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Milk thistle, Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (Asteraceae), is an economically important medicinal plant utilized for silymarin production. Moreover, the species has been positively evaluated for vegetable oil and biomass production. Despite these positive characteristics, milk thistle is still marked by traits that are typical of undomesticated species (most importantly natural fruit dispersal at maturity) and requires further genetic improvement for its complete exploitation. This manuscript summarizes all the information collected through time about a collection of nine milk thistle wild and mutant lines and it discusses the possible further utilization of these genotypes. The accessions are characterized by interesting traits related to: fruit silymarin composition (S. marianum chemotype A and B), fruit fatty acid composition (high oleic and high stearic acid lines), fruit condensed tannins content, vegetative biomass composition (modification of xylans or lignin content), vegetative biomass structure (dwarf and tall lines), modifications of leaf variegation (hypervareigated line) and different types of fruit shatter resistance at maturity. All the lines underwent subsequent generations of selfing and are stable for all the described traits. The accessions will be made available at the Genebank of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK, Gatersleben) and may prove to be a useful genetic material for the improvement of qualitative fruit traits (silymarin quality, fatty acid composition) and for the further development of shatter-resistant S. marianum genotypes towards the complete domestication of this promising species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the practice of witchcraft and beliefs in superstition and the First Commandment during the late Middle Ages. It tackles the development of the concept of diabolical witchcraft discussed in the 1988 article "Moral Arithmetic: Seven Deadly Sins Into Ten Commandments," by John Bossy, the treatment of idolatry as the primary Christian moral offense in the 16th century, and the changes brought by the adoption of Decalogue morality.

The article discusses the concepts of women, men, and love magic in late medieval English pastoral manuals. According to the author, historians working on ecclesiastical writing argue that many medieval churchmen viewed erotic magic as a female activity. The author adds that studies of the inquisition and witch trial records point out that women were more likely to be put on trial for using love magic than men.

The article focuses on the underlying religious authoritative concern over superstition in the late Middle Ages in Europe. It explores developments in late medieval religious and intellectual culture, causing authorities to focus their concern on lay appropriations of ecclesiastical prayers, rites and blessings. It implies that the nature of spiritual being combined with certain intellectual developments and the growth of specific intellectual structures in the early 15th century will caused religious authorities to examine common beliefs and practices more closely than had previously been the case. Roman authorities had coined the term "superstitio" in anquity and had used it to describe excessive forms of divination, as well as the actions of suspicious foreign cults.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) contribute to vascular pathophysiology in obesity. In this context, whether ET-1 modulates hydroxyl radical (.OH) formation and the function of ROS/·OH in obesity is not known. In the present study, formation and function of ROS, including ·OH, were investigated in the aorta of lean and leptin-deficient obese ob/ob mice. Hydroxyl radical formation was detected ex vivo using terephthalic acid in intact aortic rings and the involvement of ROS in ET-1-mediated vasoreactivity was analyzed using the antioxidant EPC-K1, a combination of α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid. Generation of either ·OH, ·O2-, and H2O2 was strongly inhibited by EPC-K1 (all P < 0.05). In obese mice, basal vascular ·OH formation and ROS activity were reduced by 3-fold and 5-fold, respectively (P < 0.05 vs. lean). ET-1 markedly enhanced ·OH formation in lean (6-fold, P < 0.05 vs. untreated) but not in obese mice. Obesity increased ET-1-induced contractions (P < 0.05 vs. lean), and ROS scavenging further enhanced the response (P < 0.05 vs. untreated). Exogenous ROS, including ·OH caused stronger vasodilation in obese animals (P < 0.05 vs. lean), whereas endothelium-dependent relaxation was similar between lean and obese animals. In conclusion, we present a sensitive method allowing ex vivo measurement of vascular ·OH generation and provide evidence that ET-1 regulates vascular ·OH formation. The data indicate that in obesity, vascular formation of ROS, including ·OH is lower, whereas the sensitivity to ROS is increased, suggesting a novel and important role of ROS, including ·OH in the regulation of vascular tone in disease status associated with increased body weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS: To assess the performance of 2-sucrose-phosphate based transport medium (2-SP) for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by an automated commercial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase chain reaction (LCR) compared to centrifugation culture on McCoy cells for C trachomatis. Second, to compare both amplification systems for initial diagnostic testing of a low prevalence population for sexually transmitted diseases. METHODS: Four hundred and eighty one consecutive urogenital and conjunctival specimens were examined. All tests were performed on the same specimen collected with a dacron swab and transported in 2-SP medium. Samples that were positive by culture or by both PCR and LCR were considered to be true positives. RESULTS: The prevalences of C trachomatis and of N gonorrhoeae were 2.7% and 0.4%, respectively. PCR had a resolved sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 99.8%, respectively, for C trachomatis, and 100% and 98.9%, respectively, for N gonorrhoeae. LCR was 100% sensitive and specific for both pathogens. The resolved sensitivity of the shell vial assay was 85%. No culture positive sample would have been missed by PCR or LCR. The inhibition rate for PCR was 4.8%. CONCLUSIONS: 2-SP medium proved to be suitable for both PCR and LCR. It is not limited to any one test manufacturer and allows the performance of amplification techniques and viral and chlamydia culture from the same specimen. The LCR was more reliable than PCR on initial testing. However, hands on time is longer, and no amplification control is available for LCR. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enteroviruses affect millions of people worldwide and are of significant clinical importance. The standard method for enterovirus identification and genotyping still relies on Sanger sequencing of short diagnostic amplicons. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of nanopore sequencing using the new flow cell "Flongle" for fast, cost-effective, and accurate genotyping of human enteroviruses from clinical samples. PCR amplification of partial VP1 gene was performed from multiple patient samples, which were multiplexed together after barcoding PCR and sequenced multiple times on Flongle flow cells. The nanopore consensus sequences obtained from mapping reads to a reference database were compared to their Sanger sequence counterparts. Using clinical specimens sampled over different years, we were able to correctly identify enterovirus species and genotypes for all tested samples, even when doubling the number of barcoded samples on one flow cell. Average sequence identity across sequencing runs was >99.7%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the consensus sequences achieved with Flongle delivered accurate genotyping. We conclude that the new Flongle-based assay with its fast turnover time, low cost investment, and low cost per sample represents an accurate, reproducible, and cost-effective platform for enterovirus identification and genotyping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]