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Although recent years have seen considerable interest in stimuli‐responsive hydrogels, their strict preparation conditions and narrow applicability limit their use as diverse sensors and soft robots. Herein, a versatile Agar‐Zwirrions hybrid hydrogel actuator (Agar/PSBMA) integrated with simultaneous temperature self‐sensing and wide‐range electrical response is developed. To prepare the Agar/PSBMA hydrogel, a simple and controllable preforming post‐enhancing and mechanical pressing method is used by introducing zwitterions materials into a temperature‐sensitive Agar matrix. Owing to the design, the compact multiplex complementary structure generated by this method and the materials can facilitate the improvement of flexibility, stretchability, and toughness while providing mechanical dissipation and adhesion properties. Importantly, the visible detected temperature self‐sensing ability during 10–40 °C, and quick and wide‐range bending responses of both high‐voltage and low‐voltage electric fields make it unique over other actuators. Furthermore, the electrical response behavior of the hydrogel is found to be impacted by mechanical characteristics and charge polarization based on the finite element Abaqus simulations analysis. The prepared versatile hydrogels show the potential for applications as soft robotics and controlled transportation of adhered substances while simultaneously monitoring their working temperature, which expands the response range of hydrogel actuators and broadens the scope of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing patient loads, healthcare inflation and ageing population have put pressure on the healthcare system. Artificial intelligence and machine learning innovations can aid in task shifting to help healthcare systems remain efficient and cost effective. To gain an understanding of patients' acceptance toward such task shifting with the aid of AI, this study adapted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), looking at performance and effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, hedonic motivation and behavioural intention. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study which took place between September 2021 to June 2022 at the National Heart Centre, Singapore. One hundred patients, aged ≥ 21 years with at least one heart failure symptom (pedal oedema, New York Heart Association II-III effort limitation, orthopnoea, breathlessness), who presented to the cardiac imaging laboratory for physician-ordered clinical echocardiogram, underwent both echocardiogram by skilled sonographers and the experience of echocardiogram by a novice guided by AI technologies. They were then given a survey which looked at the above-mentioned constructs using the UTAUT2 framework. Results: Significant, direct, and positive effects of all constructs on the behavioral intention of accepting the AI-novice combination were found. Facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and performance expectancy were the top 3 constructs. The analysis of the moderating variables, age, gender and education levels, found no impact on behavioral intention. Conclusions: These results are important for stakeholders and changemakers such as policymakers, governments, physicians, and insurance companies, as they design adoption strategies to ensure successful patient engagement by focusing on factors affecting the facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and performance expectancy for AI technologies used in healthcare task shifting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paclitaxel (PTX) is a microtubule stabilizer that disrupts the normal cycle of microtubule depolymerization and repolymerization, leading to cell cycle arrest and cancer cell death. It is commonly used as a first-line chemotherapeutics for various malignancies, such as breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. However, PTX chemotherapy is associated with common and serious side effects, including chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). As cancer treatment advances and survival rates increase, the impact of CIPN on patients' quality of life has become more significant. To date, there is no effective treatment strategy for CIPN. Surtuin3 (SIRT3) is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) dependent protein deacetylase located on mitochondria. It transfers the acetyl group of the lysine side chain of acetylated substrate proteins to NAD+, producing deacetylated proteins to regulate mitochondrial energy metabolic processes. SIRT3 has been found to play an important role in various diseases, including aging, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, heart disease, metabolic diseases, etc. However, the role of SIRT3 in CIPN is still unknown. This study found for the first time that activating SIRT3 helps to improve paclitaxel-induced CIPN. Nicotinamide riboside (NR) can protect dorsal root ganglion (DRG) mitochondria against oxidative damage caused by paclitaxel through activating SIRT3-MnSOD2 and SIRT3-Nrf2 pathway. Moreover, NR