Transcriptomics of the Sea Anemone Reveals Unique Adaptive Strategies to Shallow-Water Hydrothermal Vent.

The nonsymbiotic sea anemone dominates the shallow-water hydrothermal vents off the coast of Kueishan Island, Taiwan. These vents represent some of the world's most extreme environments, with recorded pH values as low as 1.52 and temperatures reaching 121°C.

Development and validation of an artificial intelligence assisted prenatal ultrasonography screening system for trainees.

Objective: Fetal anomaly screening via ultrasonography, which involves capturing and interpreting standard views, is highly challenging for inexperienced operators. We aimed to develop and validate a prenatal-screening artificial intelligence system (PSAIS) for real-time evaluation of the quality of anatomical images, indicating existing and missing structures.

Methods: Still ultrasonographic images obtained from fetuses of 18-32 weeks of gestation between 2017 and 2018 were used to develop PSAIS based on YOLOv3 with global (anatomic site) and local (structures) feature extraction that could evaluate the image quality and indicate existing and missing structures in the fetal anatomical images.

Lonicerae Japonicae Flos Attenuates Neutrophilic Inflammation by Inhibiting Oxidative Stress.

Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJ) is an Asian traditional herb that is used as a dietary supplement, tea, and beverage to clear heat and quench thirst. However, no studies investigated its effect on activated human neutrophils, which played a crucial role in the bad prognosis of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) patients by aggravating lung inflammation and respiratory failure. Herein, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of LJ ethanol extract (LJEE) on human neutrophils activated by -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLF).

Mass spectrometry of short peptides reveals common features of metazoan peptidergic neurons.

The evolutionary origins of neurons remain unknown. Although recent genome data of extant early-branching animals have shown that neural genes existed in the common ancestor of animals, the physiological and genetic properties of neurons in the early evolutionary phase are still unclear. Here, we performed a mass spectrometry-based comprehensive survey of short peptides from early-branching lineages Cnidaria, Porifera and Ctenophora.

Death anxiety as mediator of relationship between renunciation of desire and mental health as predicted by Nonself Theory.

In the present paper, we report two studies examining the relationships among renunciation of desires, death anxiety, and mental health. In the first study, we constructed the Desire Questionnaire (DQ), which measures success in renouncing certain desire. The DQ has satisfactory psychometric properties.

Ultrasound in the prediction of birthweight discordance in dichorionic twins.

Introduction: Large birthweight discrepancy has been identified as a risk factor for perinatal morbidity and mortality in twin pregnancies. However, it remains unclear whether such discordance can be predicted by various biological indices with specific cut-off values, and how these depend on the gestational age. We aimed to determine the most effective way to predict large birthweight discordance at various gestational ages.

Evaluation of the clinical diagnostic value of traditional inflammatory markers and novel biomarkers in intracellular bacterial bloodstream infections.

Objectives: The clinical symptoms of the patients with intracellular bacterial bloodstream infections (Intra-bac BSIs) are atypical, and no early and accurate diagnostic biomarkers exist, which can easily lead to misdiagnosis, inappropriate and delayed treatment. Therefore, it is imperative to find novel biomarkers to help clinical diagnosis of Intra-bac BSIs. The present study was initiated to evaluate the diagnostic values of traditional inflammatory biomarkers (PCT, WBC and NEU% in identifying the patients with Intra-bac BSIs, and to further explore into the possibility of using suPAR and sCD14-ST as novel biomarkers for Intra-bac BSIs.

Enlarged cavum septi pellucidi Z-scores in fetuses with trisomy 18.

Objective: We aim to establish a formula calculating the fetal cavum septi pellucidi (CSP) width Z-scores and compare CSP width between the normal fetus and 18-trisomy fetus.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 608 normal fetuses and 71 fetuses with the 18-trisomy syndrome were included. Z-scores were calculated after the acquisition of CSP images.

Evaluation of Cervical Elastography for Prediction of Spontaneous Preterm Birth in Low-Risk Women: A Prospective Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether cervical elastographic parameters in addition to cervical length (CL) during the 3 trimesters of pregnancy would be predictive of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) among low-risk women.

Methods: This work was a prospective nested case-control study evaluating cervical elastographic parameters and CL in low-risk women during the 3 trimesters of pregnancy. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to calculate significant covariates for prediction of sPTB.

Compound Heterozygosity for Novel Truncating Variants in the Gene as the Cause of Polyhydramnios in Two Successive Fetuses.

