Radiographic Comparison of Open and Minimally Invasive Distal Chevron Metatarsal Osteotomy in Patients With Hallux Valgus.

This study aimed to compare radiographic outcomes of open and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in patients with hallux valgus. We reviewed data of patients with hallux valgus who underwent open or minimally invasive distal chevron osteotomy at our institution. Radiographic assessment was completed preoperatively, immediate postoperatively, and one year postoperatively using eight weight bearing parameters . The classic distal chevron osteotomy method was used for open surgery and a modified method that added percutaneous K-wire fixation to the minimal invasive Chevron-Akin (third-generation MIS) was used for correction of the distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA). A total of 65 feet (33 open surgeries and 32 MIS) were included. The HVA, IMA, and DMAA improved significantly following surgery regardless of surgical method (p<0.001). Other radiographic indicators showed no statistically significant differences after surgery. DMAA improved by 71.0±14.2% after surgery, and the open surgery group showed less significant reduction in DMAA (49.7±25.7%, p<0.001). Other parameters showed no difference between the two groups regarding relative postoperative changes. The MIS group showed shorter operation time (p<0.001) and hospitalization period (p=0.034) than did the open surgery group. Therefore, the MIS group is expected to be cost-effective. Radiographic measurements revealed comparable outcomes of MIS compared with open surgery. Additionally, adding percutaneous K-wire fixation during MIS had an advantage in correcting DMAA compared with open surgery. Furthermore, the correction of DMAA could reduce recurrence of valgus deformity of the hallux.

Reliability and validity of a mobile application for femoral anteversion measurement in adult patients.

BACKGROUND: Femoral torsion is primarily measured by computed tomography (CT), which has cost and radiation exposure concerns. Recently, femoral anteversion measurement by a simple radiograph-based mobile application was developed for patients with cerebral palsy. This study aimed to validate the use of a mobile application that can reconstruct a three-dimensional model of the femur from conventional radiographs for adults. METHODS: Medical records of 76 patients undergoing conventional femur anteroposterior/lateral radiography and femur CT were reviewed. To measure femoral anteversion on the reconstructed 3-dimensional images from both the mobile application and CT, we drew a line which connects the posterior margins of each femoral condyle and another line which passes through the center of the femoral head and the midpoint of the femoral neck. After the reliability test, a single examiner measured femoral anteversion on the mobile application and CT. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between anteversion on the mobile application and CT. RESULTS: Femoral anteversion measured on both CT and the mobile application showed excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients: 0.808-0.910). The correlation coefficient between femoral anteversion measured using CT and the mobile application was 0.933 (p < 0.001). The correlation of femoral anteversion between CT and the mobile application was relatively higher in the absence of metallic implants (correlation coefficient: 0.963, p < 0.001) than in the presence of metallic implants (correlation coefficient: 0.878, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Using two simple radiographs, the mobile application showed excellent validity and reliability for femoral anteversion measurement in adults as compared to CT. With the high accessibility and cost-effectiveness of this mobile application, femoral torsion measurement might be easily performed with simple radiography in clinical settings in the near future.

Microbial Diversity Analysis of Bupleurum latissimum Nakai from Ulleung-Do of South Korea Using Next-Generation Sequencing.

Bupleurum latissimum Nakai is a rare endemic species native to Ulleung-do in South Korea. This study aimed to report on the rhizosphere soil microbial diversity of B. latissimum. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia were identified in relative abundances of 27.77%, 21.70%, and 15.27%, respectively.

Production of D-Allose From D-Allulose Using Commercial Immobilized Glucose Isomerase.

Rare sugars are regarded as functional biological materials due to their potential applications as low-calorie sweeteners, antioxidants, nucleoside analogs, and immunosuppressants. D-Allose is a rare sugar that has attracted substantial attention in recent years, owing to its pharmaceutical activities, but it is still not widely available. To address this limitation, we continuously produced D-allose from D-allulose using a packed bed reactor with commercial glucose isomerase (Sweetzyme IT). The optimal conditions for D-allose production were determined to be pH 8.0 and 60°C, with 500 g/L D-allulose as a substrate at a dilution rate of 0.24/h. Using these optimum conditions, the commercial glucose isomerase produced an average of 150 g/L D-allose over 20 days, with a productivity of 36 g/L/h and a conversion yield of 30%. This is the first report of the successful continuous production of D-allose from D-allulose by commercial glucose isomerase using a packed bed reactor, which can potentially provide a continuous production system for industrial applications of D-allose.

Cloning and characterization of α-L-rhamnosidase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus and its application in the production of isoquercitrin from rutin.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to characterize recombinant α-L-rhamnosidase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus and apply the enzyme in the production of isoquercitrin from rutin. RESULTS: The α-L-rhamnosidase from C. aurantiacus was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 and purified as a soluble enzyme. α-L-rhamnosidase purified from C. aurantiacus has a molecular mass of approximately 105 kDa and is predicted to exist as a homodimer with a native enzyme of 200 kDa. The purified enzyme exhibited the highest specific activity for rutin among the reported isoquercitrin producing α-L-rhamnosidases and was applied in the production of isoquercitrin from rutin. Under the optimised conditions of pH 6.0, 50 °C, 0.6 U mL-1 α-L-rhamnosidase, and 30 mM rutin, α-L-rhamnosidase from C. aurantiacus produced 30 mM isoquercitrin after 2 h with a 100% conversion yield and productivity of 15 mM h-1. CONCLUSIONS: We achieved a high productivity of isoquercitrin from rutin. Moreover, these results suggest that α-L-rhamnosidase from C. aurantiacus is an effective isoquercitrin producer.