can enhance the anticancer activity of paclitaxel. Together, our research provides new strategy and candidate drug for the treatment of CIPN. • SIRT3 knockout was first found to exacerbate PIPN. • Nicotinamide riboside (NR) can protect mice DRG from PIPN by SIRT3. • NR can enhance the anticancer activity of paclitaxel in vitro and in vivo. • Activation of SIRT3 may serve as a potential new strategy for PIPN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amino acids are necessary nutrients for the growth of Oryza sativa (rice), which can be mediated by amino acid transporter; however, our understanding of these transporters is still limited. This study found that the expression levels of amino acid permease gene OsAAP12 differed between indica and japonica rice. Altered expression of OsAAP12 negatively regulated tillering and yield in transgenic rice lines. Subcellular localization revealed that OsAAP12 was primarily localized to the plasma membrane. Moreover, it was indicated that OsAAP12 transported polar neutral amino acids asparagine (Asn), threonine (Thr), and serine (Ser) through experiments involving yeast heterologous complementation, fluorescence amino acid uptake, and amino acid content determination. Additionally, exogenous application of amino acids Asn, Thr, and Ser suppressed axillary buds outgrowth in OsAAP12 overexpression lines compared with wild-type ZH11. Conversely, the opposite trend was observed in CRISPR mutant lines. RNA-seq analysis showed that the expression patterns of genes involved in the nitrogen and cytokinin pathways were generally altered in OsAAP12 modified lines. Hormone assays indicated that OsAAP12 mutant lines accumulated cytokinins in the basal part of rice, whereas overexpression lines had the opposite effect. In summary, CRISPR mutant of OsAAP12 boosted rice tillering and grain yield by coordinating the content of amino acids and cytokinins, which has potential application value in high-yield rice breeding. • Amino acid permease OsAAP12 mainly transports asparagine, threonine, and serine in rice. • Altered expression of OsAAP12 negatively regulates tillering and yield in rice. • Nitrogen and cytokinin pathways were changed in altered expression lines of OsAAP12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We have developed a precise computer method with time-differentiated PPG sensor for blood pressure measurement. • Our device requires neither exotic metamaterials nor ECG calibration. • The non-occlusive blood pressure estimation of our device complies with BHS and AAMI standards. Measurement of blood pressure (BP) in ambulatory patients is crucial for at high-risk cardiovascular patients. A non-obtrusive, non-occluding device that continuously measures BP via photoplethysmography will enable long-term ambulatory assessment of BP. The aim of this study is to validate the metasense 2PPG cuffless wearable design for continuous BP estimation without ECG. A customized high-speed electronic optical sensor architecture with laterally spaced reflectance pulse oximetry was designed into a simple unobtrusive low-power wearable in the form of a watch. 78 volunteers with a mean age of 32.72 ± 7.4 years (21 to 64), 51% male, 49% female were recruited with ECG-2PPG signals acquired. The fiducial features of the 2PPG morphologies were then attributed to the estimator. A 9–1 K-fold cross-validation was applied in the ML. The correlation for PTT-SBP was 0.971 and for PTT-DBP was 0.954. The mean absolute error was 3.167±1.636 mmHg for SBP and 6.4 ± 3.9 mm Hg for DBP. The ambulatory estimate for SBP and DBP for an individual over 3 days with 8-hour recordings was 0.70–0.81 for SBP and 0.42–0.51 for DBP with a ± 2.65 mmHg for SBP and ±2.02 mmHg for DBP. For SBP, 98% of metasense measurements were within 15 mm Hg and for DBP, 91% of metasense measurements were within 10 mmHg The metasense device provides continuous, non-invasive BP estimations that are comparable to ambulatory BP meters. The portability and unobtrusiveness of this device, as well as the ability to continuously measure BP could one day enable long-term ambulatory BP measurement for precision cardiovascular therapeutic regimens. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 2,2′:6′,2′-terpyridine conjugated nitrogen mustard derivatives with structurally symmetrical character and rather small molecular size have been synthesized by a two-step process, and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, and mass spectra. Photophysical properties of these compounds have been characterized by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The synthesized compounds exhibit high antitumor activity against MDA-MB-231, Siha, 786-O, and A549 cell lines. The most potent compound 1a significantly retards the crawling ability and migration capability of A549 cells and inhibits cells proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fairly small-sized aryl nitrogen mustard–conjugated terpyridine is synthesized in only two steps as a ligand to chelate with RuCl3 to afford a [Ru(tpy-CM)2]Cl2 complex. This complex exhibits prominent antiproliferative