Polyhydramnios is sometimes associated with genetic defects. However, establishing an accurate diagnosis and pinpointing the precise genetic cause of polyhydramnios in any given case represents a major challenge because it is known to occur in association with over 200 different conditions. Whole exome sequencing (WES) is now a routine part of the clinical workup, particularly with diseases characterized by atypical manifestations and significant genetic heterogeneity.

Transcriptomic analyses highlight the likely metabolic consequences of colonization of a cnidarian host by native or non-native species.

Reef-building corals and some other cnidarians form symbiotic relationships with members of the dinoflagellate family As is a highly diverse taxon, the physiological interactions between its members and their hosts are assumed to differ between associations. The presence of different symbiont types is known to affect expression levels of specific host genes, but knowledge of the effects on the transcriptome more broadly remains limited. In the present study, transcriptome profiling was conducted on the tropical corallimorpharian, following the establishment of symbiosis with either the 'homologous' symbiont (also known as ; ITS2 type C1) or 'heterologous' symbionts (predominantly , which is also known as ; ITS2 type D1a) isolated from a different corallimorpharian host ().

Correction: Resurrecting a subgenus to genus: molecular phylogeny of and (order Scleractinia; family Euphylliidae; clade V).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4074.

Systemic Venous Drainage Is Associated with an Unfavorable Prenatal Behavior in Fetal Bronchopulmonary Sequestration.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the significance of the venous drainage pattern of bronchopulmonary sequestration (BPS) in the prenatal course.

Methods: The venous drainage pattern of fetuses with BPS was determined with high-definition flow and confirmed by postnatal three-dimensional computed tomography angiography scan or autopsy. The volume of BPS lesions during gestation was recorded by the three-dimensional ultrasonographic Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis software.

Resurrecting a subgenus to genus: molecular phylogeny of and (order Scleractinia; family Euphyllidae; clade V).

Background: The corallum is crucial in building coral reefs and in diagnosing systematic relationships in the order Scleractinia. However, molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed a paraphyly in a majority of traditional families and genera among Scleractinia showing that other biological attributes of the coral, such as polyp morphology and reproductive traits, are underutilized. Among scleractinian genera, the , with nine nominal species in the Indo-Pacific region, is one of the groups that await phylogenetic resolution.

Chromosomal and subchromosomal anomalies associated to small for gestational age fetuses with no additional structural anomalies.

Objectives: To assess the chromosomal and subchromosomal anomalies in small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses with no additional structural anomalies and their clinical outcomes.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the 128 SGA fetuses with no additional anomalies and underwent genetic testing with karyotyping and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Stratified analysis was performed according to the existence of maternal risk factors for SGA (yes or no), gestational age at onset (before or after 32 weeks), presence of oligohydraminos (yes or no), and umbilical artery Doppler flow (normal or abnormal).

FOXK2, regulted by miR-1271-5p, promotes cell growth and indicates unfavorable prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The forkhead transcription factor FOXK2 has been implicated in the progression of human cancers, but its role and clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been explored. Here we showed that FOXK2 expression was increased and associated with tumor size, TNM stage and vascular invasion. High FOXK2 expression was correlated with poor overall and disease-free survival in two independent cohorts consisting of 864 patients with HCC.

Fetal right aortic arch: associated anomalies, genetic anomalies with chromosomal microarray analysis, and postnatal outcome.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the associated prenatal findings, genetic anomalies with chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and postnatal outcome of fetal right aortic arch (RAA).

Methods: This retrospective study reviewed 92 fetuses diagnosed with RAA and the findings of CMA using Affymetrix CytoScan HD array in our institution between 2013 and 2016.

Results: Postnatal data were not available for six cases, and genetic data were not available for 26 cases.

Analyses of Corallimorpharian Transcriptomes Provide New Perspectives on the Evolution of Calcification in the Scleractinia (Corals).

Corallimorpharians (coral-like anemones) have a close phylogenetic relationship with scleractinians (hard corals) and can potentially provide novel perspectives on the evolution of biomineralization within the anthozoan subclass Hexacorallia. A survey of the transcriptomes of three representative corallimorpharians led to the identification of homologs of some skeletal organic matrix proteins (SOMPs) previously considered to be restricted to corals.Carbonic anhydrases (CAs), which are ubiquitous proteins involved in CO2 trafficking, are involved in both coral calcification and photosynthesis by endosymbiotic Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae).