Atypical cutaneous presentation of AOSD with persistent itchy urticaria: A case report.

RATIONALE: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare multisystem disorder considered a complex autoinflammatory syndrome. The clinical and biological features of AOSD typically include a high fever with arthritic symptoms, evanescent skin rash, sore throat, striking neutrophilic leukocytosis, hyperferritinemia, and abnormal liver function. The typical rash and fever are important diagnostic clues for AOSD. Here, we report a case of atypical rash manifesting as persistent itchy urticaria. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 57-year-old female presented with a 6-day history of fever. During her hospital stay, she progressively developed rashes that were not associated with fever, primarily distributed on her back and the distal extremities, and associated with pronounced itching. The rash was initially suspected to be urticaria; however, the patient exhibited a poor response to antihistamines. After malignancies and other rheumatic diseases were excluded, the diagnosis leaned towards AOSD based on diagnostic criteria. The patient's fever was well controlled with the initiation of glucocorticoids, and no further rashes were observed. DIAGNOSES: Although the patient exhibited atypical rashes, after ruling out malignancies and other rheumatic diseases, she met 2 major and 3 minor criteria. Based on Yamaguchi's criteria, the patient was diagnosed with AOSD. INTERVENTIONS: Initially, the patient was administered an intravenous infusion of methylprednisolone at 40 mg once daily. This was later transitioned to oral administration with gradual dose reduction. OUTCOMES: Follow-up at 1 year showed no recurrence of the rash, with a stable condition and no relapse. LESSONS: This case provides valuable insights for the early diagnosis of AOSD, emphasizing the importance of considering this diagnosis even when presenting with atypical skin rash.

Detecting Pattern Changes in Individual Travel Behavior from Vehicle GPS/GNSS Data.

Although stable in the short term, individual travel behavior generally tends to change over the long term. The ability to detect such changes is important for product and service providers in continuously changing environments. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology that detects changes in the patterns of individual travel behavior from vehicle global positioning system (GPS)/global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data. For this purpose, we first define individual travel behavior patterns in two dimensions: a spatial pattern and a frequency pattern. Then, we develop a method that can detect such patterns from GPS/GNSS data using a clustering algorithm. Finally, we define three basic pattern-change scenarios for individual travel behavior and introduce a pattern-matching metric for detecting these changes. The proposed methodology is tested using GPS datasets from three randomly selected anonymous users, collected by a Chinese automotive manufacturer. The results show that our methodology can successfully identify significant changes in individual travel behavior patterns.

Progress in the study on innate immunity and non-alcohol fatty liver disease. / å›ºæœ‰å ç–«ä¸Žéžé ’ç²¾æ€§è„‚è‚ªè‚çš„ç ”ç©¶è¿›å±•.

The incidence of non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing year by year, and the relevant cardiovascular events have become a major problem in chronic diseases management. The activation of innate immunity is closely related to the development of NAFLD. The immune cells include Kupffer cells, neutrophils, dendritic cells, and natural killer T cells, which acts through the activation of innate immunity-related signals mediated by pattern recognition receptors.

The Significant Impact of Carbon Nanotubes on the Electrochemical Reactivity of Mg-Bearing Metallic Glasses with High Compressive Strength.

Here, we elucidate the significant impact of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the electrochemical behavior of Mg-based amorphous composite materials that were reinforced with CNTs while using pressure die casting. The addition of 3 vol % CNTs led to an increase in the compressive strength of Mg-based amorphous material from 812 MPa to 1007 MPa, and the fracture strain from 1.91% to 2.67% in the composite. Interestingly, the addition of CNTs significantly contributed to the enhancement of corrosion resistance of Mg-based glass by ~30%. The superior mechanical properties are primarily related to the fact that the addition of CNTs hindered the growth of shear bands (cracks), while the high corrosion resistance is related to inferior wettability and the bridging effect between adherent corrosive oxide film and the matrix that provided enhanced corrosion resistance.

Alternariol 9-methyl ether from the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 and its bioactivities

Abstract One bioactive compound, identified as alternariol 9-methyl ether, was isolated from the crude extract of the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 residing in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Alternariol 9-methyl ether was active against bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 25 to 75 µg/mL and median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values ranging from 16.00 to 38.27 µg/mL. The IC50 value of alternariol 9-methyl ether against spore germination of Magnaporthe oryzae was 87.18 µg/mL. Alternariol 9-methyl ether also showed antinematodal activity against Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and Caenorhabditis elegans with IC50 values of 98.17 µg/mL and 74.62 µg/mL, respectively. This work is the first report on alternariol 9-methyl ether and its biological activities from the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 derived from S. miltiorrhiza Bunge. The results indicate the potential of Alternaria sp. Samif01 as a source of alternariol 9-methyl ether and also support that alternariol 9-methyl ether is a natural compound with high potential bioactivity against microorganisms.

Alternariol 9-methyl ether from the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 and its bioactivities.

One bioactive compound, identified as alternariol 9-methyl ether, was isolated from the crude extract of the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 residing in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Alternariol 9-methyl ether was active against bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 25 to 75µg/mL and median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values ranging from 16.00 to 38.27µg/mL. The IC50 value of alternariol 9-methyl ether against spore germination of Magnaporthe oryzae was 87.18µg/mL. Alternariol 9-methyl ether also showed antinematodal activity against Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and Caenorhabditis elegans with IC50 values of 98.17µg/mL and 74.62µg/mL, respectively. This work is the first report on alternariol 9-methyl ether and its biological activities from the endophytic fungus Alternaria sp. Samif01 derived from S. miltiorrhiza Bunge. The results indicate the potential of Alternaria sp. Samif01 as a source of alternariol 9-methyl ether and also support that alternariol 9-methyl ether is a natural compound with high potential bioactivity against microorganisms.

Metabolites from Alternaria fungi and their bioactivities.

Alternaria is a cosmopolitan fungal genus widely distributing in soil and organic matter. It includes saprophytic, endophytic and pathogenic species. At least 268 metabolites from Alternaria fungi have been reported in the past few decades. They mainly include nitrogen-containing metabolites, steroids, terpenoids, pyranones, quinones, and phenolics. This review aims to briefly summarize the structurally different metabolites produced by Alternaria fungi, as well as their occurrences, biological activities and functions. Some considerations related to synthesis, biosynthesis, production and applications of the metabolites from Alternaria fungi are also discussed.

Phenolic compounds from Halimodendron halodendron (Pall.) voss and their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.

Halimodendron halodendron has been used as forage in northwestern China for a long time. Its young leaves and flowers are edible and favored by indigenous people. In this study, eleven phenolic compounds were bioassay-guided and isolated from the aerial parts of H. halodendron for the first time. They were identified by means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis as quercetin (1), 3,5,7,8,4'-pentahydroxy-3'-methoxy flavone (2), 3-O-methylquercetin (3), 3,3'-di-O-methylquercetin (4), 3,3'-di-O-methylquercetin-7-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (5), isorhamentin-3-O-ß-d-rutinoside (6), 8-O-methylretusin (7), 8-O-methylretusin-7-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (8), salicylic acid (9), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (ferulic acid) (10), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamic acid (11). They were sorted as flavonols (1-6), soflavones (7 and 8), and phenolic acids (9-11). Among the compounds, flanools 1-4 revealed a strong antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 50-150 µg/mL, and median inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 26.8-125.1 µg/mL. The two isoflavones (7 and 8) showed moderate inhibitory activity on the test bacteria. Three phenolic acids (9, 10 and 11) showed strong antibacterial activity with IC(50) values of 28.1-149.7 µg/mL. Antifungal activities of the compounds were similar to their antibacterial activities. All these phenolic compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity with a broad spectrum as well as antioxidant activity based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ß-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching assays. In general, the flavonol aglycones with relatively low polarity exhibited stronger activities than the glycosides. The results suggest the potential of this plant as a source of functional food ingredients and provide support data for its utilization as forage as well.

Benzopyranones from the endophytic fungus Hyalodendriella sp. Ponipodef12 and their bioactivities.

The endophytic fungus Hyalodendriella sp. Ponipodef12 was isolated from the hybrid 'Neva' of Populus deltoides Marsh × P. nigra L. In this study, four benzopyranones were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Hyalodendriella sp. Ponipodef12, and identified as palmariol B (1), 4-hydroxymellein (2), alternariol 9-methyl ether (3), and botrallin (4) by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. All the compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial, antifungal, antinematodal and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities. 4-Hydroxymellein (2) exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than the other compounds. Palmariol B (1) showed stronger antimicrobial, antinematodal and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities than alternariol 9-methyl ether (3) which indicated that the chlorine substitution at position 2 may contribute to its bioactivity. The results indicate the potential of this endophytic fungus as a source of bioactive benzopyranones.

Enhancement of diosgenin production in Dioscorea zingiberensis cell cultures by oligosaccharides from its endophytic fungus Fusarium oxysporum Dzf17.

The effects of the oligosaccharides from the endophytic fungus Fusarium oxysporum Dzf17 as elicitors on diosgenin production in cell suspension cultures of its host Dioscorea zingiberensis were investigated. Three oligosaccharides, DP4, DP7 and DP10, were purified from the oligosaccharide fractions DP2-5, DP5-8 and DP8-12, respectively, which were prepared from the water-extracted mycelial polysaccharide of the endophytic fungus F. oxysporum Dzf17. When the cell cultures were treated with fraction DP5-8 at 20 mg/L on day 26 and harvested on day 32, the maximum diosgenin yield (2.187 mg/L) was achieved, which was 5.65-fold of control (0.387 mg/L). When oligosaccharides DP4, DP7 and DP10 were individually added to 26-day-old D. zingiberensis cell cultures at concentrations of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mg/L in medium, DP7 at 6 mg/L was found to significantly enhance diosgenin production, with a yield of 3.202 mg/L, which was 8.27-fold of control. When the cell cultures were treated with DP7 twice on days 24 and 26, and harvested on day 30, both diosgenin content and yield were significantly increased and reached the maximums of 1.159 mg/g dw and 4.843 mg/L, both of which were higher than those of single elicitation, and were 9.19- and 12.38-fold of control, respectively.

Diterpenoid tanshinones and phenolic acids from cultured hairy roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge and their antimicrobial activities.

Four diterpenoid tanshinones and three phenolic acids were isolated from the crude ethanol extract of the cultured hairy roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge by bioassay-guided fractionation. By means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis, they were identified as tanshinone ΙΙA (1), tanshinone Ι (2), cryptotanshinone (3), dihydrotanshinone Ι (4), rosmarinic acid (5), caffeic acid (6), and danshensu (7). These compounds were evaluated to show a broad antimicrobial spectrum of activity on test microorganisms including eight bacterial and one fungal species. Among the four tanshinones, cryptotanshinone (3) and dihydrotanshinone Ι (4) exhibited stronger antimicrobial activity than tanshinone ΙΙA (1) and tanshinone Ι (2). The results indicated that the major portion of the antimicrobial activity was due to the presence of tanshinones and phenolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots, which could be used as the materials for producing antimicrobial agents for use in agricultural practice in the future.