activity toward several tumor cells. Further studies conclusively show that the complex suppresses human renal clear cell carcinoma cells (786-O cells) by inducing G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This work provides a synthetic and therapeutic model for nitrogen mustard-containing metal complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looked at novel data sources for cardiovascular risk prediction including detailed lifestyle questionnaire and continuous blood pressure monitoring, using ensemble machine learning algorithms (MLAs). The reference conventional risk score compared against was the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). The outcome variables were low or high risk based on calcium score 0 or calcium score 100 and above. Ensemble MLAs were built based on naive bayes, random forest and support vector classifier for low risk and generalized linear regression, support vector regressor and stochastic gradient descent regressor for high risk categories. MLAs were trained on 600 Southeast Asians aged 21 to 69 years free of cardiovascular disease. All MLAs outperformed the FRS for low and high-risk categories. MLA based on lifestyle questionnaire only achieved AUC of 0.715 (95% CI 0.681, 0.750) and 0.710 (95% CI 0.653, 0.766) for low and high risk respectively. Combining all groups of risk factors (lifestyle survey questionnaires, clinical blood tests, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate monitoring) along with feature selection, prediction of low and high CVD risk groups were further enhanced to 0.791 (95% CI 0.759, 0.822) and 0.790 (95% CI 0.745, 0.836). Besides conventional predictors, self-reported physical activity, average daily heart rate, awake blood pressure variability and percentage time in diastolic hypertension were important contributors to CVD risk classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) is a major element necessary for crop yield. In most plants, organic N is primarily transported in the form of amino acids. Here, we show that amino acid permease 1 (AAP1) functions as a positive regulator of growth and grain yield in rice. We found that the OsAAP1 gene is highly expressed in rice axillary buds, leaves, and young panicles, and that the OsAAP1 protein is localized to both the plasma membrane and the nuclear membrane. Compared with the wild-type ZH11, OsAAP1 overexpression (OE) lines exhibited increased filled grain numbers as a result of enhanced tillering, while RNAi and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat; Osaap1) knockout lines showed the opposite phenotype. In addition, OsAAP1 -OE lines had higher concentrations of neutral and acidic amino acids, but lower concentrations of basic amino acids in the straw. An exogenous treatment with neutral amino acids promoted axillary bud outgrowth more strongly in the OE lines than in the WT, RNAi, or Osaap1 lines. Transcriptome analysis of Osaap1 further demonstrated that OsAAP1 may affect N transport and metabolism, and auxin, cytokinin, and strigolactone signaling in regulating rice tillering. Taken together, these results support that increasing neutral amino acid uptake and reallocation via OsAAP1 could improve growth and grain yield in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The expression patterns of OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4 were opposite in axillary buds under different nitrogen concentrations. • Overexpression and knockout experiments revealed that OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4 are involved in determining the axillary bud outgrowth, and thereby, influence the tiller number and grain yield in rice. • Our study provides an alternative way to modify the rice architecture and enhance the grain yield by regulating the expression of OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4. • Different members in the NPF family have different roles in rice. The rice nitrate and di/tripeptide transporter (NPF) gene family plays an indispensable role in nitrogen transport and plant growth. In this study, 18 alternatively spliced OsNPF genes with 36 different forms of mRNAs were identified, and two of these, namely OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4 , showed opposite expression patterns in axillary buds under different nitrogen concentrations. Our results indicate that the expression levels of OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4 determine the axillary bud outgrowth, especially for the second bud, and subsequently influence the tiller number in rice. The overexpression of either of the variants of OsNPF7.1 or the knockout of OsNPF7.4 increased the seedling biomass as well as the tiller number, filled grain number, and grain yield in rice. However, the RNAi-mediated silencing of OsNPF7.1 or the overexpression of either of the variants of OsNPF7.4 had an opposite effect. The overexpression of OsNPF7.1 or OsNPF7.4 could improve the uptake of nitrate, but the OsNPF7.4- overexpressing plants had lower biomass. It is possible that excessive nitrate in the OsNPF7.4 -overexpressing plants led to the accumulation of amino acids in the leaf sheath, which inhibited seedling biomass. In addition, the reduced reutilization of nitrate in the seedlings also limited the plant biomass. However, the moderate increase in nitrate and amino acid concentrations in the OsNPF7.1 -overexpressing plants could promote seedling biomass and enhance grain yield. In conclusion, our data suggest that different members in the NPF family have different roles in rice, and this study suggests an alternative way to modify rice architecture and enhance grain yield by regulating the expression of OsNPF7.1 and OsNPF7.