Involvement of HMG-12 and CAR-1 in the cdc-48.1 expression of Caenorhabditis elegans

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry as a diagnostic tool in human and veterinary helminthology: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has become a widely used technique for the rapid and accurate identification of bacteria, mycobacteria and certain fungal pathogens in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Thus far, only few attempts have been made to apply the technique in clinical parasitology, particularly regarding helminth identification.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed the scientific literature on studies pertaining to MALDI-TOF MS as a diagnostic technique for helminths (cestodes, nematodes and trematodes) of medical and veterinary importance. Readily available electronic databases (i.e. PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched from inception to 10 October 2018, without restriction on year of publication or language. The titles and abstracts of studies were screened for eligibility by two independent reviewers. Relevant articles were read in full and included in the systematic review.

RESULTS

A total of 84 peer-reviewed articles were considered for the final analysis. Most papers reported on the application of MALDI-TOF for the study of Caenorhabditis elegans, and the technique was primarily used for identification of specific proteins rather than entire pathogens. Since 2015, a small number of studies documented the successful use of MALDI-TOF MS for species-specific identification of nematodes of human and veterinary importance, such as Trichinella spp. and Dirofilaria spp. However, the quality of available data and the number of examined helminth samples was low.

CONCLUSIONS

Data on the use of MALDI-TOF MS for the diagnosis of helminths are scarce, but recent evidence suggests a potential role for a reliable identification of nematodes. Future research should explore the diagnostic accuracy of MALDI-TOF MS for identification of (i) adult helminths, larvae and eggs shed in faecal samples; and (ii) helminth-related proteins that are detectable in serum or body fluids of infected individuals.

Estimation of Forest Structural Attributes Using Spectral Indices and Point Clouds from UAS-Based Multispectral and RGB Imageries

Forest structural attributes are key indicators for parameterization of forest growth models, which play key roles in understanding the biophysical processes and function of the forest ecosystem. In this study, UAS-based multispectral and RGB imageries were used to estimate forest structural attributes in planted subtropical forests. The point clouds were generated from multispectral and RGB imageries using the digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) approach. Different suits of spectral and structural metrics (i.e., wide-band spectral indices and point cloud metrics) derived from multispectral and RGB imageries were compared and assessed. The selected spectral and structural metrics were used to fit partial least squares (PLS) regression models individually and in combination to estimate forest structural attributes (i.e., Lorey’s mean height (HL) and volume(V)), and the capabilities of multispectral- and RGB-derived spectral and structural metrics in predicting forest structural attributes in various stem density forests were assessed and compared. The results indicated that the derived DAP point clouds had perfect visual effects and that most of the structural metrics extracted from the multispectral DAP point cloud were highly correlated with the metrics derived from the RGB DAP point cloud (R2 > 0.75). Although the models including only spectral indices had the capability to predict forest structural attributes with relatively high accuracies (R2 = 0.56–0.69, relative Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) = 10.88–21.92%), the models with spectral and structural metrics had higher accuracies (R2 = 0.82–0.93, relative RMSE = 4.60–14.17%). Moreover, the models fitted using multispectral- and RGB-derived metrics had similar accuracies (∆R2 = 0–0.02, ∆ relative RMSE = 0.18–0.44%). In addition, the combo models fitted with stratified sample plots had relatively higher accuracies than those fitted with all of the sample plots (∆R2 = 0–0.07, ∆ relative RMSE = 0.49–3.08%), and the accuracies increased with increasing stem density.

Recent advances in p97/VCP/Cdc48 cellular functions

p97/VCP/Cdc48 is one of the best-characterized type II AAA (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities) ATPases. p97 is suggested to be a ubiquitin-selective chaperone and its key function is to disassemble protein complexes. p97 is involved in a wide variety of cellular activities. Recently, novel functions, namely autophagy and mitochondrial quality control, for p97 have been uncovered. p97 was identified as a causative factor for inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia (IBMPFD) and more recently as a causative factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this review, we will summarize and discuss recent progress and topics in p97 functions and the relationship to its associated diseases.