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The doubly vergent orogen in Taiwan is a relatively young and active arc-continent collision caused by the convergence of Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates occurring along a complicated seismogenic plate boundary. This study aims to investigate the evolutionary and tectonic features of the retro-wedge, a region contributing to the uplifting and shortening of the Taiwan orogen. Through the utilization of seismic tomographic image and relocated seismicity, we identify three potential seismogenic structures along the convergent plate boundary: the Longitudinal Valley Fault, the Ludao–Lanyu Fault, and the Central Range Fault. A significant discovery in our investigation is a west-dipping backthrust of the Central Range Fault, extending from the north Hualien city to the southeastern offshore at a distance of 300 km. The fault is responsible for the formation of a crustal-scale pop-up structure, contributing to the development of a double vergent orogenic wedge in the retro-wedge. The genesis of the basement-involved backthrust is attributed to the indentation of the exhumed forearc mantle wedge and remnant forearc crust into the Backbone Range during collision. Consequently, the plate boundary exhibits two opposite vergent thrust systems of the Longitudinal Valley Fault–Ludao–Lanyu Fault and Central Range Fault, which evolved during different stages of collision-incipient and mature following the closure of the forearc basin of the North Luzon Trough and Longitudinal Valley, respectively. These findings contribute novel insights into the tectonic framework of the convergent zone and provide valuable constraints for geodynamic models of arc-continent collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genera Cephalotrichum and Microascus contain ecologically, morphologically and lifestyle diverse fungi in Microascaceae (Microascales, Sordariomycetes) with a world-wide distribution. Despite previous studies having elucidated that Cephalotrichum and Microascus are highly polyphyletic, the DNA phylogeny of many traditionally morphology-defined species is still poorly resolved, and a comprehensive taxonomic overview of the two genera is lacking. To resolve this issue, we integrate broad taxon sampling strategies and the most comprehensive multi-gene (ITS, LSU, tef1 and tub2) datasets to date, with fossil calibrations to address the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among major lineages of Microascaceae. Two previously recognised main clades, Cephalotrichum (24 species) and Microascus (49 species), were re-affirmed based on our phylogenetic analyses, as well as the phylogenetic position of 15 genera within Microascaceae. In this study, we provide an up-to-date overview on the taxonomy and phylogeny of species belonging to Cephalotrichum and Microascus, as well as detailed descriptions and illustrations of 21 species of which eight are newly described. Furthermore, the divergence time estimates indicate that the crown age of Microascaceae was around 210.37 Mya (95 % HPD: 177.18–246.96 Mya) in the Late Triassic, and that Cephalotrichum and Microascus began to diversify approximately 27.07 Mya (95 % HPD: 20.47–34.37 Mya) and 70.46 Mya (95 % HPD: 56.96–86.24 Mya), respectively. Our results also demonstrate that multigene sequence data coupled with broad taxon sampling can help elucidate previously unresolved clade relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When sepsis occurs, the lungs are the first organs that are affected. Injury to the lungs involves damage to and the subsequent repair of cells and tissue. However, the mechanism of both at a molecular level remains unclear. As mice have similar physiological and pathological processes to humans, the current research adopted mice models to explore the long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) in the lung tissue of mice with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)- induced sepsis using gene sequencing analysis. A total of 30 mice were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., the sham group and the CLP group, respectively. Three mice were randomly selected from each group, and their lung tissue was used for gene sequencing analysis. Overall, a total of 1,110 lncRNAs were found to be significantly differentially expressed between the two groups. Among these, 658 were over-expressed, and 452 were under-expressed (fold change ≥ 2.0, P < 0.05). Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were performed to predict the potential biological functions of these differentially expressed lncRNAs, and the top 10 over- and under-expressed lncRNAs were selected as candidates for further validation. Finally, three over-expressed lncRNAs (XLOC_025752, XLOC_086176, and XLOC_148721) and four under-expressed lncRNAs (XLOC_120813, XLOC_029657, XLOC_031620, and XLOC_096198) were validated and found to be the same as those identified by sequencing analysis. To the best of the authors’s knowledge, this research is the first to explore the expression profile of lncRNAs in the lung tissue of mice with CLP-induced sepsis. The results showed different lncRNA expression profiles between the two groups, indicating that lncRNAs may contribute to the occurrence of and recovery from sepsis-induced acute lung injury through interacting with target genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditionally reprogrammed cell (CRC) technology is an effective method for culturing primary malignant cells and non-malignant epithelial cells in vitro. This can be useful for precision medicine applications, such as drug sensitivity assays. However, this approach is commonly hindered by the non-specific growth of non-malignant epithelial cells in CRC cultures and the lack of effective biomarkers/assays to distinguish them from primary tumor cells. In this study, we developed a DNA methylation-based, real-time PCR assay to investigate SHOX2 and PTGER4 gene promoters as sensitive markers for human lung cancer. We first found that in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) malignant lung samples, 90% (28/31) had increased SHOX2 and/or PTGER4 promoter methylation as compared with their adjacent non-malignant samples. We then applied this assay to fresh surgical tumors and found increased SHOX2 and/or PTGER4 promoter methylation in 80% (20/25) of tumor samples as compared with their corresponding adjacent non-malignant tissues. Increased methylation of SHOX2 or PTGER4 promoter regions was also detected in 52% (13/25) of CRC cultures. The presence of malignant cells was confirmed by growth in soft agar cultures, a hallmark of malignant transformation, as well by EGFR mutation analysis. These results demonstrate that SHOX2 and PTGER4 promoter methylation levels can be used to detect malignant lung epithelial cells in CRC cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]