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth in percutaneous transluminal devices has enabled operators to tackle more complex, native, and post-bypass surgery anatomy. However, complications such as coronary artery dissection, coronary perforation, retrograde aortic dissection, arrhythmias, and acute coronary syndrome still occur with resulting mortality rates of up to 4.2% in complex interventions. Perforation of the circumflex artery is of particular interest in view of its position and relation to the surrounding cardiac structures. This is a site of potential fluid collection, and as the left atrium is fixed to the parietal pericardium at the entry of the pulmonary veins, fluid in the oblique sinus can accumulate enough pressure to compress the left atrium and the coronary sinus. We present a case of left circumflex artery perforation which demonstrates the physiologic complications of coronary sinus and left atrial compression and the resultant functional mitral stenosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthocyanins are antioxidants with important benefits for human health. Therefore, they have caught the interest of plant breeding programs. In this study, GzMYB-7D1 , the key gene responsible for anthocyanin synthesis regulation in the purple Guizimai No.1 wheat, was transferred into Zhonghua 11 (ZH11) rice. Compared to wild-type ZH11, anthocyanin accumulated in the seeds of GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines. Furthermore, anthocyanin content kept increasing in the growing panicle of GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines, accumulating mostly in the rice glumes and grains during maturation, along with a concomitant steady decrease in chlorophyll. Genes related to anthocyanin synthesis, including OsPAL4 , Os4CL3 , OsCHS , OsDFR , OsANS , and Os3GT , exhibited much higher expression in the panicles of GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines than in those of wild-type ZH11. Interestingly, the grain yield per plant was significantly improved in GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines, as indicated by a higher tiller number per plant and branching of the secondary panicle, together with a significantly higher content of total amino acids. In conclusion, the GzMYB-7D1 gene of Guizimai No.1 wheat is essential for regulating seed anthocyanin levels and grain yield in rice, and could be applied to attain rice varieties with better nutritional value and improved yields. • Transgenic rice plants overexpressing GzMYB-7D1 from purple wheat were constructed. • GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines showed high accumulation of anthocyanins at maturity. • Strong expression of DFR and ANS may explain anthocyanin accumulation at maturity. • GzMYB-7D1 overexpressing lines attained a high yield. • GzMYB-7D1 could substantially augment the nutritional value and yield of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deep learning (DL) methods can noninvasively predict glioma subtypes; however, there is no set paradigm for the selection of network structures and input data, including the image combination method, image processing strategy, type of numeric data, and others. Purpose: To compare different combinations of DL frameworks (ResNet, ConvNext, and vision transformer (VIT)), image preprocessing strategies, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences, and numerical data for increasing the accuracy of DL models for differentiating glioma subtypes prior to surgery. Methods: Our dataset consisted of 211 patients with newly diagnosed gliomas who underwent preoperative MRI with standard and diffusion-weighted imaging methods. Different data combinations were used as input for the three different DL classifiers. Results: The accuracy of the image preprocessing strategies, including skull stripping, segment addition, and individual treatment of slices, was 5%, 10%, and 12.5% higher, respectively, than that of the other strategies. The accuracy increased by 7.5% and 10% following the addition of ADC and numeric data, respectively. ResNet34 exhibited the best performance, which was 5% and 17.5% higher than that of ConvNext tiny and VIT-base, respectively. Data Conclusions: The findings demonstrated that the addition of quantitatively numeric data, ADC images, and effective image preprocessing strategies improved model accuracy for datasets of similar size. The performance of ResNet was superior for small or medium datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kam