Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century.

Keloids mark a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by a fibroproliferative disorder of the skin. A genome-wide association study showed that single-nucleotide polymorphism rs8032158 in the neural precursor cell-expressed NEDD4 gene, which has six protein-coding transcript variants (TVs), is genetically linked to keloids. Here, we show that the high frequency of risk allele C in rs8032158 in keloid patients is associated with a selectively higher expression of TV3 of NEDD4 to activate the NF-kB pathway. Comparisons of keloid scars with normal skin samples that do not have the single-nucleotide polymorphism allele and were derived from different anatomical sites showed stronger expressions of NEDD4 TV3 and activated forms of NF-kB and STAT3 in keloid scars. Forced expression or selective knockdown of NEDD4 TV3 increased or decreased NF-kB activation in vitro. Furthermore, NEDD4 knockdown suppressed NF-kBedependent inflammation development in vivo. Mechanistic analysis showed that NEDD4 TV3 is involved in NF-kB activation through its association with the adaptor protein RIP. These results suggest that NEDD4 TV3 is a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for chronic skin diseases, including keloid.

Modified microsurgical lymphaticovenous implantation is expected to provide favorable results with a minimum number of these modified implantations, even though no linear lymph channel was detected by preoperative indocyanine green fluorescence lymphography.

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The timing of cleft lip nose surgery remains controversial. The less invasive the procedure at the time of primary cleft lip repair, the less the growth and development of the nose is affected. Therefore, the nasal-stenting component of presurgical nasoalveolar molding has increasingly been used. However, not all cleft centers use such treatment. Conventional postsurgical placement of silicone nasal retainers remains popular. No report has yet compared presurgical nasal stenting (preNS) and postsurgical nasal retainer placement (postNR). In this study, postoperative nasal form outcomes after primary lip repair using preNS or postNR in patients with complete unilateral cleft lips, alveoli, and palates were compared. Patients in whom preNS alone was used for 6 months (group I) were compared with those receiving postNR (no preNS) for 6 months after primary nasal cartilage dissection (group II) and controls with no appliance (group III). Nasal anthropometric distances and angular relationships were measured photographically to assess nasal symmetry at 4 years of age in all groups. Compared to group III, groups I and II exhibited significantly greater nostril heights (P = 0.0075, P = 0.0015 respectively) and columellar deviation angles (P = 0.0020, P = 0.0221). Groups I and II did not differ significantly. No significant between-treatment difference in terms of nasal symmetry between preNS and postNR was observed. However, both treatments afforded significantly better results than no treatment. Since older infants tend to resist the placement of nasal devices, preNS is more feasible in this age group.

Purpose: Vascularized lymph node transfer is becoming more common in the treatment of lymphedema, but suitable small animal models for research are lacking. Here, we evaluated the feasibility of pedicled vascularized inguinal lymph node transfer in mice.Methods: Twenty-five mice were used in the study. An inguinal lymph node-bearing flap with a vascular pedicle containing the superficial caudal epigastric vessels was transferred into the ipsilateral popliteal fossa after excision of the popliteal lymph node. Indocyanine green (ICG) angiography was used to confirm vascularity of the flap. ICG lymphography was performed to evaluate lymphatic flow at 3 and 4 weeks postoperatively. Patent blue dye was injected into the ipsilateral hind paw to observe staining of the transferred lymph node at 4 weeks postoperatively. All transferred lymph nodes were then harvested and histologically evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining.Results: In 16 of the 25 mice, ICG lymphography showed reconnection between the transferred lymph node and the afferent lymphatic vessels, as confirmed by patent blue staining. Histologically, these transferred lymph nodes with afferent lymphatic reconnection significantly regressed in size (0.37 AE 0.24 mm 2 ) and showed clear follicle formation, whereas those without afferent lymphatic reconnection showed less size regression (1.31 AE 1.17 mm 2 ); the cell population was too dense to allow identification of follicles. Conclusions:We established a mouse model of vascularized lymph node transfer with predictable afferent lymphatic reconnection. Both the vascularization and reconnection might be necessary for functional regeneration of the transferred lymph node.

A new genus and two new species of Peltogastridae, Peltogaster postica sp. nov. and Ommatogaster nana gen. et sp. nov., are described from Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan. The two new rhizocephalans were found to be parasitic on the estuarine hermit crabs, Pagurus minutus Hess, 1865 and Diogenes leptocerus Forest, 1956, respectively. Peltogaster postica sp. nov. is allied to P. curvata Kossmann, 1874, P. paguri Rathke, 1842 , and P. reticulata Shiino, 1943 , but is distinguished by its relative length and internal and external structures of the mature externa. Ommatogaster gen. nov. is established for the present new species O. nana based on the morphologies of the visceral mass of the externa and the presence of a nauplius eye in the larvae. Partial COI sequences were obtained from the two new species and one known species, Dipterosaccus indicus Van Kampen and Boschma, 1925, to test the possible usefulness of the sequences as tags for species identification.

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