, polymer, and metallic nanoparticles offer unique properties that enable improved therapeutic and diagnostic efficacy and the integration of diagnostic and therapeutic functions within the concept of theranostics. Major applications of nanobiotechnology include targeted drug delivery in cancer, infection, and gene therapy; advanced molecular diagnostics and biosensors; tissue engineering and regeneration; and immune system modulation through modern nanotechnology-based vaccines and immunotherapies. The clinical significance of these technologies lies in their ability to improve drug bioavailability, minimize adverse effects, increase sensitivity in early disease detection, and support personalized treatment strategies. Nanobiotechnology also contributes to the development of precision medicine by combining diagnostics and therapy within a single nanosystem. Despite promising results, significant challenges remain related to safety, biocompatibility, toxicity, and translation from laboratory studies to clinical applications. Further research is needed to standardize methods, assess the long-term health impact of nanomaterials, and develop regulatory frameworks to fully realize the potential of nanobiotechnology in medicine.

Ensuring a sustainable source of nutritious food is critical for long-duration space missions. Thai landrace rice 466HM exhibits high nutritional value and stress resilience, making it a promising candidate for space cultivation, yet its response to low Earth orbit (LEO) conditions remains poorly understood. This study compared rice grains maintained under terrestrial conditions with grains stored aboard the Shijian-19 (SJ-19) reusable satellite, orbiting at ~336 km for 13.5 days under microgravity (2^-7 × 10^-7g) and an absorbed radiation dose of ~0.153 rad (Si). Volatile compound profiling, texture analysis of cooked grains, and simulated gastrointestinal digestion followed by peptide mass fingerprinting were performed. LEO-exposed rice grains exhibited a 1.67-fold increase in adhesiveness compared to Earth-based rice (p < 0.01), while hardness remained unchanged between the two groups (p > 0.05), alongside distinct alterations in flavor-related volatile compounds and peptide profiles. Principal component analysis revealed clear separation between Earth and LEO-exposed samples, indicating microgravity-associated shifts in digestible peptide composition. Cytotoxicity assessment using MTT assays in HT-29 and HepG2 cells confirmed the safety of both rice types. These findings demonstrate that orbital conditions influence the compositional, functional, and sensory attributes of rice, providing insights relevant to space agriculture and astronaut nutrition.

Obesity is a major health problem in developed countries and a growing one in the developing world [...].

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis represents a chronic, progressive, lethal lung disease of various etiologies exerting a dramatic impact on patients' survival and quality of life. Its increasing prevalence and high mortality rates indicate the importance of early diagnosis and management involving the assessment of specific comorbidities, such as lung cancer. Emerging evidence suggests that in the context of IPF, lung scarring may be a potential risk factor for lung cancer development. Both disease entities present pathogenic commonalities including genetic and epigenetic markers, signaling pathways and cell transformation obtaining mesenchymal phenotypes. Beyond understanding disease pathogenesis, anti-cancer drugs such as nintedanib have been successfully used to treat patients with IPF. Additionally, a therapeutic approach that includes a mix of various pleiotropic anti-fibrotic agents is currently being developed for IPF treatment. Currently, there is no consensus on the application of therapeutic algorithms in concurrent pulmonary fibrosis and lung tumors. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on common cellular and molecular pathogenetic mechanisms of IPF and lung cancer and highlights potential therapeutic targets with fruitful results.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with increased vulnerability to depression and other affective disturbances, potentially mediated by neurobiological alterations in the serotonergic brainstem raphe nuclei. This study examined whether raphe hypoechogenicity, assessed by transcranial sonography, is associated with depressive, anxiety, and sleep-related symptoms in individuals with T2DM, and whether such alterations are linked to diabetes-related complications.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 230 participants with T2DM and non-diabetic controls. Raphe echogenicity was assessed using transcranial sonography (TCS), and mental health outcomes were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the Emotional Well-Being Questionnaire (EWQ). To address demographic imbalance, analyses were repeated in a propensity score-adjusted subsample (n = 89).

Results: Raphe hypoechogenicity was associated with higher insomnia scores (EWQ6; β = 0.67, p = 0.01); however, this association was attenuated to non-significance after adjustment for sleep medication use and did not survive correction for multiple comparisons, and no associations were observed with PHQ-9 or other EWQ subscales. The participants with hypoechogenic raphe also exhibited a higher prevalence of other diabetes-related complications (32% vs. 7%, p = 0.03).

Conclusions: In this exploratory cross-sectional sample, reduced raphe echogenicity was not associated with overall depressive or anxiety symptom severity, but was associated with higher self-reported sleep-related symptom burden. However, this association was not robust to adjustment for sleep medication use or to correction for multiple comparisons. These findings are hypothesis-generating and require replication in larger, longitudinal and medication-naive cohorts using standardized sleep instruments.

Background: Inadvertent arterial cannulation during central venous catheter placement is a recognized complication with potentially serious consequences, particularly when involving large-caliber catheters. While management strategies have evolved from mandatory surgical repair to various percutaneous approaches, limited data exist regarding collagen-based vascular closure devices for large-bore carotid arteriotomies. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 59-year-old male patient with acute Stanford Type A aortic dissection who underwent emergency surgical repair of the ascending aorta. During central venous cannulation, a five-lumen Certofix Quinto catheter (12-French outer diameter) was inadvertently inserted into the left common carotid artery. Given the complexity of concurrent cardiac surgery and the large-bore nature of the arteriotomy, percutaneous closure with an 18-French MANTA vascular closure device was successfully performed following completion of the aortic repair. The procedure achieved immediate hemostasis without complications. Outcomes: The patient remained neurologically intact throughout a 12-month follow-up period. Serial duplex ultrasonography and computed tomography angiography confirmed carotid artery patency without evidence of stenosis, dissection, pseudoaneurysm formation, or thromboembolic complications. Conclusions: This case demonstrates the technical feasibility of using a collagen-based vascular closure device for percutaneous management of a large-bore carotid arteriotomy in the acute surgical setting. While the outcome was favorable in this patient, this approach represents an off-label application that requires further validation and should be reserved for carefully selected cases in experienced centers where the benefits of percutaneous closure are judged to outweigh the uncertainties of supra-aortic device deployment.