Evidence for Range Expansion and Origins of an Invasive Hornet Vespa bicolor (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in Taiwan, with Notes on Its Natural Status.

The invasive alien species (IAS) Vespa bicolor is the first reported hornet that has established in Taiwan and is concerning as they prey on honeybee Apis mellifera, which leads to colony losses and public concerns. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the current status of V. bicolor abundance, dispersal, and impact and to trace the origins of Taiwan's V. bicolor population. Our studies took place in five areas in northern to central Taiwan. We used mtDNA in the phylogenetic analyses. Field survey and ecological niche modeling (ENM) were used to understand the origins and current range of the invasive species. Two main subgroups of V. bicolor in the phylogenetic tree were found, and a clade with short branch lengths in Southeastern China and Taiwan formed a subgroup, which shows that the Taiwan population may have invaded from a single event. Evidence shows that V. bicolor is not a severe pest to honeybees in the study area; however, using ENM, we predict the rapid dispersion of this species to the cooler and hilly mountain areas of Taiwan. The management of V. bicolor should also involve considering it a local pest to reduce loss by beekeepers and public fear in Taiwan. Our findings highlight how the government, beekeepers, and researchers alike should be aware of the implications of V. bicolor's rapid range expansion in Taiwan, or in other countries.

Will the Foot Strike Pattern Change at Different Running Speeds with or without Wearing Shoes?

Runners strike their feet with three different patterns during running: forefoot, midfoot, and rearfoot. This study aimed to investigate whether runners maintain consistent patterns while running speed and foot condition change. The foot strike patterns of runners when running on a treadmill at paces ranging from slow to fast were recorded from twenty healthy male regular runners, with and without shoes, in random order. A high-speed camera was used to observe the strike patterns, which were then categorized by an experienced physical therapist. Linear-log and Pearson chi-square analysis with a significance level of α = 0.05 was performed to examine the correlation between foot strike pattern, running speed, and shoe conditions. The results suggest that runners strike with different patterns when running with and without shoes (χ2 = 99.07, p < 0.01); runners preferred to adopt heel strike regardless of running speeds when running with shoes. While running barefoot, only 23.8% of landing strikes were rearfoot, and the strike pattern distribution did not change significantly with the running speed (χ2 = 2.26, p = 0.89). In summary, the foot strike preference of runners is correlated with the foot condition (barefoot or shod) rather than running speed. For runners who intend to change their strike patterns for any reason, we recommend that they consider adjusting their footwear, which may naturally help with the foot strike adjustment. Future studies should attempt to use advanced techniques to observe further foot biomechanics in order to discover if changing strike pattern is directly correlated with lower limb injuries.

Synthesis of Canthardin Sulfanilamides and Their Acid Anhydride Analogues via a Ring-Opening Reaction of Activated Aziridines and Their Associated Pharmacological Effects.

The cantharidinimide derivatives, 5a-h, including sulfanilamides containing pyrimidyl, pyrazinyl, hydrogen, thiazolyl, and oxazolyl groups were synthesized. Modification of cantharidinimide by means of the reaction of activated aziridine ring opening led to the discovery of a novel class of antitumor compounds. The analogues 10i-k, 11l-n, 12o-p, and 16q-s were obtained from treating cantharidinimide 6 and analogues (7, 8, and 13) with activated aziridines, which produced a series of ring-opened products including normal and abnormal types. Some of these compounds showed cytotoxic effects in vitro against HL-60, Hep3B, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. The most potent cytostatic compound, N-cantharidinimido-sulfamethazine (5a), exhibited anti-HL-60 and anti-Hep3B cell activities. Two compounds 5g and 5h displayed slight effects on the Hep3B cell line, while the other compounds produced no response in these four cell lines.

Pculin02H, a curcumin derivative, inhibits proliferation and clinical drug resistance of HER2-overexpressing cancer cells.

Amplification of the HER2 gene (also known as neu or ErbB2) or overexpression of HER2 protein has become a solicitous therapeutic target in metastatic and clinical drug-resistance cancer. In our present work, a new series of curcumin derivatives were designed and synthesized using curcumin as model. Here, we evaluated whether curcumin derivatives have better efficiency to degrade HER2 than curcumin. Among these test compounds, pculin02H had better efficiency to inhibit the expression of HER2 than curcumin. Moreover, pculin02H preferentially suppressed the growth of HER2-overexpressing cancer cell lines. Pculin02H induced G2/M cell cycle arrest followed by apoptosis. Interestingly, our results suggested that a posttranslational mechanism contributed to pculin02H-induced HER2 depletion in HER2-overexpressing cancer cells. We found that pculin02H significantly enhanced the antitumor efficacy of clinical drugs on HER2-overexpressing cancer cells as well as efficiently reduced HER2-induced drug resistance. These findings may provide an alternative preventive or therapeutic strategy against HER2-overexpressing cancer cells.

Synthesis and anticancer activity of a novel series of 9-O-substituted berberine derivatives: a lipophilic substitute role.

To alter its hydrophobicity, a series of compounds bearing 9-O-alkyl- or 9-O-terpenyl- substituted berberine were synthesized and evaluated for anticancer activity against human cancer HepG2 and HT29 cell lines. We found that the lipophilic substitute of 9-O-alkyl- and 9-O-terpenyl berberine derivatives plays a role in inhibiting the human cancer cell growth and its activity could be maximized with the optimized substitute type and chain length. Most strikingly, nonetheless, of the six compounds prepared, sample 8, a farnesyl 9-O-substituted berberine, showed either comparable or better cytotoxic activity against human cancer HepG2 cell line than that of berberine. Compound 8 had also shown a 104-fold antiproliferation activity in compare with berberine against human hepatoma HepG2 cell lines after 48 incubation hours. Further, in Hoechst 33258 and annexin V-FITC/PI staining analyses it induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells at lower concentration than that of berberine for 24h. Take all; farnesyl 9-O-substituted berberine could be a potential candidate for new anticancer drug development.