sweet rice is a cultural treasure in Qiandongnan, Guizhou Province. However, the situation with low yield and economic value in Kam sweet rice urgently requires improved mechanistic understanding of tillering to increase its yield. In this study, we found that the rate of axillary bud elongation differed significantly among Kam sweet rice varieties, which was positively correlated with tiller number. Transcriptome analysis suggests that genes involved in nitrogen metabolism and plant hormone signaling pathways could be the main reasons for the differences in tillering among these varieties. The amino acid transporter OsAAP11 in the transcriptome was essential for bud outgrowth and rice tillering based on the phenotypic performance of its transgenic plants. Further results found that OsAAP11 was able to transport amino acids such as proline, glycine, and alanine in rice. Natural variations were found in the promoter region of this gene in different Kam sweet rice varieties, which may lead to differences in the transcription levels of OsAAP11. Overall, the results suggest that the natural variations of OsAAP11 in rice might lead to variations in its expression levels, further affecting bud outgrowth and tillering through regulating the transport and accumulation of amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kam sweet rice is a cultural treasure in Qiandongnan, Guizhou Province. However, the situation with low yield and economic value in Kam sweet rice urgently requires improved mechanistic understanding of tillering to increase its yield. In this study, we found that the rate of axillary bud elongation differed significantly among Kam sweet rice varieties, which was positively correlated with tiller number. Transcriptome analysis suggests that genes involved in nitrogen metabolism and plant hormone signaling pathways could be the main reasons for the differences in tillering among these varieties. The amino acid transporter OsAAP11 in the transcriptome was essential for bud outgrowth and rice tillering based on the phenotypic performance of its transgenic plants. Further results found that OsAAP11 was able to transport amino acids such as proline, glycine, and alanine in rice. Natural variations were found in the promoter region of this gene in different Kam sweet rice varieties, which may lead to differences in the transcription levels of OsAAP11. Overall, the results suggest that the natural variations of OsAAP11 in rice might lead to variations in its expression levels, further affecting bud outgrowth and tillering through regulating the transport and accumulation of amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic pollutants in water pose significant challenges for water treatment due to their harmful effects and resistance to conventional methods. The rapid increase in industrial wastewater discharge has heightened the need for effective pollutant degradation techniques. Photo‐Fenton technology, an advanced oxidation process, has gained attention for its ability to degrade a wide range of organic contaminants in water. Developing high‐performance photo‐Fenton catalysts is therefore crucial. Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) stands out in this field due to its suitable energy band structure, stable properties, and simple synthesis process. However, its application is limited by a low specific surface area, narrow light absorption, and high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers. This review provides a concise overview of current research on g‐C3N4 in photo‐Fenton technology, covering synthesis methods, modifications, and the mechanisms enhancing its photo‐Fenton activity. It also highlights key factors affecting g‐C3N4's effectiveness in photo‐Fenton reactions and discusses recent advancements in its applications. The review concludes with an analysis of existing challenges and potential future directions for g‐C3N4‐based photo‐Fenton catalysts, offering theoretical insights to advance their industrial use in wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A stacked regression network for fast, robust and accurate 3D hand pose estimation is proposed. • A pose re-parameterization is adopted to utilize the 3D spatial structure of hand. • A spatial attention module is adopted to reduce the influence of irrelevant features. • A cross-stage self-distillation module is adopted to achieve a lightweight network. Making full use of the spatial information of the depth data is crucial for 3D hand pose estimation from a single depth image. In this paper, we propose a Spatial-aware Stacked Regression Network (SSRN) for fast, robust and accurate 3D hand pose estimation from a single depth image. By adopting a differentiable pose re-parameterization process, our method efficiently encodes the pose-dependent 3D spatial structure of the depth data as spatial-aware representations. Taking such spatial-aware representations as inputs, the stacked regression network utilizes multi-joint spatial context and the 3D spatial relationship between the estimated pose and the depth data to predict a refined hand pose. To