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Abstract MicroRNA (miRNA) is a type of endogenous non-coding small RNA, which is abundant in living organisms. miRNAs play an important role in regulating gene expression and myriad cellular processes by binding to target messenger RNAs through complementary base pairing, and cross-species regulation mammalian cells by plant-derived xeno-miRNAs has been described. Here, we examined the miRNA species in two alfalfa (Medicago sativa, lucerne) cultivars commonly grown in Ningxia, China: cv. Zhongmu 1 and cv. Xinyan 52. Both cultivars have good salt and drought resistance. We found that the miRNA profiles were similar between the cultivars, with a slightly higher number of miRNAs present in the newer cv. Xinyan 52, which may contribute to its improved salt and drought tolerance. miRNAs were stable during drying, and some miRNAs were increased in dry versus fresh alfalfa, suggesting some miRNAs may be upregulated during drying. Alfalfa-derived miRNAs could be detected in exosomes from serum and whey collected from dairy cows, confirming the ability of the exogenous miRNAs (xeno-miRNAs) to enter the circulation and reach the mammary epithelium. In vitro studies confirmed that overexpression of mtr-miR156a could downregulate expression of Phosphatase 2 Regulatory Subunit B'gamma ( PPP2R5D) and Phosphoinositide-3-kinase Regulatory Subunit 2 (PIK3R2). Overexpression of mtr-miR156a also modulated PI3K–AKT–mTOR signaling as well as the casein content of milk produced by bovine mammary epithelial cells. Based on the known roles of PPP2R5D and PIK3R2 in regulating the PI3K–AKT–mTOR pathway as well as the effect of PI3K–AKT–mTOR on milk protein content, our findings implicate alfalfa-derived miR156a as a new cross-species regulator of milk quality in dairy cows.

Objective To investigate the differences in treatment experience and quality of life between adolescent orthodontic patients using clear aligners and fixed braces. Methods A total of 104 adolescent patients were selected who underwent orthodontic treatment with either clear aligners or fixed braces at Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Stomatological Hospital from January 2022 to June 2022. The patients were divided into two treatment groups based on the type of orthodontic appliance, with 52 patients in each group. Within a 6-month period of using clear aligners or fixed braces, adolescent orthodontic patients were surveyed using the child oral health impact profile-short form 19(COHIP-SF19) and other individual items. The differences in mean satisfaction, quality of life, and statistical scores were compared using independent samples t-tests, while the differences in subjective responses were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results There were no significant differences in mean quality of life and statistical scores between the two groups, but patients in the clear aligner group reported higher satisfaction. The clear aligner group reported greater difficulty with eating, while patients with fixed braces were more likely to experience negative emotions. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of adaptation time to the appliance, maintaining dental hygiene, and feeling attractive. Conclusion Patients in both groups were generally satisfied with their treatment. Adolescent orthodontic patients treated with clear aligners or fixed braces for at least 6 months exhibit similar overall quality of life.

Objectives: Emerging evidence indicate that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) however, the contribution of lncRNAs to SLE remains largely unclear. Our study aimed to explore the lncRNA expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients. Methods: LncRNA sequencing was used to detect differentially expressed genes in PBMCs from 5 SLE-MIX samples and 3 healthy controls (HC)-MIX samples, and the expression of selected lncRNAs was further verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‒qPCR). The correlation of lncRNA expression with laboratory indicators as well the SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI‒2K) score from 72 SLE patients was assessed by Spearman's test. The association between lncRNA ENST00000597482 and organ involvement in SLE patients was determined by the Mann‒Whitney U test. Moreover, lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood from SLE patients were measured by flow cytometry. In addition, the diagnostic value of lncRNAs in predicting SLE was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The lncRNA expression profiles demonstrated 218 differentially expressed lncRNAs, including 121 upregulated genes and 97 downregulated genes, in PBMCs from SLE patients compared to HCs. Among the 10 candidate genes selected, only lncRNA ENST00000597482, which was lower in SLE PBMCs than in HCs, was consistent with the sequencing results. LncRNA ENST00000597482 expression was negatively correlated with SLEDAI-2K score and the titres of ANA antibodies and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies. Of note, SLE patients with lower expression of lncRNA ENST00000597482 were prone to develop organ involvement. Furthermore, lncRNA ENST00000597482 exhibited potential diagnostic value in differentiating SLE patients from HCs. Conclusions: LncRNA ENST00000597482 expression was lower in PBMCs from SLE patients than HCs and was negatively correlated with the SLEDAI-2K score and autoantibody titres. In addition, lncRNA ENST00000597482 could act as a novel biomarker for disease activity and diagnosis of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton plays a crucial role in the progress of the textile industry and the betterment of human life by providing natural fibers. In our study, we explored the genetic determinants of cotton architecture and fiber yield and quality by crossbreeding Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense, creating a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. Utilizing SNP markers, we constructed an extensive genetic map encompassing 7,730 markers over 2,784.2 cM. We appraised