Ectopic Expression of SjCBL1, Calcineurin B-Like 1 Gene From Sedirea japonica, Rescues the Salt and Osmotic Stress Hypersensitivity in Arabidopsis cbl1 Mutant.

Extensive studies with Arabidopsis thaliana suggested that calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins constitute a unique family of calcium sensors in plants, which mediate a variety of abiotic stress responses. However, little is known about their function in most plants that do not have available genome sequences. In this study, we have developed a pair of universal primers that make it possible to isolate CBL1-like genes from various plants without sequence information. Using these primers, we successfully cloned a full-length cDNA of CBL1-like gene in Sedirea japonica (SjCBL1). Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and pull-down assays demonstrated that like Arabidopsis CBL1 (AtCBL1), SjCBL1 can interacts physically with Arabidopsis CBL-interacting protein kinase 1 (AtCIPK1) at the plasma membrane of plant cells in a Ca2+-dependent manner. In addition, overexpression of SjCBL1 in the Arabidopsis cbl1 mutant resulted in not only rescuing the hypersensitive phenotype toward salt and osmotic stresses, but also substantially enhancing the tolerance to them. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that SjCBL1 is a functional ortholog of AtCBL1 in Sedirea japonica, which can play a critical role in response to salt and osmotic stresses. Therefore, it is clear that our findings should significantly contribute to broadening and deepening our understanding of the CBL1-mediated Ca2+ signaling networks in the plant kingdom.

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Populus davidiana Dode.

This study sequenced the entire mitochondrial genome of Populus davidiana Dode. It was 779,361 bp in length, containing 33 protein-coding genes, 3 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes and 1 pseudogene, and its GC content was 44.8%. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted using 6 mitochondrial genomes from the Salicaceae and Euphorbiaceae families, resulting that P. davidiana Dode was closely related to Populus tremula and Populus tremula × Populus alba. These results will provide fundamental data for the evolutionary studies in Populus genus.

Calcineurin B-like Protein CBL10 Directly Interacts with TOC34 (Translocon of the Outer Membrane of the Chloroplasts) and Decreases Its GTPase Activity in Arabidopsis.

As calcium sensor relays in plants, calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins provide an important contribution to decoding Ca2+ signatures elicited by a variety of abiotic stresses. Currently, it is well known that CBLs perceive and transmit the Ca2+ signals mainly to a group of serine/threonine protein kinases called CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, we report that the CBL10 member of this family has a novel interaction partner besides the CIPK proteins. Yeast two-hybrid screening with CBL10 as bait identified an Arabidopsis cDNA clone encoding a TOC34 protein, which is a member of the TOC (Translocon of the Outer membrane of the Chloroplasts) complex and possesses the GTPase activity. Further analyses showed that in addition to CBL10, CBL7 also interacts with TOC34 at much lower strength in the yeast two-hybrid system. However, the rest of the CBL family members failed to interact with TOC34. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analysis verified that the CBL10-TOC34 interaction occurs at the outer membrane of chloroplasts in vivo. In addition, we also demonstrated that CBL10 physically associates with TOC34 in vitro, resulting in a significant decrease in the GTPase activity of the TOC34 protein. Taken together, our findings clearly indicate that a member of the CBL family, CBL10, can modulate not only the CIPK members but also TOC34, allowing the CBL family to relay the Ca2+ signals in more diverse ways than currently known.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Populus davidiana Dode.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Populus davidiana Dode was determined in this study. The cpDNA was 155,853 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 27,571 bp each separated by a large and small single copy (LSC and SSC) regions of 84,127 bp and 16,584 bp, respectively. The cpDNA contained 130 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes and 37 transfer RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated P. davidiana was mostly close to Populus tremula, widely distributed in Europe and Populus tremula × alba.

Calcineurin B-like 3 calcium sensor associates with and inhibits 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase 2 in Arabidopsis.

Calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins constitute a unique family of calcium sensor relays in plants. It is well known that CBLs detect the calcium signals elicited by a variety of abiotic stresses and relay the information to a group of serine/threonine protein kinases called CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, we found that a few CBL members can also target another group of enzymes 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidases (MTANs), which are encoded by two genes in Arabidopsis, AtMTAN1 and AtMTAN2. In the yeast two-hybrid system, AtMTAN1 interacted with multiple CBL members such as CBL2, CBL3 and CBL6, whereas AtMTAN2 associated exclusively with CBL3. We further demonstrated that the CBL3-AtMTAN2 association occurs in a calcium-dependent manner, which results in a significant decrease in the enzyme activity of the AtMTAN2 protein. Taken together, these results clearly indicate that the CBL family can target at least two distinct groups of enzymes (CIPKs and MTANs), conferring an additional level of complexity on the CBL-mediated signaling networks. In addition, our finding also provides a novel molecular mechanism by which calcium signals are transduced to alter metabolite profiles in plants.