further improve the estimation accuracy, we adopt a spatial attention mechanism to reduce the influence of irrelevant features for pose regression. In order to improve the speed of the network, we propose a cross-stage self-distillation mechanism to distill knowledge within the network itself. Experiments on four datasets show that our proposed method achieves state-of-the-art accuracy with high running speed around 330 FPS on a single GPU and 35 FPS on a single CPU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kam Sweet Rice (KSR) is a rice cultivar cultivated for thousands of years in China. Proper and balanced use of nitrogen sources is essential for achieving optimal growth and yield in KSR. This study was carried out to find the most effective hydroponic nutrient solution for cultivating and promoting the growth of KSR. Different nitrogen treatments were applied to KSR cultivars GouDan (GD), GouHa (GH), HongHe (HH), LeiLongGang (LG), and ZaiBianXiaoXiangHe (ZH), resulting in noticeable changes in both growth and physiological traits. Our findings revealed that D3 treatment [1.2 mM NH4Cl + 2.4 mM NaNO3+ neutral amino acids (0.1 mM Ser + 0.2 mM Thr + 0.2 mM Gly + 0.2 mM Pro +0.3 mM Ala)] had a notable positive impact on the growth of GH and ZH which showed the best performance in terms of plant height, root length and fresh weight when compared to the control (CK). Through transcriptome analysis, we discovered that these treatments altered the expression levels of genes associated with carbon metabolism, photosynthesis, and nitrogen pathways within 40 days. Interestingly, by altering the growth and tillering in rice transgenic plants, we validated the role of amino acid transporter OsAAP13 identified in transcriptome profiling, underscoring its significance. Our results are helpful for large‐scale production of KSR with the key methods for controlling the growth of KSR. It is a valuable asset for future investigations aimed at unravelling the intricate mechanisms governing plant growth in the context of different nitrogen supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction utility of Framingham Risk Score in populations with low conventional cardiovascular risk burden is limited, particularly among women. Gender-specific markers to predict cardiovascular risk in overtly healthy people are lacking. In this study we hypothesize that postprandial responses triggered by a high-calorie meal test differ by gender in their ability to triage asymptomatic subjects into those with and without subclinical atherosclerosis. A total of 101 healthy Chinese subjects (46 females, 55 males) at low risk of coronary heart disease completed the study. Subjects underwent cardiovascular imaging and postprandial blood phenotyping after consuming a standardized macronutrient meal. Prediction models were developed using logistic regression and subsequently subjected to cross-validation to obtain a de-optimized receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Distinctive gender differences in postprandial trajectories of glucose, lipids and inflammatory markers were observed. We used gender-specific association with different combinations of postprandial predictors to develop 2 models for predicting risk of subclinical atherosclerosis in males (ROC AUC = 0.7867, 95% CI 0.6567, 0.9166) and females (ROC AUC = 0.9161, 95% CI 0.8340, 0.9982) respectively. We report novel postprandial models for predicting subclinical atherosclerosis in apparently healthy Asian subjects using a gender-specific approach, complementing the conventional Framingham Risk Score. Clinical Trial Registration: The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03531879. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The imaging features of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) overlap with physiological exercise-induced cardiac remodeling in active and otherwise healthy individuals. Distinguishing the two conditions is challenging. This study examined the diagnostic and prognostic roles of exercise stress imaging in asymptomatic patients with suspected DCM. Methods: Exercise stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed in 60 asymptomatic patients with suspected DCM (dilated left ventricle and/or impaired systolic function on CMR), who also underwent DNA sequencing for DCM-causing genetic variants. Confirmed DCM was defined as genotype- and phenotype-positive (G+P+). Another 100 healthy subjects were recruited to establish normal exercise capacities (peak exercise cardiac index; PeakCI). The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiac decompensation and ventricular arrhythmic events. Results: No patients with confirmed G+P+ DCM had PeakCI exceeding the 35th percentile specific for age and sex. Applying this threshold in G-P+ patients, those with PeakCI below 35th percentile had characteristics similar to confirmed DCM while patients with higher PeakCI were younger, more active and higher longitudinal strain. Adverse cardiovascular events occurred only in patients with low exercise capacity (P = 0.004). Conclusions: In individuals with suspected