two architectural and seven fiber traits within six environments, identifying 58 QTLs, of which 49 demonstrated stability across these environments. These encompassed QTLs for traits such as lint percentage (LP), boll weight (BW), fiber strength (STRENGTH), seed index (SI), and micronaire (MIC), primarily located on chromosomes chr‐A07, chr‐D06, and chr‐D07. Notably, chr‐D07 houses a QTL region affecting SI, corroborated by multiple studies. Within this region, the genes BZIP043 and SEP2 were identified as pivotal, with SEP2 particularly showing augmented expression in developing ovules. These discoveries contribute significantly to marker‐assisted selection, potentially elevating both the yield and quality of cotton fiber production. These findings provide valuable insights into marker‐assisted breeding strategies, offering crucial information to enhance fiber yield and quality in cotton production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Human gamma-delta T cells (γδ-T cells) play crucial roles in both innate and adaptive immune responses. However, much less is known about the immune status of γδT cells in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The objective of this study was to explore potential relationships between the frequency of γδ-T-cell subpopulations and disease activity, autoantibody titres and renal involvement in patients with SLE. Methods: Circulating γδ-T cells and their subsets (Vδ1+ T cells, Vδ2+ T cells and γδ-T-cell subpopulations defined by expression of surface receptors, including NKG2D, NKp30, NKp46 and PD-1), were identified via flow cytometry. Sixty active SLE patients were selected, including 41 new-onset and 19 relapsing cases. One hundred healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled as the control group. Percentages of these cell subsets in SLE patients and HCs and their relationships with disease activity were analysed. Twenty-two of the 41 new-onset SLE patients were assessed before and after treatment. Changes in the frequencies of these cell subsets and their relationships with renal involvement were also analysed. Results: Compared with that in HCs, the percentage of total γδ-T cells among CD3+ T cells in SLE patients was significantly lower. An imbalance in the proportions of Vδ1+ and Vδ2+ T cells among γδ-T cells was observed. The proportion of Vδ1+ T cells among γδ-T cells was significantly greater in SLE patients than in HCs, while the proportion of Vδ2+ T cells was significantly lower. Expression levels of PD-1, NKG2D, NKp30 and NKp46 in Vδ1+ T cells and Vδ2+ T cells from SLE patients were generally significantly increased, except for expression of NKG2D in Vδ2+ T cells. Moreover, Vδ2+ T cells, Vδ1+ T cells and Vδ1+PD-1+ T cells were associated with disease activity, and an increase in Vδ2+ T-cell frequency and a decrease in PD-1 expression by γδ-T cells might be associated with effective treatment. Interestingly, our results indicated that Vδ2+ T cells and their Vδ2+NKp30+ T-cell subpopulation might be associated with renal involvement in SLE. Conclusion: A broad range of anomalies in the proportions of γδ-T-cell subsets and γδ-T cells in SLE patients may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE. There is a strong association between Vδ2+ T cells and their Vδ2+NKp30+ T-cell subpopulation and LN occurrence. Our results indicate that γδ-T cells and their subpopulations might be key players in disease immunopathology and renal involvement in SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doped semiconductors have emerged as promising plasmonic nanomaterials for photocatalysis due to their unique combination of metal-like and semiconductor properties. A key scientific challenge to develop plasmonic semiconductors is to significantly increase the intrinsically low free electron density in semiconductors. Herein, we fabricated W-doped TiO2 nanodots (WTO-NDs) as plasmonic electron acceptors on the surface of TiO2 nanosheets (TO-NSs), creating a novel plasmonic isotype heterostructure of WTO-NDs/TO-NSs for full-spectrum-driven photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Surface W-doping provided an obvious localized surface plasmon resonance in the visible-NIR region to the heterostructure, which also offered more active reaction sites. The photoexcited electrons from TO-NSs can be efficiently transferred to WTO-NDs, resulting in a high electron density on the heterostructure surface and boosting hot electron generation for photocatalysis. The optimized WTO-NDs-1/TO-NS heterostructure exhibited an impressive hydrogen generation of 51.03 mmol g−1 within 3 h under UV-visible-NIR irradiation, surpassing the performance of individual TO-NSs and WTO-NDs. This work provides a new strategy for constructing plasmonic semiconductors with high surface free electron concentration for full-spectrum photocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: The latest advancements in Cu-based catalysts for photocatalytic and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction into C2+ products are reported. The relationship between the Cu surfaces and their efficiency in photocatalytic and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction is emphasized. The opportunities and challenges associated with Cu-based materials in the CO2 catalytic reduction applications are presented. Carbon dioxide conversion into valuable products using photocatalysis and electrocatalysis is an effective approach to mitigate global environmental issues and the energy shortages. Among the materials utilized for catalytic reduction of CO2, Cu-based materials are highly advantageous owing to their widespread availability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, Cu-based materials demonstrate interesting abilities in the adsorption and activation of carbon dioxide, allowing the formation of C2+ compounds through C–C coupling process. Herein, the basic principles of photocatalytic CO2 reduction reactions (PCO2RR) and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (ECO2RR) and the pathways for the generation C2+ products are introduced. This review categorizes Cu-based materials into different groups including Cu metal, Cu oxides, Cu alloys, and Cu SACs, Cu heterojunctions based on their catalytic applications. The relationship between the Cu surfaces and their efficiency in both PCO2RR and ECO2RR is emphasized. Through a review of recent studies on PCO2RR and ECO2RR using Cu-based catalysts, the focus is on understanding the underlying reasons for the enhanced selectivity toward C2+ products. Finally, the opportunities and challenges associated with Cu-based materials in the CO2 catalytic reduction applications are presented, along with research directions that can guide for the design of highly active and selective Cu-based materials for CO2 reduction processes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is an economically important crop, but its productivity is often hindered by the soil‐borne pathogen Verticillium dahliae. This study aimed to investigate the response of cotton roots to V. dahliae infection by analysing the proteome of Gossypium thurberi (resistant) and Gossypium raimondii (susceptible) at 0 h, 24 h, and 48 h post‐infection. Through weighted protein coexpression network analysis, fifteen hub proteins crucial for defense against V. dahliae were identified. Expression analysis revealed the pivotal role of GthGAPC2, encoding GLYCERALDEHYDE‐3‐PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE 2, in conferring resistance to V. dahliae in cotton. Virus‐induced gene Silencing (VIGS) of GthGAPC2 increased susceptibility to V. dahliae, which was supported by oxidant and antioxidant enzyme activities. Furthermore, GthGAPC2 silencing influenced lignin content, indicating its involvement in lignin biosynthesis regulation. Transient overexpression of GthGAPC2 in tobacco supported its role in cell death processes. Subcellular localization studies showed predominant nuclear localization of GthGAPC2. Overexpression of GthGAPC2 in Arabidopsis also confirms its significant role in V. dahliae resistance. These findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms of disease resistance in Gossypium thurberi. Identification of GthGAPC2, as a key protein involved in V. dahliae resistance, and its functional implications can aid breeding strategies for enhancing cotton's disease resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Malnutrition is associated with a higher risk of osteoporosis. We aim to assess the relationship between serum albumin with geriatric nutritional risk index and osteopenia in Chinese elderly men., Methods and Study Design: This is a nested case-control study from a prospective cohort enrolled 1109 individuals who were followed for seven years. Demographic data, medical history, signs and symptoms, and laboratory parameters were collected and analysed. Nutritional status and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) were assessed. The nutrition-related indexes predictive value for osteopenia development was analyzed through multivariate Cox regression analysis and by creating a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Kaplan-Meier (K-M) method was further used to find the nutritional status level in the elderly men., Results: The ALB and GNRI correlated with the risk of osteopenia in Chinese elderly men. After adjusting for all covariates, people with higher ALB level (HR: 0.821; 95% CI: 0.790-0.852) and higher GNRI score (HR: 0.889; 95% CI: 0.869-0.908) had a smaller risk of osteopenia. ROC analysis showed that the AUC for ALB was 0.729 (p<0.05) and for the GNRI score was 0.731 (p<0.05). K-M curve indicated a significant difference in ALB level (p<0.001) and GNRI score (p<0.001) in the respective subgroups., Conclusions: This study found that lower ALB level and lower GNRI score are associated with a higher prevalence of osteopenia among elderly men in China., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

In this article, we investigate random client selection in the context of horizontal federated learning (FL), whereby only a randomly selected subset of clients transmit their model updates to the server instead of yielding all clients involved. Many researchers have demonstrated that clustering-based client selection constitutes a simple yet efficacious approach to the identification of those clients possessing representative gradient information. Despite the extensive body of research on modified selection methodologies, the majority of prior work is predicated upon the assumption of consistently effective clustering. However, raw gradient-based clustering methods are subject to several challenges: 1) poor effectiveness, the raw high-dimensional gradient of a client is too complex to serve as an appropriate feature for grouping, resulting in large intra-cluster distances and 2) fluctuating effectiveness, due to inherent limitations in clustering, the effectiveness can vary significantly, leading to clusters with diverse levels of heterogeneity. In practice, suboptimal and inconsistent clustering effects can result in clusters with low intra-cluster similarity among clients. The selection of clients from such clusters may impede the overall convergence of training. In this article, we propose, a novel client selection scheme to accelerate the FL convergence by variance reduction. The main idea of is to stratify a compressed model update in order to ensure an excellent grouping effect, and at the same time reduce the cross-client variance by re-allocating the sample chance among different groups based on their diverse heterogeneity. It strikes this convergence acceleration by paying more attention to those client groups with relatively low similarity and then improving the representativeness of the selected subset as much as possible. Theoretically, we demonstrate the critical improvement of the proposed scheme in variance reduction and present equivalence conditions among different client selection methods. We also present the tighter convergence guarantee of the proposed method thanks to the variance reduction. Experimental results confirm the exceeded efficiency of our approach compared to alternatives.

Background: Prior research has linked exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) with preterm birth (PTB). However, the modulating effect of preconception thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels on the relationship between PM2.5 exposure and PTB has not been investigated., Objective: This study aimed to assess whether preconception TSH levels modulate the impact of PM2.5 exposure on PTB., Methods: This cohort study was conducted in Guangdong, China, as a part of the National Free Pre-Pregnancy Checkups Project. PM2.5 exposure was estimated by using the inverse distance weighting method. To investigate the moderating effects of TSH levels on trimester-specific PM2.5 exposure and PTB, we used the Cox proportional hazards model. Additionally, to identify the susceptible exposure windows for weekly specific PM2.5 exposure and PTB, we built distributed lag models incorporating Cox proportional hazards models., Results: A total of 633,516 women who delivered between January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2019, were included. In total, 34,081 (5.4%) of them had abnormal preconception TSH levels. During the entire pregnancy, each 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was linked to elevated risks of PTB (hazard ratio [HR] 1.559, 95% CI 1.390-1.748), early PTB (HR 1.559, 95% CI 1.227-1.980), and late PTB (HR 1.571, 95% CI 1.379-1.791) among women with abnormal TSH levels. For women with normal preconception TSH levels, PM2.5 exposure during the entire pregnancy was positively associated with the risk of PTB (HR 1.345, 95% CI 1.307-1.385), early PTB (HR 1.203, 95% CI 1.126-1.285), and late PTB (HR 1.386, 95% CI 1.342-1432). The critical susceptible exposure windows were the 3rd-13th and 28th-35th gestational weeks for women with abnormal preconception TSH levels, compared to the 1st-13th and 21st-35th gestational weeks for those with normal preconception TSH levels., Conclusions: PM2.5 exposure was linked with a higher PTB risk, particularly in women with abnormal preconception TSH levels. PM2.5 exposure appears to have a greater effect on pregnant women who are in the early or late stages of pregnancy., (© Ting Xu, Haobo Ni, Xiaoyan Cai, Tingting Dai, Lingxi Wang, Lina Xiao, Qinghui Zeng, Xiaolin Yu, Lu Han, Pi Guo. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (https://publichealth.jmir.org).)

Medical report generation is a valuable and challenging task, which automatically generates accurate and fluent diagnostic reports for medical images, reducing workload of radiologists and improving efficiency of disease diagnosis. Fine-grained alignment of medical images and reports facilitates the exploration of close correlations between images and texts, which is crucial for cross-modal generation. However, visual and linguistic biases caused by radiologists' writing styles make cross-modal image-text alignment difficult. To alleviate visual-linguistic bias, this paper discretizes medical reports and introduces an intermediate modality, i.e. phrasebook, consisting of key noun phrases. As discretized representation of medical reports, phrasebook contains both disease-related medical terms, and synonymous phrases representing different writing styles which can identify synonymous sentences, thereby promoting fine-grained alignment between images and reports. In this paper, an augmented two-stage medical report generation model with phrasebook (PhraseAug) is developed, which combines medical images, clinical histories and writing styles to generate diagnostic reports. In the first stage, phrasebook is used to extract semantically relevant important features and predict key phrases contained in the report. In the second stage, medical reports are generated according to the predicted key phrases which contain synonymous phrases, promoting our model to adapt to different writing styles and generating diverse medical reports. Experimental results on two public datasets, IU-Xray and MIMIC-CXR, demonstrate that our proposed PhraseAug outperforms state-of-the-art baselines.