DCM, exercise stress CMR demonstrates diagnostic and prognostic potential in distinguishing between pathological DCM and physiological exercise-induced cardiac remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Amino acid transporters (AATs) play indispensable roles in nutrient allocation during plant development. In this study, we demonstrated that inhibiting expression of the rice amino acid transporter OsAAP3 increased grain yield due to a formation of larger numbers of tillers as a result of increased bud outgrowth. Elevated expression of OsAAP3 in transgenic plants resulted in significantly higher amino acid concentrations of Lys, Arg, His, Asp, Ala, Gln, Gly, Thr and Tyr, and inhibited bud outgrowth and rice tillering. However, RNAi of OsAAP3 decreased significantly Arg, Lys, Asp and Thr concentrations to a small extent, and thus promoted bud outgrowth, increased significantly tiller numbers and effective panicle numbers per plant, and further enhanced significantly grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The promoter sequences of OsAAP3 showed some divergence between Japonica and Indica rice, and expression of the gene was higher in Japonica, which produced fewer tillers than Indica. We generated knockout lines of OsAAP3 on Japonica ZH11 and KY131 using CRISPR technology and found that grain yield could be increased significantly. These results suggest that manipulation of OsAAP3 expression could be used to increase grain yield in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Most neoplasms of the parapharyngeal space are benign. The transcervical surgical approach is the preferred procedure in most cases. Intra-operative endoscopic exploration offers a new surgical management technique to reduce operative complications and post-operative recurrence rates. Objectives: To present the authors' experience in the treatment of primary parapharyngeal space tumors with emphasis on surgical approaches and employment of endoscopy to detect residual tumors through conventional approaches. Method: One hundred and sixty-seven patients treated surgically over a 10-year period were retrospectively reviewed. A comparison of the surgical approaches in a relevant case series was also conducted. Results: All of the patients underwent pre-operative imaging before surgery, and intra-operative endoscopic detection was selectively used for large, deep tumors. Complete resection of the tumor was used in 158 patients (95%), with a transcervical surgical approach applied in 144 cases (84%). Of 167 tumors, 150 (90%) were benign and 17 (10%) were malignant, with neurilemmoma/schwannoma as the most frequent pathology (42%). Surgical complications were reported in 26 patients (15%), most commonly unilateral paralysis of the vocal cords (6%). Two patients (1%) presented with recurrence, on average 2.5 years (range = 1–4 years) after initial excision, and the mean follow-up time was 3.8 years (range = 10 months–10 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N is essential for plant architecture, particularly tillering. However, whether and how N mediates panicle branching and influences rice grain yield remains unclear. In order to identify genes and pathways associated with N-regulated panicle branching, we treated rice with different concentrations of N to determine the key genes by transcriptomic analysis and function verification. We measured panicle growth in response to N, and found that panicle branching benefits from 2 mM exogenous N, and 2–5 mM N is essential for vascular bundle, phloem, and xylem development in these branches. Interestingly, total N concentrations increased continuously with N 0–2 mM and decreased continuously with N 5–15 mM, whereas the concentrations of amino acids Tyr and Val increased continuously with N 0–15 mM in the panicle. Furthermore, N metabolism, phytohormone signal transduction, stress response, and photosynthesis pathways play important roles in response to nitrogen of regulating panicle branching. Altered expression of key N-response amino acid transporter gene OsAAP15 positively regulated panicle branching at low N concentrations, however, OsAAP15 negatively influenced it at high N concentrations. Overexpression of OsAAP15 in the field significantly increased primary and secondary branches, filled grain number, and grain yield by regulating the concentrations of amino acids Tyr and Val in the panicle. Taken together, OsAAP15 , an amino acid transporter in response to nitrogen concentration, could mediate panicle branching and grain yield, and it may have applications in rice breeding to improve grain yield under extreme N concentrations. • Panicle branching benefits from 2 mM exogenous N, and 2–5 mM N is essential for vascular bundle, phloem, and xylem development in these branches. • OsAAP15 positively regulated panicle branching at low N concentrations, however, OsAAP15 negatively influenced it at high N concentrations. • Overexpression of OsAAP15 in the field significantly increased primary and secondary branches and grain yield by regulating of Tyr and Val. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]